Agenda and draft minutes

Cllr Alan Hall welcomed everyone to the Bellingham Assembly and introduced Councillor’s Ami Ibitson and Jacq Paschoud

Evette McDonald stated that the Broadway Theatre is a Grade II listed building in the heart of Catford. It was built in 1932 and is an outstanding example of Art Deco design.  It was originally built as a multi-purpose civic hall for activities including dancing and wrestling and now has a main auditorium with a capacity of 800 seats and an 80 seat studio theatre.

In 1999 the theatre underwent a £2million refurbishment but 75% of this investment was needed for major remedial works including a full rewiring and roof repairs. Funding was not available to tackle the challenging and complex needs surrounding the backstage area or the interiors of the two auditoria.

At the end of 2015 the main auditorium had to be closed for a period to allow for repairs to the ornate plaster ceiling.  The main house is operational again with a reduced programme whilst the Council prepares a capital plan to bring the theatre back to its former glory.    The Council is committed to ensuring that the theatre can remain a vibrant focal point for cultural activity.

Lewisham Council is currently seeking views on how the Broadway Theatre can be best used in the future and what type of venue would be of most value to the local community.  Please give us your views by completing the following questionnaire

Julian Rouse from the Bellingham Community Project thanked the assembly for its contribution of £1,500 towards this year’s Festival and for its historical support of the Festival. This year the Festival will take place on Saturday 25 June from midday and we hope to see you all there.

Phillipe Granger told the meeting that the Lewisham Local ‘Community Contributor Card’ is an initiative of Rushey Green Time Bank, delivered in partnership with Volunteer Centre Lewisham.

The scheme is designed to recognise the invaluable contribution volunteers make towards improving our communities. It covers whatever kind of volunteering people do – whether it is traditional volunteering, time banking, befriending, and grassroots localism initiatives, anything where neighbours do something for the benefit of the community. It is about strengthening the local economy by encouraging more people to shop at Lewisham’s amazing independent shops and businesses. Traders throughout Lewisham are signing up to the scheme to offer favourable deals to cardholders, visibly demonstrating they are community contributors.

The scheme is free to join for both community organisations and traders. We work only with recognised community organisations in Lewisham, who wish to further acknowledge the efforts of their time givers. All we ask is that the card recipient is active and committed and that we receive basic contact details before cards are issued. There is no further administration! This first card issue will be valid until June 2017 with annual renewal thereafter.

Traders are offering their favourable deals based purely on goodwill. All they are asked to do on joining the scheme is to display a window sticker in a prominent position advertising they accept the card. Their offer is stated on the Lewisham Local website, plus they are given an electronic badge to use on their publicity materials and website to highlight their support of the scheme. Traders like this as it is good publicity for them and they are known as Community Contributors.

Find out more at www.lewishamlocal.org.uk

Rushey Green Timebank – Phillipe Granger thanked the assembly for its continued support. This highly successful craft project has grown from approximately five to 20 regular participants in the last year.  Combining paper crafts, Jewellery making and sewing the facilitator is now supported by members of this growing group to teach new participants the skills that they have learnt.  With demand continuing to grow, this has enabled the group to welcome new participants at no extra cost.

The group has also been able to increase its capacity by selling items made during the sessions at craft and community fairs across the borough.  These funds have paid for the purchase of extra materials to accommodate the groups growing numbers.

Bellingham Community Choir – Fiona Thomas thanked the assembly for continuing to support the Choir which continues to grow. This year the Choir is hoping to perform at Lewisham People’s Day on Saturday 9 July.

Catford Green Development – Cllr Hall told the assembly that there is a written update in relation to DC/15/94002 this is also known as The Spike. The consultation has now finished and the key issues raised were:

•           Inappropriate scale and impact on the character of the area

•           Concern that precedent will be set for tall buildings in Catford TC

•           Pressure on local infrastructure, particularly traffic and public transport

•           Additional public realm doesn’t mitigate height

•           Overlooking and overshadowing of neighbouring properties

GLA: support in principle on account of the high quality design, increased public realm and units brought up to Mayoral standards.

TFL, Environment Agency, LBL Highways, Ecology, Network Rail: no objection subject to conditions and S106 obligations

The application is targeted for Strategic Planning Committee on the 22nd March. The application would then be referred back to the GLA for their Stage II response.

The meeting closed at 8.20pm with no declarations of interest made.