I haven't done a great deal with the new website yet besides putting a few links, a forum page and a rather nice picture of the old workhouse - but would welcome feedback/advice on what should go on it. If you are a local community group/society or business and would like some info added, just let me know. Equally, if you want to help run/develop the site, let me know.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
New Ladywell Website!
I haven't done a great deal with the new website yet besides putting a few links, a forum page and a rather nice picture of the old workhouse - but would welcome feedback/advice on what should go on it. If you are a local community group/society or business and would like some info added, just let me know. Equally, if you want to help run/develop the site, let me know.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
London Climate Change Action Plan
Yesterday saw the publication of the Mayor of London's Climate Change Action Plan. 'Action Today to Protect Tomorrow' is a detailed plan to slash
· A Green Homes Programme
· A Green Organisations Programme
· A Green Energy Programme
· A Green Transport Programme
Lewisham is to be the Green Homes Service pilot, which sounds like good news for us. I definitely need to improve the insulation and energy efficiency in my flat - I've done the easy energy-saving things like using low energy light bulbs and not leaving things on stand-by, but think I now need to look at better insulation - under the floorboards maybe as I have wooden floors rather than carpets, draught-proofing, double-glazing, maybe some wall insulation - could do with some more specific advice.
Lots of press coverage on the launch of the plan, including a BBC London article, the Guardian, Ken Livingstone's blog and Jenny Jones' blog on comment is free. Green Party Principal Speaker Sian
"We are one of the most vulnerable cities to the effects of climate change. In the past six years, the Thames Barrier, built to defend London from flooding, has been raised a staggering 56 times, compared with just three times in first six years after in was built in the 1980s."
"We can lead the way with our actions in
Darren Johnson, Green Party member of the London Assembly and Brockley councillor added:
"With the Government allowing climate change emissions to rise since 1997, it is right that
London’s Green MEP, Jean Lambert also welcomed the plan but warned that with emissions from London’s domestic sector accounting for 37%, higher than levels from transport, we must not lose sight of the impact individual changes to our homes can make. Jean commented;
“In
1) Synopsis of proposals:
· Green Homes Programme - Homes are responsible for 38 per cent of emissions. The plan sets out how annual domestic carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by 7.7 million tonnes by 2025. By making homes more energy efficient, the average
· Green Organisations Programme -
· Green Energy Programme - decentralised energy. It will not be possible for
· Green Transport Programme – Transport is responsible for 22 per cent of
Lords Reform
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Ugly Rumours - Tony Blair at Number 1?

Sounds like the anti-war/peace demo on Saturday went well, apart from the usual wrangling between organisers and police over how many people took part. I was at a councillor training day in Blackheath so couldn't make it. Thanks to Natalie for posting this photo to the Green Party members' site.
Someone has set up a spoof version of Tony Blair's university band 'Ugly Rumours' and released a cover of Edwin Starr's "War (what is it good for)". If you would like to see it at number one in the charts to coincide with the 4th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the day when MPs are voting on Trident, go to the Ugly Rumours Website for details of how to download the track. It costs £1.50 and all profits go to the Stop the War Coalition, apparently. The video on the website features George Galloway and Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of aforementioned PM.
St Cyprian's Church Hall to be sold off?
While looking for a picture to go with this, I found an interesting story about the history of St Cyprians church here, which was at 1-4-120 Adelaide Road (Avenue), until it was bombed in 1940 and was never rebuilt. I guess that is where Ladywell Close is now.
Activities in Ladywell Fields
Ladywell Fields Volunteering opportunities
There is a regular volunteering session every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month from
Also keep an eye open for posters advertising weekend volunteering sessions.
In addition, Nick Harvey, one of the Waterlink Way rangers,is also looking to set-up a monthly Kids Wildlife Club in Ladywell Fields, so anyone interested in helping with this should contact him.
River Clean-Up - 29 April
The next River clean-up will be
Fitness Work-out with the Wardens
This takes place every Monday and Friday
Brockley Max 2007 - musicians/artists/volunteers wanted
The Opening Night is planned for Friday 1st June by KNOWN's mural next to Brockley Station. The Closing Night is planned for the 9 June on a stage on Hilly Fields.
If you have a band that would like to play either the opening or closing night of Brockley Max 2007, you can send a demo / brief blurb to the following address: Brockley Max Stage, c/o Immortals Gate,
Exhibitions and Open Studios
Lewisham Arthouse are holding an annual Lewisham Arthouse Group Show during the festival., which will tie in with the celebrations around the abolition of Slavery with an exhibition entitled “SUGAR IN MY TEA”. And they have their Open Studios on 9 and 10 June. If you’d like to hold an exhibition please contact the venue, or open your studio (complete an event form and send it in to Moira). Toad’s Mouth Too is having a group show if you just want to submit one picture.
Art In The Park
Afternoon of 9 June on Hilly Fields. The highly successful children’s day is happening again. Events planned include a magic lantern and wishing tree workshops with Emergency Arts. Please contact Elizabetta if you’d like to run a workshop for children, and youth especially, or you would like to be a steward/helper on the day.
Abolition of Slavery Evening ‘Looking Behind’
An evening on Friday 8 June celebrating Saartje Baartman (the 'Hottentot Venus') and the abolition of slavery. If you’d like to take part – poetry, music, dance etc please contact Gill .
Film Night
Declan is organizing another fantastic film night. If not at the Brockley Jack (possibly being refurbished) it might be held at the back of Moonbows in the open air. If you’d like to help or submit a film contact Declan .
Pre Festival event
John at Moonbows suggested a pre festival evening to promote the festival. Possibly to be held in May. Any ideas? Contact John.
CDs and myspace
Volunteer wanted to organise another B Max Trax CD this year. Also need someone to take over the B Max myspace page. Again, contact Moira.
BROCKLEY COMMON ART COMMISSION
Over the last 3 years the BXAG through its Brockley Commoners group has been reclaiming and transforming old common land around Brockley station. Phase 2 is now in active design with a planning application to be submitted in the next 2-3 months.
As part of phase 2 the group would like to commission a significant piece of art which would occupy a strategic position on the site and indeed in the Brockley Cross area. It will be visible from the main Brockley Road, to passengers passing through the station and using the main public footbridge and also, depending on its height, glimpsed by passengers passing through on trains on both the low and high level lines In order to select an artist to create and install the work a public competition is being launched with a first stage closing date of the 10th April 2007. Artists with local connections are particularly encouraged to participate.
If you would like more information, please email Moira for the full document.
Fairtrade Brockley!
Fairtrade Fortnight (26th February-11th March) kicked off yesterday and there are a number of events planned in Lewisham to celebrate it, including an ethical fashion show at the
Talking of small shops versus supermarkets, Traidcraft are doing a survey at the moment to find out peoples' views of supermarkets, the way they operate and how it relates to fairtrade.
Anyway, the fairtrade events in Lewisham are:
Friday 2 March 7-10pm: Fairtrade Ethical Fashion Show, The Albany Centre, Deptford SE8
Featuring Traidcraft, Chelline International Fashions, Think Fairtrade, Fathema and Rezia Wahid, Rosamond Robertson, Melanie Wilson, Zoë Hamilton-Peters, Mela Boev, Inkeri Medley and other local designers. (tickets are free but need to be booked in advance at the box office)
Sunday 4 March 1-2pm and 3-4pm: Fairtrade Rhythms, The
(Free admission)
Thurday 8 March 6pm - 8.30pm: Fairtrade Reception, Civc Suite,
Catford SE6. Reception hosted by Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham for local businesses in support of Fairtrade Fortnight. By invitation, but contact Shola if you would like to go.
Saturday 10 March 11am - 3pm: Fairtrade Stalls at Wavelengths Library, Deptford SE8, Drop-in
Lewisham is a 3-star borough (but not for housing)
The Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment Report for 2006 was published earlier this week. Lewisham has had no overall change in their score of 3 stars (Improving Well), though it’s worth noting that we only got a 2 for housing.
Use of Resources 3
Children and young people 3
Social Care 3
Housing 2
Environment 3
Culture 2
Benefits 4
See page 54 of the report for overview.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Sham consultation (whatever next?)
Green Party Principal Speaker Siân Berry today described the court's decision as "one nil against the nuclear lobby." Hurray! (but it doesn't mean that we won't still get a new generation of nuclear power stations). Dodgy consultation hey, whoever heard of such a thing . . .
Trident/Iraq Demo Saturday 24th February
London Climate Change Budget
The projects agreed by the Mayor includes £150m investment in total, during the coming year. These projects build on the success of the Green Group's previous budget initiatives. The £150m includes many projects included in previous budget rounds, which have become a mainstream part of the work done by the Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police and the London Development Agency.
· £8 million to make existing buildings more energy efficient;
· a comprehensive green homes programme;
· an £8 million Transport for London Climate Change Fund to support green technology;
· an extra £40 million for cycle lanes, parking and training over the next three years;
· other projects to improve facilities for pedestrians, create more green space and tackle dangerous driving
Darren Johnson, said:
"The Mayor has taken on board our key demands and the result is a budget that provides a serious framework for tackling climate change in London. Climate change is the big issue for London’s future and I’m happy to play a key role in turning fine words into action."
Full details can be found in letter from the Mayor to Darren and Jenny.Brockley, Crofton Park and Ladywell Area Forum
Monday 30th April, 7.30pm, St Andrew's Church, Brockley Road.
Focus will be on community safety (the development of the Safer Neighbourhood teams), with time for general Q&A to councillors and poll of views on future format of area forums (these are under review at the moment and being discussed on the 'Mayoral Commission on Empowering Communities and Neighbourhoods' that I'm on).
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Youth Provision Update
We had a very constructive follow-up meeting a couple of weeks ago to the ward forum on youth provision. Ladywell has been identified, along with Catford South, as an area with a shortage of youth provision, and a small amount of funding has been identified in this year’s budget to be spent on increasing existing youth provision. Proposals are currently being submitted and we will have a further meeting with youth services and extended learning in March to decide how to spend that money (which has to be allocated before the end of the financial year). It is likely to go on increasing existing provision, ie either more football on Hilly Fields/Crofton Baptist Church Youth Club/St Andrew’s Youth Club/something at St Mary’s Centre. Once this is in place, the steering group will look at a longer-term plan for youth provision in the area. The keyword is that it has to be “sustainable”. Sustainable in this context, I’ve learnt, means self-financing, ie there will be a charge, but it should also be inclusive, so those on low incomes should not be excluded.
I’m also hopeful, after discussions with the Waterlink Way Rangers that a monthly Wildlife Watch Club for younger children will be set up soon in Ladywell Fields, to tie in with the plans for the park, and potentially also exploring the local wildlife in Hilly Fields and Brockley Cemetery. Enthusiastic volunteers who are interested in helping with this (and are either CRB checked or willing to be CRB checked) are wanted to help make this happen. Please let me know if you are interested.
Hothouses
From the foreward to the report:
"Climate change is a major challenge of our time. There is growing agreement that we need to make real and rapid reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions. This means reducing our demand for energy and using what we have as efficiently as possible.
We should be making strategic decisions as to where we put our efforts to get the fastest possible reductions, while taking steps to tackle the more difficult areas.The recent Government announcement concerning zero-carbon newbuild housing is welcome, but new-build is only a small proportion of our overall housing stock.
We need to look at how we can improve our existing housing. For the
Walkabouts
The second walkabout was with officers from the council's recycling and trade waste team. The purpose was two-fold - to see if we could get any local traders to sign up to recycling and to give them information about the Business Environmental Excellence (BEE) scheme. We found that Ladywell traders, without exception were keen to recycle, but what was holding them back was the cost. In theory it costs the same for recyclables as non-recyclable waste, but in practice it costs more as traders have to get a green wheelie bin and red bags. Even taking into account the fact that they would be using less red trade waste bags, shopkeepers were still looking at a potential extra £40/quarter for a green wheelie bin, which is a lot if you are only just making ends meet, which is the case for many small shops. In addition, many shopkeepers don't have a backyard to store a wheelie bin in.
I think we need to rethink the system so that there is no financial disincentive for businesses to recycle, though I'm not sure what the solution is. Lewisham could make business recycling cheaper and raise the cost of non-recyclable waste, but it has to compete with other commercial waste collectors, such as BIFFA and may lose business if it did this. Another option would be to look into having 2 different coloured bags for recyclable and non-recyclable, and potentially the collection of recyclables from businesses could be combined with collecing the recyclables the street sweepers collect, but extra collection rounds still cost more money and it needs to be self-financing.
Valentine's Day
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Lewisham Green Party Monthly Meeting
ALSO:
HELP NEEDED!
Our latest edition of Lewisham Green News is back from the printers and we need help delivering it throughout the Lewisham Deptford Constituency, including Ladywell. If you would like to help, please contact me. All help greatly appreciated.
We also need people to help collect signatures for the Bring Back Democracy campaign. Again, contact me if you are able to help.
Application for a betting shop on Brockley Road
Dear Local Resident,
Your local Green councillors share the concerns of local residents about proposals for a betting shop at
The Clerk to the Licensing Justices,
Clearly state your own address and the proposal to which you are objecting. As the magistrates can only consider certain grounds for refusing a licence, objections need to focus on the lack of demand for another betting shop and on the impact of the existing betting shops and the proposed new one on the area. Issues to address could include the fact that there are already two betting shops nearby, concerns over a potential increase in anti-social behaviour and the vicinity of a school. The loss of the video shop will not be considered a valid reason for the magistrates to turn down the application.
The six Green councillors on Lewisham Council will be submitting formal objections as we believe another betting shop would have a very negative effect on the area. We are committed to supporting local shops and want to see a wide range of local shops and services which genuinely serve the community.
If you would like further information, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Cllr Mike Keogh Cllr Sue Luxton Cllr Ute Michel (Green Party councillors for Ladywell Ward)
Cllr Darren Johnson Cllr Romayne Phoenix Cllr Dean Walton (Green Party councillors for Brockley Ward)
Planning Applications: Brookbank Road and others
In brief, the application is for the "Demolition of the Crown and Anchor P.H 43 Brookbank Road SE13, together with the construction of an additional storey at second floor level, plus roof space, alterations to the elevations, provision of balconies/roof terrace and formation of lightwells, to provide 4, one bedroom and 1, two bedroom, self-contained flats and 2, three bedroom self-contained maisonettes, together with the construction of a three storey, plus roof space block incorporating balconies/roof terrace to the rear, comprising 1, two bedroom and 1, three bedroom, self-contained maisonettes, associated landscaping and provision of bin stores and 9 bicycle space (OUTLINE APPLICATION)"
Further details can be viewed here. Residents who wish to comment on the application should write to Jan Mondrzejewski, Planning Service, Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, London, SE6 4SW, or e-mail him at planning@lewisham.gov.uk by 13th February including the Application Number, your name, address, comment and reason for interest.
Other planning applications in the ward at the moment:
The construction of a two storey 2 bedroom house attached to the side of 101 Chudleigh Road SE4." See DC/06/63548/X
The construction of a single storey and part two storey extension to the rear of 101 Loampit Vale SE13. See DC/07/64485/FT
I haven't included every single planning application in the ward, just some of the more substantial ones. All recent planning applications can be viewed here. As always, I won't comment on these applications as they may come to my planning committee and I need to go there with an open mind. If you wish to contact a ward councillor in relation to any planning application, please contact Ute.