Southwark Council Assembly on January 25

Hello all. I'm community cohesion co-ordinator with Southwark Council and want to seek your views for our council assembly public debate on 'the environment' at Walworth Academy on January 25.

Councillors will be focusing on these four questions in particular:

How can we promote energy efficiency - not just in buildings owned by the council - but in all properties?

How can we further encourage people to recycle?

How can we encourage more sustainable travel, especially cycling and walking?

Given the huge reductions in the council’s budget this year and in the coming years, how can the council further protect the public realm, Southwark’s parks and green spaces by encouraging people to respect and care for their local environment?

Your thoughts on these four questions are very welcome. These will be documented by me and chanelled to all councillors in advance of their themed debate, so that they are well informed of 'the voice of the people' on the matters for debate.

You can post your responses here or email me: Michael.Cleere@southwark.gov.uk. I'm also very happy to speak by phone and gather your views that way. My direct line is 020 7525 5645.

Unfortunately, our time frame is short at this stage and we would need to have your views by Wednesday 18 January at the latest. Your comments need not be very detailed. A few summary statements that capture your thoughts will be fine.

Useful links
Please follow these links for more detailed information on the purpose and format of council assembly, as well as some further background information:

Democracy in Southwark: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/democracy

How council assembly works: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/10058/about_southwark_council/445/how_decisions_are_made/2

Asking a public question: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/10058/about_southwark_council/353/ask_a_question

Taking a deputation: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/10058/about_southwark_council/354/taking_a_deputation

Deputations are limited to three per assembly and we're currently over subscribed for January 25.

January 25 assembly: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200348/democracy_commission/2256/next_assembly

Recent assemblies: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200348/democracy_commission/2255/council_assembly_past_themes

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email or telephone and I will do all I can to help.

Community Cohesion Co-ordinator wrote:

Given the huge reductions in the council’s budget this year and in the coming years, how can the council further protect the public realm....

By shedding Community Cohesion Co-ordination and other nanny-state non-jobs.

While in no way wanting to shield the council from criticism, I would like council officers and other public officials to feel that they will get polite and useful responses when they post on this forum to seek people's views.

James Hatts wrote:

While in no way wanting to shield the council from criticism, I would like council officers and other public officials to feel that they will get polite and useful responses when they post on this forum to seek people's views.

It's your forum, so you can re-define the term "forum" to "requests for information" as you please, but there's nothing impolite about what I said; astringent maybe, but that's ok in my less genteel habitat. I'm used to the exquisite sensitivities of the soft-left in Britain and quite enjoy poking them, but I'll leave it there. Have a nice day!

I quite deliberately didn't say that your post was out of order or unacceptable, but I did receive a complaint about it which I felt merited a public intervention to encourage a friendlier tone to the thread.

Forum regulars are accustomed to your style and your general political views. I suspect the complainant was not so familiar.

Michael has posted here under his own name, made his council role clear and has written in a friendly, conversational way - which is exactly what I would want to encourage - rather than hiding behind a corporate account and copying-and-pasting a press release.

Just because someone is representing a public authority doesn't mean that they shouldn't be extended the same courtesy as any other first-time poster on the forum.

Anyway - enough of this. Does anyone have any responses to the questions Michael posed in his original message?

Yes, anonymity is a curse on public forums.

To question 3: Ban cars, buses and trucks from Southwark. Far more positives than negatives. Legs, rickshaws, bikes and boats are more practical in Inner London.

@james: is it possible to add 'like' buttons to the forum? would save me a lot of typing :)

here's a few off top o my head (we'll be sending in a few 'official' responses soon)

1. with immeidate start, set up car free day once a month for three months. after the initial three-moth period introduce car free sundays every week. three months later: introduce car free weekends etc.

2. pedestrianise large parts of southwark (non-tfl roads) for pedestrian/cycle use only.

3. simplify public space management so that residents wishing to engage in food growing/gardening/management of any one space (park/green and amenity areas around council housing) can do so without wasting years of their time going through council funding and other hoops; minimise the council management of cleaner greener safer projects as they are costly, not-terribly-efficient and time consuming

4. produce a clear, egalitarian community asset transfer policy so that management of buildings, including housing stock, can be made easier to access to local residents/communities

5. establish food recycling facilities in the whole of southwark

@pros: thanks for these thoughts. This is exactly what we're looking for. vox populi

Maybe simplistic but,offices that leave lights on all night are a bit of a bugbearer for me,I work in an office that has perimeter sensors so during the night only the perimeter lights come on maintaining the required effect.

pros wrote:

1. with immeidate start, set up car free day once a month for three months. after the initial three-moth period introduce car free sundays every week. three months later: introduce car free weekends etc.

Ridiculous! I barely use my car, but when I do need to use it, I need to use it at the weekends (I'm at work the rest of the week).

However, encouraging more sustainable travel needs to start in the schools. On my trip to work in the mornings, I could easily take the no. 78 from Grange Road to OKR to switch onto the no. 53 but I don't, I walk. Unlike a lot of schoolgirls doing the reverse journey - from OKR to Grange Road, ON THE BUS. I'm sure that more people would switch from car to bus if their morning bus ride wasn't such a nightmare because the bus is rammed with schoolkids. And with fewer cars on the road, more people would cycle.