Chris Best

Following the boundary review Sydenham Branch is part of Lewisham West & East Dulwich with Ellie Reeves MP keeping the Constituency Office at 43 Sunderland Road, SE23 2PS. This is the contact address for Lewisham Councillors.

The Sydenham ward has a Branch that meets on the second Tuesday every month (except August) at The Sydenham Centre next to the Post Office in the high street starting at 7pm and finishing by 9pm. To see our Campaigns please visit the Sydenham Labour Party page.

Councillor Jim Mallory is a very experienced having held many positions including Leader of Lewisham for the three year term 1995 - 1998

As someone who has been through this more than most, with your indulgence, let me reflect. Indeed, only Chris Best and I are left of that new and relatively youthful intake in 1986. Chris, of course has outdone us all… no self-imposed sabbatical for her, unlike me. She is the mother of this house.

So, to some lessons. Some of these are basic common sense, but we can often lose sight of things, wrapped up in our town hall bubble… or, for that matter, our Teams exchanges.

“Stick to the knitting”: by this, I mean concentrate on the familiar, what we do well, what’s important… what’s important to all residents – take refuse collection – some of our reputation is built on collecting the rubbish. I remember joining the crews of the lorries piloting the wheelie bin rounds in 1988 in overseeing Lewisham become the first in England to transform it into a more hygienic and efficient service.

“Keep your nerve”: Whether it’s inheriting in 1990 the Education service, demoralised with its transfer from the old ILEA, or introducing the more localised Low Traffic Neighbourhood scheme, you have to hold the line… or at least until you have worked on a compromise that retains your original position but concedes the legitimate concerns of parents, students and teachers – or even, in the case of the latter, some car-drivers – that you may not have got it all right. And apologise for any mistakes… it helps to defuse the situation.

“Don’t take ‘No’ for an answer”: From officers, especially from lawyers, if it’s about why we cannot implement our policies, or say something in public because it’s too “political”. Ask for a second opinion.

“Avoid splits but not at all costs”: Some of you will remember the splits in Lewisham’s Labour Group in the 1990s, others will have heard of them.They largely developed around personality, but had for some of us their origins in ideological differences, the most fundamental one – in-house or privatisation of Council services. That difference was what made the split irreconcilable. To avoid them, you need to work on the common ground and we have been lucky since in avoiding them, latterly I suspect, in part, because the common enemy – Tory Austerity (initially, aided and abetted, let us not forget by the Liberal Democrats) – has been ever-present.

“Never lose an opportunity to explain what we do and why”: I enjoy public meetings, especially those where you begin by facing an unhappy audience. Angry of Lee Green has to be faced down, as we have done in our Assembly on several occasions. What seems to work is taking the time to be honest about why we’re bringing in some change – avoid simple mantras or blaming someone else other than the Government and, even then, only by clearly detailing the effect of the cuts. They still may not agree with you, but for the most part, you will have earned their respect. “Try and bow out gracefully”: I came in on Thatcher, now I am going out on Johnson. Funny (or not so funny) half a lifetime of living with the Tories bent on destroying the Labour Movement. There was a moment a few weeks ago when I thought I might outlast Johnson, so precarious was the position of that most appalling of all politicians, who most recently in trumpeting so-called “Freedom Day” called on us all to exercise personal responsibility in learning to live with COVID. This, from a man who has spent his life running away from responsibility. Now, the awful events in Ukraine appear to have saved him, at least for the time being. And his Levelling Up agenda, which was never going to benefit those it ostensibly aimed to help, will fall further by the wayside – paid for by the urban, densely-populated disadvantaged areas… places like Lewisham.

Let me finish with a question, WAS IT ALL WORTH IT? I like to think so – I may not have made much difference, but I hope I made some. We keep on working because we know there is something better and, as I have said on previous occasions: “Until the return of a Labour government, no matter how long that takes, Labour councils remain the only option to guarantee local people have of retaining some semblance of a civilised and humane society.”

So COMRADES, as I go quietly into the night: To all of you – those leaving like myself and those carrying on the fight, the best of luck. Some of us will still be there to help you, even if in a less obvious way.

The Sydenham Assembly is open to anyone to lives, works or studies in the ward. It meets quarterly at the Sydenham Centre in the high street. Please see the Sydenham Asssembly page for more information. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please email Chris.
The Assembly elects ten members to work together on the Sydenham Coordinating Group that meets imbetween the quarterly meetings. The Coordinating Group review the previous meeting and plan the content of the next meeting.

Lewisham has published Service Standards with its partner Glendale and encourages park users to join a group to look after their park.

Sydenham Wells Park is one of the most attractive parks in the borough and has a fine water feature with two lakes. The park takes its name from medicinal springs which were discovered in Sydenham in the mid 17th century. There is an exciting water and play area for children as well as tennis courts. The park enjoys a sensory garden and water feature for those tranquil moments. Sydenham Wells Park Improvement Group (SWPIG) meets quarterly.

Mayow Park, originally called Sydenham Recreation Ground, is the borough's oldest municipal park and celebrated it's 125 year anniversary in 2003. The park has a bowling green and tennis courts and work has started on the bowling club accommodation. The Friends of Mayow Park are working alongside the Grow Mayow Community Garden in developing a programme of events. .

The Friends of Home Park meet regularly and have worked hard to deliver some major changes to the park including an outdoor gym to add to the revamped adventure playground.

To join one of the user groups email Glendales at lewisham@glendale-services.co.uk or telephone 020 8318 3986 or contact the Friends Group.

You can contact your local school and ask to speak to the headteacher or the chair of governors about governor vacancies. If you are the parent of a child at the school, ask at the school about vacancies for parent governors. You can contact members of your local community or religious organisation or contact the Diocese about being a governor for a church school.

School governors have a wide range of responsibilities including: • promoting high standards of educational attainment • managing the budget and deciding how the money is spent • participating in the appointment of staff, including appointing the headteache; • setting the policies by which the school operates.

Members of the Panel include local residents, local business representatives and members of charitable organisations. The panel meetings are held on a regular basis and are an opportunity for the local community to meet with service providers such as the police, statutory service providers and other agencies. The aim is to enable members of the local community, through the ward panel, to determine the priorities for their local area and for the service providers to take away these priorities for action. Ward Councillors are also in attendance to provide advice and support to the ward panel members. Priorities for action could include environmental issues, anti social behaviour and other criminal activity as well as information on any new developments that are likely to affect the local area.

The Neighbourhood Watch Scheme is an opportunity for residents to work closely in partnership with the police and the local authority to help protect your property and the local area.

Contact Lewisham Police Station for more information.

The role of the Steering Group is to: • ensure a vibrant town centre that is an attractive place to shop, visit, live and invest • support marketing events that raise the profile of the town centre • promote an inclusive traders association • understand the roles and activities of other related groups such as the Assembly, Safer Neighbourhood Team, the Sydenham Society, the Youth Forum • promote effective communications between key stakeholders • receive progress reports from the West Lewisham Town Centre Manager on the delivery of four agreed key projects • consider future initiatives/projects for the benefit of the town centre as possible key projects • encourage effective liaison with different Council Departments to ensure good environmental standards

I Chair the meetings and membership includes four residents, four traders and the SNT.

Lewisham was the first borough in the UK to have a directly elected Young Mayor. It was started in 2004 by Sir Steve Bullock, former Mayor of Lewisham and is influential in encouraging other councils to provide this opportunity for young people.

Congratulations to Jentai Gen-On, the Young Mayor for 2022-23 and Llywella-Paige Hoban, the Deputy Young Mayor.

They follow Rosanna Campbell, the Young Mayor for 2021-22 and Olivia Mardling as the Deputy Young Mayor.

Femi Komolafe and Aaliyah Odedina.was the 16th Young Mayor and Deputy for 2019–20 and carried on for 2020 - 2021.

Past young mayors can be found on Lewisham's web site https://lewisham.gov.uk/mayorandcouncil/youngmayor/past-young-mayors



The 15th Young Mayor and Deputy Young Mayor were Adam Abdullah and Nike Ajijola who served in 2018 - 19. The 14th Young Mayor and Deputy for 2017–18 were Laurelle Henry and Edafese Erhenede. The 13th Young Mayor was Kayla Sh’ay Nswa and Deputy Young Mayor, Tekisha Henry. The past Young Mayor for 2015–16 was Emmanuel Olaniyan. Liam Islam was our 11th and 10th Emmanuel Olaniyan who was in office during 2013-14.mJamel Higgins was the 9th following on from Kieran Lang who was the 8th Young Mayor with Kieza Silveira de Sousa who was the 7th, Jacob Saki who was the 6th, Miguel Gutierrez Astudillo who was the 5th, Justin Cole the 4th, Siobhan Bell the 3rd, Wilf Petherbridge the 2nd and back in April 2004 Manny Hawks became the first ever Young Mayor of Lewisham. In the biggest election of its type in the UK.

The Young Mayor has a team of advisors to:

• tell young people what's going on in the borough
• describe ways in which to get involved in other youth participation activities (like the young Citizens Panel)
• give young people the chance to have their say in topical online polls
• invite young people to tell everyone what's on their mind.

There is a also a YouTube video on the Young Mayor Network.