31 January 2006

Trio accused of ‘shameful’ attendance

AN OPPOSITION councillor has criticised the poor attendence of a group of Labour councillors as "shameful". Downham councillor Mark Morris is disappointed councillors Heidi Nash, Ruth Watt and Sabina Padmore have failed to regularly attend council meetings since last April.

Cllr Nash, for Lewisham Central, has missed six out of eight full council meetings.

Cllr Padmore, for New Cross, missed five out of eight and Cllr Watt for Bellingham has missed half of the meetings.

And Cllr Padmore has missed all six Public Accounts Select Committee meetings between May and December last year.

Cllr Watt has missed all Adult Care and Health Select Committee meetings since June last year.

Trust veers towards red

A NEW report has revealed Lewisham Primary Care Trust's (PCT) finances are in poor health. The PCT has reported a £2.28m deficit, in the report penned by its director of finance and resources Tom Breen. Mr Breen admits the figures show the PCT is under "severe financial pressure".

Proposal to create new park for housing estate

A PLAN to create a new park for housing estate residents is set to be considered by planning bosses. The would see a new open space created between Cornmill Lane and Elmira Street, on the Sundermead Estate, Lewisham. The new park, which would be on Metropolitan Open Land, would include a children's play area, a cafe and ornamental gardens.

Jailed after drug bust holiday raid

A MAN whose house was raided by police while he holidayed in Greece has been jailed for possession of firearms, drugs and laundered money. Gary Alan Cheeseman, 31, of Drakefell Road, New Cross, was jailed at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday for seven years and six months. Cops found a semi-automatic pistol, seven rounds of live ammunition, a bullet-proof vest, a canister of CS gas, 19.2 kilos of cannabis resin and £31,143 in cash when they raided his home and the empty flat above on September 26.

Vomit virus hits school

PARENTS have been panicked by a vomiting and diarrhoea illness that has struck down their children. Health officials took swabs from the mouths of youngsters at Sandhurst Infant and Junior School, Catford, to find out the cause of the out-break. The problem has been ongoing for several weeks and 18 pupils were absent from one class on Wednesday.

Blackheath's Nick Ferrari - an interview

Nick Ferrari, who does not wish to state his age, is the breakfast presenter of LBC 97.3FM. In 2005 he broke the mould with a series of sell-out stage shows, re-enacting his LBC radio show for a live audience. The shows were so popular they will be restaged later this year to coincide with the April launch of his debut book, 'The World According to Nick Ferrari'. In addition to this, he has just been re-signed to LBC on a three-year contract. He lives in Blackheath with his wife and two children. Click link for full interview.

29 January 2006

I'm afraid that Transport For London's Camera network seems to be offline, so for the moment we have blue squares where cams of Deptford and Catford should be. Fingers crossed this will be sorted out soon.

MP makes exhibition trip

CULTURE minister David Lammy visited a museum to see an exhibition. Mr Lammy visited the Amazon to Caribbean, Early Peoples of the Rainforest exhibition at the Horniman Museum in London Road, Forest Hill. He was given a tour by Dr Hassan Arero, the first black curator to be appointed by a British museum.

Mayor defends Met chief’s allegation of media racism

The London mayor has defended comments made by the Metropolitan police commissioner, where he claimed that the media is institutionally racist due to the way murder cases are reported in the mainstream press. The comments made by Sir Ian Blair have caused a furore forcing him to apologise to the families of two girls murdered in Soham after he questioned why the story generated such a media frenzy compared with many other cases involving victims from ethnic groups.

During the meeting, the commissioner said the murders of those from ethnic communities will not generate the same amount of interest. “That death of the young lawyer was terrible, but an Asian man was dragged to his death, a woman was chopped up in Lewisham, a chap shot in the head in a Trident murder- they got a paragraph on page 97,” he said during the meeting.

Taking to the streets for pension protest

ELDERLY residents joined forces and travelled to the capital to campaign for a better deal. Around 60 pensioners from Lewisham, Greenwich and Bromley took part in a national pensioners' march in central London. The pensioners marched on Whitehall to try to convince the Government to agree to an increase in the state pension.

Laurence gets second chance

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is having a second go at the £1 million jackpot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? after a mix-up over the top question. Llwelyn-Bowen, who lives in Blackheath, was asked about the English translation of the US's Latin motto. But programme maker Celador later admitted the question was "ambiguous".

Two-year diary tells of gran's ‘atrocious’ treatment at hospital

HOSPITAL bosses have promised an "urgent investigation" into claims it subjected an elderly patient to "neglect" and "atrocious" treatment. Linda Holmes makes the claims in a damning two-year diary of her mother's treatment at Lewisham Hospital. In the diary Mrs Holmes says her 74-year-old mother Rose Matthews, who died last November, suffered due to a catalogue of errors.

No station upgrades due before Olympics

A deal announced with the East European Bank this month, will see £450million go towards setting up the new train line, including installing signalling systems and laying track. But passengers in Lewisham will have to wait before seeing any improvements to their stations on the line - New Cross, New Cross Gate, Sydenham, Brockley, Honor Oak Park and Forest Hill.

Massive facelift for Lewisham schools

AFTER a 'long and tortuous process', detailed plans for a massive rebuild and refurbishment of a borough's secondary schools have been agreed. IT HAS been hailed as a borough's largest schools spending project for half a century.

The investment in Lewisham is set to increase the number of school places by 870. Councillors at Wednesday's Mayor and cabinet committee agreed Lewisham's "strategic business case" for the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The document will now be submitted to the Government for approval.

Planners decide on pool

SWIMMING facilities in Lewisham will be boosted after the borough's decison-makers rubber-stamped plans for a new pool. A 25m six-lane pool is expected to open at the Wavelengths centre, Giffin Street, Deptford, by spring 2008. Plans for the facility, which is expected to cost around £4m, were finalised by Lewisham's cabinet at a meeting last Wednesday.

Playtime is over

PARENTS are frustrated at the decision to close a playground which was a "lifeline" for stressed shoppers. The play area at Lewisham Shopping Centre, Lewisham High Street, Lewisham, was closed in November because of safety concerns. But parents are angry. They say the playground was popular with children and took the hassle away from their shopping experience.

Shortage of teachers as schools debt soars to £120m

Ten most indebted primaries:

Fir Tree Primary School, Sandwell, £483,839; Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School, Lewisham, £394,313; The Furness Primary School, Brent, £372,667; Matthew Boulton Community Primary School, Birmingham, £337,088; Westwood Park Primary School, Bradford, £293,602; St Augustine's C of E Community School, Bradford, £288,449; Abbey Hey Primary School, Manchester, £287,775; Gascoigne Primary School, Barking and Dagenham, £260,585; The Westborough Primary School and Nursery, Southend-on-Sea, £259,781; Amherst Primary School, Hackney, £247,469.

25 January 2006

Orient expressed already at school

BLACKHEATH not Brighton is leading the way in teaching pupils the Chinese language, according to a headteacher. Last week bosses at Brighton College in East Sussex claimed it was set to become the first place in the country to make Mandarin Chinese a compulsory subject. However, Blackheath High School headteacher Lisa Laws has hit back, saying her school is already well advanced at teaching the language.

Programme gives out warm feeling

A £1.2M initiative is helping thousands of people feel warmer in their homes. The money, provided by British Gas, has helped 2,400 Lewisham households benefit from free energy-efficiency advice and improvements such as loft insulation. An extra £210,000 has also been made available to residents across the borough via benefits which were previously unclaimed.

Joint initiative proposes community centre plan

The Moonshot Centre, Fordham Park, Deptford, will have facilities including IT rooms, dance studio, cafe and creche. It will provide a base for groups, including the Playhouse Nursery and Irie Dance Theatre. The new centre, due to open in the autumn, is being funded by £2.6m from Lewisham Council and £500,000 from SureStart, the Government's childcare initiative.

'Immigrant racket forgery factories uncovered'

It is thought up to 1,000 bogus driving licences and 300 forged passports were among items seized in swoops on suspected forgery factories at addresses in Sydenham and Brixton. Officers are also said to have found computers, printers, fake National Insurance cards and 1,000 blank ID cards. They were printed in five different languages, including French, Spanish and English.

Notice served to allotment users

Around 30 plotholders on St Norbert's Allotments, St Norbert Road, Brockley, have been given eviction notices and told they must be off the land by April. They are now asking the council to intervene and wrest control of the land from its current owner UGS Properties. UGS sent out the eviction notices even though it has not lodged any formal planning application to build on the land.

Defra confirms 22.9% recycling rate with St Edmundsbury top

Recycling in Newham is the lowest in the country - residents there recycle and compost just 6.2% of their rubbish, with Tower Hamlets following closely behind with 7.4%. Lewisham also features in the bottom 10 authorities for recycling and composting, with a 10.2% rate. Recycling rates actually dropped in the Corporation of London (down from 19% in 2003/04 to 14.3%) and in Croydon (down from 14% to 13%).

Bus Crash

Four people, including the driver, suffered minor injuries after a bus ploughed into a shop front, in Lewis Grove, Lewisham. Three fire crews were called to deal with the crash, which happened just after 1am, on Monday.

Duo blaze a trail in village

The pocket-sized Blackheath Village Trail and Guide has just been published by the Blackheath Society. Written by two society members, historian Neil Rhind and architectural journalist Tony Aldous, it points out the buildings of interest. And with the aid of a bird's eye map by artist Peter Kent, it leads people around the village as defined by its 20mph zone. The guide was paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund's Awards for All scheme and is available from the society by calling 020 8297 1937.

Posties rapped over rubber bands

Lewisham Council estimates up to 5,000 elastic bands are dropped in the borough by postal workers every month. Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, said valuable time was being wasted picking them up and urged Royal Mail to take a "collective responsibility". Royal Mail said although the bands were bio-degradable they would urge staff to take extra care in future.

London / Lewisham Secondary School League Tables

Schools in each area are ranked by the percentage of pupils achieving at least five A* to C grades at the GCSE or vocational equivalent, shown in the third column. Ties are broken by the number of pupils taking exams, shown in the second column. The fourth column shows the average points score per candidate taking Level 2 qualifications. The fifth column shows the value added by a school to its pupils' progress between age 11 and GCSE. Full details can be found on the scan.

Lewisham Schools listed (for those of you here via a net search) are Sydenham High School, St Dunstan's College, Prendergast, Forest Hill, Bonus Pastor, Sydenham, Deptford Green, Sedgehill, Addey and Stanhope, Northbrook, Catford Girls, Crofton, St Joseph's Academy, Allenby Tutorial Centre, Haberdashers' Aske's College and Knights Academy, Christ The King 6th Form, Crossways Academy and Lewisham College.

16 January 2006

Backlash against Ken's homes wish

KEN Livingstone wants to increase the number of homes built in a borough by more than 1,000 each year. But Lewisham council is opposing the London Mayor's targets for its area. The borough's's current target is 17,350 extra homes by 2016, meaning 870 each year. The revised figure is for the period between 2007 to 2017. It proposes 10,700 new homes in that timescale, which works out at 1,070 extra a year.

Eviction threat for pigeon feeder

A council tenant who has infuriated her neighbours for 10 years by feeding hundreds of pigeons in her front garden has been warned she faces eviction. Lewisham Council said Norma Hughes had ignored repeated warnings about feeding the birds, which neighbours said posed a health risk and cause a nuisance.

School opens after intruder scare

A secondary school which shut because staff thought an intruder was hiding in the roof is to reopen this week. Despite police searches using infra-red heat detectors at the Crofton School in Lewisham, south-east London, the man has not been found. Associate head teacher Rob Cooper said staff were confident he had gone, but said extra security measures would stay in place "as long as necessary".

Extra bus for busy routes

The 225 route from Bermondsey station, which currently terminates at Lewisham, will now run to Hither Green station and Hither Green Lane. And the 181, which runs from Lewisham to Downham, is being extended to Grove Park station, Baring Road, Grove Park.

More dirt dished onto ‘tired’ town

Last month News Shopper, sister newspaper of This Is Local London, invited residents to share their views on the town, in response to a Canadian visitor who renamed it "Crapford". But instead of leaping to the defence of Catford, a host of residents have contacted us to stick the knife into their home town. Clevon Cottrell, of Thornsdeach Road, wants to see Catford given a major clean-up.

Mr Cottrell, 70, said: "There are a lot of dirty people in Catford."