GREATER CONSIDERATION NEEDED FOR WILD ANIMALS IN THE CITY 

THE ANIMAL WELFARE CHARTER IN LEWISHAM will be reviewed to ensure a ‘new deal for animals’ said Lewisham Mayoral Candidate Councillor Alan Hall this week.

Cllr Alan Hall said that if selected as Labour candidate for Mayor he will campaign strongly on animal welfare: “We need a new deal for all living creatures and to ensure that we not only protect domestic pets and working animals but that we work out new schemes to enable wild creatures to prosper and thrive.

“The existing charter adopted in February 2017 is very good and the key to its success will be in the implementation.”

To make the animal welfare charter effective Cllr Alan Hall has said the Mayor and Council will:

•         Work closely with other organizations and individuals to implement active protection of existing wildlife sites and to try to establish new ones
•         Investigate how all council-owned land can be improved to be more wildlife-friendly
•         Actively promote through public campaigns the better care of the cats, dogs and all other domestic pets

“I’ve always believed that the happiness and pleasure that we get from pet animals and wildlife also means that council, residents and businesses all have a responsibility to work in partnership to care and look after all creatures.”

ENDS

Editors Notes:

Highlight provisions of the existing charter updated earlier this year includes:

 

·         Providing greater opportunities for children and young people to learn about looking after animals through a schools engagement programme

·         Ensuring greater knowledge of micro-chipping for domestic pets and horses through public engagement campaigns

·         Joint working with animal welfare organizations and housing providers to ensure greater responsibility in pet ownership and wildlife concern

The link to the existing animal welfare charter is here:

http://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s47798/Appendix%201%20Animal%20Welfare%20Charter.pdf

 

For more watch this video click here.

Council Inquiry Highlighted Delays in January this Year

Lewisham’s head of scrutiny Councillor Alan Hall is calling on the London Ambulance Service to respond to this week’s news that dangerous delays in emergency ambulance waiting times are continuing in London.

“This is very worrying news indeed” said Cllr Alan Hall, who called and chaired an inquiry into ambulance and waiting times in January this year. “The ambulance service told our inquiry of the many actions they were taking to tackle the crisis which we welcomed. The fact that the crisis is still continuing is the responsibility of the government must be firmly laid at the door of Jeremy Hunt and the Tory government.

“I share the concerns of the London Ambulance Service Patients’ Forum, which obtained the figures, that the delays are “totally appalling” and the health of patients is being put at risk.

”Ambulance staff do an amazing job under the circumstances and deserve the proper tools, resources and pay for them to provide a service to the people of Lewisham and London.”

According to the Patients’ Forum, some patients are spending in excess of two hours on trolleys in corridors or waiting areas, despite a 15-minute NHS target for them to be handed over. It also means London Ambulance Service crews, who wait alongside the patient, cannot respond to the next 999 call.

 

For more watch this video click here.

Unveiling of commemorative plaque in Clifton Rise New Cross on Sunday 13^th August 2017 on the 40th anniversary

After the unveiling of the plaque Councillor Alan Hall said:

“I was there on the day as an 11-year-old and was lucky not to have been caught up in it. My parents went on the march to oppose the National Front in Lewisham and I had been with them earlier but they sent me home. However, I secretly stayed because I wanted to see what was happening and saw police horses going up Lewisham High Street.

“The day was a turning point in opposing the alarming rise of the National Front and we owe a debt of gratitude to those who bravely opposed the violent thugs of the NF.

“We must continue to be vigilant against racism and fascism in all its forms as Lewisham’s strength today lies in its diversity and when we are always better when we stand united together.”

The plaque and unveiling was organised by Lewisham Council and Goldsmith’s College who have organised the series of anniversary events commemorating the march. These can be viewed here 

 

 

 

Lewisham Fire Cadets held their passing out parade on Thursday, 27th July at Lee Green Fire station.

As part of their ceremony cadets between the ages of 14 and 17 put on an impressive display by rushing out of a fire truck and rescuing some stranded people in the training tower. They put out the ‘fire’ with ladders and fire pumps.

The cadets have been awarded a BTEC Level 2 in Fire and Rescue Services in the Community and many received special awards for community service.

Councillor Alan Hall said: “I am particularly pleased as I asked the London Fire Brigade if they could establish a fire cadet unit in Lewisham which is now one of 16 units across London.

In the wake of the Grenfell Fire it is important to recognise the work of the London Fire Brigade and all our emergency services.

“The cadets receive a qualification and valuable skills for life and these young people are a credit to their families, our borough and the London Fire Brigade. It really does make you proud.”

Thanks to @heidi_mp, @cllralanhall & @LewishamCouncil for your funding & support of @LFBFireCadets in #Lewisham. We can't do it without you! pic.twitter.com/dlkqDDHj2S

— 🚒 LFB Fire Cadets 🚒 (@LFBFireCadets) July 28, 2017

 

 

The Labour Party’s acclaimed manifesto “For the Many not the Few” contained the pledge to end the closure of Crown Post Office branches and reverse Royal Mail privatisation. The Financial Times published a useful summary here. 

Over many months I have been campaigning for a joined up approach to Crown Post Office closures in Lewisham.

Councillor Alan Hall gives update on very successful morning collecting letters to send to the Minister defending Sydenham Crown Post Office pic.twitter.com/H28XiERpaM

— Mole Meade CWU (@MoleMeade) July 15, 2017

 

A motion agreed by the full Council opposed the closure of New Cross Crown Post Office in February 2017 and stated that closures would lead to the loss of over 400 job nationwide, and they follow the announcement of 62 planned closures in 2016. It went on to say that independent research shows that franchised Post Offices offer poorer disabled access, longer queuing times, worse customer service and fewer staff, often on minimum wage.

In the political debate there was no reference to Sydenham Crown Post Office and the fact that it was under threat too.

I raised this with the Chair of the Sustainable Communities Select Committee, Councillor Liam Curran and this was discussed at the committee and the members resolved to oppose the closure of Sydenham Crown Post Office too.  The Committee agreed:

•  The Mayor write to the government minister responsible and the Chief
  Executive of the Post Office about the potential loss of Sydenham Crown
  Post Office
•  Officers be tasked with investigating how lease arrangements might be
  negotiated to retain the Crown Post Office in Sydenham
• The Council requests further information from the Post Office about its
  strategy to preserve the full range of Post Office services for Lewisham
  residents.

I felt that important to have a joined up approach across the London Borough of Lewisham and the Council now has a consistent position to oppose Crown Post Office closures.

The response to the Sustainable Development Committee is that the Post Office occupy the ground floor of 44 Sydenham Road, currently holding over on the terms of their existing lease which expired in June 2015. Officers in the Regeneration and Place Division are currently in negotiations with the Post Office to renew this lease. Any major changes away from the terms of existing lease, in particular proposals to restrict the use of the property (i.e. a requirement for use as only a Crown Post Office) would need
to be agreed with the Post Office.

I will pursue this with the Council and make sure that retention of the Crown Post Offices in New Cross and Sydenham are a priority for Lewisham Council.

Councillor Alan Hall said: “It is important that in Lewisham we try and apply the principles and policies in the Labour Party’s manifesto. I oppose the privatisation of the Royal Mail and this should be reversed. There should be an end to Crown Post Office closures. I will do everything I can to defend our postal services”

When Post Office officials reject a warm-hearted offer of cake by .@cllralanhall and campaigners to @SaveSydenhamPO Crown Post Office! pic.twitter.com/laqj9NNchb

— Cllr Liam Curran (@CllrCurran) May 23, 2017

On Friday, Councillor Alan Hall submitted his application to the Labour Party to seek the nomination to be the next Mayor of Lewisham he said:

I want to lead a Labour Council that works with residents, businesses, co-ops and trades unions to make far-reaching changes for a more co-operative, cohesive and ambitious community. A community where genuinely affordable housing and good education means that every single person has a better chance of building a good life for themselves and their family…

Irrespective of background…

Irrespective of class or race…

#HallTogetherNow #ChangeLewisham

My credentials.

My fellow Labour councillors have placed their trust in me every year over the past decade by voting for me as Lewisham Council’s Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee – the strategic part of the Council that challenges and scrutinises each of the significant decisions the Mayor, Cabinet and Council takes. 

This vote of confidence has enabled me to play a key role in the campaigns to Save Lewisham Hospital, to Keep Millwall Football Club in Lewisham and to expose the embarrassing lack of vital affordable and social housing in major developments in the borough such as New Bermondsey/Surrey Canal and Convoy’s Wharf.

As a board member of the Phoenix Community Housing Co-op, I was active in securing major community schemes including the restoration of the £4m lottery-funded Fellowship Inn project. I helped to save this historic building which was set to be sold off for flats. Next year it will re-open to serve its original purpose, when built in the 1920s, as a pub, theatre, cinema and community centre.

Phoenix is also currently building a 60-apartment ‘extra care’ complex to help older people stay in their local area. This also frees up much needed social housing. Phoenix was recently named London’s Best Landlord for Tenant Involvement in the Housing 24 Annual Awards (2017).

As the Executive Chair of Lewisham Labour Group, I forced the London Living Wage onto the Mayor and Cabinet’s agenda back in 2008 and, as a result, Lewisham became the first London Living Wage accredited council alongside Islington.

But, we cannot stop there. The campaign for a better Lewisham continues and as Mayor I will work with all businesses to ensure they pay staff the London Living Wage.

In my role as Chair of Scrutiny I persuaded my colleagues to change the Council’s constitution and make the Public Transport Liaison Committee a proper body of the council with all the relevant benefits and powers. As a result there has already been greater scrutiny and pressure on bus and train operators to address key issues such as poor services, working conditions and lack of investment.

Lewisham needs real change.

I am very proud of some of the things that we have achieved as a Labour borough which I have campaigned for shoulder-to-shoulder with my colleagues on the Council.

However, by the next election Lewisham will have had the same Mayor for 16 years and our citizens need and want fresh thinking. As Steve Bullock himself said when announcing that he was standing down: “After 16 years leading an organisation, it becomes hard to be the agent of change. Lewisham needs someone with a fresh approach, fresh ideas.”

For the past 10 years, the New Bermondsey/Surrey Canal Triangle site has been awaiting redevelopment but so far nothing has been built. The old Ladywell Swimming Baths site could have had hundreds – possibly a thousand – new homes, new shops and/or a new school but all we have is 20 temporary homes on a huge derelict site. In July I successfully moved a motion, backed by my colleagues, to reject a tower block planning application in Lewisham that had no social housing whatsoever. Requirements for social and affordable housing are being reduced and lost and must be restored.

Together, let’s get things changed. #HallTogetherNow

 

Councillor Alan Hall

 

To support Cllr Alan Hall please visit the crowdfunding site here