Murder at the Movies, May 16

Harriet writes:

Calling all armchair detectives – an immersive murder mystery cinema event is coming to New Cross in May! Learn from literature’s master of mystery at this film screening with a twist where the audience will have their own murder mystery to solve.

On 16th May, the Amersham Arms in New Cross will be transformed into a 1930s cinema. The audience will step back in time to the closing night of the ‘Amersham Picture House’ which is soon to be bulldozed to make way for luxury flats. The owner of the cinema has invited a host of colourful characters for one last ‘hurrah!’ before the cinema shuts its doors for good, but there’s more to this party than meets the eye…

The audience will watch the Christie Classic, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), play games and solve puzzles to uncover the clues to a murder mystery that unfolds as the night goes on. 1930’s outfits are highly encouraged and there will be a prop-box on the night to help you get into character!

Organiser Harriet from Child.org said “This will be a great chance for people who saw the recent Murder on the Orient Express film to experience the original in a wholly different setting. I hope the audience will really step into the story – I can’t wait to see everyone’s fancy dress!”

Popcorn and drinks from the bar will also be available. This is an over-18s only event and tickets are only available in advance online at: http://bit.ly/murderatthemovies

There’s a limited number of early bird tickets, so get them before they’re gone! All proceeds from the event will go to Child.org

Model Market 2018 - Returns Friday

O happy day: Summer is here, Model Market has returned.

The Lewisham food and booze experience re-opens tomorrow night, and this year's line-up includes What the Fattoush (vegan), Pocho (sliders and tacos) and Mama's Jerk (barbecue).

Opens 5pm Friday and runs every weekend throughout the summer. Go.

Reports: Heidi Alexander City Hall move could trigger Lewisham by-election

Lewisham East MP Heidi Alexander is reported to be considering a move to City Hall, which would trigger a local by-election. Guido Fawkes summarises:

"Last night the Guardian reported that Labour MP Heidi Alexander is “seriously considering” quitting the Commons for a job at City Hall. This morning the Corbynista site Skwawkbox (health warnings apply) say she is to step down. Labour’s press office say they aren’t commenting and that Guido should speak to Heidi. Calls to her mobile, Westminster and constituency office phones are going unanswered. By-election?"

The Guardian's original report noted:

Since quitting the shadow cabinet in protest at Corbyn’s leadership in July 2016, Alexander has come under pressure from pro-Corbyn campaign group Momentum, including some local activists who are also members of the far left Alliance for Workers’ Liberty. 

 The influx of new members has sometimes represented a direct challenge, with local members vocally objecting to her decision to quit the shadow cabinet. 

Momentum’s position is stronger in the neighbouring constituency of Lewisham Deptford; however, the campaign group last week launched a Lewisham East left caucus, to “help comrades build a strong left in the remaining stronghold of the Labour right in Lewisham”.

Strong and stable: A cartoon review of the year with Martin Rowson

On April 30th at the Fox & Firkin pub, the Brockley Max arts festival (taking place June 1-9) will be throwing a fundraiser with support from Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson. Organiser Moira writes:

Martin Rowson, longstanding Ladywell resident & multiple award-winning cartoonist for The Guardian, will be looking back over the last turbulent twelve months in politics and much else in another fully illustrated, ranty & sweary fundraiser for the Brockley Max festival.

In a year where it feels the world has turned upside down, Martin will give his take on the continuing saga of Brexit and the incompetence of our political parties through his cartoons. Be prepared to be shocked, enlightened and thoroughly entertained!

Join us for this rare opportunity for an informal and intimate discussion, followed by a Q&A, with one of the UK’s most distinct political commentators.

There will be opportunity to purchase copies Martin’s new books, including his graphic novel adaption of The Communist Manifesto, and his collection of “silent” [wordless] comics, “The Pen Is Mightier Than The Word”.

Tickets are £10 + booking fee from here:  All ticket sales to go towards funding this year’s festival. Over 18 years only.

Click here for more

Lewisham still seeking home for £6m housing budget

The local elections are coming soon and despite Labour's looming clean-sweep of Lewisham, candidates are dutifully going through the motions, with housing top of the agenda. Mayoral favourite, Damien Egan, made social housing central to his bid to win the party nomination.

So the first order of business for the new administration to consider ought to be the borough's £6m cash pile from developers, which is meant to be spent on providing affordable housing, but which has not yet been committed. The Huffington Post reports:

Councils across the UK are hoarding hundreds of millions of pounds set aside for affordable homes, HuffPost UK can reveal.

Data obtained by this website shows more than £375 million is sitting in councils’ bank accounts instead of being used to tackle the housing crisis. Two-thirds of that cash - £235 million - is being held by just 14 councils.

One housing campaigning group labeled the findings as “staggering”, while the National Housing Federation called it “deeply concerning”.

The money comes from a piece of planning law called Section 106 Agreements, which allows councils to get money from developers in exchange for granting planning permission for projects.

The cash has to be used for specific tasks, such as affordable housing, highways repairs and even public art.

Reacting to the discovery, Housing Secretary Sajid Javid MP said: “Section 106 payments help deliver the vital infrastructure required for councils to build the homes that this country needs.

“We expect councils to use funding from developers in line with the priorities agreed in their local plans.”

HuffPost UK asked every council in England and Wales to reveal how much they had received in Section 106 monies since 2013/14, how much they had spent and how much was unallocated.

Lewisham is among the top 14 councils hoarding money for affordable housing, with £16.3 million unspent, of which £6 million is uncommitted.

For the full article, click here. Thank you to Jenny for the spot.

Ladywell Fields river clean-up this weekend

Rob writes:

As it’s going to be a wonderful weekend you might want to publicise the Ladywell Fields river clean-up on Sunday, 22 April.

I have been to probably 20 of these over the years and I can honestly say they are great fun - an opportunity to do some useful volunteer work whilst enjoying a different view of the world wading along the River Ravensbourne and enjoying Ladywell Fields in all its Springtime beauty.

Lewisham house prices defy London downturn

For more than a decade, Lewisham house prices have been rising faster than the London average as inner city living has become more fashionable and improved transport links have attracted people priced-out elsewhere. The result is that, from a low base, Lewisham has moved up the league table of London boroughs in terms of average prices.

So one might of assumed that Lewisham would be among the fastest-fallers as London prices have started to fall in the last year. But new data from the ONS shows that in 2017, Lewisham house prices continued to rise at one of the fastest rates in the capital as the most expensive boroughs dipped.

The ONS found that between February 2017 and February 2018 the price of the average Lewisham home rose 2.7% to £414,516.

Speculative hotspots like Westminster (-2.4%), Hammersmith & Fulham (-5%) and Tower Hamlets (-7.9%) have taken a hammering, while more affordable outer boroughs such as Barking & Dagenham (4.4%) and Redbridge (8.9%) have shot up. Lewisham remains in the top ten fastest risers.

Thanks to Monkeyboy for sharing the data.