We Asked, You Said, We Did

We asked for nominations from organisations and individuals from around the borough.

We received nominations for eight categories, and were pleased with the response which we had.

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete a nomination form. We will contact the shortlisted nominees in early May.

Awards will be presented at an awards ceremony on board the HMS Belfast, in June. More details will be announced in the coming weeks.

What permanent measures did residents want to see at the traffic filters in the North Peckham area.

Residents broadly supported permanent measures. However there was not support for traffic calming measures on Naylor Road.

Therefore works will take place in March/April 2024 to refurbish the traffic filters to replace the temporary wooden planters with kerbed buildouts and where possible low level planting and trees. Street furniture such as cycle stands, hangars, benches and bollards will be installed on the buildouts where appropriate and in accordance with the consultation feedback received. The raised table at Fenham Road junction with Friary Road will be constructed in April 2024. The improvements on Goldsmiths Road will be implemented at a later date to be coordinated with cycle improvements at this location.

What would residents like to see for the permanent measures at the traffic filters in the Brunswick Park area.

Residents supported the proposed measures, and the proposal for traffic calming on Benhill Road and Owgan Close.

Therefore in February/March 2024, we'll be refurbishing the traffic filters to replace the temporary wooden planters with kerbed buildouts and where possible low level planting and trees. We will install street furniture such as cycle stands, hangars, benches and bollards where appropriate and in accordance with the consultation feedback received. Raised crossings at Benhill Road and Owgan Close will be constructed in April 2024.

We asked for your views to influence the Southwark’s Preventing Suicide Strategy and Action Plan for 2023-2028.

You gave us lots of feedback on we is needed in our strategy to prevent suicides in Southwark. The online consultation results can be found here -Public Consultation Report. Preventing Suicides in Southwark Strategy 2023-2028

The full impact of the consultation survey as well as our wider engagement activity has been publically published alongside the full Preventing Suicides in Southwark Strategy 2023-2028, which can be found here - Preventing Suicides in Southwark Strategy 2023-2028. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to contribute to the consultation through completing the online survey or engaging with us at face-to-face events and in-group discussions. The feedback we received has been hugely valuable and has will help us to improve our work to prevent suicide.

What changes do we need to make to support sustainable travel in Southwark?

Over 70% of respondents told us they supported measures to reduce traffic in Southwark.

We have published our Streets for People strategy, with detailed proposals for reducing traffic and improving our neighbourhoods for the people who live in them. Later this year we will be engaging with people across the borough to find out what this could mean at neighbourhood and street level.

What did local people want to see as the permanent traffic arrangements on Rye Lane?

61% of respondents preferred to keep the buses running two-ways on Rye Lane, though residents of Rye Lane itself, and younger people, would have preferred it to be one-way or even vehicle-free. Respondents also noted issues with rubbish, narrow pavements and street clutter.

We have proposed to retain the two-way buses on Rye Lane. We will be working with disabled people, and with other teams in the council to improve pavement conditions and accessibility on Rye Lane and side streets. 

Details of the decision can be viewed here: Decision - Rye Lane - Traffic Arrangement Consultation Review - Southwark Council

We asked people for their views on proposals to improve the look and feel of Browning Street and make it more accessible for people walking and cycling.

A large majority of you were satisfied that the designs did meet the needs of the community. You also gave us great feedback on how designs could be improved with more greenery.

Following feedback from the survey, we have made some changes to our proposal that better address your concerns and suggestions. We are currently finalising designs based on the feedback and hope for construction to start in summer 2023.

We asked for your views on the proposed restoration of the Grade 2 listed East Lodge building at Nunhead Cemetery, as well as additional facilities and activities you would like to be made available there in the future.

You showed great support to the project and gave us lots of feedback on how you value the site at the moment and how it could be improved through the provision of facilities and a programme of activities.

The consultation results can be viewed here.

We submitted a funding application in order to develop the project further and to eventually deliver it.

Should the application be successful, the development phase is expected to start in Autumn 2022 and will involve some in-depth public engagement activities throughout 2023.

All the ideas collected through the survey will inform the interpretation strategy and activity plan.

We asked local residents and businesses for their views on proposals to pilot a street market on Melbourne Grove, near the junction with Grove Vale.

The majority of respondents supported the idea of a market. Local residents raised concerns about the potential for litter, smells from hot food, and additional parking pressures.

* Please note - the market will not now be going ahead on 10th September as planned *

We are proceeding with a trial market between 10^th September and 31st December 2022. This will run between 10am and 4pm each Saturday, and consist of no more than 12 stalls.

We plan to try a number of different operators, so we can see what best meets the needs of the local community. We do not plan to include any hot food stalls. The market operators and vendors will be expected to keep the area clean and keep any disturbance to a minimum. We are in discussion with the operators and council parking managers about managing parking pressures.

The trial will be reviewed in late 2022 before any decision on a permanent market.

We asked for your thoughts on a draft version of our new economic strategy.

You agreed that the strategy was seeking to address the right challenges. In most cases, you felt the missions and objectives we had set ourselves would address these challenges. However, many were unsure and in a few cases you felt the draft missions and challenges weren’t the right ones.

Some of the key things you asked us to address and/or provide clarity on were:

• What we are seeking to achieve, and how we will deliver this
• How we will work with our partners and communities
• How we will support businesses and residents facing pressures, including immediate pressures like the Cost of Living Crisis
• How residents facing the greatest barriers to economic opportunity will be supported to overcome these barriers
• How the strategy aligns with other council ambitions, like our ambitions for housing and climate change

Our new economic strategy, informed by this public consultation, is available here: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/economic-strategy.

In the first part of the strategy we set out our vision for Southwark’s economy by 2030. Here you will find information on what needs to be done and why, as well as how the strategy aligns with other council ambitions. The strategy then details how we will deliver our vision. Here we explain things like how we will work through our partners and communities to realise our vision, how residents and businesses will be supported to overcome the pressures they face, and the steps we will take to ensure all our residents have access to the opportunities our strong economy provides.

As explained on page 8 of the strategy, the council and its partners will be developing a Delivery Plan that will set out our delivery commitments for the economy and holds us to account on progress. 

We asked whether residents in the existing ‘Zone T’ parking zone and an extended area bounded by Old Kent Road, Meeting House Lane and Sumner Road, wished to see parking controls implemented.

The majority of respondents stated a preference for parking controls, and noted that they experienced considerable parking pressure. The majority also wanted this to operate Monday-Friday during the day.

We made a recommendation to the decision maker to proceed with an extended parking zone, to operate Monday-Friday 8am-6.30pm. This has been agreed, subject to statutory consultation over winter 2022, will be implemented in Summer 2023.

What do you think about proposals for a weekend street market on Melbourne Grove?

Most people who responded thought this was a good idea - but with some concerns about street cleaning, parking and the mix of stalls, among other details.

We are proposing to run a trial of the street market later in spring 2022. The market would operate 10-4 on Saturdays and have no more than 12 stalls. We have launched a new survey (running until 1st March 2022) so that local residents and businesses can tell us any specific considerations and concerns they may have.

We asked for your views on our new property licensing proposals and a Gold Standard Charter for Landlords to improve privately rented properties and your community.

42% were in favour of our proposals to introduce an additional licensing scheme for houses let in multiple occupation (HMOs) with only 17% disagreeing.

45% were in favour of our selective licensing proposals for properties let in the private rented sector occupied by couples, individuals or a family. Only 20% disagreed.

67% of respondents said they would be more likely to move into a property let by a landlord who had signed up to our Gold Standard Charter.

A more detailed summary of the responses to the survey can be seen in the file ‘Consultation Final Report’.

Following the outcome of the survey we made some changes to the conditions that will be attached to the licences and some of the property types included in the schemes. A list of these changes can be seen in the document ‘Council’s Consideration of Consultees Responses’.

Final Designation Declarations for Additional Licensing and Designations 1 and 2 of Selective Licensing were made and schemes started on 1 March 2022. Declarations can be viewed below:

Additional Licensing

Selective Licensing

Following approval from the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing final declarations for designations 3 and 4 of selective licensing were made and schemes will start on 1 November 2023. Declarations can be viewed below:

Selective Licensing Designations 3 & 4

We asked you whether you would like to change the location of the permeable road closure on Alberta Street or keep the closure in its current location. There were three options to choose from which provided different access arrangements, parking changes and impact on walking and cycling.

You said - You told us that the majority of respondents to the survey (53%) preferred Option 3, this is to keep the permeable road closure in its current location on Alberta Street.

Following the outcome of the survey the permeable road closure has stayed in its current location. A further review of all the low-traffic neighbourhood measures installed in Walworth as experimental measures will be carried out in Summer 2021.

We asked service users and providers for their views on the updated Travel Assistance Policy 2020, and in particular whether the terms of the policy were sufficiently clear.

Overall respondents found the revised policy sufficiently clear, but offered comments on some of the specific terms.

We have implemented a number of detailed changes to the text of the Policy, and the revised Travel Assistance Policy has now been approved by the Lead Cabinet Member.

What time of day are you able to leave waste out for collection in the morning and evening?

• In the morning between 8am and 9am
• In the evening between 6pm and 7pm

• We listened to the views expressed by residents and businesses
• We will use the most popular suggestions (as above) for the Camberwell Town Centre scheme
• As with other areas that benefit from the scheme, there will be no waste or large commercial waste bins on the streets of Camberwell Town Centre for most of each day
• These arrangement will make the area cleaner and more pleasant for everyone

UPDATE:

Southwark Council has made the decision to postpone the roll-out of the timed waste collection scheme to Camberwell in response to the current impact COVID-19 (coronavirus) is having.

The current government advice is for non-essential businesses to close and for people to stay at home unless they are travelling for the reasons given in the guidance. It is essential for us as a council to follow the government advice regarding staff, and the stay at home requirement, in order to limit the spread of the virus.

We want to change how the streets perform so that we can improve:

• walking - by providing new crossings and widening footways
• cycling - by providing segregated cycleway
• bus reliability - improving bus journey times
• local access issues - by creating two-way streets
• public realm - such as Lower Road shopping area

We asked what you thought of our propoposals which included:

• All roads are made two-way, except for Cope Street, Croft Street and a small section of Hawkstone Road
• Lower Road between Rotherhithe Old Road and Redriff Road becomes bus and cycle only to enable connections with Cycleway 4 and the Rotherhithe Cycleway
• The through route for traffic becomes Rotherhithe Old Road, Rotherhithe New Road, Bush Road and Bestwood Street
• A segregated two-way cycleway is provided along  Lower Road, this forms part of the overall Cycleway 4 proposals
• Straight ahead movement introduced from Plough Way into Rotherhithe New Road
• Five new pedestrian crossings
• Public realm improvements including new planting
• Three trees removed, 13 new trees provided. Over the two projects there is an overall gain of five trees
• Amendments to some bus routes

In total, there were 1220 respondents to the online consultation.  Approximately 70% of those that responded supported the proposals.  The full report can be found here.

We are now reviewing the scheme in light of the comments and suggestions that have been raised.  The review is expected to be completed in the Autumn of 2020.

We are consulting on creating a cycleway in the Rotherhithe area.

Future cycling demand is predicting there will be a significant desire to\from Peckham and beyond, with up to 150 cyclists using the route during the peak period, in the event of a free ferry crossing being developed.

We have developed proposals to link Cycleway 4 and Quietway 14 as a first phase and we are exploring potential connections towards Peckham.

We asked what you thought of our proposals which included:

• Existing roundabouts replaced with new traffic signals with pedestrian crossings on each arm of the junction
• Two-way segregated cycleway on Redriff Road \ Salter Road between Lower Road and Rotherhithe Street
• Four new zebra crossings with three with cycle crossings
• 15 trees removed with nine new trees proposed. Over the two projects there is an overall gain of five trees

In total, there were 357 respondents.  Approximately 78% of those that responded supported the proposals.  The full report can be found here.

We will be making some changes to our proposals that better address your concerns and suggestions - see the link to the Individual Decision Maker report here. These proposals will proceed onto subsequent design phases, followed by statutory consultation, and construction during 2020.

Would residents in the area of the ‘Zone G’ parking zone like to see changes to the hours of operation of the zone, and whether residents in the Shad Thames area would like to see a separate zone.

58% of those who responded were in favour of changing the operating hours of the parking zone. 38% wanted no change and 32% requested that the operating hours be extended to Monday to Sunday 8am to 11pm.

As part of this consultation we also asked if the Shad Thames area should be made into a distinct controlled parking zone with its own permits and operating hours. 61% of respondents answered no to this question.

We recommended to extend the operating hours of CPZ‘G’ from Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6.30pm to Monday to Sunday 8.30am to 11pm.

This was put out to statutory consultation in 2020. However, as a result of the Covid-19 emergency, many people felt they were unable to participate. Therefore, the statutory consultation will be re-run in 2021. Please note that it will be advertised in the local newspaper, Southwark News, the London Gazette and the council’s traffic management webpage.

Should you need more information in regards to the legal requirements, please visit via The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984; the Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996 and the Traffic Orders Procedure (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020

We asked Walworth residents to give us their ideas for the new Library and Heritage Centre

You provided a huge range of ideas and suggestions, which you can read in the report here.

But our No.1 message to take away is:

We have a big place in our hearts and minds for libraries and museums and the role they play in communities. We are excited by the opportunities this new facility brings to Southwark and Walworth.

All the ideas you provided will be shared with the design team who are developing the concept design for the new Library and Heritage Centre. This design will be brought back to the community later in the year.