As you might be aware from his recent letters in The Mercury and the News Shopper,  local resident Paul Taylor is collecting memories of the two St. Winifred’s Schools in Lee Green.   All Paul’s brothers and sisters went to St. Winifred’s, his youngest sister has been school secretary there for more than 20 years, and his late mother played the piano at the school for ballet classes.

Paul’s keen to hear from any ‘old girls’ or ‘old boys’ who have memories, stories or photos of their time at St. Winifred’s that they’d like to share - anything that would capture a moment or a memory.   Both schools are included - infants and juniors (the school split in 1969 when Effingham Road became the infants and the new school on Newstead Road became the Juniors - just as it is today).

Paul’s about halfway through his project - it’s not an official history, just a collection of what you have to offer.   How it will turn out depends very much on what Paul receives from local people, so I promised him I’d mention his project here and in E-Focus.

You can email memories to Paul’s colleague Terry at terencegibbs {at} onetel(.)com or send them via post to Paul at: Paul Taylor, Flat 2, Syon Lodge, 132 Burnt Ash Hill, Lee, SE2 OHY. 

This sounds like a really interesting project, so if you can help Paul out, please do!

I went along to the Mayor and Cabinet meeting tonight as a new round of Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) consultations were on the agenda - including here in Lee Green.

There are three consultations proposed:

• To extend the recent Hither Green East CPZ to cover Kellerton Road and the section of Manor Lane between Soutbrook Road and Kellerton Road.  See map here.
• To extend the Bankwell Road/Old Road CPZ to cover a larger area from Murillo Road up to Brightfield Road.  See map here.
• To introduce a new CPZ covering Holme Lacey and Dallinger Roads and a short stretch of Manor Lane.  There’s a possiblity this might be a two hour CPZ.  See map here.

I’d stress that all that’s been agreed is to consult on a detailed proposal for these areas.  Nothing will happen without a majority vote by residents in favour of the scheme.

The timetables for consulting aren’t firm at present.   The Hither Green East extension and the Bankwell/Old Road extension will be consulted on first - they’re the joint top priorities in the whole borough (though they’re numbered 1&2, it’s been confirmed by officers and the Mayor that they’ll be consulted on together).   Holme Lacey and Dallinger will take a bit longer - it’s priority 8.   If you want to be kept up to date on progress, check back here, or subscribe to E-Focus using the box on the right.

Have a good read of the report, and feel free to let me have your thoughts.  As I say, all that’s been decided is to consult, and I’m well aware there are usually strong opinions for and against parking controls!

Residents along Southbrook Road will be aware that Transport for London proposed earlier this year to install fixed stops along their road to serve the 273 route.

Following objections from residents, the plans for Southbrook Road have now been revised.    Stops will now be situated outside the Northbrook pub and the small industial estate opposite, with no stops outside residents’ homes.   Southbrook Road residents should receive a letter from TfL to this effect in due course.  

Unfortunately retaining the hail and ride system is apparently not an option, as this is being removed right across London.

Stops along Fernbrook Road will now be located:

• Opposite Hither Green Station where the timetable frame is now (Petts Wood direction)
• Just west of the junction with Fernbrook Crescent (230b) (Petts Wood direction)
• Outside the Manor Cafe (Petts Wood direction)
• Outside 65/67 (Lewisham Direction)
• Opposite 68a (Lewisham Direction)
• Directly outside Hither Green Station (Lewisham direction)

Manor Park will proceed pretty much as planned, with an additional set of stops to be located on Staplehurst Road in the area people use at present to board and alight.  

If you’ve ever walked down Southbrook Road, you’ve probably noticed the walls outside the flats at the Burnt Ash Road end.     Well, not so much the walls, but the lack of them - as the photo to the right shows.

We’ve made sure Lewisham Homes are aware of the problem - including through a walkabout last year - but due to tight budgets, they’ve been unable to fix them up to now.

However, the launch of Lewisham Homes’ resident-led programme has meant we might be able to secure some funding.    There’s half a million pounds up for grabs, and bids for funding will be judged by fellow residents.

Sven and I popped round tonight to chat to residents about making an application.   Every resident we spoke to agreed to sign a petition to show their support, and we agreed to sort out the forms to make a bid for the walls to be repaired.   We’re also going to expand the bid and ask if Lewisham Homes are prepared to fund entryphones for the front doors to the block.

We want the bid to have the best chance of suceeding, so we need to demonstrate as much support as possible.   I’m going to ask the Lee Manor Society and our Safer Neighbourhood Team if they’ll support the application.   If you live in the local area and support our bid then do add a comment below and I’ll make sure they’re all passed on to Lewisham Homes.

Just a quick post to say I’ve decided to turn on the comments facility on this site.  Hopefully it’ll give people a chance to have their say on my posts and turn the site into more of a conversation.   

I’m sure people won’t abuse the facility - but we’ll see how it goes.

One of the most frequent complaints I get from residents in Lee Green is about streetlights that remain on all day - what is apparently known in the trade as ‘day burning’.     Residents (rightly) worry that it’s bad for the environment, costs the Council money and makes the area looked uncared for.

One example is on Taunton Road, where I reported two dayburning lights in February this year.   They were fixed shortly afterwards - however, one of them is now day-burning again (along with a third streetlight) and it’s moved a resident to poetry - see pic right.

I’ve reported these to Council staff once again, and hopefully they’ll soon be fixed.  If you know of any other day-burning lamps, do let me know (poetry or prose gratefully received!)

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.