Looks like it didn't stop the Space Hijackers enjoying their game.

When young people are asked they also don't seem to have been able to get the information they wanted.  They told us some of the way's they think we might help them get to know more and added to that there is the B-Inspired
website which lists all sorts of events for children and young people
taking place in Lewisham; the picture for example comes from the Stark Gallery on Lee High Road.

I Voted For You Because... - Tell them why you voted in the 2005 general election

I met one of the people behind this today, Mark Simpkins - also one of the people who put the manifestos up for a bit of annotation.  We talked about whether some of the ideas he's interested in could have an application with the council.  I think they can, but I need to persuade my colleagues, the bureacracy and the teckies that it'd be a good idea.

In the meantime if you want my reasons for voting Labour here they are.

3,798 more nurses and 1,382 more doctors caring for patients in South East London Strategic Health Authority.

140 more teachers helping children in Lewisham Local Education Authority.

3,433 more police officers fighting crime in Metropolitan Police Force than in 1997.

Unemployment is down by 51 per cent in Lewisham East and around 2,610 people have got jobs thanks to Labour's New Deal in Lewisham East since 1997.

In Lewisham East, the winter fuel allowance warmed the homes of 12,760 pensioners in February 2004.

In 1997 there was no child care guarantee for parents. Now 5,900 three and four year olds have taken up one of the free part-time nursery education places available in Lewisham Local Education Authority.

5:30 - Get up, so I can get to the polling station at Blackheath library for 7 o'clock.fficeffice" />

7:00 - 4 people cueing to vote all of whom seem friendly enough.  No tellers from the other parties, which isn't the advantage you might think.  My job is to ask people for their polling number as they leave and that isn't always as easy if the voter doesn't like the colour of your rosette.

8:00 - There is now a steady stream of voters, and I'm joined by Cynthia, a very nice Tory.  We swap campaign stories while continuing to collect polling numbers.  We get a cup of tea to keep out the rather biting cold and a chocolate biscuit. 

Lots of people don't understand why we collect the polling numbers, so we try and explain as best we can that its not for nefarious purposes.  What we're interested in is reducing our workload later in the day.  If we know you've voted and we think you're one of ours we won't then have to phone you or knock on your door to remind you to vote.

10:00 - James Cleverly comes round and we admit to occasionally reading each others blogs.

11:00 - Another Labour stalwart, Peter, arrives to take my place just as Cynthia hands over her rosette.

12:00 - Back at our election centre I'm given a bundle of leaflets and told to start knocking up.  Its an area I know well and all the people I run into wish us luck and tell me why they won't be voting for Michael Howard.

3:00 - I return to base for more supplies and a cup of tea.  We talk tactics and then I'm back out to try and turn out the vote.  At this point its quite difficult to know how things are going, but the campaign team appear confident.

6:00 - I am now into my fifteenth mile of the day and starting to feel it.  As I sit and munch a restorative apple I notice the bins where I am, Pagnall Street, aren't in pristine condition; mental note to see if I can get them some new bins.  Then back to the fray.

8:30 - one last trip back to the election centre. Were I try and slip out of the last round of knocking up, but somehow end up in a car going to Downham to try and prize those last few people out to vote.

10:00 - Its all finished, at least for me.  Unlike last time I've decided to give the count a miss and so I head home.  Where I’ll make something to eat and have a large glass of something cold.

Dear Councillor,

I appreciate that you will be very busy as the General Election approaches. However, I would like to bring to your attention the setting up of new campaign group which currently involves a small number of local people: the Campaign for Brockley Market. Although your ward may not be close to where we are, we would like all Lewisham councillors to be informed of our campaign.

Our belief is that Brockley is presently ill-served for buying fruit and vegetables, seafood and many household staples. We therefore wish to see a small street market set up in Brockley Cross, serving the needs of the local community at prices all can afford.

Our first goal is to begin carrying out door-to-door surveys of as many households as we can within a 600-yard radius of Brockley Cross, to find out exactly how much support there is for a local street market and what people would want from it. We have also prepared 3,000 leaflets which we will begin delivering this weekend to households in that area.

We have a campaign website at http://www.brockleymarket.net which sets forward our case in much more detail. We look forward to your interest and support in our campaign.

Yours sincerely

Ian Rawes
Campaign for Brockley Market

I’ve had a comment that I thought might be worth exploring further.  ffice:smarttags" />Lone Ranger has the following to say:

fficeffice" /> 

I see there is a planning application to replace the Thurston Road Industrial Estate with an 18 storey tower with retail and residential units. It looks extremely impressive and could be exactly what is needed in the area.

High density housing forms part of this and other developments in Lewisham. Apart from cost what's wrong with providing medium or low density housing in an urban environment?
An environmental statement (ES) forms part of the application. Apparently there will be 288 residential flats of which a proportion are described as 'affordable'. I'm sure the developers don't mean the rest will be unaffordable.

I'm curious to know if 'affordable housing' is one those phrases we all assume we understand but actually means nothing.

In the ES reference to those living in the lower floors would be subjected to higher than normal levels of traffic pollution. It will interesting to see if the 'affordable housing' is situated at those lower levels.

Considering the impact this development will have on "Lewisham Gateway" I'm surprised it wasn't included in the recent town centre exhibition. Maybe another public exhibiton would be useful or if the 'Lewisham Forums' still exist the developers could give a presentation?

For those not as up on planning applications in Lewisham as Lone Ranger, here is the outline I found via Google (pdf).  I’d point out that the application hasn’t as far as I can tell be put before a planning committee so may or may not get approval.

Lone Ranger asks whether there isn’t room for lower density housing than this application.  My impression is (and you’ll have to bear in mind I’ve never sat on a planning committee) that the density that the planners will accept depends on the site.  So you tend to get much lower density in (say) Grove Park than you do in Lewisham town centre.  But as Gavin Moore said last year:

“An assessment of borough households identified that we need an additional 2,790 affordable homes each year to meet the needs of residents particularly key workers and low-income families. At present the social rented housing is considered the tenure best suited to meeting this need.”

Which leads me to the other question that I’ll address is about whether there’s a common understanding of  affordable housing.  After a bit of a search I’ve found this:

the terms "affordable housing" or "affordable homes" are used in this Circular to encompass both low-cost market and subsidised housing (irrespective of tenure, ownership - whether exclusive or shared - or financial arrangements) that will be available to people who cannot afford to rent or buy houses generally available on the open market.

I’ll leave the question of how the affordable elements of the scheme will be delivered on the table as I’ve not seen any of the detailed plans and I’m sure these are the sorts of question that the planning committee will want to examine in detail.  As for any exhibition you can contact our planning department if you think that would be useful, or the developers of course.  Otherwise I’m sure the planning committee will be meeting in public when they look at the proposal and will consider any questions or objections that are made.