ANNOUNCEMENT: Armed Police Presence on Weir Estate on Sunday 10th October 2010
Oct 10th
Weir Estate Residents Association would like to reassure residents regarding the presence of Armed Police Officers on Weir Estate at around 6:15pm on Sunday 10th October in which a number of police with their weapons visible were seen by residents to be patrolling the estate following reports of Youths with a firearm on or around 6pm.
Our Chair, Dave McEvoy spoke to one of the armed officers who informed him that they had received a call from a member of the public about youths with a firearm but after an extensive search of the whole area including Weir Estate, Weir Road and Atkins Road (inclusive of Agnes Riley Park) that there was NO sign of any activity of this kind as they had found no trace of a fire arm, youths or evidence of damage caused by a firearm, so were sure it was a hoax call and therefore left the estate shortly after 6.35pm. There are no known reports of anyone being shot in the area and we are awaiting further confirmation from officers at the Safer Neighbourhood team.
We would like to reassure residents and members of the public on Weir Estate that there is no evidence of risk to the safety of residents. We would also like to assure you that there has been no further repeats of such incidents and at this moment the police are satisfied there was no criminal incident on Weir Estate involving a firearm.
We will of course inform you of any developments in relation to this incident. Weir Estate continues to be the safest estate to live on in Lambeth and local safer neighbourhood officers continue to work with us in order to keep crime down. WERA will do all it can to ensure that there is no risk or danger to residents safety.
We hope this give you reassurance regarding this incident!
You can contact Thornton Safer Neighbourhood Team when they are on shift by telephoning 020 8721 2622, or 07920 233 840.
If there is no answer, leave a message and an officer will get back to you. You can also email the SNT at Thornton.SNT@met.police.uk
In the event of an emergency always dial 999, for all other calls to the Police please dial 0300 123 1212.
Latest WERA Bulletin
Oct 9th
WERA are proud to announce our latest WERA Bulletin has just been published, and can be found by clicking here
Petition to save Funding for Decent Homes
Oct 9th
Residents in Lambeth are being asked to sign an online petition for funding promised under the previous government for upgrades to Kitchens and Bathrooms in residents homes.
There are fears that Lib Dem/Tory Coalition Government may refuse to honour the previous commitment to providing social housing providers in Lambeth to the sum of £233 million to help improve stock for families often living in poor conditions.
Weir Estate Residents Association supports this epetition and asks our residents to sign the epetition which can be found here.
WERA Asks…Cllr Peter Robbins, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People
Oct 9th
How long have you been doing this role, and what does it involve?
I’ve been Cabinet member for Children and Young People since May, and have been a councillor since 2006. My responsibilities cover three incredibly important areas – schools, youth services, and child protection.
How do you think services can be improved for young people within Lambeth?
Labour doubled investment in youth services over the last four years because we know how important it is to local people that young people have lots of things to do. Unfortunately the massive attacks from the new government on public spending will make it hard for the council to protect everything that we value.
Should young people be given such bad press in society?
Absolutely not. The vast majority of the 67,000 young people in Lambeth are hard working, honest and ambitious for themselves – whatever their background. A small minority – less than one per cent – cause trouble.
What are the most important aspects to have within communities?
Strong communities need real community champions – individuals, families, or groups of people who make a stand when they see injustice, rather than worry only about themselves. People who selflessly give up their own time to improve the lives of people around them. In Lambeth we are lucky to have many people and groups like this – which is why we want to tap into that energy and commitment by making Lambeth a cooperative council.
More >
Views on 20mph speed reduction and car club bays sought from residents across Thornton Ward
Sep 28th
Residents on Weir Estate and across the whole of Thornton Ward are being consulted on new proposals to introduce a 20mph speed limit and Car Club bays across the area, which would include the introduction of a number speed humps to ‘self-enforce’ the reduction in speeding motorists.
Lambeth Council is holding a consultation event at The Weir Link this weekend (Saturday 2nd October 2010 from 10:30am to 1.30pm) and next week (Tuesday 5th October 2010 from 6pm to 8pm) to gauge views of local people on the proposed measures. A consultation document has been sent to every property in the ward, and we hope to be able to bring an electronic version here shortly.
Often controversial measures such as raised tables on road junctions and various forms of road humps are being considered to regulate the speed of vehicles driving throughout Thornton Ward. This would also run alongside the currently stalled bus route extension.
After years of discussions between Lambeth Council, Councillors and Transport for London, Lambeth have confirmed in the documents that they now have the resources to introduce the road danger reduction measures in order to cut down the level of speed and ‘rat runs’ which operate across Thornton Ward.
Though the proposals and logistics of what would be introduced have not yet been decided, residents can share their views on what they would like to happen. As part of the consultation, residents are being asked to complete a questionnaire as well being invited to attend the consultation events. More >
Morrison picks-up Connaught’s Lambeth repairs contract
Sep 16th
Following the news (broken on wera.org.uk EXCLUSIVELY last week) that KPMG, the administrator that took charge of Connaught Partnerships and made the housing maintenance specialist staff redundant in Lambeth and across the country in a phone call on Thursday night, Lambeth Living has announced that Morrison Facility Services has taken over its housing repairs service with immediate effect.
The decision was taken by the Lambeth Council’s Cabinet on Monday evening, following an emergency report submitted by Lambeth Living. Connaught plc and Connaught Partnerships Ltd went into administration last Tuesday, 7th September, and KPMG were appointed as the administrator who began to look for a buyer as the company had made huge losses and failed to secure loans to keep the company afloat. Lambeth Living were only legally able to withdraw the contract once Connaught had entered administration, which left a void for repairs beyond a priority one, which is within twenty four hours. More >
Special Feature: A Co-op Council, A Better Future for Lambeth?
Sep 11th
Since before the last council Elections back in May, there has been much talk of a new way to run services within Lambeth, with the Labour run administration in charge at the town hall, there has been one major expression ‘Co-op Council’.
So what is it all about and how will it change the way Lambeth Council serves the people of Lambeth and residents?
Many who live in Lambeth will certainly be wondering such as our residents on Weir estate.
Here, on WERA.org.uk, we have put our questions to the man behind the plans and Leader of Lambeth Council, Cllr Steve Reed, as well as giving you the opportunity to find what it all means.
The ideas in The Co-operative Council is intended to form the starting point of a debate on the future of public services in Lambeth and over the coming months they will be inviting as many members of the public, staff, partners and interested partners as possible to take part in shaping the plans.
Lambeth Council have also set up a Cooperative Council Commission (also known as the Citizens Commission) between May and September 2010 to consider how to make the concept of a cooperative council a reality.
Cllr Steve Reed explains in more detail in our interview which you can listen to below.
Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!
Full details of the co-op council can be found here
WERA Asks…Sir Paul Stephenson, Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Sep 9th
Commissioner, Thank you for taking part in our WERA Asks, Can you briefly tell us what your job involves?
I am in overall charge of the Metropolitan Police Service and the 55,000 police officers, police community support officers and police staff who come to work everyday to make the capital safer.
How long have you been the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police?
In December 2008 I became Acting Commissioner and then I was permanently promoted to be Commissioner in February 2009.
How have you brought change to the Metropolitan Police in this time?
I’ve been involved for a long time in pushing for the move back to visible policing within communities. Londoners tell me that they want to see police on the streets and have local officers available to them, so the roll out of Safer Neighbourhood Teams and the move to officers patrolling on their own, rather than in pairs, has been an integral way to increase our visibility and help officers be more approachable.
I also want the Met to focus on ensuring that we are always professional and courteous. I think Londoners understand that we have to conduct stop and search and other intrusive policing methods in order to remove knives and stop the violence that has been so concerning to us all. However when we are doing those operations we should be explaining what we are doing and why, and treat the person we have stopped like we would want to be treated ourselves.
BREAKING NEWS: Connaught staff are made redundant by administrators via phonecall
Sep 9th
Connaught Partnerships personnel are in shock this evening as administrators, KPMG have laid off hundreds of staff from partnerships including the office which served Weir Estate and Lambeth Estates, sources have revealed.
Despite being assured that there would be no redundancies of staff in the immediate future, many staff has been told to clear their desks with immediate effect, during a conference call.
The redundancies have also left residents in the dark as to how repairs and maintenance services are to be carried out.
KPMG who have take-over responsibility for Connaught plc and Connaught Partnerships Ltd after the company entered administration this week. The company which has provided responsive repairs to Weir Estate has collapsed following the dismissal of all the staff serving the area.
Emergency repairs are being given to Morrison’s and all other non-essential repairs have been placed on hold hitting thousands of resident’s homes. More >
Have your say on Lambeth Living’s improvement
Sep 9th
Lambeth Living is changing and it wants views on plans to improve housing services.
The arms length management organisation, which manages nearly 34,000 homes throughout Lambeth, is restructuring in order to improve services to tenants and leaseholders, provide financial stability and value for money, become customer focused, have a local presence and deliver sustained and rapid improvement.
The plans include an improved repairs service, key services joined-up and delivered locally, greater visibility of staff on estates, quicker turn around of empty homes, improved leaseholder services, reducing the use of temporary staff and consultants, better contracts including quality repairs, stronger tenancy enforcement and a zero tolerance approach to anti social behaviour.
The proposals, which will be discussed with staff and trade unions, see the number of posts reduce from 468 to 409, the number of directors from four to three and the number of managers from 101 to 73. However, the number of front line staff will remain at 80 per cent of the workforce – a ratio of four to one staff providing front line services. Subject to consultation, there could be between 40 and 70 redundancies.
Chief Executive of Lambeth Living Cathy Deplessis said: “We have listened to the views of tenants and leaseholders and plan to improve services, remain within budget and provide better results for residents. Central to the proposals are basing key services together locally, increasing the visibility of Lambeth Living staff ready to help and delivering an improved repairs service that’s better at prioritising, advising and getting the job right, first time.” More >
