Forest Hill Assembly meeting - Sydenham School

You are warmly welcomed to attend the next Forest Hill Assembly:

Saturday 3rd November. 1.30pm at Sydenham School, Dartmouth Road, SE26 4RD
What’s on the agenda?

1. Introduction and welcome – Cllr Peter Bernards
2. Forest Hill Assembly Fund 2018 Presentations- hear from the applicants who have a project idea to help make a difference in Forest Hill:
   Project 1: Forest Hill Society- Planting and environmental improvements in Forest Hill town centre and station - £600
   Project 2: Colourful Street Trees for Forest Hill- £2240
   Project 3: Picturing Christmas’ and ‘Picturing Easter’: Two Community Art Workshop & Publication Projects- £2410
   Project 4: Devonshire Road Nature Reserve Visitors Centre- £2500
   Project 5: Forest Hill Children’s Book Festival- £1550
   Project 6: Book Nooks- £700
   Project 7: Raiders Netball club - £2500
3. Projects put to the assembly’s vote
4. Democracy Review – Cllr Peter Bernards
   The Council has to make cuts to public services. We will need to make tough financial decisions. Strong local democracy is increasingly important. The Council is asking residents about how the Mayor & Council could:

• enhance their openness and transparency
• increase public involvement in Council decisions
• promote effective decision making.
  There is an online questionnaire and website www.lewishamdemocracy.com
  We will be speaking to as many people in person as possible to find out their views.
  You can take part in the review at every local assembly.
  We will be at local events across the borough.
  We can attend your events to discuss the review. Please email democracy@lewisham.gov.uk or contact your local councillor to arrange this.

5. Tewkesbury Lodge Working Group – Cllr Leo Gibbons
6. Join the Forest Hill Assembly Coordinating Group

• Feedback forms – agenda items next meeting

7. Community Updates and question time

WHAT IS THE FOREST HILL ASSEMBLY ?

Your Forest Hill Assembly discusses issues of concern to you and your neighbours. It’s a place where you and other local residents can work together with the local councillors, police, local organisations and the wider community to make Forest Hill a better place to live, work and learn. Anyone who lives, works or studies in Forest Hill can come along and get involved.

One other item noticed on the assembly flyer but not on the agenda above is probably of interest to some locals

Thorpewood Avenue Working

Group

A few minutes’ walk from Forest Hill station and the shops of Dartmouth Road, host to a local primary school, and a stone’s throw from a leisure centre and swimming pool – the lower
section of Thorpewood Road is often a popular area to park for visitors and commuters in our ward.
Unfortunately, the lack of available parking on the road has long been a concern for many of its residents. Your councillors intend to form a Working Group to listen to residents’ concerns and share our possible solutions to the parking situation on

Thorpewoood Road. If you live on Thorpewood Road or in the surrounding area, we’d like to hear from you.

A small group of people living in or near Thorpewood Avenue (including a representative of Eliot Bank and Holy Trinity schools) had a lively discussion about this at the ward assembly this afternoon, under the chairmanship of Cllr Leo Gibbons. I don’t think a ‘working group’ as such was mentioned, but we were all asked to leave Leo our contact details. He clearly intends to try to take this issue forward, and I suggest that anyone else with an interest should get in touch with him.

Do you know which projects ended up getting funded at the meeting?

All of them, as the total amount bid for was less than the amount available.

The amount bid this year was slightly higher than available, one bid was reduced slightly so the amount available was equal to the the amount bid.
The number of bids has been down for the last 2 years with a dominance of green bids (nature, trees, planting, paths) recently.

It would be good to see more bids, there is normally £12,500 available with a limit of £2,500 per project. It is not a very complicated process to make a bid. The priorities tend to repeat which I have pasted below.

• Youth engagement and provision: looking for activities that will appeal and support new and existing schemes young people. These could include those that are art, music, drama and sports based. We are also keen to open up the criteria to include ideas around exciting intergenerational projects.
• Making Forest Hill more attractive and healthy: looking for proposals that will help to keep Forest Hill streets clean and appealing. This could include the planting of trees and flowers or a proposal that would increase street art or improve an area.
• Community events: looking for proposals around events that include celebrations, e.g.​ Christmas or events that engage residents and local groups offering education and relevant information to the Forest Hill area, as well as being fun.
• Supporting local traders: looking for proposals that could support and promote Forest Hill as a vibrant town centre and the Kirkdale area for local businesses.

What is “Colourful Street Trees for Forest Hill” ? Sounds intriguing !

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.