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take three: soap box stars on the environment and low traffic neighbourhoods

Our unique Gogglebox-style coverage of the issues that affect residents in the run-up to the council elections on May 5th

By Kit Heren

kit@southwarknews.co.uk

sOuthwArK news is carrying out a unique project to encourage more people to vote in the council elections on May 5.

In a Gogglebox-style show, we are filming how four Southwark households react to what local politicians say about three key areas: housing, crime and education, and transport and the environment.

We are focusing on one part of the borough - Newington, near Elephant and Castle - which had the lowest voter turnout in the last elections in May 2018. For the third and final episode on climate and the environment, Green Party candidate Clare Wood came back again, Labour’s candidate Natasha Ennin defended her party’s record, and the Liberal Democrats’ James Gurling was looking to roll back the years in the fight for his old seat in the ward.

The Conservative Party were invited to send one of their candidates, but yet again did not respond to our repeated requests to join in.

We then showed the candidates’ answers to four households from a range of backgrounds in the ward to get their reactions: Ola, a mother of four and a Brandon Estate council tenant, Paula, also on the Brandon, Kym from the Newington Estate and her partner Les, from the Brandon Estate and Neil and Emma, leaseholders in Oyster Court. The focuses: low-traffic neighbourhoods, the council’s response to the climate emergency and the high level of fly-tipping in the borough.

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the politicians taking part in the second debate:

Clare Wood - Green Party candidate Natasha Ennin - Labour Party candidate James Gurling - Liberal Democrat Party candidate

meet our southwark soap box families and hear their views:

Kym, 53, watched the debate with partner Les - she has lived on the Newington Estate for 30 years Oyster Court leaseholder Neil, 38, is married to Emma and they have four children. The family have been hit by massive cladding bills Ola is a mother-offour living on the Brandon Estate and is originally from Nigeria - she is active in the tenants’ and residents’ association

Why should you vote on May 5th?

• Your council makes important decisions and has responsibility for a huge range of things that affect your everyday life - from what housing gets built and where, to closing off roads to cars and keeping the streets clean and tidy.

• Individual councillors in your area are also meant to help you with problems that you come to them with. Southwark Council has been controlled by the Labour Party since 2010. Some 48 out of 63 councillors are from Labour. Fourteen more are from the Liberal Democrats, and there is one councillor who is independent. There are no Conservative or Green Party councillors at the moment, although people from both parties are running in May. Local elections are normally held every four years. The elections to choose new Southwark councillors will take place on May 5 this year. You vote by ward - the area which you live in - for whichever candidates you want to represent you. Depending on the ward, there are either two or three councillors to choose. Any adult from the UK or EU living in the UK, or any adult from the Commonwealth with permission to stay in the UK can vote, as long as they register. You can find your councillors on Southwark Council’s website by searching online for ‘find Southwark councillors’.

‘this is a free countrY: i’ll drive if i want to’ - saYs pensioner les

“we’re suPPOseD to be a free country! But they’re going to tell you if you can have a car or you can’t have a car.”

Brandon Estate resident Les, 73, was reacting to the words of Clare Wood, a Green Party candidate in Newington ward where Les lives, who argued that people should be discouraged from owning cars as part of Southwark Council’s efforts to tackle the climate and environmental crisis.

One of the most controversial aspects of Southwark’s plan is the low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) - which block access to some streets for most vehicles. The LTNs were brought in in 2020 as part of a London-wide effort to cut air pollution during the pandemic and free up space on our streets.

Critics argue that there was not enough consultation for these schemes, one of which is in Newington, and that the road closures mean more traffic on neighbouring streets - possibly driving up air pollution for the people who live there.

Les and his partner Kym, a Newington Estate resident, were taking part in the third episode episode of Southwark Soap Box, our project to boost awareness of some of the issues at stake in the local elections on May 5. Focusing on Newington, located between Walworth, Kennington and Elephant and Castle, we have interviewed candidates for the elections on three key topics: crime, housing, and the environment and transport - before showing the debates to four diverse households in the ward.

Green candidate Ms Wood said: “We do have to transition to - ideally - a car free society… 23 per cent of emissions in London come from domestic travel and we have to do something about it...

“We need to do something about parking that makes it a bit… trickier for people to own a car. Some people really need cars but if we find ways to facilitate the people who don’t really need them to transition out of them, then those people who do will find their journeys much more pleasant, apart from anything else.”

Some others in our focus group also disagreed with Ms Wood’s views about car ownership. Mother of four Ola, who also lives on the Brandon Estate, said: “They don’t live in my household with me to know the reason why I need a car.”

Emma, an Oyster Court leaseholder with her husband Neil, and who does not own a car, said people should not be told what to do by politicians. “You can’t tell people they need to transition now from having a car to not, because everyone can make their own free choice,” she said.

Natasha Ennin, a Labour candidate for the ward - where all three councillors are currently Labour - said that the point of the LTNs was to encourage people to think about walking or cycling journeys that are under two kilometres (about 1.2

We do have to transition to - ideally - car free society

-Green candidate Clare Wood

miles).

“During the pandemic there were issues around health [and active travel] and obviously a key part of that was encouraging walking and cycling in response to the reduced bus capacity,” she said.

But Ola took issue with the idea that she could cycle around while managing her young family. “Sorry, not when I’ve got four children, how do I ride a bicycle with four kids! No thanks.”

As for walking, that also got short shrift from Ola: “Do you actually think I want to go shopping with them in hand without driving. No thank you. Unless [the council] wants to pay for my cab!”

Paula, who lives on the Brandon Estate with her adult daughter Kate, said that cycling was not for everyone. “ I cycle to work but… they cannot think that for all ages that will apply.

“Weather is another issue. Days like this, it’s glorious! But when it’s right in the middle of the winter, you may think twice, no matter what age you are.”

Kym, Les’ partner, who is struggling with a “busted” knee at the moment, put it plainly: “some people can’t walk”. Kym and Les

James Gurling, who is seeking to reclaim his old position as a Liberal Democrat councillor in Newington, said that he supported the idea of cleaning up Southwark’s air - but the sudden imposition of LTNs in 2020 was “a shocking way to treat a local community.”

“The big problem behind this is the way this was all done, and the speed at which it was done, and the level of inclusiveness that came through some of these schemes… What needed to have happened was a better degree of consultation right at the start… some of that would have improved it, some of that would have explained the thinking behind it.”

Mr Gurling went on: “Involve people earlier, they’ll understand what’s happening, they’ll get with the programme, they’ll make it better!”

Speaking to Les, Kym said: “Kym: We wasn’t told about it, was we?” Les agreed that they didn’t hear anything. Kym went on: “Before it happened, we just went out there one day and ‘oh’”.

Defending Labour, Ms Ennin said that the funding the council got from mayor Sadiq Khan was dependent on bringing in LTNs quickly and that Covid-19 restrictions made consulting difficult. Some 11,000 people have now been consulted across the borough, as well as about 130 businesses in Walworth.

But she admitted that the communication at the start of the process should have been more effective. “There should have been better consultation, but within the time restraints, it didn’t happen. There should have been a big push.”

Despite the criticism from some of our focus groups, Emma and Neil said they thought the Walworth LTN was “a good thing”. Emma said: “We definitely felt safer walking around with our children.” Neil agreed that he felt safer but admitted the scheme was “annoying” for people with cars.

And Kym, for whom the LTN is “a pain” because of her injured knee, said she understands why it was brought in. “It’s good for some things.”

“there’s A war in ukraine at the moment. i would imagine if your house has just got shelled then that’s an emergency, not what kind of facilities there are for electric cars in your area.”

Oyster Court resident Neil was responding to Green Party candidate Clare Wood’s comment that the climate emergency is the worst crisis of the past 300 years, which she made during the environment and transport section of our Southwark Soap Box series, which aims to boost turnout in May’s local elections.

Ms Wood, alongside Liberal Democrat James Gurling and Labour’s Natasha Ennin, took part in a debate on the environment before standing in Newington ward on May 5. We showed this debate - as well as discussions on housing, and crime and education - to four diverse households in the ward to get their reactions.

Ms Wood said that she didn’t think Labour was doing enough to tackle the climate crisis. “I joined the Green Party because I think we are in the middle of possibly the greatest crisis of the last 300 years - possibly.”

Laughing, Neil said: “I mean there’s been a lot of history in the last 300 years, I mean there’s been two world wars for a start. It’s not to diminish the whole issue or belittle it, or mock it… I’m not totally convinced by the green thing.”

The Green Party is not alone in criticising the Labour council’s response to the climate crisis. The Southwark branch of Extinction Rebellion said earlier this year that it does not understand how the council plans to reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Defending the council’s efforts, Labour’s Ms Ennin said at the debate: “We’ve reduced half of our carbon emissions, which we said we were going to do. We have a clear plan in place, we’re involving a citizens jury.”

Newington Estate resident Kym said that ““things have got worse, not better.”

One of the key issues Ms Wood brought up was home insulation, which would mean people need to use less energy - helping the environment and saving money for hard-up families.

“The really major, immediate thing that residents are going to be facing is an enormous hike in energy bills,” she said. Kym said: “That is really bad - the gas and the electric has gone sky high.” Brandon Estate resident Paula puffed out her cheeks at the mention of energy bills, adding: “Electricity.. I can see that [has gone up]”.

Ms Wood added that the council could be bulk-buying solar panels on behalf of residents. But Brandon Estate resident Ola did not agree. “ Don’t bulk buy anything on my behalf, thank you! I prefer the company bill me direct and then we can go to the watchdog and sort it out, as opposed to the council doing anything for me - I don’t trust the council.”

Lib Dem James Gurling said that the climate crisis needs politicians from different parties to work togthether.

“My colleagues have put down motions that have been voted against locally about declaring a climate emergency, getting urgent action, getting things done more quickly,” he said.

Les, Kym’s partner, nodded in agreement. “If it’s a good idea, it’s going to work, then do it. Why should another party say ‘no, no, we don’t want you to do that’. It’s wrong.”

Is climate change really the greatest crisis in 300 years? Stop charging

Neil and Emma to collect bulk

waste says Ola “the AMOunt they are charging for that is ridiculous,” said Brandon estate resident Ola, discussing southwark council’s £25 charge for picking up bulky waste.

Last year Southwark was revealed as the eleventh-worst local authority for fly-tipping, at the same time as funding for street cleaning dropped and punishment for fly-tippers was low. The council says it ranks so highly because it logs all fly-tipping, not just incidents reported by the public. Southwark is not unusual among I mean there’s been a lot of history in the London boroughs in charging for bulky waste. The council introduced the charge in 2015, and has brought last 300 years. I mean there’s been two world in about £1.2m in revenue from this service in the six years since. But both the Liberal Democrats and wars for a start ... I’m not totally convinced the Green Party say the charge should be scrapped to encourage people already struggling with the cost of living by the green thing not to fly-tip. “The bulk waste payment is probably -Resident Neil McGovern more to do with this than anything else,” Lib Dem candidate James Gurling said as part of our Southwark Soap Box debate on the environment and climate. “Abolish that fee and you will find that people begin to work much more fairly with the system. “If fly-tipping is an issue you want to tackle, charging for its removal is not going to help, particularly as times get harder and people’s available cash gets lower.” Newington Estate resident Kym agreed. “People are going… to continue to fly-tip because £25 is a lot of money, and you’ve got your gas and your electric going up, food’s going up, everything’s going up.”

Green Party candidate Clare Wood said that the money the council currently puts into going after people who dump rubbish illegally should go into cleaning the streets and eliminating the bulky waste charge.

“I don’t think it’s worth the enforcement,” she said. “If we put that money into collection… we would start to eliminate the problem anyway.”

Labour’s Natasha Ennin defended her party’s record. She said getting rid of the charge would not stop people fly-tipping, as boroughs that take bulky waste for free also have dumping problems.

She added that the council has a 98 per cent record of removing rubbish dumped on the street within 24 hours.

Oyster Court leaseholder Neil was dubious. “That statistic doesn’t fit, just thinking about it roughly. I’m sure there’s stuff that’s there for a couple of days at least. Just walk round and open your eyes - it’s a mess. Really, it is. Walworth Road is a mess, it can be a mess down here.”

But Brandon Estate resident Paula said there was still fly-tipping in her area, but that things had got better recently. “It has improved, I’m not going to be telling you lies here. It has improved a lot in the last 24 months.”