LVIG mtg tonight - community garden in Church Grove on Agenda

Ladywell Village Improvement Group is holding a meeting at the St Mary's Centre, Ladywell Road, TONIGHT (Tuesday November 23 at 7.30pm.) On the agenda are: Ladywell Christmas Market, an update on the streetscape plans, help organise a tree sponsorship campaign in the high street, and find out the latest on the Playtower.

The item that caught my eye is the proposal for a community garden scheme on the former Watergate School in Church Grove. My understanding is that residents are working with the council to get a short-term (12-months) lease on the site, pending a decision about its longer term future, and the tentative plan is to use builders bags, or similar to grow fruit and veg, a bit like has been done in Hackney and elsewhere with temporary lots. It sounds like a great idea, and if it works well, I can think of at least one other site in Ladywell that would be ideally suited to doing something similar. There is certainly local demand for more space to grow fruit and veg, and a long waiting list for local allotments, and this seems like a pragmatic way to help bridge that gap.

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

Date for Diaries: Ladywell Christmas Market: 12th December.

Brockley Christmas market is back again too, on the same day, but from 12-6pm, so plenty of time to pop across Hilly Fields from one to the other.

Ladywell Village Improvement Group gets 'certificate of excellence' at Lewisham in Bloom awards

Congratulations to Ladywell Village Improvement Group, who were awarded a 'Certificate of Excellence' at last week's Lewisham in Bloom awards.

The picture above shows LVIG volunteers getting their hands dirty planting bulbs, cyclamen etc in the troughs along Ladywell Road and Algernon Road last weekend.

LVIG writes:
"LVIG had no time to formally enter the competition as the first planters were installed just before the deadline. However, the judging panel stopped to look at what the local community had achieved in Ladywell while on their tour of the borough, and were suitably impressed by the effort we had made.

Lewisham has gone on to pick up a Silver Gilt Award in this year’s prestigious London in Bloom awards - and we are equally proud to have contributed to that success.

A huge thank you to all who have contributed to our community planting, whether it be helping fill the planters and baskets with colourful displays, keeping them watered and free of litter, or supporting fundraising events, such as our benefits gigs at the Ladywell Tavern. All these activities have changed Ladywell for the better through the addition of greenery and colour into the streetscape environment.

We have made a fantastic start and hope to build on this with re-stocked planters and eventually new trees - let's continue to work together towards winning first prize next year!"

Thanks are also due to Envirowork Lewisham and the Council's Green Scene Team for their support.

LVIG have also confirmed that the Christmas Market will again take place outside Ladywell train station this year on 12th December. Organisers write:

"This year (as well as hoping for a little less rain!) we hope to include a vibrant mix of arts and crafts, local produce and hot and cold food, all supplied by craftspeople and businesses from the local community.

A number of us are busily working away on the finer details of making the market happen, however we still need a little help. If you know a generous local electrician who would be willing to help set up generators and lighting on the day then please get in touch.

We also still have some availability for stalls, so if you or anyone you know is a budding crafter, or who bakes a mean mince pie, then please email us to find out more about how to get involved."

The benefit gig in Ladywell Tavern the week before last was well attended, which should hopefully help to boost the coffers for the Christmas Market slightly.

Something for the weekend?

It's that time of year when there are loads of things happening and tomorrow (Saturday) is no exception with two excellent local events.

In the morning LVIG are having the second of their planting days. These will be using 4 planters that we previously bought with our localities fund for Loampit Vale and Loampit Hill, but which TfL said had to be moved. We will be looking at alternatives ways to cheer up the Loampit streetscape soon (eg trying to persuade TfL to plant some trees along there, or let us do so), but in the meantime look forward to brightening up Ladywell Road some more. To help with the planting day, meet outside Masons at 10am.

Hot on the heels of the planting day, comes Gordonbrock Primary School's Summer Carnival, which is being held at the school from 12-3pm. Friends of Gordonbrock (FOG) invite you to come along and join in the fun. Highlights will include: Bouncy castle, Beat the goalie, coconut shy, games, arts & crafts, music performances, Tai Kwon Do displays, International Cuisine. BBQ, tombola, community stalls, Pimms and strawberries and much, much more….

LVIG's planting day last month was a great success with lots of local residents flexing their green fingers.

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.

Next mtg of LVIG: this Wednesday

The next meeting of the Ladywell Village Improvement Group will be held this Wednesday (18 February) at the St Mary's Centre, Ladywell Road at 7.30pm.

Agenda below. The committee have also put together an action plan of what they feel are the key issues and events to work towards over the next few months, and are keen to get feedback. Come along to the meeting or join the discussion at: www.ladywell.blogspot.com.

Agenda:

1. Welcome / Apologies for absence
2. Minutes of meeting held 21 January
3. Ladywell Action Plan
4. Play Tower update - presentation of current proposal
5. Financial report
6. Publicity update
7. AOB

Well done LVIG!

Well done to everyone from Ladywell Village Improvement Group who worked so hard to put on yesterday's excellent Christmas Market at Ladywell Station, together with City and Country Farmers' Market. Despite the rain, hundreds of local residents turned out to stock up on Christmas food and gifts as well as to sample the mulled wine, mince pies and/or hog roast. St Mary's Church choir sang, the Mayor came and turned on the Christmas lights and Ladywell Tavern was heaving in the evening for the live music, raffle and quiz.

It was surprising how many Ladywell residents didn't know that there was a monthly farmers' market on Hilly Fields, so perhaps they will have gained a few new customers for the new year. Lots of people also went to/came from the Brockley Christmas Market which was on the same day. It was great to see so many of the local businesses involved and supporting the event by donating prizes to the raffle. Here's hoping it becomes a regular event in the local calendar (once Sian, Cynthia, Eleanor and everyone else who helped have picked themselves up off the floor and recovered a bit).

(I somehow managed to lose my camera at the Lewisham Green Party Christmas meal the night before, so apologies for the slightly grainy camera phone pictures, but hopefully some better quality ones will be up on the LVIG site soon.)

Ladywell Christmas Market: Saturday 13th December

Final preparations are now underway for Ladywell's (first ever?) Christmas Market. The event is being organised by Ladywell Village Improvement Group in partnership with City and Country Farmers Market, the people who organise the monthly market on Hilly Fields. So, instead of going up the hill to the market on 13th December, go to Railway Terrace (Ladywell Train Station) for a festive market, with a number of arts and crafts stalls as well as festive food, a school choir, and the switching on of the Christmas lights.

Ladywell Village Improvement Group still have a few stalls available for any local artists, craftspeople and traders who want to take part in this community event. Please contact Sophie Elder if you or any of your family or friends might be interested in having a stall, and she will send you details of how to book.

I'm really pleased this event is going ahead and I know loads of work has been put in by members of LVIG to make it happen.

Ladywell Village Improvement Group Meeting next Wednesday (19th Nov)

Just a quick link to the Ladywell Village Improvement Group's blog, which has details of their meeting this coming Wednesday, 19th November, 7.30pm, at St Mary's Centre, Ladywell Road. Items on the agenda include the Ladywell Christmas Market, which is hopefully happening outside the station on 12th December, details of the streetscape report their members have put together, with views on how to improve Ladywell Road, and they also have Malcolm Smith, Executive Director of Regeneration at Lewisham Council coming along.

Catching up

Lots to catch up on from the past week or so. It already seems ages since I was in Cornwall over the bank holiday weekend!

Shop Local Bags now on sale
The 'Shop Local in Ladywell' bags are now on sale in lots of the shops in Ladywell. They cost £3.50 and seem to be selling well. Em from the drycleaners (pictured) sold her first 20 within a few days and is now on her second batch. There are only 300, so buy now while stocks last!

Good news for Gordonbrock?
Hopefully a rebuild or refurbishment of the school is now back on the cards, following earlier delays. A paper called "Primary Strategy for Change and Primary Capital Programme" went to Mayor & Cabinet last week and the proposals within in it include a new build (or refurbishment) of Gordonbrock Primary School and to expand it from two and a half form entry to 3-form entry. A rebuild of Brockley Primary School and to expand it from one-form entry to two is also planned. Basically, having got money for the BSF (Building Schools for the Future) programme for secondary schools, the Council is now hoping to get a second tranche of government funding bidding for primary schools.

Ladywell Leisure Centre Closed due to discovery of Legionnella Bacteria
You may have read elsewhere that Ladywell Leisure Centre has been temporarily closed due to the discovery of Legionnella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease, being found in the showers. The discovery was made during regular checks and the pool closed as a precautionary measure. Ladywell ward councillors will be watching developments closely and hope that the pool will reopen as soon as it is safe to do so. I would hope that there will be a full investigation into why this has happened and what measures can be taken to prevent it from happening again.

New Playground for Foxborough Gardens?
On Tuesday I met with residents from Foxborough Gardens and representatives from Pinnacle, to discuss building a playground on the estate. Residents have organised a petition and collected 120 signatures calling for a playground. Many of the signatures were collected by the children themselves, and a number of them came along to the meeting. Their request seems perfectly reasonable to me, as there is no playground on the estate at the moment, but a grassy area that could be a suitable location for one. The timing for this may well be fortuitous as Lewisham has recently been awarded £1m to develop play areas. Hopefully a Foxborough Gardens TRA (tenants and residents association) is going to be formed which can then work with Pinnacle to look at ways of taking things forward.

Parking Problems on Marsala Road
On Wednesday I helped residents in Marsala Road collect signatures for a petition calling for a controlled parking zone in the area. There was a consultation on this back in 2005, but at the time there was a very low response rate from the road, and the Council decided not to proceed. The Council's position is that it will only introduce a CPZ where there is a clear demand for it from residents.

Since that time, the parking problems along the street have got progressively worse. Commuters park at one end for Ladywell Station and at the other end for Lewisham Town Centre and station. The introduction of the CPZ on Bertrand, Branscombe and the top part of Algernon Road has increased commuter parking on Marsala and Ellerdale Roads, and as Pinnacle are now cracking now on commuter parking on Viney Road, at residents' request, there is even more competition for spaces on Marsala and Ellerdale Roads. Some residents are putting out cones to reserve a space, which in turn irritates their neighbours.

I've been told a further consultation on CPZs will be carried out in Ladywell in January 2009, but I was also told it would happen last year and it didn't, so the residents' petition may serve as a timely reminder for the Deputy Mayor of the strength of residents' feelings on this issue. The consultation is likely to cover a number of streets, including Chudleigh Road, Malyons Road, Gillian Street as well as Marsala Road and Ellerdale Street. I don't have strong feelings either way about CPZs, and am happy to support whatever the outcome of the consultation is. There appears to be a majority of residents along Marsala Road in favour of a CPZ, but there would also need to be a majority in neighbouring streets in favour in order to proceed.

Ladywell Road to be part of new commercial recycling trial
The recycling team at the Council has successfully applied for funding to set up a pilot commercial recycling scheme using bags instead of bins in Ladywell and Blackheath. They hope to be able to start the scheme in August and will be promoting it in the next couple of weeks. Businesses will still need to pay for collections, but this will be at a rate that is 30% lower than refuse (as with the recycling bin scheme). One of the current barriers to businesses along Ladywell Road recycling, is that not all of them have outside space to store recycling bins. This scheme will enable businesses to use bags rather than bins, and will allows them to pay only for the waste that they produce, as opposed to paying for a standard sized bin each week.

I had a walkabout with officers from the recycling team last year, to discuss recycling with businesses along Ladywell Road. Although businesses were keen to recycle, the cost and bin storage space came up as issues at the time, so I'm delighted that the recycling team are trying to solve this with the pilot scheme. It is also now cheaper for businesses to recycle as one of the Green Group budget amendments from last year was to reduce the cost of commercial recycling (by raising the cost of general waste collection). Hopefully the combination of these two things (bags and lower cost) will enable many more businesses along Ladywell Road to start recycling their cardboard etc.

Ladywell Tavern re-opening soon
I bumped into one of the guys running Ladywell Tavern the other day and he told me that they will be opening very soon, following a few last minute hitches. They are still promising real ales, fine wine and good food, and the chef apparently used to work with Marco Pierre White, so fingers crossed.

New Cafe coming soon on Ladywell Road
Planning permission was granted last week for a new cafe at 48 Ladywell Road (what was the fruit & veg shop). If al goes to plan, the new cafe, which will be called Oscars and will specialise in ice-cream and home-made cakes, will open in about 4 weeks' time. It is being run by a local couple who want their cafe to have a community feel to it.

Ladywell Village Improvement Group AGM
LVIG's AGM is taking place at St Mary's Centre this Thursday (5th June) at 7.30pm. The agenda includes, among other things, the election of officers for the new group, ratification of the constitution, review of the survey results, feedback from Ladywell Fields Fun Day and the formation of working groups. All are welcome.

New Gates for Francis Drake Bowling Club
Brockley Central have beaten me to it on this one, but Francis Drake Bowling Club have got a lovely new gate, which I believe was designed by local artist Heather Burrell, who did the gates at the entrance to Hilly Fields from Eastern Road.

Finally, for those interested, Lewisham Green Drinks is taking place tomorrow (Monday), at Mr Lawrence Wine Bar, 389 Brockley Road, from 7pm onwards.

Ladywell Village Improvement Group: AGM and Blog

A blog has been set up by the Ladywell Village Improvement Group (the name has now been decided!) and a date for their AGM now fixed: Thursday 5 June at the St Mary's Centre, Ladywell Road at 7.30pm. They are looking for people to help them deliver flyers to homes in the area advertising the meeting and/or willing to stand as officers for the new group. See blog for further details. Hopefully at some point the blog will become Ladywell's answer to Brockley Central (a tall order, I realise!). You can e-mail them enquiries/offers of help. They will also have a stall at the Ladywell Fields Fun Day this Saturday.

I've also added a link to the blog for Devonshire Road Nature Reserve, which I found via Andrew's blog.

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 . . .

Public Meeting in Ladywell this Thursday

Like these . . .








but sick of the sight of these?









Public Meeting: Thursday 13th March, 7.30pm, St Mary's Centre, Ladywell Road.

Back in January I posted about an informal meeting I had in Masons with a group of residents keen to set up a new community action group, along the lines of Brockley Cross Action Group, only for Ladywell. Well, things have moved ahead and a public meeting has been organised for this Thursday, 13th March, 7.30pm, in St Mary's Centre. Hopefully you have seen the posters in shops.

You may also have been given a survey at the train station or in one of the shops. This is the first project the group is doing - a bit of market research to find out what local people think of the area and how they think things could be improved. The results will be analysed and fed back to local businesses, the Council and local people. So if you've got one still in your coat pocket or somewhere, please take a few moments to fill it in and drop it in one of the 'post boxes' in Masons, the train station, the post office, Ladywell DIY, Top to Toe, the drycleaners or the chemist before next Thursday.

I'm delighted this group is forming and encouraged by the buzz it is creating in the local area. Hopefully there will be a good turnout on Thursday. Things won't be transformed overnight, but I think there is great potential for an active community group to work with the Council and local businesses to improve things on and around Ladywell Road. The name and aims of the group have all still to be decided at the meeting on Thursday, but for now it is being called Ladywell Village Action Group.

There is a (currently small) Facebook group and a (slightly larger) e-mail group.
Hope to see you there on Thursday.