Renata Hamvas

Hi all, this is not my patch but I am Chair of Licensing and chaired the committee that granted this premises its license. I don't remember the garden being part of the license application. It would have had to have been for them to use it. It would have also have needed planning permission. I suspect that there has been enforcement by council officers in this case (either from licensing or planning if this has been breached). I think it's not a case of council officers being awkward but rather doing their job properly. Renata

I have attended two recent meetings, on Friday with many residents and Harriet Harman MP and on Monday afternoon with senior staff from Wandle, residents representing the four blocks, my fellow ward councillor Victoria Mills and Harriet. It is clear from the discussions with Wandle (from Monday and previously) that there were issues involving other parties but Southwark is not one of them. I don't want to say more as I know that Wandle is pursuing these parties via legal channels and this is a public forum and I have no legal background! I can say once more, from the information I have received, that Southwark building control did follow correct process and procedure at this site. Ward Councillors will continue to support residents where we can and it definitely not dropping off our radar. Renata

Hi Londonmix and Tomskip, The published figures for last placed distance offer definitely exclude looked after children and siblings. Renata

LAC are looked after children. This category includes adopted, fostered and children in care. Renata

Hi Kristy the figures definitely exclude siblings. I would suggest your friend contacts Southwark admissions to verify why they weren't offered a place. Renata

Hi Tmarr, I will pm you. Renata

Hi Rosie, Welcome to the area. Goose Green is an Academy, so you'll need to contact the school directly for this information. The schools I suggest you may wish to look into are Goose Green, Bessemer Grange, Bellenden, St J + St C, Harris ED, Heber and possibly Rye Oak and Dog Kennel Hill. Bessemer Grange is a 3 form entry which means that typically it has larger last place distances than 2 form entry schools. Remember that last place distances can vary alot between years. Renata

Hi Sonia, I will pm you. I agree it would be useful for as many schools as possible to be in the stats. It's not straightforward for voluntary aided schools as these are usually faith based, so faith comes into the admissions process. Renata

I would like to add that my ward colleagues are also supporting residents in this. I know that Gavin Edwards was at meeting with residents last night. Renata

Siblings are excluded in distance figures

I have contacted building control again and they have informed me that fire stopping would have been checked as part of the site inspection regime to ensure that it is fine at that time point. Renata

Hi midivydale, this means that everyone who wanted a place could have one at this school or would have had one ranked higher on their list. Are you sure your friends but Bellenden rather than Belham 1st? If they did, this would be very odd. Please check and let me know. Renata

Hi Fjgb, here it is. It doesn't include voluntary aided schools nor most academies. Renata

I don't have this at the moment Fjbd, but I shall make enquiries. Renata

Hello all, I have had serious IT problems for the last few days so couldn't get into my computer account. To clarify things, the first I heard of the problems was that council officers emailed a copy of the Wandle's March newsletter for residents to ward councillors at the end of March. Bits of information were filtering out during April and it's only when I contacted Wandle I got a fuller picture of what was happening. What I meant , and I think is clear in my previous email, that residents need to go to their 1 to 1 meetings what their needs are. This is the advice I have given to Solomon's Passage residents who have contacted me directly by phone/email. I have suggested that residents look for their own temporary accommodation and then present the possibilities to Wandle to increase the likelihood to be housed in a suitable location. Wandle may use an accommodation agency who won't know residents' transport routes to work nor which schools children currently attend or where they should live to secure a local school place for 2017. In terms of those of you who are in shared ownership, if Wandle have no suitable local similar properties, the only suitable option may be to be in temporary accommodation for 2 years and then move back into your original flat once repais are completed. I would suggest that everyone compiles a list of costs of all improvements they have done to their properties since they moved in, and present this at their interview. If I am available, I am happy to attend the one to one interviews. Please contact me by email if you would like me to do this for you. I have been in contact by email and phone with Southwark's Building Control. It seems that the quality control issues would have been under the remit of the Clerk of Works who was present on site during the build and would have either directly or in directly be appointed by Wandle. The failures in the build were not things that come under building control. This applies only to very specific things eg they are involved to check the calculations for the provision of load bearing steels are done correctly and sufficiently large/long ones are used. Please see the copied email below. Similarly, I have been in touch with the Head of Planning. Wandle will definitely have to reapply for planning permission. Once a building is built, the permission to build lapses, so a new application is required if a building is demolished and rebuilt. I have attached the guidance for planning standards that wasn't around in 2008 when the original application was being considered. I will try and assist to the best of my abilities any residents affected by this appalling situation. My contact details are at the bottom of this post. Renata Dear Councillor Hamvas Thank you for your email I have no prior knowledge of the current issues being raised and have had no contact with any residents or the Housing Association. The actual defects / problems with the current building are unclear, but I understand serious enough to warrant demolition and rebuilding. I will try to explain the way in which Building Control work within the current legislation. An application was received on 11/12/2007 from Ashford Council acting as the Plan checking Authority under the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Partnership scheme for the creation of ?Erection of eighty-five flats, four houses with associated basement parking & external works?. Under this partnership scheme Southwark Building Control carried out the inspections on site. The application was originally known as 159-161 Peckham Rye Work started on 5/2/2008 and a completion certificate was issued on 21/03/2012. The contractor was noted as Porchfern ltd. The wording on any Completion Certificate states: ? That work complies with the Building Regulations as far as could be ascertained by periodic inspections? Building Control are not set up to act as clerks of work and cannot check every aspect of the construction process. We carry out scheduled inspections and in this case there were 48 inspections carried out. Building Control approval should not be relied on to ensure full compliance with all Building issues. We can only control issues that fall under the Building Regulations. It must be emphasied that Building regulations are minimum standards, do not deal with quality and have the three main strands of: ? To secure the health, safety welfare and convenience of people in and around the buildings and people who may be affected by the buildings ? Prevent waste undue consumption, misuse or contamination of water. ? Conservation of fuel and power It should be noted further that Building Regulations compliance is not the same as Consumer protection or trading standards compliance. A local authority has a general duty to enforce the Building Regulations in its area and will seek to do so by informal means wherever possible. We are not ?clerks of work? and can only check work at certain stages to ensure compliance and collect certification and testing documents from Authorised Bodies I understand that the developers employed a Clerk of works to also oversee the construction phase. The ultimate responsibility under the Building regulations lies with the person carrying out the work? this could be seen as the builder developer or owner . In scheme such as these a 10 year warranty is sometimes obtained and it would be expected that any Housing Association would carry such a warranty as part of they funding Requirements I would not normally be involved in warranty issues and I have no knowledge of any warranty being/ not being issued for this project, and I cannot comment further until I have further information why this needs to be demolished Regards Head of Building Control

Hello all, please read the attached summary statement sent to me following discussions with Wandle. It appears there were problems with the designs of the buildings and with the main contractor. They went bust in 2011. The first block (40) was completed before they were in trouble and the last block (46) taken over by another company and completed. This is why the middle two blocks are in a worse state than the other two. Please note I think they are talking about the Peckham Rye East/Nunhead area and not East Peckham in the document! This is a very major upheaval for all involved. Blocks 40/46 contain shared ownership/leaseholders. It is clear that some of the shared ownership/leaseholders are taking the enhanced purchase back of their property (at market value plus 10% plus disembursements) to upgrade to other Wandle properties eg moving from a one bedroom to a two bedroom elsewhere. Others will move to temporary accomodation nearby and move back in 18 months time. Those in blocks 42 and 44 will see their homes demolished and rebuilt. This won't happen until after blocks 40 and 46 are refurbished. This means that the tenants in blocks 42 and 44 have the option to stay put for the next 18 months and then move into 44 or 46. They have other options eg move into private rented accomodation (Wandle picking up the extra above their current rent) until the blocks are rebuilt or moving into another Wandle property. Some tenants are apparently again using this as an opportunity to upgrade their accommodation eg securing a larger property with a garden. There have been changes in legislation since planning permission was first gained for the properties. The new numbers 44 and 46 will need to follow the Southwark and London plan. This means there will be re-consultation and new applications via the planning process for these two blocks. Wandle are making claims via the NHBC scheme. I couldn't get any firm response on what happened with building control inspections, eg was a building's inspector called in when they should have been, were the final buildings signed off. I would say, 44 doesn't look like it was ever completed! It sounds like the buildings weren't built to be fire compliant too. This whole situation is horrendous. I did see the letter a couple of months ago that was sent to residents about minimizing disruption. I don't think this process could be more disruptive for the community of residents who live in Solomon's passage! I would like to know if the measures that Wandle have said they are taking in the attachment are happening. They will be interviewing residents on an individual basis to gauge what will work best for each family. This means if eg your family has expanded and you now need a larger property, this is the time to say so. If you have children in local schools and you want to remain in the blocks, make this clear! Renata

The Brit School has an art stream, but it's only for when they reach 14 . They select by competitive application (exam and interview). You could check which local secondaries have a good selection of art based clubs and societies. Where do you live? Renata

Thanks I have responded via pm. Renata

It's a burst water main. Temporary traffic lights are helping manage the traffic; it's therefore not at bad as yesterday, but there are still long delays to the p12/63/363 Renata

Hi in Texas, it is free, if you can't sort this out, let me know your details and I will contact Veolia. Renata

Thanks Midivydale, she has now been in contact! Renata

Hi something happened to my email account and my correspondence with Sarah over her son's primary school allocation has been deleted. If you know her please ask her to contact me again. Thanks Renata

Hi Cora, I've not stayed there so I don't know what it's like, but on Break Free Holidays they have Broadland Sands between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth for ?175 for a basic caravan for 3 nights from the 29th April. This is just over the border in Suffolk. http://www.breakfreeholidays.co.uk/find-holiday/ Renata

Thanks Carbonara! Also to say, you will need to contact neighbouring boroughs about waiting list positions at schools you applied to there. You automatically hold the place you were offered unless you get offered somewhere else via the admissions system and then accept that, or can prove you won't need the place. If you have twins/triplets and one is offered a place, the other(s) automatically get a place even if it means the class size going above 30. The class size would need to go down to 29 or less for the next child on the waiting list to get a place. Attendance at the nursery attached to a primary gives no priority for a reception place and is not grounds for appeal. If your questions haven't been answered, please email me Midivydale, I'm happy to help you if I can. Renata

Hi all, below is the letter sent about primary applications to Councillors by my ward colleague, Cllr Victoria Mills. This year there has been the highest number of applicants receiving their 1st choice school since the current system began (2009) Renata Dear Colleague I am pleased to confirm that we have received a total of 3,380 on time primary applications for the September 2016 intake and despite the growing demand for reception places across London, the LA has yet again been able to offer a primary school place to every on time Southwark applicant. 3,310 (98%) of Southwark families have received a primary school place of their preference - the remaining 70 families that did not receive a school of their preference have been allocated an alternative school place at the nearest school to the family home with capacity. Letters confirming these offers have been posted out to families today. All online applicants that have received a preference, will be able to view their offers online from 5pm this evening. Starting primary school is an exciting time for families however we recognise that those who did not receive a school of their preference and have been allocated an alternative school, often have additional queries and/or support needs. A personalised email from the admissions team with details of the alternative school allocated has been sent today to each of these families and also, informing them that our phone lines will be open up until 8pm this evening should they wish to contact us to raise any queries or discuss their options directly with an admissions officer. Southwark has been proactive in planning for the growing demand for Reception places in the borough. Additional capacity has been established across Southwark through a mix of temporary and permanent expansion Reception year places to cater for families in need of a place for their child and to allow families to exercise parental choice. In addition, this year Galleywall Primary School ? A City of London Academy (free school) will be opening in the north east of the borough for September 2016 to serve Bermondsey and the surrounding areas. The school will be offering 60 reception places and has received more applications than places available. For this first year only, parents/carers were able to make direct applications to the school as well as being able to make six preferences on their child?s application as part of the Pan London co-ordinated process and will receive dual offers. Throughout next week, officers will be calling these families, currently with an offer from Galleywall Primary School and the local authority to confirm which offer they will be accepting. This process will free up places for allocation to other children as a single offer is accepted by each family. It is useful to note that the 18 April date is not the end of the admissions process. Parents across London have until 3 May to refuse offers and we know from previous experience that this will create movement over the forthcoming weeks. Officers will continue to work with families up until the end of August to ensure that everyone receives an offer with which they are happy. We are continually reviewing the situation with an endeavour to ensure that as many families as possible are provided with a preference. Primary school admission - 2016 headlines All data below relates to Southwark residents only and will be used to produce London-wide statistics that form the basis of the Pan London press release which is co-ordinated by London Councils and will be sent out at 4pm today. ? All Southwark primary school applicants have been offered a school place for September 2016 ? 3,310 (98%) applicants have received a place at a primary school of their first to sixth preference ? 3,255 (96.2%) applicants have received a place at a primary school of their first to third preference ? 2,875 (85.1%) families received a first preference school ? 70 (2.1%) families without a preference and offered an alternative school ? 3,371 (99.7%) of Southwark applicants applied online this year Attached is a summary of primary admission preference satisfaction statistics for Southwark providing total number of applications and preferences offered from 2009 right up to the current admissions round. I hope that colleagues will welcome the huge progress that has been made since 2009 in ensuring that families not only get one of their preferred schools but increasingly their 1st preference school ? a testament to the commitment and investment of this council. Best wishes, Vikki. Cllr Victoria Mills Cabinet Member for Children and Schools Labour Councillor for Peckham Rye Ward