Councillors Column

SE22 Councillors

Councillor Charlie Smith - Goose Green Labour Councillor | charlie.smith@southwark.gov.uk

At the time of writing, Southwark along with the rest of the UK are in Lockdown due to the COVID 19 regulations. It will probably mid-February before any of these restrictions will be changed. In the meantime please remember to stay at home, wear a mask when shopping or going to work and keep a safe distance from people. The vaccination programme has been underway for a few weeks now. Care home residents and staff along with people over the age of 80 were the first to be given the jab. The new Tessa Jowell Health centre is one of the venues where the vaccination is being given. Please wait to be contacted to arrange an appointment date. It is vitally important that as many people as possible receive the inoculation in order for us all to return to a normal life. It is at this time of year the Council decides its budget. Due to tighter Government restrictions, the Council will be forced to take some tough decisions on how the budget is spent. It has been a difficult time for our local shops and restaurants during the lockdown periods. When normal service resumes it will be important to support those businesses that have been unable to trade and are struggling to get up and running again. With this in mind, we will be trialling a new small market with stalls in Melbourne Grove in the near future. We hope local artisan residents can make and sell their wares which will in turn attract customers to the other shops in Melbourne Grove and Grove Vale. The Council intends to plant 10,000 new trees throughout the Borough over the next year. We will be asking community groups and the public to nominate areas that will be of benefit. This project will tackle air pollution, reduce carbon and address the climate emergency. The expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone comes into operation on the 25th of October this year. To see if this affects you go to tfl.gov. uk/ ulez-2021 Local Councillors have secured funding for a new zebra crossing to be installed in Whateley Road which will create safer routes to both Heber Road school and the Harris Primary Academy school for our children to enable them to walk more safely. When schools get back to normal we are proposing to install temporary road closures at pick up times outside both Heber and Goodrich schools. The Council would like to encourage more walking and cycling to school.