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Grove Centre, Jews Walk - 30/06/05
Around 100 people turned up to question Lewisham's
Mayor on Thursday evening accompanied by two council officers concerned with
the Community & Regeneration plus Sgt Dominic Taylor from the Wells Park
Safer Neighbourhood Scheme, our three councillors and Jim Dowd MP.
Steve Bullock had arrived hot foot from a day's long
tour of Sydenham with a fair idea of some of the challenging issues that would
be thrown at him.
And they were. About 20 people had questions on topics
ranging from the infamous Cobbs Corner roundabout to Sydenham's contribution to
global warming.
Car Parking Zone for Sydenham?
The first (very) hot topic was the CPZ consultation.
What was all this about the overwhelming negative response being only
considered an 'initial' view and the consulation being extended? Was there a
secret agenda?
The unequivocal response from Steve was "There will be
no Sydenham CPZ while I am Mayor". The three Sydenham councillors (Chris Best,
Marion Nisbet & Liam Carlisle) also through their hats into the "No CPZ"
camp. So unless the Green's sweep next year's local elections that proposal now
looks well and truly dead.
Speakers went on to identify how parking (and business)
was being unnecessairly inhibited by the nonsensical parking restrictions
exploited by an over zealous wardenry.
Steve agreed and having just got a 'dodgy' £80
ticket himself admitted he will be addressing the enforcement contract renewal
with deep reservations about the incumbent's performance. At Steve's prompting
the council officer came out with a specific pledge:
"The Sydenham Road signage will be rationalised this
year". We shall be waiting (but not before 10 or after 4) ....
Traffic Chaos
The overwheming feeling of the meeting expressed by
many individual speakers was that car parking was not a major Sydenham problem
- it was the movement (or not) of the traffic.
Cobbs Corner was continually referred to as an example
of our money being spent to make a bad situation even worse. Cyclists,
pedestrians, motorists and bus users all agreed they had lost out. It was, they
said, to no one's benefit yet Sydenham had suffered a year of disruption while
the council had not listened to local people.
Pat Hays, the council officer, would only admit that
the success of Cobbs Corner changes was "a moot point". Not a view shared by
the meeting. Pat went on to talk about the problems of managing Sydenham's
traffic and the trade-offs between the different interests.
An interesting point Pat mentioned was the pressure
being put on the council by TfL (Traffic for London) to keep their buses
moving. As most of Sydenham's roads were too narrow for segregated bus and
cycle lanes this implied they were seeking to keep all vehicles moving so the
buses could get through. It was also evident that TfL is a major source of
revenue for road improvements.
The floor questioned this - it was claimed the time for
a bus to travel from Forest Hill to Sydenham at lengthened from 3 to 15
minutes. A newsagent from Kirkdale detailed how the provision of extra
bollards/reservations in Kirkdale now meant parked cars and delivery lorries
blocked the road for buses.
Another re-occurring theme was the continued disruption
caused by the Transco works. While people understood the need for renewal - was
it being done in an efficient way? Was too much work being taken on by the
contractors leading to little work and consequent delays being done on many
major works? And no one has a clue where some of the buses are going these days
to avoid the roadworks.
Steve agreed with this and implied Lewisham were
seeking to put pressure on those responsible and penalising them where they
failed to meet their targets for completion or leave the workings in a
dangerous state.
Anti Social Behaviour
Youths on Mopeds was an issue and what was the 'Moped
telephone line'? Sgt Taylor admitted it was a borough wide problem. The police
& council were working together to 'involve & educate' rather than
'confront' the riders. Further alienation would be unlikely to improve matters
and the culprits were probably an even greater danger to themselves than to the
public.
The 'Moped Line' was a council telephone number. Steve
thought this was to a police officer attached to the council's Crime Reduction
Unit. The issue here is that the problems usually occurred 'out of office
hours' which created a mismatch in public expectation.
Another problem particular to Sydenham (spreading over
three London Boroughs) of following up cases of damage caused by known people
who lived in another Borough. This was because the Police Divisions follow the
borough borders. Suggestions of unnecessary delays or worse in communication
between police divisions were made from the floor.
Steve said he would take this up with the Borough
Commander.
Housing & Repairs
Pinnacle came in for a bashing for their operation on
the council's estates. Repairs were not being done "because Lewisham has not
given the money". When residents call Lewisham they are told Pinnacle have not
even asked for it. They feel like forgotten 'piggies in the middle'.
Steve & Pat agreed they was not happy with
Pinnacle's performance and their stewardship of the money allocated.
Another point was Pinnacle's use of 'collection points'
which turned into disgusting fly-tips. The Mayor said "They will be
prosecuted".
Forest Hill Pools
Members of the audience had been involved in various
campaigns over the last 20 years to maintain swimming facilities in the area.
They were concerned at the rundown in facilities, that if there was a problem
such as at Downham Pools we may lose them for years and was Forest Hill Pools
being sacrificed for a second Pool in lucky Deptford?
The Mayor came out with a clear pledge: "There will
continue to be swimming facilities on that site and they will be
better".
The consultation was to help in the decision to
regenerate or rebuild. The delay in the consultation was due to an
investigation that if the decision was to rebuild - could some swimming be kept
operational during the construction.
The user groups would be contacted during July to plan
the consultation.
Adult Education
A speaker was concerned that due to budget cuts the
provision of non-vocational evening classes was being cut.
The council officer explained that the funding for
adult education came from the Learning & Skills Council. They were
switching funding towards vocational qualification courses. This disadvantaged
people who were studying for pleasure. Furthermore Lewisham had historical well
provided for this type of adult education and the L&SC were pushing money
towards the boroughs who had underprovided.
So its seems that non-vocational adult education in
Lewisham is being hit by a double whammy in September. The council is seeking
to consult as many of the active current classes affected with an aim of seeing
if some of these can be turned into 'self-learning groups' with, perhaps,
occasional outside help.
Planning
The question of satellite dishes in conservation areas
was raised. The position was made clear - you have to have planning permission
to place a dish in a conservation area. (Ed an informative article can be
found
<here> on the Telegraph Hill Community Site).
Residents of Peak Hill & Sydenham Park raised the
issue of No. 53 and the planning application by the Housing Association to turn
this derilict house into "an unsupervised hostel for homeless 16-21 year olds".
Pat confirmed this had now been withdrawn and it was likely to be re-submitted
as a request for "a smaller number of family units".
Councillor Chris Best stood up to say they had got it
wrong on the previous consultation and the councillors would ensure any new
application would "be properly dealt with".
Bell Green was raised. Steve positioned himself outside
and unable to influence the planning process.
Other Issues
There were many other issues raised to which we cannot
do justice here. From my notes I will mention just two:
- Health: Withdrawal of chiropody services from
Wells Park. Steve said he would raise this with the Primary Care
Trust
- Leisure: No cinemas in the borough. Steve said
that they had a successful programme of less commercial films running at the
Broadway Theatre, were discussing the re-opening of the Catford Cinema and
there is a strong liklihood of a cinema being part of the Lewisham Centre
redevelopment.
Finally - why does the Mayor
subject himself to all this? He had an answer:
"To come to meetings
like this and listen to the people to help me make better and more informed
decisions"
Were you there? Is there more to be said?
Have your
say here:
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