There has been a toxic haze of diesel smoke hanging over the estate for over a week. This is caused by a diesel generator running on the Coburg Crescent building site. PRERA has been told by Farrans that a replacement generator is on order. However, no date has been given for when this hazard will be removed.
You may have noticed that some signs have appeared at the play area saying that antimicrobial cleaning agents have been applied. PRERA have made enquiries and have been told that a product made by Zoono was used. This is probably Z-71 – the product that Transport for London uses.
Please note that Z-71 is an antimicrobial agent and coronavirus isn’t a microbe. So please continue with good hygiene practices, including washing hands before and after using the play equipment.
Interestingly, according to the Daily Telegraph, Zoono was told to stop claiming that Z-71 was “more than 99.9pc effective against COVOID-19 [sic]”. This claim was removed from their website after the intervention of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The safety data sheet for Z-71 can be downloaded here.
Earlier this year the council held an initial consultation on the idea of a ‘low traffic neighbourhood’ in Streatham Hill. A low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) aims to remove or reduce the volume of non-local traffic passing through, while maintaining access for motor vehicles. There are several reasons for doing this:
On Friday, the council decided to implement emergency versions of several LTNs, including the one in Streatham Hill. As well as LTNs, ‘healthy routes’ will be implemented to help people to travel safely on foot and by cycle.
The Streatham Hill LTN is scheduled to be implemented as the fourth emergency LTN (after Oval, Railton and Ferndale), with design starting on 8th June and implementation from 6th July. A statutory consultation period starts on 22nd June. A consultation on plans for the permanent Streatham Hill LTN is due in autumn 2020.
As time goes by, we are experiencing greater restrictions on social interactions and movement outside the home. While this should slow the spread of Covid-19, it will have significant social and economic consequences for all of us. In response, community groups are springing up to help support those are isolated at home or who are in need of assistance.
WhatsApp appears to be the main communication tool being used to coordinate volunteering efforts and Google Docs is being used to store information about volunteers and those in need as well as helpful advice. The initial focus is finding volunteers for each street and delivering flyers to that street. Here is a flyer template. If you would like to do some flyering, use this spreadsheet to record the street that you have flyered.
This spreadsheet contains a list of WhatsApp groups for Lambeth. Further information can be found here. A spreadsheet and WhatsApp group have been set up for St Martin’s Estate and Palace Road Estate. The spreadsheet is here and you can join the WhatsApp group using this link. If you can help, please join this group or get in touch through this website.
Note that there is a separate WhatsApp group for the Streatham Hill ward (which includes Palace Road Estate).
Please get involved with these efforts if you can, but bear in mind the need to minimise transmission of the virus. Follow the official advice in full. Do not expect that a mask or gloves alone will protect you or others.
With the rapidly increasing concern about the spread of Covid-19 we all need to make careful and informed decisions about how we act.
As well as being a challenging time for many of us, this is an opportunity for us to support each other and to strengthen the community on Palace Road Estate.
Don’t loiter outside the rear entrance to Ponton House – there is a large piece of metal hanging by a wire four storeys up above the entrance. This was reported to Lambeth Housing on 6 April and again on 10 April. No timescale has been given for its removal.
Update 29/4/2019: Work appears to be starting today, to remove this hazard. A platform is being constructed at the foot of the wall, presumably to allow access.
We have been provided with a report on a structural inspection that was carried out on 31st May and 1st June 2018. The inspection was made by structural engineers employed by Lambeth Council. It makes a number of interesting observations:
Despite the reported immediate risks from falling pieces of concrete, the council chose not to inform residents until their letter about initial works to make the concrete safe in mid-July.
The report asserts that “None of the defects mentioned above is considered as impairing the structural stability and integrity of the buildings at present.” However, since the inspection excluded the garages, above which many of the flats are built, PRERA has requested that the garages are also inspected.
There will be an event this Thursday on Edmundsbury Court Estate to showcase community food growing in Lambeth. See below for more details and click the image to download a PDF that includes directions to the venue.
As has been described in previous posts, we have been monitoring the level of pollution on Christchurch Road, as part of the Love Lambeth Air project. The monitoring ran for a period of 6 months from November 2016 until April 2017. The project was rounded off with a feedback event on 14th June 2017, which was held at St. John’s Church in Waterloo. See here for a document describing this event.
Amongst several others, presentations were given by Claire Baldock from Mapping for Change, May Van Schalkwyk, an oncologist and Sarah Hudson and Sheila D’Souza, residents of the Barbican and Marylebone, respectively. Their presentations can be downloaded by clicking on their names.
The final report can be downloaded here and the raw data is here. There is also a one page summary of the results from across Lambeth.
For several years the play area has been open to dogs, because the springs on the gates had broken. After months of nagging by the committee, the springs have now been replaced, so children should now be able to play without worrying about dog mess.
Do you like what PRERA is doing? Would you like to join us in making the estate cleaner, greener and a friendlier place? Contact us!
