Meeting overview
The first Lewisham Central Assembly took place on Monday 21 July at Lewisham Methodist Church, Albion Way, SE13 6BT. It was a very productive meeting with 60 people in attendance and good representation from across the ward; 30% of attendees recorded themselves as BME (black, minority ethnic), this is compared to the ward profile of 38.1% BME.
However, it was noted that there could have been more young people present and we hope to rectify this at the next assembly.
Twelve people volunteered for the temporary coordinating group, the coordinating group remit is to plan and structure meetings. This will involve drawing upon local community knowledge to help get things to happen and to assist us in promoting the Assembly.
The first coordinating group is interim until the 3rd Assembly meeting, where the permanent coordinating group will be created for the duration of 1 year or 4 assembly meetings
Positive feedback from attendees:
Tables were well distributed with eclectic company.’
‘This was organised extremely well.’
‘ Not bad! Thought multiple issues were covered too fast, there should be a second session to agree convergences.’
What we agreed
A wide variety of issues came out of the assembly which will help inform the priority plan for the ward. The top ten issues in order were as follows:
| Bad points about living/working and playing in Lewisham Central |
Numbers |
| Crime and anti-social behaviour |
19 |
| Lack of good shopping in Hither Green |
13 |
| Area is dirty and noisy (sirens) |
10 |
| Traffic – too much congestion / poor road safety |
8 |
| Fly-tipping and litter |
7 |
| Lack of parking facilities |
6 |
| Poor quality of life |
6 |
| Lack of facilities |
6 |
| Lack of communication from the Council |
4 |
| Large population / insular community |
3 |
During the two-hour meeting, residents raised a number of suggestions to tackle these issues, suggestions included:
- implement a street-drinking ban
- identify walls suitable for murals to lessen graffiti
- reduce business rates to encourage new shops / restaurants
- encourage larger shops into the area i.e. John Lewis
- schools to open-up their facilities after hours for community use
- more information should be provided by the Council regarding who to contact to ‘get something done’ i.e. Street Lighting.
What’s happened
An interim coordinating group comprising 12 people of mixed gender and ethnicity from the ward was established at the end of the meeting. The group chaired by Cllr Milton will meet prior to the second Assembly.