Boris gives green light to Ladywell Streetscape Scheme

On 15 December, the Mayor of London announced over £5.4m for transport improvements in Lewisham, including £450,000 to improve the Ladywell Village streescape.

In anticipation of this, Council officers have already been developing a Scheme based on the work commissioned a year ago by LVIG.  The Council plans to hold a public consultation on this early in 2012.

Construction will commence in early 2013 and is expected to be finished by late Summer.  The Scheme will include widened footways, conversion of the existing pelican crossing to a toucan crossing (pedestrians and cyclists), short-stay free parking on Ladywell Road and a new zebra crossing by Slagrove Place.  Street lighting adjacent to the shops will be renewed and there will be new street furniture and tree planting.  The Scheme will include repaving the areas adjacent to the shops in Ladywell Road and Algernon Road, and the design will seek to minimise the need for pedestrian guardrail in the village area.

Robert Sheppard

Planters now restocked and tidied-up

(The planter outside Doorstep Bakery - before and after)

Thanks to all who showed-up on Sunday morning to refill, restock and tidy the planters for winter.  Thanks especially to Sue Luxton for initiating this and bringing the plants and compost.  Please help by litter-picking when you go past - it really makes things a lot easier if everyone shares responsibility!

Robert Sheppard

Pressure mounts on empty flats

Lewisham Council is to serve an Empty Dwelling Management Order notice on E Coomes, the bookmakers that owns the empty flat above the Coral betting shop on Algernon Rd. Nick Long, the council empty homes officer, said he had been “inspired” to take action now by the recent Channel Four programme (Phil Spencer’s Empy Homes Giveaway) which featured the Ladywell Village Improvement Group’s campaign to bring the flats back into use. The large double fronted flat, with its broken windows, peeling paint, and deteriorating roof, has long been seen as a sad waste of a potential family home at a time of acute housing shortage. It has also been an eyesore on the local High Street for more than 10 years. Coomes has been given until the New Year to respond to the notice. If it doesn’t the council can then apply for the EDMO which, if granted, would allow it the right of possession without affecting E Coomes’ ownership of the flats. The council could then enter the property and manage it back into use. Tony Major

Ladywell Walking Tour leaflet now available!

The Ladywell Fields User Group, the Ladywell Society and the Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries have, with financial help from Lewisham Council, produced a leaflet which details two short walks around Ladywell.  Copies will be available at the Ladywell Assembly meeting this evening and, from later this week, in some local shops.  If you cannot get hold of a copy email your name and address to ladywell.info@gmail.com and we'll try to drop a copy in to you before Christmas.

Robert Sheppard

Phil Spencer highlights the scandal of empty homes in Ladywell

Phil Spencer (of 'Location, Location, Location' fame) was filming outside Coral Bookmakers this week for a Channel 4 programme to be broadcast at 9.00pm on Wednesday 7 December.  The Ladywell filming focused on the living space typically available to a family in temporary accommodation and the scandal of empty properties above shops - such as the empty and neglected flats above Coral.

(Above) Phil chats to locals 

(Above) Tony Major, LVIG Chair, galvanises the crowd!

(Above and below) Phil chats with Tony Major and Lara Thornton (LVIG Comms Officer)

 

Council must think again on Traveller Site

The Ladywell Village Improvement Group is opposed to the Council's plans for a traveller site at the end of Church Grove. It believes this constrained site with inadequate access arrangements is unsuitable for the proposed development and urges the Council to look again at alternatives in the Borough that will better enable it to deliver its statutory obligations.

LVIG is appalled at the way Church Grove residents have been treated, having been told in the last year first that they could set up a community garden on the site, then that the site would instead be put to educational use. News that the site had once again been identified for a Traveller Site came as a complete shock.

Whilst there were seven sites on the shortlist put to Mayor and Cabinet, the somewhat arbitrary selection criteria were skewed to favour a Council-owned site with existing planning permission even though recent history suggests there is little or no urgency. Furthermore the Council has conveniently ignored the access shortcomings and other suitability issues in national guidance and the fact that 5 units will go no significant way to meet the Council’s own assessed demand for a minimum of 17 units by 2012. Inexplicably consultation is only taking place in relation to one site, the smallest of the seven: if in reality this has already been chosen why insult residents with this charade of consultation?

LVIG, which campaigns for improvements to the neighbourhood and strives to encourage more investment in a poorly-managed conservation area, believes the proposals for the site will not boost the area’s regeneration or promote the profile of a neglected part of the borough. The fact that this will be a Council-managed site gives no reassurance that it will be well-run and any sort of asset to the area.

The Council has behaved in a high-handed manner and all recent evidence suggests it is set on ignoring local concerns. The Council's apparent determination to push through this proposal highlights a lack of a strategic vision for the neighbourhood and LVIG invites the Council to embark on a broad, more meaningful consultation with residents about the future of the Ladywell area.

The LVIG Committee

Minicabs return to Ladywell

Minicabs are coming back to Ladywell. The once famous blue and yellow Fenerbahce launderette, which graced Ladywell Road for several years until recent owners painted it black, is about to be turned into a minicab office. The last minicab business in the village, on Algernon Rd, shut up shop years ago. Anyone know how long ago? Meanwhile, work is progressing on the fried chicken takeaway in the old off-licence. It can't be long now!

Ladywell Christmas Market called off this year

LVIG has reluctantly taken the decision not to hold its Christmas Market this year.  It was due to take place Saturday 10 December and would have been the fourth Ladywell Christmas Market.

Due to the continued works at our current venue, the forecourt of Ladywell Station, and the most recent advice from Southeastern Rail that they cannot guarantee the works will be finished in time, the decision has been made to cancel the event.  Until very recently both we and Southeastern Rail remained hopeful that the works would be finished in time.

The decision to call off the Market was a tough one and was made in the interest of the Market.  At this late stage we could have soldiered on and put on a market somewhere - but to do so would run the risk of it being a sorry one in an unsuitable venue and we don't want that!  Ladywell is 'on the up' and as such deserves the best market we can give it!

Next year the Market will be back bigger and better than before!

Traveller Site Consultation Launched - Have your say!

Photo - the previous LB Lewisham Traveller Site on Thurston Road

The Council has announced details of the consultation on the proposed Travellers' Site in Church Grove - see https://lewisham-consult.limehouse.co.uk/public/regeneration/pl/travellersiteconsultation  See also http://www.savechurchgrove.com/ for a different perspective.  There will be four drop-in sessions and a public meeting; you can also submit comments on line or by post.  The deadline for all contributions is 18 December.

Drop-in sessions - all at St Mary's Centre on Ladywell Road.Saturday 12 November, 10.00am - 12.00noon
Friday 18 November, 7.00-9.00pm
Thursday 24 November, 3.00-5.00pm; and
Wednesday 30 November, 3.00-5.00pm

Public meeting - Tuesday 6 December, 7.30-9.00pm, also at St Mary's Centre.

On-line via the link above

By post to Freepost RSGJ-CYZS-JUYA, Travellers site consultation, Communications, London Borough of Lewisham, Town Hall, Catford SE6 4RU

Following the consultation period a report will be presented to the Mayor and Cabinet in January 2012.

Ladywell Traveller Site proposal revived

It seems that this proposal is very much alive and kicking - see http://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=5881.  More to follow later today when I've clarified the position.  In the meantime see lively debate on this at http://brockleycentral.blogspot.com/2011/10/consultation-announced-for-ladywell.html

Robert Sheppard

Where do you people think you live? Time to get real?

Back in September 'Anonymous' commented as follows on this Blogspot - "bar/dining experience . . . art and antiques . . . Where do you people think you live . . . This is Lewisham . . . RIOTS, MUGGING . . . wake up . . . there is no Ladywell Village". 

Interesting this, I think, and worth discussing.  Is LVIG a bunch of self-delusionists?  Are we wasting our time dedicating time and effort to caring for and improving our area?  Maybe, maybe . . . or maybe not.  I for one won't be deterred by one naysayer.

Robert Sheppard

Ladywell Streetscape improvements - fingers crossed until December!

We’ve just heard that at the 14 September meeting of LB Lewisham's Mayor and Cabinet, the 'Local Implementation Plan' (the annual highways spending submission to Transport for London) for 2012/13 was agreed.

Within this, Council officers proposed that £450k be set aside for the Ladywell Streetscape Scheme in 2012/13 (with a further £300k to complete the project the following year). The overall LIP programme will be submitted to TfL on 7 October, and TfL will probably confirm by Christmas whether they are content with the programme.

In the meantime the design principles put forward by LVIG's design consultants are being developed into detailed proposals by Council transport officers with a view to public consultation in late 2011 or early 2012.

Robert Sheppard
(LVIG Deputy Secretary)

AGM tomorrow to be held in St.Mary's Church Crypt

Tomorrow's LVIG Annual General Meeting will take place at 7.30pm tomorrow evening in the Crypt at St.Mary's Church, Ladywell (opposite the Ravensbourne Arms on Lewisham High Street).  The Crypt can be accessed to the right of the main entrance.

We've a lot of interesting things to get through, including a session on neighbourhood planning (part of the Government's emerging 'localism' agenda) where we've got a knowledgable external speaker; we need to assemble a team to organise the Christmas Market; and we need also to elect a committee for the coming year.

Please do come!

Robert Sheppard

Planter bid loses out to youth projects

At a well-attended meeting yesterday evening, the Ladywell Assembly chose the projects for funding from the 'Mayor's Fund' in 2011/12.  The successful organisations, following a ballot of all present, were:

1st Montage Theatre Arts
2nd Youth Village
3rd= Lewisham Youth Theatre and Brockley Design Winter Festival
5th Lewisham Community Sports
6th Brockley Football Club

This was a worthy experiment in participatory budgeting but, regrettably, LVIG's bid (£6k to buy new planters) always looked likely to lose out, especially given the age profile of those present and voting.

Well done to the successful bidders!

Two key diary dates this month

At 7.00pm on Thursday 22 September the Ladywell Assembly will meet at St.Andrew's Church on Brockley Road.  This is the meeting at which bids to the Mayor's Fund will be presented and voted upon so WE NEED MAXIMUM TURNOUT TO SUPPORT OUR LVIG BID for £6,000 to provide 8 attractive and robust planters to replace the current ones which are now tatty and falling apart.  These new planters have been chosen to compliment the streetscape improvements we're expecting the Council to start next Spring.
At 7.30pm on Wednesday 28 September, the following week, LVIG will hold its Annual General Meeting at which all seven Committee posts will be up for grabs.  Please email ladywell.info@gmail.com for a nomination form.  In addition we'll have a presentation on neighbourhood plans (part of the Government's 'localism' agenda) from a resident who was involved in one of the 'pilots' in Bermondsey, plus a discussion on the 2011 Ladywell Christmas Market and the need for 'new blood' to deliver this over the next few months.
Robert Sheppard

El's Kitchen is runner-up in Deli of the Year 2011 awards

El's Kitchen in Ladywell was runner-up in these awards, the results of which were announced on 5 September.  400 delis were nominated nationally and 10,000 consumer votes cast, so to make it to the last three is an incredible feat, especially so soon after opening.  Well done to Eleanor and the whole team - you're an asset to the area.  For more see www.delioftheyear.co.uk/.

Ladywell Station ticket office longlisted for closure

Ladywell ticket office may be closed if recommendations made to the Government get the go-ahead.  'The Telegraph' reports that "Sir Roy McNulty, who was called in to advise the Government how the rail industry could be more efficient, has recommended removing staff from 675 stations" and Ladywell, Crofton Park and St.Johns are all on the list.  "The 'hit list' of stations was buried in the small print of the McNulty report, which was presented to Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, in May."  See www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/8741943/One-in-four-railway-ticket-offices-faces-the-axe.html for more information.  Closing ticket offices at less-used stations could help cut £1 billion a year from the industry's running costs.
Robert Sheppard

Mason's closes but no.46 to open soon

I return from holiday to hear that Mason's Bar & Restaurant has closed.  It seems that in difficult economic times the proprietor simply had to 'bite the bullet'.  This is sad news for him and his family, and for Ladywell too, of course.  Hopefully, in due course, some other operator will take on the lease and provide the sort of bar/dining experience much in demand in the Ladywell area.

It seems that the shop at 46 Ladywell Road will open shortly, though the new leaseholder is cagey about what the premises will offer.  On 15 August he wrote on the Brockley Central blogspot "we took on the lease of no.46 at the start of the month and are currently working to get it ready. As you appreciate, it's been empty for several years and although the landlord has replastered, put new stairs to the basement, loo in the basement, etc., there is still lots to do.  The interiors walls have been painted this weekend but there's still the woodwork to do, floor needs to be laid (purchased and being collected this Thursday), basement needs fitting out for storage, shop needs fitting out, front needs painting, shutters need to be installed . . .  There's lots to do and we want to get it just right rather than get standard shopfitters in - so please be patient!  I won't say yet what we will be selling but we think that it will fit in well in the area and although we'll be called Slater & King, we're not an estate agents or solicitors."

Robert Sheppard

A step forward for streetscape?

A local resident who visited a council tent at Lewisham People’s Day has heard that work is progressing on proposed improvements in Ladywell. An engineer from the Wearside Rd depot explained that his colleagues, currently busy making improvements in Sydenham, are starting to model proposed changes to the Ladywell streetscape. Good news. Perhaps local councillors can confirm that the preparatory work is indeed progressing! Anybody else heard anything? TonyM

Planned July AGM postponed to Weds 28 September

Please note that the Annual General Meeting planned for 20 July will now take place on Wednesday 28 September.  We plan to have a full and interesting agenda with at least one external speaker!
Robert Sheppard, LVIG Deputy Secretary

New Day Nursery for Ladywell Village

The Council's sale of 1 Slagrove Place (just behind the Ladywell Tavern) was reported on this Blogspot on 17 February.  We now learn that it will reopen shortly as Cherubins Day Nursery and that there will be an Open Day on 10 July.  You'll find more details at http://www.cherubinsdaynursery.co.uk/lewisham/.

Ladywell streetscape - let's keep up the pressure!

Last Summer LVIG worked with landscape architects Shape and Council officers to develop proposals to make Ladywell Village a better place for local people by improving the roads and pavements - the ‘streetscape’.

LVIG is keen that the current layout, which prioritises the needs of traffic over those of people, changes and that Ladywell centre becomes an attractive place that works well for local people using the shops, catching a bus, going to the park or the station, sitting out to have a coffee or pint, or simply reaching their homes. LVIG wants to transform Ladywell Village using a range of measures tried successfully elsewhere, such as increasing pavement widths and narrowing carriageways; introducing raised pedestrian crossings at side road intersections; incorporating loading/short stay parking bays; planting new street trees in suitable locations; seating and cycle parking; and a safer cycle connection to Ladywell Fields.  A scheme has been developed to bring this into effect.  But making this happen is entirely dependent on funding from Transport for London (TfL). Each Autumn LB Lewisham, like all London boroughs, bids for TfL money for schemes like this. In 2010 Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock decided not to include the Ladywell scheme in the Lewisham bid for 2011/12 but made it very clear it would be the priority scheme for the 2012/13 bid.

LVIG will be reminding Mayor Bullock of this commitment come the Autumn and will be looking to Ward Councillors to redouble their efforts to make this scheme happen!

In the meantime . . . . LVIG has managed to get two new trees planted in Gillian Street (opp. the Ladywell Tavern) - and is now trying to get tree guards fitted! We will also be pressing the Council or Network Rail to replace the tree that has come down immediately infront of the Station. Furthermore we'll be bidding to the Ladywell Assembly for new, more robust planters to replace the wooden ones which are now starting to fall apart.

LVIG always knew the transformation of Ladywell wasn't going to happen overnight - but things are moving in the right direction with Oscar's, El's Kitchen, Masons and the Ladywell Tavern all positive examples of the area's revival.  Now we've just got to keep the ball rolling!

1-5 Mercy Terrace, Ladywell - planning application

A planning application has been submitted for this vacant site, r/o Rumbles sandwich bar.  The application is described as "construction of a part two/part three storey building on the site of 1-5 Mercy Terrace SE13 comprising a ground floor commercial area (multi purpose hall for hire), 2 one bedroom and 1 two bedroom, self-contained flats, together with the provision of refuse and bicycle stores".  The plans can be inspected at http://acolnet.lewisham.gov.uk/LEWIS-XSLPagesDC/acolnetcgi.exe?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeDocs&TheSystemkey=63144   

Your views are welcomed, here on this blog, to help LVIG determine whether this is something it would want to support or oppose.  On the face of it a modest development on a vacant plot which has recently been a flytip sounds very positive, provided the design standards are high and the proposed use/mix of the development are appropriate.

The site in question is to the right of the photo below (which shows the rear of the Mercy Terrace properties as seen from the Ladywell bridge).  The development site is behind the tumbledown brown fence infront of the silver van.

Parking zone extension proposed

After lobbying by local residents, Lewisham council is to review the operation of the Ladywell controlled parking zone. At the recent Ladywell Assembly council officers said they would consult residents in October this year on extending the zone to include Embleton and Ermine roads and parts of Chudleigh and Ladywell roads (see map). The proposed extensions are shown in green. The existing Ladywell CPZ is in pink.
Parking permits for residents now cost £120 a year or £35 for three months. Some have argued that the zone, which operates throughout each working day, should be more limited in scope. Others want the zone to be extended quickly because it is already causing increased congestion in neighbouring streets such as Embleton Rd.

What's your view?

Mayor 'opens' Ladywell Fields

Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, today cut the tape and formally opened the 'Parklands' improvements in Ladywell Fields.

Will the DLR come to Ladywell?

  The Mayor of London and Transport for London are drawing up plans for the development of London’s transport network, including further extensions of the Docklands Light Railway system to the east and south east. A map of the possible extensions on the TfL website shows the line from Lewisham being extended south to Ladywell. Catford and Forest Hill. Clearly it is just an idea at the moment – there’s no detailed planning and no funding set aside. But it might just suggest that London’s planners are waking up to the potential of one of south east London’s hidden gems. Good news? What do you think?

Chicken tonight?

 

A planning application has been submitted for a new shopfront and canopy for 222 Algernon Rd – the old off licence. The drawings, by Project Design Consultants, suggest the shop unit will indeed be turned into a cut-price fried chicken takeaway outlet named – wait for it – Chicken Delight!  Does Ladywell really need this? Isn’t it time for Lewisham council to take a tougher approach to the proliferation of takeaway outlets on our high local streets?

Community efforts get Planters ready for Spring!

Volunteers came out on Sunday to get the Ladywell Village planters ready for Spring.  Many seem to think these are a Council responsibility, but they're not - these eight planters are stocked and maintained by you and I, the local community.  Yesterday the planter outside the tattoo shop - which was vandalised in February - was repaired, refilled and restocked.  The other planters were tidied up and a few other plants added.  Over the next few months the plants should thicken up and more will bloom.   Looking after the planters takes ongoing effort, however, and the lack of any easily accessible water supply is a problem, so our Ward Councillors have been enlisted to see if the Council might help find a solution.  In the meantime please do feel free to wander along with a watering can!
Robert Sheppard 

Sign LVIG's empty property petition

Please click on http://lewisham-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal/petitions/ladywell_village_improvement_group to sign our petition which reads: " We, the undersigned, petition the Council to take urgent, concerted and robust action (i) to compel and encourage the owners of vacant/unoccupied retail and residential premises in Ladywell Village to bring these back into use; and (ii) where a letting isn't possible for any reason, to keep the premises in a reasonable state of repair, especially where visible from the public highway (e.g. the especially prominent and poorly maintained empty flats above Coral bookmakers). We seek this in order conclusively to reverse the decline of Ladywell Village as a local retail centre and to foster a greater sense of local pride in the area, which the Council only last year designated as a Conservation Area."

'The Ravensbourne Arms' to open this Summer

We hear that the Former 'Coach and Horses' at 323 Lewisham High Street (opposite St.Mary's Church) is to open this Summer as 'The Ravensbourne Arms'.  It seems it has been acquired and is being refurbished by the Antic Group (http://www.antic-ltd.com/) who run Jam Circus on Brockley Road.

Fi Collett, Antic's Events Manager, tells me "we are more than proud of the 6 Cask Marques that we currently hold and we hope to increase that to every pub in the group - but as I’m sure you are aware, they are not handed out lightly!  We stock 3-4 regular and guest ales and will soon be starting our own brewery so that we can also add our own stock to that list.  Children are more than welcome in our pubs until 8pm (although exact times vary - it is down to the manager) and we encourage young mums in the early afternoon with great coffee and light lunches.  I am afraid I don’t know yet if that will apply to the Ravensbourne Arms as we haven’t yet worked out the need for lunchtime opening in Lewisham!"

Sounds like good news all round.  Watch this space for info on opening date.

Empty Property and Playtower update for our 16 March meeting

There's still a nip in the air but the bulbs are coming out, so LVIG reckons Spring is here. The last few months have been busy ones in Ladywell so we've arranged for some exciting events and talks for March.  We very much hope you can join us at one (or both!) of the following:

A public meeting on Wednesday 16 March at the tank gallery - http://tankgallery.weebly.com/ - at the rear of the Ladywell Tavern from 7.30pm.  There's level/wheelchair access via Slagrove Place, to the side of the Tavern.  We'll be joined at the meeting by Lewisham Council's Empty Property Officer, Nick Long.  Empty properties are one of LVIG's key areas of interest and we are very much looking forward to hearing from Nick. We have also arranged for potential trustees of the Playtower to come and tell us the latest about their work - so all in, the meeting should be a really interesting one.

Our second event for March is one which has proved very popular and great fun in the past - we'll be donning our gardening gloves for a Community Planting Day to spruce up the planters. We are still in the midst of organising it but it will be held on Sunday 27 March and we'll have more details soon, but save the date in your diary.

Residents want CPZ extended

Local residents have urged the council to extend the Ladywell controlled parking zone to cover Embleton Road which they say is now suffering increased congestion. A petition calling on the council to reconsider the road’s exclusion from the local CPZ  implemented last year was presented to this week’s full council meeting. Residents who helped organise the petition said the road had been left “to bear the brunt of commuter parking” and was now heavily congested during weekdays. When the consultation on the CPZ was first undertaken residents voted not to be included. But some now say they did not realise the implications of being excluded from the parking zone and want the council to look at it again.

Ladywell Fields progress

Many of you are, doubtless, users of Ladywell Fields and will have been following with interest progress on the 'Parklands' improvements to Ladywell Fields, now scheduled for completion this April.  For recent photos (some of variable quality - apologies!), or to become a friend of Ladywell Fields on Facebook, see www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48838&id=100001380559134&l=7979cffe22.  A lot has been achieved in a short time and there's a lot of bare soil at present, but this should green-up naturally from now through to the Summer.
Robert Sheppard

Mmm . . . Morley's is coming

LVIG understands Morley's is about to take over the old off licence (drinks store) on Algernon Rd. Famous for its cut-price takeaway fried chicken, Morley’s will definitely be a big hit with school kids in the area. But does Ladywell need it? Fried chicken is the fastest growing of all fast foods, with outlets springing up all over the place. It’s cheap and cheerful but hazardously rich in fats and salts – not great for a healthy diet. Ladywell also has at least four takeaway outlets already in addition to a few other eateries. Some councils are imposing penalties on new takeaways in a bid to stop them taking over local high streets. So far Lewisham has let the market decide. But should it take a tougher approach to planning applications for takeaways so it can do more to protect the character of an area?  What do you think?

Rising from the ruins

It's taking shape. No.46 Ladywell Road, long an eyesore on the high street, is beginning to look like a decent shop unit again.
After a prolonged campaign by LVIG and sustained pressure from Lewisham council the old Nightwatch was sold to new owners who are turning it into two small flats and a shop unit. Work should be completed some time in the spring.
All we need now is a sustainable business to take over the premises! What kind of shop would you like to see in the high street?

Going, going, gone - 1 Slagrove Place is sold!

1 Slagrove Place, the former lodge and stables of St. Olave's Workhouse - located just behind the Ladywell Tavern facing the open space and playground - was sold today at auction for £730,000.  The guide price was only £450,000 but two bidders were clearly keen to get their hands on the buildings.  The buildings were most recently a Council training centre.  For more on the Workhouse's history see www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/assets/galleries/ladywell/bermondsey-union-workhouse

Campaign on eyesore buildings hots up

Ladywell Village has plenty of interesting architecture, which has recently earned it Conservation Area status, but many of the once proud buildings are now left empty, are poorly maintained or spoilt by unsympathetic shopfronts and awnings, illuminated box signs etc.  There are few examples worse than the flats above Coral bookmakers which are highly visible, unoccupied and in a poor state of repair.  The Council's Empty Property Officer is on the case, but so far he's been unable to make much progress.  However, neither he nor LVIG are prepared to give up this battle.  Watch this space for more on this in the coming months.

Next LVIG Public Meeting and Planting Day

The next LVIG public meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Weds 16 March, probably at the St.Mary's Centre as usual.  We'll have two interesting speakers - one, James Jennings, a trustee of the newly constituted Playtower Building Preservation Trust, and the other Nick Long, the Council's Empty Homes Officer.  Full details and meeting agenda will be published on this blogspot shortly.

A volunteer planting day will take place on Sunday 27 March (again details to follow) so get the date in your diary if you're able to help replace the soil/compost in the Ladywell planters and plant-up.  Horticultural advice welcomed in advance of this!  Last year the planters really suffered during the hot summer despite quite regular watering in most cases.  We hope to do better this year by finding easier access to a water source.

Assembly time! Big decisions to be made on Mayor’s fund

The next Ladywell Assembly is coming up on Wednesday February 9 – don’t miss it! Publicity will be circulated by the council very soon. Top of the agenda will be a discussion on the Mayor’s fund, which is allocated to the ward each year and used to promote local priorities. There is £25,000 available for 2010-11, and a further £18,750 for 2011-12. Local groups can bid for the funds which can be used for one-off projects or schemes that can show they will be self financing. So what should it be used for? Any ideas? Trees, a Ladywell sculpture, a community shop, a summer event . . . The decision is down to Ladywell residents. So make sure you are there!
There are also likely to be assembly discussions on empty shops in the area and Ladywell’s controlled parking zone. Tony Major

Ward priorities (agreed at the last assembly in November):
Environment and landscape
Anti-social behaviour and crime
Local shops
Lack of youth and community facilities
Traffic

Council pulls the plug on community garden

Community garden hopes dashed

Lewisham council has, in a complete reversal of its position last Autumn, withdrawn its support for a community garden on the former Watergate School site at the end of Church Grove, Ladywell.

Having encouraged locals to make use of the site on a short lease, the council has now backed out. It seems that whilst officers in one part of the Council were supportive of the garden idea, others had earmarked the site to build a school annexe in 2012 and were concerned that it might be difficult to take back the land at the end of 2011 once it had become a thriving and popular community garden.

Whilst residents cautiously welcome a return to education use, they do feel they've rather been led down the garden path and wonder whether some more joined-up thinking is needed at Lewisham council?