In February, a newsletter from the contractor Farrans indicated that construction of the Resource Centre would start this April. However, given the coronavirus situation, there is to be a further delay to the start of these works. The Project Manager from Lambeth Council confirmed earlier this month that construction is “on pause”.
It’s a shame that the badly damaged hoarding wasn’t repaired or replaced before “lockdown”. Residents had been given the impression at the meeting with Farrans in January, and through their February newsletter, that this would happen in February or March. Unfortunately, this eyesore will be with us for a while longer.
A resident of Coburg Crescent (Cath) is regularly liaising with the council’s Project Manager on behalf of residents. She has recently been pursuing the following matters:
- Asking for new signs to be put up on the hoarding to reflect the current status of the project. Asking for the misleading out-of-date signs (which indicate that the building should have been completed by now) to be removed.
- Asking for newsletters to residents to be clear and in plain English.
- Asking for paving bricks which will be removed during construction to be kept for future repairs on the estate.
- Asking for the PRERA noticeboard, which will be within the new hoarding, to be moved to a new location outside the construction site.
- Asking if PRERA can have input to Farrans’ “Community Benefit Plan”.
- Asking for updates about the shop / temporary shop. The Project Manager explained this week that once the temporary shop has been connected to an electrical supply, it will be ready to occupy (subject to lease negotiations).
If there is anything that you would like Cath to raise with the Project Manager, do let her know via contact@prera.org.uk. She will keep residents updated via this blog. Cath has found the Project Manager, who is new to Lambeth Council, to be receptive and supportive. He is pursuing the above matters and also arranged for the two apple trees which were in the way of the construction site to be moved last month.
