St Cyprian's Hall to be auctioned off on 22nd September

According to the notice that has just gone up outside it, St Cyprian's Church Hall, on the corner of Brockley Road and Braxfield Road is due to be sold at auction on 22nd September. As well as the church hall (which in itself is a considerable size), I understand that the auction includes the sale of the neighbouring commercial premises and flats above (the undertakers, and the premises on the other side of the hall too).

Taken together, these represent a sizeable site, onto which I imagine some developer will be hoping to squeeze as many flats as possible. As far as I'm aware, none of the buildings are listed, so theoretically they could all be demolished. although the owners has to honour existing leases with the businesses.

Personally, I think it would be a real loss to Brockley Road if these buildings were demolished, and would hope to see a sensitive redevelopment that incorporates at least parts of the existing church hall, and brings the front entrance to the church hall, that has been bricked up for so long, back into use.

The hall and neighbouring premises are 'owned' by the RC Diocese of Southwark, although I know there is some controversy as to whether the diocese actually owns the hall and has the right to sell it, due to a covenant that was allegedly signed when it was transferred over from the Church of England in 1968, which says the building is to be preserved for community use. Back in 2007, when rumours of plans to sell the building surfaced, a group of local residents got together to oppose the plans, but I'm not sure what came of it all. If any of those residents is reading this and would like to get in touch, please do. Given it is about to be sold at auction, I'm assuming the diocese are confident that this is not the case.

It would be nice to see the hall brought back into community use, but I'm rather cynical about the chances of this happening, given the pending auction, the considerable sums of money that need to be spent on the hall roof to make it safe, the proximity of St Andrews and the fact that the hall has not been in proper community use for a while now. The RC Diocese of Southwark has allowed the hall to get into a very run-down state over the years, and over the past few years the number of events, classes etc held at the hall gradually dwindled, until it was closed entirely about a year ago, on health and safety grounds I understand. Furthermore, the diocese's efforts at community consultation and engagement over this have been non-existant, as far as I'm aware.

A potted history of the St Cyprian's Hall, according to Geograph:

"The building was erected in 1881-2 as St Cyprian's mission church in the parish of St Mary, Lewisham (Anglican). It was superseded in 1901 by a new parish church of the same name in Adelaide Road [sic] (which was bombed in WW2) but retained as a parish hall and occasional place of worship until 1968 when it was sold to the Roman Catholics for use as a church hall."

Climate Camp comes to Lewisham!

Exciting news for Lewisham today as climate camp sets up on Blackheath.

I went to both the Heathrow and Kingsnorth camps and found both to be very well organised, and the sites were left in immaculate condition. The main irritation in both cases was the heavy-handed policing.

Brockley ward councillor Darren Johnson and I popped up to the site earlier on today and were impressed with how things were being set up. Happily, policing was reasonably low key and hands off. In fact, campers told us that the local ice cream vans got there before the police vans did (covert surveillance with your Mr Whippy perhaps?!).

The camp runs from now until 2nd September and there is an emphasis on education, awareness-raising and training at this year's camp, with a whole range of workshops on all sorts of things from composting, DIY and yoga to training for non-violent direct action. You can see the full programme of workshops here, and it's all free.

Lewisham Green Party have put out a supportive press release today. Lewisham Lib Dems and Labour in contrast have condemned the climate campers as irresponsible. Hmm, now let me think about that one . . . supporting the building of more motorways, airports and coal-fired power stations, allowing the only wind turbine factory in the country to close, or a group of people camping in a field and discussing practical steps that they need to take to reduce our carbon emissions and curb climate change. Hmm, I know which one I think is more irresponsible, how about you?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to discussing green stuff with like-minded people and attending some of the workshops at climate camp over the next few days, and hope that the peaceful atmosphere and hands off policing continues.

It's also great to see more micro-renewables in the form of solar panels and wind turbines in Blackheath Conservation Area than have ever been seen before -a dream for a Green councillor who sits on planning and is constantly frustrated by how inadequate our planning policies are to meet the challenges of climate change!

Greenwich Green Darryl also has a nice write-up and photos of the setting up of the camp on his 853 blog.

UPDATE 11pm, 26th August: pleased to see that Lewisham Lib Dems have now released a more positive statement about climate camp following the earlier quotes attributed to Blackheath councillors that appeared on the Guardian website.

Tree removal on Fossil Road

Just a quick post as a number of residents from Fossil Road have contacted us concerned about a street tree being removed. We spoke to an officer from the tree team this morning who clarified that the tree was removed as it had two types of diseases; some kind of fruiting fungal infection that was making the tree go sponge like from the inside, and another which had killed the crown of the tree. There are no plans to remove any other trees from Fossil Road, although one more will be reduced and reshaped.

The Council's arboriculturalist team have recently completed a full survey of the borough's street trees - every one is now logged on their new database and has been prioritised according to how urgently it needs work on it or not, so there should be a noticeable increase in tree works over the next few months as they carry out this work.

The bad news is that I've been told that the budget for street tree planting has already been allocated for this year and that the Fossil Road tree can't get replaced this Autumn. Do people think we should dip into our localities fund to get it replaced sooner, or should we hang on for it to come out of the normal street tree planting budget next year?

I've asked for clarification on how big the tree planting budget is and how big the shortfall is, as I know a number of roads in the ward have 'missing' street trees.

Interestingly, residents tell me that the cherry trees on Fossil Road, which were planted at the same time as the houses were built, are an unusual species that flower three times a year, although we haven't yet found out the name of the tree type - any suggestions on that?

Boris keep your promise!

London currently only has one rape crisis centre to support female victims of rape in a city with 3.9 million women. In his election manifesto, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson promised he would fund three new rape crisis centres for London at a cost of £2,230,000. He said he would divert £744,000 a year that the previous mayor spent on publicity. Since then, however, the cycling mayor has been furiously back-pedalling on this pledge and that figure changed to £1,400,000, 37.3% less. Campaigners, as the video below makes clear, are less than impressed.



It would appear that the mayor who famously referred to his £250k salary for writing his newspaper column as 'chicken feed' isn't placing a very high priority on supporting rape victims. For more details, including ways you can help, visit the Boris Keep Your Promise website.

UPDATE 18th August: There is a petition you can sign about this on the 38 Degrees website.

Pedal-powered screening of 'Age of Stupid' in Deptford this Thursday!

Slightly outside of my usual geographical remit, and unfortunately clashing with Transition Brockley's film at St Andrew's this Thursday, but this sounds like a good event:

Oxfam’s Pedal Powered Outdoor Cinema
plus panel discussion with local leaders, the film’s director and climate campaigners!
Thursday 6th August 2009, Doors open at 7:30pm
Laban Outdoor Theatre, Creekside, Deptford, SE8 3DZ
LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE & ONE NIGHT ONLY!!

Showing award winning film with Peter Postlethwaite:
For your free ticket and more info please e-mail Sophie Freeman or call 020 7802 9971.

New links added

Just added a few new links to this site. First up, Deptford Misc, a new blog by long-term Deptford resident and campaigner Bill Ellson join the ranks of Deptford Dame and Caroline's Miscellany.
And a couple of newish Green bloggers added are Green Kentish Town and Matt Sellwood for Hackney. Any more I've missed?

Open Gym wins social enterprise competition!

Congratulations to local resident and founder of Open Gym, Jo Hill, who is one of three winners of a competition organised by Cancer Research UK. The Open Gym concept, which is currently operating in Hilly Fields, Telegraph Hill Park and two parks in north London, will now be rolled out nationwide, along with two other projects, as part of a plan to raise £10m for Cancer Research UK*.

It's a great concept - get people out doing exercise, which in itself reduces the risk of people getting cancer, and at the same time raise money for a cancer charity. I've recently started going to Open Gym, and find it more motivating than being stuck in a gym or going to an indoor fitness class. Too many hours spent in front of this computer or in council meetings mean that I'm currently the undisputed least fit participant in the Hilly Fields Open Gym (to the extent that the instructor has to give me easier variations on some of the exercises!), but I'm hoping to persevere!

So once again congratulations Jo!

*I have long had mixed feelings about Cancer Research UK - on the one hand they clearly do a lot of good work, and as someone who watched their father die an unpleasant death due to cancer, I'm as keen as anyone to find a cure. However, I don't agree with their ongoing funding of tests on animals, and prefer to donate to other cancer charities, such as Marie Curie or the Lavender Trust.

Transition Brockley - films, 3 tonne club, carrot-mobbing, swishing and more!

Transition Brockley, a group of local residents who have got together to look at how the local community needs to adapt and prepare for a low-carbon, fossil fuel-free future (due to peak oil and climate change) has now had 5 or so well-attended meetings, and its members are working on a number of projects. You can join their e-mail discussion list here and check out the Transition Lewisham website here. Below are a few of the projects they are working on, and would welcome more people to help with. Lots of great ideas; do get involved if you can:
FILMS
The first two in a series of film showings are planned for Thursday 6th August and Thursday 10th September at 7pm in St Andrew's Church Hall (corner of Brockley Road/Wickham Road). There will be a small charge of £2 to cover the hall cost. Both the films to be shown look at how dependent food production is on the availability of oil.

On 6th August they will be showing The Power of Community: How Cuba survived Peak Oil and on 10th September they will be showing Farm for the Future, in which wildlife film maker Rebecca Hosking investigates how to transform her family's farm in Devon into a low energy farm (recently shown on BBC 2 and it's available online in 3 parts if you can't make the showing).

Contact Alex or Fran if you'd like to help with the above. There are also tentative plans afoot to make a local film about action in Brockley.

THREE TONNE CLUB
A group of TTBers recently held a very convivial meeting where everybody calculated their carbon footprint over a glass of wine or two. They were using the 'Three Tonne Handbook' from the Women's Environmental Network, which offers tips on how you can reduce your footprint down to 3 tonnes a year (apparently the UK average is around 13.5 tonnes). The group have formed a 'Three Tonne Club' and will organise another “weigh-in” in due course. If you want to measure your carbon footprint then go to Carbon Independent. E-mail Tamara to join the club!

FOOD GROWING
Transition Brockley is also looking at identifying possible spaces in the neighbourhood to grow food/set up community gardens. They are in contact with Pinnacle about one or two possible sites in the area, have been along to courses at Frendsbury Garden and are keen to work with Brockley Cross Action group on the community orchard project. A couple of people are mulling over producing a book of recipes using local produce (Brockley Honey flapjacks, anyone?!). One member, Ruth, is already busy with the community garden she's been instrumental in getting started at St Saviour's Church. Contact Ruth for further information or to offer to help with this. I'm also following up on one or two possible Ladywell sites for food-growing.

BROCKLEY SWISHING/CLUB NIGHT?
A swishing event is when a group of friends get together and have a party and swap unwanted but still useable clothes with each other. Rosa, from TTB is hoping to organise a club night/swishing/freecycling event in Brockley in October. Contact Rosa if you want to get involved.

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ACT
TTB have submitted a number of proposals to Lewisham Council as part of the first year of the Sustainable Communities Act, which they hope will be taken forward as part of Lewisham's proposals to be passed on to the LGA (Local Government Association). (See previous post for submissions we made to this.)

CARROT MOBBING
Finally, but perhaps one of the most fun ideas, is the suggestion of a 'Brockley Carrot Mob'. The basic proposition behind carrot mobbing, is that you talk to local bars / pubs / restaurants and ask them what percentage of their profits they would invest in eco-efficiency measures to their business if you organise a group of people to spend an evening at their bar / restaurant. You then choose the business that offers the largest percentage and perhaps also consider the need for efficiency measures and organise an evening out. Then the next day the 'experts' are sent in to carry out whatever work money has been raised for. See Carrot Mob and 9 carrots for two similar takes on this. We sounded out Graham at Mr Lawrence's about this - he was quite keen, and we were keen to get more energy efficient light bulbs in there as a start!

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

Change to Ladywell Ward Councillors' Surgery Details

We've decided to switch the venue for one of our councillor surgeries from September. We currently have two surgeries a month; one at the Old Bothy, Hilly Fields on the second Saturday of the month (11-12pm) and another at St Andrew's Church, Brockley Road, on the fourth Saturday of the month (11-12pm).

While the Old Bothy works well for the summer months, it's a bit grim in the winter, and accessibility is less than perfect. Therefore we're moving that surgery to Hilly Fields Medical Centre on Adelaide Avenue. Same time, still second Saturday of the month, just a hopefully more comfortable venue. We won't be holding surgeries in August, but as always you are welcome to phone or e-mail us with any queries (contact details in sidebar at top).

Save Vestas!

The only wind turbine factory in the UK, Vestas, on the Isle of Wight, is due to close at the end of this month with the loss of 600 jobs. At a time when we need to be massively increasing our renewables capacity in this country and investing in wind power, this is absurd.

The company is closing the factory despite rising profits and has taken a threatening and aggressive line towards workers protesting to save their jobs. It seems bizarre that the factory was creating blades for US wind turbines rather than the European market - a great example of globalisation gone awry. The government says the blades aren't the right specification for here. So modify things for goodness sake - don't lose the local expertise that's been built on now.

The government coughed up the dosh (ie our money) to prop up the car industry and the banks; now it's time for them to invest just a fraction of that in saving this factory, the jobs of the 600 workers, and with it our hopes of developing a viable low-carbon energy supply to replace our coal-fired power stations . To do otherwise yet claim to be green would be rank hypocrisy. Time for Ed Milliband and Joan Ruddock at the Department for Energy and Climate Change to stand up to the unelected Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills, one Peter Mandelson, and demand he shows a bit of bloody innovation in saving these jobs.

Gordon Brown has talked a lot recently about creating green jobs, but he seems somewhat short on action. He also seems to include decidedly brown sectors such as nuclear power and coal-fired power stations within his definition of green. The Green Party's policies in contrast would create a million new jobs in genuinely green industries.

There was a demonstration in outside the DECC offices in London tonight, which Darren spoke at - I didn't go, but sent a message of support to the campaign via savevestas@googlemail.com.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP, in whose constituency the factory is located, has also sent a message of support to workers and spoken out against the proposed closure.

Ladywell CPZ Consultation - coming through a letterbox near you any day now!

I've just heard that the long-awaited Ladywell CPZ (controlled parking zone) consultation documents are back from the printers today, and distribution to local households could start as soon as this weekend. Regular readers will know that this is something many local residents have been requesting for several years and we have been flagging up their concerns to highways and Mayor & Cabinet since 2006.

You can see the map of the area they plan to consult here, and the consultation document should also be available to download on the Council website soon. The form just says the rather vague 'return within three weeks' as they don't want to put off those who are on holiday from completing the form when they get back. I've been assured that they will accept forms right up until they start compiling the results, which will be in about six weeks time.

An exhibition of the proposals, where there will also be a chance to discuss them with highways officers, will be held next Friday and Saturday at the Wearside depot:

Friday 17 July 2009 from 10am to 8pm
Saturday 18 July 2009 from 10am to 5pm
at The Visitor Centre, Wearside Depot,
Wearside Road, London SE13 7BR

Previously I've been fairly ambivalent about CPZs, not being a car-owner myself, and I'm still not a staunch advocate, but over recent years I've become more convinced of the merits of a CPZ in the Ladywell area because:

• We get lots of complaints from residents who say they can't park in their street due to commuters parking in the area then going to the train station/hospital/town centre. We then get residents leaving out traffic cones to reserve 'their' parking space, causing conflict and tension between drivers.
• A CPZ won't magically enable residents to park their car outside their house, but it should increase their chances of being able to park their car somewhere near their house.
• While to an extent a CPZ simply displaces the problem to outside the zone, it may also prompt a few people to leave their car at home and use public transport.
• The extension of the Lewisham CPZ in the Loampit Vale and top of Algernon Road area a few years back has had a negative knock-on effect on the rest of Algernon Road and surrounding streets.
  
• The proposed developments in Lewisham Town Centre are likely to create extra pressure on parking spaces in the area, and if residents of the new homes can't park there (they won't get residents parking permits), they may well look to park in Ladywell.
  
• The consultation also asks for views on some extra short stay parking at the top of roads adjoining Ladywell Road. This is something that local shopkeepers often cite as being lacking and key to their business.
• The consultation also offers the opportunity to get more car club spaces in the area, which again has been shown to reduce car ownership and free up parking space on roads.
• The more CPZs we have in the borough, the more revenue in the highways budget to sort out the appalling state of roads in this area. Boroughs such as Camden which is almost entirely CPZ, have significantly more revenue to spend on resurfacing works than Lewisham does.
  

So I anticipate returning my form in favour of the CPZ, and in support of car club spaces and more short stay parking near businesses, but I will wait until after the drop in event to make my mind up for sure.

Whatever your views on CPZs, it's important that if you live in the area you respond and make your views known. Unlike some consultations where it seems that the decision has already been made, that is not the case with CPZs - Lewisham's policy is that they only go ahead when a clear majority in the area are in favour, so do make sure your voice is heard.

"Green Team for Ladywell for 2010?!"

Well, not quite, but it may have got a few people's attention! I thought this photo of Ute after judging the 'Best Scarecrow' competition at the Ladywell Day Centre Summer Fete today deserved a wider audience. Surely the one with the rather bling jewellery and leopard skin tights would be enough to scare even the most hardy of London pigeons!

As always, the fete was a great event, with users of day centres from across the borough coming to Ladywell for the day. There were a wide range of arts and crafts, plants and cakes for sale, many produced by centre users. I bought a few bizzie lizzies for my garden which were grown by the gardening group at the centre.

As for Green Party candidates for the May 2010 local council elections, we have now put out the formal call for nominations to our party members, with a deadline for the first tranche of wards at the beginning of September. We are keen to recruit a diverse range of candidates from all sectors of the community. If you're interested in finding out more about what standing as a candidate and (potentially) being a councillor involves, feel free to e-mail me with you contact details to discuss further. You would need to be a party member before the close of nominations and broadly agree with our principles and policies of course!

Mast Proposal: railway line between Foxborough Gardens and Prendergast Ladywell Fields School

I've received notification from Network Rail that they plan to put a 15m monopole mast on the stretch of line between Foxborough Gardens and Prendergast Ladywell Fields (formerly Crofton School).

The letter says that the mast is part of plans by Network Rail to "rollout a nationwide Railways Communications System across the entire network" and that this new radio system will for the very first time, allow direct and continuous communication between train drivers and signallers which will improve safety, reliability and punctuality on the rail network".

The letter says that they are aware that the construction of any mast may be of concern to residents who live nearby and that they plan to notify those residents before construction takes place, with information on the new system and a 24-hour helpline for any questions or queries. It also says that they are in discussion with Lewisham's Planning Department, but that they believe the mast falls within their permitted development rights to maintain and ensure the safe operation of the railway.

As far as I can tell from the map, the nearest homes to the proposed site are in Sinclair Place (just off Manwood Road) and the homes in Foxborough Gardens that back onto the railway line.

I don't have any more information about the type of mast being proposed or what the potential risks are, but I thought I should flag it up to readers, as I know that those concerned about the proliferation of mobile masts recently (eg of the Ladywell water tower in nearby Dressington Avenue) may want to be informed.

Who do you want to see running Lewisham Schools?

Lewisham Council has recently announced two consultations on major changes to how a number of schools in Lewisham are run.

Goldsmiths Education Partnership - this proposal is asking for views on three schools in the north of the borough (Addey & Stanhope, Deptford Green and Crossways Academy) joining forces with Goldsmiths to form 'Goldsmiths Education Partnership'.
Catford High and Colfe's Education Partnership - this proposal is asking for views on Catford High and the fee-paying Colfe's School forming an 'education partnership' (while remaining as separate schools).

In both cases, the consultation period is short, and responses need to be received by 20th July for the Goldsmiths proposal and 22nd July for the Colfe's proposal.

Why is the Council making these proposals?
The arguments being put forward by officers and heads of these schools (and presumably with the support of Mayor & Cabinet, although it hasn't been formally discussed by them yet, as far as I know) is that this is the best way to achieve rapid improvements in these schools, and that the schools will benefit from the resources of Goldsmiths and Colfe's.

There has been no debate or vote taken at a Council level on either of these proposals, and they haven't been looked at by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee yet.

And the other side of the argument?
I atttended a public meeting organised by the NUT and Defend Education in Lewisham about the Goldsmiths proposal earlier this week, which over 80 local residents, parents, teachers and trade union members took part in.

I don't think anyone at the meeting was opposed to closer links between the 3 schools and Goldsmiths, but there was considerable concern that the proposals would result in a reduction in community and parental say in how the schools are run.

Under the proposals, rather than each school having its own governing body, with a combination of local authority, parent and staff governors, there would be one overarching governing body.

Local blogger Transpontine has a good summary of what this would mean in the case of the proposed Goldsmiths Partnership:

"The Goldsmiths Education Partnership (GEP) will have two levels of governance - the GEP Trust itself and the federated governing body that will replace the three current school governing bodies. The Trust will have six trustees, three nominated in perpetuity by Goldsmiths and one each initially by the governing bodies of Deptford Green, Crossways and Addey & Stanhope Schools. Each of the three nominated by the present governing bodies will be replaced on resignation by a nominee of the federated governing body of the three schools.

There is no requirement that any of these Trustees will be parent governors or staff governors. In fact the proposal does not specify how many parent or staff governors there will actually be - though by definiton a single governing body for three schools will have less parents involved than three governing bodies. It is proposed that the Goldsmiths Education Partnership will nominate the majority of the governors to the governing body - so there is a circular process in which Goldsmiths dominates the Trust which in turn determines the majority of governors, who then nominate the non-Goldsmiths members of the Trust. The proposal does say that 'each school will be legally required to set up a Parent Council which governors must consult so that more parents can be involved than would usually sit on the governing bodies'. The problem is that being consulted is not the same as actually having seats at the table where decisions are taken.

The proposal also mentions that 'The Trust may include an additional partner from the public or private sector able to make a complementary contribution' and that this partner may also nominate one or two additional Trustees. Without knowing who this partner is it is difficult to say much more, but clearly this would build in an automatic majority for Goldsmiths and the partner on the Trust, further marginalising the already limited scope for parent governor influence on it."

I don't think anyone is arguing against improving schools, and building good links with other local institutions such as Goldsmiths, but not at the cost of reducing still further any democratic input that parents and the local community have into how our schools are run. What is basically being proposed is a hard federation, similar to what is proposed for the new school, and which we argued against, for the same reasons.

The Catford High/Colfe's proposal is slightly different. The consultation document states:

"Catford High School would be a Colfe’s Associate School. It would remain a state school and have its own governing body, constituted outside the requirements of The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2007, to include the Head Teacher of Colfe’s, and to allow Colfe’s to appoint other governors to strengthen the governing body significantly. The reconstituted Catford Governing body would report into the main Colfe’s Board, which would have responsibility to steer it and offer advice. The Catford Governing Body would have representation on the main Colfe’s Board and would take account of its views in deciding the strategic direction of the school and in making key operational decisions. Catford High School would change its name to reflect its aspirations and the new partnership."

As I understand it, this proposal seems to be about rebranding Catford High by associating it with the name of a prestigious private school, and a small number of the most academically-gifted pupils from Catford High may get bursaries to study in the sixth form at Colfe's. A further argument put forward is that with the 'Goldsmiths Partnership' proposal and the Prendergast hard federation already agreed, Catford High will be left out in the cold and isolated if it doesn't jump into bed with Colfe's. The document doesn't say why Catford High couldn't work in close collaboration with any of the other schools in Lewisham, eg Forest Hill, Sedgehill, Sydenham or Northbrook. I'm really not convinced and am again concerned that it will result in less parental and community say in how the school is run, the perpetuation of an 'us and them' two-tier system and giving an elite, fee-paying school a big say in how a community school is run.

I'm deeply concerned by both of these proposals, and the Green Group will be submitting reponses to both consultations. Whatever your views, I would urge you to do the same and have your say. I am concerned that the timing of these consultations, just as schools are breaking up for the summer holidays, means they might slip through 'under the radar' of many local people and parents.

Sunninghill Road: CPZ Consultation

If you are a resident of Sunninghill Road, you should be receiving a consultation booklet in the next few days asking whether you would like the Lewisham Controlled Parking Zone (which currently abuts Sunninghill Road) extended to include Sunninghill Road. This consultation is being carried out in response to residents' concerns about parking difficulties in the road, which have been compounded by the opening of the new medical centre, as well as the adjacent CPZ. I know this is something that Ute followed up on residents' behalf.

Whatever your views on CPZs, it's important that if you live in Sunninghill Road you respond and make your views known. Unlike some consultations where it seems that the decision has already been made, that is not the case with CPZs - Lewisham's policy is that they only go ahead when a clear majority in the area are in favour, so do make sure your voice is heard.

If you don't receive a copy of the consultation, do let me know - it should be available on the Council's website soon too.

Response to Loampit Vale Planning Application

The application for the major redevelopment of part of Loampit Vale, adjacent to Cornmill Gardens, is going to strategic planning committee for decision in a couple of weeks.

I have submitted the following comments from Ute, Mike and me, which we hope reflect some of the concerns local residents have expressed to us about the impact this development will have on neighbouring roads and local facilities, as well as our own thoughts.

I should stress that these comments are just from the three of us and are not a formal Green group position, as our councillor who sits on strategic planning needs to be free to make his decision based on valid planning grounds and without pre-determination.

Planning Application DC/09/71246/X: Land South Side of Loampit Vale, London, SE13 - submission by Ladywell ward councillors

While in principle we welcome the building of a new leisure centre, new retail and housing units on this site, we have grave concerns about some aspects of the proposals.

We formally object to the height of the buildings proposed. 24 storeys is too high and will tower over Cornmill Gardens and the surrounding area. The fact that there is a very ugly tower (Citibank) adjacent to the site should not act as a precedent to build more. We are supportive of high-density developments in areas with such good public transport links, but would argue that this is overdevelopment.

In addition we would like to flag up other concerns about the proposed scheme, which we would like to see addressed:

1. The impact on existing services, in particular GP services: residents in our ward are concerned that the existing facilities at St John’s Medical Centre are insufficient to cope with an additional 2,000 patients. What work has been done on the impact this development will have on local health services, as well as school places?

2. The impact on neighbouring streets from increased traffic as a result of the development: a controlled parking zone is already in place in part of the surrounding area and a consultation on extending this to further parts of Ladywell is due to commence shortly. Would the stated principle that residents of the new flats will not be eligible to apply for permits for CPZs be confirmed in writing by the Council if the application was successful? What measures will be taken to prevent neighbouring streets such as Algernon Road, Ellerdale Street, Marsala Road, Sandrock Road and Undercliff Road becoming rat-runs and through routes to and from the development?

3. Low level of social housing: while we welcome the fact that a reasonable percentage of the social housing proposed comprises larger, family units, we are concerned that the overall level of homes for social rent in the development is only 19%, and affordable housing overalls is only 24% including intermediate housing. This is below the borough’s stated threshold for developments of this size and does not sufficiently contribute to addressing the dire shortage of affordable housing in the borough.

4. If the committee is minded to pass the application, we would request that S106 contributions for improvements to the railway bridges and the footpath on Loampit Vale are added as a condition. We are concerned that with the new development, the existing businesses further up Loampit Vale and Loampit Hill, which are already struggling, will become even more marginalised.

We would welcome efforts to improve the streetscape along the lower part of Loampit Vale, but urge that these improvements are carried out further up as well, as far as the junction with Tyrwhitt Road, to help connect the two parts of Loampit more successfully than is currently the case. We would suggest that this should include the planting of street trees, installation of cycle racks outside shops and funds for a community artwork project under the railway bridge arches, which are currently an eyesore.

5. We welcome the fact that the leisure centre will reach BREEAM excellent. We acknowledge that code for sustainable homes level 4 is better than many developments in the borough are currently reaching, but given this is such a landmark development and considering the lifetime of the building, we would like to have seen it reach level 5.

6. We welcome the CHP and the potential for this to be used in the future by the neighbouring school, but 11% on site energy generation is lower than the London Plan specifies and leaves future residents exposed to high levels of energy insecurity in a future with dwindling oil supplies and high energy prices.

7. Is there any provision for on site composting of food waste? The volume of waste generated on site will create considerable extra vehicle movements and carbon footprints if it is all to be processed remotely.

8. In the travel plan it mentions the provision of 8 spaces for car club cars – this is to be welcomed, but we would urge that at least some of these are in publicly accessible areas so the wider community can benefit, as suggested, not just in the private car park.

Exotic Ladywell!

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

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

Coming up this week: Brockley Fun Run and Open Studios

Lots happening locally over the next week or so:

• Friday is the Broc Soc post-summer fayre BBQ by the Stone Circle, on Hilly Fields, 7.30pm onwards, for all those who helped organise the Broc Soc Summer Fayre.
• Brockley Open Studios is taking place this weekend from Saturday to Monday. This is when artists living and working in the area open their studios to the public. The event has been held annually since 1992. Enjoy the opportunity to meet and buy direct from the artist and viewtheir work in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
• Brockley Fun Run: Ute has already blogged about this - just a quick reminder that this is taking place this Sunday.
• Lewisham Green Drinks: Monday 6th July, 7pm onwards, Mr Lawrence Wine Bar, 389 Brockley Road. For anyone who lives or works locally and has an interest in green issues.
• See the calendar on the sidebar for more details and for a few events beyond next week.
  

BTW, for those not in the know, Moira's e-mail list is a great way to get regular updates on local art, music and cultural events: it's well worth getting yourself added to the list if you're not already on it.

Lewisham Greens call for tightening of licensing laws in proposals to Sustainable Communties Act

I've blogged before about the Sustainable Communities Act (Greens were active in lobbying for the bill before it came law, along with a host of NGOs, and pro-active in making sure Lewisham was one of the first local authorities in the country to sign up to the act). Over the past few weeks we've been mulling over possible proposals to submit under the act. The deadline for submissions to Lewisham Council (who appoint a Citizen's Panel to consider them) was today.

Ute worked with local residents who had been active in opposing the opening of the new betting shop on Brockley Road to look at loopholes in national gambling legislation and ways it could be strengthened to give local authorities greater control over the number of gambling premises opening in a particular area. The proposal was put before Ladywell Assembly on Tuesday and passed unanimously.

Meanwhile, spurred on by this, (although rather last minute) I contacted New Cross residents active in the campaign against the White Hart operating as a lap dancing club, to see if they were planning to submit any proposal under the act. We submitted a proposal today, based on suggestions made by OBJECT, with details of the local campaign as evidence of support. It was jointly submitted by members of the Stop the Strip campaign, myself and Ute, as well as the three councillors for Telegraph Hill ward (a rare but welcome example of a bit of cross party working between Greens, Socialists and Labour!). The gist of our proposal was a) to close the loop-holes that mean some sex establishments currently escape needing a licence and b) calling for applicants for new licences to give evidence of benefit to the local community from their proposal.

In addition, Transition Brockley have submitted a long list of proposals designed to help the local community become more resilient in the face of climate change and dwindling energy supplies, including proposals to support local food growing, small businesses and home insulation.

Now we need to wait and see how the process to decide which proposals Lewisham's Citizens Panel decides to submit to the Local Government Association, which proposals the LGA submits to the government, and if the government agrees to them or not!

Something for the weekend?

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

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

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

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

Anyone want to buy a shop on Ladywell Road?

Regular readers of this blog will know that we've been pushing for some time for action to bring the empty shops along Ladywell Road back into use. Well, fingers crossed, our persistant nagging, together with the invaluable work of LVIG over the last year in raising the profile of Ladywell Road, and the scrutiny work my committee carried out into how the Council deals with empty properties, may have resulted in some progress at long last.

One of the properties that was causing particular concern was 46 Ladywell Road, the former 'Nightwatch' shop, which has been in a poor state for many years, with a pigeon infestation due to a hole in the roof and a very dilapidated shop front. After a number of attempts the Council made contact with the owner and a notice was served to repair the property or the Council would carry out the works in default and place a charge on the property. Given the cost and scale of the repair works required, the owner has opted to sell.

The property has recently been placed with King Sturge and is likely to be auctioned on 7th October. Anyone interested in viewing the property should in the first instance contact Felix Riggs at the Blackheath branch on 020 70875327.

It needs someone with a fair amount of money to invest in repairing it as it's in a pretty poor state, but I'm told that quite a few people have already shown interest. (NB: the residents of Ladywell would really, really like a shop selling decent fresh food please, or maybe a dentist, not a fried chicken place, money transfer shop or betting shop please!)

The second property that has been empty an awfully long time is the 'Snack Bar' shop at 40 Ladywell Road, next door to Masons. Lewisham's empty homes officer has now made contact with the owners of this property, who apparently are also keen to sell. If you're interested, the best way to contact them is in writing to 40 Ladywell Road.

Meanwhile members of LVIG have been working hard to try and find a premises to open a community shop. There are looking either for a landlord willing to let their premises on favourable terms for the first few months, while the business gets established, or alternatively, a landlord willing to consider a Meanwhile use, until they find someone to let the unit at market rate. There has been a lot of talk locally and nationally about encouraging shop owners to let community groups etc rent their shops until the economy picks up and other businesses come along, and LVIG are busy putting a plan together in the hopes of being able to pilot such a scheme locally.

63a Loampit Hill: the long-running saga with this empty property continues. The Council is pursuing legal action to recover its costs on this building (around £22,000) and to bring it back into use. The previous owner died intestate and all attempts to contact his estate had failed, but since Council legal proceedings commenced, there have been signs of someone starting to clear the premises . . .

Local funding, Ladywell Fields and betting shops

These are the main agenda items for the next Ladywell Assembly, which is going to take place on Tuesday, 23 June from 7-9pm at Prendergast School, in the new science block on Adelaide Avenue, SE4 1JL. The Assembly is open to anyone who lives, works or studies in the ward, so please come along and have your say!

Tomorrow the Assembly is going to decide on allocating part of the Mayor's Fund (£50k available for the ward) to local activities and improvement projects which have come out of round table discussions at previous assemblies and have been costed and worked up in more detail. Four proposals will be presented - three on youth provision and one to fund urban design work to develop plans to improve Ladywell Road. The Assembly is going to vote on which and how many of those projects should be taken forward with formal applications to be submitted to Mayor & Cabinet for final approval. A second round of proposals is planned for the September Assembly.

This will be followed by a presentation of plans for Ladywell Fields. Following the successful transformation of the north field thanks to EU funding (the QUERCUS project), an application for national funds to undertake work in the middle and south fields has also been successful. Initial consultation with stakeholders and public exhibitions are currently under way and this will be an opportunity to find out more. Technically Ladywell Fields aren't in Ladywell ward (the railway line is the ward boundary with Lewisham Central), but they are very much part of the community and used and enjoyed by residents, and this presentation should be very interesting.

A proposal will be submitted to the Assembly urging the government to change national legislation in order to stop the proliferation of betting shops that has set in in particular since the new Gambling Act came into force in 2007. Ladywell and Brockley's recent experience of unsuccessfully opposing yet another betting shop in the area has been replicated not only across London but also up and down the country. The Sustainable Communities Act now enables local communities, groups and individuals to make proposals for a change in legislation that, if agreed, would give communities more power to shape things locally and live in a more sustainable way.

The meeting will be rounded off with community updates with news of what's happening in the area.

Run and have fun!

Close on the heels of Brockley Max Festival and Hilly Fields Fayre comes another local highlight, the second Brockley Fun Run, which is going to take place in Hilly Fields on Sunday, 5 July.

It's a 5 km route, and runners, walkers and families are all welcome. My fellow councillor Dean Walton from Brockley ward and I have registered at Hilly Fields Fayre on Saturday, and we both hope that as many people as possible will be entering. We are starting with very different goals - Dean wants to beat last year's time, and due to an ankle injury earlier in the year and too much comfort food during my mother's long illness I am running just for the fun of it.

The event is organised by Brockley Cross Action Group and sponsored by both Ladywell and Brockley ward Localities Funds, which means children under 12 can enter for free. I am particularly pleased with this as it is such a great opportunity to be active and have fun without costing anything, right on the doorstep.

For anyone aged 12 and above the advance registration fee is only £5 (£10 on the day). Registration is online at http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/ or in person at the Broca coffee shop, 4 Coulgate Street, Brockley SE4 2RW.

I hasten to add that this is happening at the same weekend as Brockley Open Studios. Now in its 17th year, local artists open their doors again from 4-6 July to present their recent work. Quite a few artists are actually based in Ladywell, and all of the 42 participating artists are just a walk or a short cycle ride away. For further information and artists' details see http://www.brockleyopenstudios.co.uk/.

Thank you!

Well, I had intended to write regular posts in the run-up to the elections, urging readers to vote Green and telling everyone how great Jean Lambert MEP is, but events somewhat overtook me as we entered the final stages of the campaign, and I was kept pretty busy with a steady stream of volunteers coming and helping to leaflet and campaign for us.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we did really well both across London and in Lewisham - our vote share (and number of votes) went up and Jean Lambert was re-elected as Green MEP for London.

Thank you to everyone who supported us, whether by voting Green, displaying a poster, helping to deliver leaflets to your street or simply reminding your friends to go and vote.

Across London we polled 10.9%, putting us in 4th place overall, although in a number of boroughs we polled significantly higher than that particularly in Lewisham (18%), Hackney (23%) Islington (20%), Lambeth (18%) and Haringey (17.4%). In Lewisham, Hackney and Islington we came second across the borough, beating the Tories and Lib Dems.

We only have official figures for across the borough, rather than by constituency, although the count was carried out loosely by constituency, but with the borough-wide postal votes thrown in. Our sampling at the count suggested that we polled significantly better in Lewisham Deptford (around 23%) than in the rest of the borough, and we were pretty much neck and neck with Labour, if not slightly ahead.

Of course, if all of London had voted like Lewisham, we would have also elected Ladywell ward councillor Ute Michel as a Green MEP! That was always a long shot and I would have been delighted if it had happened, but I admit I'm slightly relieved we don't have to launch straight into a local council by-election campaign now!

The independent Tamil candidate Jan Jananayagam polled well in Lewisham and in other boroughs with significant Tamil populations, such as Redbridge, making her, as the BBC reports, one of the most successful independent candidates ever.

Our vote across England and Wales went up 44% and we polled 1.2 million votes across the UK (not sure if that figure includes Northern Ireland or not though). Sadly, although our existing MEPs in London and the South-East (Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas) were re-elected, we narrowly missed making gains in several regions, in particular the North West, Eastern and South West regions. In the North West we were just 5,000 votes short of getting Peter Cranie elected, while in both Eastern and South West we were only 1% off.

Now, for real electoral anoraks (like me!), Mancunian Green has done a little post-Euro election quiz!

Anyone for a Big Lunch?

Have you heard of the Big Lunch? Basically, it's a party in your street, in everyone's street. On 19th July the organisers asking the people of Britain to stop what they're doing and sit down to lunch together. Sounds like fun to me.

Residents on Arthurdon Road are hoping to hold an event (they've had street parties there in the past) and have asked me to see if the Council will formally support the event, as many other local authorities around the country are doing. They are hoping to have a bit of food, some music played by children, and to play a few games such as the three legged race and egg and spoon. It sounds like a lovely, harmless way to spend a few hours and to get to know your neighbours. I'm going to write to the Mayor and see if he will support the day, as residents' approaches to officers thus far haven't received much support.

Looking at the website, it looks like Wickham Road are planning something too. Anyone else?

Events coming up this week

Loads of stuff happening in and around Ladywell and Brockley over the next couple of weeks, including the guided walk in the cemeteries tomorrow, the public meeting on the Fuel Poverty Bill on Thursday, the opening night of Brockley Max Festival this Friday and various events at Ladywell's newest (and only?) art gallery: Tank Art Gallery. Read on for further details!

Tuesday 26th May:
Guided walk with Nick Bertrand in Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries
Meet at the Ladywell Road gate at 6.50pm.

Nick Bertrand compiled an ecological survey and management plan of the two cemeteries in 1995. The Friends group is seeking to build on this for their own management plan and are pleased that Nick has agreed to lead this walk. He will talk about the flora, fauna and ecological management of the Cemeteries.

A donation from participants is requested, to go to the Creekside Trust, of a minimum of £3 for members, and £5 for non-members of FoBLC. The walk is expected to last for 2 hours.

As this is an “after hours” activity, the cemetery gate will be locked at 7pm, so latecomers can not be admitted. This replaces the scheduled May meeting for Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries.

Thursday 28th May:
PUBLIC MEETING: How to End the National Scandal of Cold Homes
Date, time: Thursday 28th May 2009, 7pm to 9pm
Venue: St Andrew's United Reformed Church, corner of Brockley Road and Wickham Road, Lewisham, London SE4 2SA

Invited: Joan Ruddock MP - Labour Member of Parliament for Lewisham Deptford and Climate Change Minister
Chair: Ron Bailey - End Fuel Poverty Coalition
Speakers:
Mervyn Kohler - Age Concern and Help the Aged Special Advisor
Ruth Bond - National Federation of Women’s Institutes Chair of Public Affairs
Dave Timms - Friends of the Earth Senior Parliamentary Campaigner
Gemma Townsend - Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Lewisham Deptford
Cllr Chris Maines - Liberal Democrat Group Leader at Lewisham Council
Cllr Darren Johnson AM - Green Parliamentary Candidate for Lewisham Deptford

Please come to this meeting to show Joan Ruddock you want her to back the Fuel Poverty Bill!
This is a public meeting - it is free and no booking is required.

Background
If made law, the Fuel Poverty Bill, currently going through Parliament, would enact measures to end the scandal of cold homes, cut costs to the health service and generate tens of thousands of jobs. The Bill has strong cross party support including from former Labour Ministers. But not yet from local Lewisham Deptford MP, Joan Ruddock.

▪ In Lewisham alone nearly 3,000 older people have to choose between eating and heating.
▪ In Lewisham there will probably be 800 ‘excess winter deaths’ in the next decade.
▪ Fuel poverty costs the health service £1.9 billion every year: averaged out that’s nearly £9 million wasted in Lewisham.
▪ The public meeting is organised by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition (members’ logos are opposite).
▪ For more information on the Fuel Poverty Bill go to www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk or call 020 7359 8000.

Brockley Max Festival
Brockley Max Festival kicks off this Friday (29th May) with the now traditional opening night gig outside Brockley Barge on Coulgate Street. You can see the full programme of events on their website. The closing event will be on Hilly Fields on Sunday 7th June. Not to be missed!

Tank Gallery at the Ladywell Tavern
I've been a bit remiss in not plugging the fact that Ladywell now has an art gallery round the back of Ladywell Tavern, although Brockley Central did a write up a week or two back. They have a number of events coming up in the next couple of weeks:

29 May: A Stitch In Time & The One I Love 1600 onwards free
Tank Gallery presents the solo exhibition A Stitch In Time by South London based artist Aoife van Linden Tol. Working primarily with explosives Aoife van Linden Tol detonates small bombs to make imprints on paper, wood and metals. This collection of work uses the force and evidence of the explosions to explore perspectives of time. Aoife van Linden Tol invites you to bring a photograph of the one you love or someone you love on the 29th May. She will explode a tiny heart or tiny kisses onto the photograph using gun powder. These will be displayed in the gallery in the evening. They will be kept for a few days for cataloguing and then returned to you. All you need to do is bring a photo with you to Tank Gallery and fill in a form. You can bring the photo on the day but it is advised to bring the photo in before 4pm on the 29th if possible.

Wed 3rd June: Film Box – Film Screenings 1900 free

'Bigfoot of Suburbia' (2006). Written and Directed by Fred Rowson. Starring Richard Proctor

'King of Deptford Creek' (2009). Written and Directed by Fred Rowson. Starring: Simon Pearsall, Director of Photography: Jaime Feliu Torres

Tank Gallery presents two films by local Filmmaker Fred Rowson. We will first introduce a taster of Bigfoot of Suburbia whose main character, Peter Kingsley, is a jobless loner, lost in the heat of a South London summer. However, when a brief local news story catches his attention, his life his given a purpose: even if it costs him his reputation and his home, he knows that he must track down the mysterious beast that is hiding in his local park, Hilly Fields...

We will then screen a full preview of King of Deptford Creek, due to make the round on the festival circuit this summer. This is the story of a South London-based Private Investigator, Eliot, whose journey to find the missing Philip obsesses him to the point that he drops out of society. He becomes so caught up in the search that he too disappears - thanks in equal parts to a failing marriage and a missing diary. The story is set around a Thames tributary, The Ravensbourne, and its tidal reach, known as Deptford Creek, an eerie environment that slowly swallows Eliot's identity.

The audience are then invited to join us in an informal discussion with a small panel including Fred Rowson and Richard Proctor. The audience will get the chance to see a full screening of Bigfoot of Suburbia either after the discussion or on a later date.

5,6,7 June: Against The Wall (No. I) Live painting all day free

Against The Wall is a live painting performance, which will feature regularly in the Tank Gallery programme. Artists will be invited to create work directly onto the walls of the gallery space over the period of a few days where the public will be allowed to enter the gallery space and watch the work being created. Once complete the work will remain on show for the exhibition period. The wall will then be documented and white washed ready for the next show.

For the first of this series we have invited a local South London graffiti crew to transform the gallery during the last weekend of the Brockley Max festival. The public are welcome to watch on the 5th 6th ad 7th of June. This group of four artists who prefer not to be named have been prolific in the South East of London for the past 10 years. Their works can be seen in various locations around the city. They have created works in the urban environment independently and in collaboration with the council as well as being involved in running youth orientated projects. Feel free to come and watch them in action where they will be happy to answer any questions you might have. We hope to run a youth project in Tank Gallery with this group later in the year. Any artist can apply to take part in future Against The Wall exhibitions. Simply contact us or pop into the gallery for an application form and show us what you want to do. tankgallery@gmail.com

Monday 1st June: Lewisham Green Drinks
7pm onwards, Mr Lawrence Wine Bar, Brockley Road, 7pm onwards. For anyone with an interest in green issues (not party political, lower case green).

Green TV (kind of)

I've been busy over the last few days delivering election leaflets, speaking to voters on the doorstep, plus a bit of gardening in the lovely weather, so haven't posted much on this blog. We've been getting a very encouraging response on the doorstep, with lots of people looking for alternatives to the big 3 parties in the wake of the expenses scandal.

In the absence of energy to write anything else today, I thought I'd just put a few links to some videos. First up are two from Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London about her work in the European Parliament and why she entered politics.





We've been showing well in opinion polls, at between 9-16% of the vote, depending on the poll, and a YouGov poll commissioned by the Green Party which showed 34% would consider voting Green which is encouraging. I'm told we need about 18% across London to get Ute, who is number two on our London list elected - something of a long shot and at the upper end of our expectations, but you never know, and a council by-election in the summer would certainly keep us on our toes! 10% would see Greens elected in many more regions across the UK.

Finally, this video from Greens in the North West region which explains quite nicely how the D'Hondt system used to count the votes for the European Elections works. Up in the North West the battle is on to get the progressive vote out and to stop the BNP leader Nick Griffin from becoming an MEP. The threat of them getting an MEP in London is somewhat less I think (I hope), but the explanation of how the votes are counted, and the importance of voting rather than staying at home is equally valid.

Dog Awareness Day in Ladywell Ward

Mike, Ute and I popped along to see the animal welfare team, Battersea Dogs home staff and Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood Team in action today, at the free dog microchipping day on Hilly Fields Crescent. When we got there, only about a dozen dogs had been chipped so far, which is somewhat less than the 30-5o dogs they normally expect on these afternoons, but more arrived, including two chihauhaus who looked very warily at the officers, as it they knew what was coming next. One owner brought along her dog who was chipped in Spain - they checked his chip and gave her the code so she could get the address changed on Petlog (so if he does get lost, he won't get sent back to Spain!).

As well as the microchipping, there was information about the work of the animal welfare team, advice available on dealing with animal behaviour problems as well as free name tags and dog poo bags. Lewisham has the second highest level of abandoned or lost dogs in London, with about 6 dogs a week abandoned and sent to Battersea Dogs' Home. These days are undoubtedly a useful way of raising awareness, but as with many things, to a large extent it is the responsible owners who bring their dogs along, and perhaps it doesn't reach those who need a bit of guidance most.

Ladywell Community Planting Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hilly Fields Users' Group Meetings

Hilly Fields Users Group have a meeting this coming Wednesday (21st) at 8pm in the Old Bothy (near the bowling green on Hilly Fields). Their AGM will be held in the same place at 8pm on Wednesday 10th June. If you wish anything to be discussed about the park, but can't make meeting, please forward comments to the chair. Take a look also at their great new website.

Free Dog Microchipping this Monday, near Hilly Fields

Lewisham Council, in conjunction with the south east London branch of the RSPCA, Battersea Cats & Dogs Home and Lewisham’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams will be holding a free microchipping event for dogs owned by Lewisham residents.

The microchipping session will be on Monday 18 May, from 12 midday to 4pm, Hilly Fields Crescent, on board the Safer Lewisham Partnership Bus.

Microchipping can help to reunite owners with their dogs should they become lost or stolen.

Residents should bring:
Proof of ownership, such as a vet card or bill, photograph, or pedigree papers
Proof that they live in the borough e.g. Council Tax statement or utility bill.

Residents can call the Animal Welfare team on 020 8314 2098 for further information or turn up on the day.

Deadline to register to vote: 19th May!

This Tuesday, 19th May, is the deadline to register to vote in the European Elections on 4th June. Find out how to register and more about the elections on the About my vote website. Citizens from other EU countries living in the UK are entitled to vote here, rather than in their own country, but you need to fill in a form (again by 19th May) to enable you to do this.

Not sure who to vote for on 4th June?
The EU Profiler, the first European-wide application providing advice on this year's European Parliament Elections has been launched. The Profiler offers all European citizens the possibility to analyse in a few minutes which political parties are closest to their political preferences, based on answers to a number of questsion on policies. Out of all the political parties in Europe, mine came out closest to the Swedish Pirate Party (!), but fortunately, out of the UK ones, closest to the Green Party (albeit the more pro-European end of it). Interesting to note also that this profiler places the Labour Party slightly to the right of the Conservative Party!

Hello, we're the Green Party

Clearly I'm biaised, but I liked our European election broadcast, which was shown earlier in the week. Take a look either here or on YouTube. Members of the BLF (beard liberation front) should note that they may find some scenes mildly offensive!



Jean's latest e-news
You can read the latest e-news from Jean Lambert MEP here.

Downloadable 'Vote Green' poster
If you're a Green Party voter and would like to show your support, there's a poster on our website that you can download and print off. Alternatively, get in touch and we'll drop one off to you. And if you have any spare time and are willing to help with our campaign, or perhaps can offer to deliver our newsletters to your street, please do get in touch; we always welcome new volunteers!

Brockley Councillor Darren Johnson is new chair of London Assembly

Slightly old news now, but in case you missed it, Green London Assembly member and Brockley ward councillor is chair of the London Assembly for the next year. See the press release here.

Green MEP speaks at Sivan Kovil temple on Sri Lanka crisis

Following the petition we organised with Tamil residents to highlight the desperate situation of those trapped in the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka, today we had a meeting at the Sivan Kovil temple.

Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London was there to listen to residents' concerns and talk about her role as a member of the European Parliament's Human Rights Sub-Committee and Delegation to South Asia (SAARC). From my point of view it was particularly useful to listen to the presentation from the British Tamil Forum on the background to the long-running conflict, as my knowledge of the historical context was at best sketchy.

The meeting was packed with over a hundred Tamil residents present, including a number from Ladywell. There was considerable discussion over what the British government could/should be doing to resolve the crisis, as well as whether the decision by the European Parliament a few years ago to add the Tamil Tigers to the list of banned terrorist organisations was the right thing to do, or whether it was in fact an obstacle to negotiating a peaceful solution. There was also some debate over whether EU economic sanctions against Sri Lanka would help, or whether Sri Lanka could simply turn to other markets with similarly poor human rights records, such as China, Libya and Iraq.

Comparisons were made with the recent bombings in Gaza and the lack of media coverage of the Sri Lankan conflict in contrast, although many more have died in Sri Lanka. The point was made that there has been next to no media coverage of the recent visit to Sri Lanka by the Foreign Secretary David Milliband, where his calls for a ceasfire were resoundingly rebuffed by the Sri Lankan government. Likewise, very few column inches were devoted to covering the huge central London demonstration, while page after page was written about Susan Boyle.

People spoke of their concern at what they called the 'scorched earth' policy of the Sri Lankan government, the alleged use of chemical weapons, the indiscriminate aerial bombardment that has led to so many civilian deaths and the destruction of many civilian buildings such as hospitals and orphanages. They were also concerned about the internment camps that those fleeing the conflict zone are being forced to go to and the lack of access to the region both for aid agencies and international media. If the Sri Lankan government has nothing to hide, they said, why don't they let the world's media in so they can see exactly what is going on? Any victory of the Sri Lankan government over the Tamil Tigers will be a pretty hollow one if it comes at the cost of human rights.

Jean also talked about the number of journalists (both Tamil and Sinhalese) who have been killed for reporting the conflict, an issue she highlighted in a New Statesman article this week to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Perhaps the phrase that stays with me from today's talk was the woman who said that so many of us have become 'emotionally blunted' to the ongoing violence and horror; that we are so used to hearing stories of people being slaughtered that we no longer feel compelled to react or protest.

Tamil residents in the UK have behaved with enormous dignity over the last few months as horrors continue to unfold in their own country and the recent demo in London with over 100,000 participants was moving and impressive. The government owes it to the 300, 000 Tamil residents in the UK, as well as those still trapped in the confict region, to do all it can to stop the violence and secure a lasting ceasefire. It should also cancel any export licences for arms sales to Sri Lanka and impose a ban on any future sales until human rights are respected.