24 October 2023	General Meeting	7-8pm
12 December 2023	General Meeting, with Christmas Drink and Nibbles	7-8.30pm
20 February 2024	General Meeting	7-8pm
16 April 2024	General Meeting	7-8pm
21 May 2024	AGM	7-8pm

All meetings take place in the Community Hall at 60A Rowland Hill House, by the Lord Nelson pub.

Well, Yo! Ho! Ho! To One and All!
It’s that special time of the year again when we remind you about the date of our next meeting Wednesday 14 December from 7.00 pm at the usual place which is 60A Rowland Hill House next to the Lord Nelson. This will be a short meeting followed by our Annual Christmas Party. Fancy dress is optional.
YOU are most welcome to come and join Your Committee for a glass of Mulled Wine [we also have beer, wine and non alcoholic drinks], and Food will be available too.
We appreciate that for some of you, it has been quite a tough year following Major Works, flooding and bad workmanship. So please know that Your Committee will do everything possible to collate all the problems to pass on to the appropriate Officer at Southwark Council to try and bring about a resolution. How can we help you if you don’t come to the meeting and tell us the difficulties you are facing? Don’t forget that our Councillors are also there to assist, if you are having difficulties getting help with repairs or services, they can bridge the gap between you and the Council.
If you have never attended one of our meetings before, don’t be shy, you will be assured of a warm welcome. If you live in Vaughan House or Helen Gladstone House you will be especially welcome as we would love to see more of you.
Toby from Vaughan House who has been a great asset to the Committee has now moved out of the area to pursue new opportunities. We will miss him, he brought a new energy to the Committee, it was Toby who organised online meetings during Lockdown and included a telephone link for those who do not have an iphone or access to IT, he even prepared one of those QR squares to make access even easier. Thank you Toby and we will miss you and wish you all the best.
Do come and join us on Wednesday 14 December. We look forward to seeing you.
With Best Wishes from Your Committee

4 December 2022

It's hard to believe (looking at the result), but Standage have concluded their work on Nelson Square Gardens is completed.
Below the final newsletter

Summer Party

21 August 2021 1pm - 4pm

19 October 2021	General
14 December 2021	Christmas
8 February 2022	General
19 April 2022	General
17 May 2022	AGM

Please find details on the refurbishment of Blackfriars Bridge below.

Our councillors will come around Nelson Square Gardens on Saturday, 13th of August, 10:30 - 12:30 to discuss any issues regarding the estate.

Struggling to buy food?

Find North Southwark Food bank Tuesday - Thursday, 1100 - 1300 on Cherry Garden Hill, Jamaica Road, London SE16.

Be sure to book an appointment with Kathy Heather, 07730465160, lovenorthsouthwark@outlook.com

Please find below the choices for the front of the middle balconies of Vaughan House, to be returned by the 27th of April.

Multiple people have approached us with regards to the schedule of costs for the quality home improvement programme QHIP (major works). Please find the schedule of costs below:

By majority vote, the following colours were chosen:

• Railings: Black
• Internal walls: Charcoal grey

The architect (Potter Raper) forgot about the tiles balconies, another vote will be held for those.

Please join Sofique Miah from Soutwark Council to discuss the current major works to Applegarth House, Rowland Hill House (tower) and Vaughan House on
Friday, 29 April 2022, 0930 - 1000 on MS Teams via this link.

The Microsoft Teams application can be downloaded from here for Desktop computers and mobile devices.

Contact Sofique on 07808016972 / sofique.miah@southwark.gov.uk for any questions you may have.

Join us for our next general meeting on

Wednesday, 13th of April

at 1900

...either in person in the community hall, or via virtual dial-in:

https://meet.google.com/ffn-znoh-ahk

Join by phone: 02039370909
Conference pin: 876 612 141 8031#

Please see below info on drainage works

*update* Brian Checkley has confirmed that the "blue" will be the Trafalgar Blue used for Rowland Hill House, not the light blue from the samples below.

Please vote on what colour you would like your building to be painted by submitting the below form to the Standage site office by Thursday, 14th of April.

Walls: available choices are:

Colour Choice 0127 - Cream (HEX: #EAE4BA, RGB: 234/228/186)
Colour Choice 0063 - Duck Egg Blue (HEX: #F0CD60, RGB: 240/205/96)
Colour Choice 0109 - Dusky Pink (HEX: #ECBBB0, RGB: 236/187/176)
Colour Choice 0052 - Light Grey (HEX: #E7BA4C, RGB: 231/186/76)
Colour Choice 0102 - Charcoal Grey (HEX: #737373, RGB: 115/115/115)
Colour Choice 0077 - Duck Egg Green (HEX: #F0E9BD, RGB: 240/233/189)

Railings; available choices are (no colour code given, the below are guesses):

Colour choice Blue
Colour choice Black
Colour choice Green
Colour choice White

Join us for our next general meeting on

Wednesday, 16th of February

at 1900

...either in person(!) in the community hall, or via virtual dial-in:

https://meet.google.com/pna-tonv-oon

Join by phone: +442039372452
Conference pin: 732 011 689 2800#

Summer Party

24 July 2021 1pm - 4pm

11 August 2021	General Canceled
13 October 2021	General
15 December 2021	Christmas
16 February 2022	General
13 April 2022	General
25 May 2022	AGM

Standage have completed the major works at Rowland Hill House, leaving the freshly painted structure shining brilliantly in the sunshine.

The refurbishment works come with a warranty - should you experience any issues, please contact Brian Checkley Brian.Checkley@SOUTHWARK.GOV.UK or Pcarter@standage.co.uk.

Meeting to discuss the planning proposal for Southwark Tube Station

Southwark's reference: 20/AP/1189
Site address: Southwark Underground Station The Cut, 68-70 Blackfriars Road London Southwark
Proposal: Redevelopment of the site including the demolition of Nos. 49-56 Hatfields and No 1 Joan Street to provide an 17 storey (plus plant) building above Southwark Underground Station accommodating Class B1 office space and Class A1/A2/A3/A4 retail space. The development includes associated basement construction, public realm improvements and associated highways works including the closure of Joan Street.

Case officer: Terence McLellan
Contact: terence.mclellan@southwark.gov.uk

• Date: 17 March 2021
• Time: 18:30

If you would like to observe the meeting, it will be live-streamed on the council's YouTube channel which is at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqgAueevJzRUGB_eAZia0xw (Or simply go to YouTube.com and search for "Southwark Council". Any live-streams will be displayed at the top of the page and will have a small red "Live" rectangle next to them.)

If you would like to register to speak on this item, please contact the council's constitutional team who will send you a link and further information on how to join the meeting, by 5pm on the working day prior to the meeting:

• Email: Constitutional.Team@southwark.gov.uk
• Phone: 020 7525 7420.

The recommendation from officers is that .

My report on the application sets out the material planning considerations that have led to my recommendation. You can read my report on the Council's website using this link: http://moderngov.southwarksites.com/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=119 .

• accessing http://planning.southwark.gov.uk, and then;
• searching for application 20/AP/1189.

Please note that the report may not be immediately available on the website as you may receive this notification before the website page has been refreshed to include the report. However, it should be available no later than 48 hours after the date of this letter. The report will also be available later in the published agenda for the meeting. If you have any questions regarding this agenda, please contact the Constitutional Team, on 020 7525 7420.

If you wish to make any additional comments which are not already covered in the officers report, please submit these to the case officer no later than noon on Monday, 15 February 2021. Any comments received after that time will not be able to be reported to the Committee.

If you have any questions about the content of the report, please contact the case officer whose details are at the top of this letter.

The agenda of the meeting can be viewed at: http://moderngov.southwarksites.com/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=119 .

To all in Nelson Square, a happy new year!

Dear community members,

2020 has presented exceptional challenges for all of us, and we are grateful we were able to keep our community association going through the use of virtual meetings.
We were very much looking forward to hold some kind of Christmas event this year - potentially outdoors - but with plans to place London into tier 3 lockdown, we have resigned to make our Christmas meeting next Wednesday (16th of December) virtual once again (details to be published on the day as usual).

We were able to bring a little bit of a festive spirit to Nelson Square by lighting up our Monkey Puzzle tree, and we hope you enjoy the humble spectacle.

Major works

Having cleared the drain pipes, Standage are installing a silicone lining inside of the pipes to waterproof them. This became necessary after it turned out that they were rusted through in various places following neglect to maintain them adequately.

This work is currently taking place on the Eastern side of Rowland Hill House, and will continue towards the centre- and Western sections in the new year. Regrettably, Southwark council decided it would be most appropriate for the contractors' vans to park on the grass area South of Rowland Hill House, which is why this area is now fenced off and boarded up. We only had one day notice of this.

Water tank replacements

Independent of the major works undertaken by Standage, the water tanks at the top of Rowland Hill House are being replaced. The contractors undertaking this worked can be reached on 020 3589 3133 or 01689 806 182.

Council Contact

Sophique Miah <Sofique.Miah@southwark.gov.uk> 020 7525 0915 can be contacted with inquiries about either the Major Works or the Water tank replacements.

Financial aid available

Are you struggling financially?
Do you need to feed your family?
Southwark Group of Tenants Association has small grants of between £100 and £250 available each month, which can be awarded to vulnerable residents. Grants can be awarded to help food bills, but also for essential items like school materials or clothing.
The grants need to be applied for via us; please get in touch via the contact form if you wish to apply.

Welcome Victor

We would like to welcome Victor from Applegarth House onto the committee.
Victor has been working with the London Ambulance Service to arrange First Responder training. Due to COVID, sessions cannot currently take place, but we are looking forward to start offering them once we are allowed to re-open our community hall.

So long

On behalf of all at NSGCA, I would like to wish everybody a peaceful holiday period, and a healthy and successful new year 2021.
Toby, Chair

05 August 2020	General
14 October 2020	General
16 December 2020	Christmas
17 February 2021	General
14 April 2021	General
19 May 2021	AGM

It seems a very long time since lockdown first began back in March, and NSCGA were forced to suspend our meetings, as per guidance from the Council. So, time for an update from us! Happily, on 15th July, the Committee had our first meeting since the pandemic changed everything, appropriately social distanced by virtue of being online.
Top of our agenda: re-starting our regular meeting schedule with Residents.

For the time being, the Council prohibits all face-to-face TRA meetings, whether that’s General Meetings or internal Committee meetings. Even entering the Community Hall is out of bounds. The Council strongly suggest virtual meetings as the way forward, at least for the next little while. As such, we will be holding all General Meetings online, until face-to-face events get the Council’s OK. We realize that online meetings are not ideal for everyone. For the time being, though, this seems to be the only compromise possible, in efforts to resume meetings during the ongoing pandemic. If you cannot participate in online meetings, but want to share your thoughts or get your voice heard, please get in touch with us and we can represent your views at the meeting.

With that in mind, we invite all Nelson Square Residents to join us for our first virtual General Meeting on Wednesday, 5th August, 7.00-8.30pm. We’re still finding out footing in the digital world, so we’ll be trying out Google Teams to see if it works for our needs.
Please check back on the 8th to get the link.

A few more updates… We now have a schedule for the forthcoming year’s meetings – so check out the dates below and be sure to add them to your diary! The pandemic stuck a wrench in our usual summer festivities – very sadly, no summer party for us – and our less glamorous but nevertheless essential AGM. We’re hopeful that we might be able to hold a Christmas shindig this year, though we have to wait and see how the coronavirus situation is going before we can make any firm plans. As for the AGM, the Council signed off on “rolling over” the proceedings till May 2021. That means that the Committee you elected in May 2019 will continue serving you until then. In other Estate news, the Major Works on Rowland Hill House have started up again, though with contractors only working on external projects for now. We continue to monitor the situation, and are in contact with the contractor, Standage, to sort out any issues as rapidly as possible.

We hope to see as many Residents as possible at the virtual meetings, to hear how you’ve been doing since we last met up, and see how we can support you going forward.

If you are in crisis, we [Southwark Group of Tenants Organisation] are here to support you.

Here are a few numbers that might prove useful during this period.
If you do not have internet access and need any numbers or information please contact SGTO on 0207 639 6718.

If you are experiencing problems paying for emergency items, such as fuel, you can call Southwark Emergency Support Scheme on 0207 525 2434

If you are experiencing difficulty applying for benefits you can refer yourself to Southwark Local Support team 0207 525 2434

If you are struggling with your mental health during this period you can call Southwark Wellbeing Hub for confidential support on 0203 751 9684 9am-5pm. You can also contact 07849 084368.

______________________________________________________________________

• Remember to stay safe in your home.
• Do not answer the door to any strangers.
• No one from the police or health services should come to your home to do tests.

• If you are concerned about your health call 111
• if you are concerned about crime call 101
• if you are experiencing any emergency call 999

https://www.sgto.org.uk

Dear residents,

due to circumstances that need no further introduction, all public meetings in the residents hall have been temporarily canceled. This includes:

• Coffee mornings
• Councillors' Surgeries
• Standage meetings about the major works in RHH
• Aphasia Reconnet
• Community Hygiene Concern
• HGH meetings
• Blackfriars Settlement is closed, too

We will make a decision with regards to our next general meeting in due course.

Meanwhile, Southwark is looking for volunteers to help those who cannot leave their home. Details here: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/engagement-and-consultations/covid-support/covid-19-what-can-you-do-to-help

For general advice from Southwark, see https://www.southwark.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/public-health/for-the-public/coronavirus

Please see below the transcript of the letter we have received with regards to QHIP.
Key information:
Contact

Sofique Miah
Customer Relationship Officer
Asset Management - Investment Delivery Housing & Modernisation
Sofique. miah@southwark.gov. uk
020 7525 0915

Transcript

Dear Resident,

Nelson Square Gardens Estate QHIP 20/21: Applegarth / Helen Gladstone / Vaughan House

We are pleased to invite you to the 1 st Resident Drop-in meeting for Nelson Square Gardens Estate which includes 157-209 Applegarth, 222-269 Helen Gladstone & 1-51 Vaughan House. Your home will be part of the proposed Quality Homes Investment Programme (QHIP) 20/21 which we expect to be delivered from autumn 2020. The works will include external redecorations, window & general repairs to the fabric of the building where necessary and internal kitchen and bathroom renewals to tenanted properties which meet the QHIP criteria.

The drop-in has been scheduled to take place on Wednesday 18 December 2019, 4:30pm-6:30pm at Rowland Hill House TRA hall, 60a Rowland Hill House, Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 0LT

The Contract Manager (CM) will be Brian Checkley (Brian.Checkley@southwark.gov.uk /
07956 200 666) who will be responsible for monitoring and managing the works. Sofique Miah will be the Customer Relationship Officer (CRO) who is responsible for dealing with any issues that you might have in relation to how the works are delivered, quality of workmanship and
level of customer service provided and can be contacted using details above.

This is a drop-in session, so you are free to attend anytime between 4:30pm-6:30pm and don't have to stay for the whole duration.
If you have any queries or require assistance regarding these specific works then please contact me.
Yours sincerely
Sofique Miah

Come join us at our
summer party

Saturday, 17th August 2019, 1300 - 1600
Community Hall (and Garden), 60a Rowland Hill House

Day	Date	Event / Guest speaker
Wednesday	17 July 2019	tbc
Saturday	17 August 2019	Summer Party
Wednesday	16 October 2019	tbc
Wednesday	11 December 2019	Christmas Party
Wednesday	12 February 2020	tbc
Wednesday	08 April 2020	tbc
Wednesday	13 May 2020	Annual General Meeting & Elections

Always at 7pm in the Community Hall, 60a Rowland Hill House, London SE1 0LT.
Contact us if you want to see your concern on the agenda.

We are delighted that two bicycle sheds have been installed on our estate.

Rowland Hill House: Space for six bicycles next to the residents' hall.
Contact BikeAway (01752202116) to rent a space.

Vaughan House: Space for six bicycles at the North-Western end.
Contact Cyclehoop (02086991338) to rent a space.

Helen Gladstone House: Sorry, we have not been able to agree a location to date due to concerns of infringing the grounds of the (privately owned) adjecent freehold (maisonnettes).
If you would like to support getting a cycle shed for HGH, please come to our Annual General Meeting on
Wednesday, 15th of May at 7pm at the community hall.

Many thanks for everybody who attend our summer party.
Despite the miserable weather, we counted nearly 40 guests, and received much positive feedback on both the catering and the band.

After petitioning for a long time, Southwark Parks and Leisure have finally agreed to install gates one Nelson Square, in a bid to reduce both the noise- and crime problems we have been experiencing.
Thank you all for bearing with us for such a long time, and also for giving us your signatures for the petition.
The installation date is yet to be confirmed, but hopefully, it won't be long now.

The work will be carried out by RH Wrought Iron, 42a Banyard Road, Rotherhithe, London SE16 2YA

All welcome to our general meeting on the 12th of September, 7pm, in the residents' hall.
Agenda:

• Welcome & Apologies
• Estate Matters
• Minutes of general meeting of the 18th July 2018
• Matters Arising
• Cycle Sheds
• Noise in Square
• Summer Party
• RHH Key Fob Reprogramming
• Any other business

Many residents have reported annoyance at the noise levels on Nelson Square, particularly during the night.
We have brought this issue to the attention of the council via our housing officer Debbie Ming, and our councilors.

The initial response is that Nelson Square does not fall under the remit of housing, as it is a public park, which also means the noise team is unable to deal with it.
The recommendation currently is:

• Call 101 (police non-emergency number) and report noise when it happens
• Keep a diary of disturbances
• Contact Southwark Parks

Also refer to http://www.southwark.gov.uk/parks-and-open-spaces/parks/opening-times and http://www.2.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/2858/byelaws_for_parks_and_open_spaces

Dear Resident, following the stabbing last autumn, a mobile phone robbery took place recently on Nelson Square.
Our councilors have this message for you:

 

Dear Resident, Robbery Warning-Nelson Square
On Monday 5th March a young male resident was threatened and robbed of his mobile phone and money by two young men, one of whom was masked, just after 7pm while he was walking through Nelson Square. Although he was not physically hurt he was understandably shaken up by the incident.
Can we please ask residents to be very careful in light of this incident and to report any suspicious activity in or around Nelson Square to the police dialling 999 if you think a crime is likely to be committed and 101 if you have any intelligence about the incident on Monday or if you see any further suspicious activity.
We would like to reassure you that robbery is very unusual in our ward but we want to have zero tolerance for this type of behaviour, and would ask that residents look after each other to make it clear that this is not a place where we will tolerate crime.
Since the re-design of Nelson Square last year there has been an increase in levels of anti-social behaviour in the summer months, which has led to requests from some residents for the square to be locked at night. The alternative is to consider the option of putting lighting in the square. If you have a view about your preferred option please email us at david.noakes@southwark.ov.uk and adele.morris@southwark.ov.uk

If you have any information about the robbery on Monday please contact the police on 101 quoting the following reference CRlS 3006453/18 or ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to report information anonymously.

With best wishes

Cllr David Noakes, Cllr Adele Morris and Victor Chamberlain Cathedrals Ward
Liberal Democrat Councillors & candidates for Borough & Bankside Ward

Fire risk assessments are periodically carried out to ensure that residents are safe in their dwellings. Their purpose is to identify any hazards, and recommend ways of mitigating the identified hazards.
This could include obstacles to escape routes, poor construction, aged cabling, or faulty standing pipes.

The latest Fire risk assessment reports can be found below:

Vaughan House

Rowland Hill House

Helen Gladstone House

For all buildings in Southwark higher than 10 storeys, specific fire safety information packs are available at http://www.southwark.gov.uk/housing/safety-in-the-home/fire-safety-information-packs/borough-and-bankside

We would like to welcome Debbie Ming (debbie.ming@southwark.gov.uk) as our new housing officer for Nelson Square Gardens.
She is replacing Mojisola Moses and Adama Mansaray in this role.

Following this link to our constitution.

 

 

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