Two towers plan for Vauxhall

May 22, 2010Noneadmin

Friday, 21 May 2010
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An artist’s impression of the Vauxhall Cross towers

Sam Masters
DEVELOPERS have revealed £170million plans for two towers in an area where community campaigners have bitterly fought high-rise developments.
The project at Bondway in the heart of Vauxhall Cross is being funded by the chief executive of Middle Eastern oil company FAL Oil.
Developers Kylun Ltd own the site, and have financial backing from the United Arab Emirates-based company director.
The development will see a 42 and 31-storey tower erected with views over the Thames.
But community campaigners have fought previous applications to build high-rise apartments in the area.
In March, residents demanded a Lambeth council planning committee reject the Octave Tower development in Bondway.
They said the high-rise buildings would “condemn” Vauxhall to become like Manhattan in New York.
Jane Michelson from Bonnington Square, Vauxhall said: “We are going to fight developments like this all the way, right down the line.”
The Octave application was rejected by councillors.
The new “elegant” design has been created by architects Squire & Partners. Michael Squire, from the firm, said:
“Our proposals are designed to deliver a new focal point for Vauxhall connected to bus and train stations.
“We are focusing on improving the ground-level environment and providing new animated retail and restaurant frontage.”
The project would create 310 apartments and a 180-bed hotel with a “sky bar” open to the public on the 14th floor.
The developers said the scheme would create more than 450 new jobs in Vauxhall.
Adrian Owen, from property consultants Montagu Evans which is representing Kylun Ltd, said:
“This key site has previously been neglected.
“In its current state, it does nothing for the local community aside from being an eyesore as you emerge from the Tube station.
“We hope to be able to deliver a scheme that reinvigorates this part of Vauxhall.”
* A public exhibition will be held at Vauxhall City Farm today from 2pm to 8pm and tomorrow from 10am to 3pm.
Planning applications for the development are expected to be submitted to Lambeth council this summer.
via http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/tn/news.cfm?id=18176&headline=Twin%20towers%20plan%20for%20Vauxhall

Eco Eatery Review: Bonnington Cafe

May 15, 2010Noneadmin

The Bonnington Cafe by Ewan Munro
Nudged into action by the launch of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, Londonist embarks on an eco eating crawl.

The bohemian Bonnington Cafe started life as an Eighties squat and is now run as a co-operative, sitting prettily in the leafy surroundings of Bonnington Square in Vauxhall. Run by member cooks, with no single person in charge, it obviously aims to operate sustainably, while the decision to exclude fish and meat makes it a good choice for the eco conscious eater.

Dinner at the Bonnington Cafe isn’t simply a matter of turning up. First you have to contact the chef and see if they will have you. Different people cook every night, each with their own specialities and eccentricities. We wanted to dine on a Saturday night which meant we were to be cooked for and served by Margarete. We sent her an email, swiftly followed by a text (in an over keen moment), and our minor bombardment concluded happily with an 8pm table reservation. bonnington

We ended up arriving a little early, still over keen, which was, Margarete assured us in a rather stern voice, better than being late. It’s BYO – the communal corkscrews hang near the piano – so we cracked our bottle open and settled down to look over the short menu that offered two starters (£3), two mains (£7) and two cakes (£3), all suitably healthy sounding, except perhaps the cake.
We chose chickpea tagine with two salads, followed by coffee and cake. The stew arrived fast and was piled high. It was hearty vegetarian fare, all brown rice, quinoa, pulses and leaves. It was good, fresh and homemade, which made the distinctly unglamorous presentation forgivable, but it definitely didn’t look or taste gourmet. The coffee and cake that followed was alright, nothing special.
The food wasn’t amazing the night we visited but it was wholesome and incredibly cheap, and actually we fell a little bit in love with this place as it danced with shadows in the candlelight. It has a lovely atmosphere and interesting history. We’ll definitely return, to try out different chefs’ cooking and see how it changes with the seasons. Summer must be wonderful when the gardens are at their best, while in winter there’s the promise of a roaring open fire.
The Bonnington Cafe, 1 Vauxhall Grove, SW8 1TD
via http://londonist.com/2010/05/eco_eatery_review_bonnington_cafe.php

Green Gym Day

May 3, 2010Noneadmin

Everyone invited to take part in the garden spring clean on May 9th, please sign up in ITALO or just turn up on the day – no experience needed… All welcome.

Also save the date 5/6th June!

Let's move to Vauxhall and Nine Elms, south London

April 17, 2010pressadmin

What’s going for it?
If you believe what you read in the property pages (I wouldn’t), Vauxhall and Nine Elms are where all the cool young daddios are. There’s still a cluster of nightclubs hunkered under the viaducts, and the gay village remains thriving. But now the swanky apartments have moved in, for how long? To cap it all work begins soon on America’s new fortress – sorry, embassy – complete with moat. Vauxhall is not for the faint-hearted. Still, all its hideousness equals good value, especially for its location, by the Thames, opposite Tate Britain. And hunt behind the roaring roads and you’ll find secret nooks of peace: Vauxhall Park, the grand terraces of Fentiman Road, Oval cricket ground, the Portuguese delis of South Lambeth Road, and the little community utopia of Bonnington Square, proof that even in the harshest of habitats, life can thrive.
The case against
Less a place, more a circle of hell. An unrelenting urban experience. Thundering roads as wide as the ocean. Trains overhead. Viaducts beneath. Blades of grass and trees rare as hens’ teeth – those nine elms are long gone. Patches can be unsafe after dark, even with MI6 in the ‘hood. New development’s not much improved it: the incomparably ugly St George’s Wharf will be in your eye sockets every day.
Well connected?
Tremendously. Vauxhall is on the Victoria line (zone one), and has trains to Waterloo and Clapham Junction (both five mins, every three/four minutes) and farther south. Super bus station, too.
Schools
Primaries a mixed bag: Wyvil, Ashmole, St Mark’s CofE and St Anne’s Catholic all “good” says Ofsted. Secondaries better: Archbishop Tenison’s “good”, Lilian Baylis “good” with “outstanding” features.
via The Guardian

Squatters' rites

March 14, 2010Diaryadmin

I find myself in a beautiful square in Vauxhall, south London, surrounded by a luxurious wealth of greenery and an assortment of misplaced Victorian houses. Bonnington Square has become a legend among the squatting community, a real example of making something out of nothing. It has been home to many a musical hero both obscure and infamous: John Lydon, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and the Happy End all passed through here at some point.

Originally founded by a disparate crew of travelling hippies and wandering anarchists, many from New Zealand, who brought their DIY communal ethos to London in the early 1980s, it soon blossomed into a fully fledged artistic community. The square was originally owned by the Inner London Education Authority, and around the time the squatters arrived had been condemned to be bulldozed into a car park. The squatters fought back to save the square, forming a housing co-operative and eventually buying it from the council.

Thirty years on and the square is as alive as ever, except that there aren’t any squats or squatters any more. The co-operative dissolved in the late 1990s and everyone became a homeowner. Many of the houses are now worth in excess of £1m, and there is a communal “pleasure garden” with an exotic mix of bamboo, mimosa and bananas.

“We may have been anti-Thatcherite, but we were definitely the children of Thatcher’s regime,” says Andrée Wilson, one of the three founding members of the co-operative, when I sit down for coffee in her newly decorated former squat. “None of what we did would have been possible were it not for her.” Thatcher’s deregulation of the housing market was what made it possible for these people to claim this square as their own.

“Because we’d saved the buildings, we felt free to do whatever we wanted with them,” says Wilson, who is now in her 50s. “I painted mine in what I called Australian desert colours, so when it got cold during the winter you were at least visually warm.” They soon added a nightclub and a cafe, part of the ethos of making everything as cheap and accessible to the community as possible. “We used to rock. The police were afraid to come down here in the early days,” she says, with a wry smile.

via The Guardian

AGM

March 3, 2010Diaryadmin

BONNINGTON SQUARE GARDEN ASSOCIATION
AGM
on
Wednesday 10th March
starting at 7.59pm
in the
Bonnington Centre.
Please come along if you value the garden and would like to contribute to its “management” or just if you’ve got something to say.

BSGA 2-12 Bonnington Square, London SW8 1TQ

Bonnington Street Party

July 2, 2009Diaryadmin

Just to let you know that Jo Culf and I are hoping to organise a street party in the Square on 19th July 2009 to coincide with the Eden Project’s Big Lunch initiative.

We are not proposing that this should be a BS Festival, but others may wish to build on the street party – which we anticipate to end around 4 p.m. – perhaps with other events and music? (If there is to be music, you may recall that some residents have strong views about noise after 10 p.m. in the Square)

Jo is prepared to take on responsibility for arranging the Local Authority license, insurance and street closure.

regards
Michael Barram

We are looking for volunteers: facepainting, leafleting, ideas, general helping
To get involved, contact: [email protected]

Plant donation

July 1, 2009Gardeningadmin

A big thank you to wood brown for their generous plant donation for the garden and street planting!
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Open Squares, Work & Hire, Press

May 22, 2009Open Gardensadmin

Hiring the garden for weddings or other events

If you are living in our neighbourhood and want to have an informal party in our space, please let us know your plans and we can try to make sure that you have a great time and the garden looks great at the end of it. Refundable deposit required donations invited.
Please contact us here.

The garden receives no financial support apart from donations, so we really do rely on them and the good will of all the volunteers who give their time so kindly to the garden. A big THANK YOU to all of who have helped us over the years.