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Lewisham council has, in a complete reversal of its position last Autumn, withdrawn its support for a community garden on the former Watergate School site at the end of Church Grove, Ladywell.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

Christmas in Ladywell

The pictures!!! . . . .
Christmas Market December 11 2010

And a Merry Christmas from LVIG

Councillor says streetscape funds are secure

UPDATE: Cllr Vincent Davis has told LVIG that he believes funding for the streetscape improvements along Ladywell Road “remains in tact”. He told a LVIG meeting on Tuesday (November 23) that the funding Lewisham council receives from Transport for London for such schemes would undoubtedly be cut over the next three years. But he insisted  funds allocated for the Ladywell improvements in 2012-13 (£500k) and 2013-14 (£260k) were safe. LVIG certainly hopes so and will be working to ensure the full implementation of the scheme. LVIG plans to hold a further public meeting to explain the benefits of the streetscape action plan early next year. TonyM

Conservation plan for the Play Tower

What next for the tower?

The Council has let a contract to consultants for a Conservation Management Plan to be carried out on the Play Tower in Ladywell Road. This will provide up to date information on the state of the building and set out options for its reuse. The Council is also in the process of letting contracts for some structural work to the building. The start of both of these has been delayed due to the need to clear all bio-hazards and all other waste materials and collapsed tower sections from the site to enable full access to the building. The Council has said the works will start in January and last three months.

 In the meantime, a charitable trust is being formed by four organisations interested in taking over the building and securing funding for its refurbishment. They are three voluntary sector umbrella organisations active in the borough and a local church that would use the building to deliver community projects. Currently legal documents are being drawn up for approval prior to submission to the Charities Commission. Once the trust has been set up the intention is to promote it among the wider community as part of a consultation on the future use of the building. TonyR