Agenda item

• Southwark Helping Hands   

• SHP Tenancy Support (Southwark and Lambeth)

• Grange Community First

• Youth Community Council

• Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent John Sutherland

This item was formerly item 9.

Complaints about licensed premises

The chair informed the meeting that several complaints had been made to councillors about licensed premises in the area. He advised residents that if they witnessed anti-social behaviour in the street, fighting, drinking, urinating etc. to report these to the Police at the time of the incident on:

999 – for serious incidents

101 – for minor or incidents that are likely to be of short duration.

Noise issues associated with the premises should be reported to the council’s noise service at the time of the incident on 020 7525 5777.

Residents were also advised to keep a diary or log of all instances and to call the appropriate service to ensure a complaint is logged. A response may be made on the night, however officers may follow up on calls at a later date where an immediate response cannot be made. This usually involved engaging with the premises to find a solution.

If the situation did not improve over time, residents were advised to apply for a review of the premises licence. The incident diaries and logged calls could be used as part of the evidence for the review.

Premises licence review forms were available online or from the licensing section. Licensing officers could offer residents guidance on the review process. Email:  licensing@southwark.gov.uk, Tel: 020 7525 2000

Southwark Helping Hands

Vera Keech told the meeting that the group had been founded in 1981, initially to allow disabled young people to experience more of the world. The group, which now also included some disabled adults, operated out of Wade Hall every Wednesday, put on events, arranged holidays abroad, and had recently organised a “mini-Olympics”. The group had 30 members and 14 volunteer helpers, and reflected the diversity of the area. It also trained volunteer helpers, but needed help with funding, because the young people’s contributions to the activities only went so far. 

Grange Community First

Bill Owen, from the Grange Community First board, informed the meeting that Community First was an England-wide programme, funded by the Office for Civil Society, on behalf of the Government. Grange ward had been successful in attracting some money from the Neighbourhood Match Fund, which was a £30m fund to encourage people to give time and expertise to local projects. The match-funding could be in in-kind donations - cash, services, free products or volunteer time. The aims of Grange Community First were, for example:

• facilitating the provision of complementary, additional activities for young people
• supporting developmental activity to develop a social identity for Grange Ward and to foster community cohesion within the ward
• enhancing the physical identity of the ward with a view to developing a sense of community ownership.

Community First grants ranged between £250 and £2500, and only one grant per year could be given to any one organisation. Projects were only allowed to last one year. All grants had to be matched in cash, or in kind (services or volunteer time).

For further information and to apply, go to  http://grangewardaward.blogspot.co.uk/ or email grangewardaward@gmail.com.

Councillor Mark Gettleson thanked Bill Owen for helping to set up this group.

Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Youth Community Council

Members from the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Youth Community Council informed the meeting that they were fielding applications for the Youth Restoration Fund. Issues they had recently also looked into were litter and cleaner streets. This had also included the members going to Southwark Park and helping with litter picking. For this, they had been rewarded with some fun activities, including driving a Mercedes for an hour. 

The chair thanked the members of the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Youth Community Council for attending. 

The chair informed the meeting that during the break, attendees had a opportunity to comment on the lists of anonymised projects which were displayed in the church, by way of sticking dots the lists. The result would help to inform the final allocations, which would be decided at the March meeting.