Peckham Rye Labour

I know I'm a bit late posting on this, but just wanted to mark the important news about the Ivy House Pub. Many congratulations to all the campaigners who succesfully fought to get the Pub (on Stuart Road) to be officially listed as a community asset.  Buildings listed as community assets can't be sold without first giving community groups the right to bid for them. Southwark's Labour council is the first council to list such an asset. I also know that that Cllr Claire Hickson (Cabinet Member for Communities and Economic Development) has been working on this with local residents...so a big thanks to her too. There is still a huge amount that needs to be done before the Pub's future is secured.  But this is a very positive step. For those that want more detail, beneath is the text from the press release put out by the council... ------------------------------- The Ivy House pub in Nunhead, a classic 1930s, wood-panelled building, recentl...

People with an interest in the development of a new One O'Clock Club on Peckham Rye Common (as a replacement for the current hut) maybe interested in the extract below from the minutes of our last full Council Assmbley meeting.  I asked our Labour Leader of the council for an update on delivering the new Club. "8. QUESTION TO THE LEADER FROM COUNCILLOR GAVIN EDWARDS Could the leader give an update on the work to deliver on Southwark Labour's administration commitment to turn plans for a new One O'Clock Club on Peckham Rye into a reality? RESPONSE A project team has been established to take forward the redevelopment of Peckham Rye One O'Clock Club, with a project manager allocated by the property team and representatives from children's services. An initial assessment has been carried out of options for the location of the proposed new building, with a further site visit for the project team scheduled for October 2012. The project is estimated to be complet...

I've blogged before about the work I do as Chair of one of Southwark's Scrutiny Sub-Committees.  In the past we've produced recommend-ations for changes relating to housing repairs, leaseholder charging and the large scale security works on the Four Squares Estate.  Local government scrutiny is not, I admit, a process which prompts great excitement in most people, but I think my committee has done a solid job of focussing in on people's concerns and finding real solutions.  This has been helped by the fact that Southwark's Labour Cabinet has been prepared to engage with the scrutiny process and actually implement new policies where we could show that they were needed. We've recently completed another report on the important issue of domestic violence and abuse.  This is a difficult issue to investigate, not least because the often hidden nature of this crime.  However, the sub-committee has now produced a report which we hope will improve how the council r...

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow (Saturday 1st September) it's time once again for the brilliant Peckham Rye Fête. More details are here . The fête is organised by volunteers from the Friends of Peckham Rye Park and is always a roaring success.  Come along and enjoy the wide variety of fun stalls and activities on offer.

One of the key commitments we gave before the May 2010 election was that Labour would cut waste at Southwark Council. Between 2002 and 2010, under the Liberal Democrats, the council had very weak political leadership which lead to large amounts of wasteful spending on things like consultants and high senior officer pay. Since Labour councillors have taken control there has been a new culture introduced at the council which prioritises front-line services and cuts wasteful spending. The report card below gives a summary of the reduction in waste that we have achieved so far...and we are determined to maintain these high standards.

Times are tough at the moment and lots of people are feeling the pinch. With this in mind, Labour Councillors in Southwark are focusing on making changes which will help people out. To give just two examples, we've introduced free, healthy school meals in all primary schools and just announced plans to build 1000 new homes to help deal with the desperate shortage of housing in the borough. We've managed to do this whilst the government is cutting 1/3 of of the funding your council gets from the government (whilst wealthier council's like Richmond have been protected ). Importantly, Labour has also prioritised keeping Council Tax down . We know that when people are struggling, the last thing they need is a hike in their council tax. But for some unknown reason, during these tough times, local Liberal Democrat councillors have decided to prioritise introducing more council meetings, paid for by an increase in Council Tax. They are campaigning for new Parish Counc...