The full cabinet has also been announced including several Camberwell Councillors.

See the Southwark website for full details

Also see the website for details of Camberwell Community Council

How this vision translates on the ground in Camberwell remains to be seen…

Update by Peter: For reference, here’s the Labour party Vision For Camberwell by Cllr. Wingfield as well.

The final results are 
Southwark
Labour: 35 Councillors (+7)
Liberal Democrats: 25 (-3)
Conservatives: 3 (-3)
Greens: 0 (-1)
Full results on the Southwark website

Lambeth
Labour: 44 Councillors (+5)
Liberal Democrats: 15 (-2)
Conservatives: 4 (-2)
Greens: 0 (-1)
See the Lambeth website for full results

So whatever happens at the national level we are still Labour.

Reasons to be cheerful

• The Labour result on Southwark will bring benefits for Camberwell as the new administration will be more concerned about bits of the borough such as Camberwell and Peckham which are Labour areas.
• The new administration (unlike the previous Lib Dem/ Conservative coalition) has a solid majority and so will not be having to make concessions to make different interests happy to secure their votes .
• The likely leader of Southwark Peter Johns is a Camberwell Councillor.
• Local Camberwell Councillors will be more accountable as they will no longer be able to blame the administration for lack of action  as they will be part of the administration. 
• The Camberwell Party has done great work in raising Camberwell issues and shown that the area cant be taken for granted
• There will hopefully be more joint working between Lambeth and Southwark as they are both of the same party and both councils face similar issues.
• With the Labour Party out of power at a national level local MP Harriet Harman will have more time for constituency duties (?)

As I say these are all reasons to be cheerful and hopeful for the future of Camberwell — we must now be active to ensure that the politicians deliver on their promises and direct investment, regeneration funding and attention to the area.

A good place to start is the Southwark Labour Party manifesto and the Lambeth Labour Party manifesto

This year on 6 May 2010 we will have a chance to vote twice – first for our Member of Parliament and then for our local borough Council. I intend to cover the local elections in a post later this week but today will look at the General Election.

The electoral situation in Camberwell like so many things is complicated – if we take Camberwell to be the SE5 postcode area rather than purely Camberwell town centre then we are covered by three constituencies: Camberwell and Peckham (the main part of Camberwell town centre), a part of Dulwich and West Norwood (the area either side of and South of Coldharbour Lane and around Ruskin Park towards Herne Hill) and a part of Vauxhall (South of Camberwell New Road until the border with Southwark on Flodden Road – includes roads such as Paulet Road and the area around Myatts Fields Park).

All three of these constituencies are represented by Labour MPs all of whom had fairly safe majorities at the 2005 election. The Electoral Commission  has redrawn the boundaries slightly since the last General Election but not generally enough to shift the balance of power significantly.

The demographic profile of the area (or certainly Camberwell and Peckham, Vauxhall and the Camberwell part of Dulwich and West Norwood) is that of poor inner city (over 50% of people living in council/housing association housing, consequent low rates of home ownership, very low rates of car ownership, high levels of poverty etc etc) with pockets of wealth so you would expect Labour to be dominant.

The results at the last election show that in Vauxhall and Camberwell and Peckham Labour took over 50% of the vote (and in Camberwell and Peckham Harriet Harman received over 65% of all votes cast) and so it would be virtually impossible for Labour to lose in either of these constituencies. (Stranger things have happened but only where there has been a scandal/other event which has distorted the picture.) Dulwich and West  Norwood is more marginal – here Tessa Jowell at the last election gained 45% of the vote with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats gaining just over 20% of the votes each.

My personal feeling is that the situation is unlikely to change significantly in any of the constituencies as the Labour vote may diminish slightly but is likely to to remain generally firm. Any increase in the Conservative vote is likely to be at the expense of the Liberal Democrat vote (just look at the results of the London Mayor election in 2008 when the Lib Dems were squeezed in the main Boris/Ken race). Of course the whole matter could be distorted by low turnout but assuming levels of turnout similar to the 2005 election I dont expect any of our MPs to change. 

So who are the candidates locally?
The UK Polling report website or the Guardian website   are good (generally unbiased) sources of information and no doubt you will receive leaflets and other literature over the next few weeks telling you who to vote for. Here I identify the current MP and the main players (especially those who have Camberwell connections)

Camberwell and Peckham constituency (see Guardian profile)
Harriet Harman (Labour) – incumbent MP since 1982, Leader of the Commons and deputy leader of the Labour Party. Website
Columba Blango (Lib Dem) – Southwark Councillor (Rotherhithe), former Olympic athlete. Website
Jenny Jones (Green) – Southwark Councillor (South Camberwell), Londonwide Member of the London Assembly (elected on the party list). Website 
Andy Stranack (Conservative) – Community worker, lives in Peckham. Website   

Vauxhall constituency (Guardian profile)
Kate Hoey (Labour) – incumbent MP since 1989, known for ‘independent’ stance on many issues. Website 
Glyn Chambers (Conservative) – lives in Vauxhall. Website
Joseph Healy (Green) – Has been involved in Southwark campaigns. Website
Caroline Pidgeon (Lib Dem) – Londonwide Member of the London Assembly (elected on the party list) and Southwark Councillor (Newington), lives in Camberwell. Website

Dulwich and West Norwood constituency (Guardian profile)
Tessa Jowell (Labour) – incumbent MP since 1992, Olympics Minister. Website
Kemi Adegoke (Conservative) – lives in Herne Hill, Systems Analyst for RBS. Website 
Shane Collins (Green) – lives in Lambeth. Website
Jonathan Mitchell (Lib Dem) – lives in Dulwich, Southwark Councillor (East Dulwich), stood last time. Website 

(These are the Camberwell connections/ information/ website I could find — if you know of anything else please add)

So will you vote? What will these candidates do for Cambwerwell?

Hello there, and yet another post by another guest poster. Apologies for the very long post but just couldn’t get it any shorter.

As many of you will no doubt have heard by now the former cinema and bingo hall has been bought by Merinbrand (whoever they are) on behalf of (we assume) the Redeemed Christian Church of God or RCCG for short. We believe that contracts have been exchanged but completion is not due to take place until the beginning of March. The chances of us stopping the sale are slim, but I do not think that should prevent us from trying.

We started a campaign this Monday to try and get more information and transparency over the sale of the building by Gala Bingo. Last week I was told that the information was confidential and that I would have to wait until the sale had gone through. I think it is safe to assume that they were a little surprised at how quickly we managed to gather the troops, and very soon after our photo in front of the cinema today we had the head of PR sending out emails absolving themselves of all responsibility and hanging the new (potential) owners out to dry.

This is thanks to people like Victor, a.k.a. Eusebiovic, who set up a Facebook page which has nearly 200 fans already and is growing by the second. Also thanks go to Copeywolf (James), Liliana of PROS,Melanie Rimmer of Camberwell Arts and last but not least Mark Dodds and Barbara Pattinson from the SE5 forum for all their help. I have created a website (www.CamberwellCommunityCinema.webs.com) for the campaign to keep the cinema for the community and I have no idea where all you people are coming from but the response has been (almost) unanimous against having RCCG move in.

I think this is a real chance for Camberwell to come together as a community. And I don’t just mean those who use the internet. I mean all those who loved the bingo and now have to go to Surrey Quays (because that’s convienient). I mean all those for whom Christianity is not their religion. I mean all the artists looking for a space. I mean something to stop Time Out banging out yet another edition about the “great” East End. I mean all those who want Camberwell to have a focal point we can be proud of.

RCCG will have to change the commercial use from D2 (Cinema, music and concert halls) to D1 (Places of worship and Church Halls). This is where we as a community come in. We cannot let this happen. There are so many reasons why this should not be allowed. So, write to your MP, write to your councillors. Tell the press, tell Boris. Shout it out. Email your friends. Join the facebook page. Tell your friends to join the facebook page. Write to famous Camberwellians. Make people notice. MAKE A FUSS!

To be fair I think most councillors are firmly behind us and John Friary has been helping already to ask questions. There is a Camberwell Community Council meeting next Wednesday 3^rd March at 7pm at Southwark Town Hall. Please go. We need to let Southwark Council know that Camberwell matters. We need them to stop palming us off with disjointed plans which come to nothing. On top of that, there is an election coming up. That should concentrate the mind wonderfully!

We will be getting some posters to put around Camberwell. I will put them on the website for you to download and print off. Stick them on windows of shops. Talk to your neighbours.

MAKE A FUSS!

Camberwell deserves better.

Tom.

a.k.a. Monkeycat.

More prosaic matters: I have to say that St George seem to be doing a good job of the Camberwell Grove development; the architecture of the new buildings is perfectly in keeping with the surrounding ones, and the restoration of the school building has breathed new life into it. The first show apartment was opened at the weekend, and I was quite curious to see inside.

I passed the development on my way back from Johansson’s (formerly Seymour Bros.) cafe, where I enjoyed a big and tasty fried breakfast. There were an awful lot of gay gentlemen in there, and it would be interesting to know whether this was an isolated occurrence or indicative of a more general trend; could Camberwell be set to capitalise on its proximity to Vauxhall? With Queer Complex at the Sun & Doves on Saturdays, and the events organised by our very own GayCamberwell.com team, looks like we’re all benefiting from an injection of the pink pound.

On the subject of development, still, I noticed that the former Father Red Cap / Redstar has had a face lift. I was about to write “looks like Planet Nollywood is on its way”, but a quick search reveals that it seems to already be open. Anyone heard more?

I had a drink in the Fox On The Hill on Saturday, the first I’ve had there in about 12 or 13 years. The views across London are amazing, and the selection of beers is pretty good, but the bland interior and the group of aggressive drunken men on the table next to me reminded me why I don’t go more often.

Final news: as you must know by now, Camberwell Baths have been awarded £1.45m of Government funding, and the Council are to match that investment. Truly good news. Less good, however, is the fact that the Council-owned buildings around the Town Hall are up for sale, marking the beginning of the move to Bankside. One can only imagine how we’ll be treated once we’re out of the Council’s view.

Don’t forget, if you Twitter we’re at twitter.com/camberwellblog.

Oh, one more thing: I’m still on the look-out for more contributors; five years of blogging here is playing havoc with my nerves, and I’m sure there must be people with different points of view that would be interested in getting involved. Email me at peter@camberwellonline.co.uk if you’re interested.

Those same people have done some good work, SE5 Forum, The Camberwell Society, Camberwell Renewal, to name but a few. But what about the large proportion of those who are not in any way involved in any of the mentioned groups? Part of the reason for the apparent apathy when it comes to being actively involved with your surroundings could be lack of information about ways to get involved, or (un)intentional obscurity of available information. One of the things we, the People’s Republic of Southwark, had found out on our monthly events is that, while the cyber communications are significant and precious, nothing beats the RL (real life) people interaction.

So we are now hoping to set up a very very public meeting to find out how those who for whatever reason feel excluded from decision making feel about the demise of Camberwell and how we go about making a difference.

Any help with any aspect of organising this would be greatly appreciated.

Some of the things which I think would need to be worked out at the beginning are:

• which areas would come under the ‘Camberwell’ umbrella?
• how would we engage people (not just TRA committees) living in those areas?
• which officials would need to be involved (councillors/TFL/GLA representatives)?
• what would be the best way of determining the agenda/running the meeting?
• what are the current initiatives/issues around Camberwell? Where are they at?

If any of you have experience of any of the above (organising large scale events; lobbying/negotiation with the local government; promotion, etc) please let us know if you would be able to help out in any capacity/for any length of time.

Thank you

peoplesrepublicofsouthwark.co.uk

Thanks to someone I can’t remember, I’ve recently found the blog of local councillor John Friary, of the Camberwell Green ward. It’s very useful for local news; for example, his latest post mentions that the future of the Baths / Leisure Centre is not as rosy as it could be -  survival depends on Southwark being able to get £2m Government funding from a pot of £50m — which 200 other local authorities have also made bids on. News on the future of the Town Hall there as well.

The latest installment of My Middle-Class Weekends saw me and the wife check out the Saturday farmer’s market in Oval (which we can probably just about squeeze into Camberwell, as it’s at the very end of Camberwell New Road). It’s bigger than the Sunday market at Peckham, with more food actually cooked and served there. Peckham’s still great for picking up the basics, but for something a little more tasty — such as the delicious venison and mushroom pie we had for dinner — it merits a trip on the 436. And I don’t say that lightly.

Earlier that day we dropped a few items off at the PROS bring & take event at the Synergy Centre. Hope that went well.

Later we thought we’d try The Cambria, which everyone has been raving about, but after cycling over there we realised that a) neither of us had any cash and b) all of the outside tables were in the shade. It looks beautiful inside, but we’ll have to go back another time to review it properly. Instead, we wrang out the last few drops of sunshine in the Sun & Doves garden.

To close, some gossip; my mate at the pub says that the Camberwell Grove development isn’t selling well at all. After having to scale back their plans considerably (due to the opposition of the Camberwell Grove Society) they decided to make up their profits by charging more for the properties. Obviously the current financial climate has seen prices tumble, but St George have yet to follow suit; hence, slow sales. As with all gossip, I cannot vouch for its veracity.

If St George would like some free publicity, I will gladly sing their praises here in return for a one-bedroom flat. For a two-bedroom flat, I will also renounce my dislike of the Vauxhall Bridge development.

* In case you don’t know what feeds are, the BBC have a good overview; they’re much more convenient than visiting loads of sites every day. While on technical matters, the 30% of people who visit this site using Internet Explorer 6 should really consider updating to a modern browser; IE6 is old, slow, and potentially insecure. Ask a web-savvy friend if you don’t know what this means.

Verdict on The Bear: Good. Not excellent, but good. An alternative to the Dark Horse if it’s faffy food you’re after. They’ve done a good job on the decor and the staff were attentive, but it’s quite far from my house and didn’t quite have enough to tempt me over there on a regular basis. Nice if you live nearby, though.

Saturday morning, and the sun shining through my bedroom window told me it was time to get the mop cut. So I headed on over to Cube — except, as I approached, I got a rather nasty shock; it isn’t Cube anymore. I began to fear the worst as I got nearer and saw that it’s now called Teamwork, and advertises braiding and other services; could it be that my hairdresser had joined the multitudes of Afro-hairdressers in Camberwell? I needn’t have worried, as the staff and owner haven’t changed; only the name has. Inside it’s the same. I wanted to ask what prompted the change of identity, but my hairdresser was the stern Eastern-European lady who intimidates me into silence. A good haircut, though.

Afterwards I met the wife in the rear courtyard of Seymour Bros, where we basked while enjoying a late breakfast. Then a walk up to Ruskin Park, where we sat and watched the ducks for a while, and noticed that work is going on at the former bowling green; does anyone know if it will be flower beds, or something else? To cap off a capital sunny day in the Capital we went to the Sun & Doves for iced cider in the garden.

On the way home we thought about buying a plant for a friend’s birthday, so stopped in Pesh Flowers. The wooden boards and the medley of aromas makes this one of the nicest places to pass a little time, away from concrete and cars. Unless you have a pollen allergy, I suppose.

And that was my weekend in Camberwell.

As you can’t have failed to notice, the Mayoral elections take place this week. I’ll be voting for Livingstone; not because I’m a dyed-in-the-wool socialist, but because I think he’s done a good job in the last eight(?) years, with some truly bold attempts at sorting out the transport problem. He’s not perfect — which politician is? — but I think he’s better than the alternatives.

Johnson is not a Londoner, and the peak of his experience is running a magazine, not one of the largest and richest cities in the  world. Add to this the fact that his policies don’t add up; there are lots of promises, but few mentions of how they are to be funded or implemented. Paddick suffers from the same problem everywhere except on crime, which he understands better than transport or housing.

On top of this, there’s the fact that I’d love to bloody the nose of the Evening Standard, who have run one of the most negative, biased campaigns I’ve ever seen, against the current mayor. But hey; that’s just me. You go ahead and vote with your conscience. But if you do vote for Johnson and he does get elected, you’re never allowed to make jokes about Americans electing Bush ever again.

This is just an interim post; more tomorrow.

Update: The Goldfrapp video filmed in Addington Square is available to watch now. Quite funny to see that bus stop, telephone box, and fruit & veg stall there. Thanks to Matt for finding this.

Having finished my ablutions, I looked around for a drain to spit it into; that was when I realised that the streets were full of kids on their way to school. I didn’t want to look like a crazy man, spitting a gob-full of foaming liquid into the gutter in front of the children, so I had to walk on with a mouth bulging with mouthwash.

Every turn I took, there somebody was; children and parents doing the school run, commuters late leaving the house, dog-walkers; it was like the Batman film from the 60s, where he’s desperately trying to get rid of a bomb but is thwarted by nuns, children and a family of ducks. It was only on Camberwell Grove I finally found a ten-second window to rid myself of my load. Still, I think Dr Asad appreciated it.

So, dental hygiene aside, what’s the news? Camberwell Baths, the Cuming Museum and Livesey Children’s Museum are all set to be hit by budget cuts, and could close. Apparently health and culture are not high on the list of priorities for Southwark Council. The website of the Livesey Museum has some links to online campaigns to keep them open; I’m slightly wary of the effectiveness of online petitions, so I would urge you to raise this issue with your MP also.

The Camberwell Grove railway bridge is to reopen, with traffic lights and barriers installed until the bridge is replaced completely. There’s another online petition to sign if you want Network Rail to do that sooner rather than later.

There was something else I was going to mention; I may update when I remember what it was.