Both Southwark News and South London Press have printed articles about the Mayor’s decision to split the Cross-River Tram project into two phases. They can be found below:

• Southwark News 27 September 2007 - “A Cross River Tram that may not cross the river”
• South London Press 28 September 2007 - “Tram plan canned? Mayor suggests two-phase build”

On 23rd September, London Mayor Ken Livingstone announced that the Cross-river Tram will not continue north to Camden, but cease at Waterloo. This has been due to fierce opposition from North London councils. London SE1, a community site, discusses this in further detail in their article and also their forum.

Simon Hughes MP has said

“Can we at least have the money to allow us to have what is not a cross-river tram if it stops south of the river, having started south of the river? We want the tram to go from Brixton and Peckham to Waterloo, and at least over to Aldwych.”

Ken Livingstone, London Mayor said:

“We will proceed to build the Cross River Tram south of the river. Once that is complete and has demonstrated that it works we will move on to the second phase. The phase that runs north of the river most probably [will be built] around 2020 at the earliest.”

Tory London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden Brian Coleman said:

“Let’s hope that this is the nail in the coffin to this whole sorry project. I certainly won’t be losing any sleep over it now. There is no demand north of the river. We don’t want the blasted thing anywhere. It would split Somers Town in half and they would have us digging up Bloomsbury – one of the few unspoilt areas of south Camden – at a cost of £600 million.”

Read the full article here.

See also:

Cross-river Tram

What a wonderful weekend in Peckham Central. The sun shone and over 140 people flocked to take the Open House weekend walks led by The Peckham Society on Saturday and Sunday (see photos). Everyone enjoyed the magnificent views of Peckham and central London from the roof of the Bussey building. They enjoyed the refreshments in the CLF Arts Café and the Peckham Vision exhibition of the latest information about the tram & tram depot plans, and the ideas for that central area of Peckham town centre if the tram depot is not located there.

The tours looked at the huge size and good solid condition of the historic Bussey building and how it is already providing spaces for new creative arts and music businesses; the scope for creative development of the whole business site which would otherwise be demolished for the proposed tram depot; the historic gems of Holdron’s Victorian arcades which, currently hidden by shop fittings, could be restored for commercial town centre use; the way all that would complement the opening up of the piazza in front of the station, now agreed as the aim by Southwark Council, the train companies and Southwark’s London Assembly representative; and how Bar Story and the Sassoon Art Gallery in Blenheim Grove behind the station show further signs of the burgeoning creative re-uses of historic architecture in Peckham Central.

See also:
CLF Weekender

Open House Weekend

A letter from Peckham Vision was printed in the 13th September edition of Southwark News.

Important historic buildings in central Peckham will be open to the public during London Open House Weekend on three walks led by the Peckham Society:

• Saturday 15 September 2pm
• Sunday 16 September noon
• Sunday 16 September 4pm

Come and take this rare opportunity to see some usually hidden parts of central Peckham, and how they can provide the basis for a new vision for the heart of the town centre, re-using historic buildings with new architecture, and with the right flexibility for modern uses.

Meet at CLF Arts Cafe, 1st floor CIP House, Bussey Building, through passage way 133 Rye Lane (opposite Blenheim Grove /Peckham Rye station)

The CLF Arts cafe will be open to drop in from 1.30pm on Saturday and noon on Sunday, with musical events on Saturday evening. The Peckham Vision exhibition will be on display showing latest ideas about the tram routes and depot plans, and strategic visions for an integrated town centre.

The weekend walks will take in:

• the Bussey building, the former Victorian cricket bat factory, the magnificent roof view of central London and Peckham, and the new creative uses the building is attracting;
• the old Mill Building off Copeland Road, to be renovated for a new cultural & arts performance centre.
• Holdron’s old department store and the still existing but hidden arcade, a remnant of Rye Lane’s era as the ‘Golden Mile’;
• Peckham Rye station (the grandest example of High Victorian architecture in Peckham which is very visible from the Bussey building roof) and a look inside the closed huge old waiting room, now in its first stage of renovation;

Further information:

Visions for Peckham

and…

http://www.openhouse.org.uk/london/home.html
http://www.londonopenhouse.org/
www.peckhamsociety.org.uk
http://myspace.com/clfplanet

In the September 2007 issue of SAVO News the CLF Weekender was reviewed. This review is available below.

In the September 2007 issue of Living South Magazine (http://www.livingsouth.co.uk) Peckham Vision has been quoted on the proposed tram depot sites.