Building a strong local economy
Councillor Ian Wingfield, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Business, Employment and Culture
Supporting joint working between local business
Jack Scriven, SE5 Forum
Improving the public realm
Councillor Darren Merrill, Cabinet Member for Environment and the Public Realm
Improving transport
Steve Kearns, Transport for London
Policing in the town centre
Inspector Duncan Jackson, Metropolitan Police Service
Minutes:
Building a strong local economy
Councillor Ian Wingfield, deputy leader and cabinet member for business, employment and culture, explained that the council placed a strong emphasis on engaging with local businesses. It was important to create successful and thriving local centres across the borough as well as to provide opportunities for employment and skills. The council had set a target of creating 5,000 jobs across the borough between 2014 and 2018. There were a number of schemes in place; one was the high street challenge. Over £350,000 had been invested in local high street businesses including shop fronts and infrastructure. One Camberwell initiative was a £15,000 grant to the SE5 Forum to develop the farmer’s market at Camberwell Green and also to look into setting up a business improvement district (BID) in the area. Grants had also gone to Camberwell Arts to provide local creative input and Wormfood Music to support pop-up street markets and to attract different types of shoppers to the area. There were also schemes to assist local businesses support to apprenticeships.
Supporting joint working between local businesses
Jack Scriven, SE5 Forum, explained that the forum was volunteer-led forum and aimed to include everyone in Camberwell to work together for a better Camberwell.
The SE5 Forum had been invited by Southwark Council to look into the feasibility of setting up a business improvement district (BID) in Camberwell. A BID was created when businesses in a defined area vote to form a not-for-profit company that raises a levy on business rates. The money was then used on projects to improve the area. The idea being that promotion of the area and shared services would boost the area.
A survey had been undertaken to gauge opinion. About 60 businesses had been surveyed. Among the issues highlighted were:
- Over half the business surveyed did not think their customers came to Camberwell from outside the area
- Lack of parking for customers
- Anti-Social Behaviour
- Cleanliness / Street cleaning
- Strategy needed to bring in new retail
- Improvements to public spaces needed
67% of those surveyed thought the BID was a good idea. This was a good start but there was a lot of work to carry that through to setting up the BID. It would be dependent on some of the key stakeholders agreeing that they wanted to form a BID and forming a strong coherent majority of smaller businesses that also wanted to be part of a BID. The SE5 Forum was looking for further funding for capacity building and demonstration projects.
Improving the public realm
Councillor Darren Merrill, cabinet member for environment and the public realm, explained that Camberwell was about to see real improvements including a new library along with work on Camberwell Green. There was also investment in the cycling network, in the junction and in transport. Consultation responses on the pocket parks and small schemes around the junction had been broadly positive. Regarding the junction the response was poor so the plan was to go back to Transport for London (TfL) with more ambitious plans.
Regarding waste management in the town centre, there would be a pilot scheme on Walworth Road, to get rid of the large Euro bins from the high street and to time band / limit businesses to leaving out rubbish for collection to specific time slots. The bands would be outside of rush hour times. If successful, the pilot would be rolled out to Camberwell.
Improving transport
Steve Kearns, Transport for London, gave a visual presentation.
- The census in 2011 showed the population of London had grown to 8.2 million.
- By 2036, London’s population was projected to grow to 10.1 million, and to 11.3 million by 2050
- The number of jobs in London is projected to grow by 700,000 to 6.3 million in the same time period.
- The scale of this projected growth sets a considerable challenge for the provision of housing, facilities and infrastructure.
London Infrastructure Plan 2050
- The London Infrastructure Plan 2050 outlines the infrastructure requirements for the city and how best to deliver those.
- The plan identifies a Bakerloo Line Extension (BLE) as a key driver to delivering housing growth through improving connectivity to several opportunity areas.
Results of autumn 2014 consultation on the BLE
- Over 15,000 responses
- 96% support the BLE
- 49% support option 1a (Old Kent Road)
- 64% support option 1b (Camberwell and Peckham)
- 56% support terminating at Beckenham Junction and Hayes
- 60% support extension to Bromley Town Centre
Funding Challenges
- Depending on the route chosen, the scheme could cost over £3 billion.
- There was currently no money available for the project and continued pressure on TfL finances to maintain funding for the core investment programme
- As had been the case from other recent major infrastructure projects, such as the Northern line extension, any funding package would likely need to include contributions from developers along the route of the proposed extension.
- Such developments could be enabled by the additional capacity that the extended line would provide. This also meant that it was unlikely the scheme could happen without this new development.
Next Steps
- The most frequently mentioned alternative extension options proposed by respondents to the consultation would be assessed further to establish how well they met future challenges for south east London.
- A further public consultation would be undertaken by early 2016 on the outcomes of that work.
- TfL would continue to work with Southwark and other borough councils on the routes of the proposed extension options, and how an extension could be funded.
Conclusions
- London’s growth required further significant transport investment to unlock new homes
- In south east London the BLE could make a large contribution to the capital’s challenges.
- Funding an extension would be a significant challenge.
- TfL would complete assessment of the options for an extension and undertake further public consultation on the outcomes by early 2016.
Network Rail Station for Camberwell.
TfL would like to help the council with this and would like to take over more rail services including inner south London services. Network Rail would soon be looking at services coming in from Kent to London terminuses. The council should feed into that process on its aspiration for a station at Camberwell. TfL would work with the council to move that forward.
Parking
TfL would fund the town centre scheme with £4.5 million - £5million. The latest scheme was much improved and almost there. TfL needed to be convinced of good benefits for cyclists.
Policing in the town centre
Inspector Duncan Jackson, from the local police team gave a summary of recent activities. In relation to the town centre, Inspector Jackson said officers had been working with local wardens to tackle anti-social behaviour and drinking on Camberwell Green and elsewhere.
Inspector Jackson explained that the structure of policing was changing from local police teams back to safer neighbourhoods teams. The commitment to individual wards would remain so there would continue to be a nominated sergeant and a dedicated police constable.