One of the things we funded through last year’s locality fund was a bench for the Leybridge Estate.  The Tenants and Residents Association (TRA) wanted a bench so residents could take advantage of the green surroundings of the estate, and also so residents of the Woodville sheltered housing block had somewhere to take the weight off their feet on the way back from the Lee Green shops.

I went up to Leybridge tonight for the TRA’s regular meeting and was really pleased to see the bench has now been installed - and very good it looks too.  Thanks go to Lewisham Homes and Glendale for arranging the installation.

If you’ve got ideas for this year’s locality fund, then we’d like to hear from you!

A couple of other issues raised at the TRA meeting that I’m taking up:

• Residents are concerned that the estate parking scheme isn’t being enforced properly - I’m taking this up with Lewisham Homes and asking them to speak to their contractor.
• Both the gates at the entrances to the estate have faults - again, I’ve taken this up with Lewisham Homes.

Lee Green’s first local assembly took place last night.   There was a great turn-out - well over 100 people gave up a lovely summer’s evening to get together and talk about how we can improve our local area. 

The ward assembly replaces the old area forum - which we used to share with Blackheath and Lewisham Central wards.   It’ll meet up to 4 times a year (the forum was only held once a year).  

Issues raised by local people in the workshop session included:

• The Leegate Centre - need for regeneration
• Parking and traffic issues
• Manor Park
• Need for more local facilities - particularly for young people
• The plans for Northbrook School’s new building
• Pavements

A temporary coordinating group has been established to take these issues forward and plan the next assembly meeting, which will be sometime in September.   We’ll also discuss the locality fund at the September meeting.   You can keep in touch with progress on the assembly by visiting the assembly website, checking back at this site, or by signing up for e-Focus.

Finally, a quick word of thanks to Ade, Paul, Petra and the rest of the local assembly team who did a great job pulling last night’s event together.

It’s the 8th Lee Green Open Studios event this weekend and next. For the next two weekends, 10th & 11th and 17th & 18th you’ll be able to visit Lee Green’s 38 artists, designers and makers to view, talk about, and buy their work. Each of the studios will be open on the Saturdays from 12pm until 7pm, and on the Sundays from 12pm to 6pm. I’m hoping to pop in to see some of the artists after the Lewisham Homes Open Day.

You can pick up the program for the event from either Stark Gallery or You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, or visit the Open Studios website

Plus, don’t forget the Lee Green Locality Fund has sponsored a special one off Tall Lighthouse Poetry, Music and Comedy Night on Saturday 10th at 8pm at Stark Gallery to accompany the Open Studio Event. See Paul’s blog for more details, and I’ll see you there!

Coming home from work tonight, I was really pleased to see that the new bins we paid for with this year’s locality fund have been installed on Eltham Road. The one in the picture’s just by the crossing outside the Hyde Housing office.

We chose the stainless steel design to match the seating that Transport for London installed when they remodelled the junction - and I think they look really good!

We also paid for the planters outside the Lewisham Homes office - both good examples of how we’re trying to make Leegate look better.

Do let us know what you think.