Vol. 37 No. 12 Page 386 LONDON BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM TO: THE MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS OF THE LONDON BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM You are hereby summoned to attend a meeting of the Council which will be held in the Council Chamber, Lewisham Town Hall, Catford, SE6 4RU on WEDNESDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2004 at 7.30 p.m. for the transaction of the business set out in the agenda below. In the event of the meeting being adjourned, the business not disposed of will be transacted at an adjourned meeting to be held on Thursday, 12 February 2004 at 7.30 p.m. or at such other date and time agreed by the meeting. Lewisham Town Hall Catford London SE6 4RU Chief Executive 3 February 2004 A G E N D A 1. Minutes (page 388) 2. Declarations of Interests (page 388) 3. Announcements or Communications (page 388) 4. Petitions (page 388) 5. Public Questions (page 388) 6. Other Services Capital Programme 2003/04 - Crossways Academy (page 388) 7. 2004/05 Revenue Budget, 2004/05 Treasury Strategy, Setting the Council Tax 2004/05 and 2004/07 Capital Programme ( Report to follow) 387 8. Parks Byelaws 2004 (page 390) 9. Making Lewisham a Better and Safer Place for Children and Young People - The Strategic Plan 2003-06 (page 410) 10. Motion in the name of Councillor Britton to be seconded by Councillor Anderson (page 412) 11. Motion in the name of Councillor Flood to be seconded by Councillor (page 412) 12. Questions from Members of the Council (page 412) document in unnamed 388 1. Minutes - 28 January 2004 To approve as a true record the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 28 January 2004. 2. Declarations of Interests Members are invited to make any declarations of pecuniary or other interests they may have in relation to items on this agenda; and are reminded to make any declarations at any stage throughout the meeting if it then becomes apparent that this may be required when a particular item or issue is considered. Members are also asked to declare whether Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them and that they will not be voting on the recommendation before the Council on the 2004/2005 Revenue Budget, 2004/05 Treasury Strategy, Setting the Council Tax 2004/05 and 2004/07 Capital Programme. 3. Announcements or Communications To receive any announcements or communications from the Mayor or the Chief Executive (if any). 4. Petitions To receive petitions (if any). 5. Public Questions In accordance with Part IV, Section C, Paragraph 13 of the Constitution, one question has been received from the following member of the public: Question Questioner Member to Reply 1. Mr F Symons Councillor Moore 6. Other Services Capital Programme 2003/04 - Crossways Academy On 5 March 2003 the Council, as part of the decisions on the 2003/04 Revenue Budget, 2003/04 Treasury Strategy, Setting the Council Tax for 2003/04 and the 2003/06 Capital Programme, set delegated limits for capital schemes as follows:- Delegation HIP OSCP Executive Director for Resources up to £2m up to £1m & Deputy Chief Executive document in unnamed 389 Mayor and Cabinet up to £4m up to £2m Full Council over £4m over £2m On 14 January 2004 the Mayor and Cabinet received a report on the third quarter monitoring of the Other Services Capital Programme and the Housing Investment Programme. At that time the Mayor noted that the incorporation of the Crossways Academy Scheme budget would be reported to the Council in March 2004 in line with the delegation for Capital budgets. However, it is now considered expedient to incorporate the budget for this scheme at this time. The Crossways Academy project is funded by a grant from the Learning and Skills Council of £8.326m and has been formally included in the Other Services Capital Programme with proposed expenditure of £4.489m in 2003/04 and £3.838m in 2004/05. The Academy is being built on the site of the former community school, Telegraph Hill, in Wallbutton Road, SE4. It will provide facilities for 750 key stage 5 students mainly made up of pupils formerly attending Addey & Stanhope, Crofton and Deptford Green Schools and the Catford Business and Enterprise College. The Academy is scheduled to be completed in 2004/05 with an opening date of 6 September 2004. The Council is therefore RECOMMENDED to agree to the inclusion of the Crossways Academy Project in the Other Services Capital Programme for 2003/04 and 2004/05 in accordance with the delegated limits for capital schemes set by the Council on 5 March 2003. document in unnamed 390 8. Parks Byelaws 2004 The Council is responsible for public parks, open spaces and gardens in the Borough. The conduct of the public in these locations is currently regulated by byelaws, which aim to ensure that everyone is reasonably able to use the spaces without unreasonably inconveniencing other users. The byelaws were last updated in 1980 and in the case of Blackheath in 1932. Over time the nature of park usage has altered and the expectations of park users have also changed. In addition, the penalties which may be imposed in serious cases of breach are insufficient to act as a deterrent. Officers from the Parks Department (Green Scene) are currently working on an Open Space Strategy for the Borough, a consultation draft of which is due in the Spring of 2004. One of the main themes of the Strategy is Stewardship and a key aim is to understand and respond to issues of public safety to reduce fear of crime. As part of the preparation for the Open Space Strategy for the Borough officers commissioned the Groundwork Trust to undertake an in-depth consultation exercise. Of the 700 members of the public contacted, 45% of people who regularly used parks and open spaces considered fear of crime as a main barrier to use. The updated bylaws therefore reflect the way in which the Borough’s parks and open spaces are used today and the reasonable expectations of users. The updating, which broadly follows a model wording promoted by the Home Office, also ensures that they are easier for park users to understand. The adoption of clearly set out updated byelaws will assist the agencies involved with park policing (Glendale Rangers, Police, Street Wardens, Environment Enforcement officers etc), to enforce these rules and regulations, principally through persuasion. These groups meet as the Visible Presence Forum, and this group will help co-ordinate future enforcement of the byelaws and other associated Acts of Parliament which apply to the parks environment, for example the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996. Enforcement is likely to take place at targeted enforcement sessions rather than on an ad- hoc basis. Members of the public who contravene a byelaw will be given a written caution for a first offence. However, any person offending against any of these byelaws shall be liable on conviction at the Magistrates Court to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale (currently, up to £500). An effective deterrent will therefore exist to deal with serious contraventions of the byelaws. document in unnamed 391 The draft set of byelaws attached to this report has been the subject of consultation with park user groups and also the Visible Presence Forum. As a result of that process, several recurring themes have emerged. These relate to dog fouling, littering and fly-tipping, vandalism and use of fireworks, as well as the provision of signage in the parks/open spaces and enforcement issues. The point to note is that where the existing criminal law deals with a problem, the Council is unable to duplicate that in a byelaw. The existing criminal law covers the first three of these problems, and in most cases imposes a higher maximum penalty than would apply under the byelaws. Members will note that byelaw 10 covers fireworks, and probably also be aware that new legislation on their use was recently mooted. The issue of signage is dealt with below, while enforcement has been covered earlier in this section of the report. Compliments on the clarity of the byelaws have also been among the observations received following this process. The new byelaws exclude Blackheath, due to its geographic position which straddles the borough boundary with the London Borough of Greenwich. At the moment, Officers recommend that a joint set of byelaws are prepared by both boroughs, to ensure consistency for users of the Heath, an approach which is supported by the Blackheath Joint Working Party. Initial discussions with officers at Greenwich indicate that authority is likely to be amenable to this suggestion. Should Greenwich be reluctant to compile a joint set of byelaws for Blackheath, it will be added to the schedule of parks attached to these new byelaws at a later date. Before the byelaws can be introduced, they require endorsement by full council. The Council must then make the byelaws and advertise that fact in a local newspaper, allowing at least a month to expire before submitting the byelaws to the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister for approval and confirmation. That latter process may take some time, because the Council has made changes to the model wording for these byelaws suggested by central government. That said, the changes which have been made to the model are fairly minor, and are unlikely to be controversial. The adoption of the new set of byelaws will provide the community with clearly set out rules and regulations as to how members of the public should conduct themselves in parks and open spaces.