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The Cost of Love: Valmike Rampersad Q&A

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Valmike Rampersad is one of the stars of The Cost of Love – the low budget movie made in Greenwich by local director, Carl Medland.

A graduade of the Central School of Speech and Drama, Rampersad has appeared in several movies and recently shot his first his first Hollywood feature, ‘The Exquisite Continent’ with Emmy Nominated Director, Stephen Gyllenhaal (‘Losing Isaiah’). He took time out from filming in LA to answer some questions about his role in The Cost of Love, which is released today on DVD.

How did you get the part of Raj in the Cost of Love?

I met Carl Medland (Director) at a screening of a friend’s film and he asked if I would be interested in auditioning for the role. The synopsis sounded too good to pass up, so Carl sent the script and I thought it was excellent. I then met with Carl and read for the part.

What attracted you to the character?

It was one of those scripts that you just wanted to keep reading until you get to the end – a real page turner. I was keen to be a part of this film because it is very different from any of the others I have done and it gave me a chance to be a character that brought me out of my comfort zone – one that is very different from me. My character, Raj, is also based on a very good friend of Carl’s, which helped to make him more real.

Can you explain a little about the role of your character in the movie?

Raj is a cardio thoracic surgeon who has the world on his shoulders, but he hides his feelings from everyone. His fiance is dying from cancer and the reasons for his marriage to her are unclear. He is ultimately conforming to doing the right thing. Dale, a male escort (played by Christopher Kelham), is Raj’s best friend from childhood and is in love with Raj. Raj has the life that Dale wants – a good job, a fiance, a steady income etc. Raj’s life is intertwined with all of the other colourful characters in the film and in some way we all affect each other by one of the many types of ‘love’ at whatever the cost. Dale offers Raj an escape from his daily routine lifestyle, along with a sense of security.

The movie was made on a low budget and is very Greenwich-centric… what was it like to work on?

Indie low budget films are often the most fun. It was very professionally done and beautifully shot, all on schedule and with a really excellent crew, most of whom I am still in contact with. Carl is also an excellent Director – he knew what he wanted in each scene and he knew how to achieve it from his actors. Playing ‘Raj’ opposite Christopher Kelham (Dale) was made that much easier because Chris did such a brilliant job. He really put a lot into creating his character and was a fun person to work with.

Many people will fondly remember Michael Joyce who appears in the movie but died tragically before it came out. Do you have any memories of him?

Michael made everyone on set laugh. He was such a happy guy, always colourfully dressed and smiling. I had the joy of shooting a couple of scenes with him and he really was brilliant to work with. I actually couldn’t stop laughing whenever he was around!

Who do you think the movie appeals to?

I think the film speaks mostly to a gay audience but there are as many straight characters as there are gay, so hopefully with all the various stories going on in the film, it will appeal to everyone.

What have you worked on since The Cost of Love and what can people see you in next?

I am currently spending a fair bit of time between Los Angeles and London. I had a wonderful opportunity shooting with Emmy Nominated Director, Stephen Gyllenhaal on his film, ‘The Exquisite Continent’, in LA. I am also working on two other projects in LA but not allowed to say what they are for now! I shot a film called ‘The Rise and Fall of John Tesoro’ in Trinidad, where I was born, which was a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to go to work and then head back to my whole family at the end of the day, not to mention the home cooked food! The film is now doing the film festival circuit. I shot a print and commercial campaign for Nivea as one of their new faces, celebrating 100 years of Nivea, which has just launched. Hopefully a couple of other features I shot last summer will be out soon – one is called ‘London Life’ and the other still has a working title.

You can find out more about Valmike at his own website.

The Cost of Love is available on DVD from today.

Town centre parking price hike delivers “modest” revenue increase

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Is Greenwich Council’s 92% price rise at town centre car parks driving visitors away? Greenwich.co.uk investigates the impact of the parking price rise.

BIG increases in the cost of parking in Greenwich have delivered only modest increases in revenue for the council, Greenwich.co.uk today reveals.

Despite almost doubling the price per hour at the town centre’s pay and display car parks, revenue increases as a percentage are far lower and in some months, the car parks have generated LESS revenue than at the same time last year.

The cost per hour at the town centre’s pay and display car parks was put up from £1.30 an hour to £2.50 an hour in April this year – a rise of 92%.

But figures disclosed through a Freedom of Information request show that income was up at Cutty Sark Gardens car park by an average of just 14% between May and August compared with the previous year. During the same period at Burney Street, revenue went up by only 7.2% on average.

The disparity between price increase and revenue increase suggests that less people are using the town centre car parks since the price rocketed in April, or they are staying for shorter periods.

Burney Street Pay And Display

2010 Income 2011 Income Percentage change
May £19,182 £22,918 + 19.5 %
June £21,183 £15,895 – 25 %
July £20,383 £26,527 + 30.1 %
August £24,711 £25,712 + 4%

Cutty Sark Gardens Pay And Display

2010 Income 2011 Income Percentage change
May £22,517 £21,627 – 4 %
June £17,540 £22,452 + 28 %
July £15,329 £18,044 + 17.7 %
August £22,068 £25,168 + 14.1%

Leader of Greenwich Conservatives, Councillor Spencer Drury, is worried about the impact the price hike is having on Greenwich town centre.

“The Council think that extra parking charges will bring in extra revenue but these figures and the increasing number of empty parking spaces around Greenwich suggest that this is simply not the case. Having spoken with firms in Greenwich I know that they think that the increase in parking charges has damaged their business. So the Council is achieving a double whammy of lower revenue than they need combined with closing down small firms in Greenwich.

“It is rank stupidity to continue to pursue these increased charges when they are not raising extra revenue and are damaging our town centres. As an Eltham Councillor I am already collecting signatures on a petition against the charges being implemented here, where they risk doing untold damage to our High Street.”

Denise Hawkes, Senior Lecturer in Economic Sociology at the University of Greenwich, examined the figures:

“A price rise of 92% may at first appear to be counter productive however the evidence suggests that given the lack of other parking options in the town centre and the need for parking by a growing number of workers and students in the area, it results in a modest rise in revenue for the council.

“In addition it is likely to have increased the revenue to the council from parking tickets issued for overstaying purchased tickets as visitors attempt to moderate the cost of the parking by buying fewer hours at the cost of the local businesses in the area.”

Greenwich.co.uk asked Greenwich Council if they would be reviewing the impact the price rise has had on visitors to Greenwich town centre but they didn’t respond.

[The original version of this post had 18,895 as the figure for June 2011 at Burney Street. This was a typo and the figure has now been corrected to 15,895.]

London 2012: Transport plans on show and organisers discuss reinstatement

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LONDON 2012 organisers are putting their plans for transport at Games time on show next week.

The drop in sessions will be held at Devonport House Hotel and give local residents the chance to discuss proposed road closures, parking restrictions, spectator access to Greenwich Park, cycle parking, blue badge and park and ride facilities and how these plans will affect Greenwich town centre.

The sessions take place in the Holbrook Room at the Devonport House Hotel on
• Thursday 20th October: 4pm-7pm
• Friday 21 October: 9am-6pm
• Saturday 22nd October: 9am-5pm

Greenwich Park reinstatement

Last week the final temporary barriers were moved from the field south of the Queen’s House where the main field of play had been for this summer’s test event. The photographs below show how the park looks now compared to shortly after the test event:

Greenwich Park
October 5th

IMG_5155
August 3rd (more photos)

London 2012 organisers and Royal Parks briefed the local media on the reinstatement. Derrick Spurr from Royal Parks was pleased the progress made:

“As soon as we were able, we got on to the ground, started to decompact to get oxygen and air back into the soil.. sowed the seeds and then there was a lot of irrigation, natural irrigation as well. You can see now that the areas of main activity are the greener areas.”

The use of chemicals in the treatment of the grass has been controversial with London 2012’s critics. For the first time in the Royal Parks, a surfactant called Revolution is being used as well as a herbicide called Rescue. Spurr explains what they are being used for:

“Revolution is a wetting agent… it breaks down the surface tension and particles and allows the water to get into the soil. We went to a a number of organisations and the comment I always remember is that this is ‘safer than washing-up liquid’, and the dilution rate is about a drop in a thousand gallons.”

“Rescue is being used in very small areas to get rid of the coarser grasses that are in the acid grassland. Rescue is one of the only chemicals which can kill off a coarse grass within fine grasses.”

Acid grass, Greenwich Park
Acid grass in Greenwich Park

Following the Olympics and Paralympics next year, some of the reinstatement on the main field of play will not begin until the Spring of 2013. Venue manager, Jeremy Edwards explains:

“The last of the structures to be coming out will be in November and a lot of the work will start in 2013. There’s no point doing work that’s not going to take because it’s not in the growing season.

“We want to make sure that the spend is of value and the work we do gives us the best result. There’s no point in doing something just for ticking the box.”

London 2012 organisers are expected to present planning documents to Greenwich Council before the end of October which will contain their detailed plans for next summer in Greenwich Park.

Greenwich woman charged over Bexleyheath killing

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A 31-year-old woman from Greenwich has been charged in connection with the killing of a woman in Bexleyheath yesterday.

Nicola Edgington was arrested following the fatal stabbing of Sally Hodkin, 59, and the attempted murder of another woman.

Edgington was judged to be unfit to appear before Greenwich Magistrates today.

She is believed to have been a resident of Ambedkar House in Flavell Mews, off Bellot Street. Ambedkar House offers “support and accommodation” for people with ongoing mental health issues.

More converage of the killing can be found here:

Friends of St Alfege Park’s Chair apologises for damage to gravestones

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St AlfegeS

The Chair of the Friends of St Alfege Park, Tim Delap, has made his first comments since the controversy broke over the damage to headstones.

In the statement, the Chair says he “deeply regrets” the damage caused and goes on to say that the Friends are now “reorganising their… management processes”.

Tim Delap’s statement is below:

As Chair person of the Friends of St Alfege Park, I deeply regret and apologise personally and on behalf of the Friends for the damage caused to gravestones in St Alfege Park during work carried out at our request for our community garden project. The Friends are now urgently reorganising their work and management processes to ensure that we safeguard the infrastructure of the Park, including the memorials, in all our future activities.

Daily Photo: 03/10/2011 – Fire at the Mitre

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The Mitre Inn called time early on Friday after a small fire forced its closure. Several fire engines attended the blaze at the pub which is part of the Convivial London Pubs chain.

The Mitre tweeted yesterday:

“A little fire made us really appreciate firemen. The lack of electricity made us really appreciate candles….. What a night!”

The Deptford Rivieras had been due to play on Friday night but had to cancel the gig because of the pub’s closure. Fans of the local band can instead catch them at the Mitre next Friday.