Latest Walworth News – Early March 2026

1. Walworth Society March meeting – 7pm Weds 18th March. Our next general WS meeting will be held at 7pm on Wednesday 18th March at the Marketing Suite, Elephant & Castle and online. To join online please click here or go to Zoom and join with Meeting ID 818 1707 6128, Passcode: 957701.   Our draft agenda for the meeting is: Welcome, apologies and introductions. Action points from our February 2026 meeting and matters arising. Elephant & Castle Town Centre – Richard Palmer – Delancey. Chatelain House redevelopment – Debbie Whitfield Fabrix. Other planning matters. Other issues. AOB and date of next meeting. Minutes of the February meeting click here. The venue for this meeting is the Marketing Suite at the Elephant and Castle Town Centre. See the map below for the location.

2. Walworth Road Town Centre – Information. Many thanks to Najmah Ali from Southwark Council for updated info about initiatives and projects along the Walworth Road: 1. The E&C and Walworth Road Town Centre Action Plan is about to be updated. Access it here: Town centre action plans | Southwark Council. Please do use the feedback form on the page to give thoughts about the plan.   2. Greener Southwark Business Accelerator – The Greener Southwark Business Accelerator is a comprehensive support programme designed to help local SMEs reduce their energy costs and carbon emissions while building business resilience. Through expert-led workshops, personalised action planning, and match funding of up to £5,000 per business, we’re empowering Southwark businesses to take meaningful action on sustainability. Link: Greener Southwark Business Accelerator – Hatch Enterprise   3. E-cargo Bike – To help transition to sustainable and affordable transportation, an e-cargo bike (Our Bike) is available for hire by residents and businesses from PLANTSOCIETREE (232 Walworth Road, SE17 1JE) for £5 per hour.   4. Met Engage – Through Met Engage you can get to know your local officers, help shape how we police your local area and have direct access to key information and advice. Link:  Home Page – Met Engage.   5. Southwark Policing Oversight Board – Share your thoughts on local policing with the board: policingoversight@southwark.gov.uk. Link: Southwark Policing Oversight Board | Southwark Council

3.  Burgess Park – Metropolitan Open Land (MOL). News from the Friends of Burgess Park (FoBP). Friends of Burgess Park ask Southwark Council to stick with commitment for Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) at Southampton Way and to transfer it into Burgess Park. FOBP have written to Cllr Helen Dennis and Ward Councillors: St Giles, Camberwell Green and Faraday wards following the news article that Southwark Council is not purchasing the site. As this site is designated MOL, although a brownfield site at the moment, we would like to see positive plans developed for the future of the site.  Please support – Join a planting event in March.  Thurs 19 March – 10.00am – 3.00pm London Wildlife Trust – planting event Saturday 21 March 2.00-4.00 pm – FOBP – planting event More details and booking: Southampton Way planting- Eventbrite    Raise this issue with ward councillors and candidates ahead of May local elections.  Ask for their support to develop a positive way forward for land transfer and a green vision. On behalf of St Giles ward councillors, Cllr Jason Ochere confirmed support to incorporate into Burgess Park. More information.

4. Heathrow – No Third Runway Campaign. As part of our concerns about aircraft noise over this part of south London, here is information from the No Third Runway campaign. “Millions of people across London and surrounding areas will be blighted by more noise and pollution from Heathrow if current plans for expansion are delivered. Yet too few people are aware of the threat and the need for action. Tell your friends, family and neighbours and most importantly your elected representatives. This is vital ahead of the CONSULTATION OF THE NEW DRAFT AIRPORT NATIONAL POLICY STATEMENT (expected in the Summer). Please use #NOTHIRDRUNWAY.”   For more information click here or  go to no3rdrunwaycoalition.co.uk

5. Spring Urban Elephant Festival – March 21st. The Spring Urban Elephant Festival, on Saturday 21st March runs from from 12 noon to 6pm and features three street-based pitches on: Walworth Square, Sayer Street and Castle Square. The festival highlights cultures from all around the world represented through dance, music and street-based performance. There will also be a peek of the new Elephant Shopping centre square from 1-2:30 pm (see location on map below). With Caribbean music, a short play and dance and an exciting plaque reveal! For more information click here or go to urbanelephant.co.uk

6. Local News. 1. Southwark Council consultation on a School Street for St Peter’s School on Liverpool Grove – closes 22nd March. Take part here. 2.  North Walworth Town Centre Police Team. News about the newly formed police team in the Safer Southwark Feb 2026 Crime and Safety Update – here See the feature – North Walworth Town Centre Police Team: now on patrol 3. Great Southwark News feature on Stink Pipes! Here There is at least one on the Walworth Road. 4. Redevelopment of the Crampton St Sorting Office. There is still time to have a say about this development (see February meeting minutes) Click here

7. Cinema Museum: Women & Cocaine Present What Price Hollywood? (1932). Ambitious waitress Mary Evans (Constance Bennett) charms hard-drinking Hollywood director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman) and is soon catapulted from hospitality to movie stardom. As Mary juggles sudden fame, contracts and romance, her success comes at a high cost. While her career flourishes, Max’s professional and personal life begins to collapse. Directed by George Cukor, this sharp drama is an exposé of the seductive glamour and covert corruption behind the dream factory.   The film will be preceded by a short introduction, and followed by a raffle. Seating is unallocated. Service dogs welcome. Unfortunately, this film screening does not have closed captions or audio description available.  Time and date: 7.30 Friday 27th March Doors Open: 18:30. Refreshments will be available in the licensed cafe/bar. Tickets: £10. Concessions available on the door with valid ID. Tickets may be purchased direct from the Museum by calling 020 7840 2200 in office hours, or online click here. Subject to availability, tickets will also be sold on the door.   About Women and Cocaine: Women and Cocaine Presents is a film night presented by curator Caroline Cassin at The Cinema Museum to celebrate the fierce and liberated women of Pre-code cinema. From the period of 1930 to 1934, before the introduction of censorship, women were depicted in roles with a frankness and sex-positivity that remains rare even today. Each month we celebrate a different woman from that era. “My father warned me about men & booze, but he never mentioned a word about women & cocaine” – Tallulah Bankhead. For more info click here. Or go to cinemamuseum.org.uk.  The Cinema Museum: The Master’s House, 2 Dugard Way (off Renfrew Road), London SE11 4TH.