Brixton Major Sites
The council owns several major sites in the Brixton town centre area including Brixton Recreation Centre, Popes Road car park and offices on Brixton Hill.
Over the next 12 months, we will be conducting a major consultation process with residents and businesses to let you know our initial ideas for the redevelopment of these sites. We also want to find out what you think the key issues are that need to be tackled when considering redevelopment to make sure that we build on the strengths and uniqueness of Brixton as a town centre.
A masterplan will be created for the development of Brixton town centre and other parts of the Brixton area and will be consulted on widely with residents. Options for development will be ready in September 2006, which will layout a roadmap for the future of this economic and cultural centre of the borough.
In a recent survey carried out in Brixton by the market research company MORI, three-quarters of Lambeth residents said they would be likely to use a Joint Service Centre (JSC) if it were built. A proposal to locate a JSC on the ground floor of Olive Morris House on Brixton Hill has been developed and is being consulted on. It would present an excellent opportunity for the council to bring together the many services provided in Brixton under one roof. This will improve accessibility and convenience for local residents.
Leisure
In Brixton we are looking at the best way of providing the modern, safe facilities that you have told us you want in the responses to the consultation. We are continuing to find out more about what you would like from leisure facilities in the area.
As part of this work, MORI carried out a survey which found that three out of five people liked the dea of a new leisure centre. Three sites in close proximity to the centre of Brixton are currently being looked at in more detail as a possible location for a new centre.
In particular people wanted to see better access, new or modernised facilities, better services for young people, and increased opportunities for healthy activity. Concerns included cost, location and gaps in service during construction.
We are continuing to investigate the most cost effective way of meeting your aspirations and providing services that are accessible for people with disabilities. This includes looking at options to refurbish the existing recreation centre.
As we explained earlier in this booklet, (see page three) more than half of all secondary-aged pupils currently have to travel outside the borough to attend classes.
Lambeth is in the top four local authorities in the country between Key Stages 3 and 4 for added value.
This means that students make huge progress while they are at our schools. We are determined to reate more secondary school places in Lambeth so more of our children can benefit from this. We plan to expand existing popular schools and build new schools. Brixton will be one of the first places to get new secondary school places.
Plans for a new school near central Brixton at Shakespeare Road are well advanced. The aim is for a new state-of-the-art academy with the latest facilities to open by September 2008. The site has been chosen because it will benefit children who live in one of the most deprived wards in Britain.
As we explained in the last consultation booklet, ARK www.arkonline.org has made an ‘expression of interest’ to the government, saying it is willing to be a funding partner. ARK will contact local parents soon to discuss what kind of school they would like to see built.
The proposed new school will mean moving the council’s environmental fleet which is responsible for refuse collection, street cleansing and other important services. Discussions with local residents and businesses have now begun on the relocation of this fleet from Shakespeare Road to another site. For more information on how you can get involved in this consultation you can call Cathryn Frail (Stakeholder Relations Officer) on 020 7926 2559 or email cfrail@lambeth.gov.uk
In response to previous consultation booklets, many of you said you were still worried about crime in Brixton…
Many of you will have heard of Operation Refresh, which has been tackling crime and quality of life issues in Brixton town centre since September 2003. Operation Refresh is a partnership between the police, council, London Underground, local businesses, market traders and voluntary organisations including homelessness charity St Mungo’s. We have tried to make environmental improvements and target your key areas of concern, namely drugs and drug dealing, aggressive begging and rough sleeping. Another aim is to set up a regular crime forum for businesses
Safer Neighbourhood teams are also running in the wards of Coldharbour, Ferndale and Herne Hill. Residents who sit on Safer NeighbourhoodCommunity Panels prioritise work for these teams.
And in August, 411 Coldharbour Lane opened as a community police resource centre. This means police have an office in the heart of Brixton and in an area once central to local drug dealing.
Like Clapham, Brixton will benefit from the council’s new Private Finance Initiative contract to provide better street lighting. Specifically, all low pressure lighting (orange bulbs) in Coldharbour ward will be replaced with high pressure sodium lights (white lights). Also, we have replaced lights in Moorlands Road and put in extra columns in a number of other locations including Gordon Grove and Fiveways.
You also said you wanted to see Brixton Market better maintained and improved…
The town centre office has set up a new steering group that will look at ways to improve and develop the market. Proposals for improvements are currently being developed.
You wanted to see more toilet facilities…
Toilet facilities are provided at Popes Road in the market, despite the high cost due to abuse and vandalism. A temporary pissoir project ran for six weeks at three different locations throughout the summer. We are also looking at plans for longer term facilities.
You wanted a cleaner Brixton…
Lambeth is in the top quarter of London boroughs for clean streets. In the longer term, we are preparing a new contract to take care of our waste services. The new contract will begin in April 2007 and there will be a full consultation with local residents, businesses, and other interested groups to find out how you want the service to be shaped in the future.
And you wanted better roads…
The following roads have either been resurfaced already or will be resurfaced by March 2006:- Acre Lane
- Milkwood Road
- Atlantic Road
- Plato Road
- Coldharbour Lane
- Railton Road
- Lowden Road
Further resurfacing of roads is planned. Improvements to the High Street will be led by Transport for London.
