Hither Green East CPZ consultation exhibition reminder

A quick reminder that the exhibition to support the Hither Green East CPZ consultation will be taking place outside Hither Green station this Friday (23rd) between 10am and 8pm, and on Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

To accompany this I've published my personal take (both as a resident in the proposed zone and as a local ward councillor) on the pros and cons of what's proposed for the Hither Green East CPZ and how much it will cost over on Skulduggery for Beginners.

This is an important issue and you have about a week left in which to return your consultation paper. Not returning the survey isn’t a protest vote or a vote for or against – it just means the Council won’t know what you think. When returning your survey, please do use the comments section too. My colleagues and I know from calling round locally that many people favour a simple 2-hour CPZ restriction, which would tackle commuter parking, but cause far less hassle for local residents. We encourage you to ask for this type of restriction in the ‘commments’ section by writing in “I favour a two hour restriction in the middle of the day”

The CPZ consultation will affect everyone in our area – whether you have a car or not. Please make sure you have your say. And if you've lost your consultation paper and would like another please email me with your address details and I'll try to get a replacement to you.

Any questions for London Transport about local services?

There's a meeting of the London Transport Liaison committee coming up on the 20th March and if you'd like me to raise any questions, comments, grumbles or indeed praise about or for London Transport services, particularly local ones, please let me know by Friday 23rd February.

Lewisham Life over eggs the pudding!

Those of you who have read the February issue of Lewisham Life may have spotted on page 9 details of funding requests to Transport for London (TfL) for Hither Green. Before you get too excited I'm afraid the only factual part of the article is that the Council are indeed applying to TfL for funding but not for the items mentioned in the article:

£10,000 for tree planting in Hither Green Lane?
Unfortunately because of underground cables and pipes it's apparently not possible to plant trees in Hither Green Lane. The only way this could be done is with small trees in planters. Something for the newly emerging Hither Green Group in Lewisham Central Ward to consider perhaps?

£50,000 towards the improvement of Staplehurst?
Unfortunately no, we certainly haven't heard of any funding proposals, and neither have FUSS and the Local Town Centre Manager. The transformation you see, and the yearly Christmas Fair, is all down to the hard work of a small group of FUSS volunteers.

£210,000 to widen Fernbrook?
Once again no. There were suggestions at one time that the Council might purchase part of the railway embankment in Fernbrook and widen the road but this is no longer being pursued.

So I'm afraid as far as Hither Green is concerned this is very much a non-article!

Lee Dancers: Traditional English Country Dancing

Just a reminder that the next two meetings of Lee Dancers are on Thursday 15th February and Thursday 15th March from 7.30 - 9pm in the Church Hall of the Good Shepherd Church in Handen Road.

£3 a session (first FREE) - Under 16s £1

All ages very welcome!

Lee Manor Society Meeting

The next meeting of the Lee Manor Society will be on the Monday the 19th February at 9pm at 105 Burnt Ash Hill.

Quiz Night at the Good Shepherd

Come and test your general knowledge at The Good Shepherd Quiz Night on Saturday March 3rd!
The evening kicks off with Supper at 6:30pm and the Quiz will start at 7:15pm
Tickets cost £8 per person, concessions £5, and they are available from Elizabeth Bentley on 07716309114

Manor House Gardens User Group proposal

I've asked for the following proposal to be included in the agenda for the Manor House Gardens User Group on Tuesday:

Request that Manor House Gardens User Group support Cllr Bentley’s proposal that all green waste produced in Manor House Gardens is recycled and composted on-site, and that an Environmental Policy is drawn up for the park.

With Global Warming and the need to recycle as much as we can in the news almost daily it seems hard to believe that the green waste produced in Lewisham's parks is not already recycled and composted on-site. The tremendous support shown locally for the Christmas tree recycling drop point in Old Road, which was included for the first time in the tree recycling scheme at my request, proves beyond doubt that Lee Green residents are interested in, and support recycling, and I believe many would support this initiative.

Therefore I would like to ask the Manor House Gardens User Group to support my proposal for full on-site recycling and composting of all green waste produced in Manor House Gardens by requesting Lewisham Council and Glendale's to draw up proposals for presentation at the next User Group meeting for the introduction of full recycling and composting facilities in Manor House Gardens. In addition I would also like to propose that the User Group work with Glendale's to draw up an Environmental Policy covering Emissions and Discharges, Waste Management, Resource Management and Procurement in order to establish an Environmental Management System (EMS) in the park which conforms to BS EN ISO 14001:2004

Full supporting text to this proposal will be published on Skulduggery for Beginners in the next day or two.

Manor House Gardens User Group meeting on Tuesday

The first meeting of the New Year for Manor House Gardens User Group is this Tuesday 6th February at 8pm at Northbrook School, Taunton Road.

The agenda for the evening includes:
Report on the Green Flag Celebrations December 2006
Manor House Library Update with a report on what’s to be done about trees
Details of Spring Planting
Report on the recent Café refurbishment
Update on Pond Development
Report from our Safer Neighbourhood Team
Locality Fund (see below) and proposal from Cllr Bentley that the MHGUG support him in asking Glendale to introduce on-site recycling of the parks green waste
Christmas trees recycling
Quaggy works
Glendale report on items not covered elsewhere in the agenda
Nortbrook school update

Jim Mallory raised a concern over the consultation on this year's Locality Fund which I've answered very comprehensively. You'll find the full text of my reply with additional notes on Skulduggery for Begginers

If you're a Manor House Gardens user why not come along and join us?

You can get further information by contacting the MHGUG Chair: Jim Mallory on 020 8852 9783

Little Kickers Football Training for 2-5 year olds!

Little Kickers Football Training is starting at the Good Shepherd Church Hall in Handen Road this month. Sessions are held on:
Wednesday 4:15pm - 5:00pm "Mighty Kickers" for children 3.5 - 5 years old
Wednesday 5:00pm - 6:45pm "Mighty Kickers" for children 3.5 - 5 years old
and:
Friday 1:30pm - 2:15pm "Junior Kickers" for children 2 - 3.5 years old

For more information call 020 8249 5355
or visit the Little Kickers website