GROVEPARK LOCAL ASSEMBLY
MEETING
Saturday 26November 201110.30am – 1pm
St AugustineChurch
336 Baring Road, London SE12
Record of Meeting
1.0Welcome, introduction and format for meeting
Cllr David Britton welcomed everyoneand introduced the agenda for the meeting.
He gave a vote of thanks to Helen Pink who recently stepped down from the assembly coordinating group and Grove Park Community Group membership, for the numerous support and contributions to progress the actions for both groups.
2.0Report back on grants given by the Assembly
Elaine Osbourne reported on how the money awarded to support activities for the Bobby Dazzlers group has been spent. She gave a brief history of how the group was formed. The groupmeets every Thursday from 10m to 12pm at the Ringway Centre. Majority of its members resides in shelter / supported accommodation acrossGrovePark ward. The funding award from the assembly was used for trips to visit places of interest and to cover deposits for last year Christmas lunch. The meeting also heard from two members of the group about how they have benefitted from activities delivered for the group.
3.0 A Report on progress of assembly funding award
A summary report of Assembly funding award and the progress of projects were presented to the meeting. An explanation on the differences in the Assembly fundingand the Councillors discretionary fund was provided. The purpose and criteria for fund award was explained along with the sum available to each assembly at the beginning of every financial year since the beginning of the programme. The meeting received information about how the Grove Park Assembly fund was allocated from 2010 to present.Information about the various monitoring exercises that has taken place to keep track and ensure that funding award has been spent accordingly was provided. This was followed by a summary information on project tracking and payments made to successful project by the Council.
A questions was raised about how funding decision on the discretionary fund was made. Councillor Britton explained that all three Grove Park Councillors has always surrendered the decision on how the grant is allocated to the Assembly which was seen as a more democratic and open approach.
4.0Report back on grants given by the Assembly
Emmangel Supplementary Education Services
Councillor Britton presented the report in the absence of the project Coordinator who had offered her apology for this meeting. The project received funding from the Assembly in January 2011 to deliver learning support to local children aged 6 to 16 years. The report indicated that 30 children has so far registered with the project. A table containing the numbers of beneficiaries and their aged groups and the level of contributions was explained in the report.
Information on how children are assessed and progress monitoring was highlighted as well as the level of support offered to children by project staff. Emmangel links with local schools and other supplementary schools divisions was explained as well as well as an income and expenditure statement of how the grant received has been spent. As no representative from the project was available to take questions, the chair directed that any questions relating to this project is passed to Ade who will pass all queries to the project coordinator for a response.
NorthbrookPark refurbishment
The feedback report sent in by the Northbrook Park Group was presented to the meeting. The Park which opened to the public in August 2011 and was part funded with grant received from the Grove Park Assembly has been a hit with the community. The play area is now refurbished with a new toddler play area with sand pit, swings and roundabout. Also 3 picnic benches has been installed along with a climbing frame and logs and a huge climbing net. Other play features were also mentioned.
The problems encountered with the installation of the drinking water fountain was mentioned. Thames Water has found contamination from thewater mains into the park and this will need to be treated before the water can be fully installed. It is envisaged that the installation should be completed in December 2011. Other aspects of work included Forest school wild life area. This area was created out of donations from businesses. The group is awaiting the installation of an outdoor notice board to encompass a site map and community information section. A breakdown of the sum of money raised for this project and how they have been spent was highlighted in the report. The group is also awaiting the outcome of a recent funding application submitted to the Natwest community fund and an award for the Queen Elizabeth II field status.
GrovePark Nature Reserve
Mark Ingleby reported on the funding award to the Nature reserve from the Assembly grant. He mentioned that the grant received in September has not been spent. Preliminary work has began in respect of questions around health and safety of the site proposed and the necessary permission required to create path. He mentioned that the next stage of the project will involve checking the boundaries of the land to ensure the area earmarked does not spill over to adjoining land belonging to the Allotment group running in parallel to the Nature Reserve.
A pre-meeting has already taken place where all key stakeholder was in attendance including a walkabout of the route proposed. It was announced that Glendale will be the sole contractor chosen to deliver the work and the fund will be paid via the Council conservation unit so the group will not have to incur Vat charges and plus cost could be brought down as a result. It is envisaged that work will commence in January 2012 with completion in Spring 2012.
5.0Community Safety and other updates
No representation from the Grove Park Safer Neighbourhood Team was available at this meeting. Information on the team priorities for the area were circulated.
Lewisham Neighbourhood Community Safety Services
Teresa from Lewisham Neighbourhood Community Safety Services provided an overview of this new service to the meeting. The meeting were told that theGrovePark area is covered by the South team. The team works closely with the police, local housing Associations and victim support to tackle antisocial behaviour in the area. Problem solving process is sometimes used to address issues brought to their attention by the local community. The team have regular conversations with business premise owners to find out issues of particular concerns to them. This practice has resulted in several actions taken by the police to remove young people under the age of 16 yearsfound on the streets after 9pm to their home. There has also been an increase in police presence around the shops to deter young people running in and out of shops and taking goods without paying.
GrovePark Library
Darren provided a brief update on how the library has been getting along since the take over by Eco Computers in May 2011. Although the library saw a low record of people visiting at the initial stage, there has been a steady increase after the summer months from 2226 to 2768 in the month of November. The summer reading project was a special highlight for the new management where children were encouraged to read up to 6 books and rewarded for their efforts. This proved very popular with around 100 children signed up for the scheme. Other featured planned to improve the library and encourage visitors will take place in the new year with the creation of a café in a section of the adult books section.
Lewisham Insulation Programme
Wayne Bond from Saving Energy told the meeting about the recently launched home insulation programme. Lewisham Council in partnership with saving energy is delivering the programme to help residents reduce their energy costs. The programme offers Lewisham residents improvements work to insulate loft and wall cavity. Works began in September 2011 and will run until December 2012. Funding has been provided by EDF which enabled the scheme to be offered free of charge to all household requiring this work regardless of their age and income. Information about the scheme was provided to those interested at the end of the meeting.
6.0 Break / Refreshments
7.0 An Introduction – Lewisham Positive Ageing Council
Cllr Peggy Fitzsimmons (Lewisham Cabinet member for older people) gave a brief introduction to the Positive Ageing Council. The project provides a forum for raising concerns for older people in Lewisham. Set up in May 2010 to support and offered information to the elderly about the various support services available for older people in Lewisham. A steering group has now been set up to oversee the activities of the group. The main aim of the project is to give older people a stronger voice by encouraging them to raise issues that are important to them. Meeting are held at the Town Hall Civic Suite in Catford and chaired by Councillor Peggy. All are welcomed to attend.
It was mentioned that the project uses various method to engage with the elderly particular those who are isolated. Outings and other intergenerational activities are used as a tool of engagement and interactive sessions held to reduce isolation amongst the elderly, bringing them out of their home to meet with other people. Some of the highlight of the group include an intergenerational seaside trip to Brighton and visit to the Reminiscence Centre in Blackheath. The group takes the care of the elderly seriously particularly those living in residential homes. As such regular home visits takes place to speak with residents about issues of concerns to them and support them in accessing services that will further enhance their quality of life. Anyone interested in receiving further information was asked to speak with Cllr Peggy or Sarah Eaglestone the coordinator of the project, at the end of the meeting.
8.0 Community Update and Any Other Business
There were no update available under this item.
9.0Declaration of Interest
No declaration of interest declared at this meeting.