Agenda and draft minutes

DRAFT Notes of Perry Vale Online Assembly 24 January 2022

Meeting held online on Teams

Chair: Cllr John Paschoud (standing in for Cllr Wise who was indisposed)

In attendance: Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham, Cllr Sakina Sheikh, Cllr Susan Wise, Sakthi Suriyaprakasam, Community Development Service Manager, Laura Luckhurst, Community Development Officer (Perry Vale Ward Officer).

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1 Chair’s welcome

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and set out the main purpose of the meeting which was to agree Ward NCIL funding recommendations to Mayor and Cabinet.  The Chair also welcomed Mayor Damien Egan who was present for a Q&A session.

2 Lewisham Mayor Damien Egan - update on the council's work and your questions

Mayor Damien Egan gave a short presentation setting out Lewisham’s achievements over the past four years and priorities going forward. The Chair thanked the Mayor for the presentation and opened the floor to questions.

Q: Are there any plans to create small business hubs in Lewisham, with a view to enabling residents who prior to the pandemic commuted up to London, to work in “satellite” offices here in Lewisham?

A: Lewisham benefits from high streets with a high proportion of independent businesses – in fact we replicate the “15 minute city” model quite well compared with some other boroughs.  Agree that we need more small business spaces.  We will investigate feasibility of offering start-up spaces and using vacant retail spaces to support new business start-ups.  We will also aim for a balance of hybrid working in our Catford offices (Laurence House) to counteract any impact that more home working has had on that area.

Q: Is there any plan to include Climate Justice as a Corporate Priority?  This would help to support work that Lewisham is already doing around insulating homes of low-income families, improving air quality and encouraging active travel.

A: Agreed that we must have climate action integral to our priorities.  We currently have a Climate Action Team that is working with teams across the council.  We will look at developing our green spaces and waterways to support biodiversity and health benefits for residents and grow awareness of climate change in younger residents.

Q: Will the council work with Lewisham Homes (who are responsible for the road and parking spaces – Holmshaw Close) to improve the road and parking access to Sydenham Green Health Centre?

A: We are aware there have been issues with the Holmshaw Estate for a while and it is still not where we would like it to be.  We will continue with this work. 

As there were no further questions, Cllr Paschoud thanked the Mayor for his presentation and contributions.

3. Ward NCIL Funding - Applications and Recommended Projects

A short presentation was given by officers, outlining the process followed in allocating the Ward NCIL Fund. This included consultation with residents via the Commonplace platform, priority setting at the Perry Vale Assembly in January 2020, and opening up the fund to residents for applications in September 2021.  A programme of support had been offered to enable less experienced residents to present bids for funding. The projects recommended for funding were presented, together with a list of all applications and those that are unable to be recommended. For a copy of the presentation please email laura.luckhurst@lewisham.gov.uk

The list of recommended projects and summaries of all applications can be seen here: https://communityfunding.lewisham.gov.uk/perry-vale

Perry Vale ward had £145,181 to distribute, and received 18 applications to the value of £361,803.  The priorities set by Perry Vale Assembly following the Commonplace consultation were:

• Transport and Streets
• Open/Green spaces and nature
• Air Quality
• Youth Activities
• Community Safety
• Community Facilities
• An additional priority of COVID Recovery was added to all wards as agreed by Mayor and Cabinet in September 2021.

Cllr Paschoud thanked officers for the presentation, and opened up the floor for questions and comments.

Councillor Paschoud declared an interest, in that the Sustainable Christmas Tree project was submitted by himself.  This bid is being put forward for potential funding from another council funding stream.

Q: Why has funding not been recommended for traffic calming measures in Woolstone and Cranston Roads?

A: The process for receiving Ward NCIL funding involved residents submitting applications to the Ward NCIL Fund.  The fund was opened on 26 September and closed on 21 November, and was well publicised within wards. No applications were received for these traffic-related projects by the closing date.

Councillors and officers are aware of these concerns, and will continue to explore other avenues for addressing them.  There will continue to be opportunities to raise and discuss these at our regular Local On-line Assemblies (LOLA’s).  Details of how to sign up for notifications of these meetings were provided in the “chat” during the meeting, and are available here:
https://bit.ly/PerryValeLOLA .

Q: Traffic calming on Woolstone and Cranston Roads was requested at the previous Assembly (January 2020).

A: It was clarified that the process for allocating Ward NCIL funding is a grant-making process, with a requirement to submit an application.  This differs from, for example, the Assembly Funding process where projects were voted on at Assemblies.

Ward NCIL Recommendations - comments and views:

There were a number of warm and enthusiastic endorsements entered in the meeting “chat” including general endorsement of all projects, and specific endorsements of individual projects:

Endorsement of all projects:                                                            4

Youth engagement Hub@Rockbourne                                             1

Sydenham Garden  “Meeting Up”                                                    1

Kilmorie School Under-5’s Outdoor Learning Space                          5

Mayow park Children’s Playground Improvements                            4

It was noted that a “cross-ward” application for funding from Perry Vale and Bellingham, for a Catford to Forest Hill/Sydenham Walking & Cycling Route, is being recommended for funding by Bellingham Ward. 

4 Summing up, AOB and Close

The Chair summarised the feeling of the meeting as broadly in agreement with the recommendations. There were no objections.

AOB

Q: The council was asked to consider action to reduce the number of refuse and recycling bins left by residents on the pavement after collection.

A: Cllrs have been in touch with the Environment team about this and plan to do a “walk-about” on recycling collection day to assess the scale of the problem.  Noted that there is an issue with the fact that many of the pavements in the ward are relatively narrow.

Q: Traffic and parking on Woolstone and Cranston Roads needs attention, it appears that since the extension of the ULEZ, there has been significant increase in parking of vans in local roads, leading to problems with access and road safety.

A: Council officers are monitoring this problem and are also in ongoing discussion with TfL who are conducting a monitoring exercise which will report on issues arising from the ULEZ changes.  It’s important to recognise the overall purpose of the ULEZ which is to improve the air that all London residents breathe.  The extension of the ULEZ is a dynamic and ongoing process and discussions between Lewisham and TfL will continue.

Q: Could meetings be held at a different time, as 6.30 pm is challenging for working people?

A: We aim to hold meetings at a variety of different times to enable as many residents as possible to participate. 

Q: Please amend the name of the Brent Knoll School to include the word “Co-operative”.

A: Noted.

Officers were warmly thanked for their work in completing the Ward NCIL process, and for the support offered to residents and community groups with preparing bids.

Chair Cllr Paschoud thanked fellow councillors and all those who participated for attending and for their contributions.

The meeting closed at 8.10 pm