Agenda and minutes

Councillor Liam Curran declared a personal interest in Item 7 as a member of

the Baring Trust and the Grove Park Neighbourhood Forum.

Councillor Kevin Bonavia declared a personal interest in Item 7 as a member

of the Steering Group of Lewisham Station Users Group.

Councillor John Paschoud declared a personal interest in Item 8 as the

spouse of an affected person.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on October 2 and

November 1 2019 be confirmed and signed as correct records.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting the new Young Mayor, Femi Komolafe

and Deputy Young Mayor, Aaliyah Odedina.

The Mayor spoke to the item and congratulated the winning candidates on

their success at the polls. He expressed his pride in the programme and noted

this would be the sixteenth year of the scheme and he pointed to the enduring

success of the Young Mayoralty now established as a permanent and

valued feature of the Lewisham landscape and attracting consistently

high calibre candidates and interest, as shown by the high 55.01%

turn out this of eligible voters which was significantly higher than the

comparable figure for local government elections. He noted that Lewisham

had initiated a scheme that had been widely copied both nationally and

internationally.

He thanked the outgoing Young Mayor, and Deputy Young Mayor, Adam

Abdullah and Nike Ajijola, for their service in what he described

as a successful and very busy year. The Mayor said he had been impressed

by Adam’s bold and radical manifesto and his sustained commitment to tackle

inequality and face the issue of youth violence while at the same time

balancing his role with his very successful studies. He further praised Nike as

an inspiring young woman who had achieved much in empowering girls and

had proved to be an excellent ambassador for Lewisham.

The new Young Mayor and Deputy Young Mayor then signed their

Declarations of Acceptance of Office and an undertaking to abide by the Code

of Practice for their respective roles which were witnessed by the Chief

Executive.

The outgoing Deputy Young Mayor addressed the meeting thanking the

Council for the opportunity given to her which she believed was a life

changing and had instilled her with confidence to make efforts to make

Lewisham a better place. She pledged to remain involved and to fight to give

a voice to others.

The outgoing Young Mayor then addressed the meeting and reflected in

Detail on his achievements during his year of office. He thanked all those who

had supported him at the polls and then during his term as Young Mayor. He

pointed out he had been elected on a manifesto containing five specific

promises and he had fulfilled all of them to greater or lesser extent

Councillor Paul Maslin presented two petitions. The first petition was signed by 11 business owners and opposed any demolition in the Achilles Street area. The second was supported by about 800 directly and indirectly affected residents and also opposed any demolition in that area.

Councillor Tauseef Anwar presented a petition bearing 821 names opposing the closure of Brockley Road Medical Centre and a proposed merger with Hillyfields Medical Centre.

Ward Boundary Review

The revised dates of the Review were noted by the Council.

Freedom of the Borough

The Chair reported she had received a joint communication from Sir Steve

Bullock DL and Kris Hibbert sending their heartfelt thanks for the Freedom

ceremony conducted on November 1.

Mayoral Events

The Mayor issued invitations to join him at his Christmas Carol Service on

Sunday 8 December at 6p.m. at All Saints Church 105, New Cross Road

SE14 and at a Chanukah celebration in the Civic Suite on Monday December

23 at 7pm.

The Mayor invited financial contributions for a Winter Appeal to support the

999 Club and the Lewisham Foodbank.

Ward Boundary Review Working Party

The Deputy Mayor reported that Councillors Bonavia, Davis and Penfold had

been invited to join the Ward Boundary Review Working Party.

43 questions were received from members of the public which

were answered by the Cabinet Member indicated. Within the time available all

questioners were given the opportunity to raise supplementary questions.

A copy of the questions and answers was circulated separately and can be

viewed on the Council website with the meeting papers.

12 questions were received from Councillors which were answered by the

Cabinet Members indicated. A copy of the questions and answers was

circulated separately and can be viewed on the Council’s website with the

meeting papers.

Councillor Susan Wise moved that the recommendations be approved

and this was seconded by Councillor Kevin Bonavia and it was then

unanimously:

RESOLVED that

(1) the report of London Councils Independent Remuneration Panel and that

of Sir Rodney Brooke both of which were appended to the report before the

CWP on 29 October 2019 and are now before Council as part of Appendix 1

be noted, and having had regard to those documents:-

(2) the draft minutes of the CWP dated 29 October as set out in Appendix 2

be noted; and

(3) the proposed amended Constitution appearing in Appendix 1 be approved

subject to the amendments proposed by CWP as set out in paragraphs 5 and

6; and

(4) officers be asked to ensure that the amended Constitution is publicly

available and that the amended Scheme of Members’ Allowances (which is

varied only in relation to the categorisation of approved duties) is published in

a local newspaper.

Councillor Kevin Bonavia moved that the recommendations be approved

and this was seconded by Councillor John Paschoud and it was then

unanimously:

RESOLVED that the Returning Officer’s proposals on polling districts and  

places appearing at Appendix A be approved with effect from 2 January 2020.

Councillor Brenda Dacres moved that the recommendations be approved

and this was seconded by Councillor Sophie McGeevor and it was then

unanimously:

RESOLVED that the power to make byelaws to govern the operation of

dockless bikes by making a pan-London byelaw be delegated to the London

Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee.

The meeting closed at 8.46pm.