Tag: Lee Green

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Plans to extend controlled parking across Lee approved

Lewisham’s mayor and cabinet have approved plans to extend their Sustainable Streets initiative – involving permit-only parking, street trees and electric vehicle charging points – to streets to the east of Burnt Ash Road. Only three streets are mentioned in the plans given the green light on July 9 although the original proposal unveiled in February covered all the streets on the Dorville Road side of Burnt Ash Road.

Streets referred to in the council plans are Burnt Ash Hill, Cambridge Drive and Upwood Road with no mention of Leyland Road, Dorville Road or Carston Close. In addition, council traffic planners seem to think Burnt Ash Hill, which runs from the south circular to the Lee station bridge, continues all the way to the Lee Green crossroads.

No mention is made of the length of time for which parking restrictions would apply but the changes will be made by extending the existing Lee Green controlled parking zone, covering much of the Lee Manor conservation area, the mayor and cabinet said. Permit parking in this controlled parking zone (CPZ) run from 10 am to 12 noon Monday to Friday suggesting these timings will apply to the east of Burnt Ash Road.

The original plans for the sustainable streets initiative east of Burnt Ash road suggested imposing parking controls from 9 am to 5 pm which apply in some other CPZs. The Society had objected to any such move on the grounds it would make life difficult for carers and tradesmen and the residents themselves.

Consultation of residents in the half-dozen separate CPZ zones that cover Lee showed a general resistance to any extension of the time period covered by parking controls. There was strong support for tree planting and safer crossings and junctions with moderate support for cycle storage and electric vehicle charging points.

Once sustainable measures are installed they will be subject to review after six to 12 months by council officers, not by councillors or the mayor and cabinet. Council officers failed to turn up to a planned meeting with residents in February and refused a Society offer to arrange an alternative meeting.

If the council has confused Burnt Ash Hill with Burnt Ash Road then controls would apply between the Lee station bridge and the Lee Green crossroads. What is not clear is if this would include the narrow parallel road between Leegate and Dorville Road. The Society called for controls on parking alongside the avenue of mature trees along this road to prevent damage and compaction of the soil. No reference is made in council’s paperwork to this issue though tree planting and presumably care is a cornerstone of the sustainable streets policy.

Sustainable streets aims to improve air quality and road safety, reduce noise and traffic congestion and make neighbourhoods greener and healthier by reducing car use. The council wants 80 per cent of all journeys to be by cycle, walking or public transport by 2041. Fifty-five per cent of Lewisham’s streets are covered by CPZs, one of the lowest levels of any London borough.

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Watering street trees in very hot weather

Many local residents are collaborating with organisations like the Lee Manor Society to plant more street trees. This is helping green our local streets and reduce air pollution. It’s an expensive business putting in new trees so if you’re lucky enough to have a newly planted tree near you, it’s important to help it survive in the current hot weather. So, we are urging you to water these trees every few days with a watering can holding at least 5 litres of water, more if you can manage it.

You may wish to check with your neighbours to see if others are doing this also and agree to share the job. Most street trees are planted with a plastic pipe to pour the water into which goes into down to the tree’s roots. If there is no pipe, then water the area around the tree (not the trunk) as it’s the whole root ball that needs water most.

Top tips:

– The best time to water is in the early morning as this helps to minimise evaporation and gives the tree water to use throughout the day.

– If morning time isn’t possible for you, then water in the evening. Try to avoid watering in the hottest part of the day though.

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Six Lee Green Community Projects In Line For NCIL Funding

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.

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Threat to Local Assemblies in Lewisham

Lewisham Council is planning to stop supporting the local assemblies in the borough, as an economy measure. The staff who have helped run them are facing redundancy.

The assemblies were introduced in 2007 for people to voice their concerns and to help identify solutions. There was one for every ward, including Lee Green.

Lewisham’s website says:

Local assemblies are community-based open forums aiming to actively involve, consult, empower and learn from residents and those working and studying in Lewisham Council’s local wards.

They’re your chance to:

  • find out what is happening in your ward
  • discuss and share what matters to you
  • work with your councillors and others to identify solutions and shape the future of your neighbourhood

Initially, Lewisham provided £25,000 a year to each assembly. It also funded a secretariat who helped organise and promote the assembly meetings and provided other support. The cash has already been withdrawn and now the Council wants to cut the administrative support as well.

A recent report of a “Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee” meeting said the 2019 Democracy Review “had found Assemblies to be unrepresentative: they engaged already democratically engaged residents and did not attract seldom-heard communities.”

A subsequent meeting set out in more detail the implications of the cutback, which would save £203,000 a year – although the redundancy costs would reduce that figure in the first year.

Lee Green Assembly Meeting, October.

The most recent meeting of the Lee Green assembly, when a representative from Galliard provided an update on the Leegate development was attended by 43 people.

If the cuts go ahead, local people will be free to keep the assemblies going but without Council support.

Jim Mallory, Chair of the Lee Green Consortium, said “I am sure none of us is in any doubt that the Council faces tough decisions, many of which will still have to be taken despite a new Government. However, my concern is that there doesn’t seem to have been any consultation about a proposal that is in essence at the core of the Council’s commitment to consultation.

“As Assemblies were intended to help overcome the democratic deficit, their loss would be regrettable, no matter what any understandable shortcomings they might have.