Agenda item

The cabinet member for leisure, parks and young people to present the theme for the meeting.

Councillor Portia Mwangangye, cabinet member for leisure, parks, and young people, presented the motion in the themed debate.

Councillor Rachel Bentley, the opposition spokesperson, responded to the motion and proposed Amendment A.

Following debate (Councillors Michael Situ, Bethan Roberts, Jane Salmon, Sunil Chopra, James McAsh, Victor Chamberlain, Evelyn Akoto, Reginald Popoola, Ian Wingfield, David Parton, Kieron Williams) Councillor Portia Mwangangye responded to the debate.

Amendment A was put to the vote and declared to be ­Lost.

The motion was put to the vote and declared to be Carried.

RESOLVED:

Creating healthy green and leisure spaces for the whole community

1.  Council Assembly believes:

a.   In order to create good lives for the whole community, we must ensure that our leisure spaces and green spaces are as healthy as they can be. This includes parks and green spaces, leisure centres and sports facilities, playgrounds, libraries and biodiversity corridors.

2.  Council Assembly agrees:

a.  That fourteen years of cuts to local government by Conservative and Liberal Democrat governments has made it harder for councils across the country to deliver high quality, healthy green and leisure spaces.

b.  That despite this context, Southwark’s Labour administration has excelled in delivering for our borough’s residents, establishing Labour as the only party able to deliver a greener and healthier Southwark, including:

  i.  The hugely successful in-sourcing of Southwark’s leisure centres, providing a Free Swim and Gym offer for all Southwark residents, opening Southwark’s first open-water swimming facility and decarbonising leisure centres across the borough.

  ii.  Achieving 30 Green Flag Awards including Burgess Park, Peckham Rye Park and Warwick Park on Rye Lane, the opening of a brand new park at Elephant Park and completing Southwark Labour’s manifesto commitment to be the first inner London borough to have over 100,000 trees.

  iii.  Expanding Southwark’s network of community gardens, with 21 community gardens and over 250 growing plots established since 2021 and adopting Incredible Edible’s Right to Grow.

  iv.  This administration’s investment in playgrounds, including the opening of the newly refurbished Ellen Brown Adventure Playground in South Bermondsey and Fredrick Playground in Newington.

  v.  The opening of two new libraries on the Aylesbury and Kingswood estates, despite austerity forcing councils to close local libraries across the country.

3.  Council Assembly also welcomes:

a.  Improvements made to our much-loved green spaces including Cossall Park, Burgess Park and Victory Park, refurbishments to 19 council-managed tennis courts across the borough and support provided for residents to set up community gardens across Southwark.

b.  Revamping sports facilities and expanding activities, including St Paul’s Sports Ground, Burgess Park Sports Centre and Southwark Park Sports and Athletics Centre, as well as £1.3 million paid or committed to local sports clubs and organisations.

c.  The £8 million upgrade of our leisure centres and £2 million spent on refurbishing our gyms, including cleaner facilities and upgraded changing rooms and the state of the art e-gyms at Peckham Pulse and Camberwell Green leisure centres.

d.  This administration’s continued work with residents and local councillors in Nunhead & Queen’s Road in making Nunhead Green and Brayards Community Garden thriving community spaces for all ages.

e.  The opening of health kiosks at Camberwell, Una Marson, Canada Water and Dulwich libraries, used by over 14,000 uses since they were installed.

f.  The raising of over £1 million for nature projects through the Community Investment Scheme and renewed focus on biodiversity following the recommendations of our Citizens’ Jury on Climate Change, with the £500,000 Southwark Biodiversity Fund.

4.  Council Assembly asks that Cabinet:

a.  Continue to deliver an ambitious programme of investing in and expanding our parks and green spaces, by bringing forward a new Green Spaces Plan to:

  i.  Deliver major improvements to our parks and green spaces across the borough, including Bramcote, Elephant, and Guy’s parks, and creating more parkland and Dr Harold Moody and Consort Parks in Rye Lane.

  ii.  Work with local people to create more opportunities to be involved in planting and establish an action plan for Right to Grow, mapping new opportunities for community gardens and potential growing spaces.

  iii.  Support Southwark’s thriving arts and culture sector through events held in parks across our borough.

  iv.  Continue to make our parks and green spaces safer by tackling crime and antisocial behaviour, strengthen community initiatives around safety in our parks and co designing plans to make our parks safe.

b.  Continues to invest in leisure and sports facilities and activities for children and young people across our borough, including:

  i.  Delivering a brand new, state of the art leisure centre at Canada Water in Rotherhithe.

  ii.  Improving outdoor gyms and sports facilities, so they enable more people to have better health and wellbeing and help to reduce health inequalities, including through major upgrades to Marlborough Gardens, Burgess Park and Brimmington Park sports centres.

  iii.  Continuing to deliver a free and low-cost holiday food and fun programme for the children who need it most, so every child can access positive activities and be well fed during school holidays.

  iv.  Provide high quality and targeted leisure provision to improve accessibility and improve health.

c.  Continues to deliver fantastic play facilities for our children and young people, including:

  i.  A major revamp of Alexis St Park.

  ii.  Upgrade playgrounds across the borough so wherever you live you have a local high quality, inclusive and fun playground, including:

  I.  Upgrading Peckham Rye Park Adventure Playground and Dulwich Village playground.

  II.  Upgrading playgrounds on our housing estates, including at the Kirby Estate, Rye Hill Estate and Bells & Lindley.

d.  Expands the fantastic offer in our libraries, including: 

  i.  New health kiosks, building on their success to date and finding new opportunities to open health kiosks in other local libraries in Southwark, seeking opportunities to use our library spaces to offer wellbeing services.

  ii.  Upgrades to Dulwich and Brandon libraries, a second Library of Things to help residents reduce bills on household tools and cut carbon emissions and investment in green space around Nunhead Library.

e.  Continue to deliver a community-led approach to boosting biodiversity, including:

  i.  Boosting biodiversity, including work at Moreton Gate nature garden?, Burgess Park habitat restoration? and Belair Wood meadow, and delivering on the recommendations of the Land Commission to deliver a network of biodiversity corridors.

  ii.  Ensuring neighbourhoods across the borough benefit from more tree canopy cover and working with local people to create more nature sites, woodlands and urban planting.