John Lewis Music Festival plans for Blackheath

The plan to host a music festival on the Heath has reappeared. OnBlackheath have applied to host a festival in September, sponsored by John Lewis.

See the email sent by the Blackheath Society earlier today:

We have received confirmation that OnBlackheath (previously NIMBY) has applied, at this late stage, to Lewisham Council for permission to hold a two day pop festival on the Heath on September 7th/8th. The event is apparently to be sponsored by John Lewis and called “John Lewis on Blackheath”. Little further information is currently available.

Members will recall that the Society lost its appeal against the granting of the Premises Licence for this event (in perpetuity) in 2011. However, we are fortunate that this current application takes place in the context of an Events Policy for the Heath agreed as a result of the earlier controversy, and with procedures well defined. Any such application has to be considered by the Blackheath Joint Working Party, and a detailed Event Management Plan has to be submitted and agreed before Lewisham issue any final permission.

We expect to play a full part in this process, and will keep members fully informed. The issues which caused serious concern last time will be re-examined in this exercise.

Members views and feedback are always welcome, at any stage.

Please play nicely in the comments…

Practical ways to save Lewisham Hospital

From Councillor Kevin Bonavia:

Lewisham Council have just served our legal challenge on the Government’s decision to drastically downgrade Lewisham Hospital A&E and maternity services on the ground that the Special Adminstrator was acting beyond his powers.

Depending on how the Government respond, this could end up being decided in Court as part of a substantial judicial review, by which we would seek the Court rendering the Government’s decision void.

As such, this could be a costly process, so the Council has set up a Legal Action Fund for the public to donate whatever they can towards legal funding. We don’t know at this early stage how much will be required, but if there is any surplus it will go to a local charity, Children First Lewisham.

The link to the online donation form can be found here: http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/news/Pages/Council-takes-Lewisham-Hospital-decision-to-the-courts.aspx

I think this is a good practical step forward. I’ve replied to Kevin asking for a breakdown of the costs involved – I’ll update this page when he replies UPDATE: see below

If you can contribute to the fund, the direct link is here:
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/socialcare/health/Pages/Contribute-to-the-Hospital-Legal-Challenge-Fund.aspx

You can pay by credit or debit card, and the minimum is a fiver.

UPDATE:

From Kevin again:

The costs of the legal challenge are initially likely to consist mostly of engaging specialist barrister expertise at Queen’s Counsel level, which unfortunately is not pro bono. Other work is being carried out by the Counsel’s in-house legal team for which there is no additional cost, although it does of course add to their workload. Provision also has to be made for any costs orders that be made by the Court during judicial review proceedings, but it is too early to estimate how much these might be at the moment.

As for operating the legal challenge fund, there are no external costs as this has been set up and maintained by Council officers, so it’s a matter of use of officers’ time, which I understand is quite minimal since the payment system used is the same as that for other payments made to the Council online. Just to make a small clarification to your post, I understand that people can enter a lower sum than the suggested £5 – and also a higher sum than the suggested maximum of £25! As of yesterday, the fund had received donations in a total sum of £2,400.

Jeremy Hunt in House of Commons – video

Video of the South London Healthcare NHS Trust statement in House of Commons

22m51s – Bob Neil Conservative, Bromley and Chislehurst
24m50s – Dame Joan Ruddock – Labour, Lewisham and Deptford
28m18s – Bob Stewart – Conservative, Beckenham
29m56s – Heidi Alexander – Labour, Lewisham East
31m58s – Simon Hughes – Liberal Democrat, Bermondsey and Old Southwark
34m12s – Tessa Jowell – Dulwich and West Norwood
37m18s – Stephen Dorrell – Chair, Health Committee
38m37s – Jim Dowd – Labour, Lewisham West and Penge
41m52s – Nick de Bois – Conservative, Enfield North
42m48s – Clive Efford – Labour, Eltham
44m05s – Nick Raynsford – Labour, Greenwich and Woolwich
45m12s – Teresa Pearce – Labour, Erith and Thamesmead
47m27s – Kate Hoey – Labour, Vauxhall
49m38s – Kevin Barron – Labour, Rother Valley

Lewishambles

Jeremy Hunt’s plans for Lewisham Hospital:
A&E to be downgraded to a non-admitting Urgent Care Centre.
Maternity unit to be downgraded by 90% to a midwife-led birthing centre.

Read the full paper here.

You can watch the video of Jeremy Hunt’s performance in the House of Commons today

On youtube here

here.  You’ll need Silverlight installed, and you need to scroll to 11:33.  You’ll be able to see the outrage of many London MPs at what is being pushed through.

RT @SomersTownGreen: Smaller A&E recommendation is a way of confusing campaign supporters & opinion. Oldest trick in the book. …—
  (@blackheathbugle) January 31, 2013

James Cleverly’s astonishingly ill-judged tweet (Conservative member of the London Assembly):

Jeremy Hunt overrules the special administrator and will not to close Lewisham Hospital A&E department. Great news for all of SE London—
James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) January 31, 2013

Heidi Alexander, before the announcement:

RT @heidi_mp: If Mr Hunt decides to axe services at Lewisham tomorrow, he will set a dangerous precedent for the NHS: reward failure, pe …—
  (@blackheathbugle) January 30, 2013

But it’s not over. As the Lewisham Lib Dems put it:

RT @LewishamLibDems: Hunt is dodging this 4th test question no end. Clinical commissioners in Lewisham opposed to TSA recommendations, n …—
  (@blackheathbugle) January 31, 2013

To which Darryl1974 suggested

If @LewishamCouncil launches a judicial review, I'm sure I'm not the only non-borough resident who'll pledge some £ to help. #saveLewishamAE—
Darryl (@darryl1974) January 31, 2013

And Heidi Alexander suggested the same thing on her blog:

“There is also a big legal question about whether the Secretary of State has the power to axe vital services at Lewisham based on the administration process that has taken place.

I know that Lewisham Council have threatened the Secretary of State with judicial review proceedings.

It seems to me that this decision could still be challenged in the courts and I will be seeking an urgent update from Lewisham Council about their plans.”

And a statement from Mayor Bullock today:
“I do not believe that the TSA had the statutory power to make recommendations about Lewisham Hospital and the Secretary of State therefore has no power to implement them.

“I will be talking to our lawyers and we will also of course need to talk to our colleagues at Lewisham Hospital in order to fully understand the implications of Mr Hunt’s statement.”

Good to see the Evening Standard informing and educating the metropolis:

RT @sarahluv81: I've just seen the evening standard's headline "a and e unit is saved". Fuck the standard—
Darryl (@darryl1974) January 31, 2013

So what to do? Suggestions below please.

Title of this blog pinched from KierShiels:

RT @keirshiels: #Lewishambles The hashtag says it all.—
  (@blackheathbugle) January 31, 2013

Lewisham Hospital update

So the consultation results are in.  Apparently it’s a great idea to close Lewisham A&E and maternity wards.  I’m sure that’s what you all sent to the consultation.

Email from our local MP Heidi Alexander (emphasis mine):

Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you again for signing the petition to save Lewisham Hospital’s A&E and maternity department, which I presented to No. 10 just before Christmas. Over 35,000 people have now signed the petition, and together we are sending a loud and clear message that we strongly oppose the plans for closure.
Despite this, we learnt this week that the Special Administrator appointed to the South London Healthcare Trust has formally recommended to Government that both A&E and maternity services at Lewisham should close. He proposes to replace them with an urgent care centre and a midwife-led birthing unit.
Many people – including me – feel badly let down by the so-called consultation process that has taken place. It is sheer madness to be shutting down services at a solvent, successful hospital in order to deal with financial problems elsewhere. I am also extremely concerned about the inadequate services that will be left for South East London – just this week the two closest maternity units, at Queen Elizabeth, Woolwich and Kings, had to turn away pregnant women in labour as they were at capacity.
But this is not a done deal, and together we must keep up the fight.
The Health Secretary is currently considering these proposals, and will be announcing his decision on 1st February. Along with my parliamentary colleagues Dame Joan Ruddock and Jim Dowd, I will be doing all that I can to convince the Health Secretary of the case against these proposals. But we need your help.
Between now and 1st February, please do all that you can to help the campaign. If you have 5 minutes or 5 days, there are lots of ways you can get involved. At the bottom of this email, there are specific contacts and things you can do to help – for example, leafleting, making placards or being a steward at campaign events.
If you can only spare a little time, please do the following:

1. Protest against the proposals. The Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign have organised a second peaceful demonstration on Saturday 26th January. Assemble at Lewisham Roundabout (by the station) at 12, before we march past the hospital to Mountsfield Park for a rally, music and giant petition. I will be speaking at the rally.
2. Let the Secretary of State know what you think by sending your views directly to him. Email Jeremy Hunt on mb-sofs@dh.gsi.gov.uk or write to him at Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Health, Department for Health, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS
3. Forward this email on to your friends. Spread the word about the campaign! This does not only affect the people of Lewisham, and Mr Hunt needs to know that people across South East London are not prepared to accept these recommendations and have their services and their safety compromised.

The campaign to Save Lewisham Hospital is far from over. We must be prepared to step up and make our voices heard. I hope we can count upon your support.
Best wishes
Heidi Alexander MP

Blackheath Christmas lights switching on today

At 4.30pm today the Blackheath Lights will be switched on.  Nick Ferrari, the quietly-spoken socialist will be doing the honours.  Shops are staying open later, The Samaritans are carol singing, and the Salvation Army will be playing from 3pm.

Before and after image from the lights switch-on back in 2008, when I had more time to write this blog (apologies for the lack of updates lately- work is busy).

Tractor production is up 30%

Particularly choice quotes about the library from July’s Blackheath Assembly minutes (emphasis mine):

The meeting received information that the temporary library set up at the Bakehouse has been successful to date. The resource continues to attract more people particularly children and young mothers and these numbers will only increase once the new library is up and running[...]

With regards to the main replacement library project, an £800,000 investment project is on coursee[...]

It is envisaged that the new facility will be open on the 22 November 2012 by Sir Steve Bullock, the Mayor of Lewisham and David Grant, the Mayor of Greenwich. Over the next month or two there will be a competition for the public to put forward their ideas of what the new centre should be called so there is a sense of involvement and community spirit. The competition will carry a prize of £1,000 and the winner will be announced at the opening ceremony by Sir Steve. Participants can put their entry forward via email or through the website.

If you have any suggestions for library titles, please send them here: localassemblies@lewisham.gov.uk

See previous post for a clearer picture.

Blackheath’s library: Lowest number of visits in Lewisham

The graph above shows the number of people who visited Lewisham’s various libraries in 2012. The green line at the bottom is the Blackheath community library.

Let’s zoom in a bit, and just look at the community libraries:

So of all the community libraries in Lewisham, ours gets the fewest visits (and the fewest items issued too incidentally).

But maybe the old library was never very popular either, right? Except that here are the two months of visitors data just before it closed. Look how they compare to the same two months in 2012 for the new library:

For every one person that walks into the current library, more than five people walked into the old one in 2011.

The old library which is now a private school.

I hope the Labour councillors and MP are proud of this achievement. Bravo.

Issue Data from google doc here.
Visitor data from google doc here.
See previous post on this subject Ex-libraries from 2011

Lewisham council website playing up again

By running a web service, I should be able to access the council’s website out of hours. It’s a great idea, because it means that even when the staff aren’t in the office, I can still pay my council tax, or order some green garden bags.

Except that I can’t. For some reason I always end up attempting this task at the end of a weekend. By which time their web services usually look like the screen grab shown above.

Here’s what’s supposed to happen. You’re running some web apps. You monitor the servers that those apps are hosted on. You monitor their vital signs, (are the hard drives ok, has one of the power supplies gone a bit iffy, is it too hot in the server room), then you monitor the services running on that server. Finally you run some sanity checks on the actual web front end every so often. Can you still access the server, is the SQL database still accepting connections, etc etc. If any one of these things fails, someone in your team should be on call, and receive a text message. Then they proxy in, and fix it (or at least reboot something!).

To do this, you use a wonderful system called Nagios. It’s free and open-source, but a bit of a pain to set up, but it’s also highly configurable. You can get it to only fire messages to your on-call person when two minor faults have occurred. You can set it to wait a specific number of minutes to see if a fault resolves itself. You can even start firing text messages and emails to the on-call person’s boss if it’s still broken after a couple of hours!

If you work for Lewisham council, you should ask your IT people about this. It’s not that hard, and if it’s done well, it means that you’ll know about a fault before any of your users do.

Please, for the sake of my untidy garden.

The Big Screen – more info

UPDATE: There’s a newer post about this event here.

The timetable for the Olympics “big screen” on Blackheath has been released:

27 July 7.30pm-12.30am
London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony

The Lewisham Big Screen will show live coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
27 July – 12 August
Live coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games

Watch live coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games on a big screen on Blackheath
28 July 12 noon-7pm
Lewisham Live

Music, dance and song from Lewisham’s talented young people
29 July 12 noon-10.30pm
Sing Out!

A day of song and music from choirs around the borough – and the BBC Singers
30 July 6-11pm
Blackheath Halls presents The Icarus Club

The Icarus Club – promoting and encouraging singer/songwriters and instrumentalists
31 July 2-4pm
21st Century Tea Dance

Positive Ageing Council and the Young Mayor present the 21st Century Tea Dance
1 August 1-5pm
PING! workshops

Music and sport – a London 2012 combination
2 August
Mayor’s Quiz Night

Quiz night in aid of the Mayor’s chosen charity – The Lavender Trust
4 August 12 noon-10.30pm
Super Saturday

Super Saturday – stalls, performers, entertainment galore
7 August
Big Dance

8 August 7-9.30pm
The Big Conversation

Join the Big Conversation – and find out what’s important to you
9 August 1-5pm
Southern Exposure PG Fim Marathon

26 films from 26 young directors
10 August 12 noon-10.30pm
Speakeasy

A day of stories, performance poets, readings and verse
11 August From 12 noon
Showtime

A day of street performances
12 August 7.30-10.30pm
London 2012 Closing Ceremony

See also: http://blackheathbugle.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/the-greatest-hyperbole-on-earth/