Yep £50k of our money is being handed back for us to spend according to this Lewisham announcement made a few minutes ago:
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Mayor funds £50k per ward
The Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock, will be awarding £50k over the next two years to every ward in the borough to help deliver substantial improvements to local neighbourhoods.
Sir Steve Bullock, said: "More than anything, I want to create a fair and flexible fund with the potential to benefit all communities in all areas. I encourage everyone in Lewisham to make a difference by getting involved in their local assembly and help decide how this money can be spent."
The Mayor’s Fund, is in addition to the £10k each ward currently receives through the Localities Fund. It will be available to local assemblies over two years with £25k being made available in 2008/9 and a further £25k being made available in 2009/10. Should assemblies choose, these funds may be pooled to create a larger pot of money for delivery of a single or multiple projects.
Suggestions on how to spend the money can come from residents, local community groups or community organisations. However, all suggestions need to be presented through the relevant local assembly and must help deliver priorities they have helped to identify.
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Admin
Sydenham gets £50k of its money back
This is a real chance to make a difference. Surely we must have some great ideas for what we want to see improve in Sydenham.
Perhaps pick a problem and think of a possible solution.
It would be great if every one took 10 minutes ot just think of some ideas:
Here is my 10 minutes worth.
1. Using the empty shops in the high street for community activities to produce art which will then be used to decorate the empty windows. IT could be sculpture, painting, street art, photography etc.
2. What about a green roundabout at Cobbs corner?
3. What about using it as funding for shop owners to improve the shop fronts and signage with strict policing for what can be done to rectify the mistakes before when the original shop fronts were destroyed by a similar policy years ago. Base it on the model seen in Shoreditch where signage systems and shop fronts in wood are used to make them more in keeping with the building. Illuminated plastic signs are less environmentally friendly and more expensive than a normal sign anyway!
4. Having a recycling facility along the lines of 'feed the cows' in New Cross.
5. Removing and improving signage in the high street (please: NO MORE RECYCLE LEWISHAM BANNERS, we are in SYDENHAM anyway!!). There are so many signs you cant see the "400 quid a go" flower baskets that are hidden behind them every year. Why not stop the flowers for one year, use the saved money to sort out the signage, and THEN reintroduce them when you can actually see the damn things.
6. Use it as funding for a "Sorting Office Market".
7. Use it to improve the woefully neglected Home Park to increase play facilities for kids of all ages including adding an outside gym (about 5-10,000 pounds installed), basketball/5 aside court (these are from 7-30,000 pounds installed depending in spec), outside table tennis (about 1000 installed), new fencing, etc (Although I know this is Bellingham ward and it may also be up for funding via another initiative, but you can but try).
8. Install SOMEWHERE a bmx/skateboard park. There are posts complaining in about kids riding bikes on pavements. Lots of kids around here are BORED. Give them somewhere to have an outlet for their energies.
OK, I cheated. It took me 20 minutes!
Perhaps pick a problem and think of a possible solution.
It would be great if every one took 10 minutes ot just think of some ideas:
Here is my 10 minutes worth.
1. Using the empty shops in the high street for community activities to produce art which will then be used to decorate the empty windows. IT could be sculpture, painting, street art, photography etc.
2. What about a green roundabout at Cobbs corner?
3. What about using it as funding for shop owners to improve the shop fronts and signage with strict policing for what can be done to rectify the mistakes before when the original shop fronts were destroyed by a similar policy years ago. Base it on the model seen in Shoreditch where signage systems and shop fronts in wood are used to make them more in keeping with the building. Illuminated plastic signs are less environmentally friendly and more expensive than a normal sign anyway!
4. Having a recycling facility along the lines of 'feed the cows' in New Cross.
5. Removing and improving signage in the high street (please: NO MORE RECYCLE LEWISHAM BANNERS, we are in SYDENHAM anyway!!). There are so many signs you cant see the "400 quid a go" flower baskets that are hidden behind them every year. Why not stop the flowers for one year, use the saved money to sort out the signage, and THEN reintroduce them when you can actually see the damn things.
6. Use it as funding for a "Sorting Office Market".
7. Use it to improve the woefully neglected Home Park to increase play facilities for kids of all ages including adding an outside gym (about 5-10,000 pounds installed), basketball/5 aside court (these are from 7-30,000 pounds installed depending in spec), outside table tennis (about 1000 installed), new fencing, etc (Although I know this is Bellingham ward and it may also be up for funding via another initiative, but you can but try).
8. Install SOMEWHERE a bmx/skateboard park. There are posts complaining in about kids riding bikes on pavements. Lots of kids around here are BORED. Give them somewhere to have an outlet for their energies.
OK, I cheated. It took me 20 minutes!
7. Use it to improve the woefully neglected Home Park to increase play facilities for kids of all ages including adding an outside gym (about 5-10,000 pounds installed), basketball/5 aside court (these are from 7-30,000 pounds installed depending in spec), outside table tennis (about 1000 installed), new fencing, etc (Although I know this is Bellingham ward and it may also be up for funding via another initiative, but you can but try).
Hi Lee, im sure ive read something about proposed improvements for home park?
It may have been in Admins 'planning watch' post
Hi Lee, im sure ive read something about proposed improvements for home park?
It may have been in Admins 'planning watch' post
It would be great if we could generate some good ideas and submit them to Sir Steve Bullock - but its worth bearing in mind that we are talking about £25k in the first year and another £25k the following year, so projects that generate significant costs in later years would not be ideal. But there must surely be things that could be done to improve local parks that don't create additional running costs in later years but continue to create benefits in later years?
money
Lee, I agree with everything you have said, all worthy causes.
The skateboard park would be great. Apparently the area at the South Bank Centre used by skateboarders is under threat...so would be alternative for any kids who usually go there.
The skateboard park would be great. Apparently the area at the South Bank Centre used by skateboarders is under threat...so would be alternative for any kids who usually go there.
According to the Lewisham Council website, it is the assemblies who put forward proposals. I think that the next Sydenham assembly will be in December (correct me if I'm wrong) but I think this forum offers a good platform for people to develop some ideas in the meantime. And don't forget that Sydenham ward covers part of SE26 - some of us (myself included) live in other wards so we could propose ideas for them too.