Lewisham Central Assembly Coordinating Group 07 April 2011

LEWISHAM CENTRAL ASSEMBLY

Coordinating Group Meeting

Thursday7 April 2011

Meeting Minutes

Chair: Councillor Stella Jeffrey

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

Attendees:Jo McClusker, Carre Wylder, Cllr Michael Harris

1 Welcome and Apologies
Cllr Jeffrey formallyopened the meeting at 6:20pm. Due to the wrong time being included in the invitation letter Jo McCluskey and Cllr Harris arrived after the meeting had started.
Apologies were received fromMargaret Sullivanand Max Calo who were unable to attend. John apologised for this error.
Tony Leigh has resigned from the group as he will shortly be moving to North London. Tony has been a member of the group since the programme started in 2008 and everyone wished him well for the future. / Action Points
John to formally thank Tony on behalf of the group
2 Minutes of previous meeting held on 3 February 2011
Page 2, item 5 Cllr Jeffrey pointed out that the full council will now meet on Wednesday 30 November 2011. It was agreed that the Lewisham Central assembly is moved to Tuesday 29 November 2011 to enable members to attend the full council (see revised assembly schedule item 5 on page 2)
Page 4, AOB John confirmed that Deborah Efemini left the post of Town Centre Manager on 31 March 2011. John met with Deborah before she left and extended a vote of thanks on behalf of the co-group and assembly. Deborah forwarded a Christmas tree paper which showed that there was a contribution of £2k from the Mayors Fund and £1k from street trading. This tree is located in LewishamTown Centre. A further tree is also located outside Hither Green station and is funded by the former Town Centre Manager.This tree is located in the Lee Green ward and representations will need to be made to that assembly. Carrie suggested that a small donation from local traders might be appropriate and this is something she will take up with the Hither Green Traders Association. / John to investigate funding options for Town Centre tree
Carrie to raise issue at Hither Green traders meeting
3Review of previous assembly meeting [ Tuesday 15 March 2011]
John reported that the vast majority of people said that they were better informed as a result of the assembly. The following comments were also included on the feedback forms:

people should be encouraged to get more involved with the support of the business community
appeasement of single issue campaigners
more residents influence on big planning issues would be better
address should be given as St Swithuns Road and not Hither Green Lane

It was agreed that the sessions with the speakers worked particularly well and this was reflected in the feedback forms. The number of speakers was probably too many and this resulted in a shortened final session. In general, the format of the meeting worked well and could be used as a future template.
4. Mayor’s Fund (2011/12)
John explained that £25,000 was available via the Mayor’s Fund for 2010/11 which would be reduced to £18,750 from 2011/12. Monies from 2010/11 may be carried forward to 2011/12 making a total available of £43,750. The guidance encouraged co-groups to develop a robust action plan with the support of the assembly and an excellent start had been made at the last meeting.
John circulated a paper outlining the main findings of the workshops. It was agreed that a number of items could be addressed via a newsletter informing residents of ways in which the matter can be delivered without funding. Other items are more suitable for funding and the relevant organisations should be invited to submit a formal application.
The following was agreed at the meeting:
Newsletter

Update on the DPPO

Neighbourhood watch schemes
Cinema activities at St Swithun’s Hall
Increased incidents of fly tipping across the ward
Incidents of rubbish left in gardens
improved children’s facilities and scope for parents to organise at CanadaGardens (with possible support for the Mayor’s Fund)

Potential funding

Mayors Fund should consider funding activities for younger people over the summer period aimed at reducing incidents of anti-social behaviour
Lack of youth facilities at Mercator Estate
Development of community garden
Community clean up campaign
Upgrade existing youth facilities
No specific areas for youths to congregate
Commemorative plaques (1 per year)
more short terms parking bays near shops aimed at allowing local businesses to thrive

/ John to speak to Head of Marketing and Communications
John to contact relevant organisations who may need funding
5. Local Assemblies Schedule (2011/12)
The revised schedule of meetings for 2011/12 are as follows:
Thursday 23 June 2011
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Thursday 23 February 2012 / Assembly schedule to be uploaded on web pages
6. Planning stages next assembly meeting
Due to time restraints it was not possible to plan the next stages of the assembly. This item was deferred until the next meeting.
7 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
TBA