Brockley Max Starts Tomorrow!

Busy month of festivities coming up in Lewisham, starting with Brockley Max which kicks off at 4pm tomorrow by Brockley Station. Full details here plus see Nick's blog for more info. Loads happening, don't miss it.

Then it's Catford Beer Festival next week, Bike Week 16th-24th June ( full details of rides are on the Lewisham Cyclists' site), Hilly Fields' Fayre on 23rd June and Healthy Brockley on 24th June.

See calendar on the right for details.

Now you see it . . .

Top: Monday evening, railway bridge at the bottom of Ellerdale Road. Bottom: Wednesday morning, same location.

Thank you lovelewisham and graffiti cleaning team for removing this one so quickly! (The picture above was the less offensive bit of the graffiti.)

Planning Applications in Ladywell Ward

A number of new planning applications in the ward:
DC/07/65501/X: 8b Hilly Fields Crescent, London, SE4 1QA. The alteration and conversion of 8b Hilly Fields Crescent SE4, together with the construction of a 2 storey extension to the side, single storey to the rear, dormer extension in the rear roof slope and dormer window in the front and rear roof slopes and the installation of rooflights to the side roof slopes to provide 2 two bedroom, 2 one bedroom and one three bedroom self-contained flats with the provision for refuse and bicycle stores.

DC/07/65425/X: 308 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2RA . The construction a four storey extension to the side and rear of 308 Brockley Road SE4, together with the construction of a roof extension to the front of the existing building to provide 2, one bedroom and 3, two bedroom self-contained units.

DC/07/65094/X: Yard at rear of 97-99, Loampit Vale, Lewisham, SE13. The demolition of the existing industrial buildings and construction of a part three/part four storey building, comprising 1 one bedroom, 10 two bedroom and 1 three bedroom, self-contained flats on the site to the rear of 97-99 Loampit Vale SE13, together with associated landscaping, the provision of a refuse/cycle store, bicycle store, 4 garages, 8 car parking and 14 bicycle spaces with access onto Algernon Road.

If you would like to comment on any of these applications please send an email to planning@lewisham.gov.uk including the Application Number, your name, address, comment and reason for interest.

Me, Jean Lambert MEP and a polar bear called Ted, in the Dog and Bell, Deptford

This picture appeared in today's Mercury in a write-up on the Friends of the Earth Climate Change Pub Quiz. Embarassing to look fatter than the polar bear, but I guess his food supply is shrinking due to melting ice caps etc!

The quiz was good fun - we didn't win, but we did get full marks on the celebrity pictures round (and we beat the unofficial Socialist Party team, not that I'm competitive or anything ;).

New Calendar

Lots of local events coming up over the next few weeks, so I've added a calendar to this page, in the right-hand column. I did it using a list; there is probably a better plug-in specifically designed for calendars that I could have used, but I couldn't find one. Also made our contact details a bit clearer. Any suggestions/comments welcome.

Oops, meant to plug this a few weeks ago

I think Nick on Brockley Central plugged this meet up a few weeks ago, though I can't find the link right now and I said I would too, then failed to do so - sorry! So, better late than never, TONIGHT - Make Your Mark meet up at Toad's Mouth Too, Brockley Road, 6pm.

"The Make Your Mark meetups were started to encourage budding entrepreneurs, creative people, innovators and activists to get together to talk about their ideas.

If you have a plan for a business, a web project, a book, a passion to change something, or simply an idea that you want to try out, come along. This is a friendly place to share a drink and give your idea a bit of love, focus and attention.

We particularly welcome people who want to develop an ethical project or business. Come and find inspiration and practical support to help get your idea off the ground.

Please email Jo Hill if are interested in coming along or sign up at Make Your Mark or contact Jo Hill."

Sounds like a good idea. Wholefood organic fairtrade food co-operative anyone?!

Betting Shop License Hearing

As reported on Nick's Brockley Central blog here and here, the license hearing at Greenwich Magistrates' Court for the application by Portland bookmakers to operate a betting shop at the former Homeview video shop (corner of Adelaide Avenue and Brockley Road) started on Thursday. It was due to last two days, but they didn't finish hearing all the evidence so it has been adjourned until a future date as yet to be announced. Ute attended on both days and gave evidence on the second day. A considerable number of concerned local residents and Romayne (Brockley ward councillor) also attended.

All six councillors from Ladywell and Brockley ward have formally objected to the application. We are concerned that there will be a concentration of betting shops in a small area, to the detriment of the row of shops as a whole and the local community. The slightly bizarre thing that has emerged in all this is that it is a bit of a David vs Goliath case, with Portland, the small independently-run bookies up against the might of Coral and their team of legal advisers. It feels a little strange to be on the same side as the giant versus the small independent business, but it is a case of too many bookies in the area rather than what type of bookies they may be.

Wonder if Corals are taking bets on the outcome of this one ;).

(added on 15/05/07)
Just read an article from yesterday's Observer about a similar situation in Clapton. It seems the law is changing in September and the demand criteria is being removed, which I guess will mean that the only legal grounds upon which current objections to the Portland application are based will have gone. Does that mean that whatever the outcome of the court hearing, the manager of Portland can just sit tight and then apply again in September? Hmmm, will try to find out more.

New Planning Applications in Ladywell Ward

A number of new planning applications in Ladywell ward have been submitted over the past few days, including a new application for the Crown & Anchor Pub on Brookbank Road, a 4-storey extensions to 308 Brockley Road and the construction of a three storey, three bedroom house to the rear of 27 Vicars Hill SE13, fronting Veda Road. Click on the links for more details of the applications and who to contact if you wish to comment on any of them. A full list of recent planning applications in Ladywell Ward can be viewed here.

Ladywell Society Annual Report

Ladywell Society has uploaded its annual report to its website; well worth a read if you want to find out more about the society's activites over the past year. Hopefully this link will work for everyone, not just those who are on the e-mail list, but I'm not certain. Ladywell Society always welcome new members; they meet on the first Tuesday of evey month in the old waiting room in Ladywell Fields, 7.45-9pm, see here for more info.

Election Results (Outside of London)

Mixed election results for the Green Party this time - steady progress in the English council elections, where we held most of our seats and went from 93 to 111 councillors. In Brighton we doubled our seats, jumping from 6 to 12 (something for us to aim for next time round in Lewisham? ;) ) and in Lancaster we went from 7 to 12 councillors. We gained 1 extra councillor in Norwich, taking us to 10 councillors, and were one vote off getting another, which would have made us the main opposition party. In Leicester, where we tied with Labour and lost the coin toss last time round, this time we got 2 councillors elected. Other gains were in Scarborough, Rushcliffe, Herefordshire, Wealdon, Waveney, Mid-Beds, Suffolk, Torridge and Kirklees

A number of near misses, including in Bristol where we were 6 votes off getting a second councillor in the ward where Charlie won last time.

Unfortunately in Scotland we dropped from 7 MSPs to 2, although under the new PR system for local elections we did get our first councillors elected (5 in Glasgow and 3 in Edinburgh). Didn't make any breakthrough in Wales, in fact were beaten by the BNP in a number of regions (ouch).

Won't say anymore, as Natalie, Jim, Peter, Andy, Philip and Matt have all already posted on the results.

This is not a plastic bag

Following hot on the heels of Anya Hindmarch's highly-sought after designer bag and the announcement that Modbury in Devon has just become the first plastic bag free town in Europe, Lewisham town centre management team are about to launch a range of cotton bags, with the double aim of both promoting local shops and reducing waste.

The idea started out as a Green budget proposal. When we first discussed the idea with town centre managers, they liked it so much that they decided to spend a small amount of leftover cash from last year's budget on it straightaway. The first batch have just arrived back from the manufacturers and will be hitting shops soon. I believe the first bags are earmarked for the bigger shopping centres in Lewisham (ie Lewisham, Catford, Brockley), but as our budget proposal also went through, more bags (this time in fairtrade (and I think organic) cotton, as stipulated in our budget agreement) have been ordered, which I believe are going to be aimed at smaller shopping centres (I'm hoping this will include Ladywell, but I have no say over this).

The town centre managers will be offering the bags to shopkeepers at just above cost-price , who can then sell the bags onto customers at £2 each. This means that the scheme should be self-financing (ie sustainable in more ways than one!), as well as making the shops a small profit, and any profit made by the town centre managers will be ploughed back into buying more cloth bags or on other improvements to shopping areas.

So buy them quickly before they are snapped up and put on E-bay for extortionate prices. Could soon be the must have accessory for all shoppers in Lewisham!

New Activities for Young People in Ladywell Ward - Ta-dah!

Following on from my earlier post on extra youth provision for the ward, it's taking a little longer than planned to get everything finalised, but I think it's ok to reveal now that the following activities are in the pipeline, barring any last minute hitches :

Film-making course at the Tabernacle, Algernon Road
Greenwich & Lewisham Young Peoples' Theatre (GLYPT) are going to be running a film-making course on Monday evenings at the Tabernacle on Algernon Road. Still waiting for final confirmation, but hopefully this will start Monday 14th May at 7pm.

New multi-media viewing zone for St Andrews Centre
St Andrew's Centre, where so much of the existing youth provision in Ladywell ward takes place, have been given funding to refurbish a room to create a Multi Media Viewing Zone. This will enable them to hold film and discussion evenings for groups of 12 young people. Part of the deal is that the local Safer Neighbourhood Police, among others, will be able to use the facility occasionally to show films on issues such as carrying knives, drugs etc and lead a discussion with young people.

Nail Art and Dancercise
Crofton Park Baptist Church is going to be the venue for two new activites; Nail Art (2 hours, one evening per week for a 5 week course, to be repeated throughout the year to different young people) and Dancercise (Caboodle, two hours one evening per week throughout the year).

Football, football and more football
Hilly Fields Football (Brockley County Football Club) is (fingers crossed) getting a little extra funding soon to enable them to extend their work and coach over 12s football on Saturday afternoons, in addition to the under 12s they currently coach in the mornings.

These activities have been selected based on the feedback we received at the Ladywell ward forum last November, the surveys the Ladywell Safer Neighbourhood Team carried out with young people in the ward, the discussions of the Ladywell Youth Provision steering group and the bids submitted by service providers. We've also tried to spread activities out geographically in the ward. It's something of a stop-gap measure, to get something in place asap, but once these activities are up and running, the Youth Steering group plans to look at longer-term options for youth provision in the ward, making it more sustainable (ie financially viable) and engaging young people more in the process. If you'd like to get involved with this, please get in touch.

Everyone welcome at climate change pub quiz

From Greenwich & Lewisham Friends of the Earth:

South East London people can have fun, win prizes and help save the planet all at the same time this month – by taking part in a pub quiz designed to help people understand how to combat climate change.

The quiz, which will take place at Deptford’s Dog and Bell public house at 9pm on Sunday 13 May, has been organised by Lewisham and Greenwich Friends of the Earth. Winning teams will receive a range of great prizes including bottles of wine, energy efficient light bulbs and cash.

Explains spokesman Ted Burke: “After more than 100,000 UK voters called on their MPs to support legislation to reduce the UK’s man-made greenhouse gas emissions, a climate change bill is finally passing through Parliament.

“Now we’re keen to raise the public’s awareness of what the Bill does – and doesn’t – deliver in its current form. We believe the Government must set annual targets for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2), the main gas responsible for man-made climate change. Our politicians’ votes can help produce and approve a binding law that’s strong enough for our country to play a real role in stopping greenhouse gases rising to levels that will be disastrous for the planet and for humanity.”

Low-lying and densely populated cities like London were particularly vulnerable to the rise in sea level that a now overwhelming majority of climate scientists expect climate change to cause, says Ted.

Location

The Dog and Bell public house is located at 116, Prince St, London, SE8 3JD. Tel: 020 8692 5664. Cut and paste the postcode into www.streetmap.co.uk

Want to find out more?

Please feel free to email event organisers Sarah Delamer or Ted Burke.

Full Council, Questions to Mayor & Cabinet

Last Wednesday's full council meeting was unusually amicable, with an unprecedented display of councillors of all parties agreeing with each other, constructively amending motions to improve them and then unanimously supporting two motions; one calling on rail companies to put rubbish and recycling bins in all stations, and one calling on TfL to reconsider its plans dealing with the planned East London line closure and to meet with a cross-party group from Lewisham to discuss how to minimise disruption to commuters.

I submitted four questions to the deputy mayor, on lollipop people (or lack thereof recently for Gordonbrock School), to find out how many residents took the council up on its renewable energy grant last year (answer: 1), the borough's carbon footprint and the future of Ladywell Playtower. Responses below, FYI.

Question
Does the council have relief crossing patrol staff to cover when the normal lollipop men/women are off sick for extended periods?
Reply
No, the Council does not retain relief crossing patrol staff. All staff are retained as permanent employees and work at one location. Unfortunately there are occasions when extended absence means that sites will be unattended.

This was in response to concerns from parents of pupils at Gordonbrock Primary School, as the lollipop man had been off sick for a while.

Question
How many residents in the borough received a grant from the council towards renewable energy installations for their homes last year?
Reply
In financial year 2006/07, the year in which this grant scheme was introduced, one application was processed for the installation of solar thermal energy, for a home in Catford. There has been significant interest in the scheme, with private blocks of flats in both Forest Hill and Blackheath enquiring about the grant, however, this has yet to translate into further grants. Encouraging further renewable installations in residential property has been identified as a priority by the council and is one of the reasons why the Energy Action Zone (EAZ) has been established. EAZ officers will undertake door to door surveys, initially in Downham, Evelyn and Brockley, to assist residents to identify energy efficiency savings. However, they will also recommend renewable energy installations where residents are able to access funding. It is hoped that this will significantly increase the take up of renewable energy in Lewisham.

Question
Has any attempt ever been made to establish what the council's current carbon footprint is, and do you agree that we need to move towards calculating costs of projects in terms of carbon emissions as well as financial cost?
Reply
The council’s carbon footprint has been estimated at 44,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum for energy used within council operations. This includes those domestic gas and electricity bills paid by the council. Of this amount, the council currently purchases 80% ‘green’ electricity, which means that just under 17,000 tonnes of the above figure is already offset.
The council is working towards using life cycle costing wherever possible when evaluating project costs, for instance, the Building Schools for the Future programme used life cycle costing. Life cycle costing is based on finance rather than carbon. However, energy is a critical factor in life cycle calculations, meaning that environmental costs are taken into consideration through the cost of long term energy usage. To calculate true carbon costs it is necessary to know the embodied energy of everything procured through a project. At present, insufficient work has been undertaken nationally to provide this information and thus it is not currently possible to produce accurate carbon emission figures for all stages of a project. However, long term, when further carbon information is available, it will enable accurate life cycle calculations to be undertaken for projects.

Question
As part of the public consultation about the expansion of St Mary's Conservation area last year, residents were asked their views on the future use of Ladywell Playtower, (a grade 2 listed building). A number of community, housing and mixed uses were suggested by residents and the Council’s property service was asked to "investigate and promote its repair and re-use and "continue to liaise and negotiate with developers interested in the site". Is there any progress to report on this?
Reply
Consultants have been appointed to advise on the cost of bringing the remaining part of the Playtower into good repair as well as design options for a mixed use development that would include a refurbished Playtower. This work will be completed in May and will be used by Officers to advise the Mayor on options for bringing the Playtower back into use. Discussions with interested developers are ongoing but there is nothing to report yet.

Reminder: Area Forum Monday 30th April, 7.30pm

Just a quick reminder that the area forum for Brockley, Crofton Park and Ladywell is taking place tomorrow (Monday), 7.30pm at St Andrews Church, Brockley Road.

The first part of the meeting will focus on community safety (how the Safer Neighbourhood teams are working), then there will be time for general Q&A to councillors. We would also like to hear residents' views on how to improve community engagement.

Hope to see you there.

In a nutshell . . .

It's been suggested that my previous post was a tad too detailed, so here is an attempt at a more concise response to the Ladywell Rose:

The Ladywell Rose story 'Greens back tree massacre' was an ill-informed pack of lies by an ex-councillor who frankly should know better and I take it as a slur on my integrity. The article claims that at a 1st February public meeting to discuss the planning application for Ladywell Fields, Green councillors "defied local people and gave their backing to the tree cutting plan". This is untrue. I was the only councillor present (from any ward or political party) and as such was asked to chair the meeting. As the chair of the meeting I did my utmost to remain impartial, to refrain from expressing an opinion either way and to give all those present an opportunity to speak. Local Labour representative Paul Newing attended the meeting, but did not speak.

For the record, I was uncomfortable with the idea of 68 trees being felled, but also keen that the opportunity the EU money provided to improve the Northern Field was not lost. I was therefore pleased when following the walkabout with park users and officers, a revised plan was drawn up which resulted in a reduced number of trees being lost, and an overall gain in the numbers of trees after replanting.

Cllr Mike Keogh has been heavily involved with Ladywell Fields Users' Group and the QUERCUS project since its inception. As he has been so heavily involved in the project, and as the company he works for are contracted to carry out some of the work in the park, he quite rightly took no part in the planning decision when it was considered by his planning committee on 15th March 2007.

It is always sad when trees are cut down, but there are sometimes valid reasons for doing so. In this case, as I understand it, some are being removed to enable the river to be moved to the centre of the field (a key part of the project, which in my opinion will enhance the park for both local people and wildlife), some are diseased, some are too close together and need to be thinned to enable them to flourish and some non-native species are being replaced with more native species. If the plan was to stick a motorway through Ladywell Fields, I would be the first to chain myself to the diggers. This is not the case. There will be a short-term loss in biodiversity while the work is being carried out, but I honestly believe this will be outweighed by the longer-term improvements in wildlife habitat and attractiveness of the park to local people.

"Greens backed tree massacre" (according to Labour Ladywell Rose)

I generally despise tit for tat party political point scoring, and get fed up in council meetings when parties start off on how good Labour/Lib Dem/Tory controlled such and such a borough is, or how low their council tax is compared to Labour/Lib Dem/Tory controlled XYZ. Maybe when Greens control a council, we will end up doing the same, but I'd hope not. In our newsletters, we prefer to focus on our achievements, and if we are critical of other parties, to suggest constructive alternatives. However, having read the Ladywell Labour Rose that came through my door today, I am rising to the bait, gloves are off, and I'm furious at the misrepresentation, if not downright lies it contains.

In brief Labour's leaflet says that Ladywell's Green Councillors "backed a tree slashing programme to cut down 68 trees" in Ladywell Fields. It goes on to say "at a special consultation meeting in Ladywell on 1st February, Green Councillors defied local people and gave their backing to the cutting plan. Thankfully, Council planning officers could see the strength of local feeling and revised the plan so that 31 of the trees were saved and a tree planting programme was increased from 20 to 49. Questions are being asked about why Green councillors are not representing the views of the local people who put them in office and why they are so eager to cut down trees in the park. Local Labour representative Paul Newing, who attended the meeting and backed local residents said: "The behaviour of Green councillors in Ladywell is a long way from the soft and cuddly image they like to portray" [not quite as cuddly as the last Ladywell cllrs, IMHO ;)] "The Greens need to learn that they can't just make up their minds - they should listen to local people. What are councillors for, if not to represent the people in their ward? Labour Action Team Members are keeping a close eye on things in Ladywell and will continue to step in when the Greens decide that they know better than local people."

OK, now for a bit of background info and some facts.
1. The plan to which they refer is the QUERCUS project, which involves £460,000 of EU money being spent on improvements to the north field in Ladywell Fields. The Labour run executive of Lewisham are fully behind the scheme, as reflected in Cllr Susan Wise's comments in this recent press release. The planning application details can be found on Lewisham's planning website.
2. Ladywell Fields are actually in Lewisham Central ward, but as a lot of residents from Ladywell use the fields regularly, we take an active interest in them and Mike has been an active member of Ladywell Fields Users' Group for many years.
3. Ladywell Fields Users' Group and a number of other stakeholders were closely involved throughout the development of the plans for the Quercus Project.
4. When the planning application was submitted, members of Ladywell Society, Ladywell Fields Users' Group and residents were somewhat shocked to find it involved the removal of 68 trees of various species and age, which was not mentioned during earlier consultations. As a result of this, 12 objections were received by the planning department, compared to 3 letters in favour. When there are more than a few objections, it is common practice for the planning department to arrange a public meeting so that residents and applicants can discuss the application further, prior to the application going to a planning committee.
5. The public meeting was arranged for 1st February, which unfortunately clashed with planning committee B, which Mike is on, and the Ladywell Safer Neighbourhoods Panel meeting, which Ute went to, so I was the only one of us able to go to the public meeting on the Ladywell Fields application.
6. A few weeks before the meeting, a planning officer asked me if I would be willing to chair the meeting. I said I could, but wouldn't it be better if one of the Lewisham Central ward councillors chaired it, as it was in their ward. However, none of them could make it to the meeting (probably for perfectly good reasons) so when I got there I found out that I was chairing.
7. 16 people attended the meeting on 1st February, included ex-cllr Paul Newing, who is quoted in the Labour Ladywell Rose. I was careful to remain strictly neutral both as chair and because I am on a planning committee (you can't have made up your mind about an application before it comes to your planning committee, you are expected to keep an open mind).
8. Council officers outlined the application details, including what trees they planned to remove and why they felt it was necessary. There was then time for residents to comment on the scheme, and the vast majority of those who spoke expressed concern about the tree loss. As far as I remember, ex-cllr Paul Newing did not speak at all, either for or against, but another former Labour councillor, Nick Taylor, who is currently chair of Lewisham Environment Trust, made a number of constructive comments.
9. None of those present at the meeting expressed outright opposition to the QUERCUS scheme as a whole, the sticking point was the number of trees earmarked to be cut down. In the hope that a compromise could be reached, it was agreed that officers and objectors would meet at Ladywell Fields the following Saturday and have a walkaround to look at the trees together, and see if any compromise could be reached. 7 residents and 3 officers took part in the walkabout, neither ex-cllr Paul Newing, Vikki Mills (pictured holding a "protect Ladywell trees" placard on the Labour leaflet) or Cllr Edward Mark (Labour councillor for Lewisham Central) attended.
10. After the walkabout, which both sides felt was constructive, a revised plan was submitted which involved 37 trees being removed, rather than 68 and extra replanting so that there would be a net gain of 10 trees. Not all objectors were happy with this, but others felt that a reasonable compromise had been made, and the chair of the Ladywell Fields Users' Group commented that he felt it had resulted in a better scheme overall, as did Lib Dem councillor for Lewisham Central Andrew Milton.
11. The application went to planning committee B on 15th March and was passed. As Mike has been so involved with Ladywell Fields Users group, Ladywell Society and Lewisham Environment Trust over the years, as well as the fact that the company he works for, Envirowork Lewisham had the contract for some of the work for the QUERCUS Project, he withdrew from that part of the meeting and took no part in considering the application.

So, just to clarify, at no time have the Green councillors in Ladywell been pushing for 68 trees to be chopped down in Ladywell Fields and there was no gallant intervention by Paul Newing or, for that matter, the Lewisham Central Labour councillor to save 31 trees from the clutches of evil chain-saw wielding Greens, far from it. At the 1st February meeting, NO Green councillors "defied local opinion and gave their backing to the tree cutting plan"; I was the only one of us at the meeting, and as chair and a planning committee member, I remained strictly neutral.

We have been broadly supportive of a scheme that is likely to improve the north field of Ladywell Fields considerably, as are the Labour Mayor and Cabinet and Andrew Milton, the Lewisham Central councillor who takes an active interest in Ladywell Fields. I think we were all pleased that the council officers listened to local people's concerns at the 1st February public meeting.

Mike is an ecologist by training, has been heavily involved with the Ladywell Fields Users' group for many years and was involved with the QUERCUS project from early stages. He is 100% committed to working to improve Ladywell Fields and has worked closely with officers and LFUG at every stage of the project. Mike knows his stuff on biodiversity, much more than I do, and I'm happy to trust him on these matters. Precisely because of his involvement over the years and his job at Envirowork, he was right to withdraw from the planning meeting for this application.

We recently received a letter from a local couple expressing concern at the "environmental vandalism" they felt was taking place in Ladywell Fields, with shrubbery where song thrushes nest being cut back. Mike was on holiday at this time and as the work had been carried out by the company he worked for, Ute and I thought it best to go and take a look ourselves. A small area of shrubbery had been cleared, but we were assured that the area was checked for birds nests beforehand and no nests from this year were found. I accept this explanation, as does Cllr Susan Wise according to her press release. Envirowork Lewisham are doing great work training up young people for jobs in parks management and conservation work and I have no reason to believe they would be destroying birds nests. I accept that there will be a short-term loss of wildlife habitat and biodiversity while the project is in progress, but I am optimistic than there will be a significant long-term gain, both to wildlife and local residents.

This latest Labour Ladywell Rose is the cheapest, most underhand and most inaccurate bit of political propaganda I've come across in my (admittedly fairly limited) time in politics and Paul Newing should be ashamed of himself. As for the line "What are councillors for, if not to represent the people in their ward?" - exactly - isn't that a lesson the previous Ladywell ward councillors learnt to their expense on election day last year?

Having got that off my chest, I'll now get back to the serious business of representing the views of residents in Ladywell, dealing with casework enquiries, pushing for better youth provision and the countless other things we do as councillors.

Oh, and by the way, the Ladywell Fields Kids Wildlife Club last Saturday, that Green councillors helped to set up, was a huge success, with more than 30 children turning up and all enthusiastically saying they would be back next month.

Lewisham Walking Festival 2007- Ladywell Walks

The programme for the 2007 Lewisham Walking Festival is now available and it has more events than ever before. There are a number of walks in Ladywell, including one that Mike and other members of Ladywell Society are leading on May 22nd:

Where has all the Water Gone in Ladywell?
Where Is It Going?
Find out with the Ladywell Society

The Ladywell Society guys lead this informative tour around the damper parts of Ladywell, the original heart of Lewisham, keeping close to Ladywell Road. The walk and talk will feature the mineral springs, the ditch, the Lady’s Well, Playtower, the Ravensbourne, QUERCUS Project and the Water Sculpture at the hospital. Despite the aquatic nature of this walk, you won’t actually get wet unless it rains!

Linear walk of 2 hours, 1.5 miles taking in local history and nature. Suitable for all ages and abilities. Toilets at points on the walk. Bring a drink. Dogs on leads ok.

Meet at 19.00 outside the café on the corner of Algernon Rd and Mercy Terrace, just off
Ladywell Road past the railway line.
Bus: P4, 284, 122, 484 Rail: Ladywell
Finish: Lewisham Hospital, Riverside Block, William Carver Bridge
Rail: Ladywell Buses: 436, 75, 47, 199, 54, 208, 136, all from Lewisham High Street.

FREE

Plus the regular Out and About in Ladywell Fields Healthy Walks.

Lewisham Green Party Summer Outings

Lewisham Green Party's annual trip to Whitstable has become something of a legend over the years, which invariably involves Dean getting over-excited on the train on the way there and blowing up his inflatable beach ball/shark and other beach accoutrements in the carriage. However this year, as much as we love Whitstable, we've decided to take a year off and explore pastures new. In fact, we're having two outings. All members and supporters welcome:

Saturday 9th June: Leisurely bike ride to the Lea River. Meet at 12.00 at St Andrew's Church on the corner of Brockley Road and Wickham Road.

Saturday 28th July: Yalding Organic Gardens, Kent. Details to follow, but hold the date!

New Gates for Hilly Fields

The new gates for the entrance to Hilly Fields from Eastern Road have now gone up, and I think they look great. Well done to Hilly Fields Users Group, students from Prendergast and Heather Burrell, the local artist who made the gates (she also designed the gates at the Creekside Centre, among other things). I believe Gordonbrock pupils are also going to be involved in some way, with bulb planting if I remember correctly.

Unfortunately the pot-holed surface of Eastern Road and the path up to Hilly Fields doesn't enhance the entrance much - I've contacted highways to see if we can at least get the pot-holes filled in - the whole road needs resurfacing really, but as it's not a key road for public transport it probably won't be high on the priority list.