Norwood Action Group

NAG Minutes AGM Nov 2005

Norwood Action Group — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:45:00 +0000

NORWOOD ACTION GROUP

Notes of the Annual general meeting 8^th November 2005

Attendance.

Councillor Robert McConnell, Jane Pickard, Chris Pointon, Rod Brown, James Slattery-Kavanagh, Richard Moore, Jeff Avis, Saleha Jaffer, Grahame Fearon-Wilson, Ann Ridley, Pat Fisher.

Apologies for absence.

Ann Orange, Councillor Gerry Evans, Councillor Jeremy Baker, Bernie Bullbrook

In the absence of Ann Orange James Slattery-Kavanagh agreed to chair the meeting.

The Minutes of the last meeting

Were read and accepted

Matters Arising

It was proposed by Richard Moore and seconded by Jane Pickard that a letter be written to Superintendent Andy Tarrant of the Metropolitan Police, ex Acting Head of Community Safety in Lambeth, expressing our gratitude for the work that he had carried out and wishing him every success in his new post.

There was a report from Lambeth Crime Prevention Panel and news of a DVD recording of the Lambeth Country Show which showed the success of the partnership between the Primary Care Trust, Metropolitan Police, including their Air Support Unit and recruiting section, the London Fire Brigade, the London Ambulance Service, Smartwater, British Transport Police and Victim Support.

Message in the Bottle was ongoing but Jeff Avis reminded the meeting that the scheme needed ongoing funding.

Chairman’s Report

Due to the absence of Ann Orange there was no report.

Treasurer’s Report

Implementation of the new officer’s details were still awaited from the bank.

It was proposed by Richard Moore and seconded by Rod Brown that the accounts are adequate for the present accuracy.

Secretary’s Report

Jane Pickard was willing to assist a new secretary but, as last year, was not prepared to be full-time secretary, having performed that role for most of the past seven years. Richard Moore offered to write any necessary letters in the short term.

Membership Secretary’s Report

There were currently 63 members.

Election of Officers

The Chair proposed that the current officers were re-elected and it was agreed.

The Annual General Meeting for 2006 will be held on 10^th October and it is anticipated it will be at the same time and venue.

Lancasters Wine Bar Norwood Road commencing at 7.30 pm

NAG Minutes Oct 2006

Norwood Action Group — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:41:00 +0000

NORWOOD ACTION GROUP

Notes of the meeting 10^th October 2006

Attendance.

Jane Pickard (chair), Anne Orange (minutes), Richard Moore, Clover Williams, Rod Brown

Apologies for absence.

Pat Fisher, Jackie Meldrum

Minutes and Matters Arising

Council’s report to Area Committee on St Luke’s Gardens: Jane feels that phrases such as “poor communication between the Executive Committee and the Steering Group” indicate that there has been bad feeling between the two groups. This is not the case! Whilst communication could sometimes have been better, on the whole the two groups have worked well together. She said she would write pointing this out to the chair of the Area Committee.

Tulse Hill Railway bridge on Thurlow Park Road. Large lorries are being diverted down Lancaster Avenue to avoid going under the bridge. The road needs to be lowered in order to allow lorries underneath. Jane will e.mail Val Shawcross on this matter.

AGM

Discussion around the future of NAG. Jane argued that NAG’s strength is that it is fast on its feet and able to respond quickly to situations. AO proposed that we should try to have two projects continually on the go: one a campaigning issue (eg planning issues, York Hill crossing) and the other an initiative to implement in the area (eg St Luke’s Gardens). Richard proposed we get the “Reaching Communities” action pack re lottery funding for projects. We recognise that to include more members we need to start work on a new initiative.

We propose to hold the AGM next month (14^th November). At this meeting we will also start to consider ideas for an Arts Festival in West Norwood. We will plan a meeting for January 2007 to which we will invite a wide variety of local people and groups (eg SLTC/Lambeth Orchestra) to start planning a Norwood Festival.

4. St Luke’s Gardens

Railings: The Executive Committee will meet on 11^th October when a decision will be made on the tenders for the railings. (Will the Steering Group see the tenders?) RM said that English Heritage have indicated they will fund any shortfall on the cost of railings.

Lighting: Need to find money for lighting the garden. Infrastructure is in place and £15,000 has been earmarked for lighting by Community Safety. RM suggested that another £5,000 is needed.

Pillars: Some of the restorative work looks very shoddy. Need to ask English Heritage if they are satisfied with the quality of work in this respect.

Richard Moore to attend the Executive Committee meeting with the following queries:

1. Quality of work on the pillars.

2. Reason for no gravel between the grass and the boundary wall.

3. Quality of Church notice boards which currently look out of keeping with the high standard of the

garden.

4. The concrete post (from previous fencing) on the Norwood High Street side of the garden.

5. Colour of the railings NAG proposes a very dark green – the colour chosen by Norwood residents

for street furniture in a NAG survey.

5. Any Other Business

(i) West Norwood Tennis Club:

There are plans to sell the club in order to build high density housing on the site. It is understood that the development company involved has ‘offered’ the Council St Julian’s Farm Field (owned by Girl’s Public Day School Trust who are in the process of selling it to the developer) in return for permission to build on the Tennis Club site. It has put in a pre-application for various options on the club site.

Need to find out what is going on. Will the Council reject the change in use for the Tennis Club site or argue for its sale in pursuit of ‘efficient use of land for housing’?

‘High density’ would involve buildings of 6 storeys or more. Is this in keeping with the architecture of the area?

Most people argued we should object to a change of land use as sports facilities are needed in West Norwood, although some argued sports facilities should go on the site earmarked for major development in the town centre (land around Brooks laundry and B&Q).

NAG proposes that the Council hold a public meeting on this matter. JP to ask Councillors.

(ii) Norwood Hall

There is a pre-application to demolish Norwood Hall to build flats.

Norwood Hall was built by the Trust that used to run the Jewish Orphanage in West Norwood.

Are they aware of the proposals to demolish the hall?

Agreed to write to the Area Committee saying we are very concerned about it.

Date of next meeting: AGM, Tuesday 14^th November 7.30pm, Lancaster’s* (basement bar)

* Corner of Lancaster Avenue and Norwood Road

NAG AGM Agenda Nov 2006

Norwood Action Group — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:38:00 +0000

NAG Agenda for 2006 AGM

7.30pm, TUESDAY 14 November, 2006

Lancaster’s Wine Bar (basement), Norwood Road

1. Apologies

2. Minutes and Matters Arising from last AGM

3. Chair’s report

4. Reports from secretary, chair on behalf of treasurer, membership secretary

5. Election of officers (chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, membership secretary)

6. Date for AGM 2007

7. Any Other Business

NAG Agenda Nov 2006

Norwood Action Group — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:35:00 +0000

NAG Agenda for Nov 2006 monthly meeting

7.30pm, TUESDAY 14 November, 2006

Lancaster’s Wine Bar (basement), Norwood Road

1. Apologies

2. Minutes and Matters Arising from October meeting

3. Plans for January meeting on an arts festival

4. St Luke’s Gardens update

5. Consultations on the UDP, Croydon tramlink to Crystal Palace and Norwood Park School

6. Any Other Business

NAG minutes Sept 2006

Norwood Action Group — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 20:09:00 +0000

NORWOOD ACTION GROUP

Notes of the meeting 12 Sept 2006

Attendance.

Jane Pickard (minutes), Anne Orange (chairing), Richard Moore, Pat Fisher, Jeff Avis, Clover Williams

Apologies for absence.

Rod Brown

Minutes and Matters Arising

Discussion about making a contribution for the meeting room (basement of Lancaster’s) in the form of a donation to a charity of the owner’s choice. Agreed to talk to the owner about it after the meeting.

St Luke’s Gardens Update

Pat Fisher reported there had been a meeting of the executive management group, but she had been the only resident representative present. New tenders had come in for the railings. The lowest tender had come in at less than the money we had available although all tenders were to high specs – either replicating the original iron railings or copying them using steel. It had been agreed that Trevor Uprichard, project manager from Lambeth Council, would discuss details with Atkins and English Heritage representatives and report to the Area Committee. If there was a shortfall in the funding, because the lowest tender wasn’t chosen, it looked as if English Heritage would pick up the bill.

The meeting had also discussed a new design for the planting. It had been decided to do away with the rectangular flower beds up the side paths and put a timber edge around the beds at the centre. There would be a purple shrub rose and some trees, but the rest would be grass. The horse chestnut seemed to have been hit by mite, but Lambeth thought it would recover.

It also looked as if there would be no lighting in the grounds although the money available had included £10,000 for lighting. PF had queried this and been told by council officers that the money earmarked could not be held over from one year to another, so we needed to wait until another lighting scheme came up next year.

In the discussion on PF’s report, Richard Moore asked about a water supply for watering the plants. He suggested NAG and/or the Church could put in for a grant for lighting from O2, which was offering grants for community enhancement.

JP and RM objected to the way in which the council officers seemed to have decided among themselves to change the planting design without consulting residents. JP said it was typical of the way the scheme had been run. It had been decided at the start that all major decisions would be taken by the Steering Group, but this hadn’t happened. It was this lack of contact and consultation with the Steering Group which had been partly to blame for the mess we got into over the railings and now it was happening again. It was supposed to be a partnership scheme but had become a council scheme. RM said that it would have been better if Lambeth Horticultural Society had had some input into the planting design.

PF said that in fact residents’ views had been taken into consideration on the planting scheme. For instance, the officer responsible had included lavender and box because the Steering Group had mentioned that after its tour round Lambeth gardens more than a year ago. Also, they had taken out the climbing rose on frames because we weren’t happy with it.

Agreed: JP to ask Trevor Uprichard for a bit of a delay on the planting until the Steering Group had discussed it.

Several people commented on the way in which the cost of the railings seemed suddenly to be within our budget after we had been told repeatedly that it wasn’t and that compromises would have to be made on the design.

Agreed: JP to write to Graham Pycock, chair of the Area Committee, to say that NAG would be interested in discussing the management of the project again, after it was finished.

JP and RM then reported back on the Area Committee investigation into the management of the project.

JP had felt the steering group should have been more closely involved in decision-making and that the council needed to learn more about the art of managing external contractors which was very difficult and challenged many organisations, both public and private sector, in this era of outsourcing.

RM had suggested the council needed contract management specialists but had been told that the last administration had got rid of them. RM had also criticised the management of the planning application process. It was a structural failure within the council.

Anne Orange agreed there had been a structural failure and said the reins had, sadly, been taken away from NAG. Local people needed more say over these projects and a greater control over the processes. It was a question of who was accountable to whom for what and that hadn’t been nailed down at the start.

York Hill/Norwood Road

JP reported that she had attended an open-air meeting at the cross roads between officers of Transport for London and Lambeth Council with Valerie Shawcross, GLA member.

It now appeared that TfL officers were happy with the Lambeth Council plan for a pedestrian phase without creating an extra bus lane. It would, however, involve a longer red light for traffic on York Hill and Lancaster Avenue and the shortest amount of time legally allowed for the green pedestrian lights. TfL was hopeful that it could find the money in next year’s budget (2007-8).

There had been agreement that it was better to go ahead with the pedestrian phase and then tweak it if necessary in response to reactions from the public, bus companies, etc, than not to have it at all.

There was a discussion about the fact that heavy goods vehicles were now being diverted along Norwood Road and Lancaster Avenue to avoid the low railway bridge on the south circular which was regularly hit by lorries. This was apparently because the water authority had refused to lower the water mains, enabling the road to be lowered.

Membership

There was not enough time for a full discussion and the membership secretary wasn’t present. But it was suggested that AO investigate a grant application for capacity building to increase membership and that we try a team approach to building members from existing data rather than relying on one person. AO also to investigate a BT grant to help volunteers financially to take time off from their jobs for voluntary work and offer broadband access for free..

NAG Agenda

Norwood Action Group — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 20:06:00 +0000

Norwood Action Group

45 Thurlby Road, London SE27 0RN

Chair: Anne Orange Secretary: Jane Pickard 8670 8083

8766 6256

NAG email: mail@norwoodaction.org.uk

NAG Agenda for Oct 2006 meeting

7.30pm, TUESDAY 10 October, 2006

Lancaster’s Wine Bar (basement), Norwood Road

1. Apologies

2. Minutes and Matters Arising from September meeting

3. Plans for AGM

4. Membership and distribution

5. St Luke’s Gardens update

6. Any Other Business

NAG Minutes July 2006

Norwood Action Group — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 21:19:00 +0000

NORWOOD ACTION GROUP

Notes of the meeting 11 July 2006

Attendance.

Jane Pickard (minutes), Anne Orange (chairing), Chris Pointon, Bernie Bullbrook, Richard Moore, Rod Brown, Pat Fisher, Jeff Avis

Apologies for absence.

Coun David Malone

St Luke’s Gardens Update

Members of the St Luke’s Gardens Steering Group reported back on progress re the railings problem. Jane Pickard distributed copies of her report describing how the tender for the railings ended up being calculated on the basis of three-foot high posts which were clearly inadequate. The report had been approved by the steering group and was going to the Area Committee later that week.

Steering group members said it now appeared that Atkins was going to re-tender for railings which replicated the originals. English Heritage had urged the council to apply for a grant for the work. However, there were fears that, even with a grant, replica railings would be too expensive. The steering group had not originally expected cast iron to be used or the cross sections to replicate the originals.

Richard Moore sd English Heritage would have to approve the railings design even if it didn’t agree a grant. And Michael Copeman, Lambeth Council’s conservation officer, would only support restoration of the railings as near as possible to the originals. The old castings from the restored railings at St John’s Church, Waterloo, which were almost identical to St Luke’s, were not available, but new castings could be made from the St John’s railings. So the cost would be less expensive than Atkins had originally predicted.

Bernie Bullbrook said we wanted the job done properly, regardless of cost. But Chris Pointon said that if the cost was astronomical we would need to have a conversation with English Heritage to ask if other church railings required this kined of investment or whether there were compromises available.

There were mixed views about this: CP and JP were happy to compromise if necessary, BB and Jeff Avis wanted full restoration, Richard Moore wanted restoration as approved by English Heritage and proposed applying for further funding if necessary, Pat Fisher would go along with an English Heritage compromise but suggested we waited until the tenders had come in before making a decision. Rod Brown felt the whole design was old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy and that something much more imaginative could have been done with the space.

There was a discussion about general lessons to be learnt from the railings experience. A number of steering group members and NAG members felt they had not been sufficiently involved in the process. NAG had initiated the project with the church, but in the past year architects and council officers had not attended a steering group meeting let alone a NAG meeting. They were part of the executive group but even this had not met regularly.

The meeting agreed:

1.. NAG would like the railings to be as close a replica as possible to the originals, but would be guided on this by English Heritage.

2. We needed to see the new designs that were going out to retender.

3. NAG would like the Area Committee and others involved to use this experience to learn lessons about partnership working.

4. Members of the community should not be excluded from regular consultation on the progress of the project.

5. The executive group comprising half the steering group plus council officers, Atkins and others should meet regularly.

6. Information on critical stages of the project, such as design drawings and decisions by the executive group should be written down and passed to NAG via the steering group.

7. Further discussion on the project to be resumed after the new tenders had come in and the new cost of the project was known.

York Hill

JP pointed out that we had heard nothing on this for months and suggested we try to promote some community involvement in any decision which might be being hammered out among officers of Lambeth and TfL.

Agreed JP to organise a meeting between officers and NAG representatives.

Norwood Rail Users’ Group: JP reported that the group was waiting for Tessa Jowell’s office to organise a meeting with the relevant transport minister over First Capital Connect (formerly Thameslink).

AOB

1. RM said he feared Lancaster’s wasn’t happy to continue letting NAG have free use of the basement for meetings. JP to check out with owner.

2. CP and JP had reviewed the website run by former member James Slattery Kavanagh and the process of receiving notification of meetings by registering through a blogger system. This was a new system and not all NAG members had registered on it. JP suggested it might be easier for NAG to distributed agendas and minutes to those members with computers through means of a simple email distribution list. Agreed that we would maintain the blogger system for now but discuss distribution and membership in the autumn.

3. Agreed not to hold a meeting in August. Next meeting: Tuesday, 12 September.

NAG Agenda 12 Sept 2006

Norwood Action Group — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 21:08:00 +0000

NAG AGENDA Sept 2006

7.30pm, TUESDAY 12 September

Lancaster’s Wine Bar (basement), Norwood Road

1. Apologies

2. Minutes and Matters Arising from July meeting

3. St Luke’s Gardens update

4. York Hill/Norwood Road pedestrian crossing

5. Membership and distribution

6. Any Other Business

Minutes 13th June 2006

Norwood Action Group — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:00:00 +0000

Notes of the meeting 13 June 2006

Attendance
Jane Pickard, Bernie Bullbrook, Richard Moore, Rod Brown, Pat Fisher, Simon Berlyn, Coun David Malone (Knight’s Hill)

Apologies for absence
Anne Orange, Rod Brown

St Luke’s Gardens Update
The crisis which had arisen over the railings to go around St Luke’s Garden dominated the meeting and there was no time for other business. Also, there had been a problem getting out the notice of the meeting, so the meeting was inquorate,
In the chair’s absence, Richard Moore chaired and Jane Pickard took notes.

Richard Moore summed up the history of the St Luke’s Gardens project and said the Area Committee had agreed to fund a restoration project. However, Atkins, the design and consultancy firm which was hired by the council to lead the project, had put a planning application through for the work which had sketches for three foot railings when it was clear to everyone they needed to be higher. If they were to be like the originals, they needed to vary in height between about 1400mm and 1750mm. However, Atkins said that this would put the project way over budget.

The St Luke’s Gardens Steering Group had asked the council and Atkins to halt the project temporarily while there was a debate among key stakeholder groups – the Area Committee, NAG and the church – about what was wanted.

Bernie Bullbrook pointed out that the project would be part of the heritage of Norwood for the next 50 or 60 years. We didn’t want a sub-standard piece of hardware.
Jane Pickard said we should go for the best possible scheme with the money available, but it wasn’t clear yet how much each element would cost.
Pat Fisher said it seemed Atkins and the council officers were now aiming for the right height. She had originally agreed with the idea of a compromise height, after the officers and Atkins had warned that we might not be able to afford railings of the right height and it would require another planning application. But having debated the issues, she had changed her mind and felt we should take time to sort it out.
Simon Berlyn, originally a member of the Steering Group, said the railings would look very strange if they went ahead as planned and the design needed to be carefully considered. The Steering Group should drum up the right level of funding for the right scheme. He had originally suggested the group raised funds for an architect to advise on how to go ahead but he and the group had parted company at that point. The scheme had to be commensurate with the church which was a Grade II listed building.
David Malone said it seemed, from what people were saying, we should be looking at the best scheme possible, getting it costed, and then deciding how to raise the funds.
He asked if the Area Committee should go for complete restoration or the best scheme with the money available.
There was debate about getting up a petition to test opinion, which was rejected. Pat Fisher said many people thought £250,000 was too much to spend on railings.
After further discussion, David Malone said it seemed clear those present wanted to restore the heritage of the site. Also, people wanted a scrutiny process, but didn’t want that to delay the project. He suggested the group put together a list of questions and submitted that to the Area Committee before the meeting, so they could then ask supplementaries. For instance, it would be worth asking how much of the £250,000 was left. Also, NAG could ask the committee to vote on a motion.
But he pointed out that there was no more money available from the council for such projects.
He also supported the idea of a re-application for Heritage Lottery money which had been refused a few years ago.

The meeting agreed:
1. We want the railings to be restored in line with English Heritage recommendations and consultations with the Victorian Society and Georgian Group and the council’s own conservation officer. We call on the council to carry through the restoration of the railings around St Luke’s Gardens as previously agreed by the local community and council at the height of the original railings.
2. We are willing to contribute our background knowledge and understanding to any investigation that might be conducted into the conduct of this contract.

Agenda 11th July 2006

Norwood Action Group — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 18:30:00 +0000

TUESDAY 11 July, 2006 7.30pm,
Lancaster’s Wine Bar (basement), Norwood Road

1. Apologies
2. Minutes and Matters Arising from June meeting
3. St Luke’s Gardens update
4. York Hill/Norwood Road pedestrian crossing.
5. Update on Norwood Rail Users' Group
6. Any Other Business

Minutes 14th March 2006

Norwood Action Group — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Notes of the meeting 14 March 2006
Attendance.
Jane Pickard, Bernie Bullbrook, Clover Williams, Jeff Avis, Richard Moore, Rod Brown, Anne Orange, Coun Gerry Evans, Chris Pointon, Ann Ridley, Pat Fisher

Apologies for absence.
Robert McConnell, Saleha Jaffer, Jeremy Baker
The minutes of the 14 February meeting were read and accepted

Matters Arising
A complaint by Saleha Jaffer was held over as she is seriously ill. The secretary agreed to send a get well message to her.

Tulse Hill campaign
Jane Pickard asked what had been decided at the last meeting following the presentation of survey results. It was agreed that disabled access was a priority to pursue. After discussion about who should pay for a feasibility study – Lambeth Council or the railway organisations responsible for the station – it was agreed the secretary should write to Southern and Network Rail to ask them what a feasibility study would cost and if they had any idea what disabled/pushchair access would cost. Gerry Evans agreed to find out the details of the 106 Agreement linked to the new flats development on Norwood Road to see if any of that money could help.

Minutes Secretary
JP asked if anyone would volunteer to be minutes secretary as Jeff Avis had resigned. She reminded the meeting that she had only taken the secretary’s job on again on condition that someone else did most of the minutes. Jeff Avis said he had resigned because he could not do the job without there being continuity in the chairing of meetings. Otherwise, he felt he was responsible for ensuring decisions were acted on.
Anne Orange said that if the group wanted her to chair every meeting, she would have to change the day of the meeting, as it nearly always coincided with governors meetings and other school events she had to attend as part of her teaching job. She pointed out that she had only stood again as chair because no-one else wanted to do it. Also, it had been agreed by NAG some years ago that having the same person chairing every meeting was not necessary.
Richard Moore pressed for a special meeting to discuss the kind of organisation NAG wanted to be and proposed we put off decisions about officers until then. This led to a discussion about the next item: how we get more members. Suggestions included putting an insert in Norwood Eye and following up on responses to the Tulse Hill survey. The discussion became heated as some people felt there was no need for navel-gazing –just more members and someone to volunteer to take minutes. Anne Orange tried to draw it to a close, but people continued speaking at which point she said she was not willing to continue chairing the meeting and left . Gerry Evans took over as chair.
Agreed to put off any further discussion about membership and that an appeal would go out for a minutes secretary to volunteer by the next meeting.

York Hill Junction
JP explained that Val Shawcross had been interested in getting officers together from TfL and Lambeth to a meeting sponsored by NAG. Unfortunately, the TfL officers hadn’t yet suggested a date and the Lambeth officers were about to go into pre-election “purdah”, so this meeting was likely to be delayed.

Idea for Election Hustings
JP said this had come from Norwood Forum officers who had asked if NAG would organise and sponsor a hustings for Norwood candidates of all parties in the May council elections. After a long discussion, it was agreed that, while the idea was good in theory, NAG did not have the resources to find a hall, pay for it, create, fund, print and distribute leaflets and posters and chair the meeting. It was suggested this could be done in association with the churches, but that was rejected on the grounds that such a meeting might be dominated by questions of interest specifically to their congregations.

St Luke’s Gardens Update
RM, Pat Fisher and JP, St Luke’s steering group members, reported that delays continued while planning permission was sought for the renovations. Also, the steering group wanted some of the work on the wall and pillars redone because it was crooked and poorly patched up. RM said that a council officer was now questioning who was responsible for part of the wall which he feared would mean further delays.

Any Other Business
1. Clover Williams said that Toni Blackwood, an active member of the Norwood community and former Norwood Board member had died. Toni had been active in the anti-gun crime movement and had fought for improvements to help young people, including the Old Library. CW suggested NAG made a donation to commemorate her. It was agreed that Jeff Avis and Bernie Bullbrook would liaise with the Lambeth Crime Prevention Panel to agree a joint donation to Age Concern or a similar organisation which Clover felt Toni would have liked us to support.
2. Chris Pointon said he was shortly to leave the area and we would need to find another treasurer. The group thanked him for his work on the treasurership and the Tulse Hill survey.
3. JA said we had made our donation to the Earthquake Appeal.

May meeting replaced by NRUG public meeting

Norwood Action Group — Tue, 02 May 2006 11:13:00 +0000

NAG’s May meeting is being replaced by the public meeting on trains held by Norwood Rail Users’ Group:

7.45pm, TUESDAY 9 May, 2006
South London Theatre, Norwood High Street

We decided at our last meeting to turn out in support of the public meeting which is aimed at getting across to decision-makers our desire for an improved Thameslink service (now First Capital Connect). We also want to hear from them what future service they envisage from Tulse Hill.

Speakers: Elaine Holt, managing director of First Capital Connect; Tessa Jowell, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood. Also invited: Network Rail.

Below is NRUG's information for the public meeting.

Minutes of NAG's April meeting will go out for our June meeting.

------------------------------

Norwood Rail Users’ Group (NRUG) has been pressing for better rail services at Tulse Hill, West Norwood and Gipsy Hill.

But Network Rail plans for what was originally called “Thameslink 2000” are likely to reduce the morning commuter service on Thameslink - now First Capital Connect.

This is because Thameslink 2000 would enable First Capital Connect to run many more trains from the home counties, via London Bridge, through Blackfriars. Under the projected timetable, Tulse Hill would lose its trains to and from Brighton and end up with a train every 15 minutes in the rush hour.

Whether or not Thameslink 2000 gets the go-ahead from ministers, NRUG is arguing for six trains an hour throughout the day – and especially in the rush hour. We say it would be a scandal to reduce our service.

The public meeting is your chance to tell our local MP, Tessa Jowell, and the new franchisee, First Group, what you think. You can hear what First Group plans for the new franchise and discuss other more immediate problems, such as frequent delays.

Venue: The South London Theatre is in a former fire station, just behind St Luke’s Church on Norwood High Street. It is about 20 yards from the bus stop for routes 2, 68, 196, 315, 322, 432 and 468.

Contact: Cameron Timmis, secretary, NRUG, 020 8670 5067; camerontimmis2@aol.com

Survey results from both Tulse Hill surveys now available

Norwood Action Group — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:00:00 +0000

Since the designation of Tulse Hill Station as a "Transport Hub", Norwood Action Group has carried out two surveys to gather views on priorities for the station. The first survey in late 2004 concentrated on Station Users, and the second in late 2005 on residents of the roads surrounding the station. The results of the two surveys are now available online at the following locations:

Tulse Hill Station Users Survey 2004
Tulse Hill Local Residents Survey 2005

NAG presented the results to local councillors, the Town Centre Manager, and recently the newly-appointed Station Access Officer for the borough.

We're delighted to see that the station environment is already being improved, and there's a real chance for step-free access to the station thanks to funding under the Department for Transport's Access for All scheme. We'll keep up the pressure to bring Tulse Hill Station and its surroundings up to scratch.

Tulse Hill Station Users Survey Results 2004 (PDF)

Norwood Action Group — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 23:00:00 +0000

Tulse Hill Station Users Survey Results 2004 (PDF)
http://www.norwoodaction.org.uk/pdf/tulsehillresults2004.pdf

Tulse Hill Residents Survey Results 2005 (PDF)

Norwood Action Group — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 23:00:00 +0000

Tulse Hill Residents Survey Results 2005 (PDF)
http://www.norwoodaction.org.uk/pdf/tulsehillresults2005.pdf