Brixton news, rumour and general chat - July 2014

[editor]

It's kicked off by the Domino Club on Coldharbour Lane. Lots of unmarked police cars attending the scene. Summer in Brixton, eh?

 

[shifting gears]

"5 Broken Cameras" is very good doc. The story of a Palestinian who filmed his own friends opposing the encroachment of settlements on Palestinian land. I liked it as its about and by ordinary people rather than politicians. Very moving as well.

The "Revolutionary Communist Group" are friendly bunch of people.

I picked up a leaflet for this and made a small donation for a paper earlier on today, they had a small stall outside the tube.

Def gonna try and make it for the Palestinian film

 

[Gramsci]

My dad ran a record shop in those days too (Virgin Records and Tapes, on Notting Hill Gate - he took the pictures of it on this page) so I can't not "like" this.

I was curious at looking at the photo of the Virgin Megastore in Oxford street as it looked like it had a cinema next to it.

Googled it and their was one that did not last the long.

And on the opposite side of the street at 16 we come to the final cinema on the journey, and the most recent. Classic 1/2/3/4/5 opened in 1977 and was housed beneath Virgin Megastore. An unremarkable multi-screen venture, it lasted until the mid-1990s and its closure marked the end of cinema on Oxford Street.

Primark is now on the site of the old Virgin Megastore.

 

[se5]

A quick heads up: Want secure cycle parking in your area? Lambeth consultation runs out on 18th July
£42/year + £20 key deposit seems a bit steep, no?

80p or so a week not to have to drag your bike upstairs or through a hallway doesnt seem too bad and certainly less than having to buy a new bike after its been nicked from the street!

It seems a bit of a con - I recently received an email from Lambeth following my request saying that there was no budget to add any more this year so my request would go on the list for next April onwards.

 

[editor]

80p or so a week not to have to drag your bike upstairs or through a hallway doesnt seem too bad and certainly less than having to buy a new bike after its been nicked from the street!

I can see that, but to some people £62 is still going to be too much.

 

[EastEnder]

I can see that, but to some people £62 is still going to be too much.

One would've hoped it was the sort of thing that could be covered by council tax. Secure bike parking seems like a necessity, not a luxury. Key deposit seems fair enough - presumably there's a cost of replacement - but the ability to park ones bike without it getting nicked seems eminently sensible, and in the same vein as bin collections, street sweeping, etc. On the basis of a cost/benefit analysis, £62 is, I would guess, a lot less than the cost of the police investigating a stolen bike (not that they'd ever actually bother in practice of course, but in principle...).

 

[leanderman]

One would've hoped it was the sort of thing that could be covered by council tax. Secure bike parking seems like a necessity, not a luxury. Key deposit seems fair enough - presumably there's a cost of replacement - but the ability to park ones bike without it getting nicked seems eminently sensible, and in the same vein as bin collections, street sweeping, etc. On the basis of a cost/benefit analysis, £62 is, I would guess, a lot less than the cost of the police investigating a stolen bike (not that they'd ever actually bother in practice of course, but in principle...).

Apparently these bike stores are secure - to the extent that there would be no advantage in siting our putative one in range of our residents' association cctv cameras.

 

[editor]

They're quite ugly though.

 

[Gramsci]

It seems a bit of a con - I recently received an email from Lambeth following my request saying that there was no budget to add any more this year so my request would go on the list for next April onwards.

The Council are looking at another wave of cuts this coming year so do not see where they will get the money from next year.

 

[T & P]

They're quite ugly though.

Tbf not more so than most cars that are already parked on the road. I guess we're not as used to the sheds yet.

 

[Manter]

A quick heads up: Want secure cycle parking in your area? Lambeth consultation runs out on 18th July
£42/year + £20 key deposit seems a bit steep, no?

Depends. A not very secure secure lock up round the corner from us is £27 a month. It'd hold three bikes though, should you happen to have three bikes. And it's cheaper than having to replace yet another bike that's had it's lock sawn through.*

*though this one was worth less than the lock it was attached to, and had two flat tyres, someone still took it And if we claim our insurance will go up by more than the cost of that secure storage as its the third one this year.

 

[cuppa tee]

A quick heads up: Want secure cycle parking in your area? Lambeth consultation runs out on 18th July
£42/year + £20 key deposit seems a bit steep, no?

Considering how high private rents are in the locality that sum probably wouldn't trouble the high earners coming into the area too much. The hangers are supplied by a private company who are unlikely to be motivated by purely altruistic reasons. The hangers are rented from the company by the council/tfl, and then the company charge a second fee to users of the hangers for renting space in them, so it's a bit like the car club situation where the public roads are turned into a income stream for private enterprise

 

[se5]

One would've hoped it was the sort of thing that could be covered by council tax. Secure bike parking seems like a necessity, not a luxury. Key deposit seems fair enough - presumably there's a cost of replacement - but the ability to park ones bike without it getting nicked seems eminently sensible, and in the same vein as bin collections, street sweeping, etc. On the basis of a cost/benefit analysis, £62 is, I would guess, a lot less than the cost of the police investigating a stolen bike (not that they'd ever actually bother in practice of course, but in principle...).

I agree: in the scheme of things an extra £42 isnt much and you would hope that funding would be available to cover it.

I guess the council is already subsidising the parking quite a bit already - each bike hangar I would have thought must be costing £500-1000 to buy and install. The advantage of the current scheme is that the bike owner has an individual contract with the company/council and so can demand action if things go wrong rather than just having a general moan about council services.

Politically too I guess its good - car drivers (even if they are minority of the Lambeth population) can be very vocal about 'special' treatment of cyclists -"why should they get free parking when I have to pay £250 a year for a parking permit etc etc" so cycle parking is more likely to get support if cyclists are seen to be making a contribution as well.

 

[editor]

Politically too I guess its good - car drivers (even if they are minority of the Lambeth population) can be very vocal about 'special' treatment of cyclists -"why should they get free parking when I have to pay £250 a year for a parking permit etc etc" so cycle parking is more likely to get support if cyclists are seen to be making a contribution as well.

Given that 12 bikes can fit into the space of one car, then by that argument they cyclists should be paying no more than £21.

 

[Winot]

Given that 12 bikes can fit into the space of one car, then by that argument they cyclists should be paying no more than £21.

Cyclists can park anywhere they want for free though. The cost in this case is to rent space in a secure lock-up. The equivalent for cars would be a garage.

 

[editor]

Cyclists can park anywhere they want for free though. The cost in this case is to rent space in a secure lock-up. The equivalent for cars would be a garage.

Well, sort of, but cyclists are treated very differently. If a two grand bike is stolen it's usually met with a shrug of the shoulders by the police. If just about any old car is nicked it's a case of "GET OUT THE 'COPTERS!".

 

[Winot]

Well, sort of, but cyclists are treated very differently. If a two grand bike is stolen it's usually met with a shrug of the shoulders by the police. If just about any old car is nicked it's a case of "GET OUT THE 'COPTERS!".

Don't get me wrong - I'm a fairly militant anti-car cyclist. I just think some of the criticism here of the scheme are a bit misplaced.

 

[Smick]

The Council are looking at another wave of cuts this coming year so do not see where they will get the money from next year.

For fuck's sake, why don't they put up the council tax. The parks are getting less and less money, the roads are in disrepair, there's litter, West Norwood Library is still in its temporary home.

People are paying fortunes for homes. Everything is going up. Why not council tax?

Get an extra tenner off everyone and give some decent money to people in the parks, litter collectors, bike rack installation dudes.

These jokers are patting themselves on the back with a council tax freeze while everything is turning to shite.

 

[prunus]

For fuck's sake, why don't they put up the council tax. The parks are getting less and less money, the roads are in disrepair, there's litter, West Norwood Library is still in its temporary home.

People are paying fortunes for homes. Everything is going up. Why not council tax?

Get an extra tenner off everyone and give some decent money to people in the parks, litter collectors, bike rack installation dudes.

These jokers are patting themselves on the back with a council tax freeze while everything is turning to shite.

They're not allowed to. Council tax rises are capped by the government, at below inflation...

 

[Smick]

They're not allowed to. Council tax rises are capped by the government, at below inflation...

There's a post in another thread where I asked about a house in Brockwell and someone told me about a park keeper living there. Now there's no park keeper, no house. Hillside Gardens has people worrying about the place closing due to a lack of funds leading to disrepair. There are lots of people out of work for whom managing a park, even as small as Hillside, would be a dream job. But park budgets are being cut. There are jobs to be done, people who would do them and the end users are calling out for someone to do it, and those able to pay the extra council tax will do so, but we have this lousy paralysis emanating either from Government or from Council.

We don't know how lucky we are with our parks. And they are just what I choose to rant about today. I'm sure every other council service reflects what is happening in the parks.

 

[Rushy]

I guess the council is already subsidising the parking quite a bit already - each bike hangar I would have thought must be costing £500-1000 to buy and install.

£3,500 per unit apparently, including all admin.

 

[story]

Hark! Is that the distant rumble of thunder...?

 

[cuppa tee]

£3,500 per unit apparently, including all admin.

I was under the impression the hangers are rented from the company rather than bought outright
a bit confused why the same service might cost less to the cyclists in southwark though............ http://www.cyclehoop.com/rentals/soutsf245wa842aa2vbm7/

 

[quimcunx]

Hark! Is that the distant rumble of thunder...?

Didn't notice that but it kicked off about 4.50am. I've been awake since.

 

[shakespearegirl]

It was very very loud on the hill, although Mr Shakes managed to sleep through it until the cat came tearing in dripping wet and scared and sat on his head

 

[leanderman]

It was very very loud on the hill, although Mr Shakes managed to sleep through it until the cat came tearing in dripping wet and scared and sat on his head

Amazing sound and light show. Very heavy rain.

 

[editor]

It was up till past 5am watching it. Amazing storm.

 

[Manter]

It was very very loud on the hill, although Mr Shakes managed to sleep through it until the cat came tearing in dripping wet and scared and sat on his head

The baby slept through it, the cat came and curled up on me, shivering. Poor little thing.

 

[Kevs]

Heres a map of the storms from www.lightningmaps.org. (not sure what the various symbols mean)

 

[Belushi]

I see Councillor Ed Davie has got involved in the comments on this Guardian article on gentrification which mentions Brixton http://www.theguardian.com/society-...trification-what-happens-to-those-left-behind