Southwark 4 May 2006

The local elections are now just 11 days away. These are extremely important elections as Southwark is a marginal borough currently in no overall control run by a minority Lib Dem administration propped up by the Tories.

For an overall majority a party needs to win 32 of the 63 council seats. At the last election the Lib Dems got 30, Labour 28 and Tories 5.

So from my perspective, Labour needs to win 4 new seats and hold all the ones we won last time round. Of course 1 isn't much of a working majority so a few more seats than that would be good.

I'm going to make this the end of technical campaign discussion and refer anyone who's interested in where the marginals are and speculating about various possible outcomes to the Southwark pages of Vote 2006.

More posts about the priorities of the Nunhead Labour team to follow.

Mini-motorbike menance

Buchan Road Mini Moto
Originally uploaded by Fiona Colley.

This little tyke was haring up and down Buchan Road today, sometimes on the pavement.

Mini-motorbikes are becoming a big issue in Nunhead. They are very popular with teenage boys (and sometime even younger kids) and are available for as little as £150. This rider was more safety conscious than most - he was wearing a helmet.

They make a terrible racket and are often driven dangerously on pavements, footpaths or parks. It drives people mad when they are trying to have a quiet night in and one of these keeps buzzing past. There have also been a number of accidents where the rider and pedestrians have been hurt due to the dangerous driving.

It is actually illegal for them to be ridden anywhere except private property with the permission of the landowner, but it's very difficult for the police to catch them as they can easily speed away.

However, the new Safer Neighbourhood Police teams seem to be having some success. These are teams of six police officers who walk the beat of a small neighbourhood. They really get to know the area and community well, which means they can police it proactively rather than just respond to 999 calls.

The team in Surrey Docks has been going for a couple of years and has managed to confiscate quite a number. The only way to catch the riders is for the police to be on the spot and to already know where the kids live. Hopefully the new Nunhead Safer Neighbourhood Team which has just started will be able to replicate this success. I called the team to let them know about this rider and will be emailing them my picture.

St Mary's Church Success

St Mary Magdalene Peckham
Originally uploaded by Fiona Colley.

Last night St Mary Magdalene Church was given planning permission to rebuild their church.

After the battles with the planning department and the 20th Century society the planning committee meeting went surprisingly smoothly.

None of the objectors came to make representations, so the committee heard from the planning officers (who were recommending approval), the architect who designed the building, the chair of the Brayards Estate Tenants & Residents Association (who support the plans) and two ward councillors (myself and Dominic Thorncroft) also supporting the application.

The committee members asked a few sensible questions and then granted permission.

Now all the church has to do is raise another £1m or so!

Dennis Wise

I was taking a look at my web statistics. I get about 700 - 800 hits per day although lots of those are search engine bots.

Most bizarre statistic - the search string that most frequently leads people to my site is Dennis Wise. Turns out that if you search for images of Dennis Wise on Google, the picture of me with Dennis after the 2004 FA Cup final is the top hit. Other top searches leading to me are Tim Cahill (another footballer) and Millenium Stadium.

So it seems that more pictures of footballers = more hits.

St Mary's Church - decision looms

St Mary Magdalene Peckham
Originally uploaded by Fiona Colley.

Today's a big day for St Mary's Church. The Council's planning committee will decide whether or not they can demolish and rebuild the church.

This has become quite a battle with the church on one side and the 20th Century Society on the other.

The church goers say the 1960s building leaks, the underfloor heating has broken down beyond repair, there is no stair-free access and that the layout doesn't meet their needs. They have looked at various options including extensive repairs works and adaptions, and have concluded that the best thing to do is to start from scratch with a new building.

The 20th Century Society on the other side say that this is a fine example of the work of Potter & Hare architechs. They argue that the building is a distinctive part of the area's landscape, particularly as it is close to many listed 20th century buildings like the Pioneer Health Centre (now flats) and Sasoon House.

Since the plans were originally submitted in mid 2004 there have been failed attempts to get the church listed, the original plans had to be withdrawn due to objections about the new design, and a conservation area was imposed without consultation and then withdrawn.

Hopefully this will finally be resolved tonight. The church has made some changes to their plans and the council's planning officers are recommending that the planning committee approve the application to build a new church.

I will be speaking in support of the new application. The existing building is very striking and the new design is less exciting, but the new design will provide great space for the worshippers, for a daily nursery and for community groups to meet in. I've been to a carol service in the church and to several meetings in the basement meeting room. The existing building is not fit for purpose. It's cold, damp and inaccessible for many residents. Ultimately I think the benefits of a brand new building designed for the needs of the community outweigh the loss of the exisiting building, which although distinctive, is not considered to be worthy of listing and is not particularly well-loved locally either.