Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham, has called for Tesco to be given a firm deadline within which to come forward with revised proposals acceptable to Streatham residents to develop the Streatham Hub.

At a public meeting in Streatham held by community organization Streatham Action, Lambeth council cabinet members and officers gave local residents an update on the future of the Streatham Hub project.

The Streatham Hub Project is intended to provide a new ice rink complex, leisure facilities, a new supermarket and affordable housing for the Streatham area. Under proposals agreed with Lambeth Council in 2007, Tesco promised that the existing ice rink would not close until the new complex is opened, but refused to guarantee this at a public meeting held in October 2009.

Councillors revealed that negotiations with Tesco, which owns the Ice Rink site, are still ongoing. Councillors were not in a position to announce the results of the ongoing negotiation with Tesco, but did indicate that should it not be possible to reach agreement, alternative options would be considered.

Councillor Lib Peck, the Lambeth Council Cabinet member for housing and regeneration outlined the main principles underpinning the council’s approach to the ongoing negotiations with Tesco, including importantly continuity of ice provision until a new ice rink is built.

The board of Tesco PLC is due to meet in mid March when the chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, will put forward proposals for the Streatham Hub for approval before the retailer reverts back to the cabinet of the council with its final position. In turn, the council officers will prepare a report either recommending that the Tesco proposals be approved or not by the meeting of the Lambeth council cabinet on March 22 2010.

Commenting on the current state of negotiations, Mr Umunna said: “If Tesco comes forward with proposals which are acceptable to the community and the council, it is crucial they are legally bound into their commitments. Any contract entered into with them must have teeth, and they should not be allowed to renege on any promises made.

“If Tesco do not come forward with proposals which are acceptable, the council should walk away from any deal and look to immediately progress the development of the Streatham Hub project on its own. We cannot keep waiting for the retailer to come good – The fact they did not even bother to send anyone to speak on their behalf at this important meeting is indicative of their poor attitude to local people.

“I am most concerned that the ice rink, which is already in a parlous state, will be left to rot by Tesco. As a sign that they are serious about moving forward from the present impasse, they should take all action they can as owners of the ice rink to invest in it so that it is viable and can be used while we wait for a new ice rink to be built.”

Local people are holding a demonstration to make their views heard by the retailer outside Tesco Express on Streatham High Road from 11am on Saturday 27 February 2010.

Support Chuka’s Keep Streatham Skating campaign by signing the petition and joining the Facebook group.

An investigation by structural engineers last November revealed widespread structural problems at Streatham Leisure Centre. Lambeth Council consequently decided to close the Centre on 25 November 2009 for the foreseeable future while further investigations took place to find out the extent of the work needed.

In the meantime alternative arrangements for users and all schools have been arranged during the period of the Leisure Centre’s closure at other locations including Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

Future of Streatham Leisure Centre

Many local residents have raised the issue of the future of the pool with me in person and in correspondence. I started using Streatham Swimming Pool as a child when my swimming club, Leander S.C., used to compete there against other local clubs such as Streatham S.C., Battersea Jacs S.C. and others. Until recently we used to hold Keith Hill MP’s constituency surgeries there too, where Keith and I dealt with hundreds of constituents problems. So, rest assured, I completely understand the strength of feeling on this issue – the current situation regarding leisure provision here is clearly unsatisfactory.

The closure of the pool has become somewhat of a local political football but all local residents want is for their pool to re-open – that is their priority.  The fact is that Council administrations of all different political persuasions have not invested enough in the pool for a long time and they should all be big enough to admit as much.

Streatham Hub Scheme

Why have Council administrations underinvested in the pool? Because they expected the Streatham Hub scheme – of which a brand new leisure centre and ice arena are a part – to be developed by Tesco in return for the retailer being allowed to build a big supermarket in the area. Both the current administration and the Lib Dem/Tory one before that spent much time negotiating with them and pinned their hopes on Tesco sticking to their promises.

Next week at a special public meeting organised by Streatham Action, the Council and Tesco will tell us the result of their negotiations on the future of the scheme. The meeting takes place at Hideaway at 7pm on Wednesday 10 February 2010.

Action

I have lobbied my Council colleagues to take a tough line with Tesco – I do not see why the community should put up with Tesco’s dithering and prevarication any longer. I have sought to put as much direct pressure on Tesco to live up to their promises in relation to the Streatham Hub scheme through the Keep Streatham Skating! campaign and in other ways.

In the short term, I think the Council should at least look into providing temporary arrangements for non-pool activities (e.g. Step classes, gym facilities) at other locations in Streatham area.  This is something I will be pressing the Council to do to the extent it is not already happening.  Please do not hesitate to contact my office for further information.

Chuka

First Capital Connect and Aslef have reached agreement on a revised pay offer but serious questions still remain for FCC.

A dispute over pay last month led to First Capital Connect (FCC), operators of the Thameslink train line in and out of London, only being able to run a skeleton service from Streatham, Tulse Hill and other train stations to central London, with as few as one train an hour remaining in operation.

Drivers angry at a pay offer offering a 0% rise this year and at least 3% next year, refused to work overtime and on rest days which led to FCC running the much reduced service. On 11 November 2009, Aslef - the train drivers union - announced that it would be balloting its 550-plus members working for FCC to take strike action over the issue.

On 19 November 2009 Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, wrote to Sir Moir Lockhead, Chief Executive FirstGroup Plc, to protest at the disruption caused to local residents. Umunna has asked to know why the situation was allowed to develop and what steps FCC were taking to resolve the dispute and get train services back running to normal levels. FCC have promised to provide a response to Mr Umunna shortly.

On Friday FCC announced that Aslef has considered a revised pay offer, equating to 5% over two years, and has agreed to recommend its acceptance to its members. Aslef have confirmed this . They are now working jointly to encourage drivers to resume rest day and overtime working. Services are not expected to return to normal until the New Year.

Commenting on this latest development, Mr Umunna said:

“Thameslink users will be delighted that an agreement has been reached and will look forward to a normal service being resumed as soon as possible but serious questions still remain.”

“First Capital Connect need to explain why on earth they have been operating a service without enough drivers – they should not be reliant on drivers agreeing to work overtime to provide a normal service.”

“I understand from reports that there are vacancies at Thameslink depots amounting to almost 10% of the work force. Why have First Capital Connect not recruited sufficient numbers of drivers to man their trains?”

Mr Umunna has also been running a campaign against proposals by Network Rail to terminate all northbound trains from Streatham and Tulse Hill train stations at Blackfriars. The Department of Transport is currently considering Network Rail’s proposals for the future of the line and Mr Umunna recently met with Minister of Transport, Sadiq Khan MP, to relay local residents’ views on the long-term planned changes to Streatham’s Thameslink service.

Hundreds of passengers have signed Mr Umunna’s petition opposing the changes and have joined his “Save Our South West London Thameslink Services” Facebook group.

Commenting on the future of Thameslink, Umunna said:

“Thameslink is an essential service for Streatham residents, linking the area with central London and beyond. That is why I have campaigned for an end to this dispute and against proposals to cut direct services to the City, Kings Cross and Luton Airport.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced a major consultation on the future of London transport, which includes the potential scheme to bring the London Underground to Streatham.

Following the publication of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, Londoners are being asked to register their views.

This is an important opportunity to let the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) know what a difference a tube extension to Streatham, currently under consideration, would make.

The Mayor’s Transport Strategy recognised the lack of transport connections in South London, describing the “paucity of the Underground network” in the area and the need for “better public transport connectivity between inner north and inner south London”.

It also confirms that TfL is looking into a number of options to extend the Bakerloo line southwards with the route currently being under development. The report pledges that the Bakerloo extension will serve “areas with poor transport accessibility”.

Despite these positive developments, we need to keep up pressure if we want a Streatham tube extension to become a reality.

The decision on where to build the tube extension will take into account the views of residents and you can take part in the consultation at http://www.london.gov.uk/shaping-london/ before it closes on January 12th 2010.

Registering views online only takes around 5 minutes and could help determine whether the Tube comes to Streatham or elsewhere.

If you haven’t yet signed the petition to bring the tube to Streatham, do so here.

Chuka explains the importance of keeping the Streatham Ice Rink open during his visit to support our ice hockey team, Streatham Redskins, in action this evening against Milton Keynes Thunder.

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This week, I launched a campaign with local people to get Tesco to guarantee Streatham Ice Rink stays open whilst the Streatham Hub scheme is developed in the south of this parliamentary constituency. You can read about the scheme here: the Streatham Hub.

At a meeting held earlier this month to update local residents on the scheme, I was concerned when Tesco representatives refused to guarantee that our ice skating provision would continue without interruption.

Tesco owns the ice rink site and under deveopment proposals agreed with Lambeth Council two years ago the company promised that the current ice rink would stay open while a new one was built.

However, the retail giant is citing the credit crunch as a reason for submitting revised proposals a few weeks ago. It is currently in talks with the Council, with an announcement due in December.

It is essential that Streatham does not lose access to ice – the ice rink hosts the Streatham Redskins ice hockey team and numerous school groups. It is also currently being used by skaters aiming to compete in next year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Tesco has the financial resources to stick to its original pledge and ensure that Streatham keeps skating while the Hub site is developed. You may have seen that earlier this year the retailer announced record breaking sales of more than £1bn a week and annual profits of more than £3bn, despite the impact of the global downturn.

To put pressure on Tesco to keep to its promises on the continuity of our ice provision, please sign the petition calling on them to keep Streatham Ice Rink open – the petition can be signed online here: Keep Streatham Skating! petition

A related ‘Keep Streatham Skating!’ Facebook group has also been set up which you can join too: Keep Streatham Skating! on Facebook

Tesco say they take into account the interests of local communities, in addition to their desire to return a huge profit, when making decisions. If they genuinely care for this community as they claim, they must ensure the continuity of our ice rink provision here in Streatham.

We need lots of local residents to sign the petition to send a clear message to Tesco – they need to know how strongly we, the prospective customers of the new Tesco supermarket they want to build as part of the Hub scheme, feel about this issue.

Chuka’s letter on primary school places was published in the Streatham Guardian on 6 August 2009, in response to a previous article:

Parents understandably want their children to attend a good local school – I know because I am a governor of one. Increasing demand for school places is an issue across London, with population shifts, increases in the birth rate and pressure on sites for school buildings.

With reference to your article, “Lambeth school space crisis” (9 July 2009), the government is taking action to create more primary and secondary school places by expanding existing schools and building new ones. Nationally, Labour is investing £21.9 billion on school buildings between now and 2011. Locally we have already seen the fruits of this with the establishment of new secondary schools such as Lambeth Academy and new primaries such as the Jubilee School since 1997.

However, though all those who applied on time for a primary school place received an offer in a Lambeth school this year, it is true that the ability to meet parental preferences in each case is still a challenge and more places are needed in the future.

That is why Keith Hill MP and I are meeting with ministers and working hard to ensure central government provides further investment so we can provide more places for our children, for example by converting the Woodfield Centre in Streatham, an old Special School, to provide a new primary school in the area. We will keep residents posted on our progress.

Chuka Umunna
Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham

Chuka joined in the fun at the Mount Ephraim Lane Street Party yesterday where the local community came out despite the dodgy weather. Many thanks to the organising committee, a group of local mums with young children, for putting on such a fantastic event.

This week, Chuka launches a campaign to bring the tube to Streatham. He and local campaigners are calling on Mayor Boris Johnson to ensure that Streatham is considered in any future plans to extend the tube southwards, and an online petition has been set up for supporters of the campaign.

In February, Mayor Johnson stated that it is his ambition to extend the Bakerloo line southwards to Lewisham and beyond. Last week we obtained confirmation that TfL is working on these plans, looking into the feasibility of such a scheme.

Chuka is demanding to know why Streatham is not being considered for any possible southwards extension of the tube when Lewisham, for example, is already well-served by the Docklands Light Railway extension which opened in 1999.

The Bakerloo line could instead be extended southwards from Elephant & Castle via Camberwell and Brixton to Streatham. This would have the added benefit of relieving congestion on Streatham High Road.

However, The Bakerloo line is only one of the options available for bringing the tube to Streatham. The planned Crossrail 2 scheme, running from Chelsea to Hackney, would considerably relieve congestion on the Victoria line, creating the potential for an extension of the Victoria line to Streatham from Brixton.

Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Chuka said:

“I have lived here for most of my life and people have been talking about the desirability of having the tube in Streatham for as long as I can remember.

“This campaign is a long term project. Public finances are going to be tight for the next few years but we need to build up a head of steam behind this now so that when there is more money about, we are in a good position to demand it is used to finally bring the tube here.

Streatham residents’ hopes of getting a tube extension have a long history of false starts and disappointment. In the original plans for the Victoria line included in the 1946 London Plan, it was intended that the line would run to Streatham and on to Croydon. This scheme even received approval in Parliament, but was never built because of a lack of finance.

Chuka said,

“Streatham has been ignored for far too long while other areas have benefited from better transport provision. It is bad enough that our direct Thameslink connections are under threat, but the fact that TfL is looking at extending the Bakerloo line without even considering our area as a station destination, is not on. We deserve better.”

“This area would benefit hugely from a tube station. As well as obvious
benefits for local residents, it would give a massive boost to the regeneration of Streatham and the local economy.

“We are going to work together to put pressure on TfL to consider Streatham a top priority for tube improvements in South London.”

You can sign up to the petition to bring the tube to Streatham here: Bring the tube to Streatham petition

Many of my fellow PPCs have signed up to these ethics pledges that Progress, the independent organisation for Labour party members, has put together - I agree with them and pledge to observe them. However, I think we need to go further (which is not to say that others do not) if we are to restore trust between voters and political representatives. In the article below, which appears in today’s Guardian, I advance some suggestions on how to do so with my friend and colleague, Cllr Mark Bennett, who serves Streatham South.

The collective reputation of MPs has been burned to ash and the clean-up begins not a moment too soon. MPs of all parties have been shamed, but it has been most galling when associated with people on the left, who were first elected by telling voters they would change the rules – in politics and beyond – to make Britain better and fairer. Labour activists who go door to door for them have been on the receiving end of public anger and are themselves furious.

The mantra often repeated is “my claims were within the rules”, but this is a complete irrelevance when the claims do not stand up to moral scrutiny. How can they not see this?

It appears they have been deafened to political reality by the siren songs of vested interest, manifested in the deference of Commons police and staff, the patronage of the whips, the Speaker’s offices and the indulgence of the fees office. To the public, it seems they have been rewarded with TVs, kitchens, massage chairs and imaginary mortgages for doing so. If politics in Britain is to have a future, all this must change.

Another future is possible. We are two Labour politicians but there are many more of us – parliamentary candidates, councillors and activists – who still believe in what Harold Wilson called the “moral crusade” of our party. We are all putting our hearts and souls into it and a better future for our communities.

Most of our politicians are idealistic and well-intentioned. The corrupt are few, and now is the time for them to be driven from office by the many who want to rebuild trust in what should be an honest and open vocation.

As the Commons considers what to do, Labour’s next generation has a duty to make a contribution if it does not wish to inherit the public’s contempt.

We must start by recognising that if we want to dismantle the “gentlemen’s club”, we must tackle the machine ¬politics out of which it was born. Root and branch constitutional reform is a prerequisite. We must elect the Lords, make the voting system more ¬proportional and end the degraded adversarial culture of Westminster, as exemplified by the so-called theatre of prime minister’s questions.

The Labour party must change too. MPs who have acted within the rules but outside the bounds of public acceptability should be deselected. There is a moral and political imperative to do so – we will not retain seats where we are offering damaged goods. The higher education minister David Lammy has mooted introducing primaries as a way of making parliamentary selection more open, and to involve the public. The clamour for this is growing.

But first, changes to MPs’ expenses and the election of the Speaker are imminent. Gordon Brown’s proposal of an independent parliamentary standards regulator, responsible for pay and allowances, is welcome. Expenses should now be fully published online and investigated without further delay, with absolute application of the law towards MPs found to have broken it.

Whatever shape the new expenses system takes, one principle should win out: there must be an end to any privileges that set MPs apart from the people they represent – no first class travel, no London congestion charge reclaim, and no claims for anything that is not directly related to the work of being an MP.

In 1994, the then Labour leader, John Smith, said: “The opportunity to serve our country – that is all we ask.” Service. That is what our parliamentarians need to remember as they consider reform. The time has come to serve the people, not politicians.