The Housing and Planning Bill is now law. A campaign briefing on what the Act means for our communities can be found here and the presentation made to a meeting on Kennington Park Estate on 7 June by Ron Hollis, member of Lambeth Tenants Council can be found here
Lambeth Housing Activists are holding a meeting in Kennington Park Community Centre at 7pm on 7 June to discuss what we can do next now the Housing & Planning Act is law. Everyone welcome!
Meet the Contractors!
Lots more information on the Housing Bill and why we oppose it can be found in a blog written by the Chair of the KPE Tenants Association, Joan Twelves – click here
The masterplan for the Oval and Kennington Development Area (OAKDA) site has been amended. A briefing on these amendments can be found here. The developers, Berkeley Homes, have provided the following information: “We are now writing to update you on our consultation timeline, following our last email in December 2015. We are pleased to tell you that we have now completed a summary of the consultation responses, as well as a report which outlines the key changes to be made in response to the consultation. We will let you know once these two documents are published on www.oakda.co.uk. Next, we are moving our focus to complete the masterplan so we can finalise the amendments from the consultation. We are working closely with Lambeth Council to get this completed and envisage the following timetable for the next few months: April 2016 Publication of the ‘Statement of Community Involvement’ and ‘Amendments to the…
Is everyone in your household on the electoral register? London will be electing a new Mayor on 5 May 2016 and we will all get a chance to vote on remaining in or leaving the European Union on 23 June. Make sure you can vote! The rules have changed so each person has to register individually. You can check whether you or members of your household are on Lambeth’s register by phoning 020 7926 2254 or emailing electoralservices@lambeth.gov.uk. To register go to www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. You will need your National Insurance Number. It only takes five minutes. To vote in the Mayor of London and Assembly Members elections you must be registered to vote by midnight Monday 18 April. If you haven’t applied by then, you won’t be able to vote. DON’T LOSE YOUR VOICE! DON’T LOSE YOUR VOTE!
To tenants and leaseholders of Kennington Park Estate You are invited to attend a Meeting of the Kennington Park Estate Tenants’ Association To be held at 7.00 pm on Wednesday 27 April 2016 at the Kennington Park Estate Community Centre 6.30 pm – local councillor and Hyde staff available for private help or advice plus refreshments Prompt start of meeting at 7.00 pm All tenants and leaseholders are members of the Association and welcome to attend meetings A G E N D A Welcome and Introductions Apologies for absence Minutes of the last meeting of the Association held on 17 February 2016: For approval and matters arising (here) New cleaning and grounds maintenance contract: Latest information from Tony O’Connell, Estate Services Contracts Manager Housing management and estate management issues: Reports and queries from tenants and leaseholders for the attention of HSH management Proposed merger between Hyde, London & Quadrant and East Thames…
UPDATE 14 April 2016 – KPE RESIDENTS – MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR SERVICE CHARGE, RENT AND DIRECT DEBIT NOTIFICATIONS CAREFULLY. WE HAVE FOUND A NUMBER OF ERRORS! Contact your TA reps (see contact details in the right-hand column) if you need help in understanding these bills. **************************************************** Tenants will have received a notice from our landlord, Hyde, this week notifying us of the amount of rent due from 4 April 2016. The TA considers this notice misleading, to say the least, as it gives the impression that tenants will have to pay less than we currently pay. This is very unlikely to be the case because we pay service charges on top of our rents. Last year some residents saw their service charges nearly double and the TA has no expectation that they won’t be increased again this coming year. Indeed, most residents have already been informed (in the…
Our popular Zumba Gold exercise class for over 50s has started again for the summer term – 11am to 12pm every Tuesday. Check it out!
The plans set out by the government in the Housing and Planning Bill are shocking, and Joan has covered the threats wonderfully in her blog. The Bill includes changes to the Town Planning system that purport to increase the opportunity for development on brownfield land. But what about the definition of brownfield land? In my mind, I see a flat, empty disused site with nothing in it, that could possibly use some development, so that sort of sounds ok… Let’s check that definition, in the Department for Communities and Local Governments’ Technical Consultation document: “Brownfield or previously developed land is defined in Annex 2 of the National Planning Policy Framework. Sites on brownfield registers will be required to meet this definition of previously developed land. This is a very broad definition and, apart from the exclusions, covers all land in England where there are or have been buildings or other development.…