The annual public meeting of the BJWP is going to be held on 11 February at 7.30 in Blackheath Halls.  I'll be chairing the meeting in the absence of Gavin Moore who has another engagement that he can't break.

The agenda of the meeting is as follows:

·       Introductionsfficeffice" />

·       Update on the management of the heath

·       Changes to the licensing arrangements under the Licensing Act 2003 and policing of anti-social behaviour in and around blackheath village.

·      Questions and Answers

Native bluebells are protected by the Wildlife
and Countryside Act 1981 against removal or picking the flowers.They are damaged
by walking on them whilst in leaf as the trampled leaves cannot make enough
nutrition to flower and restock the bulb for next year.So viewing from paths is
the best option.

Spanish bluebells are imported as indicated by
their name as a garden species. They are larger than the native and have a
slightly different arrangements of the flowers. They exist in Lewisham on many
of our railway embankments where they have migrated as garden escapees. They do
no harm except they can hybridise with the native variety and should never be
seen as a good thing to plant in wildlife areas and as an alternative to the
native species for the reasons above. The native bluebell is disappearing fast
as ancient woodlands are lost to development or farming. Better to manage the
native ones we have and keep the Spanish ones for the garden.

Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery is a mixture of
two types of land. Joined in 1948, Brockley Cemetery is currently quite wooded
but was once open land in the 1745 Roque's map. It is therefore not ancient
woodland and any bluebells are likely to be Spanish ones. The Ladywell Cemetery
side has less trees but shows up on the old maps as being called Brockley Wood.
I have not personally seen any  bluebells there but there could well be
some.

The cemetery is still open for public access
during the daytime and on the weekends and has good access paths.

It has been designated a Borough Grade 1 site
for nature conservation and some practical work has been carried out on site. A
longer term review of the management of grassland areas around the graves is
planned in the light of  management plan proposals however appreciation must be
recognised for those family and friends needing access to graves and the visual
impact of meadow areas.The grassland contains many wild flowers including the
rare pink Cuckoo flower which indicates that the grassland has not been
disturbed for many years. Both sites are also very good for invertebrates and
birds. A leaflet explaining the site is in production and may already be
available from Shirley Bishop . Contact her for direct line through 020 8314
6000.

I've received the following letter which I thought I should share here.

Dear Memberfficeffice" />

 

Junction of Hare and ffice:smarttags" />Billet Road and Mounts Pond Road

 

Some parents of children that attend All Saints Primary School in Blackheath Vale have asked if Lewisham Council could make the above junction safer.  This is as a result of a recent accident at this junction when a child pedestrian was seriously injured. There have been five accidents here in the last three years and three of them have involved pedestrians.

 

Vehicle and pedestrian counts have been carried out and a speed survey has also been undertaken.  This revealed that many vehicles exceeded 40mph through the junction.  We have no direct evidence, but suspect that misjudgement of the speeds of vehicles along Hare and Billet Road is a major contributory factor to accidents at this site.  For this reason we are proposing the following measures to reduce vehicle speeds and to increase pedestrian safety:-

 

The introduction of a flat topped hump where pedestrians cross Hare and Billet Road with a set of speed cushions in advance of this feature on both sides.

 

We are also currently consulting with our statutory consultees ie with the Bus Company and the emergency services in the hope that an agreed scheme can be implemented by the end of March.

 

Please find enclosed a plan that displays the scheme.  Additional street furniture and new kerbing will be kept to a minimum.

 

I trust that you will find this acceptable, please inform me of your views.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Paul Sharp

Traffic Planning and Design