Labour's latest weekend out in Peckham Rye . . .

I've just come in from another weekend spent out in the ward, talking to residents in Peckham Rye, and what a great weekend it was. A total of 33 Labour members came out to help knock on doors and speak to people in Peckham Rye Ward about how they feel about the services they are recieving from the Lib Dem controlled council.

Labour activists were also collecting signatures for our petition calling on the council to meet their responsibility to bring social housing in the borough up to a "decent" standard. Under Government set standards the council is supposed to make sure their housing stock is “warm, weatherproof and [has] reasonably modern facilities” by 2010. The Lib Dems had promised to go further than the decent homes standard at the last local elections in Southwark. True to form, they now tell us that they have a £700 million hole in their maintenance budget.

Of the hundreds of residents we spoke to today, most were outraged at hearing about the funding crisis. We will make sure that these views are taken to the council so that the Lib Dems get an idea of how angry Peckham Rye residents are about this issue.

Fiona Colley and Claudia Reid out and about in Peckham Rye

Talking to residents about about the Lib Dems failure to provide decent homes in Southwark

Comments

Know Your Ryes!

A few weeks ago I was in a meeting with some local residents and council officers. During the meeting one person started referring to Rye Lane, when in fact they meant Peckham Rye East. Later on another started talking about Peckham Rye Common and it took us a little while to work out that they really meant Peckham Rye Park. You can't really blame people for getting a little confused. There are so many references to "Rye" in our little bit of South London that even the locals can get mixed up. So I thought I'd have a go at writing a little glossary of all the Ryes hereabout. Clearly I'm making a rod for my own back here, so please point out any errors I've made in the comments box below. Anyway, here are my definitions of the ubiquitous Ryes. Some serious, some not so serious, and in no particular order: Peckham Rye Ward - The council ward area. Peckham Rye Ward was created out of Rye Ward, Waverley Ward and Bellenden Ward following the Local

Lib Dems claim they're not in charge in Peckham Rye

(A tweet from the Peckham Rye Lib Dems) Peckham Rye Lib Dems are now claiming that Labour 'run' Peckham Rye (take a look above). When asked by a local resident "Am I right in thinking Lib Dems run Southwark but Labour run Peckham Rye?", a Peckham Rye Lib Dem candiate replied, "Yes you're right. For the next three months Lab run Peckham Rye. Then we take over..." Given that, just like every other area in Southwark, Peckham Rye is run by the Lib Dem-Tory Executive it seems this is just the latest in a string of attempts to mislead people into thinking they've got nothing to do with Southwark's failures. Of course, Peckham Rye does have three Labour councillors, who do a great job of representing our area and our concerns at the Town Hall. However this is very different from 'running' Peckham Rye. If only we could just opt out of the Lib Dem chaos! In truth, the policy levers and almost all the money spent by the council are under the cont

Another Bog Standard Update

Many local residents may well be wondering what is happening with the previously proposed development of the toilet block near the junction of Peckham Rye and East Dulwich Road. Before Renata, Victoria and I were even elected as councillors, this had become quite a lively issue. I recently asked officers at the council what is going on, because nothing appeared to be happening with the block. Well, since the last update, this is what has happened: 1. The last proposed tenant - a not-for-profit gallery offering outreach programmes to local schools and groups - dropped out of the process without having made the required planning application. 2. The property is now under offer to a new proposed tenant. They run a children's nursery and wish to expand. 3. They have already made a planning application for a change of use. 4. We are currently waiting for a formal decision from development control so that the lease can proceed. I'll update again here as soon as I have further news. Sp

Peckham Rye Labour

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