Agenda and minutes

The following presentation; ‘Dartmouth Road Public Realm Enhancements – Preliminary Design’ was delivered.

This covers the area from Forest Hill station to Forest Hill pools

The key scheme objectives are to:

• Reduce speed to 20mph
• Manage traffic & parking
• Support local economy
• Enhance environment
• Improve sense of arrival in Forest Hill
• Increase pedestrian activity

See attached presentation for designs and update of the Public consultation held between 29th May -30th June 2015.

Further key  Consultation timelines are:

·         Open 11th December to 15th January 2016

·         Leaflets delivered to Dartmouth Rd frontages 11th December

·         Plans displayed in Forest Hill Library

·         Documents on the Council’s Consultation Portal: https://lewisham-consult.objective.co.uk/portal

·         Comment via email at: transport@lewisham.gov.uk

·         Comment via post at:

           London Borough of Lewisham Transportation and Highways, FREEPOST, LON

          15647, Laurence House, London. SE6 4RU

The consultation formally closed on 4th December, but will remain open

 for responses until Friday 11th.  There was a drop-in session arranged

 specifically for local residents and businesses at Forest Hill Library, on

 Wednesday 18th November.  The results will be analysed in December /

 early January, and we should be in position to make a decision by the

 end of January. In addition to the attached briefing, the full

consultation materials are available online: https://lewisham-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/proposed_cpz_-_forest_hill?tab=files

Burglary related offences are now declining. We had had a sharp increase in the number or reported offences over September, October and November, though they began to steadily decline towards the end of November.

The team are actively engaged in high visibility Burglary patrols as well as visiting known offenders on a regular basis.

We had three promises set by our ward panel, a group comprised of prominent members of the community such as our Councillors, as well as Mr Adam Turner, the panels chair who represents not only Forest Hill but also the whole of Lewisham as he is also a member of the SNB (Safer Neighbourhood's Board) and Mr Michael Abrahams who is also the Chair for the Forest Hill Society as well as others from residential groups, schools and neighbourhood watches, all representing the greater community.

The tasks set the team till January 12th by the ward panel members and action by us thus far are;

• ASB by motorists - Manor Mount and the town centre - These involve drivers contravening the no entry sign and scooters riding on the pavement in the town centre. A number of motorists have been reported for offences on Manor Mount and the manager of the fast food outlet on London Road has had all of his drivers sign a safe driving agreement.
• Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention - We have and will continue to conduct high visibility patrols in the areas identified through geographical profiling as well as conducting street briefings around this subject throughout the ward.
• Safety of School Children travelling to and from School (Fairlawn Primary on Honor Oak Road) following complaints of motorists verbally abusing the school crossing lady and failing to stop for children when on the zebra crossing. We have and will continue to attend Honor Oak Road in support of the school and it's staff and deal with offenders as necessary. 
• We have to date, delivered in excess of 650 Smart Water Forensic property marking Kits to residents in Forest Hill and along with our partner team on Downham are on track to delivering over 2000 kits to residents in our respective wards by April 2016. The kits, known as Met Trace forensic property marking kits are to be delivered to over 440,000 Londoners within the next three years and are self marking smart water kits that forensically link what ever item of property that is marked to the owners of that item. Currently, there is a 100% conviction rate for offenders prosecuted for offences involving items marked with these kits.

The ward panel sits again on the 12th when the above promises are reviewed and changed as necessary to deal with any issues brought to the panel members  attention at that time.

One final update regarding the street drinkers in Forest Hill town centre, a number of warnings were issued to individuals who were allegedly acting in an anti social manner. These individuals appear to have taken heed of this and stopped  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Mayor agreed to proceed with the community library proposal and stressed that we welcome the involvement of local residents in shaping the “ask” for the anchor organisation.  Cllr Upex is proposing to set up a Forest Hill Library Assembly Working Group of local residents to discuss the needs and support from local community groups.  As the report to Mayor and Cabinet makes clear we are not outsourcing the library service itself as it will work on a peripatetic basis. We are asking the partners to manage the building and run their own services. The timetable for implementation is August 2016 so before entering the formal tendering process we want to make sure we capture the local needs in the library.  The Head of Library service, Antonio Rizzo has offered to attend a meeting of the Working Group to talk through process.  There is some specific information in the report on Forest Hill Library impact assessment pages 113 – 123 of the Mayor and Cabinet report.

The council needs to save £50 million by 2020. The proposed changes to the Library & Information Service are part of the Budget Savings Proposals that will contribute £1 million from the Libraries’ budget.

The Proposal aims to:

• create three Hub Libraries – Deptford Lounge, Lewisham and Downham Health & Leisure Centre – which will carry an enhanced role for face to face contact between the Local Authority and the public to support the digital by default agenda.
• extend the Lewisham Community Library Model to Forest Hill, Torridon, and Manor House, in partnership with other council services and community organisations. And the integration of the library provision into the repurposed ground floor space within the Catford complex (Laurence House).
• review front line staff to include new functions through the re-training and enhancement of front line roles

On 16 September 2015, the Safer Stronger Select Committee considered the proposed changes to the Library and Information Service in the context of the Lewisham Future Programme that set out the Draft Savings.

On 30 November 2015, the Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee heard the report on the outcome of the public consultation the Proposal and the soft market test linked to asset transfer of the Forest Hill, Torridon, and Manor House buildings.

The Report concludes that

“the consultation on the proposed changes to the Library and Information Service attracted a strong response from residents. Respondents were overwhelmingly opposed to the proposal. A number of alternative proposals were put forward, the majority of which, would be unlikely to achieve the required £1 million saving. On balance, taking into account the strong opposition to the proposal and having considered the alternatives, it is felt that the preferred option laid out in the consultation paper builds on the experience that the council has developed since 2010 in relation to the asset transfer of the buildings and the delivery of library services through the Lewisham Community Libraries Model. The Model is sound and is sustaining a library service that has increased  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

·         Feedback forms – agenda items next meeting

Cllr Hilton highlighted the importance of completing the feedback forms and invited members to join the coordinating group which plans the assembly and discusses local issues and updates . If you would like to join contact maya.onyett@lewisham.gov.uk for further information.

·         Community Contributor card- Joan Roach, Rushey Green Timebank

Lewisham Local 'Community Contributor Card’ will enable people to get great deals at local independent business and shops who wish to support the efforts of those contributing their time for the benefit of the community.  This could be volunteering, time banking, befriending, and initiatives that engage neighbours to do something for their community. This is all about enabling the local community to thrive.

Give Local – Shop Local!

The scheme is underway and we are working in Forest Hill now!

Stickers are already in shop windows of those participating in the scheme, who are offering fantastic deals to card holders.

 Contact us if you want to join our growing network.

Community groups and organisations can obtain the card for free, to give to their active volunteers.

Let’s start our conversation…

This scheme is managed by Rushey Green Time Bank working in partnership with Volunteer Centre Lewisham

For more information visit www.lewishamlocal.org.uk or contact Joan.

·         Horniman update- Tim Corum, apologies sent

·         Forest Hill Traders - Dorothy Umukoro from Emmanuelle Marshall Children's Shoes

Dorothy opened up her business on 235 Dartmouth Road in January 2015. she took up the opportunity of a grant which was allocated to support the opening of shops that have been vacant for 6 months or more.

She explained that her end of Dartmouth road can be quiet and invited people to pop even, even if you don’t need children’s shoes!

She is also part of the scheme that offers a safe place if anyone feels threatened they can come into the shop and use as a ‘safe haven’.

Forest Hill Fire Station Update

Cllr Upex explained that there is currently 2 proposals:

1.  to reduce a fire engine permanently (there are currently 2)

2.  to change the working practises and hours so that the 2 fire engines can remain.

Both proposals cost the same amount of money.

The Forest Hill Councillors are backing the second proposal scheme.

Consultation starts 12^th December and  ends on 1^st February 2016

Cllr Hilton thanked everyone for attending.

The next assembly will take place on Saturday 12^th March  2016, 2pm, venue to be confirmed.