Get growing!

The lovely people at Myatt’s Fields Park – who Brixton Blog visited back in Autumn last year – have appointed a new community gardener and are offering support to ten local food growing projects. MFP have received funding from the City Bridge Trust as part of its ‘Growing Localities’ programme which aims to promote and enhance London’s green spaces, while encouraging community engagement and ownership of local spaces.

The support will include small grants, training sessions, and use of MFP’s impressive greenhouse. Victoria Sherwin of Myatt’s Fields Park told Brixton Blog:

‘the growing spaces will be in places that a lot of people will have contact with e.g. estates, schools, road sides, so a lot of people will learn about growing food, and be able to try freshly grown local food for themselves. Also it will strengthen Myatt’s as a centre of excellence for food growing, which will give more power to all local growers and to the food growing movement in Lambeth – meaning more food security for all of us.’

But get in quick – the application deadline is Monday 20^th May. For more info, see: http://bit.ly/15ToyQQ

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Granville Arcade, or “Brixton Village” pic by Laura Spargo

A new venture, called Champagne and Fromage, has applied for an alcohol licence for a unit in Granville Arcade.

The application to serve alcohol at Units 10 and 11, Brixton Village, has been made by  Stefano Frigerio from the company Lafata Ltd.

The proposal is for a shop “selling cheese, wine and champagne and another space that will be used as a bistro for people drinking and eating cheeseboards, charcuterie boards and other simple dishes/tapas around cheese.”

Last month, neighbours of Brixton’s covered markets called on Lambeth council to create a saturation zone to control the number of new licensed premises in the area. Brixton Society have also expressed concern at the amount of new bars and cafes in the market, which they say threaten the diversity which makes it so special.

In a statement earlier this year, Bill Linskey, chairman of Brixton Society commented:  “There is nothing wrong with having some bars and cafes in a market area; they can add some variety and vibrancy. However Brixton’s unique market character can only be preserved if it remains essentially a retail market.”

You can view the full application here.

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Lambeth Council is coming under pressure to protect Loughborough Estate residents from losing their homes due to the bedroom tax.

The Loughborough Estate Tenants and Residents Association is urging the council to not make those tenants leave their homes who face eviction as a result of the changes.

There was unanimous support for a motion urging the council to protect the 170 people on the Loughborough Estate facing a 14% cut in their housing benefit because they have a spare room.

Grace Lally, chair of the association, told a packed meeting earlier this month: “Lambeth is one of the most litigious councils in the country. It’s ridiculous how much the council spends on court actions, making people homeless, which doesn’t save the council money.”

“We should not allow people to be evicted because their benefit is cut for having a spare bedroom.”

She said that other councils had vowed to not put resources into evicting affected tenants and others were exploring whether they could re-designate rooms so that tenants do not face cuts.

But Labour councillor for the area Matt Parr disappointed residents when he responded: “The council can’t let the arrears grow. That would cause problems for the council, we’ll have a bigger and bigger hole in our housing revenue account.”

And he said that he doubted whether the council would “get away with” re-classifying flats as having fewer rooms than they really do.

But after one furious tenant told him that “regardless of whether it would work, it’s the fight that’s important,” Parr agreed to suggest “foiling tactics”.

Parr also backed a suggestion at the meeting that the council could help any residents who decide to downsize to a smaller property to escape the cut to stay on the estate. The council could help them to find somebody to swap with so they are not waiting years for another flat.

And he agreed to find out how residents could apply for help from the discretionary housing payments fund that the Government has made available for some people affected by the bedroom tax.

Lally said afterwards: “We elect councillors to represent us, not to manage the council. I hope that the council listens to us.”

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‘Yuppies out’ seen written on Foxtons, Brixton Road, picture by Kaye Wiggins

The chancellor’s new ‘Help to Buy’ scheme, offering prospective buyers up to 20% of the value of their new-build home and mortgage guarantees for those with small deposits, aims to make it easier for people to buy their own homes. But while these incentives are meant to help many first-time buyers get on the property ladder, available housing in places such as Brixton is rapidly being snapped up by investors who want to let, not live here, forcing house prices into stratospheric heights for local residents.

This year’s arrival of a Foxtons branch on Brixton Road signals the beginning and the end – the end of Brixton’s reputation as an undesirable area to live in and the beginning of a mass exodus of local Brixton residents. In fact it is now one of the most desirable places to live in the Capital; even developers Barrrats are building a gated block of apartments inappropriately named ‘Brixton Square’. Situated opposite the Somerleyton estate, one of the most deprived housing areas in Brixton, Barratts describes their properties as ‘great homes, but they also make fantastic buy to let investments’. And herein lies the problem; new build homes in Brixton are being sold at an alarming rate to those wishing to cash in on the lucrative buy-to-let market, instead of local people searching for their first time home. Gentrification of inner city areas such as Brixton has a direct effect for their long-standing working class residents. With an influx of young professionals renting in these areas, house prices have seen a dramatic increase with Brixton seeing the highest price increases in London in the period of 1999-2002. In 2012 survey, Lambeth was ranked as the 13^th most expensive borough in London to live in.

Take Keisha Thompson, a 27 year-old woman, born and raised in Brixton. She has been saving for a deposit for nearly three years only to find that she is being priced out of her beloved hometown because houses are being sold for far more than she can afford. In 2012, the average price of a flat in Lambeth was £321, 639. She’s now looking into other areas such as Deptford, Woolwich and even as far as Kent in order to be able to afford the 5% deposit required for the scheme. ‘It’s sad that I can’t afford a house where I grew up because it’s become so unaffordable, why should I have to leave?’ Sadly this is the story of many of my long-standing Brixton peers searching for a home in the area they were raised. The majority of those on the property ladder are have moved to Greater London suburbs and the Home Counties.

Although the Help to Buy scheme isn’t available for those wishing to buy in order to let, its effectiveness would be felt more greatly if the government gave priority to long standing residents of inner city boroughs. Perhaps by offering a bigger loan percentage for local people and ensuring they are given priority over new residents they can avoid the impending decimation of the heritage in these areas.

Capping the number of buy-to-let investors in an area along with the opportunity to buy old builds would be welcome too. After all I didn’t grow up in Brixton dreaming of a shiny cookie cutter Barratts home, no offence. It was the terraced Victorian house on Holmewood Road with a green box hedge and window seats that I longed to buy, but now priced at a whopping £562,829 I might as well forget that dream.

Rising house prices, tighter social housing and benefit laws means an exodus of original residents; people who take a piece of Brixton’s culture with them when they leave. This will directly affect local businesses; changing the landscape of independent stores and restaurants that makes Brixton such a vibrant and diverse community. After all, who wants Brixton to become a stark new-build haven consumed by new residents milling around in chain stores and chain restaurants such as Foxtons and Starbucks? Certainly not me.

Melody David tweets at @MelodysNotebook 

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MISSING: Bryan

The owners of a missing cat from Helix Road, Brixton have launched an impassioned plea for help to find him.

Bryan, a moggy with distinctive black and white colouring, went missing from his home on the night of May 13-14.

His owners think he might have squeezed out of the window before falling somewhere and getting stuck.

Owner Andreas Nyberg said: “I’ve been worried sick looking for him. He is one of the friendliest cats you’ll meet.”

He urged anyone who finds Bryan to pick him up and take him inside, and to call Andreas immediately.

You can contact him on 07785614716 or 07531313651 

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UNDER PRESSURE: Residents feared for their safety after hearing noise coming from the pump room

Residents of a Brixton block of flats have accused their housing association of “gross negligence” over a noisy water pump which stopped them from sleeping.

The noise got so bad that tenants at Elderton House, Hicken Road, Brixton Hill were forced to call the fire brigade on Tuesday morning to break in and turn off the pump after they “feared for their safety”.

They say that despite reporting a loud noise to landlords L & Q more than two weeks ago, nothing had been done and housing officers had told them they “didn’t have the key” to access the pump room.

LAX: After breaking in residents found a service note dating back to 2009 taped to the boiler

After a fire crew broke into the room and switched off the pump, tenants were without mains water until 5pm on Tuesday.

Resident Michael Burke said: “The noise was originally reported two weeks ago and nothing was done. The last few days it was so bad that we and our neighbours could not use one of our bedrooms, we both have kids!”

He added: “We found notes on the pump dated September 2009, which I seized. It looks like it has not been maintained since then. The words gross negligence spring to mind.”

LOCKED: L and Q said they did not have a key to the cupboard

A spokesperson for L and Q apologised to Elderton House residents. She said: “We sent out a contractor on Monday to inspect the pumps but they were unable get into the pump room. We arranged for the contractor to come back the next day but by then the residents had already called the fire brigade.

“We have now temporarily fixed the pump and are waiting for additional parts to arrive to complete the repair.”

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It is mango season in the market. Gorgeous vivid orange skinned fruit bursting with sweet slightly peppery juice and a fragrant smell, they are nothing like the fibrous supermarket ones. Usually hailing from Pakistan, these are Alphonso mangoes and they are the Rolls Royce of stone fruit.

The first few of the season are typically eaten standing over the sink with juice running down your hands as you wolf down the soft flesh in your haste to taste the start of summer. The next few are carefully sliced and eaten with more decorum and cutlery. Then you start to wonder what else to do with the box. They make outstanding lassis, but I love them for breakfast based on the Filipino treat of tapioca dessert.

An acquired texture to some, I adore tapioca (also known as sago), this thick sticky creamy dish that pops slightly on the tongue. Don’t be put off by schoolday dishes of ‘frogspawn’. Prepared properly, it’s luxuriously good and extremely easy.

Mango Tapioca: serves 4

• 125g grams of white tapioca (available from Wing Tai)
• 750ml whole milk*
• 2 tablespoons double cream (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 large Alphonso mangoes

Wash the tapioca well in cold water to remove the excess starch. Drain and put the tapioca in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Pour the milk over it and leave to soak and plump up for at least an hour. I’ve also done this overnight in the fridge.

When you’re ready to cook the tapioca, add the cream if you like and the sugar and simmer gently on a low heat until the milk has absorbed and the grains are now creamy and glossy. This took about 20 minutes for me so keep a careful eye.

While the tapioca is cooking, peel the mangoes carefully and puree. Set aside while the tapioca cools slightly and then combine the two well. Marvel at the delightful colour and then devour.

Not at all ‘frogspawn’ like, this is sweet and creamy but light and summery. It makes a lovely dessert and a fantastic alternative in the mornings to porridge. The mango flavour works really well here and the whole thing feels like a real treat. Do try it!

*I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use a non dairy milk for this. Obviously omit the cream to make it completely dairy free or vegan. Tapioca is naturally gluten free as well.

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Lambeth Town Hall, by Laura Spargo

By Georgia Hussey

Lambeth council will put £465,000 into a new scheme to get residents into work.

The move comes as Lambeth tries to deal what the council says is the highest number of Jobseekers’ Allowance claimants in any London borough. Councillors said at a meeting on Monday that 12,000 residents were claiming the benefit.

The new funding aims to help Lambeth residents gain access to some of the 32,000 jobs that are expected be created in the area over the next 20 years, most of which will be in Vauxhall, Waterloo and Nine Elms.

Labour councillor Jack Hopkins acknowledged that the council had not prioritised employment in the past, and said the project, called Lambeth Working, marked a “cultural shift”.

“This is about looking not just at traditional things that the council does or doesn’t do,” he said at Monday’s council meeting, when the scheme was approved.

“It’s about looking at the citizens in the borough and understanding we have a commitment to all of our people.”

The initiative will work closely with Jobcentre Plus and Lambeth College to build links between employers, schools, colleges and training organisations to make sure some of the tens of thousands of jobs created by regeneration projects such as those in Nine Elms and Vauxhall go to local residents looking for work.

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BURNING ISSUE: The protest will start at Brixton Fire Station

Protestors will march from Brixton Fire Station to Lambeth Town Hall tomorrow, in support of Clapham Fire Station.

The Clapham station is earmarked for closure under London Fire Brigade plans, a move that could increase emergency response times across Brixton, Clapham and Lambeth.

The demonstration, organised by the London Fire Brigades Union (FBU), will start at Brixton Fire Station at 6.30pm. It will then march to Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, where a consultation meeting is due to begin at 7pm.

Brian Mollaghan is the union rep at Clapham Fire Station. He said, “Clapham Fire Station covers many high rise estates like the Studley Road estate in Stockwell. These are like streets in the sky. Any incident will require at least four fire engines and it may take time to reach the fire in question if it is high up. Response time is vital.”

He added: “The London Fire Authority talks about the response time for one or two fire engines. This is irrelevant for a fire in a high rise building. We need many fire engines to arrive quickly”

Local politicians have spoken out against the planned closure. Chuka Umunna MP said: “Every second counts when it comes to tackling fires. It is intolerable that the government’s failing and discredited deficit reduction plan means it will take firefighters longer to get to my constituents in an emergency.

“I want as many people as possible to respond to the consultation to make it crystal clear that we think Clapham Fire Station must stay open after this plan is finalised.”

On Monday, Lambeth council launched a shocking video depicting the sound of a child struggling to breathe in a burning bedroom.

According to the LFB, response times to emergencies will rise in Clapham Common by 2.57mins and in Clapham Town by 3.57mins if the plans are implemented.

A LFB spokesperson said: “The proposals currently out for public consultation seek to maintain our London-wide response targets, which as a London-wide fire brigade is how we plan the service we provide.

“The ward level data shows how varied response times are across the capital. As is the case now, over half of all London wards would, on average, continue to get a first response within the six minute target if the proposals are agreed.”

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The year’s 11th annual event will be introducing a new and exciting Street Art Area, organised by PositiveArts.co.uk. It will include live art work from visiting street artists and local school children.

It is also hoped to build and spray a life size London Tube Train to celebrate London Underground’s 150^th anniversary, which would then be exhibited in Windrush Square.

Help support innovative community art and visit the crowd funding page on the first page of their website.

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