Lewisham budget cuts - public consultation results

Lynn: Who’s upset you this time?

Alan: Just… people. I just… hate the general public.

- I'm Alan Partrdige

Following Lewisham's big conversation about where and how the Council should find cost savings, it has released a summary of the results. Even this top-line version comes with the caveat that the consultation that involved 1,200 residents was in no-way a poll or referendum, merely a useful guide.

Depressingly, the 1,000 survey respondents said that town centres - one of the few public resources we all use and one of the most important drivers of local prosperity - were considered the area that could most easily have spending reduced. This result is possibly due to the fact that the consultation lumped the word "business" in with "town centres", and everyone knows that businesses are all run by fat cats. Either that or it just goes to show that people don't know what's good for them. Likewise Climate Change and Employment and Training fared poorly. Adult social care (by far the largest single item of Council expenditure considered by this survey, with a budget of £69m) was deemed the area that it is least acceptable to cut, followed by activities for young people.

Roads, sport and libraries were the areas of Council expenditure that respondents said they'd be most willing to pay more for.

In the "Have Your Say" forms provided at local assemblies "cleaning the borough" came out as the clear priority, followed by libraries.

Here's the full presentation and here's what the Council release says:

The following themes came out strongly:

- Protect spending on services to the most vulnerable in the community

- It’s acceptable to reduce spending in some areas, but generally only in those areas where the Council spends relatively small sums

- People are prepared to pay more for some services

- Businesses could do more and the Council could help people to do more

- The Council should continue to find efficiencies and cut its costs.

People generally thought it was right that levels of service should be reviewed in order to find ways to reduce spending and, where possible, to find efficiencies and reduce staff costs. Significant numbers were prepared to pay more, or have people charged more, for some services, rather than see them cut. A significant number of people also said they would do more themselves to reduce the need for Council spending on services, although this was still a minority (around one in ten).

What do you think? And as you write, bear in mind that this thread was lifted almost wholesale for the Local Government Chronicle's "Views of the Week" column (thanks to Ruth for spotting that), so what you say could go right to the top... of the Local Government Chronicle's news editor's in-tray.

ACE van hire, Brockley

Just to show we don't hate vans per se, we thought we'd report our recent experience of hiring an ACE van. Although at one point their vans started cropping up on the local streets, that seems to be a blip and they have secured space on the MOT garage forecourt, to store their vehicles.

The office is still in New Cross, however, which means that if you want to collect a van, you are asked to give them 20 minutes notice to travel between the two sites and if you want to drop a van off outside of working hours, you need to do so in New Cross, which is a pain.

On the other hand, the guys we dealt with were nice and helpful, even dropping the van off outside our house when we said it was going to be a problem to collect it from them. The vehicle was in decent working order and it cost £50 for 24-hour hire of a transit van (£60 if you want a long wheel-base transit).

Images of Greenwich - Excel cable car released

A proposal to connect the O2 and the Excel Centre with a cable car has taken a step forward with the release of the design by architects Wilkinson Eyre. The project needs to raise private finance in order to happen, but it has the support of the Mayor and could win planning approval as early as January 2011.

When complete, the cars would carry as many as 2,500 passengers per hour to a height of more than 50 metres on the 1.1km route, taking approximately five minutes.

No substitute for the major river crossing this end of town needs, it's nonetheless a fun and potentially useful crossing, connecting two of London's most important visitor attractions, each at the heart of major regeneration projects.

Up the Line, November 11th, 2010

Brockley Knits

The Brockley Knitters meet from 8pm on the third Monday of the month at Mr Lawrence's wine bar (back room) on Brockley Road for knitting, chat and drinks.

All those with an interest in knitting and crochet very welcome. To find out more or join the email list, contact: brockleyknits@yahoo.co.uk

The Hot Potato

Thanks to our night trains, Brockley's no stranger to nuclear material, so where better to shoot a film about "two chancers who find a lump of Uranium"?

The Hot Potato, starring Ray Winstone, is currently filming in Kneller Road.

Thanks to B and Victoria who pieced the story together.

Blackheath Fireworks 2010: Lewisham prevents a tragedy of the commons

As a Greenwich native, it pains us to say this, but Greenwich Council shafted Lewisham Council over Bonfire Night, unilaterally withdrawing funding for the Blackheath fireworks and leaving Lewisham to fill the gap. In doing so, they literally became free-riders at the event. Greenwich residents still got their fireworks, Lewisham residents paid.

While the long-term prospects of the event must still be in doubt, given the extent of the cuts Lewisham and Greenwich have to make, it's great that this year's fireworks took place in front of record crowds. Here's the release - well done to all of the donors and sponsors and to the Council for their ingenuity:

Record number of people celebrate Blackheath fireworks

One hundred thousand people celebrated South London’s biggest and best public firework display on Saturday 6 November.

Blackheath fireworks have been a long standing highlight of Lewisham’s event calendar and this year was no exception. An estimated 100,000 people turned out to celebrate the spectacular event. From the crowd’s countdown through to the white-light finale, applause and sounds of appreciation were heard for miles around while the sky was filled with 20-minutes of light and colour.

It was thought at one point this year’s unexpected £36,000 shortfall in funding might put the display at risk but due to the huge generosity of hundreds of individuals, community groups and businesses, the display was able to go ahead. Lewisham Council launched an appeal for public donations on 14 September and, including the cash collected on Saturday night, it’s estimated that at least £25,000 has been raised. However, donations are still coming in from people all over London who enjoyed the display.

In particular, extremely generous donations were made over the past weeks by local organisations and businesses such as Glendale, L&Q, The Clarendon Hotel, and local community group, The Blackheath Society, as well as restaurants Chapters, Bella Vista and Everest Inn. The Council’s eBay auction raised a further £1,000.

Others members of the local community generously donated their time and skills. Local amateur photographer, James Davis, took the photos, and local professional film makers, Live Vision Studios, made a film of the event which can be seen on YouTube.

The display was also again this year generously backed by independent fund management company GLC Ltd, who have been involved with the Blackheath Fireworks display since 1994.

The Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock, said: “I think a combination of good weather conditions and huge community support for the fireworks resulted in the vast turnout this year. It was a fantastic event made all the more successful by the offers of support, donations and above all the generosity of spirit.”

Donations are still being accepted towards this year’s display: www.lewisham.gov.uk/fireworks