Your Essential Northcote Update July 2020
Pictured: Cllr Peter Dawson, Cllr Louise Calland and Cllr Aled Richards-Jones
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Contact: Cllr Aled-Richards Jones
Dear resident,
Welcome to our Northcote July update. Although it is still a strange time, with lockdown easing for many, we hope you are enjoying the chance to shop and eat out in a socially distanced way, and like us soaking up the weather on Northcote Road.
You can see us (above) dining out for the first time this weekend during the fabulous trial of Northcote Road weekend pedestrianisation, as well as visiting our favourite local shops both in person or online. It’s vital that we help out our local businesses and #ShopLocal to help save our local high streets and local jobs.
Below is an update on local issues – including the future of the Arding and Hobbs building, Northcote Road pedestrianisation, and playground reopening – and some information about what the Council has been doing to help residents and the Borough cope with the pandemic.
As ever, if you have any issues you would like to raise with us, please don’t hesitate to email us by clicking on our names on the buttons above.
Best wishes,
Aled, Louise and Peter
Northcote Road weekend pedestrianisation trial
We’ve had our first weekend of the Northcote Road pedestrianisation trial, and we hope you agree it was a great success.
We spoke to several business owners who were grateful for the extra trade that the pedestrianisation has enabled – with not just the cafes, bars and restaurants seeing additional trade, but also retailers who said they benefitted from the increased footfall.
We’re thankful for the residents who’ve emailed us praising the initiative: one resident said they thought this was “radical” action and said “I don’t know of many other Councils doing this - apart from Westminster which have pedestrianised parts of Soho.”
We and Wandsworth Council worked hard to make this happen, including negotiating with TfL to reroute buses and paying for stewards and security from 3pm until closing time to make sure there were no issues.
Business, residents and the Council are all adapting as we try and help Northcote Road come back to life after the lockdown. However, this is still a trial period, so if you have any observations or concerns about the pedestrianisation trial, please do send us an email by clicking on our names above.
Refurbishing the iconic Arding & Hobbs building in the heart of Battersea’s Clapham Junction.
We know many have been concerned by the sad closure of Debenhams in the Arding & Hobbs building – however, we have been in regular contact with the owners and are very encouraged by their plans to refurbish this iconic building and attract in new retailers as soon as they can.
Our thanks to those who responded to the initial survey by the owner on this, we understand they had over 1000 responses.
We’ve been told that the developers plan online webinar presentations of the latest proposals, specific virtual events for residents of Ilminster Garden residents, and ground floor hoardings showcasing the building’s magnificent history and setting out the owner’s plans for the future.
Three online webinars have now been announced by the developers, and are scheduled for the following times:
Session 1: Tuesday 21 July from 11am to 12pm
Session 2: Wednesday 22 July from 6pm to 7pm
Session 3: Thursday 23 July from 6pm to 7pm
To attend, please email The team and let them know your questions beforehand.
(Please note that, at the moment, no planning application has yet been submitted but we will let you know when it is).
Northcote playgrounds reopen
Playgrounds across Wandsworth reopened last weekend, including St Mark’s Playspace on Boutflower Road and the Chivalry Road Playground.
However, whilst play equipment is regularly checked to ensure it’s safe to use and not defective, it is not sanitised or disinfected.
This means that parents and carers need to ensure that children follow some simple rules in order to minimise the risk of people catching Coronavirus and sparking a surge in infections.
If you’re heading out to one of the playgrounds, please check these common sense rules.
Enjoy your time on Wandsworth Common – but please take your litter home!
It’s great to see so many people enjoying our commons, but sadly a minority behave in an unneighbourly way and leave their litter lying around.
Do look out for the Council’s new poster campaign to encourage people to take their litter home with them – and please take your litter home after a day spent enjoying our beautiful green spaces.
Our Road To Recovery
Living in Wandsworth I know that the past few months have been really difficult for our community.
We have all made huge sacrifices to protect our NHS and protect our loved ones from this horrific virus.
Now that restrictions are being eased, our way of life is beginning to return to a sense of normality.
You can read my article on our Road to Recovery in Merton & Wandsworth by clicking the button below.
Read My Letter To Residents On Our Road To Recovery
Wishing you all the best
Cllr Louise Calland
GLA Candidate for Merton & Wandsworth
COVID-19: Our Response
COVID-19 has been a difficult time for many residents in Wandsworth.
Wandsworth Council have taken action throughout the lockdown to help those most in need in our Wandsworth Community.
Over the past few months to support our community during COVID-19 our Council has:
1. Set up the successful Wandsworth Community Hub which has helped over 6000 residents during COVID-19.
2. Kept our parks open during lockdown allowing Wandsworth residents to exercise safely during lockdown.
3. Paid out over £53m to over 3,300 Wandsworth businesses helping local business stay afloat during COVID-19.
4. Continued rubbish and recycling collection throughout lockdown with over 1600 tons of additional refuse and recycling collected in the first 2 weeks of April, May and June than the previous year.
5. Developed a London Leading 9 point Back to School plan to get children back to school safely in Wandsworth which got one of the highest numbers of schools re-opening in the country on day one, with every single mainstream primary and secondary school open within a week with significantly above national average attendance. All special schools are now open too.
6. Set up the 'Power to Connect' scheme with Battersea Power Station which, together with the government and Dons, has delivered 1181 laptops so far plus dongles and data vouchers to children in digital poverty.
7. Provided over 60 bikes for NHS workers with more on the way to help those who care for us get to work safely.
8. Communicated the latest COVID-19 updates in Wandsworth during lockdown reaching almost 200 thousand residents who received emails and/or letters from the Council.
9. Delivered a unique package of support for local businesses in preparation for them re-opening.
10. Introduced measures to aid social distancing such as widening pavements in Putney High Street.
And as we begin to look ahead towards a post lockdown world Wandsworth Council will continue to support those in need in our community.
If you need support
If you need support you can contact:
Wandsworth Council's Community Hub by phone on: 020 8871 6555 or by e-mail by clicking here.
Your local Councillors by clicking on their names above.
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