East Dulwich Needs You! Looking for proactive & talented people to join a community initiative

[Alan Medic]

Down with this sort of thing. If the High Street needs anything, it's decent pavements. Flapping heck.

[nxjen]

AFAIR when the Glazer Delmar sign appeared at the end of North Cross Road, JB was outraged it had been put up without planning permission. Now it is intended to put up 35 banners from lamp-posts - 35 - which JB appears to support. Surely these would need planning permission? My criticisms are that, as someone has pointed out, these banners can look very tacky in a very short space of time and that this is a business led initiative that will benefit only the businesses while the residents have them imposed on them without any discussion.

I see there is one resident on the "steering group" but as they are part of the initiative they are clearly in favour when in fact many of the residents may not be so may not be representative.

[Earl Aelfheah]

How about some bunting strung over Northcross Road. That'd be nice.

[Scruffy Mummy]

I have absolutely nothing to do with this initiative but well done to all who are involved. It's not easy to try and do something to improve our local area. I wonder how many people criticising here actually get up off their back sides and do anything locally at all which might improve the area? I've been involved as a fundraiser for charities and as a volunteer for causes dear to my heart. So I do know something about how these funding programmes are structured.

There are many, many small pots of money for very specific initiatives. Often they are government initiatives that are then delegated to local councils - this is what this pot of funding appears to be although I'm not an expert. Relatively small grants like this are for ideas and initiatives that provide 'additionality' - they are not meant to replace core and essential funding.

I also want to give a shout out to local businesses who also support local community groups and schools - many local businesses give raffle prizes to local school PTA's so they can raise funding for our kids, provide support for great local charities like Dog Kennel Hill Adventure Playground (love their recent crowdfunding campaign!) and sponsor local events (e.g. Property in Dulwich support Arts Week events and many local estate agents sponsor school fairs). Why begrudge a group of local business owners who put in a bid to a fund that is specifically designed and aimed at for local high streets developing awareness and pride in their area????

[Alan Medic]

a) What's wrong with our local area that needs to be improved (apart from pavements of course)?

b) How will flags on lamposts help this?

[Blah Blah]

Actually scruffy mummy, many of us do lead community initiatives that genuinely benefit the community. Spending 21k on street furniture to promote shops when funding on much need front line services has been cut is questionable. That 21k btw comes from our taxes. If traders want advertising, they can pay for it themselves out of their own business costs.

[taper]

21k is an irrelevance to front line services. Do you object to the Council planting bulbs in local parks? Or should that go into the social services budget.

[AbDabs]

Bulbs in parks are nice and make people happy. Banners on lamp posts just declare there's a problem that someone is throwing money at. I'd be much happier if the money was spent making the high street safe for everyone to use. So my vote ( if there was one) would be to spend the money on repairing the pavements. I don't mind if the new slabs were stamped with "ED High Street Challenge" if that makes the organisers happy.

[TE44]

http://www.2.southwark.gov.uk/info/100002/business/3381/the_high_street_challenge/2

Link to projects funded through this scheme.

I don't know how much altogether Southwark council

Has spent. The 3 c's in Peckham I would see as

A front line service.

[Green Goose]

OK, here's a positive, creative and quick use for the money.

Use it to dress-up vacant shops that give a negative impression ie make a mock-shop. Take for example to one next to William Roses'.

If these eyesores are eliminated then that would be of benefit . Have alook here...

http://www.britishbids.info/wp-content/uploads/PressCutting_Bournemouth_7Aug15.pdf

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255162/Fake-shopfronts-built-improve-look-recession-hit-high-streets.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2407935/High-Street-brought-life-art-Boarded-shops-recession-hit-town-painted-look-like-theyre-business.html

[rendelharris]

Do they do an Iceland one?

[Angelina]

I'm a bit shocked at Dan Rigby's "got what I want now shut up y'all" attitude.

[Nigello]

Pavement fixing good, lamppost banners not so good. (They'll be more, unnecessary street junk and will fade/decompose/break and nobody will fix them.)

[James Barber]

This is great initiative and the first grant after 5 rounds of such funding to help East Dulwich.

Hi green Goose,

we've used CGS (capital) and some neighbourhood Funding (revenue) to dress local shops but it is really hard to get landlords agreement. Can you help us progress this further please?

Hi blah blah,

Social services is revenue funding. The High Street challenge is capital funding.

The 40% cut from central government grant has been really painful. The increase in new homes has significantly received the impact - the new homes tend to be left empty attracting 150% council tax or lived in by people not using council services. The changes of rules so business rate (National Non Domestic Rates) being kept by councils has helped and will increasingly helping. The new homes grant to bride councils to let almost any planning permission through for new homes has also helped. The centralisation of 40 offices into one at Tooley Street was a huge benefit in 2008 still making a big difference in reducing revenue costs. Fees have been increased for services above inflation. Last yea 2% surcharge for social services and this coming year 4.99% increase in council tax/further surcharge.

So yes the council has coped with over a dozen years of real-terms cuts in government grants.

Fixing Lordship Lane pavements. We have some limited devolved highway repair budget each year.

Rosie and I have reported various ponding issues which are we've been assured being looking at for repairs.

One larger area hasn't had agreement from all the landlords and without all agreeing this larger pavement renewal can't proceed.

[TheArtfulDogger]

Angelina Wrote:

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> I'm a bit shocked at Dan Rigby's "got what I want

> now shut up y'all" attitude.

I don't think that was what Dan was saying Angelina, I believe he was saying that he raised a request for volunteers and was now bowing out of the thread.... in my opinion more than likely a result of all the negative posts about why there is a community grant to make improvements in the area.

over the last few years the council has cut services due to tightening budgets and in my honest opinion there are some areas of the council that needed it as they weren't efficient but that's my personal view of local authorities, however the funding for community projects normally gets passed on from the government and in the case of business improvements it can be in the form grants that is often taken out of the business rates income to central government (none of which is available directly to the local authority as they act as collectors only for Central Government). I am not sure if that is the case here.

By promoting local shopping areas, they remain viable and don't become shopping centres of death (lots of empty shops and charity shops) which has the negative effect of making people shop elsewhere, reducing local jobs and dragging the area down resulting in property prices tumbling and people moving away. It's a complicated symbiotic relationship between a well maintained shopping area and a vibrant local community.

a lot of good ideas have been presented here (yes better pavements are one) and maybe as a result of the community grant pressure can be put on the council to do their job and repair the pavement as they have a budget for that sort of thing and it shouldn't come out of community grants.

Rather that bemoaning the scheme, why not email Dan with positive ideas to improve the area which the committee can review and where possible implement, and where it is a council service ensure that the council is delivering it.

The link earlier to BIDS (Business Improvement Districts) is a good one as it allows high streets to supplement council services but not replace them so that may be a consideration for Dan and the committee to look into later on but for now lets celebrate the good shopping area we have in East Dulwich rather than put it down and watch it decline.

[Villager]

How about looking at shops that have been vacant for quite some time and use some of the money to part subsidise an incoming tennant for a period of say a year or so? That would help ease cash flow problems whilst the business is getting started.

I certainly think it would work better than changing lamposts and hanging up banners.

[Angelina]

I do hear you, but there are a number of good suggestions on the forum - and it's quite clear that the idea of new lamp-posts is not thought to be the best.

It is very much a case of not being interested in what the local community have to say. Perhaps because it's not the applause that was wanted.

Investment in the vacant shops - maybe pop up shops at a reduced rent - would bring new life into the area. This was a fantastic success in Brixton.

[Blah Blah]

How about addressing why those shops become vacant and stay vacant. At least half a dozen shops have been lost because of landlords whacking up the rents.

[Villager]

Blah Blah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> How about addressing why those shops become vacant

> and stay vacant. At least half a dozen shops have

> been lost because of landlords whacking up the

> rents.

Which half dozen shops are you thinking of and do you have accurate insider knowledge?

There are many different reasons why businesses move out or fail. Most often it is not the rent. It could be poor location, too much competition, wrong retail business in the wrong place, cash flow problems, not profitable, retirement, illness or simple mismanagement.

[edhistory]

The metrics are confusing.

There are not 35 lamp posts in North Cross Road.

I count 9 lamp posts in North Cross Road.

This would work out at ?2,379 per banner.

Some clarification is required.

[Toffee]

SAD TO SAY, I don't know where the original poster came from, it sure as well wasn't East Dulwich I'm 65 years of age, born, bred here and all of a sudden someone is complaining about a few years ago.

[Villager]

Murals are very good for imparting positive vibes and giving an identity to a local area.

The one opposite ED station is excellent.

The "SE24" one at HH is the right idea but a bit too simplistic and I am sure someone could do an "SE22" one that was much more creative and artistic.

Just an idea.

[Suffer-not]

How about something that makes mention of East Dulwich's famous residents, past and present, starting with Enid Blyton the author, Phyllis Pearsall (creator of A-Z London) and others such as:-Anne Shelton, Dr Reginald John Gladstone, Sue Perkins, Trevor Sinclair ,Tim Roth ,Bon Scott, Ronnie Corbett, Jo Brand, .James Nesbitt, Rob Da Bank, Carl Barat, Micky Flanagan, Sacha Baron Cohen , Ronnie Reed, Marlon King, Huw Edwards, Jonathan Corbett , Kate Thornton , Darren Emerson , Eddie George,

[Angelina]

I love the last two posts. Brilliant ideas.

:-)

[intexasatthe moment]

Cleaner Greener Safer ,High Street Challenge - sorry but honestly what a lot of b*ll*cks . Not appropriate in these times .

Alice has hit the nail on the head - if these funds are ring fenced /capital and not revenue/can't be moved into Social Care someone needs to look at how they can be UN ring fenced .How they can be moved .

It's not good enough to just to accept the staus quo .