Nunhead Community Forum AGM + Renewal Area Update
Yesterday saw the biggest and best Nunhead Community Forum AGM to date. Last year around 35 people came, this year it was around 150.The day kicked off with a report back from Chris Wilson, who chairs the forum. In the picture below he's at the mike with Cris Claridge, the forum's secretary, beside him. The forum's done a great job in the last year, with events such as the Older People's Day and the Nunhead Arts week, plus securing new notice boards and signs which will soon be appearing around the area.
The report was followed by elections to officer positions and appointments to the Executive Committee. Chris and Cris remain as chair and secretary whilst a number of new people join the executive committee. As a councillor I am a co-oped member of the exec.After a break for lunch (provided by local resident Joan Murrell and Bajan Spice restaurant)
it was on to a Q&A session on the Renewal Area with council officers from the Renewal Team and the regeneration department on hand to answer resident's questions.
It was a bit of a battle of the t-shirts - as you can see all the officers were wearing Nunhead street sign t-shirts, whilst the Community Forum members (including me) were in NCF t-shirts.
The feedback from the residents was mixed (on the renewal plans, rather than the t-shirts). Some were concerned that the renewal area was too focused on helping a small group of people, whilst others felt that all the money should be spent on helping those most in need rather than doing up the area in general. Likewise some people were keen to see the area promoted as it's likely to increase the value of their homes and others were concerned that this will price people out of the area. The officers were also speaking to people individually (and videoing it) so I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone had to say.Personally I think the council has probably got the balance about right. Nunhead could certainly do with some investment and promotion - particularly around Evelina Road which is already a great high street and with a little help could be a fantastic.
However, I also know that in Nunhead there are people, particularly older people, living in homes with leaking roofs, dangerous wiring and little or no insulation, who simply can't afford to get things fixed. I think it's right that as well as improving the area generally we should particularly help out our less fortunate neighbours with a home improvement grant or a low cost loan so that everyone can live in a decent, warm and safe home.
Labels: Renewal Area
posted by Fiona on Sunday, October 01, 2006
6 comments
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6 Comments:
Hi Fiona,
Could you tell us what happens now? and when/if there is another meeting?
An awfull lot of local residents had no idea the meeting was happening, I only found out because of the small banner hanging on nunhead green - Could we get a simple leaflet drop next time?
With regrads to the regeneration grants, I contacted the council department regarding this and basically discovered that there is a backlog of 2 + years from bellingdon, they could not promise that I would even get a form, and basically it was a pointless exercise. They just kept apologising and mentioning the fact that the council are not provding them with enough resources. Basically after the 3rd call, just to get a form (which i eventually went to the Council offices to pick up)it was obvious, and by their own admission, that the department was not really functioning.
I also felt that there was a lot of politics flying around especially with comments like "2 dirty words - East Dulwich" !!! I found this bizarre. This was followed up by "where did all the kids hanging around Lordship Lane disappear too" !!!!!.. maybe they suddenly realised that the improvement in their environment meant that someone did care, and so they felt less excluded and got involved possitively in their community and moved on.
Could we get some normal residents involved via better advertising and not turn everything into a political battleground.
Gentrification please. please please !!!!
I'll be posting again on this later today or tomorrow. Had a briefing in the week with the Renewal Team and I'm just off to a public meeting they are running in East Peckham so I'll raise some of your questions there.
I didn't feel the meeting was particularly political, at least not party political. One of the speakers from the audience was a Green Party activist and the councillors were there of course, but I didn't recognise any other party political types.
I think there simply is a diverse set of views in the community. I know lots of people who would like to see Nunhead become more like East Dulwich - indeed lots of people move to Nunhead because they can't afford East Dulwich. However, there are also lots of people, particularly people who've been in the area for longer, who fear that change. I think they are worried that they will not longer be able to fully participate in the community, that they might be priced out of the shops and pubs etc. Then there are others who see East Dulwich as becoming a bit too mainstream and want Nunhead to be more boho and artsy.
Personally I think the influence of this renewal project may be overestimated. Even without the project the area was likely to "gentrify" simply due to the influx of more middle class families (priced out of East Dulwich and Telegraph Hill) and the opportunities this will bring for a different kinds of shops, cafes, restaurants and bars. Any promotional work the project does is likely to accelerate this.
I hope what we can do as a local authority and politicians is make sure that we retain some character in the area and support the existing community so that they can benefit too.
Re advertising. You should have got notification via the Nunhead Voice magazine from the Community Forum, but I agree that communication is one of the biggest failings of the project at the moment. More about that in my next post.
Personally I'm getting very frustrated with the lack of delivery from the project team and sick of hearing excuses. However, I'm tending towards the view that more politics rather then less might be what's needed to shake things up.
Regards
Fiona
Hi Fiona,
Thanks for your response, brilliant as usual. I Totally agree with your point about East Dulwich/Nunhead. I think that I meant of course I would like to see Nunhead Remain Nunhead, I know that I moved here not because I could not afford East Dulwich but because I liked Nunhead. I have always felt that Nunhead has been treated unfairly in relation to other areas. And I would like to see the residents of this area benefit from some form of gentrification not because of potential rises in house prices, but because they deserve it. I actually think that gentrification will not change the fundamental character of this area - Nunhead has to much attitude for that to change - With a pub called the pryotechnists how could it !!! (did they not plot to blow up parliment ??)
I think the fact that things have been so slow to the point of inertia sums up the attitude that exists in relation to Nunhead.
If more politics is needed to shake things up, what can the residents do to apply some more pressure ?
Thanks for you time on this matter.
Thanks
I think the Pyro is so named because there used to be a fireworks factory.
Fiona,
where do we get the Nunhead t-shirts.. let's get Nunhead on the map..London is such a tribal fashion melting pot...so let's help promote Nunhead and do our civic pride some good too.
local resident.
Email Orla Fox in the renewal team orla.fox@southwark.gov.uk
I think they might need to order some more and you may well have to go and collect it from her.
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