Local residents and ward councillors asked the Council to remove the dustcart depot from Vale Street by this September, as the council had promised.

The Council’s decision?

It has decided to keep the dustcarts in Norwood for at least four more years and increase the likely frequency of truck visits on Saturdays.

In 2007, Lambeth Council gained temporary planning permission to site dustcarts at the Vale Street Depot.

Labour-controlled Lambeth and the local MP said this was only a stop-gap solution.  Residents and ward councillors strongly opposed having dustcarts on Vale Street at all, as we didn’t trust the council to remove them as promised.

Now, at a Planning Committee, the Council has confirmed its betrayal.

Gipsy Hill councillor Andrew Gibson says:  “The best way to get rid of the dustcarts from our residential area now is to bring about a change in control at Town Hall.  We have the opportunity to do that next May at the council election.  We must never forget Labour’s betrayal of Norwood.”

Gipsy Hill councillors Graham Pycock & Suzanne Poole on Crystal Palace Parade

Crystal Palace residents living in Lambeth are missing out on possible new community projects because Lambeth Council is not sending a representative to meetings of a charity, according to Gipsy Hill Councillor Andrew Gibson.

Lambeth has failed to send a representative to meetings of the Crystal Palace Community Development Trust – which helps set up and funds community projects such as luncheon clubs for the elderly – for more than a year.

The charity works across the five boroughs surrounding Crystal Palace Park and provides tens of thousands of pounds a year in funding for local projects.  Without a Lambeth Council representative to fight for projects in the borough, Gipsy Hill and Knights Hill residents might miss out.

Andrew says:  “The Trust plays an important role in a community that spans five boroughs and it is important for Lambeth to play its part.

“I have asked the Council to make a commitment to help residents in Crystal Palace.  I am pleased that Labour councillors have now agreed to hold a meeting with its members to discuss how they can work together in the future and will be monitoring the results.”