Agenda and draft minutes

1.1    Cllr Till welcomed everyone to the assembly meeting and introduced Cllrs John Paschoud and Susan Wise.

2.1    Kevin Hern introduced himself and explained that the chair of the Safer Neighbourhoods Ward Panel for Perry Vale and would be giving the update in Richard Bailey’s absence.

2.2    Crime Update

Both burglary and robbery crime figures during the past three months for Perry Vale Ward are still on the decline.

Motor Vehicle crime i.e. Theft of motor vehicle and Theft from motor vehicle were on the increase in October 2015. As a result, this was discussed at the Ward Panel meeting and was approved as a tasking for the next three months.

The Local Policing Team have conducted both high visibility and plain clothes patrols around motor vehicle crime hotspot areas within the ward with a view to disrupting criminals.

As a result of these patrols, there has been a significant reduction in the number of motor vehicles stolen on the lead up to the Christmas period.

General Update

2.3    School Activities

Due to a number of complaints from parents and teachers about illegal parking and speeding in the vicinity of some of the Primary Schools on the ward, Perry Vale SNT have conducted a number of speed detection initiatives along Perry Vale, outside St Georges School. A number of motorists were issued verbal warnings for exceeding the speed limit.

A Road Safety Initiative at Kilmorie School during the first week back from the Christmas break also took place.

PCSO Andrea Woolrych held road safety classes with the pupils at the school, whilst PC Richard Bailey and Lewisham Parking Enforcement Officers remained outside of the school to prevent motorists parking on the school zigzag markings.

2.4    Search Warrants

Perry Vale LPT have recently executed a number of search warrants for various offences.

• A recent search uncovered a quantity of both Class A and B drugs. These are still to be formally analysed but there were three arrests made resulting from this warrant.
• A search warrant under the Dangerous Dogs Act was also executed which resulted in seven dogs being seized from the venue. The dogs are currently waiting formal identification of their breed.

2.5    Ward Promises

·        Fly tipping in Woolstone Road

Due to the number of incidents of rubbish being dumped on the pavement at the junction of Woolstone Road and Vancouver Road, this has been highlighted as a ward promise.

We have been working in partnership with Lewisham Council regarding this issue. Signage has now been put up in the area shown, warning potential offenders about the consequences of fly-tipping in the area.

·        Motor Vehicle Crime

Further to the previous update, this has been retained as a ward promise for a further three months. Patrols to continue along with leaflet drops in relevant areas affected by this type of crime.

·        Night Time Economy (Vicinity of Forest Hill Station)

This promise has also been retained from the previous meeting and concerns complaints of Anti-Social Behaviour and noise in the vicinity of Forest Hill station (Perry Vale side).  A public meeting was held at the Civic Centre just  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3. Young Citizens’ Programme

3.1    Cllr Wise told the Assembly that in October 2015 the Assembly awarded £1,750 to Forest Hill Boys School’s Young Citizen Programme.

3.2    Each tutor group works on projects that aim to engage young people as active citizens in their local community and address local priorities/issues. Over the course of 10 weekly sessions, 240 Year 9 students (13-14 years) select, research and design up to 8 projects/campaigns. 

3.3    At the end of this process, they pitch their projects to a panel of judges which included Councillor Wise , a representative from L&Q and Chartwells, who also fund the project. The presentations were very impressive and the young people had a confident approach.

3.4    In 3^rd place was YC Counselling which is a youth club with counselling provision. L&Q are providing staff support to work with this project team to take this forward.

3.5    2^nd place was taken by Green Autumn Café who we will be inviting to Lark in the Park this year. People are encouraged to bring recycling and they then get a discount on their purchases. They were awarded £700 and Chartwells will donate the food.

3.6    The winners were Project Intergenerational who will be running Bake Off challenges. They are looking to run an inter-school competition and some events. L&Q doubled their prize money, making it £2, 400 and Chartwells will donate the ingredients.

4. Old Brent Knoll School Site

4.1    Cllr Paschoudexplained that there had been several enquiries from residents about what might happen to the site where the old Brent Knoll School was.

4.2    There had been proposals for this to be developed with housing, however none were considered suitable.

4.3    The site will be kept until at least 2019 for school decanting. With the increase in population, there Is pressure on school places and Lewisham currently undertaking a programme rebuilding some schools. The existing building are in a poor state of repair, however temporary builds would be brought in if the site is needed.

4.4    After 2019 it is likely that there will be something permanent built on the site.

5. Mayow Park Consultation

5.1    Sarah Lang explained that she has been working with the Community Sub-Group of the School Council at Forest Hill School. The young people identified some projects that they would like to work on this school year and they have developed a questionnaire regarding the use of Mayow Park, which they will be completing in their tutor groups.

5.2    Sarah asked the Assembly to take a few minutes to write down how they used Mayow Park and any improvements that they would like to see.

5.3    The responses were

5.4    Cllr Wise added that is also a consultation questionnaire on Sport & Fitness which can be obtained in the café. Please fill this in as we would like to consult with as many people as possible.

6. Planned Improvement to Tennis Courts

6.1    Matt Henaughan informed the Assembly that he is currently working with the Lawn Tennis Association Outreach Team on a programme to protect the 22 tennis courts across the borough.

6.2    Matt has secured match funding for the LTA money and the programme will bring investment of £465, 000 to the borough.

6.3    The tennis courts in Mayow Park will be prioritised along with the courts in four other parks; Ladywell Fields, Telegraph Hill, Sydenham Wells Park and Manor House Gardens.

6.4    In terms of cost, the Mayow Park improvement would be about £70, 000 - £80, 000. Three bids have been completed and we will find out if these have been successful in May.

Q.     Can something be done to stop people playing football in the tennis courts? It was not a problem when there were Park Keepers.

A.     (Cllr Wise) The Park Keeper Service has been reduced to two days per week so this does have an impact.

         Maybe there somewhere else that could be used for football, such as the old bowling green.

Q.     Will the courts still be free to use?

A.     (Matt) Currently you can pay to book a court through Glendale. We cannot say currently would need to consult prior to any improvements and potential cost would be part of this.

Q.     The ropes around the cricket pitch have come down and damage is being done.

A.     (Cllr Wise) Picket fencing is going to be put up like last year.

7. Events Policy

7.1    Councillor Pashoud explained that there were two events last in Mayow Park that caused a disturbance. These were not council authorised events. There have also been problems with people having barbecues.

Q.     What sort of event?

A.     (Sarah Lang) One was a party and the other was a church event on a Sunday that went on for many hours.

7.2    The Council is keen to promote a varied programme of events and activities that can offer both cultural benefits and active enjoyment whilst recognising the need to protect parks from over use.

7.3    There was a consultation regarding parks and the results are listed below.

Consultation

Consultation was undertaken with a total of 255 web surveys received.

•       71% agreed with the principle of ticketing some event.

•       67% agreed with the principal of an annual price list to events organisers for major events (attendance over 5000) based upon a hire fee per head.

•       70% agreed with limiting the number of events.

•       73% agree that revenue should go to supporting parks services as a whole.

•       Covers all parks apart from Blackheath as this shares a joint policy with Greenwich.

When asked what type of events residents would like the most popular were

Nature Events            Local Community events                  Open Air Theatre

Open Air Film            Music events and concerts              Children’s events and parties

7.4    The aims of the policy are to  Ensure potential hirers and the public at large have a clear picture of how events bookings are taken, how they are evaluated, what legal processes are required and how health and safety implications are addressed.

7.5    Please e-mail laura.luckhurst@lewisham.gov.uk for a copy of the events policy.

8. Lewisham Lates

8.1    Sophie Austin introduced herself to the assembly as Artistic Director of Teatro Vivo and explained that they were running a series of events called Lewisham Lates across the borough.

8.2    The next event is a love song sing-a-long on 11^th February at You Don’t Bring Me Flowers by Hither Green Station.

8.3    Sophie added that they were also working on Shakespeare themed theatre pieces with the Grow Mayow and The Horniman Museum if people wished to get involved. More details are on their website http://www.teatrovivo.co.uk/

9.Lark in the Park Planning

9.1    Sarah Lang said that Lark in the Park 2016 is booked for 18^th June. Sarah reminded participants of the successful Lark in the Park event held in 2015, and mentioned that this had been a relatively small event arranged at fairly short notice. 

9.2    This year we want to involve the community more in the planning phase. Sarah asked the Assembly to spend a few minutes discussing what they would like to see at this year’s event.

9.3    The suggestions are summarised below:

Nature/gardening/outdoor pursuits

• Nature Trail (trees/birds etc.)
• Community Gardening
• Plant stalls

Animal-related

• Petting animals
• Dog chipping; possibly also cats and rabbits?
• RSPCA and PDSA – care of pets
• Dog Show

Arts & Crafts

• Craft Fair (local businesses supported)
• Teatro Vivo

Music/entertainment

• Scratch choir
• Local bands
• Punch & Judy
• Use of Bowling Green as performance space

Food

• Food stalls – different nationalities

Health & wellbeing

• Healthy Walking & Nordic Walking (John Warner can ask Jenny Budd about this).
• Green Gym demo

Children’s activities

• Fancy Dress
• Face painting
• Races – e.g. Egg & Spoon
• Craft activities for little ones (two mentions)
• Publicising summer events for children in school holidays

10. Questions & Issues

Q.     Perry Rise has been resurfaced but no anti-skid surface has been applied. The bend is an accident black-spot and there have been several deaths and injuries over the years. The anti-skid surface helps to cut down the risk.

A.     Councillors will raise this with the relevant team.

11. Community updates

11.1Tim Lund explained that the Assembly had awarded funding for Dacres Wood Nature Reserve to make improvements to the accessibility to the pond by building a bridge. Please do feel free to visit the reserve or follow the blog.

11.2Tim thanked the Assembly for their continued support and will invite residents to Dacres Wood once the work is completed.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 8.45pm with no declarations of interest.

Note: These are not verbatim minutes therefore questions and answers have been summarised.