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.”

Residents in West Norwood have been badly let down by Lambeth Council and the local MP.

In 2006, Lambeth Council decided to site a dustcart depot in Vale Street, West Norwood.  This was supposedly temporary until September 2009, in order to create space for a much-needed new school in East Brixton and to allow time to build a permanent depot for the trucks.

Local residents and ward councillors strongly opposed this scheme.  The trucks are too large for the surrounding residential streets.  Councillors also said that once the trucks were moved that the council could not be trusted to remove them. However, the council pressed ahead, gaining planning permission after the local Labour MP submitted a last-minute letter in favour of siting the trucks here.

Recently, our worst fears proved correct. The council has announced that it has not yet created a permanent site, and indeed for now it will not even try to do so.  Unfortunately, little progress has been made in developing the new school.  It will therefore continue with the “temporary” site in Vale Street, possibly for up to four years, even though it admits that this will cost £1m – £1.5m per year more than a new single site elsewhere.  This is a betrayal.  Conservative councillors warned the council and the MP what would happen, but they would not listen.

The council still needs an extension to its planning permission to allow the trucks to remain here.  Please sign the petition below to oppose an extension of planning permission.

There are rules regarding the allocation of this money.  The main ones are:

• No more than three projects per ward;
• No award to be less than £1,000;
• Essentially, only schemes within Lambeth are permitted. We also have to avoid things that are already funded from other budgets;
• Only capital schemes qualify: i.e., no scheme with revenue implications is allowed. The best example there is CCTV (disallowed because of related running costs).
• Tight deadline – all paperwork needs to be completed and sent by us to the Council by mid February and the money spent by May.

Andrew Gibson, a Conservative councillor in Gipsy Hill ward, says:  “A typical example might be a photocopier shared and maintained by community groups.  Any expressions of interest or ideas would be most welcome.

“If we cannot accommodate a particular suggestion in 2009 it may be that it could be considered for a future year if the funding continues.  Alternatively, we could lobby for its approval from a different source of funding.”

CLICK HERE to view a copy of the form that councillors have to submit to the council.  This gives you an idea of the information needed from you if you make a bid.

Lambeth Council has decided to close the Vale Street Waste Depot to general waste.  It will in future take recycling only.  This decision was made without any consultation with local residents. Conservative councillors in Gipsy Hill forced the Council to reconsider and won concessions, but the closure will still go ahead.  Knights Hill’s Labour councillors did not even attend the meeting to speak on behalf of residents.

We discovered that of the 6,000 tons of household waste dumped at Vale Street, 4,800 tons is dumped by commercial users and non-Lambeth residents: groups that should not be using the site.  If this waste could be managed elsewhere – in the borough it came from for example – the council could massively reduce traffic and noise, and yet still have a collection service for residents.  Sadly, the council refused to consider this option: instead it is continuing with a policy that could lead to hundreds of tons of flytipping in this area.

A supervisor used to manage the movement of vehicles entering the site, but was withdrawn recently.  We are not convinced that alternative options have been properly explored, including:

• Restoring the supervisor at the entrance to the site or introducing a licence system
• Restricting use of the facilities to Lambeth residents only.  This is done for residents in other boroughs.

Vale Street will continue to provide recycling facilities and there are plans to improve the service.  We support these particular plans, but they will not compensate for the loss of the general waste facility at Vale Street.

If you object to the closure of this local facility, please complete the e-form below.  We will make the council aware of the strength of feeling on this issue, and keep you in touch with any developments.