Author: tgntra

Keeping Warm and Well in Winter.

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This winter 2014/15 Age UK Lewisham and Southwark is working hard with Age UK Lambeth to help older people keep warm and well throughout the winter in a number of ways. During the Warm & Well in Winter project we will be providing the following services in Southwark:

  • We distribute winter packs, containing blankets, thermos mugs, gloves, thermometers and recipes booklet to keep vulnerable older people warm.
  • Our handypeople provide help with practical tasks around the home.
  • We offer shopping support so those with mobility issues can get what they need.

Concrete Heart Land – 4th March 5.30pm

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There will be a screening of Concrete Heart Land at the Documentary Research Forum, at London College of Communication, Elephant and Castle on Wednesday 4th March at 17.30, room MLG06. Admission is free, but if you would like to attend, RSVP to concreteheartland@gmail.com and your name will be added to a list at the LCC front desk.

Concrete Heart Land exposes the social cleansing of the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle, South London. It marks the moment that the estate was finally lost as social housing to make way for an unjust ‘regeneration’ scheme.

Assembled from 12 years of archive materials the film charts the struggles of the local community to keep their homes, stay living in the area, and maintain communal benefits in the face of the advance of this now notorious ‘urban redevelopment programme’. Throughout the film we hear the community engaging in some of the crucial battles with elected officials, planners, and barristers in municipal planning meetings, public enquiries, and interviews.

Weaving through these recordings is a performance staged in 2012 on the then still inhabited estate. An assembled group of past and present residents, community activists, and critics of the Heygate plans chant texts composed from phrases used in the Regeneration Masterplan. The performances parody the technical language of regeneration and the aspirational language of gentrification.

Over the course of 2012 and 2013 we filmed panoramic video images of the estate and interiors of some of the Heygate flats, all of which feature in the film.

Having evicted the last residents in November 2013, Southwark Council and the developer Lend Lease are currently working towards the wider gentrification of the area.

International Women’s Day – 8th March 2015

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All around the world, International Women’s Day represents an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women while calling for greater equality.

Various organisations identify their own International Women’s Day theme, specific to their local context and interests. Here in Southwark WOW (Women of the World) will be celebrating the day at Southbank Centre at Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.

For more information about the event and how to book please visit http://wow.southbankcentre.co.uk/

Email from Old Bermondsey Village Neighbourhood Forum.

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Old Bermondsey Village Neighbourhood Forum application and Draft New Southwark Plan

Informal Meeting
Wednesday 4 March 6.30pm Globe House

For those who didn’t make it, our last meeting on 18th February settled a revised constitution and a new Forum name: Old Bermondsey Village (Neighbourhood) Forum. This enabled us to close down the last of the Council’s technical objections to our application and we submitted the amendments last Friday. Finally we now have confirmation from Southwark Council that they no longer have any excuse not to determine our application (click here to see correspondence). Even so, they are still angling for an excuse. Mark Williams, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport says he has ‘concerns’ over our constitution – but doesn’t say what. We will be keeping up the pressure.

Meanwhile we need to submit some representations on the new draft Southwark Plan by the deadline of 6th March. The documents can be read here. In particular we should be commenting on high-rise, housing, heritage and designated sites.

Please will our followers submit any comments for BVAG’s submission by 6th of March. Comments can also be sent directly to the council by completing the consultation questionnaire and sending it to planningpolicy@southwark.gov.uk. Also we will hold an informal meeting next Wednesday to discuss our group representations.