Love Clapham is prone to the odd over-the-top superlative here and there (obviously!) but believe it or not, that is the actual name of those new blue streaks down Clapham High Street. Yes ladies and gentlemen, thanks to the heads up from Clapper @XanderBrown, say hello to Clapham’s section of the Cycle Superhighway!

The Transport For London website  explains it best with “The project is one of TfL’s and the Mayor’s main ways of bringing about a London cycling revolution. We aim to increase cycling in London by 400 per cent by 2025 (compared to 2000 levels).” Although it’s quite depressing that they set a goal fifteen years into the future, which may as well be 50 years into the future it’s so meaningless.

It is an admirable scheme though and one Love Clapham welcomes with its open arms to give it a massive bear hug to say hello. Not only is the blue quite cool, it will make cycling that little bit safer but there can never be enough superhighways in this world. Read more and watch a video here.

As you may have heard by now, Network Rail has had to cancel a number of major UK station redevelopments after having its £100 million budget reduced in the new Government’s budget cuts. The busiest station in Europe, our very own Clapham Junction, was the first and possibly most high profile of the station improvement works to face the chop. So, the severely run down station will stay that way for a long time to come. Given how bad it is already, Love Clapham dreads to think how it will look over the coming years and that’s not even taking into account safety – some of those platforms are incredibly uneven and dangerous. The London Evening Standard has more details of some works that will still take place, but still, it’s a blow given how many people use this station every single day.

Well blow me down – will you just look at this Clappers! It’s only the bloomin’ phoenix of an approved hotel rising from the ashes of the rejected plans from last year.  Yep, this revised plan of a seventy room hotel with, from what I can tell, seven floors (it’s actually 8 – thanks Cyril!) has been approved by planners. A fantastic result for all concerned because not only does Clapham Junction receive a much needed development in a tired corner, local residents can now enjoy the service without the worry of the high sky line.

Everyone loved Venn Street Market when it rolled into Clapham town at the end of last year, although few people knew about it. Luckily, the market has committed to return on a regular basis this year and Love Clapham is bloomin’ over the moon! Nice hot sandwiches, burgers, churros and more for Saturday and Sunday lunch The dates are below.

Venn Street Market takes place over three days – Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on the last weekend of every month. Fridays and Saturdays are FOOD market days and Sundays are FLOWER market days with FOOD.

Market dates for 2010:

• Friday 29 – Sunday 31 January
• Friday 26 – Sunday 28 February
• Friday 26 – Sunday 28 March
• Friday 23 – Sunday 25 April
• Friday 28 – Sunday 30 May
• Friday 25 – Sunday 27 June
• Friday 23 – Sunday 25 July
• Friday 27 – Sunday 29 August
• Friday 24 – Sunday 26 September
• Friday 29 – Sunday 31 October
• Friday 26 – Sunday 28 November
• Christmas Market to be confirmed

The future face of the Clapham High Street area, named Clapham One, is finally taking shape after a long delay caused by funding problems during the recession. But, it’s a new year and Lambeth Council has now secured the construction of a new library, mini shopping centre and housing unit on the High Street and an entirely new, renovated leisure centre to replace the (now closed) existing one. The scheme is exciting, but has been met with some criticism. We asked our Clapper followers on Twitter what they thought.

Delays to the project, while understandable given the economic downturn, have caused concern among local Clappers with @Jason_Cobb saying “My concerns are that Future Clap’ham will continue to run behind schedule. Already 2 years late.” Indeed, with no leisure centre in the heart of Clapham until the new building is complete in 18 months or so, Clappers are being advised to hop on a bus to nearby Brixton for their fitness needs.

Us Clappers certainly know a thing or two about aesthetics and the importance of making a good visual impression, so it’s unsurprising that the most controversial topic is the look of the two buildings. About the main tower block building @edwardclarke says “I like the design! Big improvement on the very dull building that’s there now,” while @alliekeith says “I don’t like the suggested apartments on the high st – looks like a cartoon.” The fact that the designs are just diagrams at the moment probably doesn’t help, but Love Clapham can see her point; it does have a touch of the Flint Stones about it. Nevertheless, Love Clapham loves the main High Street block and it will certainly add to the unusual character of the street started by our spaceship styled Sainsburys!

The new Leisure Centre however is the biggest sore spot for most Clappers. Last April we reported a drive by residents in the area to object against the plans for more social housing on the site with only a few car parking spaces to cope. Also, Clappers weren’t particularly happy about the proposed ‘modern’ look of the building described then on a leaflet as “a big white monstrosity.”

Indeed, opinion doesn’t seem to have changed on this one, “new Clapham Leisure Centre looks like a multistorey car park mated with a supermarket. But it’s what’s on the inside that counts,” says @filmish. It doesn’t stop there with @bigsquiddiving likening it to “a storage unit rather than a leisure centre!” and @edwardclarke asking “Maybe should have preserved Victorian facade on modern rebuild?”

Here at Love Clapham HQ, we have to agree that we’d have preferred the leisure centre to have remained in keeping, at least on the outside, with the residential street it sits on. Having said that, with all progress comes change and there’s no denying that this huge investment in Clapham is nothing but a good thing. The Leisure Centre may look like a big greenhouse, but the facilities are going to be state-of-the-art and useful, while the High Street development is something everyone in Clapham should be proud of. Clapham High Street is desperately in need of investment and something to really put it on the map, this building will undoubtedly do that.

So, thanks to everyone involved for getting this huge project off the ground at last and here’s to hoping more delays don’t happen. To find out more Love Clapham will be interviewing people at the helm of the project soon – stay tuned!

What do you think of Clapham One? Tell us below and visit the Clapham One website for pictures and more information.

Mary Seacole House’s number seems to be up. It’s the old Council building on Clapham High Street, and to be honest, the dated building was doomed the day the plans for the new Clapham library and shopping complex were approved to be built on the site. Lambeth Council leader Steve Reed expressed his desire to see the building removed as soon as possible last year, and with scaffolding being erected his wish looks set to come true! Love Clapham can’t wait. If you love pictures of scaffolding, see below (I promise these pics will get more exciting as the thing is torn down!)

Fancy working for this landmark Clapham building? Well, you can if you can volunteer two days a week to be an administrator for Clapham Library as it transforms into a community arts centre and moves to the new building on Clapham High Street. Read on for the full job description.

The Old Clapham Library Trust needs a volunteer to help them develop an exciting project, transforming Clapham Library on Clapham Common Northside into an active new arts and culture venue for all of Lambeth to enjoy once the new library opens on Clapham High Street in 2011. You would be joining the group at a good time as they are starting to develop serious plans and preparing to consult with local residents. The trust team is a small, dedicated and lively group who get things done but also have fun along the way. They would greatly value having voluntary administrative support to help make their vision a reality.

Clapham Library Volunteer Administrator – PDF

Position: Administrator.
Terms: Voluntary
Responsible to: Chair of Old Clapham Library Trust.
Location: Work from home, with meetings at other locations.
Times/Hours: 2 days – flexible hours.
Interviews: Mid-September

Fantastic news in Love Clapham’s opinion, Lambeth Council is proposing the permanent closure of Windmill Drive on Clapham Common to traffic (the road that cuts across the common next to the Windmill Pub). We’ve nearly been mown down numerous times crossing this road and, highlighted by the above picture of the childrens playground, this is hardly ideal for a park that attracts thousands of families with children. Keep reading and tell us what you think.

According to the South London Press “The council has sent 4,000 questionaires to residents in the area asking for their views as part of a public consultation, which ends on August 10.” If you have a view, even a positive one, you are encouraged to email gbull@lambeth.gov.uk to ask for an opinion questionnaire.

You can view the full proposal, with good artistic drawings, by viewing the full plans (PDF) by the Council on their website. The plans specify that the main purpose of this proposal is to:

1. Stop ‘rat running’ traffic, its environmental impact and risks to park users.
2. Reconnect existing footways and cycle paths currently severed by the road.
3. Extend and rejoin the two areas of parkland while improving aesthetics.

However, the Friends of Clapham Common, a committee that helps safeguard the public interests of Clapham Common, seem to have some reservations. Specifically, Peter Burke-Murphy, the chairman of the group says:

A section of the road alongside the storage/recycling dump will be dug up and returned to the Common leaving a path for cyclists and pedestrians only. Approximately half of Windmill Drive lies in the Borough of Wandsworth and this part will not be affected, apparently because there has been no consultation between the boroughs!

Paved turning areas will need to be formed at both ends of this closure encroaching into the Common thus minimizing any gain of green space and 12 parking spaces will be lost close to the children’s playground. Your Committee is waiting for further details before making a recommendation but at the present time I have strong reservations.

In my opinion it is a half hearted measure which does not link the adjacent sections of the Common as envisaged by the Master Plan and does nothing to tidy up the dump which is an eyesore or address the problems created around Tom’s Cafe. When we last took a poll of members’ views there was no clear majority for or against so if you have a strong view you can respond to the public consultation details of which will be on our website.

What is the correct answer here? Closing the road sounds great to us, but do the plans not fully meet the needs as stated by the Friends of Clapham Common? Please share your views or help enlighten us with more information in the comments below.

Windmill Drive location

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Favourite new Clapham shop alert! MilkInIt is a cute little frozen yoghurt shop that’s just opened opposite Clapham Common tube on the Starbucks / Iceland side. Not only are the ladies that run the place incredibly friendly, the yoghurt is amazing too. Which is a good thing given that’s their primary product. Toppings of fresh fruit through to cake and chocolate make these healthy treats incredibly delicious.

Schooling is so important, but it’s amazing how much primary school extensions cost these days. The South London Press is reporting that Clapham Manor Primary School (near Clapham High Street) is over it’s £2.5million budget by close to a million smackaroonies for its modern, technicolour extension.The South London Press website is stating that:

The overspend was created because of changes to the project’s design after the contract was signed. Problems began when it emerged the exterior glazing panels could not be produced in the required colours and specifications.

A supplier was later found but changes had to be made to the design for it to go ahead. The council also decided to alter the proposed main flooring in the extension and use an expensive “terrazzo” fake marble finish.

The removal of asbestos discovered when the redevelopment work began and a delay caused when vandals broke in and cut through electrical cables has also seen costs rise.

If you read the rest of their article it’s quite scathing of the project, but it can hardly be blamed for vandalism and unseen but necessary changes to make the building usable. Even so, the extra costs are extremely high compared to the reported initial cost.

Once it’s finished it’s certainly going to look more impressive than the primary school Love Clapham went to!

The Wandsworth planning applications committee has rejected a large development planned for Clapham Junction. This follows a high profile petition from some local residents who opposed the plans.

Plans for a hotel on Falcon Road in Clapham Junction state that it would be 16 stories high, taller than other buildings in the area but substantially smaller than the previous development that had residents up in arms. The planning applications committee said:

“We had no problem with a hotel in this location – it would clearly be a benefit to the town centre.

“The concerns were more about whether the site could accommodate a building of this size. The new structure would be out of scale with the nearby houses in Mossbury Road.

“There is scope for a taller building here but it must respect its immediate surroundings and the properties around it.

“It would be regrettable if the council’s decision were overturned. We are not saying we do not want investment here – just that any development must be of the right scale and size for its location.”

The hotel would have replaced the disused and rundown building in the above picture. However, despite this initial rejection, the plans are being referred to the Mayor of London office which has been looking into rejuvenating areas of London like Clapham Junction.

Is this preservation of the area or a barrier to improving it? Tell us your thoughts below.

For more information on this story see:

• Love Clapham’s previous story and our original story
• The blog No to Towers in Clapham Junction
• Wandsworth Council’s press release

Last month Love Clapham reported a new development over in Clapham Junction and we feel it’s necessary to clarify a few points relating to this. On one side is a developer looking to build a new hotel in an under used corner of Falcon Road in Clapham Junction and on the other side are a number of local residents that object to tall buildings in the area. Which side is right is all a matter of opinion, and that’s the point of this post – to gather opinion from people other than the most vocal out there. In an increasingly overcrowded city with very little real estate left, should the only way be up? What do you, the residents of Clapham and Battersea really think?

Before we begin let’s clear up one thing, there are two different building developments being reported in the press. Firstly, a plan for a twin towered development, a somewhat taller and larger set of buildings behind Debenhams that has been recalled. This is totally separate from the plan and developer of the proposed hotel, which has drawn the attention of local residents who objected to the first development. This new plan is for a hotel that would sit on Falcon Road on the corner leading to Boots and Asda (the old office block in the picture above). 

Having corresponded with both parties, they are, as expected, ordinary and decent people, who all genuinely do care about the future of the area. They just have a clash of views over the direction of this future in central Clapham Junction. In such an over populated city like London, tall buildings that make use of vertical space make sense, although some people will always want to maintain the existing look and feel of an area. Understandably, we are dealing with roads near people’s homes and their views are incredibly important.

Leading the objections to towers in Clapham Junction is Cyril Richert who said on his blog that, “The area is very compact. The size of the building will definitely create an eye-sore in the vicinity of low rise Victorian and Edwardian buildings, within the conservation area (and what is the point of a conservation area, if not to conserve it?).” The biggest concern of some local residents seems to be the setting of a precedent for tall buildings in the area, thus changing the look of Clapham Junction in the future. Local planning committees will be tasked with the job of preventing this becoming reality.

Tim Glass from the development company is sympathetic to concerns and states that if you look at the details of the applications people should hopefully “appreciate that we have actually paid great attention to the obvious areas of concern such as overlooking, daylight/sunlight, parking, deliveries, noise, refuse etc. as well as a lot that are less obvious.” Of course, the main advantages of a hotel in the area are obvious with new jobs and a ready supply of people to feed money into the local economy of restaurants, bars and shops.

This week Love Clapham was pleased to hear that both parties have met to discuss concerns and we really hope a resolution can be found. Is there anyone else living in Clapham that has any thoughts?

OK, I admit it, in the grand scheme of things this is hardly news. But in the world of Clapham High Street this is a front page headline! The Boots pharmacy store on Clapham High Street opens next Wednesday, 3rd June at 8.30am. That’s correct early birds, you can even pop in for a nose around before work if you’re that interested. Boots has obviously done its research and has stuck a massive “BEAUTY” label above the doorway to attract Clappers who like to look their best around the streets of Clapham.

Walking past today I have to admit that as far as Boots stores go, this looks pretty swish. Boots of course replaces the slightly tired looking Woolworths that sadly closed down along with the rest of the chain earlier in the year.

Work seems to still be going strong with the store itself as people were still stacking shelves this evening (yeah, I’m really working this news story for all its worth). Love Clapham loves its food, so we were delighted to see that on top of the pharmaceutical bits n’bobs lining shelves, it will also have a large area for snacks. Boots were on a TV show recently that proved they have the healthiest sandwiches on the high street, plus they’re yummy. Good news there.

Superdrug on the otherhand, just a few doors down, must be quaking in their boots (bad-a-bing!) with their arch rivals opening with a bigger, sharper looking shop. Having said that, they seem to live happily with each other down the road in Clapham Junction. There’s hope yet Superdrug!

Interestingly, at least to Love Clapham, Boots is a major chain and during our interview with Christopher Wellbelove, the Mayor of Lambeth, last week there is a move amongst some of the Clapham community to ensure there are less of these compared to local shops. As it does replace another high street store we’re assuming Boots will get off lightly.

Someone seems to have installed an Indiana Jones set piece into the pavement on Clapham High Street this weekend. Sadly no religious artifacts or aliens were spotted, but it did give an intriguing glimpse into Clapham’s past by exposing the old Victorian pipes that are being replaced.

Not exactly the most exciting news about Clapham town in the world, but Love Clapham did find it mildly fascinating to see the rusty, corroded old gas and water pipes buried beneath Clapham High Street’s pavements. To think of the hundreds of thousands of Clapper feet that have walked over the pipes for roughly one hundred years.

Clapham High Street would have been an entirely different, and probably much quieter, place than it is today when those pipes were first put in. Change is for the best however, as those clanky pipes must be horribly inefficient and leaky. Good to see yet more improvements to Clapham going ahead. Soon everything will be all shiny and new.

Awesome news for Clappers today as blonde bombshell Boris Johnson announced an influx of security in the form of a new police force in Clapham Junction. The nine person strong team will patrol the Clapham Junction area and its public transport. This is very welcome news for Love Clapham because not only are more Bobbies on the Beat a visible sign of reassurance, the size of the team means there’s some serious policing business to be had. Wrong doers begone! On a related note, the Clapham Town Safer Neighbourhoods Team has been in touch to say that “if anyone wants to speak to us in confidence regarding any criminal activities etc, just give us a call on the team number: 0208 721 2825.”

It seems like all we’re doing at the moment is telling you about Clapham building developments, but they’re just so darn interesting! This time, it’s plans to replace an old office block  with a state of the art hotel with restaurant. Sounds like a good plan.

It would replace the office block with the Job Centre in opposite PCS at 155 Falcon Road. That’s the corner you turn into if you’re driving to the Boots, Lidl and Asda super stores.

The hotel would have a contemporary design and includes 132 bedrooms, conference facilities, a restaurant and another space for a shop to use. Here at Love Clapham HQ it all sounds too good to be true and would bring some much needed life to quite a dull part of Clapham Junction.

According to Property Week, the director of the company behind the plans said: “The project will replace an indifferent and depressing 70s office block with an iconic new building that will make a major economic and architectural contribution to the regeneration of Clapham Junction Town Centre. We want to see this project up and running to provide much needed hotel facilities in this perfect green travel location before the 2012 Olympics.”

Source: Property Week

Update: Clapham Junction Hotel Development

A 3,000 home social housing project in Clapham Park between Brixton, Streatham, Balham and Clapham has been given a siginificant amount of extra funding.

This comes after the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) London Board, chaired by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, agreed to invest over £16 million in two projects from its programme to ‘kick start’ developments in London that have been affected by the economic downturn.

£13 million of this money is for the Clapham Park project. ”This is good news for those who will benefit from the new homes being built and for the many jobs in the construction sector that these projects will sustain,” said the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

“Despite the economic downturn, it is vital that we keep investing in our city and improving our infrastructure.  Investment like this will support and help our economy grow so that London is fighting fit to compete in the global market place when the upturn comes.”

What does this mean to the Clapham area of Lambeth? Well, it does mean more business for local construction companies and offer families better social housing, as Boris says. This comes just weeks after Clapham One and other developments around the Clapham High Street area were approved.

Things are definitely changing in the Clapham area, and hopefully for the better. Do you think this is a good thing for local residents? Share your view below or in our community forum.

• For more information visit: The Clapham Park Project Masterplan

Source: £13 million HCA bailout for Clapham Park scheme

Love Clapham thought it was a real shame the day Woolworths packed up shop and left Clapham High Street. It was always going to be a battle of the big brands to take over the prime location and the one that won was Boots. Quite exciting news to have such a well known and successful High Street name. With Superdrug and a couple of independent chemists, Clappers are going to be spoilt for beauty products. Boots opens in June.

While browsing our Twitter feed last night, Love Clapham’s heart sank when we spotted a message about the likely closure of Clapham High Street station. Fair enough it’s the one station in Clapham that virtually no one knows about, but it serves an incredibly useful purpose.

Clapham High Street overground station is a direct link from Clapham North to Victoria or London Bridge and the various stops in between. Those of you that work or get connections in these incredibly popular and important business districts of London will probably be dreading a future of Underground overcrowding.

If you head over to the Qype website you can read a bit more about this, including a rather nonsensical letter from Transport for London (TFL) that doesn’t seem to answer the questions properly. Sadly, with the 2012 transport restructure at the root of this issue, it’s unlikely that the small number of people that do use this station will have a major effect on preventing its closure.

The date for its closure will be in the coming years so won’t be immediate, but will let you know as soon as we have more info and even if it gets saved. Get in touch with your opinions on this subject below if you are one of the people that this will directly affect.

If you were walking down Clapham High Street last summer you may have seen Lambeth Council representatives handing out leaflets for a major new £45 million development project. Called Clapham One, the diagram of how it may look is above. This will bring major changes to Clapham High Street.

The planning application says “The mixed-use scheme comprises three components: a new multi-storey block containing a library, surgery and apartments designed by Studio Egret West; a new leisure centre, including a swimming pool by LA Architects; and the conversion of Clapham Old Library into a community art centre. The apartments will include 40% affordable housing in partnership with a preferred housing association. The development will also be built according to stringent environmental criteria.”

LoveClapham lives very close to the proposed apartment blocks and we have to say that while the leisure and shopping centre sounds great, the additional housing in an overcrowded area hasn’t met with overwhelming support. A (slightly over-the-top) flyer explaining all of the negative aspects was dropped through the letter box urging residents to object. This is all history now though as the project was approved and by 2012, if not sooner, Clapham highstreet and the surrounding area will have a major face lift and cash injection.

The funky designs for the new Clapham One library

Despite minor objections to change, this is undoubtedly an exciting and positive new development for the Clapham residents. Better, newer facilities for the entire community must be a good thing in anyone’s books. Plus we can finally wave goodbye to that horrible run down tower block on the high street. Here’s to a year or so of building work and then a fantastic new hub for Clapham residents.

The design for the Clapham One swimming pool

Further reading and useful links

• Future Clapham information on the Lambeth Council website
• Future Clapham by the Clapham Town Councillors