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Meeting on 2nd July 2008 – Local Business
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Meeting on 2nd July 2008 – Citizens Advice Bureau
NOTE: These minutes are subject to confirmation at the Annual General Meeting. Please report any errors, omissions, or points requiring clarification using the e-mail facility opposite.
The speaker was Mr Joe Clark, manager of the Beckenham & Penge Citizens Advice Bureau.
08/42 Mr Clark said he had been at the Beckenham & Penge CAB office for 3 years, having trained 3 years earlier and started at Lewisham.
08/43 The office was at 20 Snowdown Close, with others in the Borough at Orpington and Bromley.
08/44 There were over 40 volunteer staff, currently including 6 trainees.
08/45 There was a telephone advice service from 10am to 2pm three days a week, plus an open door service on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and a Tuesday evening session for carers. Staff could also visit clients at home. Longer opening hours and gateway appointments were being considered.
08/46 The Bureau was supporting the End Child Poverty campaign and could help people to apply for entitlements.
08/47 A high level of bankruptcies and mortgage repossessions had been seen in recent months. Specialist advice was available over personal debt, including negotiating with creditors.
08/48 Other areas of advice included domestic violence, benefits, housing, consumer matters, and immigration.
08/49 The Beckenham & Penge office had a diverse client base and staff spoke several languages.
08/50 The number of cases continued to grow, with changes of government policy and practice affecting more people's lives.
08/51 The closure of Acre Estates had left many tenants with unreturned deposits.
08/52 It was generally necessary to see each client five times, including third party liaison.
08/53 The closure of Bromley Racial Equality Council due to termination of funding was to be regretted.
REPLIES TO QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
08/54 The Bureau had one stop shop support over domestic violence which worked one day per week.
08/55 Funding came from Bromley Council.
08/56 New government initiatives such as Children's Centres and Community Legal Advice Networks ("CLANs") with their own advice services could compete with CABs. Hull lost its CAB because someone else won the Council's funding. On the other hand, competition could be seen as a challenge.
08/57 There had been 13,400 client contacts during 2007-8, including letters and telephone calls, helping a total of 3,260 individuals.
08/58 Increased opening times were desirable as people who couldn't see someone immediately might not come back – there could be a 2 hour wait to be seen. The Bromley office saw most people by appointment and had a triage system.
08/59 Head office had the final say over opening hours and appointment systems.
08/60 There were three telephone bays answering enquiries, some of which came from abroad.
08/61 It was difficult to get people into high priority housing bands and there was still a two year wait in the top band. They worked with housing associations such as Broomleigh and PCHA as well as the Council.
08/62 There were mechanisms to handle enquiries across Borough boundaries, as often people did not know which Borough they lived in.
08/63 There were strict confidentiality rules and all volunteers had to undergo police checks.
08/64 Training took 12-18 months and took place in central London. Trainees started as observers which enabled them to decide at an early stage if it was not right for them.
08/65 Assaults on staff were not unknown, particularly with some clients who had mental health problems, and there was a direct alarm system to the police. They responded quickly, but confidentiality demanded that before they entered the building had to be cleared of other clients.
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Meeting on September 3rd: Penge Town Centre
In the Chair: Mrs Katherine Bance.
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr John Getgood.
The speaker was Cllr Chris Phillips, Chair of the Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee (PDS) for local Economy, London Borough of Bromley.
08/66 Cllr Phillips explained that since 2002 Bromley Council had had a cabinet which made decisions, and accompanying committees which scrutinised and developed policy. The Local Economy cabinet member was Cllr Julian Benington.
08/67 A working group had been formed with Cllr Phillips as its Chair to examine issues towards the creation of vibrant and thriving town centres. Bromley town centre was benefitting from an area action plan and Orpington from money resulting from the Tesco development. It was important that other centres like Penge and Beckenham did not lose out, whilst recognising that the Council had limited influence over High Street retailers.
08/68 Penge currently shared a Town Centre Manager, Nicola Musto, who gave one day per week to Penge. She had been involved with the Town Talk website, Penge Traders' Association, markets, public events, and other projects since the Single Regeneration Budget of 1997-2003.
08/69 A tour of Penge by Councillors and Council Officers had identified several key issues:-
08/70 Penge Triangle was a possible place to re-site the market except that it was used as a bus terminus.
08/71 There needed to be a way to link Waterman's Square with the High Street.
08/72 The state of upkeep of Penge Recreation Ground was poor compared with Beckenham parks, the derelict park keeper's house being a particular eyesore.
08/73 St John's Primary School now had a new reception hall.
08/74 Maple Road's once thriving market was gone and many of the shop fronts were empty. Planning permission to convert them to residential use could be given. Opinions varied on the desirability of the road closure.
08/75 The rear of Mem's Barbers was subject to fly-tipping following recent fires.
08/76 Shoppers valued the ability to park and shop in the High Street, but the Blenheim Centre car park was little used despite recent refurbishment and needed to be advertised. CCTV should be installed in its stairwells.
08/77 The housing market in the area had fallen flat.
08/78 High Street shopping needed to be promoted. Better lighting and banners on lamp posts were suggested. Design guidelines for improving shop fronts could be provided.
08/79 Market stalls might be re-sited to the wide pavement part of the High Street.
08/80 This was the beginning of a long process of regeneration, but Cllr Phillips hoped to be able to provide an update in 6 months' time.
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
08/81 It was suggested that trees and flowers in place of iron railings would brighten the High Street.
08/82 Issues of fly-tipping, graffiti, and general cleaning had to be addressed. It was unlikely that lowering charges at the tip would reduce fly-tipping.
08/83 The Council had no power to force the railway company to repair stations.
08/84 Some people wanted a continental market, but others thought the prices were excessive.
08/85 Footfall in the High Street would be monitored to prove its busyness to prospective retailers.
08/86 The public conveniences had not been inspected.
08/87 Transport changes at Crystal Palace and the coming East London Line extension could improve the visibility of the area.
08/88 It was pointed out that a similar exercise had been carried out in 1996, leading to the SRB funding, but regretted that its full potential had not been realised and hoped that the present exercise would achieve more. |
Meeting on September 3rd: Library Amalgamation
The speaker was Mr David Brockhurst, Head of Library Services, London Borough of Bromley.
08/89 Mr Brockhurst said that a review of the Bromley Library Service carried out in 2006 had concluded that the libraries in Penge and Anerley were too close together.
08/90 Since the last change in 1989, which had expanded Penge Library, library services had moved away from book borrowing towards provision of the People's Network computer access and community work such as reading and reminiscence groups.
08/91 It had been decided to combine the two libraries and resite them to larger new premises which had just become available. This would have all the facilities of a modern library and be more central than Maple Road.
08/92 The downside would be the closure of Anerley Library, but its use had declined and the building was unfit for purpose.
08/93 Support for children's homework could be provided elsewhere in Anerley.
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
08/94 Many people expressed concern over the proposals, particularly related to the anticipated site for the new library:
08/95 It was too close to Beckenham Library, with the fear that this would eventually close as a result.
08/96 Unlike at Anerley, there was no parking space available and it was on a noisy corner. The steep hill between Penge and Anerley should be a significant factor in defining the catchment area, not just population density.
08/97 Mr Brockhurst accepted that there would be current users of Anerley Library who would not travel as far as Penge. It was not intended to provide any book service, such as the mobile library, in Anerley, but some of the other functions might be transferred to the nearby James Dixon School Children's Project.
08/98 It was suggested that Anerley Library could have been better promoted, and also pointed out that over the years many of the better books had been removed elsewhere.
08/99 Archive material held at Anerley would be safeguarded.
08/100 The Penge Library development would be financed by sale of Anerley Library and car park and other buildings such as The Drum, plus new funding.
08/101 In addition to library area and staff rooms, the new building would have a community room and also be used as storage for some material currently kept in the Central Library, enabling a local museum to be opened there.
08/102 Closure of libraries was one of the concerns addressed by the 2007 Sustainable Communities Act.
The meeting closed at 9.40pm. |
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