Information for those living in the Vauxhall-Oval-Stockwell Triangle
This is information that may be of particular interest to those living in the above area. Please email Martin Stanley ( 68rtsw8@gmail.com ) if you wish to add or correct anything.
The history of the area and some other general information may be found here.
Council Services
We are in Oval Ward within the London Borough of Lambeth. (Vauxhall Park, however, is in Vauxhall Ward.)
You will find much helpful information on Lambeth Council's web site.
Lambeth's waste and recycling advice is here.
Bulky waste collection and recycling can be arranged here.
Use this link to find out how to switch to a smaller wheelie bin.
The nearest recycling banks, for smaller quantities, are at Tesco on Kennington Lane, Sainsbury's on Wandsworth Road, and Thorne Road. Larger quantities need to be taken to the recycling centres on Smugglers' Way, Wandsworth, SW18 1JS or Vale Street, West Norwood SE27 9PA - but check their restricted opening hours (Search: 'Lambeth recycling').
Problems with lighting, potholes etc. can be reported via the Fix My Street website.
If you have a problem with local services, your local councillors are all keen to help you. They are all easily accessible by phone and email, and hold weekly surgeries for which no appointment is necessary. Details are on the Lambeth Council website - see above.
Follow these links for information about Vauxhall Park and Kennington Park.
Police, Security etc.
Our Safer Neighbourhoods Metropolitan Police team are best emailed at oval@met.police.uk and you can Tweet them using @MPSOVAL . Their phone number is 020 8649 2465 or call 101 to report non emergencies such as suspicious behaviour or a crime that has already happened.
Streetsafe is a service that allows you to report safety concerns in public places without giving the police your name (anonymously). This includes issues like poorly lit streets, abandoned buildings, or vandalism, as well as instances where you felt unsafe due to someone following or verbally abusing you.
The police have also set up the 'Roadsafe' website for members of the public to report particularly bad driving, such as speeding down our roads, cutting up cyclists and so on. Every report is researched, but the aim is to educate the driver, rather than prosecute. Submissions may be made anonymously if you wish, though that should not be necessary.
Burglar alarms can cause considerable distress so - if you have a burglar alarm - please ensure that your neighbours are able to contact you and/or your key-holder, and that the alarm automatically stops after 20 minutes. (I understand that this is a legal requirement for all alarms fitted since around 2000.)
If you are concerned about an alarm that has been sounding for much more than 20 minutes then you should call the Lambeth noise pollution team on 020 7926 5000 - I understand that they are very helpful but they need at least 3 complaints before they can act, so you may need to encourage neighbours to contact them.
If the Council need to use force to enter premises, an application to a JP may be made for a warrant to enter and silence the alarm. The officer may take with him such other persons and equipment as he thinks necessary for the purpose of silencing the alarm. This will normally include an electrician and, where force is required to enter premises, a locksmith. Any reasonable costs incurred by the Council in connection with silencing the alarm including entering the premises, silencing the alarm, securing the premises and administration may be recoverable by the authority from the responsible person.
Click here for crime prevention advice and other advice on living in Lambeth.
Recommended Businesses and Traders - Database
The Tradescant Area Residents Associations (TARA) maintains (on behalf of all such local associations) a database of (mainly local) traders and others who have been recommended by local residents. You can access it here - and then maybe bookmark it for future reference?
And please do not not hesitate to add to the database via this simple Google form.
Newsletters
The Fentiman and Richborne Terrace Residents Association sends a brief email newsletter to local residents every few weeks. Contributions should be emailed to Ros Hallifax in a form that can be published without redrafting. Formulae such as "xxx has asked me to tell you that ..." or "The next meeting of yyy is ..." or "You might like to know that ..." work fine. The key thing is to keep the contributions short and simple - one para only, up to around 100 words, no images, no attachments, but including links to further information and/or someone who can be contacted.
Ros is happy to include information about items for sale, or to be given away, if they are likely to be of particular interest to local residents. One example might be heavy furniture which cannot easily be disposed of elsewhere. But she generally does not carry information about items that could be posted on eBay etc., or on free-cycling sites.
Similarly, she is happy to pass on information about cleaners, au pairs etc. who are looking for work, but she does not list the many neighbours looking for such help, as such requests would come to dominate the newsletters.
For similar reasons, Ros does not generally help publicise theatrical and musical events unless there is a particularly strong local connection.
Charities & Similar Organisations
It is good to help charities based in and around where we live - and some of them might help you, too, when you need support. The following charities etc. are based around the Vauxhall/Kennington area.
Trinity Hospice, by Clapham Common, provides care for those dying from cancer and other diseases. The hospice is multi-cultural and non-denominational and helps 1500 patients every year. Care is provided free of charge in wards, through day care or in patients' homes. The hospice depends heavily on voluntary contributions and needs to raise £4m every year. There could hardly be a local charity more worthy of your support so please do give what you can to support their excellent work.
Thames Reach Bondway looks after vulnerable homeless people. Originally based in a building in Bondway - in the middle of Vauxhall Cross - the charity now occupies Graham House just outside the Vauxhall Cross circulatory system. Clients have a range of issues including challenging behaviour, alcohol misuse and physical/mental health issues. They are each allocated a key-worker who will provide support, including linking people back into services. Graham House has visiting services from local GPs, START (the local mental health team) and outreach from the DSS. The project can accept clients with dogs, couples and women. Graham House offers clients 3 cooked meals daily and art/poetry groups, surgery and TV/recreational lounges.
The Walcot Foundation is an independent grant-making foundation and charity. Its aim is to break cycles of financial deprivation for people living in Lambeth and seeks to tackle poverty by creating opportunity. Over the ten years to 2015 they made grants amounting to more than £17 million: 3,200 grants to individuals and 1,821 grants to organisations and schools. The Foundation has a history dating from Edmund Walcot's Will of 1667. Edmund Walcot was a prominent haberdasher who left seventeen acres of land in Lambeth in trust for the local poor.
The Tommy's Campaign, based at St Thomas' Hospital, carries out world-class research, and provides education and information, aimed at reducing the heartache caused by premature birth, miscarriage, and stillbirth.
The lives of many important local families and individuals, including Sir Henry Doulton, are celebrated in the West Norwood Cemetery. The Friends of West Norwood Cemetery are well worth your support.