Agenda item

This is an opportunity for public questions to be addressed to the chair.

Residents or persons working in the borough may ask questions on any matter in relation to which the council has powers or duties.

Responses may be supplied in writing following the meeting.

The following public questions were put to the meeting:

1.  Why do street cleaners not use brooms and shovels; half the dirt remains on pavements?

2.  Residents run out of recycling and rubbish bags, and do not receive new ones despite telephoning to order them. (This was raised by several speakers.)

Councillor Darren Merrill, cabinet member for environment and the public realm gave an initial response: recycling bags should be delivered every two to three months. If this was not happening, he encouraged residents to contact the council to flag this up. He would also be looking into this issue. 

3.  A question about housing in the face of central government austerity, which was also submitted in writing:

In answer to another question from the floor regarding street cleaning in the area, Councillor Darren Merrill responded that in past years the council had managed to keep the number of street cleaners constant despite significant cuts to the council’s budget. This year some cuts in the numbers of cleaning operatives had to be made, but the council felt confident to be able to provide the same level of service with the smaller teams. This would be monitored closely. 

The following other questions were submitted in writing and accepted by the chair:

4.  “Every year around March, one can tell that budgets are coming to year end, because there’s a rash of new speed bumps being built. As a cyclist, I hate these because:

a.  They don’t slow traffic down, they just make it stop/start more and emit up to 60% more emissions (Transport Research Laboratory Report).

b.  They cause drivers to try to get past you between bumps and drive aggressively.

c.  They are uncomfortable to ride over at 20mph (the limit), especially with laden panniers.

d.  They damage vehicles and buildings.

When will speeding priorities change, focusing on: driver education/training, air quality and speed limit enforcement? Building speed bumps in cul-de-sacs (happening on my street) is utterly pointless.”

5.  “Elephant and Castle Development

a.  How much did Southwark Council sell the land for?

b.  How much did Southwark Council receive via Section 106?

c.  Out of all the houses being provided, how many are/will be council and what is the weekly/average rent of these council properties?

d.  How much has Southwark council sold the Aylesbury Estate for and to who?”

6.  “Parking within Burgess Park / First Place Nursery.

There is a current epidemic of parking enforcement within the car park where a specific bay is used to enforce parking fines. Based on my findings, this bay is firstly unmarked and everyone who parks there is fined, however those who contest do not pay, and those who don’t [contest], pay. Southwark parking has been making a large profit out of this and yet have done nothing to mark it to inform/make drivers aware of the restriction.  Based on the fact that we can now prove that this is a covert operation and unjust, I would like to see this enforcement discontinued and all drivers who have paid in the past to be given a refund for this. I would also like to be informed and evidence of the discontinuing of the enforcement and all those who have paid to be contacted.”

7.   “Walworth Place:

a.  On market days in particular we have vans parked up on both sides of the road and very often we have the occasional car in the middle of it all.

b.  Rubbish is always spilled out onto the road, every single day of the week. This is unacceptable. These are on-going issues. What is the council going to do to improve these issues.”

8.   “On the newly installed, galvanised steel trunking that runs parallel to the balconies on the underside at Comus House, Congreve Street, London SE17 1TG: Why is it that some of the trunking runs have no end caps at end of their runs? Designed to stop the ingress of foreign matter. Does not comply to IP3X or IP4X. IP index of protection.”

9.  “Could there be a multi-storey car park at Elephant Park to help support East Street market and the surrounding areas and also generate income for Southwark Council?”

10.  “Is it possible to build a multi-storey car park in the Heygate area (Elephant Park)? Such a scheme could generate income for Southwark council, as well as boost the mood of the community in Southwark.”

11.   “What is the annual sales of East Street?”

12.  “Who is the owner of the Town Hall?”

13.  “Why is it that Southwark residents are not able to enter new training/job career schemes, unless they are out of work and claiming benefits?”

14.  “What is being done to address the new housing bill being proposed?”