The group will be holding its first meeting this Wednesday, 24th March, at 7.30pm at the New Testament Church of God on Lee High Road.

Everyone’s invited to come along and discuss how we can work together to breathe life into the Centre and develop a community vision for the longer term.   We’ve drafted a constitution for the new group (which was discussed at the last assembly meeting on 19th January and will be put forward for adoption on the meeting on Wednesday) and we’re also looking for people to join the group’s committee.

We’ll also be updating everyone on what’s happened so far:

• The launch of our online survey at www.tinyurl.com/leegate – also available in hard copy to collect from retailers in the centre in coming weeks.
• The appointment of our new Town Centre Manager
• The owners’ offer of an empty unit rent-free to house our new youth group and other community activities

We’ll also have a speaker from the Meanwhile Project, a national project to encourage interim use of empty commercial premises.

Everyone in Lee Green Ward should have received a flyer about this in the past week or so.  It promises to be a positive evening, I hope as many local people as possible will be able to make it.

Surveys like the one on the right should have reached households in the area over the last couple of weeks.  Please return it to the FREEPOST address within three weeks of receiving it.

I was really pleased to see that Car Clubs are given a strong plug in the survey document. If you’re new to car clubs, they’re basically a self-service pay-as-you-go hire car you can use for as little as an hour at a time.  More info here. We  now have three cars in the ward – provided by Streetcar – on Manor Park (junction with Lee High Road), Fernbrook Road, and Holme Lacey Road.  Clearly if we can get more Streetcars in the ward, then sharing a car club car becomes a more viable proposition and more people will feel able to give up their car (or even just their second car!).

I was less pleased to see that in the 20 different questions the Council asks residents about their CPZ, not one concerns the hours of operation, despite this being a major bone of contention locally – and one the Mayor and his officers are well aware of from the Assembly’s work and complaints from myself and my colleagues.  I would therefore encourage residents who’ve received a questionnaire to use the ‘Any other comments?’ section to make any points they wish to about the hours of operation of the zone.   Controlled parking might be lucrative for the Mayor (£1.3million a year last time I asked) but that’s no excuse not to listen to residents’ genuine concerns about the overkill of 9am to 7pm CPZs.

If you’re in a road in Lee Green Ward that doesn’t have parking restrictions, you should have received a booklet like the one on the right over the last week or so*. The consultation explains what’s happened to date and then asks if you have a parking problem in your area, asks how you’d like this addressed (a CPZ, extra restrictions like yellow lines on corners, or just for the area to be left as it is).  The consultation also asks about car clubs, which is good to see.

I’d make two comments – firstly, this consultation has gone to to every road in the ward without restrictions at present.  I’m sure in amongst those roads there are several that don’t have a parking problem, and just want to be left alone.  That’s fair enough, but I hope people will appreciate that it’s only by doing this once-and-for-all consultation that we’ll be able to find that out.  If this is the case on your road, then please do indicate that and return the consultation – if you don’t speak up, then your voice won’t be heard.

Secondly, if people do want a CPZ in their area, then I’d encourage them to use the ‘other comments’ section to state exactly what sort of CPZ they’d like to see.  Many, many people have asked me why we can’t have the 2-hour CPZs that exist in other boroughs like Greenwich and Bromley.  I think that is what’s needed in an area like ours, where the problem is all-day commuter parking by stations, rather than shoppers, or people visiting the hospital.  If you’d prefer a two-hour arrangement, then please do make that point in the comments section – otherwise we’ll end up with more 9am to 7pm CPZs that make the Mayor £1.3million, but cause tonnes of inconvenience for everyone else.

Finally, if anyone has any issues they’d like to raise with me, then do please get in touch.

*update – this excludes residents on Holme Lacey and Dallinger Roads, and a small section of Manor Lane – these roads will be presented with more detailed proposals for a CPZ covering their roads.  I’m told the consultation document for this area should be ready in the next four weeks or so.

The action kicks off at 6.30pm and continues til 8.30pm – no need to book,  just turn up.  For more info contact Lewisham Youth Service – Muhammad Rahmani at muhammad.rahmani {at} lewisham.gov(.)uk

This regular session has been kick-started by the Lee Green Assembly’s work to establish youth facilities in Lee Green Ward.  Many thanks to Muhammad and his colleagues at the youth service for securing extra funding in order to run these sessions.

Directions to the sports centre can be found here – access is off Upwood Road.

Manor Park

I explained that the £22,500 we allocated to the park at our September meeting has now been supplemented with a further £32,500 from the Parks Department, meaning £55,000 will be invested to bring the disused building in the park back into use.  Work will take place from April, and should be completed by September.  This will deliver:

• A base for 2-3 members of staff from the parks contractor
• A meeting venue for use by the community (e.g. the Manor Park User Group or youth club) and local schools
• Fully accessible toilet facilities
• The potential to re-open the Kiosk facility that once existed.

The ‘Trinity Enrichment Project’ – previously known as the Northbrook Primary Transition Project – is already using the park as a ‘Forest School’ for kids who are looking to move to secondary school from one of our local primaries, and clearly the building will make this kind of use so much easier.  The addition of toilets will also make the kid’s play park so much easier to use for parents.   This is all really good news, and I can’t wait to see the finished product in September.

I also updated the Assembly on the bridge project.  This is a proposal to create a bridge across the Quaggy, enabling a third entrance to the park from Longhurst Road.  The Assembly backed this proposal in principle at the September meeting.  The latest info we have is that the Council are seeking to meet with EDF (London Electric) to clarify their requirements for access to a small substation on the Longhurst side of the river.  As I understand it, the substation doesn’t need to be moved – the Council just needs to work out what access EDF require to it so they can plan accordingly.  A planned meeting in January didn’t happen due to the snow, but they’re hopeful they’ll meet up soon.  Once this is done, a planning application will be submitted and residents will be consulted in the usual way.

Leegate

The Assembly approved the draft constitution for the Friends of Leegate Group (now to be branded ‘Lee Green Lives’).  An AGM will be called in due course to elect officers and formally constitute the group.  Everyone who’s signed up to be involved will be invited – if you haven’t already signed up, or aren’t sure whether you’re on the supporters’ list, give me a shout and I’ll make sure you find out about the AGM.

Secondly, we launched our Leegate Survey.  This is intended to guide the work of the group (and the new Town Centre Manager) by establishing what the local community’s priorities are – for both short term and longer term improvements to the centre.  You can complete the survey at www.tinyurl.com/leegate

The Lee Green Lives group are also hoping to share in the use of the shop unit in the centre which St Modwen have provided (see youth provision below)

Finally, residents asked why the Council had bought the Catford Centre from St Modwen’s but had not done the same with Leegate.  The answer offered by the Deputy Mayor was that Catford is fully-occupied and can therefore be relied on to pay its way, while Leegate, because it is half-empty, wouldn’t cover the costs of the loan required to pay for it.  This shows quite a short-sighted attitude on behalf of the Council, in my opinion.  Given no detailed modelling has been done on this, I think this is something we should still pursue with the Council.  Who knows what might happen if longer term leases were on offer at the centre?

Energy Action Zones

During the break, residents got the chance to meet Carmel from the Council’s Energy Action Zone team.  Lee Green is an Energy Action Zone until April, which basically means a team will be out and about knocking on doors, giving advice on energy efficiency and advising whether you might be eligible for a grant or discounted fuel bill.  You’ll also get two free energy saving light bulbs!   You can read more about the Energy Action Zones here. If you can’t wait for the team to get to you, then you can book an appointment to see them by calling Sue Cole on 8314 8392.

Youth provision

Muhammad Rahmani from the Youth Service explained the problems we’ve had securing a location for the Lee Green Youth Club.  The latest possibility is to use a unit in the Leegate Centre, which St Modwens have agreed to provide rent-free for a year.  This will require some work and is currently being looked at by the Council.

In the meantime, from February 5th, there’ll be sports activities for 13-19 year olds at Colfe’s School Leisure Centre (access via Upwood Road) every Friday from 6.30pm until 9.30pm.

After Muhammad had given his update, two young people who’ve attended the youth leadership training we paid for through the locality fund gave us a presentation on their views of Lee Green, and then got the audience to vote using large pieces of coloured paper on what they thought of some parts of Lee Green.  I found the results very thought-provoking.

Parking

Finally, we got on to discuss parking – always a hot potato.  Bill Tarplett from the Council’s highways team gave a presentation on what’s going to happen between now and April on parking.  You can read more about this in detail here. Bill did a good job answering the technical aspects of the consultation, and of the operation of the zones currently.  However, many of the changes residents would like to see (like two hour restrictions, rather than all-day-long ones) aren’t in his gift – they’re issues of policy rather than operation.  The people who set the policy are the Mayor and his cabinet.  They say they can’t afford to reduce the CPZ hours at present.  Given they make £1.3million from the operation of controlled parking zones each year, you can understand their reluctance to give up this cash cow.  However, the fact they’re raking in such a profit surely negates their pleas that they can’t even afford to consult people on it.  The assembly has injected some common sense into the discussion by securing the ward-wide review – now we need to keep campaigning for a two-hour option.

Overall, a really good night.  Tuesday was the last Assembly before the local elections, so I’d like to thank everyone who’s attended one of the seven Assembly meetings we’ve had so far.  Chairing them has been challenging at times, but mostly good fun, and I hope people have found them as useful as I have.

The Icarus Club takes place every Thursday from 8pm at The Station pub on Staplehurst Road.  There’s jazz, blues and acoustic music.  It’s absolutely free, and apparently turning into a very popular night.  Do get yourself along.  More details on their blog here.

They’re also organising an event at Blackheath Halls this Friday,  when Darrell Scott will be headlining.  More details about that event, and the chance to buy tickets online here.

On the agenda will be the usual assembly priorities:

• Manor Park – with an update on the propsed work on the Manor Park building and bridge (more details on Paul’s blog)
• Leegate – we’ll be launching our residents’ survey on how local people would like to see Leegate change in the short and longer term
• Youth provision – an update from the youth service on how they’re propsing to spend the £20,000 we’ve provided for youth work in Lee Green
• Parking – a member of staff from highways will be on hand to tell us how the Mayor’s responded to our statement of community views on parking

Should be a good evening – and it’s our last assembly until May/June, so do brave the cold if you can!

The report being considered tonight responded to our statement by making three recommendations to the Mayor:

• That all residents in Lee Green ward who aren’t covered by existing Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) will be consulted on the potential introduction of parking restrictions (including the option for a two hour zone where appropriate).  This will happen by April 2010.
• That existing CPZs will be retained on their current hours, and that if funds are available in future, hours of operation can be reviewed.
• The Hither Green East CPZ which was brought in last year will be reviewed by the end of this year, and the extensions to that zone and the Old Road/Bankwell Road zone that are currently being installed will be reviewed after one year of operation.  The original Old Road/Bankwell Road zone will also be reviewed at this point.

All the reviews and consultations will include questions on:

• If you’re in a CPZ, do you wish to retain it?
• If you’re not, would you like one?
• If you’re not in a CPZ, and you don’t want one, would you like safety works like yellow lining on corners to be carried out?

I spoke at Mayor and Cabinet and made the following points:

• It’s good that the assembly’s views have been considered, and that money’s been found to ask the rest of the ward about parking all at once (so as to hopefully avoid the piecemeal solutions we’ve had in the past that have simply moved the problem around)
• However, the assembly didn’t call for more CPZs – we called for CPZs with different hours, and other solutions like homezones and car clubs, to be explored.  Crucially, the concept of car clubs needs to be explained by the Council – it’s no good just asking people if they want one – we need to explain the concept and benefits (the Sustainable Development Select Committee report does a good job at this!) and this is something I’ve already raised with the Deputy Mayor at a meeting of the Full Council.
• The key word in our original motion was parking solutions - not just restrictions, as the Mayor’s report seems to assume.  A small change, but an important change of emphasis. The last thing we want is the assembly’s work being used as a trojan horse to push through more 9am-7pm CPZs where they’re not wanted.

I said I hoped officers would take that on board and ensure the consultations and reviews are carried out in the spirit of the assembly’s statement.  In particular, that third question about safety works should also ask about other solutions like homezones and car clubs.

I also asked that officers to prepare an update for the Assembly on 19th Jan explaining the decision that’s been made and where they’re up to with each of the recommendations.

Finally, there was some amusement about the Mayor’s interview in the NewsShopper, where he admits to owning no less than three cars himself (not including the ones the Council gives him use of).  He assured us this doesn’t colour his judgement when it comes to parking..!   In the same spirit of openness, I guess I should declare that I share a Ford Fiesta with my partner, which we sometimes manage to park on our own street.

Manor Park

The assembly heard from Sam Kirk of the Council’s environment team, who explained about the new dog control orders that will be coming in soon.  Dog fighting in our parks, and poor management of animals by a minority of dog owners was a real concern at the last assembly. The assembly thanked Sam for her report and agreed to consider this again if the new measures don’t prove successful.

The assembly also voted to allocate £22,500 towards bringing the old building in the park back into use.  We’re hoping to do this in conjunction with the parks department and the new parks contractor when they’re appointed.  The intention is that up to three members of staff would be based in the building (including a gardener) and the building would also be available for community use.

Finally, the Assembly agreed in principle to support the concept of a bridge to provide a new access to the park from Longhurst Road, though they noted that this is subject to planning permission.

Youth provision

Muhammad Rahmani from the Council’s Youth Service updated the Assembly on the summer schemethat took place and explained that we are still looking for a permanent venue for our youth club (though we were delighted to learn that the New Testament Church are interested in discussing this with us).   Muhammad also outlined the extra funding he’s been able to attract to add to the £20,000 we’d already allocated to this project.  Special thanks to Muhammad for popping in during his week off, and for all his hard work on this to date.

Leegate

The coordinating group updated the assembly on progress to date, and the good news that we’ll soon have our own town centre manager (shared with Crofton Park and Ladywell).  The assembly agreed to allocate the remaining £2,500 of the Mayor’s fund to Leegate.

Parking

I explained that we’re still to hear back from the Mayor on our ‘Statement of Community Views’.   I also updated people on the Hither Green East and Old Road/Bankwell CPZ extensions, which should be implemented soon.   Residents in those areas should have received a permit application form by now.

Locality Fund

This was the major item.  This year, we’d decided to ask the assembly to prioritise the bids received.  Each table was asked to choose five projects from the twelve bids, with the intention that we’d produce a prioritised list and fund them in order of priority.  This worked pretty well, and the results are as follows:

1. Lee City Safe – £1,300 to extend the CitySafe project across the ward and develop the skills and self confidence of children and young people in Lee Green
2. The primary transition project in Manor Park – £2,385 for fencing and pond improvements so students can use the park safely for study
3. Lee Green youth forum – £1,400 for two days of workshops for young people to find out their views on the ward
4. Lee fair share time bank – £400 for trips to the coast and purchase of a digital camera
5. Manor House Gardens User Group – £1,235 to reprint the ‘History and Wildlife of Manor House Gardens’ leaflet
6. FUSS – £1,000 to refresh their planting on Staplehurst Road
7. St Winifred’s Junior School – £1,000 for a Peace Garden and vegetable beds

After those projects were funded, we had £1,280 left.  As there was a tie for the next most popular project, we’ve agreed to discuss with Northbrook School (£500 for a bench on Staplehurst Road) and The Users and Friends of Manor House Library (£1,000 for a heritage board) how we can reduce/amend their proposals to fit the budget.

All in all, a really positive, productive meeting.  Next one on January 19th.

On the agenda:

• Youth provision – an update on the summer scheme and Lee Green Youth Club
• Leegate – update on work so far and an opportunity to join in
• Manor Park – a proposal to improve the derelict building in the park
• Consultation on the ideas we’ve received for spending the 2009 £10,000 locality fund

Hope you can make it – refreshments are provided and the meeting should be over by 9.30pm.  Buses 178, 122, 321 and 261 stop practically outside and there’s full disabled access.