I had a copy of a letter asking questions about what we were going to do with the Primary Pupil Referral Unit site at the bottom of ffice:smarttags" />Granville Park. (Pupil Referral Units are where excluded children are given education.)  Because of some changes in policy and a recognition that the site wasn't working as a PRU it has been unused for about a year.fficeffice" />

Previously this site has been used for adult education and it looks like that we will bring those services back to the site.  The good news is that there is likely to be substantial investment in bringing the buildings up to scratch, which should be very welcome.

It also means that adult education services will be closer to the centre of Lewisham and with the excellent public transport links we have there should be accessible to more residents.

We will need to make sure that the parking issues are addressed before going ahead, but the crucial thing is to make sure that the site is being used on a regular basis.

Understandably after the horrible events of last week in Madrid, and the "when not if" judgement of Sir John Stevens, we are looking to be sure that the local planning for an emergency is properly robust.

Along with a number of colleagues I was at a presentation on the work that has been undertaken about six months ago, and was impressed at that  stage at how integrated the planning was between the public services; the council, the police and the health service.

What we need to see is how things have progressed since then and to be sure that the resources are in place to deliver if called upon.

By coincidence at this week's Mayor and Cabinet meeting the Mayor agreed a >report (its page 186) which will allow Chief Executives from across the capital to draw on our resources if the need arises. We were told that there is a rota of Chief Executives who have the authority to take decisions on a regional level if there is a catastrophe. I understand that similar reports are being agreed across London, which makes sense.

On Thursday we launched the Green Map of the borough.  In essence it shows all the very local things that are being done to deliver sustainability across the borough.  The people who have been developing it at the Lewisham Environmental Trust and London 21 admit that the map isn’t comprehensive, and it will grow as more data becomes available, and I’m sure they would welcome any input that people might have.

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My role yesterday was to talk about global and local environmental responsibility, and what I tried to say was how difficult it is to see as an individual how our actions can have the sorts of global effects that we see in the papers and on the TV.  So how is it that my choices in the supermarket can be the cause of global warming, when I’m only one of millions?  How easy is it to not change my lifestyle when businesses and institutions don’t seem to be bothered, when I’ve grown up in a period of such abundance that it is difficult to contemplate resources running out. 

I went on to point out how much easier it was to see myself as someone who lived on a street and who has responsibilities to my neighbours; to not litter, to make sure I’m not causing too much light and noise pollution, to dispose of my waste in a sensible way.

So for me things like the Green Map are more valuable as a tool to engaging people around sustainability than some of the global campaigns that pressure groups run.  It allows people to see what is near them and how to get involved if you want to.

Speaking of something practical and useful that one might consider doing, this looks good and is pretty rock’n’roll.

There is a width restrictor missing in the pinch point on Lockmead Road which means that large vans and trucks are able to use the road.

It's one of those minor things that irritate people and should be relatively easy to fix (we'll see).

Due to the support of the Rev. David Gatliffe, Vicar of St. Margaret's CofE Church, the Project Management Team (the 3Es) will be opening an information centre shortly after Easter. This will be located in St Margaret's Visitor Centre, Brandram Road, SE13.

The Project Liaison Officer will be available on Tuesdays and Fridays between 0930 hrs and 1630 hrs to discuss the project plans and to answer questions. Enquiries will also be able to contact the Project Management Team during the other times. Please contact: Kate Nixon, Liaison Officer for the St. Matthew Academy, 3E's Project Office, Yarnton Way, Erith, Kent, DA18 4DW Tel: 020 8312 4967 Email: kate.nixon@3es.com

I've been reading one of those exchange of letter type debates, which in this case is between Anthony Giddens and David Marquand about whether Labour "deserves" a third term.

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Giddens takes the “yes” side and Marquand says he wants a hung parliament – and assumes that Labour and the Liberals will be able to do a deal, something they didn’t manage back in the late ‘70s. 

While I tend to be with Herbert Morrison in my definition of socialism (its what a Labour government does) the reason I mention the article, which is in Prospect, is because they both define their vision of social democracy.  I’m interested in this because I want the Labour Party to be thinking about why we seek to govern and to what purpose, and I’m not sure you can do that without thinking about political philosophy a bit.

Giddens says he sees social democracy as “solidarity, equality and protection of the vulnerable.”  Marquand recognises the importance of the first and last (but not the second which he says is “dodgy”) but says they are not what animate him.  Instead for him it is “human dignity, self-expression, self-respect, self-realisation, diversity, pluralism and, above all, tolerance.”

The debate is taken further in the current edition of Renewal where Neal Lawson and Dan Leighton use Marquand’s new book to make a case for challenging for what they see as the market based reforms that Tony Blair is pursuing in the public sector. 

In the end I’m more than enough of a party hack to prefer Gidden’s arguments, which while recognising the shortcomings of the government (and we can all write our own list here) see it as one which has “changed Britain for the better, and will accomplish still more in a third term [by turning] a Thatcherite society into a social democratic one.” 

For someone who is going to give up a lot of evenings and weekends from now until the general election trying to get people to vote Labour it makes more sense than Marquand’s claim that a third term would be a “disaster for British democracy, and therefore for social democracy as well.”

(As an aside, I would guess that if you were to put the two definitions of social democracy to Blairites they would go for the Marquand version; I might be wrong but who is going to tell me.)

I've spent this afternoon being part of the judging panel for this year's entries for the borough's Clean and Green school awards and the London Schools Environment Award.

There was a real mixture of things that schools had been doing, a lot around recycling but also amonst the better entries a recognition of the waste hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle - in that order).  It was really interesting to look at the difference that being in the competition made to the amount of waste that they produced and the tidyness of the school.

We will be making the awards - grand total of some £4,000 being given to schools - next week, and then I want to sit down with the officers and think about whether there might be even better ways of involving schools next year.