Councillor Newsletter - October 2021
Cllrs James McAsh, Victoria Olisa and Charlie Smith
This is one of our regular newsletters. They are posted online and emailed out to Labour Party members and anyone who signs up here.
Controversial planning application turned down
A developer wanted to build two private houses in the tiny courtyard between Bassano Street and Blackwater Street. One of the houses was poorly designed and would not have made a good home. The buildings would have blocked out the light and invaded the privacy of the current neighbours.
Residents fought back and we supported them. After months of back-and-forth, we won! The application was rejected.
Leisure services back in-house
The council has announced its plans to bring the management of its eight leisure centres in-house when the current contract with our leisure provider, Everyone Active, expires in June 2023. We hope that this exciting move will improve the quality of leisure services for residents and allow us to keep the facilities affordable, whilst maintaining our much-loved free swim and gym offer. The council will work with Everyone Active to transfer existing staff across to the in-house service. This move follows the decision made in 2018 to bring the council’s repair service in-house and confirms Southwark’s intention to bring services back in-house wherever possible.
Southwark Youth Parliament
The newly-appointed Youth Parliament met for the first time in September to discuss their chosen priorities of Black Lives Matter, knife crime and mental health. The Youth Parliament was elected earlier in the Summer and includes a Youth Leader, Deputy Youth Leader and representatives from the different schools and geographical areas in the borough, all between the ages of 14 and 19. The Parliament will have oversight of Youth New Deal funding and they will use this to help design council services for young people. Big congratulations to all the elected representatives, especially Awele Benokwu our new Youth Leader and Dreaon McDonald Simms our new Deputy Youth Leader.
Afghanistan update
As the tumultuous Afghan crisis continues, the council is working hard to ensure that the borough is a welcoming place for Afghan refugees and they have all the support necessary when arriving in Southwark. Council teams are working with local partners to provide support to a number of refugees temporarily in hotels across the borough, including (but not limited to) mental health provision, English language lessons, co-ordinating school places for children and help registering with a GP. Alongside this the council is working on longer term plans to resettle Afghan refugees in Southwark permanently. Those wishing to help can look at Community Southwark’s local information page which has information on which charities in Southwark to donate to or volunteer with.
Climate Citizens’ Jury
This September the council will be sending out invites to 5,000 randomly selected addresses in the borough to apply to join our ‘Citizens’ Jury’ on the climate emergency, ensuring that residents are involved in the journey to Carbon Neutral by 2030. The Citizens’ Jury will become part of the council’s decision making processes and will meet to hear from climate change experts, share opinions, deliberate and challenge each other -- and ultimately reach a set of recommendations on how Southwark can best reach zero emissions. You can find out more information about the Citizens’ Jury here, and if you receive an invitation letter please do consider the opportunity to be part of this important process.
Wild flowers in Goose Green Park!
Just before the pandemic, we funded a project to grow wild flowers in Goose Green Park. Covid slowed us down but the area is now cleared and ready for bulbs.
By spring time, it'll be looking beautiful!
Councillor surgeries are back!
After a long break due to covid, our first surgery was the 23rd September at 7pm, at East Dulwich Community Centre on Darrell Road. From then on, every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month.
Supporting our local schools
Charlie and James visited Harris Primary Academy East Dulwich yesterday to see what it’s like on the street outside at the end of the school day.
It's clear that Southwark's School Streets programme is making a big difference but there's more to do to keep children safe at this busy time. Watch this space!
Labour Party Conference
James attended party conference as a delegate. He wrote a diary of his experiences which were published on LabourList. Read them here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.