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!
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!
You’ll need to get up early on Monday 23 July to see the torch coming from Creekside via the Stephen Lawrence Centre into our ward along Brookmill Road and then via Loampit Vale into the High Street. It starts off at 7.20 so I reckon it should reach Lewisham Clock Tower by about 7.40 but watch out for more expert timings nearer the time.
The priorities agreed for the Community First funding of £33,910 for Lewisham Central ward over the next 3 years are to be:
1. Improve the health and well-being of the inhabitants of the ward
2. Improve the appearance and use of the environment in the ward
3. Increase the support, activities and facilities for young people in the ward
4. Increase employment opportunities for inhabitants of the ward
5. Increase community cohesion and engagement in community activities in the ward.
These priorities were agreed by the Community First Panel at its first meeting. More details can be found by following the link on the ourhithergreen.com website of the Hither Green Community Association. On my earlier posting I omitted the name of Alison Munro, a local resident who is also a member of our Assembly coordinating group, from the list of panel members. Sorry, Alison!
For several years now Lewisham has enabled local people at the ward assemblies to choose how to support local organisations dealing with issues that are important locally. In 2011/12 Lewisham Central Assembly allocated a total of £44,250 to a wide range of projects including a summer play scheme on the Mercator estate, improvements to St. Swithun’s community hall, a club for older people, a heritage project in St. Mary’s churchyard, support for Hither Green Community Association, jointly with neighbouring wards funding the Youth Village based at the adventure playground on Ladywell Fields and producing a newsletter which was delivered to every home in the ward.
We are very pleased with the way our Locality Fund works and so were delighted when the Conservative/Lib Dem government decided to take a leaf out of our book. The Cabinet Office, as part of David Cameron’s Big Society, has decided to give Lewisham Central £33,910 over the next three years. The only pity is that the reason we were given the money was because our ward saw a steep rise in the number of people claiming job-seekers allowance! However, a panel has been set up to run the scheme. Jo Honeybone of Hither Green Community Association will chair it and other members are Jane Kustner from St. Swithuns, Bobby Mizen from the Jimmy Mizen Foundation at the Cafe of Good Hope and Cllr. Stella Jeffrey. They have held just one meeting so far but you should be hearing much more from them soon.
If you are part of a local organisation which may be eligible for funding, keep looking on the Hither Green Association website, as they are acting as our partner organisation in this and details will be coming out shortly about the agreed priorities and how to apply. Find them at ourhithergreen.com
Even though HGCA is hosting the Community First Panel, the funds are meant for the WHOLE of the ward – from Orchard Gardens in the north right down to the South Circular Road boundary.
From Lewisham Council:
Chewing gum litter: where do you stick yours?
Lewisham Council is working with the Chewing Gum Action Group throughout March on a national campaign to warn people to stop dropping used chewing gum on the streets of Lewisham or risk a £75 fine.
In a 2010 survey by Local Environment Quality, gum stains accounted for over a quarter of all stains found on Lewisham streets and research has shown that the most likely people to drop gum are in the 16-34 age range.
Lewisham is one of 15 local authorities nationwide to have pledged support for the campaign to help make Britain’s streets free of littered gum. The campaign is being supported by borough partners including Lewisham College, Goldsmiths College and Millwall Football Club PLC.
During the month the campaign will include:
· Gum Boards – special boards where people can stick their used gum – will be erected in Lewisham and Catford town centres.
· Free gum ‘wrap-it’ pouches – will be distributed by Goldsmiths’ student union throughout March
· Lamppost banners – will be displayed in Dartmouth Road and Deptford High Street
· Millwall Football Club – will display a message to fans on their big screen at their home games on 17 and 24 March at The Den.
· Gum advert – six students studying Media Production at Lewisham College will showcase their one-minute film advert called The Gum to Lewisham Young Mayor Kieran Lang.
Cllr Susan Wise, Cabinet Member for Customer Services says:
“I am proud of Lewisham’s streets, and our reputation for having the cleanest streets in London. Used chewing gum is both unhygienic and unsightly and the significant pavement staining to which it contributes is very difficult to remove.
“Through this campaign, we will it make clear that a £75 fine will be enforced on anyone littering our streets with used gum. Lewisham residents care about our streets and I am confident that they will support our efforts to keep them gum free.”
The campaign will be launched at Lewisham Shopping Centre on Saturday 10 March at 11am.
