Agenda item

·  The Council Assembly for May 2011 will have a Sport and Young People theme.

·  The launch of this year’s Community Council Fund.

·  Olympic Legacy Capital Funding – closing date 29 April 2011

·  Canada Water AAP and Residential Design Standards – consultation.

Presentations

·  Cafe Gallery Projects – children and parks

·  Russia Docks Woodland – biodiversity in the area

Themed Council Assembly meetings

The chair announced that the next themed debate at council assembly would be in July, and would be about sport and young people. The date of the meeting was yet to be confirmed. The themed debate would provide an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions, via deputations, public questions or petitions. To allow councillors to receive feedback and views from the community, residents and young people officers would be holding meetings with young people, debates at community councils and various community forums events to discuss the issues. The chair encouraged residents to keep an eye on the website for further information at www.southwark.gov.uk/democracy

Launch of this year’s Community Council Fund (CCF)

Gill Kelly, Community Council Development Officer, fed back that the application process for this year’s Community Council Fund was now open. £100 to £1000 per application could be applied for. The funding was for non-capital, and non-salary projects, such as events and fun days. Gill explained that the grants would have to be spent by 31 March 2012, and that the closing date for applications was 16 May 2011.

A resident asked about a Cleaner Greener Safer (CGS) project which had been granted in March 2010, but had not been delivered yet. Councillor Livingstone explained that unlike Community Council Fund grants, CGS allocations could be carried over to another financial year. The CGS team were working on the backlog of projects. No new CGS allocations were going to be made this year, but there were plans to reinstate the programme from 2012-2013, with new bids invited from late 2011.

Councillors asked for the CCF launch date to be looked into, as some residents’ groups had lost out on funding for their St George’s Day celebrations, because the fund was usually launched too late in the year. Cllr Livingstone responded that this would be looked into and informed the meeting that a belated St George’s Day celebration was going to take place at Ilderton Primary School on Saturday 30 April 2011.

The Chair informed the meeting that the application period for capital projects under the Olympic Legacy Capital funding closed on 29 April 2011. Councillor Livingstone added that the target was to create £2m worth of legacy projects throughout the borough.

Canada Water Area Action Plan (AAP) and Residential Design Standards planning guidance

Tim Cutts, from the Planning Policy Team, informed the meeting that his team were currently consulting on two further changes to the Canada Water Area Action Plan (AAP): the introduction of minimum sizes for new homes, and the designation of three nature conservation sites (King’s Stairs Gardens, Durand's Wharf and Deal Porters Walk). The council was also consulting on an update to the Residential Design Standards planning guidance which also included an increase in the minimum size of new homes. Both consultations ran until 2 June 2011. He encouraged people to give their view via the Southwark website, or on one of the paper forms he had brought along.

In response to a question from the floor, Tim explained that the AAP included a core area which consisted of the town centre, and a wider area whose western border was the west side of King’s Stairs Gardens and Southwark Park. The AAP area also included the River frontage from King’s Stairs Gardens to the border with Lewisham. Projects from the Section 106 Project Bank had been included in the AAP.

Concerns were raised that nature conservation sites already in existence were not enforced: some developers had received retrospective planning permission, and were encroaching on protected sites. A green link and 175 trees had been lost in Deal Porters Way. Councillor Noblet said that he would raise this issue with Gary Rice, Head of Development Control, especially with regards to the retrospective planning permission.

In answer to questions from the floor, Tim explained that the proposed minimum home sizes were similar to the Parker Morris Standards, and to those stipulated in the London plan, and therefore bigger than the ones currently being built. However, these new standards could not be applied to outstanding planning applications which have been lodged before the new standards would be agreed. The council had originally proposed to add the minimum home sizes to its recently-adopted Core Strategy, but this had been rejected by the Planning Inspector.

Residents asked about the print works moving away from Harmworth Quays, and whether anything could be added to the AAP to prevent unsuitable, residential over-development of the area, which was to the detriment of local employment. Tim said that officers had had a meeting with the inspector and were waiting to hear back. A resident asked whether the planned relaxation of planning regulations regarding  changes of use to residential use could impact on this site. Tim responded that that it could in theory, and that the council would give its views on this matter as part of the  government’s consultation which was ongoing until 30 June 2011.

The chair reminded people that encouraged people to give their views as part of the consultation on the Canada Water Area Action Plan and Residential Design Standards planning guidance.

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Democracy Commission

Councillor Noblet informed the meeting about the work of the council’s Democracy Commission which was presently looking at possible changes to community councils in the light of the £344,000 cuts which needed to be made in 2012/2013. The commission was looking at several options to achieve this including: changing the community council boundaries, changing the powers community council have and frequency of meetings, and how the meetings are structured. The commission was going to present its findings and recommendations to cabinet in January 2012. He encouraged residents to feed in their views via their ward councillors.

Cafe and art activities in Southwark Park

Bridget Virden, from Cafe Gallery Projects, informed the meeting about the learning projects she manages in the gallery and in their Dilston Grove location: family learning and allotment clubs, knitting, sewing, printing, drawing and dancing. These activities were low costs and there was no fee for joining.  The sessions attracted about 18-20 participants which was also helped by the fact that the park was a safe and well-maintained space. There were summer workshops for young people during school holidays which aimed at building their self-esteem. The project had received funding from the community council and Bridget thanked the meeting for this. The organisation would hold a fête at the Dilston Grove premises on 7 July 2011. 

Marigold, from the London Bubble Theatre, informed the meeting about their production ‘Blackbirds’, which was the culminating performance of their year-long ‘Grandchildren of the Blitz’ project; a project that had focused on building up the wartime heritage of the area through setting up interviews between young people and elders in Rotherhithe, Bermondsey and Deptford. The performance would take place in Dilston Grove in Southwark Park from 9 May to 15 May. 

There were three other major events happening in Southwark Park: Meditation in the Park on 8 May 2011, Photography in the Park on 26 June 2011, and Art in the Park on 9 2011 October – all events were free and all were welcome.

The meeting heard that the park had improved, for example receiving the Mayor’s safer parks award and a further blue flag award.