Minutes:
Busking consultation
John McHenry, markets and street trading manager, informed the meeting that the street trading team were currently conducting a consultation about introducing a busking licence for a designated area near the Millennium Bridge, and to ban any other busking and street entertainment activities from the OXO Tower to the east side of Southwark Bridge, and south of Southwark Street. The questions were around how many performers would be allowed, and at what times they would be allowed to engage in busking. A busking exclusion zone was also proposed. He explained that there was a list of over 1,000 addresses in Cathedrals ward, which would be written to and sent a consultation form, at the back of the hall. The report on the consultation would be presented at Licensing Committee, which would be making the final decision on the area and specifics.
Responding to questions from the floor, John said that the proposal was for pitches to be designated west of the Millennium Bridge, and for a registration fee to be charged. Enforcement action would be taken against unlicensed buskers. The council was working with Better Bankside on this. A registration fee of £35 had been floated, which would mirror the licence fee for temporary street traders. A balance would have to be struck between the interests of buskers, other street entertainers and residents, which is why the consultation was taking place.
Community Infrastructure Project List
The chair announced that ideas were still being sought to go on the community infrastructure project list (CIPL) for local publically accessible improvements that could be funded by Section 106 or the future local community infrastructure levy (CIL). Ideas could be sent to zayd.al-jawad@southwark.gov.uk. The updated CIPL would be coming to September’s community council for consideration.
Elephant and Castle shopping centre consultation
Kim Humphreys, Richard Chambers and Steve Burgin representing Delancey addressed the meeting and fed back about the recent listening exercise that had twice been conducted in the shopping centre with the aid of consultation forms. This questionnaire was also available online, and represented the beginning of the exercise. Steve explained that he was responsible for the operations of the shopping centre, and that he was currently dealing with some inherited issues. There were currently 71 tenancies in the centre. A large proportion of tenants had holding-over agreements, but these were in the process of being regularised. They would be given 18 to 24-month leases. A programme of fixing doors and escalators was also in progress. The six currently vacant units would soon be let. The shopping centre had 12 million visitors last year.
Responding to questions from councillors, they said that the consultation would include the Latin American businesses, both inside and outside the shopping centre. This would intensify as the process went on. The shopping centre was in favour of improving cycle facilities in the area, and would aim to provide “best in class” cycle facilities as part of the regeneration of the centre. Engagement with Southwark Cyclists would also be happening in the future. Responding to further questions, Richard said that the refurbishment of the centre would take time, and that they would engage with Transport for London (TfL). A planning application would not be submitted for some time. The toilets in the shopping centre would be refitted and paid special attention to in the future. Kim Humphreys explained that the first question on the questionnaire had been aimed at collating the opinions people had about the shopping centre and was an open question. The subsequent questions had been designed to be more easily quantifiable. Furthermore, the questionnaire had been draw up not to consult on any specific proposals but to flag up initial issues. All comments would be collated. The meeting heard that the questionnaire should have included the website and an email address.
Safer Neighbourhoods Team
Inspector Richard Barton informed the meeting that some of the ward teams were now on Twitter, and encouraged people to follow them. There was a lot of outreach work being conducted to reach less visible groups. The Chaucer ward team had made an arrest on the Rockingham Estate for possession with intent to supply, while his colleagues in Cathedrals ward were mostly dealing with office burglaries in which computers were targeted especially. He advised people to have clean desks in their offices. The Cathedrals team also patrolled Borough Market area, and tried to prevent thefts from pubs and cafés. Newington SNT were working with businesses along Walworth Road and targeting violence with injury to the person, as well as cutting down on shoplifting. As part of Operation Neptune, East Walworth SNT were targeting the resale of stolen smartphones. Faraday ward officers were mostly tackling robberies in Burgess Park around the Wells Grey underpass and the Old Kent Road. He went on to say that there was now a pilot in which people with mental health problems who have been arrested would either be assessed by a mental health professional straight away or receive a visit from the community mental health team the following day. This was a great improvement.
Responding to a question from the floor, Inspector Barton said that the pilot was taken up more and more by officers and that it had made a positive impact. Officers were picking up on developing situations more quickly, and were now able to recognise mental health conditions earlier and more often. He explained that when the police were using Twitter, this was outgoing only, and that any leads received via Twitter would be double-checked, and people sending them spoken to in person. There had always been a number of arrests where mental health problems had played a part, but now people were more aware of the problem.
The chair thanked the police for attending.
Healthwatch Southwark
Alvin Kinch, Healthwatch Southwark manager, explained that the organisation was part of a network of 150 similar bodies in the UK, which worked with councils and the health service to improve services. To this end, they were keen to speak to as many service users as possible. They conducted site visits to service providers, focusing on mental health services especially for young people - like the adolescent unit in Camberwell, which they would be visiting over the next few months. Volunteers could be trained to visit care services, but there were also other volunteering opportunities.
Responding to questions from the floor, Alvin explained that the funding for Healthwatch organisations came from central government via councils. She went on to explain that she was the Healthwatch representative on the clinical commissioning group, until the following week, and that she would discuss with the chair of the group who would represent Healthwatch in future. Currently, there were volunteers who had expressed an interest in being the representative and had been interviewed for that purpose, but in future this post may be elected. Alvin also explained that they had built up a relationship with the Southwark Deaf Forum, because its members had experienced problems with accessing health services. A report about this was presented to Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals.
Art in the Park
The meeting heard that this SE17-based art project for people 55+ was part-funded by the community council, and offered sessions every other Monday from 11am to 1pm at Inspire. Participants in the group told the meeting how much they enjoyed it.