And the winner is....

Question Time came to Ladywell on Wednesday 21 April, courtesy of LVIG. 

The five parties contesting the ward - Labour, LibDems, Greens, Conservatives and People Before Profit - put up candidates and representatives to be quizzed by members of the local community in St Mary's Centre on Ladywell Road.

With LVIG chair Tony Major offering a passable - though slimmer - imitation of David Dimbleby, the evening provided the parties and people of Ladywell a chance to discuss the issues that matter to them. 

Questions covered housing, schools, derelict properties, support for local businesses, planning, the conservation area, local assemblies, the role of Lewisham's elected Mayor and, yes, even your bin collection.

The party reps - Michael Rutheford (Conservatives), Max Calo (LibDems), Vincent Davis (Labour), Helen Mercer (People Before Profit) and Sue Luxton (Green) - battled over policy differences and sought to promote their priorities for Ladywell. 

For Sue there was a clear democratic deficit in the borough because of the power of the Mayor, while for Helen it was big business and Portakabins in our schools that should be the focus of our anger. Michael insisted we should have the right to elect a police chief, while Max supported community ownership of the PlayTower. Vincent defended Labour’s record in the borough and the role of local assemblies.

Points were scored and lines were muffed, but all the candidates favoured the modernisation of Gordonbrock school, now delayed by an injunction from Brockley Society, and backed a brown bin “kitchen waste” service in the borough. These were rare moments of agreement.

The winner.....was LVIG, for arranging the hustings and for putting itself at the centre of the debate on the issue that matter to the people and businesses in the neighbourhood.