Ladywell Village Improvement Group Petition

Ladywell Village Improvement Group have been collecting signatures for their petition, which calls upon the Council "to accept and to implement from 2011, the recommendations of the Ladywell Streetscape Study which will help arrest the long and sad decline of Ladywell. These proposals are supported by residents and businesses alike, and to date have been warmly supported by Council officers also".

The petition seems very reasonably worded to me:

"The Ladywell Village Improvement Group, supported by the Ladywell Assembly, secured £10k from the Mayor's Fund to commission a Ladywell Streetscape Study. Experienced consultants Shape have undertaken this work, which included throughout extensive consultation with local residents and businesses and liaison with Council officers. The Consultants have now submitted their final report which makes clear, informed, robust and eminently sensible recommendations. Furthermore, mindful of the financial climate, it makes suggestions for the phasing of the recommended works. To fail to include these works within the Local Implementation Plan for 2011/12 and beyond will betray the aspirations of local people and could see the further decline of Ladywell as a viable centre."

You can read more on LVIG's blog, or go straight to sign the e-petition here. The petition closes early next week (you can also sign a paper copy in Oscar's Cafe in Ladywell). LVIG are keen that as many Lewisham people as possible add their names as we want to ensure that the Ladywell improvements happen in 2011 and are not scheduled for a later year when the level of TfL highways funding is uncertain.

Planning Application submitted for 46 Ladywell Road

I'm pleased that the new owners of the former Nightwatch shop at 46 Ladywell Road have wasted no time in submitting a planning application:

"The construction of a two-storey rear extension in connection with the alteration and conversion of the rear part of the basement, ground and upper floors of 46 Ladywell SE13 to provide 2 one-bedroom self-contained maisonettes, together with the installation of a new shop front incorporating a separate entrance to the flats above and roof lights the front roof slope."

I think this will be the first planning application along Ladywell Road since the Ladywell Conservation Area came into affect, so it will be interesting to see whether officers insist on a higher quality shop front than many of those currently visible on the road. From the design and access statement it certainly sounds promising, with a commitment to installing a timber-framed new shop front and slate roof. I'm also pleased that they haven't applied for change of use but are sticking with A1 retail - we really don't want to lose any more units along Ladywell Road to non-retail uses.

I think this offers great potential to improve Ladywell Road and finally get rid of one of our longstanding blights. Having spent 4 years as a local councillor pushing for enforcement action to be bring this property back into use, this is one planning application I'm tempted to write in to support, now I'm not on a committee and can speak my mind!

The planning application number is DC/10/74347/X and you can view the details online here. Any comments should be sent to planning@lewisham.gov.uk.

(Hurrah!)

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.

Ladywell Pub Quiz in aid of LVIG, Tuesday 30th March

Exotic Ladywell!

Agapanthus, mallow, fig trees . . . plants more reminiscent perhaps of Cornwall, the Scilly Isles or somewhere more exotic, but all these photos were of course taken on Ladywell Road. Just a couple of shots of the planters LVIG volunteers potted up a few weeks ago, and below a few of the more recent additions from last weekend's follow up session, plus the rather impressive display of wares in front of Ladywell DIY at the moment.

Things are progressing along here, slowly but surely, and I'm particularly pleased with the way local businesses have adopted and are watering some of the planters. Still waiting for the long promised highways works to sort out the pavement on the corner of Algernon and remove the railings where safe to do so.

Ladywell Community Planting Day

Well done to LVIG and thank you to Envirowork Lewisham and all the local residents who came along and made today's planting day in Ladywell Village such a success. Contrary to the weather forecasts, it stayed dry and about twenty of us helped to replant the existing planters and bed up another four.

Three generations from one family took part - grandmother, mother and 14-month-old baby, who brought her own bucket and spade with her!

The plants will take a few weeks to get established, but Ladywell Road and the corner of Algernon Road are already looking more cheerful.

The highways works that we were assured would happen before the event didn't happened, but I've been told they will happen soon. The consultants have been and looked again at the guardrails, and those with white paint marks either side are the ones they plan to remove. They is some kind of question mark over new government regulations on what consultation needs to take place, which hopefully will be sorted soon to allow the works to go ahead. Six sites where it is possible to plant trees on Ladywell Road and the end of Algernon Road have been identified, and hopefully these will be planted in the Autumn. The options are fairly limited due to lots of underground cables, but six trees will still be a lot better than nothing.

It's possible that the planters that were formally on Loampit Vale may be moved to Ladywell Road as well, but that's all still to be confirmed. Apparently TfL (who are responsible for Loampit Vale) said they had to be moved, but we would like to use them elsewhere as our localities fund paid for them. I think we will need to look and see what can be done to improve things along Loampit Vale - I'd like to see some street trees, but we would need to get TfL's permission for these.

Brockley Road - watch this space, hopefully we will have news of a mini-makeover for a section of that soon as well.

The obligatory posed politician's action photo, suitable for use in ward newsletters etc etc. This one is genuine - I was planting stuff, but as the SLP photographer arrived after we had finished the planting we had to do some pretend gardening for him!

You can see more photos from the day on Flickr, tagged under ladywellcommunityplantingday.

Ladywell Road: Community Planting Day Saturday May 16th

Just come back from a walkabout with highways and Green Scene officers and LVIG representatives to discuss plans for a community planting day on 16th May, and the highways work that needs to be done before then.

We have now fixed Saturday 16th May as the day when LVIG will be organising a community planting day, with the help of the Council, Envirowork Lewisham, and hopefully some local business support (times tbc soon, but please mark the date in your diaries). We've got funding from the localities fund for 4 more planters, and hopefully we will be able to get some trees in the Autumn (though this is dependent on a survey of where underground cables are on Ladywell Road).

Before 16th May, highways and Green Scene have promised to make sure they do the following (and I have witnesses that this has been agreed!):

1. Clear the paint off the pavement on the corner of Ladywell Road/Algernon Road (they've tried several times already without success, but are hopefully going to be trialling some new chemical).
2. Remove guardrailings where the safety audit recently carried out confirms it is safe to do so, and pending local consultation.
3. Rebuild the section of Ladywell Road that is currently subsiding (near Ladywell Tavern).
4. Chase the utility companies to reinstate paving stones where they have put temporary tarmac.

It's not the full scale, Living Streets-type rethink of Ladywell Road we had been hoping for, as funding wasn't forthcoming from TfL for this, but if all of the above happens as planned, it should be a good start. We are hoping the initial planting will lead to bigger things, and perhaps a bit of sponsorship and support from local businesses to do more next time (Ladywell Tavern currently lead the way with their hanging baskets, and Masons are also apparently planning some kind of floral display this year). If it goes well, we may even enter London in Bloom . . .

Something similar is in the pipeline for part of Brockley Road, but still need to chase up on a few things before I can say more about that.

Off-licence Application: Peacocks Food & Wine 103 Ladywell Road

I've received notification of the following application from Licensing:

Application for a NEW / VARIATION Premises licence under the Licensing Act
Peacock Food Wine
103 Ladywell Road
Lewisham
London
SE13 7JA

Applied for sale of Alcohol Off the premises Monday – Sunday 06:00 – 00:00.

If you wish to make any representations, they need to reach Licensing by 30th October 2008.
Licensing team
Laurence House, 2nd Floor Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, Catford SE6 4RU
Tel: 020 8314 6400. E-mail: licensing@lewisham.gov.uk

This is the shop which until recently was YOGI's newsagents but is now under new management. This would mean that there would be 3 off-licences on Ladywell Road, plus the 'local' one on Algernon (I can't remember off the top of my head if Village News has an alcohol licence or not). Is this something readers of this blog feel strongly about, or not?

All Change on Ladywell Road

Ladywell Road has seen a number of changes over the last few weeks and there are a couple more hopeful developments in the pipeline.

Firstly, of course, was the long-awaited re-opening of Ladywell Tavern. Ute and I had Sunday lunch there a few weeks back and it is a great improvement - a much more relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere - the kind of place you could happily go and read the Sunday papers by yourself and have a coffee, without feeling intimidated. The new owners are very keen for it to be part of the community and tentative plans are already afoot with Ladywell Village Improvement Group (LVIG) to host a Ladywell Beer Festival there at some point in the future. Good food and decent wine and beer too.

Next up, Oscars has now opened on the site of the former International Minimart. Once again, a complete transformation. Part deli, part cafe, serving paninis, cake and ice cream, plus a range of decent bread. Beautifully done, with a lovely garden to the rear and nice touches such as the mosaic by the entrance. Good luck to local resident Petra who is behind Oscars and also active in LVIG.

Thirdly, YOGIS newsagents changed hands this week, with the previous owners moving to Lee Green after 30 years running the business. The new owner, Kaidaya, is keen to make a few changes and expand the shop to the rear. I dropped off a copy of the results of the survey that LVIG did about Ladywell Road, but now might be a good time for lots of people to go along and ask him if he is thinking of selling some fruit and veg (and then supporting him if he does!).

Shop Local in Ladywell Bags
There are a very limited number left now - just a dozen or so scattered between a few of the shops. Most of the money has been collected and banked now and a second order will be placed soon. Feedback so far has mostly been asking for longer handles for the next batch - anything else? Although we didn't make any profit out of the first batch, we did prove wrong all those who said it wouldn't work and the scheme couldn't compete with the bags sold at supermarkets etc etc!

Walkabout
Finally, I don't think I've mentioned that way back at the beginning of July I organised a walkabout in and around Ladywell Road with Deputy Mayor Heidi Alexander, highways officers and representatives from Ladywell Society and LVIG. It was a really useful to have Heidi there as well as officers, and for residents to explain their concerns and hopes for the road. Perhaps as a result of our previous walkabout and various casework enquiries (or perhaps just a happy coincidence), highways have submitted a bid for £250,000 to TfL to make improvements to the area along Ladywell Road. We will find out in November if they have been successful. If they are, highways will carry out a feasibility study and possibly do a consultation to coincide with the Ladywell CPZ consultation next spring. Highways issues raised on the walkabout included:

• the railings
• traffic speed
• the need for a safe crossing at the end of Algernon Road
• uneven paving (the patch outside the drycleaners that has been roughly tarmaced over for ages is waiting for Thames Water to come and sort it out. Every two weeks or so highways come along, inspect and fine Thames Water, but they still haven't sorted it).
• parking: residents' parking and the need for short-term parking for shops

Other issues raised included:

• long-term empty premises such as Nightwatch and the Snack Bar which bring down the rest of the street
• the run-down state of Coral's building with empty flats above (with all the money they are draining from the local economy, you'd think they could at least restore the top half of the building and rent the flats out really)
• the possibility of a Christmas market by the station, like Brockley had
• the garages site on the corner of Malyons Road (planning permission was granted a few years ago for flats and retail premises, but no approaches have been made to planning yet to do this)

105 Ladywell Road - decision deferred

The application to turn 105 Ladywell Road into a takeaway came to my planning committee last night. I used my right as ward councillor to speak against this and then withdraw from the meeting, as I felt I had a fairly closed mind on this particular application. A representative from Ladywell Society also spoke against.

The officer recommendation was to grant permission as it was felt that it was unlikely that refusal would be upheld on appeal. However, after some discussion, the committee decided to defer the decision until the next meeting, pending evidence of how long the property has been empty and how exhaustive the owner's efforts have been to let the premises.

I was pleased that committee members were sympathetic to local concerns and asked for further information. Under the old UDP (unitary development plan) there are few grounds on which to turn the change of use down, but under the draft LDF (local development framework), there is more potential and planning committees currently have to consider both policies as we are part-way between the two.

The key planning consideration was whether the loss of an A1 shop would contribute towards preserving or enhancing the local character, vitality and viability of the shopping parade. The officer's report argued that it would not harm the shopping parade as there would still be 21 other A1 category premises in the area (A1, incidentally, includes hairdressers and launderettes among other things, not just 'shops'). I argued that it would adversely affect the viability of the shopping parade, as we don't currently have anywhere selling good quality fresh food, eg fresh fruit and veg, meat or fish in the area and this would be one less possible premises for a greengrocers or other decent food shop.

The application also has to be considered alongside the fact that Rio Grill (Life Cafe as was) is operating as a takeaway without the appropriate planning consent, the empty 'Snack Bar' could potentially reopen one day as a takeaway, and there is another application pending to change 40 Ladywell Road from A1 to a cafe (plus we already have a kebab shop, fish and chip shop, Chinese takeaway, cafe on Algernon Road and Ladywell Tandoori).

It was also useful to be able to refer to the results of the recent survey of views on Ladywell shops and services, including the fact that over 50% of respondents said they would like to see a fruit and veg shop, 46% would like a coffee shop and 43% wanted a deli, but not one person said they wanted more takeaways. Unfortunately our current planning policy is exceedingly limited in its ability to protect small, local shopping parades from turning into little more than rows of takeaways, estate agents and money transfer shops.

Anyway, the decision has been postponed for 6 weeks, which gives budding enterpreneurs 6 weeks to persuade the owner of 105 Ladywell Road to let the premises to them to open a decent food shop instead of opening yet another takeaway.

Ladywell Survey - headline results

The new Ladywell Village Improvements Group (still provisional name!) have now analysed and summarised the results of their recent survey of residents' views of shops and services along Ladywell Road. They received an impressive 251 responses to their survey, which in many cases confirmed what we expected, though the high percentage of residents who feel safe in Ladywell was a welcome surprise:

• 93% of respondents lived in Ladywell
• 82% of respondents use the shops on a regular basis
• §
• §Respondents want better provisions for Fruit & Veg
• §
• §Coffee Shop, Butchers and Deli also feature for new business to open
• §
• §
  47% of respondents would like to see the General Appearance of Ladywell improved
• 80% of respondents replied they feel either fairly safe or very safe in Ladywell, with 20% of respondents not feeling safe.
  
• Most respondants gave the existing shops in Ladywell a score of 3 out of 5

This is valuable market research which a couple of potential new businesses to the area are already making use of, and which the group intends to feed back to existing businesses and the Council. The steering group are putting together a draft constitution for the new group and will soon be calling for nominations for committee posts and advertising the date of the AGM. Details to follow.

With many thanks to Hellen, Cynthia and Debbie for all their hard work in putting this together.

82% of all 251 respondents use the shops in Ladywell regularly.

With a focus on existing businesses in Ladywell, 48% of respondents would like to see them sell largely fruit and vegetables.

In terms of new businesses that respondents would like to see, Fruit and Veg, Coffee Shop, Deli and Butchers were all popular.

Potential new businesses could strengthen their business plan by combining business categories.

47% of respondents would like to see the General Appearance of Ladywell improved.
(* Other includes: litter, cleanliness, police patrolling, less take-away’s, less hairdressers, paving renovation, speed bumps…)

80% of respondents replied they feel either fairly safe or very safe, with 20% of respondents not feeling safe.

Overall assessment of provision of shops and services in Ladywell.

Ladywell Tavern

Ladywell Tavern has been closed for a few weeks now and I'd heard that there had been another change of management and further refurbishment works were underway. However, I was glad to see notices go up on the boards outside the pub this week saying that it is will hopefully be re-opening at the end of April with real ales, fine wines and traditional pub food. Sounds good, fingers crossed!

Great turnout for meeting to set up new Ladywell community group

Pictured: Tattoo Parlour window and Sunrise Ceramics' wares.

More than 60 local people turned out for last night's meeting in St Mary's Centre to discuss concerns about Ladywell, in particular the shops and premises on and around Ladywell Road and to set up a new community action group. This was in spite of the wet weather and the fact that a number of local people went to the planning committee meeting at the town hall that was on the same evening.

I won't go into a lot of detail now, as more will be forthcoming when the results of the survey etc have been analysed and the group has got established but I was delighted at the level of enthusiasm and determination to improve things. The new owners of Top to Toe hairdressers were the only business people there, but I know a few other businesses, particularly the dry cleaners and Masons are keen to support as much as they can.

Des Kirkland from Brockley Cross Action Group gave an inspiring speech about what they have achieved in Brockley and made useful suggestions about being realistic and setting short-term goals that can be met, as well as more ambitious medium and long-term ones. He also talked about plans to expand Brockley Max Festival to venues in Ladywell this year, if possible. The head of economic development from the Council also came along, and the two local Safer Neighbourhood Team PCs. It was interesting that a number of people said they feel safe in Ladywell compared to other places they have lived and while some people wanted CCTV, others were very much oppsed.

There was general consensus that:

• We have a number of highways issues that need addressing (too much traffic, too much pavement parking, lack of short-term parking for customers, too much commuter parking, uneven pavments, unsightly railings).
• We want a fruit and veg shop and or deli/wholefood shop.
• Residents would shop more locally if shops sold what they wanted to buy, were reasonably priced and marked prices on goods (one guy related with great indignation how he was recently charged 59p for a Kitkat and once paid £9 for a watermelon at the now closed deli/continental food market!).
• People would like to see another cafe/bar, but don't want any more take-aways or hairdressers.
• People are sick of the sight of the empty shops and are keen for them to be brought back into use (Newsflash: environmental health have finally agreed to take action against 46 Ladywell Road, aka Nightwatch - fingers crossed it might prompt the owner to do something positive with the place).
  

Lots of people signed up to the e-mail list - Lara, who also facilitated the brainstorming part of the meeting, will be adding people to the e-mail list soon, and sending round notes from the meeting. The Ladywell community website is also going to be developed soon. Hellen is going to be analysing the results of the survey (approx 150 returned - much higher response rate than the average Council consultation!) and producing a report to circulate to residents and businesses and we'll take things from there. You can join the e-mail group here and the Facebook group here.

Anyway, feeling very inspired about the potential of this group, need to keep up the momentum now . . .

New Community Action Group in Ladywell

On Thursday I had an informal meeting in Masons with a group of local residents concerned about the state of Ladywell Road. A number of people have expressed concern over the past few months (and years) about the number of empty shops along Ladywell Road, the range of shops, the state of the pavement, the unsightly railings and various highways and safety issues. Things have got markedly worse recently since the only shop selling fruit and vegetables on the road has closed, and there is a potential threat of the Post Office being closed too.

I organised Thursday's meeting to bring together people who had expressed concern, but also enthusiasm to do something about it. Anyway, I was delighted that 10 people attended who are all keen to get involved and do something to improve the situation along Ladywell Road. Des Kirkland from Brockley Cross Action Group also came along and provided an insight to what BCAG have done and how they got started, which was much appreciated.

Outcomes from the meeting, in brief:

• We have agreed to form a group to work for improvements to Ladywell Road, kind of Ladywell's answer to Brockley Cross Action Group.
• A survey is being put together, to gather views from local people on the shops and facilities along Ladywell Road, and what they would like to see.
• A provisional date for a public meeting to formally launch the group and agree a plan of action has been set for Thursday 13th March, 7.30pm. Venue will hopefully be St Mary's Centre, but that's to be confirmed.
• We haven't decided on a name yet, though suggestions so far include Ladywell Road Action Group (LRAG), Ladywell Action Group (LAG), Friends of Ladywell Road Shops (FOLRS), SOLVE (Stakeholders for Ladywell Village Enhancement), BLAG (Better Ladywell Action Group) or the 'We want a deli too, Brockley can't have them all' group. Any thoughts on these, or another name?
• An e-mail group has been set up; to join the group, e-mail ladywellroad-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk with your name and street name (to avoid spammers). You will then be forwarded the minutes of the meeting.
• A Facebook group has been set up; join it here.
• A website I've been cyber-squatting, www.ladywell.info is hopefully going to be brought into use to promote the group, but by someone with better website designing skills than me!
• The group is keen to complement, rather than compete with existing groups such as Ladywell Society and to involve local businesses as much as possible.
  
• Hopefully, among other things, the new group, along with local shops, will help sell and promote the Shop Local in Ladywell bags, which should be ready in a couple of months.

I left the meeting feeling very encouraged by the level of enthusiasm and determination among local people to do something to improve the area. I will of course continue my efforts to get action at a Council level to bring the empty shops back into use, for highways improvements etc, but sometimes it is much easier as a councillor to be able to show you are representing the views of a local group, not just your own pet concerns.

Finally, a reminder that any designs for the Shop Local in Ladywell bag should be submitted by Friday 18th January to cllr_sue.luxton@lewisham.gov.uk or posted to Cllr Sue Luxton, c/o Governance Support, Lewisham Town Hall, Catford, SE6 4RU.

Walkabouts

Went on two walkabouts in the ward recently; the first with officers from highways and members of Ladywell Society to discuss various issues around Ladywell Road, including uneven paving, lack of short-stay parking for visitors to shops, the dreaded railings, need for a crossing at the Ladywell Road end of Algernon Road, CPZs etc. Very useful to speak face to face with officers and show them what residents are concerned about. Officers generally agreed with our concerns that railings had a negative impact on the road, hemmed pedestrians in, were a danger to cyclists and encouraged drivers to go faster, but they can't simply remove them. First they have to find money for a safety audit to look at all highways issues on the road, then do a public consultation on its findings and find money to implement any findings after all that. So don't expect any dramatic changes in the near future, but fingers crossed, and I'll keep you posted.

The second walkabout was with officers from the council's recycling and trade waste team. The purpose was two-fold - to see if we could get any local traders to sign up to recycling and to give them information about the Business Environmental Excellence (BEE) scheme. We found that Ladywell traders, without exception were keen to recycle, but what was holding them back was the cost. In theory it costs the same for recyclables as non-recyclable waste, but in practice it costs more as traders have to get a green wheelie bin and red bags. Even taking into account the fact that they would be using less red trade waste bags, shopkeepers were still looking at a potential extra £40/quarter for a green wheelie bin, which is a lot if you are only just making ends meet, which is the case for many small shops. In addition, many shopkeepers don't have a backyard to store a wheelie bin in.
I think we need to rethink the system so that there is no financial disincentive for businesses to recycle, though I'm not sure what the solution is. Lewisham could make business recycling cheaper and raise the cost of non-recyclable waste, but it has to compete with other commercial waste collectors, such as BIFFA and may lose business if it did this. Another option would be to look into having 2 different coloured bags for recyclable and non-recyclable, and potentially the collection of recyclables from businesses could be combined with collecing the recyclables the street sweepers collect, but extra collection rounds still cost more money and it needs to be self-financing.