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Housing Repairs Day: 16 October One of the biggest complaints a ward councillor gets is about repairs: missed appointments and shoddy workmanship. Lewisham Homes has now arranged a Stakeholders day on 16 October 2007  which will bring together Residents, Councillors, Board Members, along with the Staff from Building Services, and Lewisham Homes to look at the repairs service currently provided and "develop a full understanding of the service needs of Residents in the future". Following on from they will be developing the  Residents Repairs forum to include 4 groups Responsive Repairs Voids Gas Planned and Capital Works The purpose of these groups will be to investigate the service and look at how it matches the needs of Residents. Residents in the groups will test the service from Call Point to Building Services, and they will physically visit voids and homes to see the work being carried out.  They will then feedback to their group on what they found, and will work with the Council to design what we all want the service to provide setting a delivery plan to achieve the desired outcomes.  Only by doing this will we all have (may be) confidence in the service  provided. As a ward councillor, I would comment that it does seem a bit late to be doing all this, when these problems have been going on for years, but it does seem a step in the right direction.  Unfortunately, I can't get to the stakeholders' day on Tuesday, work calls but I would encourage others to take part and would be interested to hear how it goes as a resident I have had my own bad experience with the repair service.  For more information contact Richard Cordery Head of Responsive Repairs Lewisham Homes 333-335 Baring Road, Grove Park, London, SE12 0DZ T: 07710 378 780    E: richard.cordery@lewisham.gov.uk www.lewisham.gov.uk/lewishamhomes

21.10.07 19:31 Permalink / 5 Comments / comment

Public Meeting on Lewisham Central Locality Fund: Wed 24 October   Andrew and my self  will be holding a public meeting at 7.30pm on Wednesday 24th October to discuss how to spend the £10,000 Locality Fund allocated to Lewisham Central Ward.  This will be at the Methodist Church on Albion Way. You never know Cllr Edward Mark might show up as well. In the meantime, please keep sending ideas for spending the money Andrew and me.

21.10.07 19:29 Permalink / comment

Lewisham Station   At long last improvements are about to be made to Lewisham station to make it more accessible for disable people. Four new lifts will be installed to provide a link from the platforms to the subways and station entrance. They will include closed circuit television (CCTV) and communication links. At the same time the staircases and station entrance will also be improved. British Transport Police also now have their office in the old ticket office Contractor, Geoffrey Osborne Limited, is now on site conducting preparation work but construction work will start in the coming weeks. While this work takes place, an area just outside the station entrance will be closed to road vehicles, although pedestrian access will be available at all times. Also, the subway between the Docklands Light Railway station and platforms 1 and 4 will be closed. The other subway will remain open throughout the project and during peak hours. The path from platform 4 will also be open. There may be a short period at the beginning of November when this path is closed for resurfacing but this will be a short-term measure. Also, two sets of emergency escape stairs will be installed at platform 1 and at platform 4. However, these stairs will only be accessible in the case of an emergency. The work will last around eight months and this may mean getting around the station is less convenient during this time. Passengers may wish to allow a few extra minutes to get from the station entrance to their platform

21.10.07 19:27 Permalink / 1 Comment / comment

Holiday In Sunny Scotland Just had a weeks holiday in sunny Scotland. It was absolutely great. Just me on my own in a caravan for a week. I went to a place called Saltcoat in Ayrshire. I travelled up on Saturday the first train on the 1st September. Leaving Euston at 06:19 and arriving in Glasgow at11:50. I then took the 12:15 train from Glasgow to Saltcoat arriving there at 12:55. A 5 minuet taxi ride took me to the caravan site. Believe it or not I had a 8 birth caravan just for me. I didn’t do that much. When I arrived I unpacked and went for a walk down the town looking for shops. I got some shopping to last a couple of days after all it was only a small fridge. Got a takeaway and went back to the caravan with my best friend William Grant. Sunday I got up late went for a walk along the beach. All that fresh sea air made me feel hungry so off I went to the town looking for some where decent to eat. Went into a Weatherspoons and was waiting for 20 minuets no one came up to serve me so I walked out. I found a nice little restaurant down the road called Links.  I had this beautiful piece of steak potatoes and baby veg. Monday I got a taxi to a place called Androssan and got the ferry to the Isle of Arran. I sat on the top deck for the 1 hour crossing the sun was shinning what a life.    I visited the Heritage Museum, the Arran Aromatherapy centre where there make all kind of smellies and then on to the Arran Distilleries. A quick something to eat then off to catch the ferry back to the mainland. Tuesday spent on the site and down the beach. Wednesday back on the ferry over to Arran. This time a trip to Brodick Castle. At the table selling the tickets for the Castle was a man selling membership for the Scottish National Trust. Entrance to the Castle is £10, membership to the National Trust is £30 for the year. So I went to speak to him.  He comes from Lewisham and his brother lives in Lewisham Central. A walk around the Castle and grounds something to eat then back on the ferry. Thursday another day on the site and beach. Friday on the train back home to Deptford. My daughter who has just passed her driving test picked me up from Canada Water Underground Station.

12.9.07 16:49 Permalink / 1 Comment / comment

The Tower Don’t believe every thing you see on the BBC. The Tower filmed around Deptford and the Pepys Estate highlights the good and bad surrounding Arogan Tower the multi million pound redevelopment on the estate. Only the bad isn’t as bad as the BBC would have you believe. Yes there is drug taking yes there is alcoholism isn’t there in all built up areas. The BBC seem to have highlighted the worse. We are not all like that on the estate. The Beeb before filming approach normal people to take part in the program but unfortunately decided that the drug taking would make better television. The lease holders on the estate are now worried what impact the program will have when they try to sell their properties latter

12.8.07 20:51 Permalink / comment

The Wife My wife has just come out of hospital. She has just had her forth knee replacement. She has had two in the righ knee and has just had the second in the left. At the moment she is in a lot of pain and can't walk. When they operated they discovered that the bone in her left leg is soft. She is using a wheelchair, but I can’t push her because of my breathing problems.

16.7.07 20:32 Permalink / comment

I was born in Lewisham in the 1950's. We lived with my grandparents untill 1962 when we moved to Forest Hill. I lived there with my parents until I got married and moved to Pepys Estate Deptford. I'm not allowed to put political comments here so click on the link and hopefuly it will take you to another blog. http://daveedgerton.easyjournal.com Or my web site www.davidedgerton.mycouncill.org.uk

13.7.07 21:42 Permalink / comment

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