Brockley Society Meeting about Gordonbrock School

Brockley Society, at the request of a number of parents of Gordonbrock Primary School, has agreed to hold an extra meeting to discuss their legal action against the Council with regards to the planning application for the school. Their invitation reads:

"OPEN MEETING: Proposals for refurbishment of Gordonbrock School. Tuesday 4 May, 8pm-9.30pm, Crofton Park Baptist Church, Brockley Grove (cnr Huxbear Street), SE4 1EA.

Brockley Society would like to present its alternative proposals to those of Lewisham council for the modernisation of Gordonbrock School. Working with a number of Gordonbrock parents and our architect, we have sought to demonstrate that there are alternatives to demolition and rebuilding, still achieving all of the goals for the school, and within budget.

We will explain why we intervened, and why so late. There will also be an opportunity for all interested parties to express their views and ask questions. All welcome."

A number of parents from Gordonbrock have asked that the motion below be put to the meeting:

"In light of the current economic climate and the certainty that budget for a school refurbishment shall be lost should work not commence this financial year, the Brockley Society shall offer no further objections to the redevelopment of Gordonbrock School".

I'm anticipating a lively and well-attended meeting, and (optimistically perhaps) hoping some kind of common ground can be found within the community.

Ladywell Hustings this Wednesday

Ladywell Village Improvement Group are organising a Question Time with candidates for the local elections. Representatives from all the parties standing in Ladywell ward will be taking questions from local residents from 7.30pm on Wednesday 21 April at the St.Mary's Centre on Ladywell Road, SE13.

LVIG say:

"This is your opportunity to find out what each party has planned for our ward and everyone is welcome.

Please note - if you are attending and have a question you'd like to ask please register it by midday on Tuesday 20 April, along with your full name and address, by e-mailing ladywellfields@yahoo.co.uk. Priority will be given, on the night, to questions submitted in advance."

Charlotte, Ute and I look forward to meeting people there on Wednesday.

Good news for Ladywell Road!

After 4 years of Ladywell ward councillors hassling officers, officers threatening legal action against the owner and lots of residents getting in touch with us asking 'What is happening with 46 Ladywell Road?' I am happy to confirm that it has now been sold. I met on site today with the new owners, Ladywell town centre manager, Lewisham's empty homes officer, representatives from LVIG (Ladywell Village Improvement Group) and one or two people keen to get in quick and pitch their business proposals to the new owners.

The new owners are very keen to crack on and renovate the whole building, with a view to letting the upstairs out as flats and the downstairs as a retail unit. Their architect came today and made some preliminary sketches. We talked about local residents being keen to see a good quality shop front, and an A1 retail use, rather than yet another take-away or betting shop. We also touched upon the point that the area is soon to fall under a conservation area. I welcome this fairly open approach by the new owners and hope that by having this meeting with various interested parties early on, the property can be brought back into use in a way that will benefit, rather than bring down, the local shopping parade. Time, of course, will tell, but that's the hope!

It's been a very long drawn out process to get this far, but credit is due to the empty homes officer and the environmental health officer for doggedly pursuing this, along with LVIG members for keeping the pressure up alongside ward councillors.

I look forward to seeing 46 Ladywell Road back in us and if re-elected on 6th May, 63a Loampit Hill, the other most problematic property in the ward, will remain firmly on our radar. Its fate currently resides with lawyers wrangling over probate issues, as I understand it, which seems to be an incredibly protracted and frustrating process.

Green Party Election Broadcast 2010

The Green Party launched its election broadcast today, with a new website. As well as watching the broadcast, you can personalise it and email it to your friends, and they can visit the site and not only look at our key policies but take a Policy Matchmaker test to see how close to the Green Party they are.


We don't get a great deal of national broadcast media exposure, so when we do, we need to get it right. I think this is pretty nifty, but what do you think?

New Campaign Video from Darren

There is also an article about Darren and our campaign in Lewisham Deptford at Red Pepper. You can find out more at Darren for Lewisham Deptford. We welcome any offers of help - just pop into our campaign shop at 252 Brockley Road - open daily 10am-7pm.

Ladywell Young Greens!

I've been feeling a bit exhausted today after canvassing most of the weekend (and for most weekends since well before Christmas), so it brought a smile to my face when a local resident and Green supporter sent me this picture of his baby daughter 'reading' our latest leaflet!

Letters with 'Vote Green' posters are going out now across the ward to many of our supporters. If you would like to put a poster up for us, please drop me an e-mail and we'll get one round to you - thanks!