The Housing and Planning Bill is now law. A campaign briefing on what the Act means for our communities can be found here and the presentation made to a meeting on Kennington Park Estate on 7 June by Ron Hollis, member of Lambeth Tenants Council can be found here
Lambeth Housing Activists are holding a meeting in Kennington Park Community Centre at 7pm on 7 June to discuss what we can do next now the Housing & Planning Act is law. Everyone welcome!
Lots more information on the Housing Bill and why we oppose it can be found in a blog written by the Chair of the KPE Tenants Association, Joan Twelves – click here
Opposition to the Housing Bill is building. The Chair of KPETRA, Joan Twelves, has written a blog post about it, explaining the devastating effect it could have on residents of Kennington Park Estate. It can be found by clicking here or https://joantwelves.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/the-great-london-clearances/ More actions against the Bill are being planned and details will be posted here.
Several Kennington Park Estate residents joined the local south London March against the Housing Bill yesterday. Opposition to the Bill is building. The next big event is on 13 March. More information about the Bill can be found here
Kennington Park Estate TRA has joined with other TRAs in Stockwell to write to the Board of the Hyde Group calling on them not to implement the Pay to Stay proposals in the Bill. Our letter and the Hyde Group’s reply are here. Detailed briefings on the contents of the Bill by our Chair, Joan, and the ‘Kill the Housing Bill’ campaign can be found by clicking here and here.
The Housing & Planning Bill gets its third reading at the beginning of January. A protest lobby and meeting in Parliament on Tuesday 5 January is being organised by the ‘Kill the Housing Bill – Secure Homes for All’ campaign and will mark the next stage of the fight against the Housing Bill. Come to rally outside Parliament at Old Palace Yard SW1A 0AA from 2pm, joined by MPs and other speakers against the Government’s latest onslaught on truly affordable and secure homes. A protest meeting inside Parliament 5-7pm (allow 30 minutes to get in due to security checks) will hear tenants, trade unions, councillors and MPs explain the case against the Housing Bill and for investment in council housing and other secure and really-affordable homes. Last week, ministers managed to sneak in last minute amendments to the Bill to remove secure lifetime council tenancies. Invite and Lobby your Councillors…
Our meeting on 18 November held an interesting and wide-ranging discussion, led by our MP Kate Hoey and local councillor Jack Hopkins, on the implications for social housing residents of the Government’s Housing & Planning Bill, which is currently being discussed in Parliament. An article by Cllr Matthew Bennett, Lambeth Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, which provides useful background to the Bill, was circulated at the meeting, and our Chair, Joan Twelves, has written a blog on the implications of the Pay to Stay part of the Bill. You can read them here: http://www.lambeth-labour.org.uk/tory_housing_bill_of_horrors https://joantwelveswordpress.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/the-end-of-social-housing/
Lambeth Council Cultural Services are being CUT! Government austerity measures mean that Lambeth Council’s funding has been halved, which means a devastating £90 million service cuts over the next three years. Some of those cuts will come from the budget for our local libraries, parks, sports centres and the arts, and many much valued and used local facilities could be for the chop. Consultation is taking place with a closing date of 24 April. The questionnaire is available online at www.lambeth.gov.uk/culture2020consultation and in the Library. For residents of Kennington Park Estate the proposals particularly mean the loss of all council funding for our nearest library, Durning, and changes to the way Kennington Park is funded and operates. Durning Library The Council is proposing to turn Durning into a ‘Community Library’. There is a Campaign against this already underway: As well as stopping…