Council budgets

This week the council executive of eight Lib Dem and two Tory executive councillors finalised budget recommendations for the next three years.  Considerable debate has taken place and several months of hard work by council officers and coalition councillors to reach this point.

The council leader Cllr Nick Stanton has done an exemplary job in keeping all the coalition councillors informed and involved.

It’s worth reminding ourselves that 70% of council revenues are provided by central government. That the Labour government has decided to use 2004 population figures and not more recent figures. As the population is dramatically rising in London and South East, 2004 population fugures results in less money for Southwark but benefits Labour heartlands up the M1. Councils with signifcant deprivation (Southwark is the 20th most deprived council in UK) are getting real term cuts from the Labour government for the next three years as opposed to councils such as Rotherham (the 50th most deprived) which is seeing dramatic real terms increased.

Considerable savings will be made by centralising many council offices into a new office on Tooley street. God knows where we’d be if this wasn’t already in progress.

Social care is being consulted on to stop providing care for those with moderate needs. Community Warden services will have fewer wardens and manager. Meals on wheels where Southwark is the cheapest in London will see price increases. Livesey childrens museum will close. A review of all three historic town halls will take place. Some council funded events will see cuts or no more funding. A whole host of other cuts will be made.

No one likes or wants cuts. Considering the dreadful hand of cards dealt by the government I think the residents of Southwark have had the best possible result.

Caffe Naff

Just over two years ago Caffe Nero opened a cafe on Lordship Lane. The premises had previously been a very busy electrical retailer with planning consent as a shop (A1). To sell food and drink for consumption on the premises requires A3 consent. Caffe Nero opened its cafe without obtaining change of use planning consent from A1 to A3/A1. Council officers saught enforcement. Caffe Nero then applied for planning permission. The Planning Application came early 2007 before the dulwich community Council Planning Committee.

Personally, I had expected to approve the planning applciation as per officers recommendation. On the night Caffe Nero and its agents decided not to attend the planning committee. I’ve never seen this happen before or since as questions of the applicant always come up at planning committees. Officers gave oral evidence that Lordship Lane would, if the planning application were approved, have less than 50% shops – contrary to council policy as a high street rapidly declines once shops fall beneath a critical mass. We also heard evidence from neighbouring residents how Caffe Nero airconditioning condensing units were very noisy, going on/off 24/7 immediately outside bedroom windows and Caffe Nero were unresponsive to fix the problem.

On this basis, and with a heavy heart, that the eight committee members unanamously refused planning permission contrary to officer recommendations. The committee had three councillors whose regular jobs are as barristers – so we were meticulous exploring all the evidence presented.

Officers then issued two enforcement notices. One about the illegal A3 use and a second about the anti social noise. Caffe Nero then appealed the planning permission refusal. This formally delayed the two enforcement notices.

After a considerable period finally on Tuesday 24 January a Planning Inspector heard the Caffe Nero appeal. Caffe Nero team of seven kept suggesting that residents and council officers were imagining the noise disturbance and must be mistaken.

Sometime between now and the end of February we’re due to hear the planning inspectors decision.

‘Pay your rent Harriet’

A couple of months ago while popping into the Town Hall to attend a meeting about East Dulwich I came across a Harriet Harman MP surgery. It was taking over the whole ground floor of the Town Hall and special security was present. Amazing.  After asking questions at a full council meeting I was shocked to hear that Southwark Council hires the town hall to Harriet Harman for only £50 per surgery.  Weirdly I believe the invoicing for this stopped when Labour ran Southwark council.
When Harriet holds surgeries I’ve seen a minimum of two extra security guards hired by Southwark Councl for her surgeries. When Harriet is generating lots of press interest, such as when she was busted for speeding to her Suffolk home, Southwark Council hires even more security to keep photographers at bay. Even two contract security guards  must cost more that £50 each time.As MPs have significant expense accounts and allowances paid for by parliament they really shouldn’t be treated as charities and subsidised at the expense of Southwark Council tax payers. Equally hiring out the town hall shouldn’t get in the way of the council holding meetings – currently the main council Planning Committee can’t always meet when it needs to as Harriet has bagged Tuesday evenings.

Can we be sure that ALL the costs associated with the use of Southwark properties by MPs are charged at commercial rates and will be kept commercial going forward?

I’ll keep asking until I’m happy such weird subsidies are resolved sand that invoices and bills are actually being paid.

Battery recycling

Batteries contain lots of nasty exotic chemicals that really should’nt go to landfill or incinerators. Ideally we’d all use wind-up appliances such as radios, mains power or rechargeable batteries. But for some things only a battery is available. 

Southwark Council has just introduced battery recycling boxes in all libraries. For East Dulwich the nearest libraries are Dulwich Library on Lordship lane and Grove Vale Library on Grove Vale.

Up to now I used to put battery in my pocket and cycle them up and down the Walworth on the way to and from work. Everntually I’d remember and divert into the Manor Place recycling centre. Now I’ll just stroll along with the kids on a Saturday morning to Grove Vale Library.

Carbon Reduction Action Group (CRAG)

Every month the Peckham CRAG meeting at Peckham Library. The concept is brilliantly simple. Attendees calculate how much Carbon Dioxide their lifestyels result in and share ideas of how to reduce it. Some groups even commit to reducing by a specified amount the CO2 they produce. Very effective CO2 slimming club.

We really need to create one in East Dulwich.

Anyone interested?

East Dulwich crime

The latest crime stat for London are available on the Metropolitan Police website. It shows that reported crime in East Dulwich has taken a sharp dip. Some of this is due to the Police more accurately showing East Dulwich political ward boundaries. But most of the dip can’t be explained in this way.

Much of the dip is due to the hard decisions the three Liberal Democrat councillors have taken to spend local Cleaner, Greener, Safer money in ways suggested by the local Crime Prevention Officer. Things like Alertboxes and gating alleyways. We’ve also been following up our promise to ensure all East dulwich streets have good modern street lighting levels.

So 2006 East Dulwich has 99.72 crime per thousand population. During 2007 this dropped to 86.16 crimes per thousand. This means we’ve gone from being the 3rd to 2nd best ward for lowest reported crime levels in Southwark. The next round of Cleaner, Greener, Safer applications has opened with a closing date of 31 March for applications.

Again we’ll be taking extra heed of what the evidence tells us will reduce crime when deciding between schemes. In one years time I expect to be able to say that East Dulwich is no.1 for lowest reported crime in Southwark. Watch this space….

80% E-Crete

Over 5% of global CO2 emissions from man comes from plain old contrete.

For every tonne of concrete, 1/2 tonne of CO2 is produced from the chemical reaction and another 1/3rd of a tonne of CO2 from the fossil fuels used to heating calcium carbonate to 1400 degrees C.

During the Soviet Union era they developed a concrete based on Geopolymers. This technology has been rediscovered by Australians. It raw materials are fly ash and slag waste from fossil fueled power stations – great recycling – and works at room temperatures. This technique produces 80% less CO2 than traditional concrete.

considering that in Southwark we have so many regeneration schemes that will require huge quantities of concrete – Elephant & Castle, Canada Water, Bermondsey Square, London Bridge, Blackfriars Road – we need to reduce the embedded energy of all these schemes.

So when will this technology reach our shores helping us make the 80% CO2 reduction we need to make to avoid catastrophic global warming?

New Grove Vale library

I’m delighted to report that last night my ward colleagues Cllr Richard Thomas, Cllr Jonathan Mitchell and I supported a new community library at 18-22 Grove Vale. The library component is something I proposed to the developer two years ago. Last night Southwark Council’s main Planning Council GRANTED planning permission for a new Community Library at 18-22 Grove Vale replacing the current Grove Vale Library. The scheme will include 22 flats, 25% renewable energy, green roofs. The new library will have twice the current floor space for users. This will enable school classes to visit, adult education and increasing the number of days and hours of opening. The new site being next to East Dulwich station will have significantly more footfall. The current library has just over 100,000 visits per year. I’m expecting this to increase by at least 50%. Local businesses in Grove Vale and the surrounding area should benefit from this new magnet for visitors.

The Planning Committee voted: James Gurling, Eliza Mann (reserve), Gordon Nardell, Althea Smith and Aubyn Graham for the scheme, with Robin Crookshank-Hilton voting against the scheme.

The expectation is that six months of finalising planning conditions. Then 18 months to complete the build.

Getting to this position would not have been possible without the developer and agents St.Aidan’s and many council officers, council departments and councillors sharing my vision and overcoming considerable hurdles.

Many thanks for all their hard work. What stars. A really great result for the residents East Dulwich and South Camberwell. 

Planning and Energy Bill

Currently councils are extremely limited in ensuring new developments meet the highest possible and practicable environmental standards.

A private members bill being promoted by Michael Fallon MP would allow councils, after  involving their communities, to set high energy efficiency standards for new developments and to require them to generate energy locally. This would dramatically save on CO2 emissions, create local jobs.

IF you want such a bill to happen then please contact our Dulwich & West Norwood MP Tessa Jowell and ask her to vote for it on 25 January – Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell MP, House of Commons, Westminster, SW1A 0AA  

Telephone number – 020 7219 3409, Fax number – 020 7219 2702, E-mail address – jowellt@parliament.uk

Fortnightly rubbish collections – thwarted so far

Southwark Council has no plans for fortnightly rubbish collections. It is in the process of signing a PFI contract with Veolia for all its rubbish collection and processing services that states weekly rubbish collections.

But I’ve read that councils that have introduced fortnightly rubbish collections have a step increase in recycling. I’ve lots of reservations about how such a fortnightly service would feel. So as an experiment our house has been trying to only put out our rubbish bin every fortnight. For the last two weeks we’ve failed dismally. The rubbish collections guys are so thorough that even when we’ve not put out our rubbish bin out they’ve fetched it from down the side of the house – thwarting our experiment so far.