Transport for London has advised passengers to avoid changing between the Overground and the Jubilee line at Canada Water during rush hour, as it tries to accommodate growing numbers of travellers whilst maintaining social distancing.

Canada Water appears on TfL’s new list of the busiest stations.

For stations like Canada Water where much of the crowding is linked to the interchange between lines, TfL says “you are advised, where possible, to avoid using the station during the busiest times by taking the most direct route”.

The Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor property firm confirmed this month that work will start ‘soon’ on the redevelopment of the Biscuit Factory, following the recent City Hall decision to grant planning permission.

Announcing the firm’s financial results, Grosvenor Group chief executive Mark Preston said: “…in London’s Bermondsey work will start soon on the building of over 1,500 rental homes and a secondary school, which will improve the fabric of this part of the city, delivering much-needed rental housing and creating a new investment for long-term hold”.

The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family were placed at number 10 in the Sunday Times Rich List published this week, up from 14th place a year ago, with their wealth estimated at £10.295 billion.

Rotherhithe’s Brunel Museum has launched a ‘COVID-19 Crisis Appeal‘ to help secure the attraction’s future.

The appeal has so far raised more than one third of its £12,000 goal.

The museum says that a donation of £30 will cover gas and oil for a month; and a donation of £1,700 will pay for basic running costs for a month during the enforced shutdown.

In normal times the museum costs £10,000 a month to run, but at present doors are closed and staff are on furlough.

Strictly singer Hayley Sanderson has teamed up with survivors of domestic violence to create a charity cover of Britney Spears’ ‘Stronger’.

It is a song recorded by survivors, on their phones, in their homes during COVOID-19 isolation.

The single will raise money for SE16-based Bede House’s domestic violence team and nationwide domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid. All proceeds will go exclusively towards supporting sufferers of domestic violence.

So far more than £2,000 has been raised towards a £10,000 target.

Further sections of the partly-completed Cycleway 4 along Jamaica Road will be opened up for public use as part of plans by the Mayor and TfL to make it easier to walk and cycle when lockdown restrictions are eased.

The London Streetscape plan, announced on Wednesday, means that work on Cycleway 4 “will be accelerated with temporary measures so the Londoners can benefit from them more quickly,” according to City Hall.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The capacity of our public transport will be dramatically reduced post-coronavirus as a result of the huge challenges we face around social distancing.

“Everyone who can work from home must continue to do so for some time to come. The emergency measures included in our major strategic London Streetspace programme will help those who have to travel to work by fast-tracking the transformation of streets across our city.

“Many Londoners have rediscovered the joys of walking and cycling during lockdown and, by quickly and cheaply widening pavements, creating temporary cycle lanes and closing roads to through traffic we will enable millions more people to change the way they get around our city.”

A short section of Cycleway 4 near Southwark Park opened in early March.

The Printworks has applied to Southwark Council to vary its premises licence to change the venue’s maximum capacity for live music and DJ-led events from 5,000 to 6,000.

The application is to amend condition 340 to read ‘That the full premises will trade to capacity (6,000 people), when a DJ and / or live music will perform / be performed, on no more than 20 events per year. These events are referred to as ‘major events'” and to amend condition 341 to read ‘That the maximum capacity of the premises is 6,000 persons for all DJ / music led nights and 6,000 patrons for all day time events and exhibitions.’

Details of the application can be found here and comments can be sent to Southwark Council until 11 May.

The current licence can be viewed here.

On Friday, volunteers and staff from Time & Talents delivered food to more than 120 local people who’d requested help.

Details of how to donate food will be announced soon, but in the meantime the charity would welcome contributions of strong ‘bags for life’ and cardboard boxes with handles.

These can be brought to the Old Mortuary in St Marychurch Street on Thursday.

https://twitter.com/Time_Talents/status/1256918789779795970

Data released this week by the Office for National Statistics shows that between 1 March and 17 April, around 30 residents of SE16 had died with COVID-19 mentioned on their death certificates.

The data uses Middle Super Output Areas (MSOAs), geographical designations used for census purposes.

The part of SE16 with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths is the eastern half of the Rotherhithe peninsula (dubbed ‘Surrey Quays’ by the House of Commons Library) where 13 deaths where COVID-19 was cited on the death certificate had been recorded in the six weeks starting on 1 March.

There are five MSOAs which together cover approximately the same area as the SE16 postcode:

  • Surrey Quays (Southwark 008) – 13 deaths
  • South Bermondsey East (Southwark 011) – 6 deaths
  • South Bermondsey Central (Southwark 010) – 5 deaths
  • Canada Water (Southwark 007) – 3 deaths
  • Rotherhithe (Southwark 001) – 2 deaths
  • Bermondsey East (Southwark 004) – 1 death

Local charity the Bede House Association is looking for a trustee to join its council with skills in construction and property management.

Bede has deep roots in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe and supports victims of domestic abuse, young people aged 8-19, individuals with learning disabilities and isolated seniors.

Find out about the voluntary role and how to apply here.

Canada Water developer British Land has contributed £20,000 to the Southwark Community Response Fund set up to help local organisations deal with the implications of the COVID-19 crisis.

British Land says that the extra cash will “provide additionality for charities, social enterprises, TRAs and community groups in Rotherhithe and Surrey Docks wards”.

More information and guidance on how to apply can be found on United St Saviour’s website.

In a post on the Canada Water Masterplan website, British Land also said: “To support Canada Water’s various local businesses, we have also released our smaller retail, food & beverage, charity and leisure customers from their rental obligations for three months (April to June).

“We hope this will go some way to supporting local businesses through this difficult time.”