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 These links are designed to point you to websites which focus on interesting aspects of Rotherhithe. Let us know if you have any more (see our home page for contact details).
We enjoy working very closely with a number of other local groups who share similar interests, and are fortunate to have met so many like-minded organizations and individuals.
We are always pleased to be able to learn from the advice of others or to help out with advice of our own when needed - either in our immediate geographical area or further afield. Do get in touch with us if you would like to.
Page Contents
Other Local Groups
Friends of Russia Dock Woodland Discussion Group
The Friends of Russia Dock Woodland is a group of residents who help protect and enhance the woodland, which runs through the middle of the Rotherhithe peninsula in London. Membership of both the Friends group itself and of this Yahoo! email group is open to everyone.
Rotherhithe Community Safety Forum (RCSF)
An excellent place to find out more about local issues of a very immediate nature set up by founder and owner Kam Hong Leung kam@khleung.fsnet.co.uk. Kam updates the site with all the local news and issues that impact the area, and he is in touch with all the local law enforcement and policy makers. This is a very informative resource.
Trust for Urban Ecology
The Trust for Urban Ecology was founded in 1976 when veteran ecologist Max Nicholson and a group of like-minded conservationists set up Britain's first urban ecology park. Stave Hill Ecological Park is managed by the Trust for Urban Ecology as a nature reserve, educational facility, research area and place of recreation. The Park has been designed and managed to form a mosaic of grassland, woodland, scrub and wetland habitats which support a wide variety of wildlife. Visitors can enter from Russia Dock Woodland or from entrances around Stave Hill. The Park is open to the public at all times.
Save King’s Stairs Gardens
King's Stairs Gardens (also known locally as Park 2000) is one of the last remaining riverside parks in London. It is a beautiful green space which is bordered by Jamaica Road to the south, Fulford Street to the west, the houses of Elephant Lane and King Stairs Close and Mayflower Street to the east and the River Thames to the north. Thames Water want to take away a lovely park on the banks of the River Thames in London for the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel ‘Super Sewer’. We are dedicated to saving this public park. We hope you will join us.
The park was awarded a considerable sum of money by the National Lottery Fund in 1998 and underwent a refurbishment programme and the popular children's playground was designed in consultation with the local community. King's Stairs Gardens is used by joggers, walkers and cyclists on the Thames Path and it is hard to find space on the grassy knoll in the summertime. It is in a densely populated residential area and for most people that don't have gardens themselves, this is their garden.
Thames Water want to strip out all the vegetation (including felling an avenue of mature trees) and bore a vertical shaft 100 feet wide and 250 feet deep (potentially bringing a risk of subsidence), as part of the proposals to construct a 30 mile 'super Sewer'. The rest of the park would then be used for the storage and processing of enormous volumes of waste - dry-spoil that would be piled up pending removal, and foul-smelling slurry, which would be pumped into settlement tanks. There would also need to be an industrial jetty with a conveyor system to move processed waste from the site.
Please sign our petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-king-stairs-gardens.html
Surrey Docks Farm and Cafe
The Surrey Dock urban farm has some super animals - goats and sheep (with whom you can mingle), donkeys, cows and the wonderful, wonderful pigs. There are rabbits, ducks, chickens and turkeys, flower and vegetable gardens and two greenhouses. There is a very nice cafe to relax in.
A plan for new outbuildings on architect’s plans show a delightful new complex. They need to raise funds for the new buildings, and they need volunteers with all sorts of different skills - everything from catering and finance to hands-on helping. The Farm is open from Tuesday to Sunday between 10am and 5pm and admission is free. Groups should phone ahead to book in advance. Their contact details are as follows: Surrey Docks Farm Provident Society Ltd, South Wharf, Rotherhithe St, London SE16 5EY - telephone 020 7231 1010.
Friends of Southwark Park
The Friends of Southwark Park have a Yahoo email discussion group which can be found at the above address. Here’s at extract from their introduction:
The Friends group is now in its 12th year and looks forward to welcoming you at a meeting or on this e-group. Our aims are to protect, enhance, promote and enjoy Southwark Park and King’s Stairs Garden. The Friends help organise parks events, and have a say in the development of the park and its many facilities. We work with Southwark Council to suggest improvements to keep the park clean, safe and a pleasure to visit.
Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Green Enthusiasts (B.A.R.G.E.s)
If you are interested in the local green, open or wild spaces, and their plant and wildlife then you might to join the B.A.R.G.Es email group. To join the BARGES e-group, contact barrymasonuk@googlemail.com
Russia Dock Woodland and Greenland Dock Blog
A blog started in May 2007, the aim of which is to keep an informal record, in text and photographs, of the Russia Dock Woodland, Stave Hill Ecological Park and Greenland Dock over the period of a year.
SE16 Appreciation Society on Facebook
A place where residents and lovers of SE16 can come to appreciate the marvels we have from Southwark Park, the 381 bus, that dodgy takeaway on the Jamaica Road through to THE shopping centre and those mini motorbikes screaming along the riverside.
London Bubble
London Bubble run several events each year in the Russia Dock Woodland.
THE VISION
That every Londoner has access to creating, participating in, and enjoying theatre - to communicate, connect and inspire
THE MISSION
To provide the artistic direction, skills, environment and resources to create inspirational, inclusive, involving theatre, which shares stories that animate the spaces of the city and the spirits of its citizens.
Time and Talents Association
The Time & Talents Association has been involved in community development and social action in Rotherhithe and Bermondsey since 1887. It was started by a group of women who were appalled by the living and working conditions of women and girls in the dock areas of South London. They determined to give their time and talents to change the situation, and they and their successors fostered a great deal of innovative educational and social work from a variety of settlement and club premises over the next 100 years and more. Today the Association runs a Multi-Purpose Neighbourhood Centre, open to all who live or work in the area. It is housed in a fascinating building - a former Mortuary that celebrated its centenary in 1995. The Centre's current work focuses particularly on Under-5's and over-50's, as these were identified as priorities in a market survey of community needs in 1991. It has also been acknowledged as a centre of excellence in the areas of reminiscence, local history and integrated drama involving people with learning difficulties, and runs a highly successful Table Tennis Club. The involvement of volunteers is an integral part of all work and projects.
The following was taken from the Southwark Alliance website (see the above page for full details).:
Southwark Alliance exists to improve the lives of people in Southwark.
We are a forum of opinion, reflecting the diversity of the lives of people in the borough. While we have no legal powers, our goal is to influence decisions taken by organisations that impact on the borough. Our job is to ensure their joint efforts contribute to an improvement.
The Southwark Alliance was formed in 2001, combining the work of agencies and communities towards common goals.
It brings together people who hold senior positions in the organisations that provide public services, with people who can speak about the concerns of different communities.
Part of our job is to make sure local people have a voice, and are involved in decisions that affect their lives. We encourage and support forums, networks and user groups that bring people together - in their locality, across faith groups, around shared experiences, and common interests.
LINk Southwark
LINk Southwark is an independent network of local people and community groups. It exists to help improve health and social care services by giving local people and communities a voice. It will find out what people want, investigate issues and proposals, and hold service providers and commissioners to account. LINk Southwark will be hosted and served by Cambridge House.
Volunteer Centre Southwark
Volunteer Centre Southwark is the local volunteer development agency based in the London Borough of Southwark. Over the years we have grown into a local agency which links people who want to volunteer, with organisations needing volunteer help, as well as offering a number of different services to both volunteers, organisations and businesses.
You can go to the main sections by clicking on the links above. The left menu bar will take you to our other pages where you can find out all about us, contact us, get our latest news and events, be inspired by our feature stories, find opportunities within our organisation and learn how you can support our work in the community.
Local groups & resident associations impacted by local planning decisions
Downtown Defence Campaign
The Downtown Defence Campaign is a non-political neighbourhood self-help group that exists for the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the Downtown community. Development plans for SE16 6NP pose a threat to local homes and parkland and the DDC was formed to ensure that planning projects fit in with the needs of the local community.
The most recent plans from Barratt Homes for new premises would position new buildings only metres away from one of the most attractive ponds in Russia Dock Woodland and will inevitably have an adverse effect on the ecology and biodiversity of our the woodlands. The current proposal for development shows the building work lining up against the edges of the Downtown Pond, next to Redriff bridge - where kingfishers have been photographed, a heron frequently fishes from the same perch, and a fox sunbathes behind a mass of fabulous yellow water irises. Reed warblers are now feeding and nesting around this pond. Without doubt all these local residents will disappear if there is no buffer zone between the woodlands and Barratt Homes development site.
Canada Water Campaign
Discussions and plans are on-going for the total redevelopment of Canada Water in London, SE16, UK. T
The community - through the Canada Water Campaign - has been fighting hard to preserve the dock and to prevent overdevelopment whilst achieving the community facilities that are badly needed. Please visit the above website for extensive details, including topic papers, maps and plans, bulletins, planning applications and much more.
Hawkstone Tenants and Residents Association
Hawkstone T&RA is an unincorporated non political association open to all tenants, leaseholders and residents of Brydale House, Canute Gardens, Harbord House, Jarman House, John Kennedy House, Rotherhithe Old Road and Westfield House all located on the Hawkstone Estate, London SE16. Promoting common interests and providing a unified voice.
As with other parts of the immediate area the Hawkstone triangle is included in the Canada Water Area Action Plan for Rotherhithe and its peripheries in SE16. Kam Hong Leung has assembled some of the email correspondence on this subject under the title of Recommended Reading: Hawkstone Triangle Demolition Project Special Report (Part 1) on his RCSF website.
Museums and History Societies
The Lavender Pond Pump House Educational Museu and Nature Park
The Pumphouse Educational Museum is a unique venue on the Rotherhithe peninsula. It houses the Rotherhithe Heritage Museum and a variety of historical exhibitions and in addition offers further educational opportunities in the environmental study centre using the Lavender Pond and Nature Park, an oasis of peaceful relaxation in an urban environment.
The Brunel Engine House Museum
Award winning Museum spanning Brunel's career. First project the Thames Tunnel is the birthplace of mass urban transport. Last project the Great Eastern is the first modern ocean liner.
The Museum is a Scheduled Ancient Monument on an International Landmark site and is open every day. Attractive landscaped gardens and a cafe overlook a quiet and pretty section of the river. For opening times, admission and public transport see the Visiting page.
The Museum sits amongst converted warehouses & listed buildings in the St Marychurch Conservation Area and has featured in films and TV programmes. Find out all about the museum and Rotherhithe, an Old East India Company Town, on these pages. Registered Charity No. 1003287 Registered Museum 1961.
Rotherhithe and Bermondsey Local History Society
We aim to encourage interest in the history of Rotherhithe, Bermondsey, the surrounding area, Docklands and the River Thames.
How We Do It
- Arrange talks and lectures on appropriate topics
- Visit places of relevant interest
- Publish a semi-annual newsletter, the Redriffe Chronicle
- Exchange information with other local history groups
- Affiliation to LAMAS, the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society
- Encourage research into the history of the area
- Encourage the study of local history in schools
- Co-operate with bodies seeking to promote tourism in the area.
Local Government
Southwark Borough Council
Rotherhithe Community Council
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