The fact that Lewisham Council spent £105k in a single day removing four people from Tidemill Garden has just been revealed in response to a number of FOI requests, and the figures will be made public at tomorrow night's council meeting in response to questions to the council.
The council has refused to provide figures for the ongoing cost of securing the site since the day of the eviction.
But in a deeply cynical move, which will do nothing to improve relations between SE8 and Lewisham's elected representatives, the council has just put out the following press release, which I have reproduced in full.
Counting the cost of the Tidemill eviction
Lewisham Council has revealed the £105,000 cost of evicting the Tidemill protestors in Deptford could help house more than 20 homeless families in temporary accommodation for an entire year.
The Council gave the Old Tidemill Garden Group temporary, meanwhile, use of the garden back in 2012 on the clear understanding they would leave once the development of the site was ready to go ahead. The group agreed to this condition.
The Council had to spend the money to remove campaigners and members of the group after they refused to leave in October.
Councillor Paul Bell, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “It is disappointing that the actions of some activists illegally occupying the site meant we had no choice but to spend this large sum of money which could have been much better used elsewhere for those in real housing need.
“Our housebuilding programme is for the many, not the few, and we won’t let the actions of a small number of people stop us providing decent, secure, social housing for those who need it.
“In the last three years alone private rents have risen by almost three times as much as earnings in Lewisham. We are fighting the housing crisis by building more homes at social rented levels and working with others to do the same. Tidemill offers an unprecedented amount of social housing and we cannot let those who wish to undermine the scheme for their own motives further delay these homes from being built.”
The Council’s housing programme will deliver over 1,000 new social homes over the next four years with 117 due to be available for social rent at Tidemill.
Overall, redevelopment of Tidemill and surrounding areas will provide 209 new homes, 54% of which will be social.
There are nearly 10,000 people on Lewisham’s housing waiting list and over 2,000 households in temporary accommodation because of a lack of social housing in the borough.
Cllr Bell added: “We are sorry for the residents who live locally and are caught in the middle of this ongoing situation. We are trying our best to resolve it.”
Tomorrow's council meeting, which includes not only questions about the Tidemill eviction, but also an item on the arrangements for replacing the sacked chief executive Ian Thomas, looks set to be a lively one.
THE DEPTFORD DAME
Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Saturday, 24 November 2018
Tidemill trees
Since the heavy-handed eviction of Tidemill Garden almost a month ago, the site has been guarded 24 hours a day, seven days a week by a workforce of at least 50.
I covered this in my previous blog post, the contents of which came as news to many observers in the wider SE London area who were aware of the eviction but not the ongoing levels of security and associated cost. In the last few days, with fencing now erected around the site, the number may have been reduced but security staff still remain on the public land around the perimeter of the site, and there are guard dogs inside the former garden. With little to do, the dogs spend their days and nights barking - another unnecessary disturbance for neighbours.
There has been no official word on why the eviction took place when it did, given that there is still an ongoing legal procedure. Although the judicial review that campaigners funded was rejected, they are still going through the appeal process. Neither the council nor the developers is permitted to start work on the site until the legal process is complete.
Councillor Joe Dromey claimed on Twitter that the council is paying the cost of security until the appeal is heard, after which developer Peabody will take it on. As far as I am aware there is no specific deadline for the decision to be made, so no-one can predict what this will cost.
If the council really was concerned about the cost of evicting the campaigners and securing the site, why didn’t they wait till the legal process was complete before initiating this expensive procedure? With legal arguments out of the way, if they had been successful they would have been able to come straight in and take possession at minimal cost. Why choose such a provocative course of action?
Cock-up or conspiracy? Evidence certainly favours the latter, with no senior council members or officers willing to stand up and take responsibility for what is going on, and a deafening silence from Lewisham’s elected mayor Damien Egan.
The latest act of provocation from whoever is directing operations at Tidemill was the arrival of tree surgeons on the site last week.
I covered this in my previous blog post, the contents of which came as news to many observers in the wider SE London area who were aware of the eviction but not the ongoing levels of security and associated cost. In the last few days, with fencing now erected around the site, the number may have been reduced but security staff still remain on the public land around the perimeter of the site, and there are guard dogs inside the former garden. With little to do, the dogs spend their days and nights barking - another unnecessary disturbance for neighbours.
There has been no official word on why the eviction took place when it did, given that there is still an ongoing legal procedure. Although the judicial review that campaigners funded was rejected, they are still going through the appeal process. Neither the council nor the developers is permitted to start work on the site until the legal process is complete.
Councillor Joe Dromey claimed on Twitter that the council is paying the cost of security until the appeal is heard, after which developer Peabody will take it on. As far as I am aware there is no specific deadline for the decision to be made, so no-one can predict what this will cost.
If the council really was concerned about the cost of evicting the campaigners and securing the site, why didn’t they wait till the legal process was complete before initiating this expensive procedure? With legal arguments out of the way, if they had been successful they would have been able to come straight in and take possession at minimal cost. Why choose such a provocative course of action?
Cock-up or conspiracy? Evidence certainly favours the latter, with no senior council members or officers willing to stand up and take responsibility for what is going on, and a deafening silence from Lewisham’s elected mayor Damien Egan.
The latest act of provocation from whoever is directing operations at Tidemill was the arrival of tree surgeons on the site last week.
— Reginald Resident (@under_siege_SE8) November 21, 2018They cut back all the overhanging foliage around the site perimeter, some of it heavy with berries that would have been a valuable food source for local birds this winter, and felled several young trees within the site. A neighbour speaking to the staff doing the work was told that they had also been instructed to fell the larger trees.
(@under_siege_se8)
But after two days on the site, contractor Artemis Trees announced that they were pulling out of the job, without pay, having found out about the campaign and the backstory to the work they were doing. They were reported as citing ethical reasons for pulling out.
Once again, official communication from the council on the subject has been nil, other than councillor Joe Dromey attempting to respond to some of the questions on Twitter. He tweeted a copy of a letter from fellow councillor Paul Bell that he said had been sent to residents - but seemingly not to those living opposite the site on Reginald Road. The letter makes no mention of the campaigners' legal action and unresolved appeal, preferring instead to paint them simply as troublesome protestors.
I told you the security is high as there have been over 10 attempts to break in to the site. But I’ve said I think the dogs should be removed. I did ask for a letter & this letter has been sent to residents. I asked about security guards, and received this response from County pic.twitter.com/AFALseZ0u9— Joe Dromey (@Joe_Dromey) November 23, 2018
Dromey also posted a letter that had been received from the bailiffs County Security, in response to complaints about staff covering their faces during the eviction. Eyewitnesses know that the 'skull mask' was not an isolated case - many of those carrying out the eviction covered their faces, and the only 'ID' they carried was a high-viz vest with a number on it. Given that the eviction of any site is potentially a contentious procedure, the council should have been closely involved in scrutinising how the operation was carried out and who was managing it on the day. Someone in authority should have been present to ensure that the procedure was followed to the letter.
Campaigners, neighbours and members of the local Deptford community are genuinely distressed at the utter lack of respect they are being shown by the council. Even if elected officials are not willing to engage with the campaigners, there is an overwhelming case for explaining their actions to the electorate and reassuring local residents that they are following due process.
This week it also came to light that the council is recruiting an assistant director of strategy and communications to assist the mayor, who as we know is famously heading off in a 'new direction'.
The job was actually advertised last month and initial interviews were due to be held last week. With Egan's remit officially covering 'planning, emergencies and communications' at least he will have one strand covered.
"Communicating effectively with our residents is very important for the council," News Shopper's story quotes the council as saying. "Good communications informs and engages residents on all aspects of the council’s work."
Yes of course it does.
Monday, 19 November 2018
Tidemill, Thomas and transparency
In times of austerity there are two things that councils should be particularly scrupulous about.
The first reads like a statement of the bleeding obvious. To be seen to be visibly wasting money is a massive no-no. When you are closing libraries, reducing children's services and slashing support for the vulnerable, any unnecessary spend or inefficient use of funds is going to rapidly attract the wrong kind of attention.
The second is more subtle, but in my opinion just as important. Communicating with your electorate about why you are making certain decisions, what alternatives you have considered, and why these have been eliminated in favour of a particular course of action is good practice and shows respect for the people you serve.
Transparency and accountability are qualities that all local councils claim to be striving for. But recent events over the last few weeks in Deptford and the wider Lewisham borough suggest that the council's 'new direction', under elected mayor Damien Egan, seeks to abandon any such worthy aspirations.
The ongoing saga of the Tidemill Community Garden and the proposed redevelopment of the land between Frankham Street and Reginald Road came to a head on Monday 29 October when more than a hundred bailiffs, police, dog handlers and dogs, and other assorted heavies turned up at 6am to evict four people from the garden. The community garden had been occupied since August when the council served a notice of eviction ahead of plans to start redevelopment of the site. Although a judicial review brought by campaigners was rejected in October, an appeal against the decision is still unresolved.
The cost has been reliably estimated at around £35k per day - on this basis, at the time of writing, the total cost is approaching £750k - three quarters of a million pounds. Awkwardly, this week the mayor and cabinet will be discussing more council budget cuts.
The unknown is for how much longer this level of spend will continue, nor the process by which the council plans to take things forward. Communication from the council has been non-existent, other than individual councillors defending the development plans in general, and criticising the behaviour of the campaigners when asked by the media to comment. No statement has been issued to confirm who authorised the action, why the bailiffs did not give occupants of the garden the opportunity to leave the site peacefully, what it is costing, who is paying the bill, what the next stage of the process will be, when it will take place, and why they are spending a great deal of money to secure an empty site for an indefinite period.
Councillor Paul Bell (cabinet member for housing) is quoted as saying that he 'did not believe' that the eviction was heavy-handed and that it was a 'straightforward operation'. The fact is, he was not present, and nor were any of his council colleagues. My own eye-witness account and that of many other reliable contacts contradicts this.
Whatever has gone wrong in just five months is not up for discussion. Once again the council is remaining tight-lipped on the issue, although under pressure the pr department started referring to a 'change of direction' by the new administration under Egan, which presumably Thomas was either not invited to, or not keen on.
Meanwhile Private Eye's take on what it calls Lewishambles suggests that an infantile clash of egos was the issue, quoting one council source as saying it was 'dicks at dawn'. Now the former interim CEO is back at the helm and Thomas has gone on gardening leave, with no credible explanation of what has created this embarrassing and expensive situation. The council has to find the funds to advertise for and recruit a new CEO, not to mention cover any severance pay that Thomas may be due.
Neither of these decisions have gone down particularly well in Deptford, hence 'mayor's question time' at the recent New Cross Assembly at the Mulberry Centre became the focal point for a rather angry electorate.
A group of council staff in the audience voiced their concerns and demanded answers about Thomas's departure, while Tidemill protestors wanted to pin the mayor down on the rationale for the eviction of the community garden and the cost to council tax payers. Egan's late arrival from another meeting (with a police escort) meant there was little time for questions, which must have been something of a relief for him.
Members of the public were prevented from entering the room by the police, who claimed that it was at capacity. The film I've linked to below shows this was not true. Some of those left outside vented their anger by banging on the meeting room windows and trying to disrupt the meeting.
Most of the subsequent coverage focused on scuffles outside the venue afterwards, but I draw your attention to footage recorded by founder of the Deptford People Project, 'Lucy Loves-Life' who was in the audience. Her short film shows how the mayor responded to a simple question about provision for young people.
In the circumstances, a question that was neither about Ian Thomas nor Tidemill Garden should have been a gift to the mayor; an opportunity for him to win over his audience and convince them that he was a credible leader. Someone the audience could trust to make the right decisions even in difficult circumstances, someone who would listen and respond respectfully, and someone who would take responsibility for his actions and those of the council he leads.
I invite you to make your own mind up about whether he was successful or not (and with apologies to anyone not on Facebook as I have only been able to find it available here).
https://www.facebook.com/lucyloveslife1/videos/260681608135901/
The first reads like a statement of the bleeding obvious. To be seen to be visibly wasting money is a massive no-no. When you are closing libraries, reducing children's services and slashing support for the vulnerable, any unnecessary spend or inefficient use of funds is going to rapidly attract the wrong kind of attention.
The second is more subtle, but in my opinion just as important. Communicating with your electorate about why you are making certain decisions, what alternatives you have considered, and why these have been eliminated in favour of a particular course of action is good practice and shows respect for the people you serve.
Transparency and accountability are qualities that all local councils claim to be striving for. But recent events over the last few weeks in Deptford and the wider Lewisham borough suggest that the council's 'new direction', under elected mayor Damien Egan, seeks to abandon any such worthy aspirations.
The ongoing saga of the Tidemill Community Garden and the proposed redevelopment of the land between Frankham Street and Reginald Road came to a head on Monday 29 October when more than a hundred bailiffs, police, dog handlers and dogs, and other assorted heavies turned up at 6am to evict four people from the garden. The community garden had been occupied since August when the council served a notice of eviction ahead of plans to start redevelopment of the site. Although a judicial review brought by campaigners was rejected in October, an appeal against the decision is still unresolved.
The arguments on both sides of the Tidemill case have been widely covered elsewhere, but my particular focus is on the disproportionate and heavy-handed action that has been sanctioned by the council, and the huge sums of money that have been (and continue to be) expended on clearing out and securing this space.
Since the eviction on 29 October, staff from County Security have been guarding the site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They surround the perimeter of the garden on Reginald Road and stand along the footpaths and car parks next to Frankham House and Reginald House. People living in the buildings that surround the site have bailiffs a few metres away from their windows at all times.
The unknown is for how much longer this level of spend will continue, nor the process by which the council plans to take things forward. Communication from the council has been non-existent, other than individual councillors defending the development plans in general, and criticising the behaviour of the campaigners when asked by the media to comment. No statement has been issued to confirm who authorised the action, why the bailiffs did not give occupants of the garden the opportunity to leave the site peacefully, what it is costing, who is paying the bill, what the next stage of the process will be, when it will take place, and why they are spending a great deal of money to secure an empty site for an indefinite period.
Councillor Paul Bell (cabinet member for housing) is quoted as saying that he 'did not believe' that the eviction was heavy-handed and that it was a 'straightforward operation'. The fact is, he was not present, and nor were any of his council colleagues. My own eye-witness account and that of many other reliable contacts contradicts this.
The very same day that bailiffs were evicting people from Tidemill Community Garden, the following appeared on the website of the MJ, a weekly magazine for council chief executives:
The chief executive of Lewisham LBC will stand down at the end of the year following a change of political control at the council.
Lewisham has confirmed the departure of Ian Thomas was due to the change in direction by new Mayor Damien Egan and there was ‘no negative reflection’ on the chief, sparking concerns over ousting chiefs ‘on a whim’.
Say what?
This is the same Ian Thomas who was recruited to the post by the council earlier this year with great fanfare and of course, a press release. The post comes with an annual salary of 'between £175k and £185k'.
The press release announced that his recommendation 'was made following a rigorous selection process by an appointments panel consisting of Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham and a cross-party group of eight councillors.' The cross-party group included Damien Egan, at the time a ward councillor but already selected as the Labour Party's mayoral candidate.
After being elected as mayor, Egan introduced Thomas on May 23rd using the following words:
"One of the personal pledges I have made is a commitment to electing more councillors from black, asian and minority ethnic communities. All parties should be committing to supporting the election of more BAME councillors and I will make it my mission through training, mentoring and through political pressure – that in four years’ time we are more reflective of the communities we represent.
We have of course, fantastic BAME role models in our council who inspire many through their leadership.
We welcome our new chief executive, Ian Thomas.
Ian – welcome to Lewisham. I am looking forward to working with you to shape the future we all want to see for our borough."Whatever has gone wrong in just five months is not up for discussion. Once again the council is remaining tight-lipped on the issue, although under pressure the pr department started referring to a 'change of direction' by the new administration under Egan, which presumably Thomas was either not invited to, or not keen on.
Meanwhile Private Eye's take on what it calls Lewishambles suggests that an infantile clash of egos was the issue, quoting one council source as saying it was 'dicks at dawn'. Now the former interim CEO is back at the helm and Thomas has gone on gardening leave, with no credible explanation of what has created this embarrassing and expensive situation. The council has to find the funds to advertise for and recruit a new CEO, not to mention cover any severance pay that Thomas may be due.
Neither of these decisions have gone down particularly well in Deptford, hence 'mayor's question time' at the recent New Cross Assembly at the Mulberry Centre became the focal point for a rather angry electorate.
A group of council staff in the audience voiced their concerns and demanded answers about Thomas's departure, while Tidemill protestors wanted to pin the mayor down on the rationale for the eviction of the community garden and the cost to council tax payers. Egan's late arrival from another meeting (with a police escort) meant there was little time for questions, which must have been something of a relief for him.
Members of the public were prevented from entering the room by the police, who claimed that it was at capacity. The film I've linked to below shows this was not true. Some of those left outside vented their anger by banging on the meeting room windows and trying to disrupt the meeting.
Most of the subsequent coverage focused on scuffles outside the venue afterwards, but I draw your attention to footage recorded by founder of the Deptford People Project, 'Lucy Loves-Life' who was in the audience. Her short film shows how the mayor responded to a simple question about provision for young people.
In the circumstances, a question that was neither about Ian Thomas nor Tidemill Garden should have been a gift to the mayor; an opportunity for him to win over his audience and convince them that he was a credible leader. Someone the audience could trust to make the right decisions even in difficult circumstances, someone who would listen and respond respectfully, and someone who would take responsibility for his actions and those of the council he leads.
I invite you to make your own mind up about whether he was successful or not (and with apologies to anyone not on Facebook as I have only been able to find it available here).
https://www.facebook.com/lucyloveslife1/videos/260681608135901/
Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Party in the Park!
The fabulous and free Party in the Park is back in Fordham Park on 1st September with three stages for a host of local bands and musicians, community stalls and even a 'wellness' area!
The Tent City will focus on local housing issues with talks and workshops looking at the serious housing problems that many local people face.
The festival is descended from the legendary Deptford Urban Free Festival which took place in the park in the 1990s. It's still a free festival and still organised by volunteers, community groups and activists.
Want to get involved? Email vols@pitpnxd.co.uk
Saturday 1st September, 12 noon - 8pm.
Fordham Park
The Tent City will focus on local housing issues with talks and workshops looking at the serious housing problems that many local people face.
The festival is descended from the legendary Deptford Urban Free Festival which took place in the park in the 1990s. It's still a free festival and still organised by volunteers, community groups and activists.
Want to get involved? Email vols@pitpnxd.co.uk
Saturday 1st September, 12 noon - 8pm.
Fordham Park
Thursday, 16 August 2018
Tidemill campaigners seek funds for judicial review
Deptford's Save Reginald! Save Tidemill! campaign is trying to raise funds on Crowd Justice to challenge Lewisham Council's decision to demolish the council homes of Reginald House and the community-run Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden.
The demolition is scheduled as part of a regeneration scheme of the Old Tidemill site in Deptford, London, and the community group wants to mount a judicial review against the Council's approval of the plans.
They want the council and its partners to redraw the plans in partnership with the community, so Reginald House and Old Tidemill Garden are kept, and as many social homes as possible are built on the land.
Campaigners claim it is possible, and that they have produced alternative architectural plans to show it, however the Council have so far not pursued the alternatives.
They say: We need your support to expose how the Council is going against it's own environmental, housing, human rights, equality and air pollution policies, how they have abused the planning process to push the plans through, and the sham nature of their consultation process. And to force them to redraw these plans in partnership with the community, via a transparent and collaborative process.
The campaign's solicitor is Richard Buxton, an environmental and public law lawyer who is also concerned about social housing and social justice.
The group is trying to raise £10,600 by September 9th in order to pay for legal advice and explore the possibility of a judicial review.
For more information, or to make a pledge, visit https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-reginald-save-tidemill
The demolition is scheduled as part of a regeneration scheme of the Old Tidemill site in Deptford, London, and the community group wants to mount a judicial review against the Council's approval of the plans.
They want the council and its partners to redraw the plans in partnership with the community, so Reginald House and Old Tidemill Garden are kept, and as many social homes as possible are built on the land.
Alternative plans have been produced by the campaigners
They say: We need your support to expose how the Council is going against it's own environmental, housing, human rights, equality and air pollution policies, how they have abused the planning process to push the plans through, and the sham nature of their consultation process. And to force them to redraw these plans in partnership with the community, via a transparent and collaborative process.
The campaign's solicitor is Richard Buxton, an environmental and public law lawyer who is also concerned about social housing and social justice.
The group is trying to raise £10,600 by September 9th in order to pay for legal advice and explore the possibility of a judicial review.
For more information, or to make a pledge, visit https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-reginald-save-tidemill
Monday, 18 June 2018
1 Creekside planning application
A planning application has been submitted for the corner site of Creekside/Deptford Church Street for a mixed use development of housing and commercial units.
The land on which the development is proposed, opposite the Birds Nest pub, is currently occupied by the MOT centre at 1 Creekside, and the adjoining unoccupied area which the council fenced off with hoardings a year or more ago. This council-owned land was sold to developer Bluecroft, which owns 1 Creekside, under a deal which will see the council leasing back the commercial space on a long-term basis to generate an income.
I hope that the council has fully tested the viability of its plan, given the amount of new office and commercial space in the area that is either still empty, or just coming on stream. A number of spaces in the Deptford Market Yard building right next to the station still remain unlet, with the starter units in the market yard itself exhibiting a fairly high churn rate. New developments on Creekside such as the high-spec, high-rent Fuel Tank at Faircharm and the Artworks spaces at the other end of the Creekside (and the other end of the rental spectrum) mean that the market is becoming somewhat saturated.
It's a fairly small strip of land and the council's commercial space is intended to occupy an overheight ground floor which accommodates a mezzanine level, so the buildings have to be quite large in order to accommodate just 56 residential units. No matter how you cut it, this is going to have quite an impact on its neighbours. The architects have split it into two 'cores' with the intention of giving it a bit more character than a single block.
They've incorporated a yard at ground level which goes through between the two cores and around the back to Creekside. The documents show all kinds of nice landscaping, although I'm not entirely clear what a 'rain garden' is and the landscaping is often the bit that gets cut back when the penny pinching starts. What is intended to be a pleasant space for those who use it, more often turns into a drafty, litter-strewn wasteland.
Talking of aspirational landscaping, there are a lot of trees shown on the renderings. Past experience suggests that when it comes to actually planting trees outside new developments there are a myriad reasons why they don't materialise - and considering that this development involves the loss of trees on the existing land, let's hope that the planners are willing to enforce their provision if the proposal gets permission.
You can find the details of the planning application via the council's planning portal by searching the reference number DC/18/106708; the official deadline for objections has passed but objections can be submitted up to the date of the committee hearing at which the application will be considered.
Monday, 4 June 2018
999 Club fundraising for a summer shelter
Deptford's 999 Club is crowdfunding to raise £20,000 to open a Summer Shelter to provide space for 20 homeless people each night.
Although they have already raised almost £6,000 they still have a long way to go and the appeal closes on 20 June 2018.
This will be the only shelter in Lewisham and one of only three night shelters open in London over the summer.
Most people are aware of the shelters that open up in winter to provide safe, clean and warm sleeping space for homeless people at a time when the weather is particularly bad.
Ironically in summer, homeless people find it even harder to find a safe, quiet and unexposed place to sleep.
With no door to lock behind them, 999 Club reports that homeless people are 17 times more likely to experience violence including being hit, kicked, urinated on, threatened, robbed, sexually assaulted and verbally abused.
Rough sleeping has a grave effect on homeless people’s mental and physical health resulting in an average age of death of just 43 for women and 47 for men.
Rough sleeping is a devastating experience – not just in winter but at any time of year.
The 999 Club wants to extend its night shelter so it can open this summer, and is crowdfunding to raise a further £20,000 to fund its summer shelter.
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/summershelter
The existing night shelter runs at the 999 Club's hall in 10 week blocks. Traditionally night shelters run during the coldest months of the year but the charity is currently delivering a three-year pilot to extend this to provide year-round support. By 2019 their aim is to have the shelter operating for 40 weeks, across all four seasons.
It's not just about somewhere to sleep - the work of the shelter combines emergency accommodation with the wider support services offered by the 999 Club to empower people to change their lives.
It provides respite from sleeping rough which gives homeless people the space and opportunity to engage with the charity's other services:
- the day centre offering access to practical facilities, such as showers, laundry and internet access;
- advice and support to help with benefits and find and keep a home;
- employability support to access training, gain qualifications, get work ready and find a job;
- learning & activities workshops to gain new skills and increase confidence and self-esteem;
- personal transition service for highly personalised one-to-one support;
- health & wellbeing clinics to improve physical and mental health.
The night shelter provides each guest with a locker, mattress, bedding, towels and a welcome pack including essential items such as deodorant, razors and sanitary products. They are assigned a case manager who assists with securing any missing ID, accessing or maximising benefits, receiving healthcare, getting a job and securing housing.
Guests arrive at 7.30pm each evening for a nutritious meal cooked by a team of volunteers. During this time guests can also access laundry facilities, showers and computers before settling down for the night in the hall. They get breakfast in the morning and are encouraged to stay on during the day at the charity's Gateway service.
For more information about the service and the crowdfunding appeal, visit https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/summershelter
Although they have already raised almost £6,000 they still have a long way to go and the appeal closes on 20 June 2018.
This will be the only shelter in Lewisham and one of only three night shelters open in London over the summer.
Ironically in summer, homeless people find it even harder to find a safe, quiet and unexposed place to sleep.
With no door to lock behind them, 999 Club reports that homeless people are 17 times more likely to experience violence including being hit, kicked, urinated on, threatened, robbed, sexually assaulted and verbally abused.
Rough sleeping has a grave effect on homeless people’s mental and physical health resulting in an average age of death of just 43 for women and 47 for men.
Rough sleeping is a devastating experience – not just in winter but at any time of year.
The 999 Club wants to extend its night shelter so it can open this summer, and is crowdfunding to raise a further £20,000 to fund its summer shelter.
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/summershelter
The existing night shelter runs at the 999 Club's hall in 10 week blocks. Traditionally night shelters run during the coldest months of the year but the charity is currently delivering a three-year pilot to extend this to provide year-round support. By 2019 their aim is to have the shelter operating for 40 weeks, across all four seasons.
It's not just about somewhere to sleep - the work of the shelter combines emergency accommodation with the wider support services offered by the 999 Club to empower people to change their lives.
It provides respite from sleeping rough which gives homeless people the space and opportunity to engage with the charity's other services:
- the day centre offering access to practical facilities, such as showers, laundry and internet access;
- advice and support to help with benefits and find and keep a home;
- employability support to access training, gain qualifications, get work ready and find a job;
- learning & activities workshops to gain new skills and increase confidence and self-esteem;
- personal transition service for highly personalised one-to-one support;
- health & wellbeing clinics to improve physical and mental health.
The night shelter provides each guest with a locker, mattress, bedding, towels and a welcome pack including essential items such as deodorant, razors and sanitary products. They are assigned a case manager who assists with securing any missing ID, accessing or maximising benefits, receiving healthcare, getting a job and securing housing.
Guests arrive at 7.30pm each evening for a nutritious meal cooked by a team of volunteers. During this time guests can also access laundry facilities, showers and computers before settling down for the night in the hall. They get breakfast in the morning and are encouraged to stay on during the day at the charity's Gateway service.
For more information about the service and the crowdfunding appeal, visit https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/summershelter
Saturday, 19 May 2018
Stephen Lawrence Centre fences to go!
It's not often that I am sufficiently moved to put an exclamation mark in a headline, but when I discovered that the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust had submitted a planning application for new landscaping around its building on Brookmill Road, and when I realised that this new landscaping includes TEARING DOWN THE FENCES, my heart sang.
I've always felt that this was a woefully unfriendly building - even finding the entrance door can be a challenge - and the fencing around it makes it look more like a Northern Irish police station at the height of the Troubles than the community building it is intended to be. This may be the reason I've never been inside. I don't dislike the building itself, just the overtly unwelcoming face it offers to its neighbours.
Unfortunately the building was vandalised just a week after opening in 2008; the huge wall of glass designed by Chris Ofili was smashed by bricks thrown from outside the perimeter in what was dubbed a racist attack at the time. The fences failed to prevent the attack - finally they are going to be removed and hopefully the centre will start to have a more neighbourly relationship with the local area.
First phase of the centre's reinvention was this week's launch of the new 'co-working' space which featured in Wallpaper magazine. It seems that the next phase will address the poor public realm on the site itself, and its relationship with Deptford.
There's not much in the way of renderings in the planning application, but the main change is going to be the removal of the steel fences and the gates, with just a low wall retained. A new pedestrian route into the site will be created right in front of the building entrance, and a range of landscaping, picnic tables and raised planting will be installed within the site. On the Brookmill Park boundary there will be raised allotment beds.
I look forward to getting a full length view of the magnificent windows.
Friday, 18 May 2018
Twinkle Park pond update
With Twinkle Park currently a no-go zone and work to reinstate the pond seemingly halted, comes an update from the Twinkle Park Trust.
The bad news is that the reinstatement of the park's pond is going to take longer than expected - but the good news is that the cause of the mysterious loss of water has finally been found (...and the question on everyone's lips is how the previous investigations managed to miss it!)
The official line is as follows:
In the first few days of work, as the vegetation which had taken root over the past few years was being cleared and the contractors began to tackle the liner, they found evidence of subsidence. In the months following the draining of the pond, the Twinkle Park Trust commissioned costly scans of the pond bed to be undertaken, none of which showed any conclusive results, so to finally have found the probable explanation for the water’s disappearance was a relief, but there was obvious concern that the discovery might jeopardise the entire project.
Further examination quickly followed, and a dig around the area uncovered a brick structure with a void, into which some soil had collapsed. It seems that the pond was originally built on top of an old cesspit or well, which had been disturbed (perhaps by the building or utilities works, ongoing in the area at the time), causing a degree of collapse.
Following advice from a range of architects and builders, as well as consulting with the project’s funders, the Trust has been able to determine a course of action which will see the safe completion of the pond restoration. Unfortunately, owing to the delay, our contractor was forced to move on to their next scheduled job, forcing our own building work to pause.
The contractors are scheduled to return as soon as possible and are now expected to return to recommence the work on 2nd July 2018. The Trust is grateful for the assistance and advice we have received from all parties involved in the project over the past few weeks, and whilst we are naturally disappointed that this unavoidable delay has occurred, we are thankful that the project has not been threatened.
Whilst we recognise that it is not ideal, we are sure that the surrounding community will agree that the return of the pond to Twinkle Park will be worth the price of a couple of extra months of fences and exposed soil.
Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Keep the Waiting Room in Deptford!
My favourite (and one of the original) of Deptford's coffee shops has launched a Kickstarter campaign to support a move to new premises.
The small-but-perfectly-formed Waiting Room is being forced to relocate as the landlord of the property wants to redevelop it and no doubt take advantage of rising rents.
The good news is that they have a new premises lined up - one with more space and a garden, and they plan to open in the evenings as well.
The bad news is that they've not had time to save up enough money to pay for the work that needs doing, new equipment and so on.
That's where us lot come in.
Show your love for Alec and Kev by pledging whatever you can to help them stay in Deptford High Street. Let's face it, it won't be the same without them.
(and even if you can't afford to give, it's worth a read just to learn the story of how the Waiting Room came to be....)
Monday, 9 April 2018
New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival 2018
Woo!
Very excited that one of my favourite local events is nearly here - the annual New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival.
Totally free, all run and organised by volunteers, and in some great venues across Deptford & New Cross - a fabulous example of our vibrant, enthusiastic, imaginative and fun SE community spirit.
Once again this year there will be a whole host of different films in venues ranging from the traditional to downright wacky, encouraging people to visit new parts of the borough and seek out the green spaces, churches and bars they aren't familiar with, in the pursuit of free entertainment.
Launch night kicks off at the Brick Brewery in Blackhorse Road with a showing of Get Out - Jordan Peele’s chilling satire on liberal racism in America. The bar will be open and food will be on sale, with a DJ and party after the film.
On Facebook and on the web - and usually printed programmes to pick up a week or two before the festival from local libraries and cafes.
http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/filmfestival/new-cross-deptford/
Very excited that one of my favourite local events is nearly here - the annual New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival.
Totally free, all run and organised by volunteers, and in some great venues across Deptford & New Cross - a fabulous example of our vibrant, enthusiastic, imaginative and fun SE community spirit.
Once again this year there will be a whole host of different films in venues ranging from the traditional to downright wacky, encouraging people to visit new parts of the borough and seek out the green spaces, churches and bars they aren't familiar with, in the pursuit of free entertainment.
Launch night kicks off at the Brick Brewery in Blackhorse Road with a showing of Get Out - Jordan Peele’s chilling satire on liberal racism in America. The bar will be open and food will be on sale, with a DJ and party after the film.
The full programme has 33 film events at 23 different venues - from documentaries about the housing crisis to Hollywood classics to a swashbuckling film of maritime adventure with a historical link to Deptford's royal dockyard.
Watch in comfort at the Brookmill pub; put your energy into pedalling at the bike-powered park showings or watch a film somewhere you don't normally get to visit, such as Sanford Housing Coop or the Stephen Lawrence Centre.
Something local: http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/event/lewisham-at-home/
Something funny: http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/event/in-bruges/
Something topical: http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/event/election/
Something thought-provoking: http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/event/dispossession-the-great-social-housing-swindle/
Something challenging: http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/event/the-work/
Something corny: http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/event/nacho-libre-bike-powered-screening-with-electric-pedals/
Something for the kids: http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/event/sing-outdoor-bike-powered-with-electric-pedals/
Something maritime: http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/event/the-lenox-project-presents-admiral-command-conquer/
http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/filmfestival/new-cross-deptford/
Sunday, 8 April 2018
Twinkle Park to get its pond back
Twinkle Park at the bottom of Watergate St is one of the hidden secrets of Deptford - it used to be one of my favourite haunts in happier days when its pond was a beautiful centrepiece.
Sadly and somewhat mysteriously in October 2013 it sprang a leak and all the water drained out overnight.
Since that time the pond has remained empty, and has turned into a kind of grassy crater in the middle of the park. Not really what was intended.
So I was delighted to discover that the Twinkle Park Trust, which manages the park and neighbouring Charlotte Turner Gardens, has finally raised funds to pay for the pond to be relined and renovated.
Work on the pond is due to start tomorrow (Monday 9th April) and is expected to take about a month. Twinkle Park Trust is hoping to celebrate the reinstatement of the pond at its summer festival this year.
Monday, 19 March 2018
Housing - winners and losers
Councillors in Lewisham were patting themselves on the backs last week after a Mayor & Cabinet meeting agreed to fund an increase in the number of affordable houses that will be built as part of the Tidemill redevelopment in Deptford.
It's difficult to know what sort of compromises have been made, what deals struck and where the money has come from, as the report was debated and the decision taken behind closed doors - a common procedure with 'commercial sensitivity' usually blamed. Councillors rarely, if ever, seem to challenge the decision to conduct proceedings in secret. Or perhaps that's just the unavoidable consequence of having no opposition.
In this case even the general gist of the discussion was kept under wraps ahead of the meeting, which could be considered rather draconian given that it's clearly in the public interest to know about these sort of things.
The council must however report the decision that it took, and it did so in the following way:
It's difficult to know what sort of compromises have been made, what deals struck and where the money has come from, as the report was debated and the decision taken behind closed doors - a common procedure with 'commercial sensitivity' usually blamed. Councillors rarely, if ever, seem to challenge the decision to conduct proceedings in secret. Or perhaps that's just the unavoidable consequence of having no opposition.
In this case even the general gist of the discussion was kept under wraps ahead of the meeting, which could be considered rather draconian given that it's clearly in the public interest to know about these sort of things.
The council must however report the decision that it took, and it did so in the following way:
Having considered a confidential officer report and a presentation by the Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Damien Egan, the Mayor agreed that:
(1) the update on the Deptford Southern sites project, as detailed, and the progress in negotiations led by officers with development partners and the GLA with the aim of increasing the amount of affordable housing within the proposals be noted;
(2) the Council provides grant funding on the basis set out;
(3) the tenure of 43 homes on the Tidemill site be changed from private sale to London Affordable Rent (social rent) at a cost to the Council of £4,310,211 and 16 homes from private sale to shared ownership at no additional cost to the Council;
(5) the revised budget for the development, as set out, be approved; and
(6) authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Resources & Regeneration, in consultation with the Executive Director for Customer Services and the Head of Law, to negotiate and agree the necessary legal documentation in connection with the recommendations in this report.
Apparently this means that the redevelopment will now provide 104 new units for social rent - in addition to the 16 provided for those tenants whose flats will be demolished to make way for the new development - and 41 new units for shared ownership.
The sound of mutual congratulations echoing round social media made it easy to forget the rather disappointing news that the housing select committee had just received the day before.
A total of £40 million promised by the Mayor of London through his Housing Zones scheme to support housing provision on the New Bermondsey and Catford Town Centre redevelopment schemes has now been withdrawn because the developments are not progressing quickly enough.
In the case of New Bermondsey/Surrey Canal Road (aka the Millwall fiasco) most of the funding was intended to pay for the fit out of the new Overground station which locals have pretty much stopped holding their breath for by now. The plan was that £12 million of the money would pay for the station fit-out, enabling it to be built and opened very early in the phasing of the development. The contribution that developer Renewal would have been obliged to make to TFL towards transport as part of the Section 106 agreement would then have been diverted to fund additional affordable housing on the site.
But it's all about swings and roundabouts in the crazy world of funding. What the Mayor takes away with one hand, he (almost) gives back with the other. Lewisham might have pissed away their £40 million allocation, but according to the same report a new allocation of £10 million from a different fund has been approved for Catford scheme. Trebles all round!
Sunday, 4 February 2018
Smashfest in Deptford
Unbeknownst to Deptford, extreme climate change has caused a huge flood, which will overwhelm London. How can we prepare? What can we do?
The annual free family festival which focuses on science, technology, engineering and the arts is back next week at the Deptford Lounge and the Albany.
It's billed as a big adventure for all the family – comedy, music, performance, arts, crafts, science, engineering, games, activities and experiments… SmashfestUK is an award-winning narrative-driven science/arts festival which aims to widen participation and increase diversity in STEM and the arts.
Each year it focuses on a different natural disaster, featuring interactive installations, games, experiments, comedy and storytelling for all the family.
This year's theme - flood! - takes over The Albany Theatre and Deptford Lounge over half term from 12 - 16 Feb. They will be tackling a topical and challenging subject - a climate change-induced flood that submerges London.
Find out more at www.smashfestuk.com
The annual free family festival which focuses on science, technology, engineering and the arts is back next week at the Deptford Lounge and the Albany.
It's billed as a big adventure for all the family – comedy, music, performance, arts, crafts, science, engineering, games, activities and experiments… SmashfestUK is an award-winning narrative-driven science/arts festival which aims to widen participation and increase diversity in STEM and the arts.
Each year it focuses on a different natural disaster, featuring interactive installations, games, experiments, comedy and storytelling for all the family.
This year's theme - flood! - takes over The Albany Theatre and Deptford Lounge over half term from 12 - 16 Feb. They will be tackling a topical and challenging subject - a climate change-induced flood that submerges London.
Find out more at www.smashfestuk.com
Tuesday, 23 January 2018
Lights out over Deptford
How many of you visited the wonderful Lumiere festival of light in town last weekend? I hope you got your fill of awe-inspiring illumination as you ain't going to get much in SE8, not even the bog standard stuff.
With bitter irony, as Deptford's night-time economy takes an upturn, its public lighting seems to be going head-first down the pan.
Of all of Deptford's public areas, Giffin Square is surely the one most generously provided with lighting facilities. As well as eight towering lamp standards which each carry five or six lights on the top, the square also has small lights set in some of the stone cubes, and strip lights place randomly between the paving stones in the square.
Hard to imagine when this is the scene after dark in Deptford's main square. The north side of the square, in front of Costa Coffee, is pitch black.
Out of more than 40 lights on the eight lamp standards in the square JUST TWO are actually working, shining pitifully down on this gloomy landscape.
Luckily floor level is lit sufficiently to prevent pedestrians tripping over the randomly-placed blocks of granite, but almost everything else is in shadow.
What exactly is the point of having a lamp post with six lights on the top if you can't be arsed to replace the bulbs?
Walk a bit further and you start to suspect this is not just a one-off fail.
Douglas Square was refurbished with those odd hanging lights a few years back - four sets of cables each with three lights strung between poles to illuminate the market square.
Or not.
ONLY HALF of the lights in Douglas Square are working - six out of twelve unlit and no sign of them having replacement bulbs any time soon.
As if that's not bad enough, anyone walking to New Cross station has to pass through yet another square of gloom on their journey.
The infamous 'public realm' (I use the term advisedly) outside the Waldron Centre is also cast into shadow as soon as the sun sets. There are four streetlights in the square, only one of which continues to shine doggedly onto the uneven and unfinished asphalt with its dead trees.
Street lighting in Lewisham is the responsibility of Skanska and John Laing, who took it on in a huge 25 year PFI contract in 2011.
Having struggled with this 'reporting' system in the past, I'm not surprised to hear from a correspondent who says they reported the Giffin Square lighting fail several weeks ago. So much for a one-hour response - surely it's just a case of putting new bulbs in?
Looks like we're going to remain in the dark for some time yet. Anyone want to do the mushroom joke?
Friday, 19 January 2018
Celebrating the return of the anchor
A small fleet of ships is currently anchored at 28 Deptford High Street
Why?
To celebrate the imminent return of the Deptford anchor!
Deptford Does Art, Sayes Court and Deptford Is Forever are planning a programme of events to coincide with an exhibition around the imminent return of the anchor.
‘Drawing The Line’ - Max Barnes; Curated by Sayes Court Garden CIC
‘Give Us Back Our Bloomin’ Anchor’; a campaign archive by Deptford Is Forever
Friday 19th January – Sunday 4th February
Preview: Friday 19th January 6.30-9pm (bar open till 10.30pm)
Venue opening times: Wed-Sat 12–11pm / Sun 12-10pm
Why?
Deptford Does Art, Sayes Court and Deptford Is Forever are planning a programme of events to coincide with an exhibition around the imminent return of the anchor.
‘Drawing The Line’ - Max Barnes; Curated by Sayes Court Garden CIC
‘Give Us Back Our Bloomin’ Anchor’; a campaign archive by Deptford Is Forever
Friday 19th January – Sunday 4th February
Preview: Friday 19th January 6.30-9pm (bar open till 10.30pm)
Venue opening times: Wed-Sat 12–11pm / Sun 12-10pm
Friday, 5 January 2018
'Liveable neighbourhood' plans for Deptford Park and environs
Late last year Deptford Folk (the user group for Deptford Park and Folkestone Gardens) got the welcome news that a bid for funding from TfL had been successful. The bid was developed in partnership with Sustrans and proposes a number of improvements to walking and cycling routes in and around the parks - some of them quite substantial projects in their own right.
The money is coming from the 'liveable neighbourhoods' fund and the first tranche will be used to cover the cost of further feasibility studies, with a second slice paid out later for the actual work, presumably depending on the projects being proved feasible - a potential total of £2.9 million for these schemes.
Last year Sustrans held a public workshop which involved restricting the road width with some cunningly-arranged straw bales, and inviting school groups and passers by to experience the new road environment and give their feedback on the idea.
The money is coming from the 'liveable neighbourhoods' fund and the first tranche will be used to cover the cost of further feasibility studies, with a second slice paid out later for the actual work, presumably depending on the projects being proved feasible - a potential total of £2.9 million for these schemes.
The overall package includes six 'Copenhagen Crossings' (improved road crossings for cyclists and pedestrians) at locations around the parks, and seven more substantial 'interventions' which involve improving existing cycle routes, and creating and opening up new ones, among other things.
One of the flagship 'interventions' which would impact directly on access to Folkestone Gardens is improvement of the existing crossing of Rolt Street, which links the Woodpecker estate (and the pedestrian and cycle route through it) to the gardens.
Although this already exists as a raised crossing, and is on the bend of a road ostensibly with a 20mph speed limit, anyone who uses it will know that this counts for very little. A lot of traffic uses this route as a cut-through, especially in the rush hours, and much of it takes this corner way too fast. There is no refuge or island to slow drivers down, and visibility is poor for anyone coming out of the park, due to the bend in the road and the density of parked cars outside the houses.
During this 'temporary street event' Sustrans also recorded the number and speed of vehicles that passed in both directions - this was collected over a seven day period, 24 hours a day, including the day of the event. Data (which is published in the report here) showed a reduction in traffic speed of around 23% in one direction and 17% in the other at the counter nearest to the restriction.
I'm curious as to whether this speed reduction would be a permanent outcome of the traffic calming measures that Sustrans is proposing. How much of the speed reduction was down to drivers wondering why there were bales of straw in the road, and kids were prone on the road behind them? Don't speeds just creep back up once drivers get accustomed to new driving conditions? I presume Sustrans has monitored what has happened in other schemes, and I'd be keen to know how it pans out in the long term.
One of the other major projects that the funding will be used to investigate is the plan to create a new cycle route under Evelyn Street, right next to the Blackhorse pub. This route will provide a safe route for cyclists and pedestrians between the parks and estates on the west side of Evelyn Street and the riverside paths and parks of the Pepys estate and Surrey Docks.
It is a collaboration between Deptford Folk, Sustrans, the Ramblers Association, Lewisham Cyclists and Lewisham Council and would create a new route along the line of the former Surrey Canal.
I'm particularly excited about this as when I looked back in the archive I realised I've been banging on about it for seven years now. Seven years! Turns out I've got stamina!
You can read my initial blog post here which includes a photo of the bridge parapet, and a subsequent one here, in which I remarked on improvements to the layout of the buildings proposed for the Wharves development (now the Timberyard) which would make this route a possibility.
It will also build on Deptford Folk's subsequent work which involved objecting against the planning application for the Shurgard storage facility that has just been built at the end of Blackhorse Road. If this application had passed in its original form, the building would have obstructed the proposed route. But Deptford Folk was successful in challenging the application, with the result that the building footprint was moved slightly to leave space for a cycle route on the west side of the road.
With the recent funding award we may at last find out how feasible this idea is, and perhaps even see it brought to fruition in the near future.
One of the other major projects that the funding will be used to investigate is the plan to create a new cycle route under Evelyn Street, right next to the Blackhorse pub. This route will provide a safe route for cyclists and pedestrians between the parks and estates on the west side of Evelyn Street and the riverside paths and parks of the Pepys estate and Surrey Docks.
It is a collaboration between Deptford Folk, Sustrans, the Ramblers Association, Lewisham Cyclists and Lewisham Council and would create a new route along the line of the former Surrey Canal.
I'm particularly excited about this as when I looked back in the archive I realised I've been banging on about it for seven years now. Seven years! Turns out I've got stamina!
You can read my initial blog post here which includes a photo of the bridge parapet, and a subsequent one here, in which I remarked on improvements to the layout of the buildings proposed for the Wharves development (now the Timberyard) which would make this route a possibility.
It will also build on Deptford Folk's subsequent work which involved objecting against the planning application for the Shurgard storage facility that has just been built at the end of Blackhorse Road. If this application had passed in its original form, the building would have obstructed the proposed route. But Deptford Folk was successful in challenging the application, with the result that the building footprint was moved slightly to leave space for a cycle route on the west side of the road.
With the recent funding award we may at last find out how feasible this idea is, and perhaps even see it brought to fruition in the near future.
More details of the Deptford Folk plans can be seen on the web page here, and if it's something you want to get involved with, they also have an email newsletter you can sign up to, so you'll be kept in the loop.
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