15 March 2007

Lewisham Announce £400m BSF Preferred Bidder

Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, has announced a preferred bidder partner for Lewisham Council’s massive school redevelopment programme. Learning21 has been chosen to build a brand new school and refurbish or rebuild eight of the Borough’s existing secondary schools.

Learning21 is a joint venture between VT Group and Costain Group PLC.

Anorexic 'failed to beat demons'

A WOMAN died from severe anorexia 30 years after being teased for being "fat" at school, an inquest has heard. Dawn Christopher, 43, was admitted to hospital in one of the most emaciated states doctors had ever seen.

Despite being 5ft 3in tall, she had weighed just over six stone. Ms Christopher, a former veterinary nurse who later worked as a receptionist, never married and lived with her parents in the family home in Minard Road, Catford.

Lewisham council's outrageous attack

A RECENT meeting of Lewisham council's con-stitutional working party discussed a Labour and Lib Dem-backed proposal to limit the number of motions a councillor could propose or second to one per council meeting.

Dead man lay undiscovered for two weeks

A PARK-KEEPER lay dead in his flat for two weeks before his body was discovered.

Raymond Paice, 59, was found on his bedroom floor when police broke into his home in Poole Court, Lewisham. The alarm was raised by his neighbours on November 16 last year after they had not seen him for two weeks.

Lewisham misses out in final of contest

LEWISHAM has missed out on being named the cleanest town in Britain. The title instead went to Ipswich during the finale of a competition run by the British Cleaning Council.

It is the first year Lewisham has reached the final stages of the contest. The competition, formerly known as Britain's Cleanest City, was re-launched last year as the Clean Britain Awards to allow towns and districts to enter as well as cities.

Lewisham Celebs #1 - Keeley Hazell

Way back on 11th January 2006 I posted a news item about Chelsea footballer Joe Cole getting into a fight over a girl in Grove Park. The item claimed that the girl, Keeley Hazell, was a Page Three girl. As I never buy or read The Sun (I support Liverpool and hold grudges)I had no clue who this girl was and to this day I have no clue who she is! Wikipedia tells me that she's a "daughter" of this fair borough -

Hazell was born in Lewisham, London, England, grew up in Grove Park, and attended the Ravensbourne School in Bromley. Her mother, Amber, is a dinner lady and her father, Roy, is a window fitter; they separated when she was thirteen. She has an older sister, Roxanne, and a younger sister, Georgia.

The Tories claim she is an environmental hero for her campaigns. She's now popping up in the likes of Arena Magazine, which I enjoy flicking through every now and then.

So apart from (over)exposing herself in The Sun - has Keeley Hazell done anything else (of merit) to put Lewisham on the map? Enquiring minds want to know.

Council Tax Bands and Increases.

The Evening Standard ran a feature today regarding Council Tax and specifically the possibility of new Council Tax bandings for properties with a rateable value over £1M - effectively creating a Band I to go over the Band H.

It's all guesswork as the Lyon's Review hasn't been published yet but it gave the Standard an excuse to list how many properties sold for over £1M in 2006. Please note that this isn't how many there are in the boroughs, just those that sold in 2006.

The second part of the Council Tax feature was titled "Homeowners taxed £10 more for asylum seekers" and started "A London Council is adding £10 to it's average tax bill to cover the costs of failed asylum seekers." No, not Lewisham, but Hillingdon.

Of course, the headline was put next to a table showing Council Tax increases across the London Boroughs which is a bit naughty really considering that the Council Tax increases listed aren't the fault of failed asylum seekers at all but rather a multitude of factors. Anyway, I thought I'd include the list so you can see how Lewisham compares to the rest of London.

Lewisham Blog Meet April 2007

Having made a success of the first meet, Andrew has announced a second Lewisham Blogger's Meet Up. Sounds good to me!

When? 20:00 Friday, April 20, 2007

Where? The Jolly Farmers 354 Lewisham High St, Lewisham, London SE13 6LE

Full details here

The Lewisham Interview #2 - Sue

Sue has stepped up as the first Councillor to answer the questions - so without further delays....

1.What is your connection to Lewisham and how long has it been?

I moved to Lewisham six years ago. I was living in Camberwell and wanted to buy a flat in East Dulwich, but couldn’t afford the prices round there, so the estate agent suggested I look at a couple of places in Ladywell and Brockley. I wandered round the area, liked the look of it, particularly Hilly Fields and the local shops, and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve lived in London for nine years now. I was born and brought up in Worcester, studied at Leeds University, then worked in Minsk, Belarus for a year. I moved to London as there were more jobs using Russian language skills here than in Worcester.

2.What is your favourite part of the borough and why is it?

Well, obviously, I’d have to say Ladywell! The views from Hilly Fields, cycling through Ladywell Fields, wandering through Brockley cemetery. I love the Victorian architecture of the houses in and around Brockley conservation area. I also love my cycle route to work, from Ladywell to Deptford, via cycle route 21. It goes through Brookmill Park and I often see herons and other wildlife in the morning. I also enjoy walking to Greenwich via Blackheath.

3.What building or landmark would you like to see demolished?

Ooh, possibly the Citibank tower, together with the accompanying multi-storey car park, although the tower could be much improved with a bit of TLC (how about some solar panel cladding like what the Co-op did to their tower in Manchester?). The new buildings planned for Lewisham Gateway could potentially dilute its impact too. OK, so maybe just the car park then. Catford shopping centre isn’t exactly beautiful either, though I understand there are plans to regenerate it. (I’m bracing myself for a barrage of abuse from lovers of 1960s-70s architecture now).

4.What building or landmark do you think is the best?

Again, I’m being very parochial, but Ladywell Playtower, the old workhouse in Slagrove Place, or the Watertower in Dressington Avenue are all fine examples of Victorian architecture. Also St Mary’s Church on Lewisham Way, which I believe is the oldest building in the borough, Deptford Town Hall for its imposing interior and St Paul’s Church in Deptford, of course. A restored Beckenham Place Mansion could feature in a future list . . .

5.What’s the one thing you would change about the borough?

Make it more pedestrian and cycle friendly - fewer cars and better provision for cyclists.

6.What do you think is missing from the borough?

A vegetarian restaurant. When I used to live in Camberwell, we used to make regular visits to Heathers in Deptford, then no sooner had we moved then they closed down! (and a cinema and ice rink would be nice too, of course)

7.What is the borough's best-kept secret?

The incinerator in Deptford (SELCHP) may well have “the power to heat homes in the area”, but I understand it’s not yet but plumbed in to any district heating scheme to enable it to do so. What a waste of energy . . .

8.The one thing you want to tell the net about Lewisham is......

All of the above, plus Lewisham is a creative place, full of artists and musicians. Also Lewisham has character and is not yet a clone town – we still have lots of independently run shops and market stalls. And it has the biggest group of Green councillors in London!

Thanks Sue!

Any more offers from local Lewisham lurkers or legends? Feel free to email me!