The herons are busy nest building on the lake in Manor House Gardens. This fine specimen was snapped sizing up a small branch on the edge of the water.
Sadly, not all the visitors to the Gardens are so well behaved. A recent Police Panel heard a number of complaints from residents about troublemakers, especially in the afternoons.
Paul Lowndes, the Chair of the Friends of Manor House Gardens, told the recent Assembly meeting that the problems ranged from quite serious assaults to anti-social behaviour. He said the police had stepped up patrols, and had had some success in making arrests. The schools were also co-operating .
Carolyn Bosworth-Davies, a Taunton Road resident, said they were frequently disturbed by people playing loud music. Her husband, Rowan, added that Glendale’s enforcement officers seemed never to be in evidence in the afternoon period when the anti-social behavior tended to occur.
A representative from Glendale explained that although they could speak to troublemakers and try to educated them, they did not have any more powers at the moment to deal with the problem. However, the Glendale staff would be undertaking enforcement training in the future so they can do more to prevent trouble-making.
Manor House Gardens is in line to benefit from nearly £10,000 in NCIL grants
Lewisham Council is proposing to give NCIL grants to six of the 13 applications it received. The final decision rests with the Mayor and Cabinet when it meets next month.
The Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) is cash the Council receives from developers, similar to Section 106 levies. This time it had £27,950.93 available for Lee Green, but received applications amounting to just over £110,000.
The six projects which have been recommended are:
£7,500 to upgrade the play equipment in the Manor House Gardens playground. This includes a replacement cradle swing.
£6,000 for the Christmas tree and lights on the forecourt of Hither Green station, for the next two years.
£6,000 to fund an inter-generational gardening project on the Newstead estate. The aim is to increase the knowledge of planting, garden maintenance, growing vegetables and recycling among residents and children.
£6,000 to Lee Fair Share, to fund weekly Coffee, Cake and Company sessions, including weekly Chair Exercise sessions.
£2,450 to the Lee Manor Society and the Friends of Manor House Gardens to renovate the large bed at the north end of the Gardens, near Manor House library.
The Big Bed in Manor House Gardens which needs rescuing.
All six projects were endorsed by a meeting of the Lee Green Assembly last week, but still need final approval before work can begin.
Lee Green Councillors faced a barrage of protests from angry residents about the plans for Controlled Parking Zones at the last meeting of the Assembly.
The Council had promised that an officer from the Sustainable Streets Programme would attend the meeting to answer questions, especially about proposals to introduce all-day CPZs in four areas of the Borough, including parts of Lee Green.
At least sixty residents attended the meeting at Lochaber Hall. Many reacted furiously to the news that no officer could attend, saying they had come expecting to get some answers to their questions about the CPZ plans.
One member of the audience said “I think a lot of us have lost faith after the fiasco of the Lee Green LTN and the implementation of that. I don’t think any of us believe our views will be taken into account”
Cllr Eva Kestner, who chaired the meeting, said that due to “last minute issues” no one was available to attend. She accepted a lot of people were angry and apologised, saying she herself had only been told that morning. She would instead read out a briefing on the progress of the programme.
Cllr Kestner stressed that the Sustainable Streets programme was about reducing car journeys to help encouraging walking, cycling, and using other public transport, and to help reduce air pollution, decrease traffic and congestion.
She said that there were three stages to the consultation; it was currently in the second stage. She said the results would be fed in to the process to see where there might be revisions.
“Just to be really clear, what you have seen in the consultation is not a decision that is being finalised,” Cllr Kestner told the meeting.
“I appreciate the strength of feeling. I really, really do, but I think it’s important to say that this is a huge consultation exercise, so it is looking at everything in the round.”
Cllr James Rathbone added : “The first stage of the consultation was at a very high level. What are the issues in your area to do with your streets? What would you like to see change? And various components came back in responses, something which lots people said was, we have problems with parking, with too many commuters parking. Then they went through the second stage, which is what we are in right now, which is an indicative proposal at a very high level and people are asked to think back and consult with that, which is what has just been going on, where people have been asked to comment on proposals. Do you like them?
“Stage three is officers will then draw up proposals based on what you have said. It’s too early at this point in time to say what the proposal for any one specific road would be.
“If you get a road where 95% of people say, we don’t have a parking problem, we don’t want a CPZ. I can guarantee I would go to the town hall and I’ll say to officers, 95% of the people on this road said they don’t have a problem and they don’t want it. But I can’t promise you that the outcome will be there isn’t one.”
Cllr Rathbone noted: “If you go back to the last time there was a consultation on this, one side of Burnt Ash road responded, but they would like a CPZ, and the other side said they wouldn’t like one. That’s why one side of road has it and the other side doesn’t.”
The Lee Manor Society has voiced opposition to all-day CPZs and said that 10 AM-noon restrictions should be enough to discourage commuter parking in roads near Lee station.
Lewisham Council has backed off the idea of making green recycling bin collections fortnightly instead of weekly as they are now.
The Council confirmed that in a response to a Freedom of Information request from the Taxpayers Alliance, it said it was investigating the idea, but has now decided not to go ahead.
The Council told the Lee Manor Society ” We have no plans to change waste and recycling collection frequency. Food and recycling collections will remain weekly; waste collections will remain fortnightly.
“We responded to an FOI request that asked if we had considered changing the frequency of our recycling collections. While the idea was put forward for consideration, it was never progressed. Any change would be subject to consultation.”
Council sources, however, say it’s not surprising Lewisham is looking at a range of options for saving money. Like most local authorities it is under a lot of financial pressure.
Lewisham Council’s 2024/25 budget includes a forecast net deficit of £1.764 million, after using £21.7 million from reserves to help bridge the gap.
