Details of the last meeting
The Perry Vale assembly held its first meeting at the Perry Rise Baptist Church on Monday 2 June 2008 and was attended by over 100 people from across the ward. There was a good cross section of people with 19% representation from BME groups (other than White British).
Over 90% of those attending agreed that the meeting was well organised and they learned more about local issues in the Perry Vale area. A few of the positive quotes are as follows:
‘The assembly was very well organised.’
'It was a very enjoyable meeting and a good start.’
'A good opportunity to meet other residents to discuss local issues.’
There were a number of important matters discussed including traffic, anti social behaviour and environmental issues.
What we agreed
The following were the top issues raised at the assembly. These will help inform a priority plan for the ward:
- Traffic related problems 24.87%
- Forest Hill Station underpass 7.94%
- Car parking 6.88%
- Overhanging trees 6.88%
- Fly tipping 6.88%.
Traffic was the predominant issue raised on the night. The main concerns were excessive speeding, in addition to the lack of calming measures including speed humps and pedestrian crossings. The area from Perry Rise to Forest Hill Station was highlighted as a potential ‘blackspot’ and the assembly wanted action taken to improve the flow of traffic and reduce accidents.
A number of people expressed concern about the Forest Hill station underpass, in particular the risk of assault and injury late at night. The Perry Vale Safer Neighbourhood Team and Lewisham Wardens were on hand to offer practical advice on personal safety to those residents affected by the underpass.
The police will be undertaking additional patrols around the underpass over the next three months. On a positive note many people felt that the train service into London mainline stations had significantly improved over the last 12 months.
A common theme at the assembly was how information can be better communicated amongst people living and working in the Perry Vale area. In order to address this issue a website has been created which will enable people to discuss issues via the internet with other Perry Vale residents. The ‘Love Perry Vale’ link can be found on the right under useful websites.
What has happened
The Perry Vale coordination group met on 2 July 2008. The group is comprised of 10 local people chaired by Cllr Susan Wise. The top issues raised at the first assembly were discussed. Representatives from the highways department and the Safer Neighbourhood team will be invited to the next assembly meeting to report on progress with these issues. Two members of the group have also agreed to look at future publicity material to promote the work of the assembly. A second meeting of the coordination group has been arranged for September 2008. This meeting will also draw up an agenda for the next assembly meeting in the Autumn.
Date of the next Assembly
The next Perry Vale assembly will take place on Thursday 2 October at Forest Hill School, Dacres Road, London, SE23 2XN starting at 7.30pm.