Questions to Mayor & Cabinet

Each month councillors (and for that matter any member of the public too) are allowed to submit questions to Mayor & Cabinet and to receive written responses at full council. There is then a fixed period of time within the meeting to ask supplementary questions. Below are the questions I asked at the November meeting (seems a long time ago now) and the responses I received, and underneath that, my questions for January's meeting. The Save Ladywell Pool campaign used the public questions to great effect and meetings have simply not been the same since Max Calo and friends stopped asking questions!

Question by Councillor Luxton of the Cabinet Member for Customer Services
How many Victorian properties that come under the Brockley PFI contract but are outside of Brockley Conservation area are due to have their wooden sash windows ripped out and replaced with UPVC ones? Can you confirm that leaseholders have the right to get their own replacement wooden sash windows installed instead if they prefer (with notice to the authority's contractor 3 months prior to the Authority’s contractor commencing work on the leaseholder’s block)?
Reply
On a contractual basis, the information requested has not been required and would therefore, be difficult and time consuming to collect. However we have previously been asked to gather the same information for the area between the Brockley conservation area and the St Mary’s Conservation area.
We can advise that in the area between the Brockley and St Mary's conservation areas, there are 44 properties that are likely to have their sash windows replaced with UPVC.

The Authority does permit Leaseholders to carry out window replacement, at their own cost, should they wish to do this, but there are a number of conditions attached.
The leaseholder/s must firstly write to the Authority to request permission to carry out this work.
The leaseholder must give the Authority and the Authority’s contractor at least 3 months notice of his/her intent. (This is 3 months prior to the Authority’s contractor commencing work on the leaseholder’s block). This is to give the Authority’s contractor enough time to cancel any orders that it may have placed for the leaseholder’s windows and thus not incur additional costs, which may be passed to the leaseholder.
The Authority OR its contractor, will provide the Leaseholder with a window specification which the Leaseholder’s contractor will need to comply with. In addition to obtaining the Council’s permission as landlord, the leaseholder will also be required to obtain any consents (planning approval, building control etc) which may be necessary.
The leaseholder will then need to provide the Authority with written evidence that they have engaged in a contract with a window installer/ manufacturer, to carry out the window replacement. This is to ensure that the window replace will be carried out within a reasonable time and will not over run any other works being carried out to the building by the contractor.

Question by Councillor Luxton of the Mayor
Would the Mayor consider making it a condition at next year's People's Day that traders use only compostable paper plates and cups and not polystyrene, to reduce the volume of non-recyclable waste created by the event? Such a condition has worked well at Glastonbury Festival, which is now a polystyrene free zone and recycles and composts a large proportion of the waste produced.
Reply
The Arts Service are working closely with Continental Drifts, the contracted production company for People’s Day, to explore solutions to the use of non-compostable catering supplies, and investigate the policies of similar community festivals and events in order to identify a set of standards for caterers and traders.
It has proved difficult to attract high quality catering concessions to a one day event with a perceived low income visitor demographic. People’s Day has worked over several years to develop relationships with many local catering providers and works hard to offer a culturally diverse range of food options.
Many of the catering providers have expressed concern over the financial and practical implication of sourcing specialist containers for this event alone. The Peoples Day Team is keen to continue to support local businesses and maintain the Council's longstanding relationships with traders, and to adopt a phased approach to introducing new guidelines.
With these factors in mind, in 2008 Peoples Day is likely to follow the model adopted by Southwark Council Events Team and buy corn starch or paper plates and cups to sell on to caterers for use at the event. This takes away the onus from catering providers to source suppliers. The Council will make it clear that it plans to enforce strict environmental guidelines in 2009, many other festival organisers will be doing the same so that it will be in the traders' commercial interest to use only environmentally friendly products.

Question by Councillor Luxton of the Mayor
Would the Mayor consider following the example set by the Mayors of London and New York in providing tap water for staff and visitors, rather than bottled water, thus both saving money and eliminating the pollution and wasted energy in needlessly transporting the water?
Reply
The Council’s bottled water contract will end in June 2008. Works are being planned to coincide with the end of this contract to replace as much bottled water provision as possible with mains fed drinking water.
Encouragement will be given to all staff to use tap water wherever practicable however, given that it is a health and safety requirement to provide drinking water in the work place there will be a need to provide bottled water where it is impractical to provide an accessible mains fed drinking water outlet.
I will also ask officers to investigate both the financial and environmental impact of current and alternative arrangements such as those referred to and also the use of refillable bottles as at Local Government House and also the bottling of local tap water as is done in Ekurhuleni, our sister authority in South Africa

Questions for January Meeting:

1) Question for Mayor
Will Lewisham Council be submitting a formal response to the public consultation on Heathrow airport expansion, given the likely negative impact on Lewisham residents' quality of life from additional noise and air pollution?
2) Cabinet Member for Customer Services
How successful have the Tetrapak recycling banks been since their installation last year, approximately how many tonnes of waste have been diverted from the incinerator as a result, and are there any plans to expand the scheme by increasing the number of such recycling banks in the borough?
3) Cabinet Member for Customer Services
Could the cabinet member for customer services please clarify how residents should safely dispose of low-energy light bulbs, batteries and waste electrical equipment? How many collection points for these items do we have in the borough and how does this compare with neighbouring Greenwich?
4) Question to the Deputy Mayor
Recent casework of mine has uncovered the fact that the council is currently working to a policy of not repairing broken benches but instead replacing them entirely even where a simple repair would safely restore it to use. Does the Deputy Mayor agree that, as we are supposed to be moving to a low-carbon, low-waste, resource-efficient economy, this is a waste of council resources and runs completely counter to the 'reduce, re-use, recycle' hierarchy that the council urges residents to adopt? How will she spread the 'reduce, reuse' culture through all council departments with responsibility for maintenance?

Not quite with it - deadline for competition is the 18th, not the 11th!

In my earlier post, I mistakenly wrote that the closing date for the bag design competition was 11th Jan; I meant the 18th Jan, sorry! So still not much time, but a good week or so to get ideas together.

Two important consultations

Sometimes as a councillor (and probably to local residents too) it seems like there is an endless round of consultations to respond to. Well there are two at the moment that I think are particularly important, which Lewisham Green Group will definitely be submitting responses to and I encourage others to do likewise.

A Picture of Health
A consultation on possible changes to how NHS services in south-east London are organised started yesterday and runs until 7th April. Everyone who lives in Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley should be getting details through their door, or the consultation can be viewed online at: http://www.apictureofhealth.nhs.uk/. There are four possible scenarios being consulted on, which include among other things proposals to close the A&E and maternity facililities at Lewisham Hospital. Suffice to say that this is controversial and will, I suspect, be a big issue in the forthcoming elections in London (even though the NHS is not really within the GLA or Mayor of London's remit). This consultation pre-empts the final publication of the Darzi report on healthcare in London.

Heathrow Expansion
The Department for Transport are currently consulting on proposals to expand Heathrow Airport. Putting aside arguments about climate change, not destroying historic villages etc, any expansion in capacity is likely to lead to increased noise and air pollution across much of London, including in south-east London which is directly under some flight paths. I would urge anyone concerned about how this may impact on their quality of life to respond. The consultation can be found at http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/heathrowconsultation/.
For Friends of the Earth's take on the expansion, see http://www.foe.org.uk/campaigns/transport/case_studies/heathrow.html.

Of course there was also the pseudo consultation on a new generation of nuclear power stations, but that was too shambolic for words, and I await the outcome of the next legal challenge by Greenpeace and other NGOs to that.

Oh, and there's also the planning bill currently going through parliament, which you may wish to lobby your MP about, as that will enable the government to force through major developments such as airports, nuclear power station and motorways. More info on the Friends of the Earth website: http://www.foe.org.uk/resource/local/planning/whats_going_on/index.html.

2 Minor Successes

Possibly another contender for 'not the most exciting blog post in the world ever', but bear with me; anyone who has ever been a local councillor and experienced at first hand how excruciatingly slow a process it can sometimes be to get things done, may appreciate this.

Minor success Number One: New bench by bus stop at top of Adelaide Avenue!

We finally have a new bench by the bus stop at the top of Adelaide Avenue. First reported that the previous one was broken in the Summer of last year. Eventually got a response saying that it was going to be replaced. I queried why it had to be replaced and not simply repaired, but never got a response to that. I noticed when I cycled past today that it had finally been replaced. A good quality new bench, though arguably we need to be repairing things more, rather than automatically replacing broken things. Does look better quality than the previous one though. Sadly some silly so and so has already tagged it, but I've reported that to lovelewisham, so hopefully it will be cleaned off this week, along with yet more tagging on the bus shelter.

Minor Success Number Two - unauthorised advertising board in the middle of the pavement on Brockley Road finally removed!

I have been exchanging e-mails with council officers for some time about the state of the bit of Brockley Road opposite St Andrew's Church (where Brockley Kitchen is). There are horrendously bent, railings, lots of pot holes, lots of commerical refuse bins creating an eyesore, constant illegal on pavement parking in front of the barbers, an unauthorised advertising board in front of Brockley Kitchen and a disused post box that has been there since the post office closed years ago. Generally, the area has a feeling of neglect and excessive street clutter about it.

Anyway, after being told several times by officers that there was no unauthorised advertising hoarding and me insisting that there was and sending photographic evidence to prove it, the Council wrote to the advertising company and gave them 28 days to remove and it has finally gone. Lloyd from Brockley Kitchen is delighted and talking about being able to put some tables and chairs on his forecourt in the summer .

I'm still working on the other issues along there, but at least that's one thing ticked off the list. The railings are apparently going to be replaced (highways won't even consider removing them apparently), the pot hole may or may not be filled in (it's a slightly grey area whose land it is), the post box is apparently on Crackerjack's land (so I guess I need to take that up with Royal Mail directly) and parking are apparently clamping down on illegal parking on the pavement, although when I asked how many tickets had been issued, the answer came back 'none', so there is still room for improvement there.

We have allocated a small part of our localities fund for improvements to this bit of Brockley Road, but I'm still trying to get the things that should be done anyway sorted first, before we think about any frills.

Your designs wanted! Ladywell Bag Competition

OK, after a certain amount of negotiating, Ladywell is soon to get its own 'shop local in Ladywell' fairtrade organic cotton (or possibly jute) bags. There was some criticism of the design of the other shop local bags by commenters on this blog and elsewhere. We have taken that on board, and are going to have a competition for local residents to come up with the design to go on the side of the Ladywell bags!

We don't have a great deal of time to come up with a design, unfortunately, as the bags need to be ordered along with another batch in time for Fairtrade Fortnight, so I need designs by the end of next week, ie 18th January. Designs should be bold and clear and in no more than 3 colours and the words "Shop local in Ladywell" need to appear somewhere in the design.

So if you would like to see your design printed on 500 bags and become the must have accessory in Ladywell in 2008, get your felt tip pens out and creative juices flowing and please send your designs to me by the end of next week. E-mail: cllr_sue.luxton@lewisham.gov.uk or post them to me c/o Governance Support, Lewisham Town Hall, Catford, SE6 4RU. Prize for winner: a free bag and lots of local kudos. There is no lower or upper age limit: entries from children and adults all welcome.

Bags will be on sale in local shops and hopefully will be sold by an about to be formed 'Ladywell Shops' group (more on this v soon)

Song Competition: Help Lewisham celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight

Lewisham Council are launching a song competition, open to all who live work or learn in the borough, about fairtrade issues. Win a day in a recording studio and the chance to perform at People's Day 2008. Email lewisham4fairtrade@lewisham.gov.uk to register your interest by4 January 2008. Closing date 1 February 2008.

Putting my own house in order

As a Green councillor, clearly I talk green, and push for greener policies to be passed locally and nationally, but to what extent am I actually practising what I preach and living a green lifestyle? I do the easy things (use low energy light bulbs, recycle, compost, buy organic, local food as much as possible, walk, cycle, use public transport, don't own a car, avoid flying whenever possible etc etc), but today was the day I got to find out just how green my home is (or isn't as the case may be), as I had someone from the London Green Homes Concierge Service come and do a full audit of the energy efficiency of my flat and discuss ways of improving it.

The London Green Homes Concierge Service was launched with a flourish by Ken Livingstone and Brockley councillor and London Assembly member Darren Johnson at the beginning of December. It was one of the Green Group budget items that the Mayor agreed to in order to get the support of the Greens for his budget. You may remember that Lewisham was a pilot area for this scheme earlier on in the year. Since that pilot the scheme has evolved so that it isn't just a service providing an energy efficiency assessment of your home, but also a 'concierge' service that provides advice, arranges quotes and generally holds your hand for the next 12-months as you make the changes to improve your home and reduce your carbon emissions. I was going to sign up to the pilot scheme, but wasn't quite clear what I was getting for my money. The new scheme, now launched London-wide, seemed more comprehensive so I decided to give it a whirl. Being green shouldn't be difficult or a sacrifice, individuals need support to make changes, which is exactly what this particular scheme is about.

Anyway, two Green Homes officers turned up at my home, bang on time today and did a thorough assessment of the energy efficiency or otherwise of my home. Was easily impressed when one of them said he had done an energy audit of Ethical Man Justin Rowlatt's house (well they must be the experts, mustn't they?)! They did an assessment for an EPC (energy performance certificate, the thing that's part of the homesellers' packs), but also went much further than that, with thermal imaging, a blower thingy (technical term) to assess how draughty my flat was, using a smoke pen to show me how heat was escaping through my leaky sash windows etc. At one point the entrance to the flat looked like something from a crime scene/contamination zone as it was all covered over with this blower door thing to assess how airtight my home is.

After all that they sat down and went through their findings and suggestions with me. My flat scored slightly above national average on the EPC at 63/100, where the national average is about 55/100, but way below the 80/100 required by current building regs for a new-build house. This was mostly because as a ground floor terraced flat I don't lose any heat through a roof or through the walls shared with my neighbours. Also, the EPC doesn't take into account draughts, and as I was all too aware following the cold spell in December, my flat is very draughty.

Frighteningly, they assessed the carbon footprint of my 2-bed flat at 3.7 tonnes a year, way above what we need to get our total individual carbon footprints down to in this country to avoid runaway climate change (in my defence, this didn't take into account the fact that I have a green electricity supplier and assumed levels of gas use that may well be above what I actually use!). Then they suggested measures I could take to get this down to 2.2 tonnes and save 1.5 tonnes of carbon a year.

Interestingly, the number one thing I could do to improve my home insulation is to add wall insulation to my solid brick walls, either internally or externally. Jean was right! This apparently would reduce my carbon emissions by 20%. The nub of course is cost and the trade-off is between having internal wall insulation, which takes about 2 inches from the width of your room on each side it is installed, plus entails redecorating onto the insulated plasterboard, or external insulation, which would involve adding insulation and rendering to the outside of a Victorian property and may look unsightly, but apparently is slightly more effective. Something to ponder, and I will certainly do it as and when I redecorate areas, but not sure whether I am willing to get the whole lot done just yet, with all the upheaval that entails. They're getting me quotes anyway.

After that, the next big energy efficiency gains, but again at a big financial cost, were replacing the windows and getting underfloor insulation and sealing the gaps between the floorboards. The efficiency savings they proposed were based on triple-glazing, rather than double-glazing and I've agreed for them to get me some quotes as my windows are at the very least in need of renovation, if not replacement. I suspect that triple-glazed sash windows will be horrendously expensive, but it may be a sensible once in a lifetime investment. I'll see. I'm quite keen to get the underfloor insulation and to get the floorboards sealed, as my lovely stripped floors are very draughty, but I'm not keen for the insulation to become nesting material for all the local mice that occasionally venture into my flat, so will need a bit of reassurance on that front.

Replacing my boiler with a gas-condensing one would knock about 10% off my home's carbon emissions, but as my current boiler is only about 7 years old, I won't be forking out on that just yet. They also suggested replacing the radiator temperature controls with something a bit flashier involving zoning and room thermostats and again are getting me quotes on that. The other measure they sometimes suggest, such as solar hot-water, aren't options for a ground floor flat with no roof and a garden shaded by a huge London plane tree.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting the full report and finding out more and getting some quotes for some of the work, though if I have everything they suggested done it will be very expensive. In the meantime I have been filling in draughts in my windows with rolled up bits of old council meeting papers and am going to make a big sausage draught excluder to go in front of my cellar door. Greening my flat up and improving its energy efficiency is my big resolution for this year, watch this space for updates.

Rivoli Ballroom: Strictly no demolishing!

English Heritage have acted swiftly in response to local concern and given grade 2 listed status to the Rivoli Ballroom in Crofton Park. As reported in local papers the current owners are looking to retire, and put the ballroom on the market. There were concerns that as the building was not protected and not in a conservation area, it could be demolished and turned into flats. The grade 2 status means that this can not now happen, which is great news. Let's hope a buyer is found who will manage to run the Rivoli as a viable business, with the ballroom preserved in its full glory. Full story on Brockley Central.

Changes to Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood Team

Big changes within the Ladywell ward Safer Neighbourhood Team. Two of our three Ladywell community support officers (PCSOs), Graham Andrews and Ben Lewis, were both accepted onto training programmes to become PCs, and left the team at the end of 2007 to start their training in Southwark. They did sterling work during their time in Ladywell and they worked closely with us on a number of issues, in particular improving youth provision in the area. One of the new PCSOs was recruited before Christmas, the other will hopefully also be starting soon.

Also, one of our PCs, Don Cormican has been promoted to sergeant and has now left the team. His replacement, Sinita, is already in post. Congratulations to them all. PCSO Abdul Glover, PC Brian Jemmett and Sgt James Hart make up the rest of the team of six.

If you need to contact the Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood team, you can e-mail them or call 020 8721 2484 or 07920 233875 (obviously, if it's an emergency, call 999). I believe there are also still a couple of places on the Safer Neighbourhood Panel, which is made up of local residents and meets four times a year to set the priorities of the team for the next few months. If you are interested in being on this, contact the SNT team and they can put you in touch with the chair (NB: the next Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood Panel meeting is tomorrow, Thursday 4th January, 7.30pm at the Tabernacle on Algernon Road).

Happy New Year!

Oops, haven't posted anything in ages, v busy last couple of months of 2007, plus I seemed to come down with every cold and 'flu bug going and blogging was an added extra I couldn't quite fit in around everything else. Have sinced dosed up on the echinacea and hope to resume posting regularly in 2008, but don't want to be a slave to the blog so there may be the occasional gap.

Anyway, lots of mini posts of things I forgot to post last year, coming up shortly . . .

Betting Shop Application Rejected - again!

Ute just called me from the town hall to say that the licensing committee turned down the application by Portland Bookmakers to open a betting shop on the corner of Brockley Road/Adelaide Avenue, on the grounds that they couldn't guarantee children and vulnerable people would be protected.

A great victory for local residents and for common sense, in spite of the new legislation which seems designed to encourage gambling and make it more difficult for local authorities to reject applications. This application apparently received more objections than any other Lewisham licensing application that officers could remember.

Well done to all those who worked so hard to oppose this. The applicant still has the right to appeal at the magistrates court, but in the meantime, perhaps the debate can continue here or on Brockley Central about what kind of business you would like to see in that premises.

Brockley to host Lewisham's First Nappucino Morning!

On Tuesday I went along to Bellingham Children's Centre for the offical Lewisham launch of Real Nappies for London. Met a number of mums using real nappies with their children and mums-to-be considering doing the same. I am delighted that the scheme is now off the ground in Lewisham. This was one of the Green Group budget amendments which the Mayor accepted earlier this year.

The voucher scheme is designed to encourage and reward parents and carers who do their bit to reduce waste. Using real nappies saves money and helps protect our environment. As much as 4% of Lewisham's waste stream is made up of disposable nappies (for families with young children, upto 50% of their weekly waste is nappies). Using real nappies in Lewisham diverts waste from incineration. Click here for info on the benefits of using real nappies over disposables.

Along with our other budget amendments such as the pilot green waste collection service, cheaper business recycling, a reusable cotton bag scheme and extra money to promote recycling and energy efficiency, the Real Nappy scheme is an excellent example of how elected Greens in Lewisham are working to make a difference and create a more sustainable borough.

Lewisham has 200 £30 vouchers available on a first come first served basis, which can be redeemed either against the cost of buying nappies or put towards paying for a nappy laundering service. The women I spoke to from Nappy Lady and Bumbletots said that there had already been a number of enquiries from the Brockley area.

Also, excitingly, Lewisham's First 'Nappuccino' is taking place from 10am-midday on Friday 9 November 2007 at the Toads Mouth Too Cafe, 188 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2RL. If you would like to attend please contact Vivienne Thomson, Lewisham's Real Nappy Officer. "Real nappies save money and waste and are easier than you think. Come to a friendly chat over coffee and find out more".

Brief report back on Ladywell Ward Meeting 25th October

Haven't had a chance to post since the ward meeting last Thursday, but very briefly; there was a reasonable turn-out considering the fairly grotty weather, we discussed the various proposals for spending the £10,000 localities fund and there seemed to be support from those present for spending a considerable part of this year's fund on youth projects. More details to follow when we have finished looking into costings, other potential sources of funding for some of the proposals etc. Some of those present also suggested that when we move to the ward assembly system from next year (replacing the Area Forums), we have at least one meeting per year on a 3-ward basis as before, to look at issues within the wider area.

Reminder: Ladywell Ward Meeting, this Thursday

How should we spend £10,000? Have your say!
The time: Thu 25 October 2007, 7.30pm
The place: St Andrews Centre, Brockley Road, London SE4 2SA

Over the last few weeks Ladywell residents and community groups have been coming up with ideas on how to spend £10,000 of Localities Fund set aside for projects in our neighbourhood. The best ideas will be presented at the meeting, where you are invited to ask questions and have your say on where the money should go. There will also be an opportunity for people to discuss other council-related issues they would like to raise with us.

See here and here for previous posts on the localities fund. It’s not too late to get your ideas to Ute, but she really needs them asap to give her chance to pull everything together before Thursday’s meeting.

The whole 'election that wasn’t' put our planning and advertising for this meeting back slightly as we couldn't advertise it until we were certain that there wasn’t going to be an election (you can’t hold a public meeting using council money to discuss how to spend £10,000 during an election period, for obvious reasons). The Council budget for promoting the localities fund unfortunately didn't stretch to delivering a flyer through every door in the ward, either, but we've got flyers and posters in shops, at the station etc and done our best to publicise the meeting.

Get on Board - Strengthen the Climate Change Bill

Someone working on behalf of WWF contacted me and asked me to give a plug for their campaign to strengthen the UK Climate Change Bill. Asi says "As you know all too well, as it stands, the bill is not strong enough. It's vital that we include carbon emissions from international aviation and shipping, the fastest growing sources of emissions in this target. At the moment, the government plans to exclude these emissions, but this just doesn't make sense. Excluding them is a bit like going on a diet but not counting the calories from chocolate! So we plan to build a massive paper boat and paper plane, put all the names of the people who signed the petition on the boat/plan, and then deliver them to the Houses of Parliament."
Further details about their campaign here.
Also worth mentioning here the big climate change march on December 8th organised by Campaign against Climate Change.

Other bits and bobs

Ladywell Fields
On the way back from the TOTAL protest on Saturday, I cycled through Ladywell Fields and met Nick Harvey (Waterlink Way Ranger) and the volunteers working in the St Mary’s triangle. The Northern Field and the new river channel is starting to take shape and I think it will look great by next summer, when the planting has had time to establish. The next volunteer day is 25th November. 11:00am to 3:00pm, further details here.

Cemeteries Open Day and litter-pick
Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries are having an Open Day on Tuesday 30 October, from 12.00 – 1.00pm, when you can "visit the Brockley vaults and see how they operate. Members of the public are very welcome to come along, look round and ask questions. At 12.15pm cemetery staff will demonstrate how the Vaults are opened to allow the internment of a new coffin.
The Vaults were installed two years ago by Welters, a specialist Vault makers based in Carlisle. There are 140 chambers in the area. Each chamber can accommodate 2 coffins, or caskets" (from the Council press release).

Members of Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries are also organising a litter pick-up in the cemeteries on Remembrance Sunday. Further details on Patrick's FOBLC blog.

Former Catford Dog Stadium Site
Those interested in the plans for the former Catford Dogs Stadium can take a look at a website set up by the developers. In addition to a large number of new homes (590, according to the site, 336 of them either social rented, shared ownership or keyworker housing) there are plans to improve the area around the stations, to build a new plaza (plazas seem to be the big thing at the moment), to renaturalise that section of the Ravensbourne River, a new cycle and pedestrian route into Catford, a new footbridge, and “better linkages with Ladywell Fields”. Apparently a planning application will be submitted fairly soon.

Next Lewisham Green Drinks
Quick reminder that the next Lewisham Green Drinks will take place on 5th November at Mr Lawrence Wine Bar, from 7pm onwards and anyone who lives or works in the borough and has an interest in green issues is welcome. This third get-together is guaranteed to go with, er, a bang (sorry).

Energy Saving Week
This week is Energy Saving Week and Tracy on EcoStreet has an excellent post on ways of doing your bit.

Green Bloggers
Finally, should you feel so inclined, there's still time to vote for me in top twenty Green Bloggers over on The Daily (Maybe) (not that I'm being wildly competitive or anything).

Burma Protest

Saturday's protest outside the TOTAL Petrol station on the corner of Whitefoot lane and Verdant Lane went very well, with about 30 other protestors, mostly from the Burmese community but also including a few local people. It was a loud and lively demo, which attracted considerable interest from passers-by. We handed out lots of flyers about the campaign and local people were generally warmly supportive.

TOTAL is still one of the biggest foreign investors in Burma, and the money the military dictatorship get from their joint venture deal with TOTAL (approximately $480m/year) arguably helps to keep them in power. As I mentioned in my previous post, Lewisham Council’s Pension Fund has nearly £4m in TOTAL Oil. As a member of the Pensions Investment Committee, I will be wanting the fund managers to explain at the next meeting exactly what dialogue they have had with TOTAL’s management about their ongoing involvement in Burma, and whether our continued investment in the company is really in keeping with our socially responsible investment policy. We have a policy of 'engagement' with companies on issues of concern, rather than simply boycotting them, but companies need to know we are serious and will disinvest if their activities are helping to fuel horrendous human rights abuses.

Photographers from both the local papers turned up, so hopefully there will be some coverage of the protest this week. It was also reported on Indymedia and the TOTAL out of Burma blog.

Official Opening of the Ladywell Early Childhood Centre

On Friday I went along to the official launch and opening of Ladywell Early Childhood Centre in Rushey Mead. Since Romayne and I went there a few weeks ago, the staff had put in a huge amount of effort to get everything ready for the grand opening. Wonderful facilities and I would encourage anyone with under-fives to go along and see how they can make use of them. There are also computers with internet access for public use. I was chatting to Heather Watkinson, the Real Nappies officer, whose mind was clearly working overtime when she saw the laundry room and the potential for real nappies there. A ‘stakeholders group’ is being set up soon and one of the things it will look at is how the local community wants to use the facility and how, for example, it could be used at weekends.

New Young Mayor of Lewisham

On Thursday I went along to the reception and announcement of the results for the Young Mayor of Lewisham elections. The turnout, at 45%, was significantly above that of local council elections, with some schools such as Addey & Stanhope achieving a turnout of 85%. It was great to see so much enthusiasm from all those involved.

I sat next to the Mum of one of the candidates, who told me she “would be glad when it was all over“ so her son could “get back to revising for his GCSEs” which he was taking in a month. When her son, Jason, then went on to win (by a significant margin, considering there were 18 candidates), she was of course delighted and very proud!

Congratulations to new Young Mayor Jason Cole, who is a pupil at Crofton School, and Deputy Young Mayor Naz Ramadan, from Sydenham School. Justin ran on a manifesto which promised to make today’s adults and leaders listen to young people’s concerns and commit to dealing with the issues closest to their hearts. Over the next year Jason will work with his team of Young Advisors and has a £25,000 budget to spend on youth-orientated schemes. (and he won’t be put under undue pressure to do stuff when he has his exams coming up!).

Full Council

A busy week and I’m only now catching up with posting a few things here, so bear with me as a post a barrage of things I’ve been meaning to post for a few days.

Wednesday was full council, the first one since July. I asked three questions of cabinet members; one on the plans for the new pool (which is aiming for zero carbon emissions, compared to the approximate 636 tonnes the existing pool emits in its annual energy use), another on pest control (killing squirrels, to be more specific, relating to some casework in the ward where pest control had made repeated visits to a council property to trap or poison squirrels in the loft, but as building services had each time failed to block the holes up the squirrels were coming in through, they kept returning and more and more were killed) and a third on whether the Mayor agreed that we need more community notice boards (no, he doesn't, he thinks the libraries and Lewisham Life are sufficient for advertising events and that notice boards contribute to street clutter - not sure I agree, not everyone plans their local event far enough in advance to meet the copy deadlines for Lewisham Life, and many people don't read Lewisham Life or go to local libraries. Arguably we all should, but a poster on a noticeboard can be a way of reaching out to people who wouldn't otherwise be aware of your event or organisation) . The questions and answers can be found here.

The Green Group was disappointed that the Labour and Tory groups voted to end the meeting at 10pm, before business was finished and before we had got to our motion on Adult Social Care, which a number of members of the public had been patiently waiting in the public gallery for. We immediately resubmitted it and it should be the first motion on next month’s agenda. Next time perhaps we will be a bit pushier and try to get the agenda re-ordered if members of the public are waiting and it looks like we won't get through the whole agenda. Labour proposed an amendment to the motion which we were prepared to accept to get cross-party support. Basically, it was calling on the Mayor to "work with London Councils and
other stakeholders to lobby central government to tackle the national adult social care crisis and commit to more appropriate funding levels". More on full council on Dean’s blog.

Lewisham Council Pension Fund has £12m invested in Burma 'dirty list'

I have just found out that Lewisham Council has nearly £12m of its pension fund invested in companies named on the Burma Campaign's 'dirty list', including Total Oil. That includes £11,697,000 in the pension fund plus £171,000 in procurement activity last year.

Anyone who has seen or read about the brutal oppression that has taken place in Burma will surely be horrified to hear that Lewisham Council has so much money invested in companies who do business with the Burmese military junta. It makes a complete mockery of the council’s so-called socially responsible investment policy.

Burma's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi has called for a boycott of all foreign investment in the country and business with the military regime as the quickest way of bringing it down, yet companies such as TOTAL Oil continue to fuel the oppression. For that reason, a small number of us, including some Burmese campaigners, will be staging a short protest on Saturday at 11am outside the TOTAL Petrol Station on Whitefoot Lane, Catford, SE6 1TP.

In November, all members of the Lewisham Council Pension Fund will be sent a survey asking for their views on ethical investment issues. The survey will ask how importantly members rate a company’s record on employment conditions, human rights, corporate governance and environment and whether there are any specific sectors, such as tobacco or the arms industry, that they would prefer the pension fund not to invest in. This presents an ideal opportunity for members to send a clear message to the fund managers that investing in companies that prop up dodgy regimes is not acceptable.

Since being appointed to the Pension Fund Committee last year I've been questioning fund managers on how their investment choices meet our socially responsible investment policy (SRI), but it always comes down to the fact that profit is placed before any ethical concern. It's incredibly frustrating. Pension fund trustees have a duty to act in the best financial interest of members, but we should also take into account their moral concerns. If enough council employees return their survey asking us to strengthen our SRI policy, the committee will have a duty to at least consider this.

Even if you put aside the moral arguments, there are sound financial reasons to engage in fair trade, respect human rights and act to prevent climate change.

15th Best Green Blogger

Fellow Green Jim Jay, who blogs on The Daily (Maybe), has compiled a list of the top 20 Green Bloggers. Last year he compiled a list of '100 Best Green Bloggers', in response to the total absence of Green blogs in Tory blogger Iain Dale's list. This year, Jim was invited by Iain Dale to write a chapter on Green bloggers for his Guide to Political Blogging. Since last year, when I reached the elevated position of 53rd best Green blogger ;), a number of new Green blogs have appeared, so I was delighted to be 15th Green blogger this time, probably undeservedly compared to other more dedicated bloggers not in the top 20. There is now a vote on Jim's site for Best Green Blogger "People's Choice Award 2007", so if you find my witterings even vaguely useful/entertaining/informative please massage my ego a little by going and voting for this blog!

Spin of a different kind

Today I took part in a 'cycling benchmarking' exercise in Lewisham. Basically, cycling officers from various other boroughs came to hear about initiatives within Lewisham to improve cycling, then went on a bike ride along some of the borough's best cycle routes (eg LCN route 21 from Deptford to Sydenham). The bit I didn't stay for was the feedback session when everyone says what they think was good/bad/could be improved about cycle provision in the borough, as they didn't want elected members there in case officers held back in what they said. Fair enough, I'm sure I'll get a summary of what was said in time. Interesting day though, and it gave me a few more ideas for the scrutiny review we are currently doing on the Sustainable Development Committee on 'Alternatives to individual car use'.

Lewisham is slightly unusual compared to some other London Boroughs in that 70% of its population travel to work outside the borough, it has a much higher than average percentage of people who use the mainline trains as their main form of transport, and although vehicle ownership has reason in recent years, it is still below the average both for London and nationally.

Since Lewisham has had a dedicated LCN+ officer in position, a number of improvements to local cycle routes have taken place and lots more are planned, but as with anything, there is always more that could be done and only so much that can be done by one person with limited time and budget.

There have certainly been a few improvements to the route (LCN route 21) I take to work in the morning, from Ladywell to Deptford via Brookmill Park. The barriers at the entrance to the park have now been removed, so cyclists no longer have to dismount, markings deliniating cycle and pedestrian paths have been added (though plenty of pedestrians still obliviously walk on the cycle path) and a section of quaint but treachorous cobblestones along Creekside has been replaced with tarmac. The cycling officer commented that what made it all worthwhile for her was when she met a disabled boy on a trike who couldn't previously access the park because of the barriers who was now able to ride his bike through it like everyone else.

While I think Lewisham has made some progress in improving cycling provision over the last couple of years, there is clearly still lots more to be done to make it a more cycle-friendly and less car-dominated place. What would you do to encourage Lewisham residents to get out of their cars and walking/cycling/using public transport instead? Comments please, preferably before Tuesday 24th October, when I have the next Sustainable Development Select Committee, and we are hearing evidence from a number of organisations and representatives including Living Streets and Streetcar.

Mr Benn Spin

A few months ago, I signed up to a petition on the 10 Downing Street website calling on the

Prime Minister to stop the expansion of Heathrow.

Yesterday I received a carefully crafted piece of spin from Hilary Benn in response, which, the summary on the site says "highlights the UK Government's commitment to seeking international agreement on a post-2012 climate change framework, and encourages petitioners, their families, and friends, to use the new CO2 Calculator". Nowhere in the response does he even allude to the government's plans to expand Heathrow airport in their business, regardless of the fact that it would cancel out any potential emissions reductions we might manage, not to mention destroy communities and make life unbearable for many more due to noise levels. No no, the onus is on individuals to use the new CO2 calculator. Oh that should sort it then, we'll just rely on people's good will to reduce their individual carbon footprint, that should do it.

Take action on climate change and tackle obesity at the same time

The health secretary Alan Johnson has today declared that the public health threat posed by obesity in the UK is a "potential crisis on the scale of climate change".

Come off it Alan, try telling that to the people of Bangladesh and other countries likely to be hit hardest by the impact of climate change (or Londoners or those in Norfolk, for that matter). To quote Tony Blair from 2003:

"We face a situation in which 50 million people in Asia could be killed or displaced by floods, further swathes of Africa could be reduced to desert, accompanied by massive deforestation in central and South America, and huge increases in disease, particularly malaria. And it is the poorest countries, particularly in Asia and Africa, which will suffer the most devastating effects of these changes."

It is of course concerning that we are rapidly becoming an obese nation, and we do need to tackle it, but on a par with climate change, even within the UK?!

There are however some interesting correlations between obesity and climate change and some easy steps to tackle both at once:

• Start walking and cycling more and ditch the car
• Start buying more fresh, locally-produced food or better still, grow your own (if you can get an allotment)
• Eat less meat.
• Turn off the TV/computer/Playstation and do something more active/sociable instead

So perhaps the 'obesity crisis' is in fact a great opportunity to see some belated action to tackle climate change? Interesting report I found: Unfit for purpose: How car use fuels climate change and obesity.

Meanwhile in Lewisham Green Party we are thinking of offering a special 'Green gym weightloss programme', which basically involves delivering lots of our newsletters . . . any takers?!

Do you enjoy . . . . hammering, digging, nailing, building?

I've received the following from Nick Harvey, one of the Waterlink Way officers working on the Quercus Project in Ladywell Fields:

Lewisham’s Quercus Project are working to improve access to the nature area in Ladywell Fields.

They are doing this by creating a natural gravel path and need your help by becoming a volunteer on this project. You don’t have to be skilled in these area’s and all age groups are welcome including children. (Although must be accompanied by an adult)

The work will be commencing on October 20th and November 25th 2007 between 11.00am and 3.00pm and refreshments will be provided for all volunteers.

If you are interested in helping, please confirm your place by contacting Nick Harvey on 0208 314 2172 or email .

Recycling champions needed

Once again the Council is trying to find the best/most improved street for recycling in the borough. Algernon Road in Ladywell won the award last year, thanks to the determined efforts of Geoffrey from Ladywell Society and his neighbours, it would be great if Ladywell could go for a double!

From the Council Press Office "Lewisham Council wants to find the Best Recycling Street in Lewisham. The Council wants to find dedicated recyclers to champion the cause in their nominated street, to encourage their fellow residents to recycle more each week in their street than in any other. You can nominate yourself and your own road (or a section of a road, or another road), for the award. Then you just need to speak to the neighbours and persuade them to recycle that bit more!

Lewisham Council will help by providing information and a toolkit to make sure that all residents know what can be recycled at the kerbside.

Each streets’ participation rate and the types of materials being collected from households for recycling will be measured when all nominations are in, and then measured again 6 weeks later.
The winning street will be the one that sees the biggest improvement in recycling behaviour in terms of the number of people recycling 3 or more materials at the kerbside (from paper, cardboard, glass bottle/jars, food/drinks cans and plastic bottles).

A special street sign will be erected on the winning street, proclaiming it to be the ‘Best Recycling Street in Lewisham’. The winner will receive a ‘Recycling Champion’ plaque recognising their efforts. All participants will receive recognition for their efforts and contribution.

Reasons to nominate a street
Everyone needs to do all they can to reduce, reuse and recycle, for all our futures.
Lewisham Council wants to reward the dedication of those unique people who go the extra mile to encourage more recycling where they live because we know it can inspire others.
So, if you would like to get involved call the Environment and Community Development team now on 020 8314 2245 or e-mail them to request an entry form and return it by Friday 12th October to:

Recycling Champions
Environment and Community Development
Wearside Service Centre
Wearside Road
London SE13 7EZ.
Last year’s Recycling Champion street was Algernon Road in Ladywell, where recycling improved by 17 per cent! "

If you or a neighbours don't have a recycling bin, or need to change a green box for a green bin call Envirocall on 020 8314 7171. Sometimes there is a bit of a wait for a green bin, but let me know if there are any problems and I will chase it up.

Real Nappies For London - Lewisham Launch

Please find below details of the forthcoming Lewisham launch of Real Nappies for London. This has come about as a result of our Green group budget amendments earlier in the year. See also my previous posts on this.

The Real Nappies for London in Lewisham launch event on Tuesday 30 October at The Bellingham Children’s Centre, 109 A Randlesdown Road, Lewisham, SE6 6HB
From 10.00-10.30am – Welcome from Heidi Alexander, Deputy Mayor and Real Nappy Experts from 10.30am-1.00pm – Real Nappy Drop-in

Come along to find out more about the benefits of Real Nappies and our £30 voucher scheme, and to check out the fantastic range of nappies available.

If you would like to attend the first part of the event please contact Vivienne Thomson, Real Nappy Officer, at vivienne.thomson@lewisham.gov.uk by October 23 otherwise just drop in at any time between 10.30am-1.00pmFor more information, and to register for a £30 voucher visit www.realnappiesforlondon.org.uk

Recycling Lightbulbs

From the excellent Ecostreet blog:
"There’s good news for Londoners wishing to recycle their old light bulbs, both incandescent and energy saving. Ryness Lighting and Electrical have taken it upon themselves to educate London residents about the dangers of not disposing of light bulbs safely.

Currently the majority of used light bulbs go to landfill sites, where glass and metal go to waste. More importantly energy saving light bulbs must be recycled as they contain sodium and mercury, which are hazardous materials. If dumped in household waste and allowed to enter our landfill sites the mercury in particular can seep into out drinking water and the habitat around it.

The mercury from a single fluorescent tube is enough to pollute 30,000 litres of water beyond the safe drinking level in the UK.

As London’s only lighting and electrical company we feel that it is our duty to let our customers know the potential harm that is being done to the environment, and offer a service which will allow you act ethically without added hassle or charge.

Effective immediately, Ryness will recycle any of your old light bulbs for free. Just bring your old light bulbs into any Ryness store and they will ensure that they are all correctly disposed of. If you shop with them online, Ryness will arrange a collection of your used light bulbs from your home. You can find out more about this by emailing recycling@ryness.co.uk

Ryness branches:
37 Goodge Street, 45 Old Compton Street, 103 King Street, Hammersmith, 211 Kensington High Street, 6 Kingsgate Parade Victoria, 67 Camden High Street, 54 Fleet Street, 17 Market Place, 43-45 Westbourne Grove, 413 North End Road, 306 High Holborn."

Well done to Ryness for taking a lead on this.

More than 2500 Lewisham households in temporary accommodation limbo

From Darren Johnson (wearing his London Assembly member hat)

New figures show that London still has almost 60,000 people living in temporary accommodation, despite a Government target set in December 2004 to cut the figure to 30,800, by 2010. The figures, released by Darren Johnson, Green Party London Assembly Member, show that Lewisham still has a high number of households living in temporary housing and also reveal that London as a whole had only 1,895 fewer people living in temporary accommodation in March 2007 than in the baseline month of December 2004.

In March 2007, 2559 households were registered as living in temporary accommodation, compared to 1754 in December 2004 – an increase of 46% which suggests Lewisham is very likely to miss the target to halve temporary housing placements by 2010.

“To be on target, there should be around 14,000 fewer Londoners living in temporary accommodation today than at the end of 2004. Instead, less than 2,000 of the capital’s residents have been taken out of housing limbo. This is totally unacceptable. The wide variation in borough’s performance shows that whilst success is possible, complacency is not an option. Lewisham has one of the highest numbers of households living in temporary housing in the capital and must address this.”

“To have a chance of achieving the national target of halving the number of people in temporary accommodation, London will need significant help from Government. Recent proposals to increase investment in social home building are welcome. However, Government must also heed calls to give councils more freedom to build and manage their own social homes.”

“Within London, the Mayor’s target on affordable housing must be increased from 50% to 60% and a programme to deliver innovative housing models such as Community Land Trusts in every borough should be put in place. London’s housing crisis will not just go away. We must take real steps to providing housing that Londoners can afford.”

Burma

Please sign this petition calling for reconciliation and democracy in Burma - it could send a powerful message to the military junta in Burma, as well as the Russian and Chinese governments (permanent members on the UN Security Council) who are currently insisting that what is going on in Burma is 'purely an internal matter'. 3000 protestors were slaughtered during the last major protests against the military regime in Burma - the world can't turn a blind eye and let this happen again. Also check out the Burma Campaign website, including their Dirty List of those companies that do business with the current regime and are effectively propping them up.

Press release from Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP (26th September):

MEPs CONDEMN EU FOR ‘WEAK’ ACTION ON BURMA
MEPs in Strasbourg have condemned the EU for being ‘weak and ineffective’ in its efforts to halt ongoing human rights abuses, ethnic cleansing and violent persecution in Burma. Today, a parliamentary debate on the growing crisis in Burma will be held in Strasbourg as a result of calls from the Green Party group of MEPs. The Green group of Euro MPs is demanding that the UN Security Council condemns the Burmese Government and toughen sanctions against their military regime.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, said:

"I give my full support to the thousands of brave protesters in Burma, whose actions signal that there is deep desire and desperate need for change. The EU must step up the level of sanctions on Burma and put a stop to the lucrative export of gems, fossil fuels and timber to the EU, which is funding the military force."

"For far too long the Burmese people have lived under an appalling regime with no respect for human rights nor human dignity. The companies and countries that are currently trading with Burma, such as China and India, should use this time to exert pressure on the ruling junta to stop the oppression and the inhumane treatment of its citizens."

ENDS
For more information please contact: Georgina Bloomfield, Media Officer
Tel: 020 7407 6280
Email: media@jeanlambertmep.org.uk
http://www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk

Notes to Editors
Jean Lambert: In October 2005 Jean was named MEP 2005 for Justice and Human Rights. Jean was first elected Green Party Member of the European Parliament for London in the 1999 European elections. She was re-elected in 2004. She is one of nine MEPs representing London and one of two UK Green representatives in the European Parliament.

London Freewheel

A packed day today, as straight after the service at St Andrew's this morning, a group of Lewisham Greens went to take part in the London Freewheel, the largest mass public bike ride ever in London. We cycled to Peckham Rye Park which was the south-east 'hub' or meeting place, then cycled on in a group to central London, where approximately 8 miles of roads were closed to traffic for six hours and 30,000 or so cyclists made the most of the opportunity to cycle around London without any cars in the way. A great atmosphere, very enjoyable and I hope it will become an annual event. Personally I'd like to see a slightly longer route closed to motorised traffic next year, and perhaps until 6pm instead of just until 4pm.

London Freewheel was made possible thanks to a London Assembly Green Group budget amendment and Green Assembly member Jenny Jones (the Mayor's green travel advisor) played a key role in making the project happen.

Oh, and it was sponsored by Hovis, who gave riders free sandwiches when they got to the Mall. Apparently Hovis sponsored the last mass London bike and were keen to do so again. The last one was in, er 1916 . . . let's hope this becomes a regular fixture on the London calendar from now on. It's a great way to promote cycling and help less experienced cyclists gain a bit of confidence in cycling around central London.
Publish Post
Lots of great photos on flickr.

UPDATE 27th September: Great video of Freewheel ride by Shasha and Mike from Croydon Greens on YouTube.

St Andrew's 125th Anniversary Flower Festival

1. the First and Second World Wars 2. the congregation and community now - the influences of the Caribbean and Africa 3. The Abolition of Slavery 4. The nursery and under 5s.

Very impressive display at St Andrew's Flower Festival this weekend, which unfortunately the small photos I have posted don't do justice to. Each arrangement was around a particular theme, either to reflect a group active within the church or a relevant topic from over the past 125 years eg Fairtrade and Christian Aid, the Abolition of Slavery, the Youth Club.

I popped by to take a look at the flowers yesterday and also to hear local resident Gillian Heyward MBE gave a talk on the history of Brockley. There was also a very interesting display of old photographs of Brockley and Ladywell, including a photo of Brockley Jack in 1895 with two bowler-hatted gents with rifles standing at the entrance gate looking for all the world like something out of the wild west, and photos of sheep grazing on Hilly Fields. Apparently Ivy Road dates back to Elizabethan times, when there are maps showing an Ivy Lane in the same spot.

This morning Ute and I attended the packed-out service of celebration and thanksgiving to mark the 125th anniversary of the church. The Mayor of Lewisham also attended and spoke and the sermon was given by the Revd Nigel Uden, the Moderator of the Southern Synod URC (United Reformed Church equivalent of a bishop). It was interesting to hear more about the history of the church and see photos of it before its modernisation. In the 1960s the congregation had dropped to single figures and there was a risk of it closing, now the church has a growing congregation (250+) and provides a vital resource for the local community, with many local groups using its facilities, particularly the youth club and nursery.

Ladywell Children's Centre

Romayne and I had a tour around Ladywell Children's Centre yesterday. This is in Rushey Mead (next to Ladywell Day Centre and between Slagrove Place and Dressington Avenue), on the Ladywell Pre-School site. The pre-school building has been retained and a large extension added, provide a range of extra facilities. The new centre is partially open now, in that the nursery and pre-school are back on site, but it will be officially opened on October 19th.
Facilities will include:

• pre-school group for under 5s
• nursery for under 5s (from 3 months old)
• Rooms for health visitors/social workers/speech therapist etc to meet with children and parents
• computers with internet access for the use of the local community
• colour therapy room and extensive facilities for children with special needs
• large room with sofas for parents and childminders to drop in for a coffee and meet other parents and children

The centre will be consulting local residents and stakeholders soon to find out more about how they would like to use the building, so the exact activities and facilities at the centre, will depend on what people think would be useful (eg toy library visits, midwifery services etc).

I was very impressed by the facilities there, particularly the outside play space and gardens for the children and think it will be a great community asset. Some poor person has a huge amount of flat pack furniture to assemble over the next month before the grand opening though!

Adhesives Specialities Building: Application for Demolition

From the Ladywell Society e-mail list:
Following on from the successful planning appeal by the owner of the Adhesives Specialities Ltd. building at 59 Ladywell Road, there is now an application in for the demolition of all the buildings on the site.
The reference is DC/07/66807. Comments can be made directly to the Council planning office planning@lewisham. gov.uk by 11th October. The Ladywell Society will be responding to the application, so you can also send comments to Geoffrey Thurley from Ladywell Society. The Ladywell Society will be discussing this at its meeting on 9th October.

( just outside Ladywell ward - it's in Lewisham Central by about 15 metres, but is geographically Ladywell and probably of interest to local residents)

Does the Green Party need a leader?

Doesn't it already have one, you might be wondering? Well actually, no, it has two principal speakers, one male and one female, who are the 'mouthpieces' of the party but don't have any executive powers. Currently, these are Sian Berry, who is also our candidate for Mayor of London, and Derek Wall.

However, following a motion passed at Spring Conference, there is soon to be a members' referendum on whether or not to change the party's structures so that there can be either co-leaders or a leader and deputy leader. These leaders would have a vote on the party executive (which incredibly the current principal speakers don't), would have to be re-elected every two years and could also be subject to a recall vote at any time if 20% of local parties requested it.

There is an ongoing debate on the issue within the party, with very strongly-held views on both sides (including in Lewisham). A number of Green bloggers have already posted on the subject (including Leila, Caroline, Peter, Derek, Jon, Jim, and Paul), there have been several articles in the Guardian, the BBC, the Independent (Jenny and Caroline), and the New Statesman on the subject and other greens in the wider environmental movement have also waded into the debate, including Tony Juniper Director of Friends of the Earth.

Those in favour of a leader or leaders argue that we are missing opportunities to get our policies across in the media because journalists struggle with the term 'principal speaker' and either ignore us or spend most of the time asking what the title means rather than focussing on our policies. They argue that an elected leader is more accountable than an unofficial, unelected leader, which is what we might end up with if we get an MP in Westminster who is not the party's elected leader. They say that voters need a clear, recognisable public face of the Green Party and if the Green Party doesn't trust one of its own to lead without forming a dictatorship, how can we expect others to vote for us.

Those on the no leader camp (or Green Empowerment as they would prefer to be called) argue that the Green Party's strength is that it is different to other parties and that we shouldn't be trying to be more like other parties at a time when the electorate are crying out for an alternative. They say that the Green Party needs to empower more of its members, from the grassroots up to be leaders and that we shouldn't be concentrating too much power in the hands of a few because an elected leader will be less accountable than our current structure.

One thing that both those for and against a leader are in agreement on is that we don't want a leader with such strong powers and lack of accountability to the membership that s/he could, for example, support a war against the wishes of the majority of party members. The referendum takes place in November and the proposals need a two-thirds majority of the membership to change the existing rules. It's going to be close and whatever the result, a good chunk of the party will be annoyed with the outcome. However, I'm hopeful that most members will accept the decision, whatever it is.

As to who the leader of the Green Party might be, if the motion is passed, I think the clear favourite is Caroline Lucas, MEP for the South-East and Green Party candidate for Brighton Pavilion, with Lewisham councillor and London Assembly member Darren Johnson a possible contender for co-leader or deputy leader. Then again, Jean Lambert MEP or Jenny Jones AM would also be strong candidates.

I'm in the Yes Camp, because I think we don't have time to faff around explaining what principal speaker means and why we don't have a leader, we need to focus on getting our message across and getting more people elected. We are already a far smaller party than the main three, with limited money and resources; why hold ourselves back even further by refusing to acknowledge that personalities do play a part in politics and many people identify firstly with individuals and then with parties and policies? Having a leader won't result in a huge shift in our fortunes overnight, but it may well help.

Anyway, I'd be keen to hear local residents' views. Does it matter to you whether a party you vote for has an elected leader or not? Would it affect whether you voted for the Green Party at a local or national level? Is the call for a leader or leaders a sensible, pragmatic step or a sell-out?

Oh, and in case you think we spent the whole conference navel-gazing, check out Sian's keynote speech to conference.

Viney Road hole - getting bigger all the time . . .

A resident first contacted me about this big hole in Viney Road on 31st July, although the hole had been there for some time before that and he had contacted Lewisham Council on a number of occasions about it himself.

There was a pole sticking out of it from where the speed hump was broken (this has since been removed). The resident was also concerned that the yellow lines on the road had faded away and cars were parking in front of the flats, preventing emergency vehicle access to the buildings. This is a particular concern given that there was a serious fire in a block at Viney Road a few years back and one of the recommendations the Fire Brigade made afterwards was that access must be kept clear in front of the flats (they couldn't get close to the building on the day of the fire). The resident was also concerned at the level of commuter parking on Viney Road.

I logged all these concerns with the Council's housing casework team back in July (apparently this comes under housing, not highways). 44 days, 5 follow-up e-mails and several phone calls later I am still waiting for a response, let alone any action to repair the road. Each time I have been promised a response is forthcoming but still nothing as yet.

B3, who have recently taken over responsibility for most of the council housing stock in Ladywell are quite clear that Viney Road is the Council's responsibility. In fact, they were so concerned at the state of Viney Road prior to signing the contract that I understand their lawyers had a special meeting with the Council's legal team to clarify who would be responsible for the road. So Lewisham's Housing Department has been aware of the state of the road and its responsibility for it for some time yet hasn't done anything about it.

I don't normally go for the 'name and shame' approach on this blog, but the length of time it is currently taking to get a response, let alone action as a result of councillor casework enquiries, is ridiculous and incredibly frustrating for both councillors and residents bearing the brunt of Council inaction. Grr!

Update: The hole was finally sorted on 27th September and B3 are working on an action plan for the other issues around parking.

Here we go again, another betting shop application . . .

Barely have we had time to celebrate Friday's decision at Bromley Magistrates Court and I have received the following from the council's licensing department today:

Please be advised that the following premise has applied for a NEW / VARIATION Premises licence under the Gambling Act 2005.
Premises name and address
Portland Bookmakers
329-331 Brockley Road
London SE4 2QZ
Applied for a new Premises Licence for the following purposes – Betting Office
Representations should relate to one of the following licensing objectives
1. To prevent gambling from being a source of Crime & Disorder
2. To ensure that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
3. To protect children & other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling

Any representations should reach licensing by 10th October 2007. Licensing team, Laurence House, 2nd Floor Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, Catford SE6 4RU. E-mail: licensing@lewisham.gov.uk

The previous application was heard by Bromley Magistrates Court, but since then regulations have changed and it will now be heard by the Council's licensing committee. Please note that grounds for objection are slightly different now too, so any letters you may have been planning to recycle will need to be modified accordingly.

New Saturday Football on Hilly Fields for 11-19 year-olds

A new football club for 11-19 years olds is starting on Hilly Fields this coming Saturday (15th September). It's taken a little while to get going, but this is one of the schemes that we managed to get a bit of extra funding for from the Council's Extended Services.

When the Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood PCSOs did their survey of young people and what extra activities they would like to see in their area, the answer was generally football, football and more football (oh, and nailart), so this is in response to what they asked for.

It's being run by local resident Ron Bell and others from Brockley County Football Club, and is in addition to their popular morning club for under 12s, which will continue as normal. A number of older children wanted to be able to play football in a slightly more organised and structured way than just them and a couple of mates. There may also be an opportunity for some of the older members towork towards various FA qualifications such as coaching.

BROCKLEY COUNTY FOOTBALL SCHOOL

• New Football Club for 11-19 year-olds
• Every Saturday, 1-4pm (starting 15th September)
• Hilly Fields, Brockley, SE4
• Cost: £1.99 per session
• For any young person who wants to improve their skills (boys and girls)
• Opportunity for older members to get football qualifications (coaching etc).
• All coaches are CRB checked and FA qualified

Brockley County under 11s football continuing as normal Saturday mornings 10-12pm
For further details call Ron Bell on 07946 409536 or 020 7252 9248.

Betting Shop Application - refused!

Just found out that the application by Portland Bookmakers to open a betting shop in the former Homeview Video premises on the corner of Adelaide Avenue and Brockley Road was turned down yesterday by magistrates. Hurray! The applicant may well apply again, but this time to the council as the licensing procedures have recently changed. Watch this space. Meanwhile, local residents and shopkeepers can breathe a huge sigh of relief and give themselves a pat on the back for all the hard work they put into opposing this application.

Update (Sunday am): Just seen on Nick's blog that Glenda, one of the residents most active in opposing the application, has posted an account on a new blog.

Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood Panel

Tonight I attended a Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood Panel meeting. This is a group of local residents from various parts of the ward, plus the ward sergeant and other members of the police team. The panel meets about once every two months to set the priorities of the Safer Neighbourhood Team for the next couple of months. We agreed to keep the top priority this time as tackling burglary, as there has been a slight increase in burglaries in the ward over the summer (no particular area, unlike previously when Chudleigh Road was particularly badly affected, the incidences have been spread throughout the ward).

Other lower priority areas that the team will continue to work on include tackling graffiti and fly-tipping, and working in partnership with the council and other bodies on youth provision. A new priority we asked the team to start looking at was dealing with irresponsible dog owners who fail to control their dogs properly. There was a particularly nasty incident on Algernon Road recently in which a group of men encouraged their dogs to attack a cat, which consequently had to be put down.

We have a new(ish) sergeant in Ladywell ward, Sgt Jim Hart, as our previous sergeant got promoted. The names of all the team can be found here. Hopefully you have met some of them out and about in the ward.

I asked about a recent spate of muggings in Ladywell Fields, which you may have read about in the local papers and was pleased to hear that a suspect has been arrested.

We also received a presentation from Peter MacDonald, who is the borough co-ordinator of Neighbourhood Watch. Within six months, Lewisham has gone from having only two Neighbourhood Watch schemes to around 60, and Safer Neighbourhood Teams are working with local residents on setting up more. As far as I am aware, there aren't currently any Neighbourhood Watch schemes in Ladywell ward, but Peter and the Ladywell SNT would both be happy to advise and offer support to any residents interested in setting up a scheme. Peter volunteers at Brockley Police Station (4 Howson Road) every Thursday morning and is happy for residents to pop in and speak to him or to e-mail him.

Lewisham Gateway Planning Decision - postponed

The strategic planning committee meeting that was scheduled for this evening to consider the Lewisham Gateway outline planning application was postponed at the last meeting due to outstanding issues the Environment Agency still had with some of the plans for the rivers. The application may be heard in October, but it's not yet clear.

Montage Theatre Arts

I've been asked to give a quick plug for Montage Theatre, based in Brockley Primary School, and am happy to do so:
Montage Theatre Arts run acting, dancing and singing courses for children and adults.
What - Acting, Dancing and Singing classes for kids, young people and adults. Courses include Musical Theatre Performance, Drama, Breakdancing, Ballet, Tap dance, Street Dance, Dancercise and all new Digital Arts Courses.
Where - Brockley Primary School, Brockley Road, SE4 2BT
When - Tuesday evenings - Drama and Dance, Friday evenings - Drama, Digital arts and Dance, Saturdays - Breakdancing and early starters in dance and drama. All courses start from 18th September
Who is it for - Courses are tailored to meet the needs of 3 - 60+
How much - Courses start from £18 - £70
Contact details - web , email , tel - 020 8692 7007

Free Showing of 'An Inconvenient Truth'

From the council's press office:
Lewisham Council is sponsoring a free showing of Al Gore's critically acclaimed, award winning documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, for Lewisham borough residents.

The aim of the screening is to increase awareness and understanding of climate change, and, hopefully, to motivate each of us to do our bit to reduce our own carbon footprint.

There will be a number of stalls on hand in the foyer from 7pm giving information, practical advice and giveaways about recycling, energy and transport.

The free showing is at the Broadway Theatre in Catford, on Thursday 20 September at 8pm. Places are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment by calling the theatre on 020 8690 0002.

Well worth seeing if you haven't already done so.

Greens on Facebook

Facebook still seems to be the current big thing, with millions of people joining it and increasingly political parties are on there too. Not wishing to be left out (and not able to afford the online advertising campaign the Tories are going for) the Green Party also has a growing presence on Facebook. Among many others, there is a national Green Party group, a Lewisham Green Party group, a Sian for Mayor group and even a recently formed Darren Johnson for Lewisham Deptford group. You need to register with Facebook to join them, but then the groups are open to any members or supporters of the Green Party. And there is even a group for Lewisham bloggers. Green bloggers Jim and Sian (our London Mayoral candidate) have both been blogging about the pros and cons of Facebook this week. My verdict: definitely worth being on there, but dangerously time-consuming and addictive if you're not careful.

First Lewisham Green Drinks - success!

We had the first Lewisham Green Drinks on Monday and it was a success, I think, with more than 20 people and various organisations represented, including Friends of the Earth, Christian Aid, cyclists, allotment holders, a few council officers, Goldsmiths College students and of course one or two Green Party people! Not inconsiderable quantities of organic and fairtrade wine and beer were consumed. Next Lewisham Green Drinks will be on Monday 1st October, 7pm onwards, Mr Lawrence Wine Bar, 389 Brockley Road, Crofton Park, SE4 2PH. Anyone with an interest in green issues welcome, bring your friends.

Same principle as London Green Drinks. To get monthly reminders, join our e-mail list or our Facebook group.