Tea yes, kettling no!

Lot's of reports from across the blogosphere about excessive and aggressive policing (again!) at yesterday's G20 demos. Disappointing, but not particularly surprising. It seems lessons haven't been learnt from the policing of last year's Climate Camp at Kingsnorth.

I was there in spirit, but had decided to stay home and catch up on my backlog of casework and other Council stuff. However, fellow Green councillor for neighbouring Brockley ward, Romayne Phoenix, was there, and experienced first hand police tactics, including 'kettling', where the police surround a crowd of protestors and don't let anyone come or go for a few hours until the crowd either starts to get so angry that surge forward and push their way through the police lines (cue headline about violent protestors at demo), or they are eventually allowed to trickle out once the police deem them to be thoroughly demoralised and to have learnt a lesson for daring to exercise their democratic right to protest. A potentially effective way to turn a bunch of peaceful protestors into an angry mob, if that's the headline you want (though the vast majority of protestors refused to oblige the police with any violence yesterday).

Kettling is a very dodgy way to police a peaceful protest, in my opinion, as is using anti-terrorism legislation to check the ID of every protestor before you let them leave. Sadly, a man died at the protest yesterday - the IPCC are investigating and the cause is not yet known, but the media have been strangely quiet about it. Green London Assembly member and member of the Metropolitan Police Association, Jenny Jones, will no doubt be raising concerns about policing tactics with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Paul Stephenson.

Anyway, account of the protests from Romayne below:
Picture: Romayne with fellow Green Shasha Khan, from Croydon.
"In 31 years of active participation in peaceful street demonstrations I have NEVER before been close to the threat of being 'kettled' in ( trapped ) by police. This tactic has more often been used at stages much later in the day after the majority of protesters have left, and when small groups seem determined to continue with their actions, and possibly a few of these who could have plans to develop their actions beyond the lines supported by the demonstrators of the day.

We started the day by joining others, from many different groups and charities, at Liverpool Street Station. The 'street theatre' plan was for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to march from different locations towards Bank. Each horse representing a different threat - War, Climate Change, Financial Crimes, and Land Enclosures. Each was assigned a separate colour. We joined in with the Climate Change group, headed by a Green Horseman.

Many people were in fancy dress costumes, others with elaborate face paints, some with craftsmanlike banners and flags and others with moving, witty or plainly stated quickly concocted creations. The atmosphere was relaxed and the sunshine brought out a festive feel to the affair. With a few odd halts along the way, we at last reached the area of the Bank of England where others had also arrived from their separate journeys.

Planning to leave the area of the Bank of England, with a few friends, having made our peaceful protests for about an hour, we headed towards Queen Victoria Street, only to be met at a fork in the road by a solid line of police. Beyond them was a space and we could see two further roads where police lines were 'containing' other crowds of people, just as determined as us to leave . It was very warm, bright and sunny and it was lunchtime. As we became further 'herded' together the police seemed to sip from their water bottles in a very provocative manner. Someone was heard saying that the police had declared that they were paid to work through the night in reply to her question as to when we all might be allowed to leave.

We were told that our detention was due to their anticipation of a breach of the peace. Legal advice sought while we stood held against our will, confirmed that such a threat of breach of the peace was a valid power that the police could use. Supposedly, as soon as such a threat has passed then people should be released. In our 'pen' the mood was fairly stoical / calm and we kept ourselves amused as best we could.

As time pressed on I made several challenges to the police about our civil liberties/ about methods they could use to plan an orderly exit using the helicopter views and their ground forces / about the lack of any actual breach of the peace in view / earshot of any of the hundreds of people so trapped in this particular road. On one occasion a senior officer was contacted to answer my concerns but as he came towards the line he simply 'whispered' to an officer and retreated. We were then told that we were to be held. Told that we would be held until they said so.

If anyone had actually been arrested they would have been entitled to water , food and the use of a toilet. After being detained for a couple of hours, and having arrived an hour or so before that, with no estimate as to the duration of our further detainment, this treatment of very peaceful people certainly seemed to be a provocative police action and not an 'intelligent' use of police or an acceptable set of tactics. Added to this, at various intervals we could see riot police, in full kit, rushing out of their vans , causing some panic and consternation in the hitherto still and mostly silent crowds. Just as suddenly the riot police seemed to retreat back to their vehicles. Was the agitation of the crowds the essential factor in justifying the fears of 'breach of the peace' ?

Being at the front of the crowd I did on a few occasions make calls for our civil liberties, listing some of the important responsibilities that these individual people had the need and the right to carry out ( child care , jobs, care of relatives, simply choosing where to spend their time, or preparing and heading for the AGM of their local council........). These seemed to go down well and at least broke some of the boredom factor of the situation.

On two occasions I saw an individual attempting to demand their freedom by walking 'through' the police line. This action resulted in a very aggressive response each time with four or five police officers to tackle the individual to the ground.

Eventually, when a group of people pushed forward together they broke the line of police in front of us. There was a sudden movement of bodies that could have resulted n a crush, but people were mindful of each other and no-one fell under foot. The impetus was however 'forward', and as I made my way to the edge of the crowd I could see that the police line had collapsed and individual officers were standing alone looking lost and without a plan. Continuing to walk on, the crowds dispersed. Peacefully.

I returned to find friends and colleagues as we had become separated in the surge. As we prepared to leave we could see others still being trapped in at the far end of the road. We decided to turn down a side street. Calmly we walked to the tube station. Free once more. For now.

Is this a taste of things to come ?
What is the point of having so much surveillance and yet failing to make proper use of any of it? We need to challenge these counter-productive and unacceptable police tactics now."

Home Insulation Review

The Council's Sustainable Development Select Committee, which I've chaired for the past two years (and will hopefully be chairing for the next year, unless I get ousted) is about to start an in-depth review on home insulation in the borough. (Regular readers may be noticing a recurring theme here.)

The review aims to answer the following two main questions:
• What are the benefits of and barriers to improving the insulation of existing homes in Lewisham?
• What further actions are needed to achieve improvements to home insulation in Lewisham?

In answering the above questions, the committee will examine the following:
• gaps in the Council’s knowledge of the insulation needs of homes in Lewisham, and how these gaps could be filled;
• home insulation schemes currently operating in the borough;
• good practice examples from outside of the borough, and what lessons can be applied to future schemes in Lewisham;
• proposals from central Government, the GLA and the LGA to improve home insulation, and the implications of these for Lewisham;
• the extent to which insulation measures are taken into account in the terms of transfer of council-owned housing stock; and
• the extent to which Building Regulation duties around home insulation are enforced on properties still to be built, or on conversions/extensions to existing properties.

It is proposed that the review would take place over three sessions:
• Session 1: to examine home insulation schemes currently operating in the borough, and the barriers to improving insulation further (including the data currently available to the Council).
• Session 2: to examine good practice examples from other local authorities. outside of the borough, proposals from central Government, GLA and LGA, and the lessons to be
learned in Lewisham.
• Session 3: to examine the latest policy developments on a national and regional level.

The first evidence-gathering session is next Thursday (9th April) and papers for the meeting can be found here. Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe the meeting (and potentially make contributions, if you notify the committee in advance). Written submissions are also welcome: e-mail them to me.

At drinks after last night's Council AGM, a certain member of the leading group was extolling the virtues of a free insulation scheme, having heard Lord Chris Smith, chair of the Environment Agency, talk about it. I politely pointed out that we had proposed this in our budget amendment and he had voted against it. Sigh. We will get there.

Latest news from Jean Lambert MEP

The latest monthly newsletter from Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London is now available on her website. It details some of the work she has been doing both at a London and European level over the last few weeks, including stuff on the London Living Wage campaign, air quality and Heathrow expansion, climate change, employment rights, civil liberties, peace, International Women's Day, Chinese New Year and the ongoing situation in Sri Lanka. I think she's an exceedingly hard-working and effective MEP for London, but then I'm biased and would say that!

London is losing one of its MEPs after this June's Euro Elections, due to the EU enlargement, so we will go from 9 to 8 MEPs. Jean was the 8th out of 9 MEPs elected last time round, so we need to increase our percentage slightly to make sure she gets re-elected. If we do really well on June 4th, we will also get Ute elected as our second Green MEP for London, which would be great, although it would mean a by-election here in Ladywell!

Planning Application: 8b Hilly Fields Crescent

I've received notification of a new planning application for 8b Hilly Fields Crescent. In February last year, the owners were given permission to add an extension to the side of the existing property and to convert it into 5 flats. Now they have come back with a new proposal which involves demolishing the whole building and rebuilding it in a pastiche style, to again provide 5 flats, but a complete new build rather than keeping the existing building:

"The demolition of 8b Hilly fields Crescent SE4 and the construction of a two storey building plus roof space to provide 1 one bedroom, 1 three bedroom and 3 two bedroom self-contained flats with refuse store, communal cycle storage shed and a car parking space in the front garden. "

They have also applied for conservation area permission to demolish the existing building.

Details of both applications can be found online on the Council's Planning Portal. The application and drawings can as always be inspected at Lewisham Library or the planning information office. Any comments should be sent to Planning by 17th April. You can either e-mail planning@lewisham.gov.uk or write to Planning Service, Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, London, SE6 4RU.

April Fool's Day

Some excellent April Fool jokes on the local and green blogosphere today:

• Nick over on Brockley Central had his readers convinced that an anarchist collective had taken over part of Wickham Road. Bizarrely believable, that one, what with the G20 protests and today being Fossil Fool's Day.
• Meanwhile over on DailyMaybe, Jim reports that green slime thrower Leila Dean is to stand as a PPC for the Conservative Party (again, for a split second, I believed that one).
• Liberal Conspiracy has a great video of Tory Eric Pickles on Question Time trying to justify why he needs a second home when he only lives 37 miles away from parliament. Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP and Lib Dem Ed Davey look on aghast.
  
• Finally not an April Fool's joke, but sadly true, 853 reports on Boris Johnson's decision to scrap the Greenwich Waterfront Transit scheme, which was quietly announced yesterday.

Now, I must get back to my backlog of casework and writing my bit of our group response to the LDF (local development framework) consultation.

Energy Action Zone coming to Ladywell

Ladywell is one of the wards due to be covered by Lewisham’s Energy Action Zone (EAZ) in 2009/10. Lewisham’s EAZ has been running since 2007, and has already covered a number of areas in the borough including neighbouring Brockley. The EAZ focuses the Council’s energy efficiency advice service within a ward through:

• Contacting every household in the ward by letter and on the doorstep to offer general advice and help people access grants for insulation or heating improvements
• Promotional work on energy efficiency at local events, doctors surgeries and other similar activities

The team intend to start contacting Ladywell residents in April and to have been to all households in the ward by July.

Of course it would be better if they could offer not just advice but free insulation for all, as we proposed in our budget amendment this year, but it's a start, and hopefully the free insulation will follow!

Also, don't forget, if you want to apply for a free home energy survey and a year's subscription to the Green Homes Concierge Service, there are still a limited number of places available (20 as of today). Further details here.

Ladywell Police stepping up patrols in Dressington Avenue

Local residents may have read in the South London Press about a recent incident outside Abbey Manor College in Dressington Avenue in which a pupil was slashed with a knife. The Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood team have said that they have increased patrols in the area around school time. There have also discussed security issues with the headteacher and plan to go and speak to pupils about the effects and dangers of knife crime soon.

I thought I would mention that this has happened, and that the local police are taking steps to try and prevent it happening again, but I don't want people to be unduly alarmed, as Ladywell is generally a safe place to live and has one of the lower crime rates in the borough. While there have been recent spates of burglary and car crime and incidents of pirate DVD making in the ward (and suspects have been arrested for these), violent crime has generally been low.

Partial Resurfacing of Dressington Avenue this week

The section of Dressington Avenue from near the entrance to outside house number 35 is being resurfaced this week. We've received a number of complaints from residents about this road over the past year or so, as well as from users of the Ladywell Day Centre.

We've followed up on these, but one of the reasons it has taken so long to get anything done is that the road came under the housing budget rather than highways, and when the housing management was transferred to Regenter B3, responsibility for the road maintenence remained with the Council, but there was no funding earmarked for it and so there has been a fair amount of negotiation to get some progress on this.

A partial resurfacement is less than many residents will be hoping for, but hopefully it will at least repair the worst section of the road until funds are available to do the rest. I am hoping that all the 'estate roads' in the Brockley PFI area which are also in the same state of limbo (ie the responsibility of housing but no budget to repair them), including Viney Road and Foxborough Gardens will be transferred over to highways, so they can at least be added to the resurfacing priority list.

UPDATE 31st March: I've had confirmation today that funding has been found to also repair the road by the junction with Lion Close, which was also in dire need of repair so that's good news.

Leaf Mould and Frogs!

I spent a few hours yesterday tidying the back garden - long overdue and good to switch off from other things for a few hours. I have a large London Plane tree in my garden which produces bags and bags of leaves every year. I've been dutifully collecting and shredding them for about the past 7 years and putting them in a wire mesh container and hoping they would turn into leaf mould.

London Plane tree leaves are infamously slow to decompose, so I was inordinately proud, after 7 years of my efforts, to have something roughly approaching leaf mould when I emptied one of the wire bins yesterday. I've spread it over the fruit and veg bed and it is supposed to condition the soil, add nutrients and help retain moisture. We will see. I may need to dig it in a bit before it blows all around the garden again.

I also disturbed one or two little frogs, which must be from last year's frog spawn, and tried to persuade them to go into the pond out of harm's way while I was using the shredder. This one seemed strangely reluctant and was quite happy sitting in this upturned shell next to the pond instead! I have lots of frog spawn in the pond again this year, so envisage another summer of using froglets in the grass as an excuse not to cut the lawn. I may just scatter some wildflower seed and call it a wildflower meadow and done with it!

Embleton Road being resurfaced this week

I've been notified that resurfacing works are due to take place on Embleton Road, between Ellerdale Street and Brookbank Road, starting tomorrow (Wednesday 25th March) and lasting for approximately 3 days. Residents (and commuters!) are asked not to park their vehicles there for the next few days.

Nature's Gym: Forthcoming Events Locally

I've been sent the April-June calendar of events organised by and in conjunction with Nature's Gym. There's loads going on and you can see the April events here.

Dates for diary include:
Sunday 19th April: Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries work day. Meet by chapel in Ladywell cemetery at 10am (tbc).

Thursday 21st May: Hilly Fields Nature Reserve, 11am-2pm. Placing chicken wire on the steps in the nature area, paint the railings and other various activities. Meet on Eastern Road off Adelaide Avenue. Look out for the white van.

Saturday 30th May: ‘3 Rivers Clean Up', 11am-2pm, Ladywell Fields – North field. Cleaning the Ravensbourne Catchment of Himalayan Balsam and litter. Meet at the environmental classroom in Ladywell fields just off Ladywell Road. A follow up event on Saturday 6th June, organised by Thames 21, is tbc.

Ladywell Fields: Big Plans in the Pipeline - Consultation Event on 4 April

The Council has secured nearly £2m in funding from the LDA (London Development Agency) to carry out major improvement works to the middle and southern fields in Ladywell Fields. The feedback I've received from residents about the works to the northern field that was carried out a year or two back has been almost entirely positive, and there's been a noticeable increase in the number of people using the park, so I think it's great news that the other two fields are also in line for a 'makeover'.

The plans for the other two fields include:

• Improving biodiversity and access to the river, including building a series of timber viewing platforms along the riverside
• Creation of a series of new wetland lakes including riverside planting, ponds, reed beds and wet grasslands
• New bridges will connect the river to increase use and access
• Work to existing and new entrances, to connect residential areas with the green space and adjacent town centres
• New lighting and street furniture

There are also plans for clearer signage and improvements to the Waterlink Way cycle path, which runs from Deptford Creek to Beckenham Place Park, totems to mark the Waterlink Way, cycle parking, the creation of a new meeting point, resurfacing of footpaths, new rubbish and dog waste bins and improving the sports facilities.

A public consultation event to seek the views of local people on the proposed plans is being held on Saturday 4 April. The event will run from 10am to 12.30pm and will feature a walkabout showing where developments are planned, as well as a workshop on proposals so that people can not only learn more about the development plans, but also give their own thoughts and suggestions.

To get involved contact Alison Taylor, Project Manager, on 020 8314 8758 or email alison.taylor@lewisham.gov.uk or meet in Ladywell Fields park, by the entrance on Bournville Road, Catford, at 10am.

Of course in addition to this, and with separate funding, there are also the plans to build an adventure playground in part of the middle field.

3 Years Old Today!

Please excuse the rather self-indulgent nature of this post, but Green Ladywell is 3 years old today, so I thought it worth having a little look back over the past few years in blogland.

When I set up the blog, in the middle of the 2006 election campaign, I wasn't really convinced about blogging, whether anyone would read it, whether I would have enough things to blog about, whether we were going to get elected (our canvassing returns fortunately turned out to have been very conservative) and whether I would continue the blog once elected. It seemed rather gimmicky, but I figured it was free and another way of trying to get the key messages of our campaign across, so decided to give it a go.

Back in early 2006, the number of local bloggers was fairly small, with Transpontine, Andrew Brown, Bob from Brockley, Andrew Milton and the Man from Catford being the stalwarts of the (male-dominated) blogosphere. Things definitely took off when Brockley Central joined the foray in February 2007 (for the first few posts, the number of comments were still in single figures!), and a few other women bloggers such as Deptford Dame, Kate and Clare came on board, while Brockley Kate joined the Brockley Central team (though women are still notably in the minority amongst bloggers). The occasional Lewisham bloggers meet ups were a great opportunity to put faces and names to previously anonymous bloggers.

Meanwhile in Green blogland, back in March 2006 you could count the number of blogging greens on your fingers, in fact I'm not sure who besides Natalie over at Philobiblon was blogging, though lots of others, such as The Daily (Maybe), Ruscombe Green and Charlie Bolton came on board shortly after. Now there's dozens of us, we have GreenHome, GreenFeed and even the green blogosphere's answer to the Oscars. I have to ruthlessly scan my blogroll each day to keep abreast of what's being said.

Well the blog probably didn't have much of an impact on the 2006 election campaign, with only 100 or so people visiting the blog in the run-up to election day, and for the first few months I wasn't sure whether anyone locally was reading my blog or not. A key moment for me was when I turned up to the well-attended first meeting of FOBLC and someone there told me they had read about the meeting on my blog; the first time a resident in my ward had told me that they read my blog, yay!

There's been the odd blip, with a few weeks when I didn't get around to posting, but they've now been close to 500 posts, on all sorts of local issues, from speed humps to betting shops and insulation (LOTS on insulation lately!) plus the occasional rant from me on national and international issues. Since January last year Ute has joined me with the occasional blog post. Traffic to the blog isn't that large, but we regularly attract well over a thousand hits a month and I estimate that have between 200-300 regular readers. I gave the blog a bit of a facelift towards the end of last year, and have tried to make it a bit more interactive, by showing recent comments and starting to experiment with Twitter etc, but would happily hear suggestions on how we can improve it.

So, before I waddle off into the kitchen to eat a huge piece of celebratory cake, my verdict on 3 years of blogging? It's occasionally felt like a bit of a chore, but generally I've enjoyed it, it's been a good way of reflecting on what we've been doing and I've found it a useful extra way to communicate with local residents (and greens further afield). Ultimately however it's an extra tool or frill and not a substitute for getting newsletters through doors and speaking to residents face to face.

Joan Ruddock sabotages Fuel Poverty Bill

On Friday the Fuel Poverty bill that I previously blogged about had it's second reading in the House of Commons. As feared, Lewisham Deptford MP and junior minister for climate change and energy, Joan Ruddock talked out the bill, following, it would appear, the instructions of her boss, one Ed Milliband.

Over the past few days I have been at Green Party Spring Conference in Blackpool. Today conference unanimously passed an emergency motion that I proposed, condemning the government's decision to kill this bill.

To quickly recap, the Fuel Poverty Bill was backed by campaigning groups including Age Concern, Help the Aged and Child Poverty Action Group and would have introduced a major energy efficiency programme to bring existing homes up to the energy efficiency standards of modern houses, cutting fuel poverty and ‘social tariffs’ to protect vulnerable people like pensioners from high energy bills.

I haven't yet received a response to my e-mail to Joan Ruddock at the beginning of the month, urging her to support the bill, but I fully anticipate one in about 3 weeks time, once the dust has settled, thanking me for my correspondence and saying 'it was a very difficult decision' etc etc.

How difficult can it be Joan, given you have previously stated that tackling fuel poverty is a top priority for you, and given that within your own constituency, an estimated 3,407 elderly people live in one room during the winter months to save money on heating their home, 2,555 stay in bed to keep warm, and 1022 have to make the choice between heating their home or eating properly? (Source: Association of Energy Conservation.) Across the UK, that translates to 5 million households living in fuel poverty, and 25,000 older people dying each year in the winter months as a result of this.

So we now have an MP who is now in favour of nuclear power (quite a volte face for the former president of CND), supports Heathrow Expansion, student tuition fees, ID cards, 40 day detention, has towed the party line on pretty much every vote in the House of Commons over the past few years and now, as junior minister for climate change, has torpedoed efforts to lift millions out of fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions at the same time. Nice one Joan. Now clearly I'm biased, but I think Darren would do a much better job at representing the people of Lewisham Deptford.

Limited number of Green Home Concierge Subscriptions up for Grabs

Lewisham has a limited number of Green Home Concierge subscriptions up for grabs. They are being offered on a first come, first serve basis to residents in the borough. It usually costs £199 for a year’s consultation. Included is an assessment of your home and a report tailored to your needs, whether you want to save money, reduce your carbon footprint or just make your home warm and cosy.

Green Homes Concierge is supposed to take the headache out of commissioning improvements by finding you competitive quotes and searching for available grants. They will be on hand with advice for the next 12 months.

Places are available on a first come first served basis until 15th April, to residents within the borough of Lewisham, who want to make their homes more energy efficient. Some properties may be more suitable than others – new builds may not benefit from the scheme. If you are not a homeowner, permission must be granted from your landlord. Assessments must be booked in and completed by 30th April.

To take advantage of this special offer or find out more please call Gareth Bates on 0800 089 0098. See Green Homes Concierge for more details.

What is happening in Ladywell?

A lot, if Saturday’s local assembly social event is anything to go by. With 19 stalls from a wide range of community groups and some Council services, it was a lively and enjoyable event, and an opportunity to share information and find out what is happening in the ward and which services are available locally.

All this information (and more) is going to be compiled into the Ladywell Directory and it will also be made available online – the aim is to get this done in time for the next formal assembly on 20 April (it's always good to be ambitious!).

Anyone who lives, works or studies in the ward can attend the assembly. It provides an opportunity for people in the area to work together and develop plans to improve Ladywell. Bigger projects are put forward to the Council and local initiatives can be taken forward by residents in their area.

Future Assembly dates
Monday, 20th April 2009, 7-9pm
Tuesday, 23rd June 2009, 7-9pm
Tuesday, 22nd September 2009, 7-9pm
Saturday, 6th February 2010, 11am – 1pm

All assemblies are going to take place in Prendergast School, new science block, Adelaide Avenue, SE4 1JL (not in the main building in Hilly Fields). There is full disabled access and light refreshments are provided.

The Ladywell Priorities
The assembly has decided upon the following 5 priorities for Ladywell:
Local shops
Streetscape and environment
The Playtower
Lack of youth and community facilities
Anti-social behaviour and crime

Additional Funding for Ladywell
£50k has been allocated to each ward assembly from the Mayor’s Fund, in addition there is the £10k Locality Fund, meaning that there is £60k available to spend in Ladywell ward in 2009/10 in addition to ongoing Council spend.

The Mayor’s Fund
Projects funded by the Mayor’s Fund must be linked to the Ladywell ward priorities. The decision as to how these funds are allocated will rest with the assembly. The proposals will then go to the Mayor and Cabinet for final approval. Local Assembly officers will work closely with the assembly to ensure that any bids fit all the necessary criteria.

The Locality Fund
This is a fund for smaller projects and activities and these do not have to be linked to the ward priorities. In the past funding has included, amongst other things, activities for young people and youth groups, greening streets, the Ladywell village Christmas tree, a table tennis table for Hilly Fields, a contribution to Brockley Max closing night and Brockley Fund Run (both in Hilly Fields), and there are now plans to launch activities for older people.

A consultation on projects and activities to be funded in Ladywell ward will start soon, but in the meantime if you have an idea for the Mayor’s Fund or the Locality Fund, please contact either of the councillors or the assembly coordinator Paul Gale on 020 8314 3387 or email paul.gale@lewisham.gov.uk.

For more information about the Ladywell assembly please visit http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/localassemblies

Dean's blog is back!

Brockley ward councillor Dean Walton has revived his blog. He recently bought a Blackberry and along with irritating the heck out of his fellow Green councillors by 'pinging' us incessantly (fortunately that didn't last long), he's found a more useful function in that he can use it to update his blog. Please read and comment to convince him it is worth continuing with; before you know it he will be twittering. He also discovered that I had removed him from my links due to lack of blogging in recent months. Oops, link duly restored.

Ladywell Assembly social event this Saturday, 14 March

The next meeting of the Ladywell Assembly does not have a formal agenda but it is a social event which provides an opportunity to find out what’s happening in Ladywell ward, get information about local services and meet other residents. Local groups and services will present themselves at stalls and will be available to answer questions and provide further information about their activities. It is going to take place this coming Saturday, 14 March – please pop in at any time between 11:00 and 13:00 in the new science block of Prendergast School on Adelaide Avenue (not in the main school building in Hilly Fields) for a chat and a cup of tea.

The councillors’ surgery, which usually takes place in the old bothy in Hilly Fields from 11:00-12:00 on the second Saturday of the month, has exceptionally been moved to also take place in the new science block of Prendergast School on that day.

Unfortunately due to an oversight the posters and flyers advertising the event contain the wrong date. This is being rectified now but please note the correct date is Saturday, 14 March.

I just thought I'd also mention that there is a farmers' market in Hilly Fields on the second Saturday of the month, from 10:00-14:00 near the bowling green/old bothy. So why not combine the two and stack up on local information as well as fresh fruit & veg and other goodies in one round trip.

Council Tax, savings and measures to tackle the recession

…or in other words, Lewisham Council’s budget for 2009/10.

A brief summary of Monday night’s Council meeting is that the Mayor’s budget proposal was adopted unamended on the casting vote of the Chair of Council (Labour voted in favour, the two Tories abstained and we, the LibDems and the Socialists voted against). However, it is still worth looking at the budget amendments and the debate in more detail because of the different strategic and political approaches to Lewisham’s priorities they reveal.

The basic fact is that for the Council to provide services and infrastructure for over 250,000 residents costs money. About a third of the funding the Council has control over and can prioritise (which excludes the education budget, the majority of capital investment funding and earmarked grants for specific purposes that are all ringfenced by the government) is made up of Council Tax. The other two thirds are a government grant.

Because this government grant increases at a lower rate year on year than the cost of providing services increases for the Council, savings have to be made every year, and these are effectively either genuine efficiency savings or cuts to services. The total amount of savings made on existing services determines how much extra money is available for new initiatives. Whilst we obviously have no problem with efficiencies, we disagreed on some of the savings proposals because they constituted service cuts which would disproportionately affect vulnerable residents. Therefore we proposed to reverse these savings; by also suggesting additional non-service savings this would have meant that slightly less funding was available for anti-recession initiatives (but more would be provided from other sources) – thereby still ensuring a balanced budget. Rather bizarrely in the debate on Monday one cabinet member spent most of his allocated speaking time enthusiastically defending savings proposals we hadn’t objected to – so maybe the conclusion from this is that he didn’t find anything substantial to criticise in our amendment.

Apologies if the above sounds a bit technical but it is important to fully understand the impact of the Council Tax freeze proposed by the LibDems. As was outlined in the debate on Monday, several London boroughs have gone for a zero increase for next year. This proposal is easy to understand and undoubtedly popular with voters. However, it does not come without a price. If implemented in Lewisham, the freeze would have led to a lost income to the Council of £2.21m, thus wiping out any scope to fund anti-recession initiatives. The LibDems proposed that these should be funded from reserves instead. The problem with that is that by their very nature such initiatives would require funding beyond the next financial year while money from reserves can only be spent once, so budget pressures would simply be postponed to future years or reserves depleted to an extent where the Audit Commission would get very nervous about the borough’s financial arrangements.

Another consequence of the freeze would have been that there would have been no scope to reverse any savings proposals at all including the service cuts. In boroughs where a freeze was agreed, such as Southwark, substantial increases to service charges for residents were required to balance the budget – particularly hitting families and other service users.

Freezing the Council Tax would have saved a Lewisham household in a Band D property £25.42 per year. It would not have saved anything for the 17,000 households who are on low or no income and receive 100% Council Tax Benefit. It would also not have done anything for the residents who are hardest hit by the economic downturn and who would benefit from anti-recession initiatives.

In addition, if in the future the Council wanted to increase its budget to the levels achieved by a 2.5% increase over several years, the only way to do so after a freeze year would be by implementing a higher increase later on to make up for the difference. Whatever anyone thinks about Council Tax (Sue has already outlined why we are against it in principle), as long as there is no other (and better) system to replace it, this is unfortunately the framework we have to operate in.

The Tories submitted an amendment to the LibDem proposal suggesting a zero increase in Council Tax for two years should be funded not by scrapping the anti-recession measures but by finding more than £2m additional savings. This was withdrawn on the night.

In an earlier post Sue has already provided information on our growth items and the home insulation schemes in particular. On Monday night one cabinet member was surprised that our main focus in tackling the recession was insulation schemes. As I said in the debate, the reason is because they deliver on several fronts. In Kirklees the mass private sector home insulation scheme has successfully been rolled out (following a Green budget proposal that the other three parties are also now claiming credit for), and on the basis of its proven benefits even the Local Government Association, which does not normally shine with Green policies, now recommends it. Kirklees households collectively save more than £1m on fuel bills every year, and more homes were insulated there last year than across the whole of London under the government’s Warm Front programme. At the same time such schemes provide local employment and training opportunities, and thereby generally boost the local economy.

Another plank of our anti-recession package was funding for implementing the London Living Wage in Lewisham’s contracts. While staff directly employed by the Council already receive LLW (£7.45 per hour), contractors providing a wide range of services from school meals to social care are currently only required to pay their staff the national minimum wage, which is £1.72 per hour less than LLW. This is fundamentally a question of fairer pay (which is why we proposed a motion to Council on this last spring which was unanimously agreed) but even more important in the current economic climate as this recession is predicted to hit those on low incomes hardest. Whilst we had earmarked a substantially larger amount of money for this in our budget amendment, we are pleased that there is at least a start and LLW is going to be implemented in some Council contracts now.

So what’s going to happen next? The savings proposals are going to be implemented and the Mayor has announced a range of initiatives to tackle the recession in Lewisham (apprenticeships, tackling long-term unemployment, a social enterprise fund, additional support for the advice sector, London Living Wage). He also said that whilst he could not accept our proposals as part of the budget, he actually quite liked some of them (home insulation, the capital programme and our fuel reduction savings proposal) and would get officers to investigate them in more detail. Hopefully Lewisham is going to be a better if not the best insulated place after all!

Various Highways Issues

Quick update on a number of highways-related queries that I've been following up on in the ward. Not the most exciting of posts I'm afraid, unless/even if you live on the bit of road affected.

Big pot hole outside 254 Brockley Road: I first reported this in January 2008 and was told that the owner of the forecourt would be written to and advised to make repairs. One year on, the hole was bigger than ever and still posing a hazard to pedestrians. I again asked and have been told "Our Highway Asset Manager will ensure that we remind the shop of their responsibility to maintain the forecourt in a safe condition and will pursue the matter until a repair is carried out". I've pointed out that the shops say it is the responsibility of the owners of the yard behind. I will continue to follow this up. I've asked whether the Council can carry out the works in default and put a charge on the property if the owners fails to do so, as it's a health & safety issue.

Junction of St Margaret's Road with Tressillian Road
In the recent heavy rains there was a huge pond of water here and clearly some kind of drainage problem. I've been told that the Highway Maintenance Team will inspect the gullies near the junction of St Margaret's Road with Tressillian Road and arrange for any that are not running clear to be jetted.

Road and footpath on Tressillian Road
I have reported the poor state of the footpath and road on Tressillian Road (specifically the lower section from Harefield Road down, which is in Ladywell ward) several times. I've been told that it is currently 25th on the Council's carriageway resurfacing list and Highways are hopeful that it can be resurfaced next year. They are also currently considering this section of Tressillian Road to be included on the footway reconstruction programme for 2009/10. So, fingers crossed, this should be done within the next year.

Missing street tree outside 154 Tressillian Road
I've been told that this "will be considered for a replacement tree next year". This sounds rather vague to me so I've asked for clarification.

Broken Bollards on Greatfield Close
There are a number of broken concrete bollards on Greatfield Close that pose a safety hazard if they were to fall on someone. For the past 18 months, since the Brockley PFI Housing contract was signed, there's been a certain amount of wrangling and passing the buck regarding responsibility for estate roads in the PFI area. It seems they don't come under highways remit or Regenter B3 but remain the responsibility of Lewisham's housing department, which can be rather slow to commisssion Highways to carry out the work.

All seems rather silly and convoluted to me and I think the roads need to be transferred to highways, otherwise the upshot is that the work never gets carried out. We have had the same hoo-ha with Viney Road and Dressington Avenue. Viney Road eventually got sorted after lots of prompting and I've been told the repairs will be carried out to Dressington Avenue in Feb/Mar of this year. We will continue to push for repairs on Greatfield Close too.

Brockley Grove/Huxbear Road Junction
There's always a problem with water pooling at this junction whenever it rains. Huxbear Road is non-maintained highway, whereas Brockley Grove isn't. I've been told that one of the highway inspectors will visit the area to determine the extent of the repair needed and will arrange what works are considered necessary.

Ladywell Road (particularly outside Ladywell Tavern)
The road here is in quite a state and the speed hump keeps breaking up. I've been told that highways have already done some repairs at Ladywell Road, but a're aware that these are of a short term nature. They've said that they are currently investigating the extent of the damage around the speed hump to determine the extent of further works; It may be that a road closure is necessary for the works to be carried out and if this is the case they will probably need to avoid the period when Blackheath Hill is also closed.

Latest Edition of Lewisham Green News

Our latest edition of Green News has just arrived back from the printers. It focuses on our European Election campaign and the work of Green MEP for London Jean Lambert, but there are also articles about our work as local councillors. You can read it on our website, or look out for it coming through your door in the next few weeks.

We have a hard-working and enthusiastic team of volunteers who deliver our newsletters, but as a small party we always welcome more offers of help. If you would be willing to help deliver Green News to your street, please get in touch.

Fuel Poverty Bill: Ask Joan Ruddock to support the bill

I've been contacted by campaigners for the Fuel Poverty Bill, a private members bill that is currently going through parliament and which would tighten up the government's legal duty to tackle fuel poverty.* They are concerned that the Department for Energy and Climate Change may try to block the bill's passage through parliament. The junior minister responsible for making a recommendation to cabinet on this is Lewisham Deptford MP Joan Ruddock.

The campaigners want as many Lewisham Deptford constituents as possible to contact Joan Ruddock over the next few days and ask her to support and call for government backing of the bill. She is expected to make a formal recommendation to cabinet this week, so it is important that people contact her at the beginning of this week. Please call her consituency office on 020 8691 5992 or e-mail her.

The Fuel Poverty Bill aims to ‘fuel poverty proof' homes by bringing 6 million homes up to the energy efficiency standards of modern homes. It was taken up (with cross-party support) by David Heath MP and is backed by a broad coalition of organisations, including Age Concern England, the Association for the Conservation of Energy, the Centre for Sustainable Energy, Child Poverty Action Group, Consumer Focus, Disability Alliance, Friends of the Earth, Help the Aged, National Right to Fuel Campaign, SERA, Sustainable Energy Partnership and UNISON. The National Federation of Women’s Institutes are about to come on board too!

The very quick background to the Bill is that in 2000 the Labour Government passed the Warm Homes Act, which required the Government to publish a Fuel Poverty Strategy setting out the ways and timescale in which they were going to end fuel poverty. The resulting Fuel Poverty Strategy set dates for the eradication of fuel poverty in the vulnerable sector (2010) and in the rest of the sector (2016). MPs and Ministers believed that this was an absolute duty – until the High Court ruled otherwise on 17 October. In a judgment that campaigners believe to be perverse (and that is being appealed), the judge, Mr Justice McCombe, ruled that the duty to end fuel poverty was not a duty at all – merely a duty to make efforts.

Put simply, the Fuel Poverty Bill reinstates the duty in the Warm Homes Act. It aims to ‘fuel poverty proof’ the homes of the fuel poor by bringing them up to the energy efficiency standards of modern homes. Joan Ruddock recently confirmed that this can be done for the relatively modest sum of £7,500 per (average) fuel poor household. In addition, the Bill will give a much-needed boost to the UK “green construction” industry and create tens of thousands of new jobs. The Bill also requires energy suppliers to provide a social tariff to vulnerable households in the short term.

Back in 2000, Joan Ruddock enthusiastically supported the original 2000 Warm Homes Act with its aim of ending fuel poverty in the United Kingdom. In addition, just a month ago (on 14 January 2009), in giving evidence to the EFRA Select Committee, she expressly confirmed that the Government “do not intend to miss the 2016 target”.

*The official definition of fuel poverty is if you spend 10% or more of your income on heating your home.

Free insulation or freeze on taxation?

I posted last week about our amendment to this year's Council Budget, which includes a proposal to roll out free insulation to homes across Lewisham. The Lib Dems have set up a Facebook group called 'Let's FREEZE Lewisham's Council Tax' so not to be outdone I've set one up called Lewisham needs a Green New Deal, not more cuts to public services! Even if we don't manage to get our proposals through the budget this year, I think the Facebook group has a longer shelf life than just this budget round and could be a useful group to discuss ways of greening up Lewisham's economy, while also creating jobs and reducing fuel poverty.

Anyway, please do join the group to show your support for our proposals. There is also an article and discussion about the proposals over on Brockley Central.

Nuclear Power - Still Not the Answer

There's been quite a lot in the press in the past few days about 'leading greens' doing a volte-face and coming out in favour of nuclear power. I thought it was worth clarifying that the vast majority of those in the green movement, and the clear stance of the Green Party is that nuclear power is not the solution to our energy crisis or tackling climate change.

A little bit lazy on my part, but rather than reinventing the wheel, I thought the article below from a Lancaster Green councillor John Whitelegg was a pretty good summation of the arguments against nuclear power.

We don't need nuclear power to stop climate change
Prof John Whitelegg, Green Party spokesperson on sustainable development and one of 12 Green councillors on Lancaster city council, discusses why renewables, rather than nuclear power, should be the focus for economic recovery.

It is true that a small number of Greens, feeling the urgency of the climate crisis, have suggested a nuclear re-think as a lesser of two evils. But it's also true that the Green Party overwhelmingly thinks they're wrong.

The case for nuclear power to deal with climate change simply doesn't stack up.

Let's forget for a moment that nuclear energy is risky, and that after fifty years the industry still hasn't worked out what to do with the dangerous waste it generates. Even then, nuclear power should still be phased out in the interest of good economics.

A recent study showed that the UK nuclear industry has wasted £32 billion. It's the most expensive form of energy when we take into account its long-term waste costs, even if we ignore the potential costs of a nuclear disaster.

But there are other reasons why Greens oppose nuclear power. We want to create a truly sustainable economy. That means viable jobs for huge numbers of people in sustainable industries. Studies have consistently shown that nuclear energy sustains far fewer jobs per megawatt than non-nuclear renewables.

It also means creating resilient, diverse economies. Currently many local economies are far too dependent on the industrial monoculture of a nuclear power plant.

Renewable energy would not only sustain jobs in significant numbers at major locations, for example where wind turbines are being manufactured. It would also create huge numbers of jobs spread around the entire country, benefitting every local economy, for instance the jobs installing and maintaining microgenerators and servicing very large numbers of small-scale windfarms and biogas plants and so on.

Studies have consistently shown that nuclear energy sustains far fewer jobs per megawatt than non-nuclear renewables.

Of course, in the immediate term we have a recession to deal with. We need to create very large numbers of jobs right now. We can't achieve this by building nuclear power stations in fifteen years' time.

We can, however, unclog the planning system so that all the offshore and onshore wind projects that are currently held up can go ahead urgently. We could immediately announce new feed-in tariffs that would give investors the confidence to pour money into renewable energy. We could put the UK economy on something like a war footing starting tomorrow, to get all the wind, wave and solar systems in place that we need to achieve a low-carbon or even zero-carbon economy.

If we achieved Denmark's rate of growth on wind energy we could create something like 200,000 jobs in that sector alone by 2020 - faster than you could build nuclear power stations.

And also, as a matter of priority, we could start straightaway with domestic and business energy conservation. Not only would this rapidly create many tens of thousands of jobs within a short space of time - it would also save as much energy as all the UK's nuclear power stations currently generate.

So we simply don't need nuclear power to stop climate change. But we do need comprehensive Green policies, and we need them to be implemented now.

Green Party spokesman and Lancaster councillor Prof John Whitelegg is former Professor of Sustainable Transport at Liverpool John Moores University and former Professor of Sustainable Development at York University's Stockholm Institute of the Environment.

Keep the Post Public

If like me you're angry at Peter Mandelson's latest ruse; to part-privatise the Royal Mail, please sign the CWU petition on the Downing Street Website. There is also a Facebook group and cause and more info on the Keep the Post Public website.

You can also write to your MP and ask them to sign early day motion 428, which calls for the Royal Mail to be kept in public ownership. None of Lewisham's MPs have signed it so far, although 130 other Labour MPs have (only 2 Tory and one Lib Dem so far)

And next time you see a picture of an MP/councillor on a leaflet claiming to be fighting to save a local post office, check which way they/their party representatives voted on this both at Westminster and in the European Parliament.

It's a weird world when the government bails out banks making massive losses but wants to flog off a business that has topped up the treasury's coffers over many years.

Great post on this issue over at Two Doctors.

Something for the weekend?

This week and next week is Fairtrade Fortnight and there are a number of events on throughout the borough in connection with this. Amongst other things, Oscar's Cafe on Ladywell Road are giving away free fairtrade tea or coffee to their first 50 customers tomorrow (Friday). S if you haven't been along and sampled Petra's delicious cake yet, tomorrow might be a good time to do so.

Saturday is the last day of voting for this year's 'Who do you love' competition to find the best independent business in Lewisham. It would be great if a Ladywell or Brockley business won, but of course I'm biaised! Yes, we have a problem with run-down and empty premises, but we also have some great businesses in the area. You can cast your vote here.


Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries are having another workday this Saturday, in conjunction with Nature's Gym. Meet by the old chapel (near Ladywell entrance) at 11am. All welcome, wear comfortable old clothes, tools will be provided.

A bit further afield, in Bethnal Green, there is a very interesting line-up of speakers and discussions organised by a coalition of NGOs. The day is called 6 Billion Ways and the blurb says it is a a day where the arts meet ideas, discussion and action to explore the causes and find solutions to the interlinked global crises with financial markets, energy price rises, food riots, violent conflicts and environmental disasters. More details here. All sorts of interested discussions, a great line-up of speakers, and a big party in the evening.

Finally, if anyone fancies a bit of 'political green gym' (aka delivering our newsletters), I have thousands of our latest edition of Lewisham Green News arriving at my flat in the next day or so. If any readers are willing to deliver them to their street please get in touch, it would be most appreciated and not only does it give us councillors more time to get on with casework, getting a life etc, but it might also mean I get to see my lovely new floors again some time this side of Easter . . .

UPDATE, FRI AM: I forgot to mention Frog Day at Devonshire Road Nature Reserve this coming Sunday!

Heathrow Expansion - response from Joan Ruddock MP

A while back I posted about the fact that all 3 of Lewisham's Labour MPs supported Heathrow Expansion. I mentioned at the time that I had written to Joan Ruddock, Lewisham Deptford MP and junior minister for climate change, to express my concern on this point. I received her response today:

Dear Cllr Luxton
My apologies for the delay in responding to your email about the third runway at Heathrow. This was a difficult and finely balance decision.

As you will know the UK has pressed for aviation to be included in the EU ETS and that will happen in 2012. Thus emissions for all flights within Europe will be capped. We are also pressing for an international agreement that will similarly place limits.

I am opposed to unrestrained growth in aviation emissions and we have asked our independent Committee on Climate Change to advise us on how to return our aviation emissions to 2005 levels by 2050 (the year when UK emissions will have to be reduced by 80%). At present aviation accounts for 6% of our CO2 emissions and any growth in aviation will have to be offset by reductions in other sectors.

Your efforts to insulate your home are extremely important – 27% of UK emissions come from our homes and there is huge potential for reduction in this sector.

Yours sincerely

Ms Joan Ruddock MP

Needless to say, I disagree with both her decision and the assumptions made, not least that we can expand aviation significantly, yet reduce its emissions to 2005 levels (which are still far higher than we can safely afford, given that we need to reduce our carbon emissions by 90% by 2050, and a significant chunk of that needs to happen well before 2050, ie by 2020, to avoid runaway climate change). Do we really want to give aviation, in many ways a luxury, an even bigger chunk of the carbon emissions pie, ahead of basic necessities such as heating homes, food security, rail travel etc? Reducing carbon emissions by 90% is no mean feat, and aviation is, frankly, one of the easier things to cut down on. I don't think we can gamble people and planet on the hope that technological fixes will be found (or assume that there will be fuel to run them when oil supplies dwindle, that doesn't involve growing biofuels on land needed for food).

I agree with her comments about the huge potential for reduction in emissions from homes (although the figure for London and Lewisham is closer to 40% of emissions, not 27%), and welcome DECC's (Department for Energy and Climate Change) recent announcements on extra funding for insulation, but (as I'm quoted as saying in the Newsshopper today), it is too limited and with too slow a rollout period. We need to start the rollout of free home insulation (and training up the people to do the work) to every home NOW, not just start gearing up in 2012 and only really get going in 2030.

On a lighter note, for some reason, the Newsshopper have stuck a picture of Emine Enver who runs Junction Express Drycleaners on Ladywell Road in the article about insulation, and said it is me. They must have used the photo of us with the 'Shop local in Ladywell' bags from last year and cut the wrong person out. She is admittedly more photogenic, but may not take it too kindly if residents start taking their Council casework issues to her as well as their drycleaning!

It had to be done, apparently

I signed up to Twitter a while back and didn't really get it, but am now giving it a go. It may turn out to be one thing too many to update, but for now, if you want to follow my often inane, occasionally Council-related ramblings, you will find me here.

There is a website, CllrTweeps that tracks councillors who Tweet, and shows that I'm one of 3 Tweeting Lewisham councillors, along with Andrew Milton in Lewisham Central and newly-elected Jenni Clutten in Downham. Lewisham Council's comms team are also making interesting use of Twitter, and a number of other local bloggers are on it. Haven't yet worked out how to get it to work on my phone, which is half the point of it, but will no doubt suss that in time.

Green Budget: Free Insulation to 25,000 Lewisham homes

The Council's budget for the next municipal year is due to be decided at Full Council on 2nd March. As in the previous two years, the Green Group has put in a detailed budget amendment, with a combination of proposals to overturn what we feel are unacceptable cuts and also proposing a number of new measures, including the roll-out of a free insulation scheme to 25,000 homes in the borough.

The plan would pay for free loft, cavity wall or boiler insulation in 25,700 private homes across Lewisham. That means all private homes in Lewisham which need insulation - but which do not qualify for free help under schemes for the elderly and those on benefits - would get it free of charge. (Those living in social housing will be getting the insulation anyway as part of the decent homes work.) The scheme would run along similar lines to the highly-successful and popular scheme initiated by Green councillors in Kirklees, with an energy company, which must carry out 'green' work under the government's 'Carbon Emissions Reduction Target' rules, being sought as a partner, providing half the cash.

Once again, Ute has led for the group on putting forward our budget proposals and I expect will be posting something further on this in a few days. (It's Ute's birthday today, btw, so happy birthday Ute!). You can read the basic details of our budget amendment here and see the Full Council papers here. Among our other key proposals are:

• A new £1m 'revolving' fund which could be dipped into by householders wanting to fit renewable energy equipment in their homes. The no-interest loans would only have to be repaid when the home is sold on, and the money would return to the fund so others can access it.
• £1.5m to retrofit solid wall (mostly Victorian or pre-1930s) council homes as they become void. As tenants in the Brockley PFI area can testify, these properties often get less insulation than those in other properties because their solid walls make installing insulation more complicated. It's disruptive work, so it makes sense to start by carrying it out on properties that are empty, before they are re-let.
• £500,000 fund to allow the Mayor to use compulsory purchase orders to bring neglected properties back into use. This follows on from the findings of my committee in its Empty Properties review earlier in the year and is aimed at being a last resort, when all other enforcement measures have failed (I can think of a certain property on the corner of Loampit Hill/Tyrwhitt Road that immediately springs to mind here).
• Money to roll out the 'brown bins' garden waste collection trial to almost 20,000 homes. Our budget amendment the year before last resulted in the successful pilot. We are now saying lets start rolling the bins out permanently.
  

While the Greens have submitted a detailed budget amendment, the Lib Dems have again opted for the back of a fag packet option. They propose a zero rate increase in Council Tax by scrapping the Mayor's proposals to spend £2m on measures to tackle the recesssion. That's it, no attempt to overturn any cuts they might not like, no positive growth proposals to help us tackle the 'triple crunch' of climate change, peak oil and the credit-fuelled financial crisis. I am confident that our proposals will benefit residents more, both in the medium and long-term, both in terms of energy bill savings, new jobs and warmer homes than a one-off council tax freeze. No budget amendments from the Tories (again) or the Socialists.

Operation Insulation: Part 1 Completed!

Well, it's been a bit of a mammoth undertaking, involving moving furniture from room to room and kipping at Ute's for half the month, but finally my under floor insulation is all done and the floor boards all sanded, sealed and oiled. Most importantly, my flat feels noticeably less draughty, with a few inches of hemp insulation underneath the floor boards. Really pleased with the work - it took longer than envisaged, due to extra problems such as rotten joists being discovered, but more than happy to recommend the carpenters who did it to anyone interested in getting similar work done. Now just got to paint the skirting boards, move all my things back to the right place and wait for planning permission before I can embark on part 2 and 3, which involves replacing the windows and getting the walls insulated. . .

Ladywell Leisure Centre Users' Forum

Just a quick post to flag up the Ladywell Leisure Centre Users Forum and the Ladywell Pool Users Group. The former is a quarterly meeting organised by Parkwood, who run the centre, as a forum for users to air concerns and suggestions. The next forum in on Thursday 26th March, 6pm, at the Leisure Centre.

The Ladywell Pool Users group was set up to prod the Council to maintain the pool properly at least until its replacement is up and running. You can contact them by e-mail or use the discussion forum on the Save Ladywell Pool site.

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

New Play Areas for Foxborough Gardens and Hilly Fields

Good News Flash! Foxborough Gardens and Hilly Fields have both got funding for new play areas. Ladywell Fields, Blythe Hill Fields and Clare Road estate are among other areas locally that are also set to benefit. The funding comes from the £1.15m of funding Lewisham Council has got from the government as part of the 'Playbuilder' scheme, to provide good quality play areas for under-8s. We were hopeful that we would get the funding, and the Mayor formally approved the officers' recommendations at Mayor and Cabinet last night. The full report and list of areas set to get new play areas can be found here.

The funding for Foxborough Gardens is for a new play area (there is nothing on the estate at the moment), while the Hilly Fields funding is part of a bigger scheme HFUG (Hilly Fields Users' Group) is working on to overhaul the play equipment at the top of the park, and will be pooled with other funding already secured.

The funding for Ladywell Fields is for extra play equipment from natural materials for the proposed adventure playground in the middle field (at the end of Malyons Road, by the spiral bridge).

Great news for the ward, and it's lovely to be able to pass on some good news when the wider economic picture is all doom and gloom at the moment. Particularly pleased about Foxborough Gardens, as I've been working with residents on that since last summer. In June last year I presented a petition to the Mayor signed by more than a hundred residents of Foxborough Gardens, calling for a play area. This coincided nicely with the announcement of the Playbuilder funding, so we started working with residents, Pinnacle and the Council's Early Years team on a proposal.

Residents set up a TRA (tenant's and residents association), with the support of Pinnacle, and organised the successful Foxy Fun Day to fundraise for the play area (as well as bring the whole community together for the day). I understand that a planning application should be submitted within the next few weeks, and all being well, the play area could be ready in time for the summer holidays.

Planning Application for New School at Lewisham Bridge

The planning application for the proposed new 3-16 school at the site of the current Lewisham Bridge Primary School has now been submitted and can be found on the Council's planning portal.

The application is for full planning permission for "The redevelopment of Lewisham Bridge Primary School, Elmira Street SE13, to provide a part three/part four storey all-age school (ages 3 -16 years) and a two-storey sports hall, together with landscaping including play areas, provision of 96 cycle spaces and 16 parking spaces."

If you would like to comment on this application please send an email to planning@lewisham.gov.uk including the Application Number (DC/09/70671/X ), your name, address, comment and reason for interest, before 17th February.

Some artist impressions from the developer's application are shown here (as always with artist impressions, they should be treated with caution. The one picture at the bottom makes it look like there will be a grassy path with landscaping leading up to the school, but of course that is the existing Cornmill Gardens and the school itself is in the background.)

I think it will probably go to a strategic planning committee, but just in case it comes to my planning committee, I need to be careful what I say and to keep an open mind at this point about the specifics of the planning application. However a few general thoughts on the proposals:

• It's not an ideal site, but we need a new secondary school and there is no other obvious, well-located site available to the Council within the timescale it needs to deliver a new secondary school (ie a few years ago). In my opinion it is a much better site for a secondary school than the Ladywell Leisure Centre site previously proposed (not on a busy main road, slightly closer to the north of the borough where the need for secondary school places is greatest, very close to public transport hubs).
• It is a small site for a secondary school, but this is inner-city London and unfortunately, we don't have sites with rolling playing fields around here to choose from. Other schools, such as Northbrook and Addey & Stanhope are on similarly constrained sites (I think this site is actually bigger than these two). The current site is arguably under-used, ie the school is big enough for a 3-form entry primary but it has for a number of years only had 1 and a half-form entry.
• Greens, along with the Socialists and other parties, called for a community school, ie one run by the local authority, but this was blocked by education minister Ed Balls, and Mayor Steve Bullock backed down on this rather than put up a fight and further delay the new school. We could argue about the pros and cons of this for ages, but given that there is unfortunately little imminent prospect of a Green or Socialist government, only a neo-liberal government (be it Tory or Labour) which supports acadamies etc, we may just have to accept that as a battle we can't currently win. Prendergast has an established and generally good reputation in the borough and is now conforming to the borough's admissions policy.
  
• Like all the other schools being built under the BSF (Building Schools for the Future) programme, it will be built using PFI (private finance initiative) money, ie on tick and we'll be paying it back over the next 25 years. Not something Greens support, but again, the funding of choice of the current government.
  
• There have been and will be local concerns about the extra pressure on surrounding roads due to the increase in pupil numbers, and the cumulative effect of this, alongside the proposed developments at Loampit Vale, Lewisham Gateway and Thurston Road. This is an issue that the highways officers will have to address when making their recommendations to the planning committee, and the school will need to demonstrate that it has a robust school travel plan which will do everything it can to encourage pupils and staff to walk, cycle or take public transport to school. It is a well-located site, near to cycle routes, buses, the DLR and the train station.
  
• There will be inconvenience to existing pupils, staff and parents while the current school is decanted to the Mornington Centre, but I think the impact of the decant will be considerably less than trying to build the new school in phases with the existing school still on site. A limited number of families and staff will be inconvenienced for a limited amount of time. The constraints that would have been placed on design and construction by trying to build a new school with the existing school on site would, I believe, have resulted in a far inferior design and much greater inconvenience to many. That said, much of my own primary education was spent in portakabin classrooms and between several different sites as the school was being changed, and to be honest, we adapted.
• Not building a new school would mean that many Lewisham children would have to commute outside the borough or to the other end of the borough to get to school, as many already do.
  
• The flipside of this of course if that in reducing a primary school down from 1 and a half-form entry to one-form entry, while at the same time there are plans for hundreds of new homes to be built next door, is that there may well in the future be a shortage of primary school places in central Lewisham.
  
• A number of people have expressed concern about how an all-through school will work, eg if there will be an increase in bullying etc. I'm no expert on this, but it seems to work with public schools, many schools elsewhere in Europe and the site is being designed in 3 distinct zones, with separate play areas and entrances for the nursery, primary and secondary school pupils. I taught at a 6-19 school in Minsk, Belarus, for a year, and it simply wasn't an issue - the younger children had separate play times to the older children, and each would look out for the other in corridors etc.
  
• I went along to the exhibition at Lewisham Bridge School before Christmas, to see the designs for the new school. I went with some trepidation and to be honest was pleasantly surprised with what was being proposed. I thought the designs made good use of the space available. I think we are now on something like the third version of the plans that have been to the design panel, the previous versions having been heavily criticised. I'm told that once the decision to decant rather than build in phases had been made, this freed the architects up to look at the whole site. Whereas earlier incarnations of the plans had considered having air-conditioned classrooms with windows that wouldn't open alongside the railway line, the current plans propose having the sports hall and dining area next to the railway, in a separate building (with covered walkways), which can be opened up for community access out of school hours.
• Off the top of my head I can't remember exactly what percentage of the site the footprint of the buildings comprise, but I did ask at the exhibition and if I recall correctly it was around 50%, ie a fair chunk of the site is ear-marked for outdoor play areas. Not as much as many of us would like, I'm sure, but not as bad as I feared it might be, given the site constraints. There is also the potential for the school to make use of the new leisure centre next door, when it is finally built.
  
• Sustainability issues: from what I have seen of the plans for the school so far, they seem to address sustainability issues much more comprehensively than the schools that have already been built/are being built under the BSF scheme. The applicants seem to be aiming for a BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) excellent rating, which, if achieved, will be no mean feat. You can read the full preliminary BREEAM report here. It's disappointing that grey water recycling doesn't appear to have been incorporated into the plans, but designers seem confident that a substantial percentage of the school's energy needs will be met on site with a combination of solar panels and a biomass boiler.
  
• The Sustainable Development Committee, which I chair, is undertaking an ongoing review of the extent to which the BSF programme is addressing sustainability issues - not just looking at solar panels etc, but also wider issues around how the building meets the needs of the local community etc. We will be looking at the proposals for the new school at our meeting this Wednesday.
• Ladywell Society briefly discussed the new school plans at its meeting last Tuesday, and both Lewisham Central councillor Andrew Milton and I were there. A number of concerns were expressed, but members decided to go away and look at the proposals again in more detail before reaching a firm view either way.
• Biodiversity: efforts will need to be made to relocate the frogs, newts and other wildlife, which my ward colleague, Mike, who built the wildlife garden a few years back, assures me are still living in the wildlife garden. The time to do this is very soon, ie before they lay spawn this Spring.
  

Apologies for the rather long post; I've been mulling this over for a while as I realise it's quite a controversial issue and not everyone in the ward (or within my own party) will agree with the comments I've made here.

Rail works this Sunday

Just received the following e-mail:

"We have just been advised by Network Rail that they need an emergency track possession to replace a set of points between New Cross and St. Johns.

As a result, Southeastern train services will NOT call at New Cross and St. Johns stations on Sunday, 8 February. We will be operating replacement bus services for passengers requiring those stations.

Information will be posted on our website and on posters at stations"

I'm assuming this is if the tracks aren't submerged under 6 inches of snow again . . .

Violence in Sri Lanka

The dire and deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka, where hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed over the past few weeks, including an incident where one hospital was bombed a number of times, has only fleetingly made the news in the UK.

However for the many Tamil residents in Lewisham, including many in Ladywell, it is obviously a grave concern, and I know some are still trying to contact friends and relatives to check they are safe. There have been a couple of recent demonstrations in London, and Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London and former human rights MEP of the year, spoke at one this Saturday and she issued the following statement:

"I am appalled by the human rights violations currently taking place in Sri Lanka. I have been informed by aid workers that hundreds of civilians have been killed in the last week and the fear is that this situation could become far worse than the recent dreadful devastation of Gaza.

"On Thursday next week, a resolution on Sri Lanka is due to be debated in the European Parliament at the request of the Green MEPs. I also call on the UK Government and the international community to respond immediately to help the many innocent people caught in the crossfire.

"I will be attending the protest this Saturday in central London to demand action to alleviate the suffering and provide emergency medical supplies and humanitarian aid, which have so far not been forthcoming. This war demands the attention of the press and world leaders and I will be doing all in my power to raise the alarm and involve decision makers in finding a peaceful outcome."

People are still having fun

It really shouldn't be allowed . . .
Brockley and Ladywell were looking particularly lovely today, and there were more people on Hilly Fields than I've ever seen, except for the midsummer fayre.