Downham Assembly
Saturday 18 February 2012
11.00am- 13.00pm
St. Barnabas Church Hall Downham Way
BR1 5NZ
Meeting minutes
Introduction
Cllr Julia Fletcher thanked everyone for coming along to the Downham assembly meeting and then introduced the first item on the agenda.
Community First
Jason explained that the Office for Civil Society which is part of the Cabinet office with the central government has given some funding nationally to support communities needing extra support.
There are two elements to the funding, there is the Endowment Match Challenge which aims to raise £100m in donations through individual and corporate philanthropy. Donations received will then be matched with £50m of government investment. Endowment funds raised will continue to grow over the life of the programme to ensure a sustainable source of funding for communities in years to come.
Then there is the Neighbourhood Matched Fund of £30 Million which is now available to fund community projects in areas in need of support through funding. People will be encouraged to give time, expertise and resources towards the projects they identify in their areas. The government will match these pound for pound, helping to stimulate local action towards meeting community needs.
Three wards within Lewisham have been identified these are Lewisham Central, Rushey Green and Downham.
The Community Development Foundation which is a charity supporting the delivery or the programme had approached local assemblies as the assembly had already conducted engagement with local residents to establish what the concerns for the ward were.
With this in mind they felt that assemblies would be an ideal platform to encourage local participation and aid in the promotion of the programme to look at making improvements within the ward.
Funding
Downham has been allocated £33,910 to spend over the next four years up until the 21 March 2015. This works out to approximately £8,400 each year to improve the area of Downham.
Community First Panel
A Community First Panel will need to be established and this will have between 6-8 members, who must be over 18 years of age, live in Downham or be part of an existing organisation or group within Downham.
Jason explained that himself, Cllr Fletcher and two Coordinating group members formed the panel so far and that they were looking for between four and six members to join. Expression of interest forms were handed out at the assembly. Jason asked people to complete these if they were interested and to hand them into him during the break or at the end of the meeting.
Community First Plan
The panel once formed will then look to develop a plan identifying areas of need within the ward. Due to the tight deadline for the first round of funding three initial projects had been developed to put to the panel when they first meet.
The CDF (Community Development Foundation) has said that it will be up to the panel as to how priorities are identified in the future. The panel can use data collected by the assembly or by other groups, organisations working in the area to establish the needs of local residents and work towards addressing these through the funding.
CDF will be available to provide advice as well as an online forum which members can discuss what has worked well for them. They have also a template to aid with the panel’s website which they will need to develop. Again this is entirely up to the panel as to how big or small they would like it to be.
Panel Partner
The panel will require a panel partner, this will be a charity or voluntary organisation working within Downham who has experience and knowledge of the local area. The panel partners will be part of the panel and will be asked to support the panel by holding onto a small amount of the funding which is set aside for panel expenses i.e. hire of a room for meeting.
They will also approve any proposals made by the panel with regards to priorities and what the panel look to address through the plan. Finally they will provide some minimal administrative support to the panel.
Jason asked the assembly if they had any questions.
Q. Does the funding have to be spent on the assemblies priorities?
A. No, although the CDF felt that due to the work conducted by
the assemblies it would be natural to consider the ward
priorities. Ideally they would hope that the panel conduct
further consultation during the following years to see whether
there were any other concerns felt within the local community.
Jason also said that a group can be funding over multiple years so a group funded for the first round could also receive funding for years 2, 3 and 4.
To find out more about the CDF, Endowment Match Challenge or the Neighbourhood Matched Fund please see the link below.
http://www.cdf.org.uk/
Bowel Cancer Awareness Presentation
Cllr Fletcher introduced Claire Stephenson (Health Promotion and Outreach Coordinator) to give a PowerPoint presentation on Bowel Cancer Awareness.
Please see the full presentation on the page with the minutes.
After the presentation Claire asked whether the assembly had any questions.
Q. Is Bowel Cancer entirely curable?
A. In most cases if it is caught at the early stages, if an operation
is required then they can remove the area which is affected as
once removed will not return.
Q. If a family member has had bowel cancer is there a chance that I will develop it?
A. It is a good idea to do the test if your mother had the condition
Q. If this is prevented by dealing with it early are you going into
schools and teaching this to children?
A. unfortunately we do not have the resources to do this as we are a charity. Also with regards to children they do not control
Their diet until they reach their teens in most if not all cases. We have done some work with secondary schools.
Community Updates
Safer Neighbourhoods Team update
PC Anthony. K. Appiah provided information on the Victim Care Card which is a new system introduced by the MET to keep victims of crime updated with the progress of their cases as part of the Police commitment to victims of crime. Every victim of crime should request for one from Officers who are dealing with their cases. The Card has
details of Crime or Incident number, Date, Initial Investigator and Line Manager's names and Email contacts.
PC Appiah then asked if there were any questions from the assembly.
Q. What is being done with regards to dogs on the estates, some are intimidating and they defecate around the surrounding area where children play?
A. PC Appiah said that there is the Dangerous Dogs Act and that they will look into any cases where there is a dangerous dog out of control in a public space. PC Appiah went on to say that Lewisham Council is solely responsible for pets through animal welfare and that they would come in only where there is an attack.
Jason explained that dog fouling and dangerous dogs were on the Downham assembly action plan and that he has been speaking with colleagues within the animal welfare team. They will be putting on a dog day within the Whitefoot ward for everyone living in the surrounding area to come along and learn about how own a dog responsibly. More details to follow.
Update ofCrime figures for the last four months in Downham was given by PCSO Anthony Appiah.
For further details contact Downham SNT (Safer Neighbourhoods Team)
London 2012 Olympics
Kellie Blake gave a presentation on the London 2012 Olympics.
Please see the full presentation on the page with the minutes.
Kellie asked the assembly if they had any questions.
Q. Will there still be transport running through Blackheath?
A. Buses will still be running, there will be transport available to the live site which is right next to the Blackheath Village.
Q. Is the big screen only for the Olympics or will it cover anything else?
A. The big screen is for the Olympics only and the BBC coverage this will not include the Paralympics. There will be a two week gap between the two. There will be lots of other activities going on around the big screen which you will be able to get involved in.
Kellie thanked everyone and said that they can visit the Lewisham Council’s Olympic and Paralympic Games web page and sign up for the Lewisham 2012 e-bulletin.
There will also be information within Lewisham Life.
Housing Allocations Consultation
Gillian Lightfoot delivered a presentation on our legal requirement to have a scheme which sets out how we will prioritise housing allocations.
Please see the full presentation on the page with the minutes.
Gillian asked the assembly if they had any questions
Q. Gillian was asked why do we have a housing allocation scheme
A. It is there for fairness and to ensure this the council is consulting with local residents on the proposals made.
Q. What are the rules around bedrooms and sharing?
A. One bedroom for every two children of the same sex, aged under eighteen.
One bedroom for a child of the opposite sex to another child, if the child is aged over ten.
one bedroom for any other adult.
Gillian thanked the assembly and said that if there were any follow up questions then they could send them to Jason who would in turn make sure that Gillian received them so that she could respond.
Next meeting, thank you and close
Cllr Fletcher thanked everyone for coming along and said that the next meeting will not be until July, date and venue to be confirmed.
No declarations of interest were made at the meeting