Some recent work done by Lewisham Homes!

Okay, Lewisham Homes have got a bit of a bad rep around here. But, they have recently been making some decent improvements to our estate! They have not gone unnoticed...

What the railings looked like before:

New railings

Where have the tyres gone?

Well done! It just goes to show that if you persevere you can make a difference!

My visit to Lewisham Park estate - what's the future for Sydenham Hill?

Lewisham Park Estate

On a glorious sunny day and with Steve Couzens (Operations Development Officer for Lewisham Council) as my guide I had a nose at the future of our estate, and was duly impressed!


Photos can be seen on the L&Q page, but to summarise my findings in one paragraph:
Everything, from the windows, doors, painting, landscaping, parking and generally well groomed foliage was as perfect as you could possibly expect to see in an ex-council estate. L&Q had surely done a brilliant job on rejuvenating this estate, and the future for our estate looks welcomingly similar.

Take a look at the photos or take a bus down to the estate (right opposite Lewisham Hospital) to make your own judgement!

Estate map

click picture

Please go to News! for the latest goings-on.

Leaseholder Special Interest meeting: 20th May 2010

I managed to attend the first hour of the meeting, held at the Civic Suite in Catford, missing the last part relating to help for leaseholders in paying their major works bills.

The only Lewisham Homes official present was Sandy Canham, who took a bit of a roasting from the attendees over costs of services being unreasonable, also that numerous paragraphs were left off the minutes of the previous meeting: especially those of particular embarrassment to Lewisham Homes.

It was noted that the minutes of the meeting held on 20th May, when available, will be complete.

The general feeling in the room was one of frustration and disbelief. The residents felt that they did not have the forum with this meeting to actually bring their concerns to Lewisham Homes. The agenda is rigged and all the issues, specifically relating to costs and standards of services repeatedly raised, are either left off the minutes or not remedied by Lewisham Homes at all.

As soon as the minutes are made available (keep your eye on http://crossfieldsleaseholders.blogspot.com/ for more information on this).

Matt

Some Improvements

Some progress has been made, the communal lights are almost fixed, the grass is getting cut and the burst water pipe has been fixed. Lots of pot holes remain though, mostly due to prolonged water damage from the leak.
We compiled a big list of gripes (see Reports) for Lewisham Homes, so condition of the estate is still lacking. It is nice to be able to see again, with the lights fixed at Silbury House. Cleaning is still not up to standard however.

Lewisham Homes are slowing down with their involvement, as L&Q get ready for the stock transfer and the 100 days programme set to start in about October. A Lewisham Homes official expressed concern to me that L&Q wouldn't have enough money to carry through their plans for our block: let's hope the concern is misplaced, and we'll all be living in a nicer area come a couple years from now.
Word from L&Q is that they are 100% committed to providing the works detailed in the offer document and are good for their investment. It's going to happen.

One of the bigger problems, rather than investment and improvements, is the (small) minority of residents who treat the place and others with no respect: dumping, grafitiing, trashing and generally causing grief for decent people. This is much trickier to remedy! But at SyTRA (and L&Q) we are thinking of ways to involve people in community spirit again. Peggy (SyTRA Secretary) has done a great job of putting people together to get our ideas moving.
Sydenham Hill Estate could be a really nice place to call home if we all had a bit more respect for each other.
Anyway that's it for now. If you wish to have an updated report or other information, or you would like to report something of relevance, please email me at

silburyhouse@live.co.uk

Thanks to A Slattery and Matt Gill from Lewisham Homes for their help.

More photos