Forest Hill Assembly

Venue: Forest HIll Pools, Dartmouth Road, SE23 3HZ

Contact: Maya Onyett 020 83148208

http://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=5392&EVT=105

1. Welcome from the Chair, Sophie Davis
2. Forest Hill Pools Update - Lance Codling, Fusion Lifestyle, David Walton, Lewisham council
3. Reclaim Project run by Nxt Steps 4 Communities - Natalie Wright
   Presentation on their services that support families, victims and communities impacted by knife crime or serious youth violence
4. Setting assembly priorities for the year - Cllr Sophie Davis
   • What would you like to see at future assemblies?
   • What do you want from your local assembly?
5. Community Updates and question time
6. Join the Forest Hill Assembly Coordinating Group
   • Feedback forms – agenda items next meeting

Poor attendance at this. Most of the complaints about the pools were about shortages of teachers and last minute cancellations of classes. I asked about the shortages of functioning lockers for the pools. I was shocked to learn that part of the problem is that users TAKE LOCKER KEYS HOME WITH THEM! I didnt realise human nature could stoop so low.

The amount of money available to ward assemblies for funding local projects is set to be drastically cut. I suggested that this put the continuing usefulness of the assemblies in doubt.

Some people have better things to do with a Saturday lunchtime in half term. Really bad timing for a ward assembly.

Someone said that there had been a good attendance at a previous Saturday lunchtime meeting. Perhaps it was the significance of it being half term which had been overlooked. (No half term for us pensioners - we’re on duty 24/365!)

I think the assemblies are useful when they allow us to question our locally elected councillors and the council. The assembly funds get people in the door but are more about funding local causes in a democratic way than democracy at work.

Was there any mention of the working groups set up at the last assembly in November regarding Thorpewood Avenue and the Tewkesbury Lodge area? Is Leo building a multi-storey car park on Thorpewood Avenue for commuters and Pools users and Sophie getting approval to block some roads to stop rat-running?

I asked about this, and the following day received a copy of an email from Leo Gibbons about Thorpewood Avenue. I assume that if he had been at the meeting he would have reported on this himself, so I assume it’s OK to reproduce the text here.

A few weeks ago I met with Simon Moss, the Highways Manager at Lewisham Council to walk around Thorpewood Avenue and discuss the concerns you have shared with me regarding the lack of available parking on the road and the frequent disruptive parking from parents during school pick-up times. Afterwards, myself and Simon arrived at three provisional proposals, agreeing that his team would look at them in greater detail and that would take forward to them our group to discuss, these include:

A single yellow line along Thorpewood Avenue, operating for a couple of hours during the middle of the day Monday-Friday.

A Controlled Parking Zone on the lower section of Thorpewood Avenue (below Radlet Close, to Dartmouth Road)

A School Pedestrian Zone operating on Thorpewood Avenue – enforced either with road closure barriers or CCTV cameras. A SPZ would work by barring through-traffic on the road before and after school pick-up times either by closing off the road with barriers; or through CCTV, which would enable us to issue fines to non-registered vehicles for entering the road when the SPZ is in operation (residents and possibly teachers, would be able to register their vehicles)

_There is always a chance that our final proposal is combination of these ideas. We are also still open to any new proposals you might have.

I understand that Lewisham Council colleagues are currently consulting on the prioritization of Lewisham’s Healthy Schools programme and depending on the outcome of this, the scope of what would could deliver on Thorpewood Avenue will change. Therefore, I’ve agreed with Simon that the next meeting of our Working Group should be after the Healthy Schools programme is confirmed and that a senior officer should be present with us, to lead us through our discussions and provide us with an update.

Therefore, the provisional date for our next Working Group will be on the evening of Thursday 21st March.

I hope to contact you again in the next week or two to confirm the time, date and venue.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to drop me a line in the meantime.

I should make it clear that I’m not on the working group myself, so please don’t ask me anything!

Thanks Robin.

I have asked around and it looks like nobody is in the group and no group meetings have taken place unless you count the discussion at November’s Assembly a meeting.

The names taken down at that assembly have been sent the blind copied email from Leo Gibbons which you have posted but nobody on that email knows if anybody is in the group except that Leo is in it. I am a fan of transparent emails to groups where you include people’s email addresses (after asking them of course) so it can become a means of communication rather than a broadcast.

People have questioned why he went to Thorpewood Avenue with the Lewisham Highways Manager and didn’t meet the residents or didn’t invite any members of the secret email list along.

Local democracy at work!

I am also not in the group perhaps somebody out there is.

I think residents of Devonshire Rd would also appreciate this - a walk round with Highways Manager, and Councillor.

Are we now telling school children that teachers have this special quality that when they drive cars, they don’t pollute but when their parents do, they cause pollution?

or is it part of the curriculum that we teach them double standards from an early age.

Obviously you would need a way to grant exceptions where special needs arise.

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