Week one as Peckham Rye Councillors

Councillor allowances to be cut

Our first week as councillors has been a mix of developing some of the right links with inside the council bureaucracy and getting to grips with various issues that people need our help with.

On Monday we attended the AGM of Southwark Labour Group where we elected several of the positions within the Group (including the Leader and Deputy Leader) and made some important early decisions to show how this administration is going to differ to the last. Labour councillors delivered on our first manifesto pledge by agreeing a 10% cut in the Special Responsibility Allowances for councillors. Victoria, Renata and I are all proud that we are taking a lead on this issue.

On Tuesday we went into the council offices on Tooley Street to officially sign up as councillors and get our e-mail and contact details sorted out.

Casework is now coming in thick and fast. All three of us are having to learn quickly who to contact and how to get the best results for residents. Luckily we have the assistance of one or two more experienced Labour councillors to help out when we need some advice. We've also been signing up to the various training sessions that all new councillors need to go on: Southwark IT systems, safeguarding, casework management etc etc.

But as we said time and again during the campaign, we're determined not be couped up in the Town Hall as councillors. As often as possible we want to be out talking to people living in our area and finding out how we can improve things. Tomorrow we're going to Nunhead Cemetery open day (on the boundary of our ward). Nunhead Cemetery is an fascinating place, and we want to show our support for the work of the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery.

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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

Peckham Rye Playground Opens

Gavin and I were delighted to open the new playground on Peckham Rye this morning - and to test out the equipment! The opening marked a long year of campaigning to get the playground built after many years of delay. As locals and regular visitors to the Rye may know, the new playground has been in the pipeline for some time. To make matters worse, back in August 2010, the Tory-Lib Dem Government ‘clawed back’ most of the funding for the project, leaving its future in doubt. Following a lot of hard work we are really pleased that in the end we secured the funding and that the work has been completed - just in time for the school holidays. During the election last year we made a firm promise that we would get the playground sorted-out. Today has been brilliant because, despite Government cuts we have kept our promise and local children have another great area for play.

Peckham Rye Labour

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