Lewisham Central Hither Green

In recent years, there has been a serious problem with street drinking in the Hither Green Lane area. Many local residents (unfairly, in my view) have associated this problem with the residents of St Mungo’s homeless hostel which has worked hard to tackle this problem. What is clear is that extending licenses in this area would exacerbate the problem. So it’s extremely galling to see ethical food trader, the Co-op (Hither Green Green Lane, SE13 6QH) apply to extend its license to sell alcohol at 7.30am in the morning.

Unfortunately, the application was approved.

Your local councillors will be writing to the Chief Executive of Co-operative Foods with a petition from local people. You can sign the petition below:



Councillor Mike Harris, one of 3 Labour councillors for Lewisham Central said:

“It is beyond belief that the Co-operative, an ethical retailer, wants to sell alcohol at 7.30 am in an area next to a homeless hostel. Hither Green Lane already has a problem with street drinkers which we’re working hard to tackle. Selling alcohol earlier will only make matters worse. I am disappointed they did not withdraw this application.”

Joanne Hall, the Chair of the Safer Neighbourhood Panel added:

“The Safer Neighbourhood Panel are disappointed in the decision to approve this application as it undermines the work achieved by the local police team and council community safety officers in encouraging all retailers to sign up to the Responsible Retailers Agreement for the selling of alcohol. Account should also have been taken of the proximity of many hostels in the area that house people with alcohol related problems.”

If you are planning to travel by rail using Hither Green, Lewisham or Ladywell stations over the Easter period make sure you prepare by looking at the engineering work being planned at www.southeasternrailway.co.uk

Engineering work starting on 27/03/13 between New Cross and Hither Green.

Track improvements and maintenance are taking place from 23:00 on 27/03/13 to 02:30 on 29/03/13 between New Cross and Hither Green.

THURSDAY NIGHT /FRIDAY MORNING – As a result of engineering taking place over the Easter Holiday between New Cross and Hither Green, passengers travelling after midnight , on train services to or from the following stations: Hither Green, Grove Park, Elmstead Wood, Chislehurst, Petts Wood or Orpington are advised that the last train service for these stations is the 00:06 London Charing Cross to Orpington train service. Journeys to these stations after this service will require passengers to use replacement bus services as follows: – The 00:10 London Charing Cross to Dartford. This train service will not operate between London Charing Cross and Lee, and a replacement bus service will operate departing London Charing Cross at 00:10, London Waterloo East -Sandell Street- 00:18, London Bridge 00:25, New Cross 00:39, Lewisham 00:47, Hither Green 00:56 and arrives Lee at 01:03. Change at Lee for connecting train service departing Lee at 01:10, Mottingham 01:13, New Eltham 01:15, Sidcup 01:19, Albany Park 01:21, Bexley 01:23, Crayford 01:27 and terminates at Dartford at 01:32. – The 00:15 London Charing Cross to Tonbridge -FRIDAY ONLY-. This train service, after the scheduled departure from London Bridge at 00:23, is diverted by an alternative route and runs non-stop to arrive at Tonbridge at 01:10. Passengers for Hildenborough, Sevenoaks, Dunton Green and Chelsfield are advised to travel by this service to Tonbridge and change for replacement bus service that departs Tonbridge at 01:18 and sets down passengers at Hildenborough at 01:33, Sevenoaks 01:46, Dunton Green 01:56, Chelsfield 02:17 and Orpington 02:24. PLEASE NOTE: passengers for Orpington only are advised to travel by the replacement bus service – 00:48 London Charing Cross to Orpington: A replacement bus service to Tonbridge will depart from Orpington at 00:46, and calls at Chelsfield 00:53, Dunton Green 01:14, Sevenoaks 01:24, Hildenborough 01:37 and terminates Tonbridge at 01:52 – The 00:18 London Charing Cross to Gillingham. This train service will not call at New Cross, Lewisham or Blackheath, but will call additionally at Greenwich. Passengers travelling by this train service for New Cross, Lewisham or Blackheath should change at Greenwich for the 00:40 Greenwich to Blackheath replacement bus service, which calls at New Cross 00:44, Lewisham 00:52 and terminates Blackheath at 01:00. Passengers travelling from New Cross, Lewisham or Blackheath for the above train service should travel by a replacement bus service that departs from New Cross at 00:31, Lewisham 00:39 and Blackheath 00:47 and calls to set down passengers at Charlton, Woolwich Arsenal, Plumstead, Abbey Wood, Belvedere, Erith, Slade Green, Dartford Greenhithe, Gravesend, Higham, Strood, Rochester, Chatham and terminates at Gillingham at 02:41. – The 00:48 London Charing Cross to Orpington this train service WILL NOT OPERATE. Passengers for this service are advised to travel by the replacement bus service that departs from London Charing Cross at 00:48 and calls at London Waterloo East -Sandell Street- at 00:56, London Bridge 01:03, New Cross 01:17, Lewisham 01:25, Hither Green 01:34, Grove Park 01:42, Elmstead Woods 01:51, Chislehurst 01:57, Petts Wood 02:07 and terminates at Orpington at 02:15.

London TravelWatch will be holding a transport users’ engagement event in Lewisham on Wednesday 20th March 2013. The event will take place between 10.30am and 2.30pm on a New bus for London, which will be parked in Lewisham town centre outside the Riverdale Centre. This will give them an opportunity to speak to transport users, give out information and a survey to find out about the transport issues that really matter to Lewisham residents and visitors.
Do go along and tell them what YOU think about transport for South East London. Mayor Boris Johnson did not seem to be too well informed about it when he came to People’s Question Time at Catford recently!

TfL is consulting on a proposal for a new road layout which would provide a safer means for pedestrians to cross the road which would hopefully reduce the number of accidents at the junction.  In order to keep traffic moving this has repercussions on a number of local roads.  As your local councillors we asked that all residents in the area were sent details of the proposals, but if you have not received your copy of the consultation you can visit the web page consultations.tfl.gov.uk and then feed your views back via https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/streets/a21courthillroad.  (Note that this is not the address stated in the leaflet which was incorrect.)  Local cyclists have already suggested to us that the scheme needs to incorporate more features that will make cycling safer in the area.  We would like to hear from more residents about their concerns, as we appreciate that there are both pros and cons to this proposal.  Let us know what you think!

People of all faiths or none may be interested to join the Lewisham Multifaith Walk on Sunday 15 July as it will visit three places of worship in the ward. The timetable is as follows:
12.15pm: Meet at the London Sivan Kovil Temple, 4a Clarendon Rise. SE13 5ES (020 8318 9844) There will be a tour of the temple and a Q and A session followed by refreshments. An opportunity to visit this recently refurbished temple.

We will then walk from the Temple along Lewisham High Street to arrive at
1.15pm: St Saviours Roman Catholic Church, 175 Lewisham High Street, SE13 6AA (020 8852 2490) This will be a meeting point for new walkers and then a short visit inside this gem of a church.
There will be a short bus ride to
2pm: the Catford and Bromley (Orthodox) Synagogue, Crantock Road, SE6. There will be a short talk and a Q&A, followed by refreshments at this small and beautiful synagogue.
3pm: Garden of Remembrance Interfaith Service at the Memorial Gardens, Allerford Road, Bellingham SE6. This annual event is organised by the British Legion will involve a short march starting at the Synagogue, then along the Bromley Road to the Memorial Gardens in Allerford Road. Walkers are welcome to join the service if they wish.

4.30pm Visit to the Lewisham Islamic Centre, 365 Lewisham High Street, SE13 6NZ. An opportunity to make a visit to this established centre.

The walk is open to people of all faiths and none so this will be a fantastic opportunity to visit places of worship and learn more about each other as neighbours. Please note people are required to observe the following dress codes

Please dress modestly and remain covered
Kippahs will be available at the Catford and Bromley Synagogue.
People are kindly asked to remove their shoes when visiting the London Sivan Kovil Temple.
Women to cover their heads at the Lewisham Islamic Centre

Please help us make this occasion a success and encourage friends, colleagues and family to come along!

Dear Friends,

Yesterday we saw David Cameron in his true colours. Not the nice,
“chillaxing”, middle of the road guy he wants us to see but the nasty
right winger who is quite prepared to hurt our young people if he
thinks there are a few votes in it for his party.

The real world that many young people face does not allow them to stay
with Mum and Dad while they save up to get married. They are in care
and at 18 will have to start making their way in the world with no
family support at all to fall back on.

Either David Cameron doesn’t know that or he doesn’t care.

Take a look at Shelter’s comments with which I am in complete agreement.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/news/june_2012/shelter_condemns_hb_cuts

This was the start of the Tory programme for the next election and we
will need to be ready to defend our young people from this political
attack.

Some of the things he suggested yesterday were:

• Stopping most under-25s claiming housing benefit. Cameron said the
government was spending almost £2bn a year on housing benefit for this
group, and that 210,000 people aged 16 to 24 were social housing
tenants. Many of them could live with their parents, he suggested.

• Cutting benefits for the under-21s. Cameron said that in Holland the
benefit system does not normally help the under-21s. When it does,
benefits are set at a low level, and parents are expected to top them
up.

• Uprating benefits in line with wage inflation instead of price
inflation when price inflation is much higher. Cameron said in
September benefits went up by 5.2% (inflation) even though workers
were getting much lower pay rises. “Given that so many working people
are struggling to make ends meet we have to ask whether this is the
right approach,” Cameron said.

• Cutting benefits for the long-term unemployed. Cameron said that
when the Americans decided to time-limit benefits in the 1990s,
case-loads fell by more than 50%. “Instead of US-style time-limits –
which remove entitlements altogether – we could perhaps revise the
levels of benefits people receive if they are out of work for
literally years on end,” he said.

• Cutting housing benefit further. The government has already
introduced a benefit cap to stop a relatively small number of families
claiming exorbitant sums in housing benefit. But Cameron said this
would still allow people to receive up to £20,000 a year in housing
benefit. “Surely we should ask if it’s fair that the maximum amount
that you can get on housing benefit is set at a level that only the
top five per cent of earners would otherwise be able to afford,” he
said.

• Stopping people from claiming child-related benefits if they have
more than a certain number of children. Cameron did not say how many
children, but he quoted the number of people on income support with
three or more children (150,000) and four or more children (57,000),
implying benefits could be capped at two children.

• Requiring more single parents to work – or at least to prepare for
work. Cameron said the government was already forcing single parents
to look for work when their youngest child reaches five, not seven as
before. But, with free nursery care available from the age of three,
there was a case for changing the rules again, he said. “Even if
there’s no scope for actually working, there should at least be for
preparing to work: getting down to the job centre; writing a CV;
learning new skills.”

• Imposing tougher restrictions on people claiming benefits if they
have never worked than if they have paid tax and national insurance
for years before submitting a claim.

• Stopping teenagers from claiming benefits as soon as they leave
school. Cameron said he wanted to ask “if it’s right that people
continue to have the option of leaving school and going straight onto
benefits, without ever having contributed to the system in any way.”

Yours,

Steve

We’ve been out on the doorsteps in Lewisham Central (despite the rain!) talking about what Labour has to offer in the elections for Mayor and the Greater London Assembly. We have found a lot of support for Ken Livingstone and Len Duvall, our local Lewisham/Greenwich candidate. Now all we want is for all you Labour supporters to remember to vote on Thursday 3 May!

A fraudster has been praying on elderly people in Lewisham. Telling them that he is from the local council, he demands payment of £180 to clip back trees. The man is white, medium height and overweight, with a south London accent and wears a black “official looking” overcoat. An elderly couple living on Baring Road have been in touch with me to warn other residents, after they mistakenly handed over money. The police have been alerted.

Family Mosaic is currently working with its partners to provide a range of Apprenticeship opportunities for its residents.

What is an Apprenticeship?

An apprenticeship allows you to gain a recognised qualification whilst developing practical skills in a real work environment.

What’s more, because it offers on the job training, you will be earning whilst you learn.

All apprentices will also need to attend college to learn the technical areas of your chosen field, but Family Mosaic’s dedicated Apprenticeships Officer Jacqueline Black, will help you find the right placement for you.

How do I become an apprentice through Family Mosaic?

Apply here.

What Apprenticeships are available through Family Mosaic?

This will change over time but the most common Apprenticeships are in Construction, Business Admin, IT, Customer Service and Health and Social Care. If you are interested in any other type of Apprenticeship call us and we will do our best to assist you.