Crofton Park Labour Party

It is business As usual at Crofton Park Library.  Councillor Morrison formally opened the library on the 31 May, the day the library was handed over to Darren Taylor of Eco Computers.  Using willing volunteers, the library has maintained normal opening hours and also opens at lunchtimes.  Cllr Morrison said that “We are in a period of transition as new systems and staffing are established. I volunteer to provide lunchtime cover a couple of times a week and encourage others to get involved in a very rewarding activity.”

If you would like to volunteer in your library, then ask for a form at the library desk.

Cllr Jackie Addison and Cllr Pauline Morrison joined local residents, schools and Lewisham Environmental Services in a Clean Up of Sevenoaks Road area.  The roads and alley ways in this area are notorious for fly tipping of builders’ rubbish.  A very enthusiastic group got stuck into clearing it away but unfortunately flytipping is likely to reoccur as soon as it has been cleared.

If you suffer from fly tipping in your area then telephone 0208 314 7171 to report it.

Baroness Royall visited Prendergast Ladywell Fields College on Wednesday  11 May.  She first met students when they won the Dragon’s Policy Den at Ed Milliband’s People’s Question Time in Nottingham and was so impressed that she visited them at their school. 

She received presentations from each of the projects that students are working on, including an update on their Safe Havens Work. She  then heard students sing songs – many of which they had written themselves.

Cllr Morrison said that, "The Baroness was clearly moved by the emotional songs the students sang."
 
The visit concluded with a tour of Crofton Park Ward to show the Baroness the shops which are taking part in the Safe Havens Project. The visit ended in Budgens where Jay presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

At the Council Meeting on Tuesday 1 March,  Cllr Morrison seconded the following motion proposed by Cllr  Alex Peakes to save the future of Honor Oak Recreation Ground, by asking the Mayor to lobby LB Southwark on behalf of local residents, to save their park.

In seconding the motion, Cllr Morrison said that Honor Oak Park had been her local park for many years, her children played there and indeed she had played for a women’s football team there!  The motion was agreed by the whole Council:
 
The London Borough of Southwark is considering taking land from the Honor Oak Recreation Ground in order to expand Camberwell New Cemetery. The Recreation Ground is much used by residents of Forest Hill and Honor Oak, as well as Southwark residents, and the plan under consideration could result in considerable loss of local amenity and leisure space.

This council notes that the Recreation Ground has already had a substantial proportion of its original land taken in by the cemetery, and that other options are available for managing demand for burial space.

This council states its opposition to the further loss of amenity and leisure space at Honor Oak Recreation Ground and, notwithstanding any statutory consultation that may occur, calls on the Mayor to make representations to London Borough of Southwark to this effect.

As reported recently, Cllr Morrison, a group of residents and community groups have been working with Darren Taylor of Eco Computers to see how we could maintain a library and other community facilities at Crofton Library.
 
We have been meeting on a regular basis and have now formed a “Shadow Board” to support Darren’s bid as our preferred bidder.  Our vision for Crofton Park Library is to attract investment into the library (which Darren’s bid does) so that the upstairs can be repaired and brought into use.


We could then have a community café, community space for groups to use, training opportunities and a library. If you want to see Darren’s work then visit Pepys Community Library at Deptford Strand SE8.
 
We will then be looking for volunteers to get involved – Could that be YOU?

Crofton Park, Blackheath, Grove Park, New Cross, and Sydenham libraries have all been closed by the Mayor and Cabinet.

Officers have been asked to work on proposals to deliver community libraries in these areas..

As Part of the Save the Libraries Campaign, a read in was held in each of the 5 libraries marked for closure to demonstrate people’s love of their libraries and the importance of books.  Author Leslie Davies read an extract from her book “Alexandria”, which is about the murder of a librarian. 

Councillor Morrison read Maya Angelou’s poem, “The Human Family” and former Head Librarian,
Gwen Randall, read “The Owl and the Pussy Cat” a nonsense poem hi lighting the nonsense of Library Closures.  This was a very well attended event.

On 3 February, Prendergast Ladywell Fields College hosted a Youth Assembly at the school, inviting Stillness, St Mary Magdalene, Dalmain, St William of York, to bring their ideas for improving community safety and the environment. Cllrs Addison and Morrison attended what was a very interactive event with many good ideas including:

·         Clean Up an Area
·         An Anti Parking Outside Schools Campaign
·         Poor behaviour by cyclists and motorists
·         Anti Social Behaviour
·         Dangerous  dogs

Students will prioritise the many issues raised and take them to The Crofton Park Safer Neighbourhood Panel and the Crofton Park Ward Assembly to gain the support for action from adults to work with them.

Cllr Morrison and Karen Jonason held a meeting in the Library on Saturday 8 January, with groups and individuals  who are interested in the future of the Library.  A number of local Groups and residents attended and had meaningful discussions   about their interest.
 
Lewisham Council has invited bids from interested groups and they will examine their business case.  It was clear that although a number of groups would like to operate out of the library they did not have the resources to take over and develop a building that is in a very poor state of repair.
 
One interested person wants to make a bid for 4 out of 5 libraries see the  link below, with a library service and computers being the core functions. He was keen to work with local groups and community.  This gained a lot of interest from those present and a lot of conversations will be taking place before bids are submitted.  We will have a follow up meeting at the library on 31 January when he will present his bid to everyone before the bid goes into to Lewisham Council to be scrutinised by the Council.
 
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23909459-ex-city-mans-plan-for-eco-libraries.do
 

We know that we are in for a very tough year as the Coalition cuts bite, but please contact us if you feel that we can be of help and support to you.