LEWISHAM CENTRAL ASSEMBLY

Coordinating Group Meeting

Thursday 29 September 2011

Meeting Minutes

Chair: Councillor Stella Jeffrey

Minutes: John O’Reilly (Lewisham Central Assembly Coordinator)

Attendees: Jo McClusker, Alison Munro, Matthew Morley, Stella Nwokolo

1 Welcome and Apologies
Cllr Jeffrey formally opened the meeting at 6:15pm and thanked everyone for attending.
There were apologies received from Carre Wylder, Mary Sullivan, Max Calo
No other apologies were received prior to the meeting / Action Points
2 Minutes of previous meeting held on 4 August 2011
The minutes were agreed subject to the following:
Page 2 item 3
John has received an apology from Sgt David Lawrie concerning his non-attendance at the 23 June assembly meeting.
Page 2 item 3 continued
John was unable to attend the New Cross Youth assembly event due to other work commitments. However, the assembly staff who did attend found the event very interesting and there was positive feedback from the young people who were present.
3 Review of assembly meeting held on 6 September 2011
The following comments were raised at the meeting by group members
·  the police report was read out at the meeting by Sgt Laurie. It was not clear how many perpetrators were from the Lewisham Central ward area
·  following on from the above, there was no pictures or number of local arrests known. It was agreed to invite Sgt Laurie to the next assembly in order to clarify matters
·  information relating to some assembly fund applications was not clear; nature of organisation, staffing costs and ward specific details.
·  some of the presentations were very similar in content, particularly those targeted at younger people. It might have been better to combine projects which would have been less confusing for the public
·  a number of young people from the Youth Village turned up to vote and then left the meeting. There were some positive contributions during the feedback from the presentations. However, the entry to the meeting was chaotic and disruptive to the business aspects of the assembly.
In general, it was agreed that the assembly went well and this was reflected in the above average attendance. Cllr Jeffrey explained that the numbers attending from the Youth Village could not have been anticipated and the decision was taken to allow them to vote. The decision was taken on the basis that the young people were carrying out a learning activity in the Lewisham Central ward area. The coordination group will need to meet to discuss voting events that might occur in the future to ensure transparency.
4. Assembly Fund Update
Cllr Jeffrey reported the following decisions that were taken at the meeting:
St Swithun’s day club for older people £3,750
Youth Village £10,000
St Swithun’s community hall improvements £4,900
St Mary’s Heritage Board £5,561
The remainder of the fund for 2011/12 is £3,287. This will be used as a ‘discretionary fund’ which will finance essential items such as Christmas trees and a newsletter. See item 5 below and AOB.
5. Assembly Newsletter
John said that the publicity and communication section of the Council had agreed to produce a newsletter prior to the next assembly meeting. This will cost approximately £1,500 and will include all the graphics work. The coordination group will be required to provide the text and any photographs that need to be included in the newsletter
Possible ideas for the newsletter include:
Assembly fund projects, in particular the Youth Village,
Safer Neighbourhood report,
Hither Green embankment project linked to the success of the SORI pilot model,
Literary festival,
Role of the new community safety team,
Opening of the new Sikh temple,
Loampit Vale development.
New Leisure Centre owners
Any ideas or articles to be sent to John no later than 31 October 2011 for inclusion in the newsletter.
/ ALL deadline of 31 October 2011
6 Taking assemblies forward event Monday 24 October 2011
The ‘Taking Local Assemblies Forward’ event will take place on
Monday 24th October 2011 between 6:30pm and 9:30pm at the
Civic Suite. The purpose of the event is to review the achievements of the past 3 years and develop ideas for the future.
The evening will include case studies of projects delivered by local assemblies across the borough, a chance to engage with Lewisham Council’s Chief Executive, Barry Quirk and a session about the new Localism Bill and what it might mean for Lewisham. Participants are asked to arrive promptly at 6.30pm, when a buffet meal and refreshments will be served. The Mayor will address the meeting at 7pm.
Jo said that she had been trying to contact the phone number provided without success. John agreed to forward Jo’s details to the team with her request for vegetarian food. Alison managed to arrange an e-mail booking without any trouble. / John to let admin team know about Jo’s booking
7  Planning stages next assembly meeting Lewisham Methodist church Tuesday 29 November 2011
·  Draft agenda
Traffic related issues. Council’s transport officer to be invited to focus primarily on transport coordination matters. This might include things such as safer cycling routes, safety of pedestrians and car parking strategies. The emphasis should be on the Lewisham Central ward with one of the most pressing issues being the problematic Courthill Road junction. It was acknowledged that TfL have a key role to play although they are reluctant to attend assembly meetings
David Laurie from the Safer Neighbourhood Team will provide us with a further update, to focus on some of the outstanding issues from the last assembly.
The successful assembly fund applications (23 June 2011 meeting) will be asked to provide the meeting with a brief update
Feedback report from the Taking assemblies forward event
·  Publicity
The newsletter will be the main communications vehicle for the assembly
A3 and A4 posters to be delivered to key locations
·  Who to invite
Representative from the Council’s transport service
Sgt David Laurie
Assembly fund project leads
·  Format, etc
Tables and chairs format to be used / John to draft and circulate agenda
8  AOB
John explained that the assemblies team were now responsible for coordinating Christmas trees following the departure of Deborah Efemini earlier in the year. The focal point for Christmas celebrations in the ward is Lewisham Town Centre where traditionally the Mayor of Lewisham has switched on the lights.
Paul Redden from Land Securities (the managers of the Town Centre) have agreed to pay the full costs of the tree, however it was noted that £4,000 was spent in previous years. This included the hiring of artists such as the gossiping ladies, choirs and workshops. The group agreed that a scaled down version of events should take place this year and the Mayor should be invited to switch on the lights as in previous years. The provisional date is Saturday 26 November, further information will be circulated as soon as this is available.
There being no other business Cllr Jeffrey closed the meeting at 7:55pm.
No declarations of interest were made at this meeting.
/ John to progress Xmas arrangements

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