Decision

That the report be noted. It was also agreed that the Committee would share its views with Mayor and Cabinet – as follows:

·         The Committee recommends that further consideration be given to the development of the night-time offer in Lewisham Town Centre – including food and beverage options, as well as the potential for live music. This should build on existing knowledge and experiences of success elsewhere in London.

·         The Committee believes that further work should take place with young people, people who are disabled and members of groups with other protected characteristics (as defined in the Equality Act 2010) – as well as a cross section of people from different socio-economic backgrounds to co-design the work taking place – particularly in relation to the accessibility and suitability of public spaces.

·         The Committee recommends that further work should take place to communicate, to residents and business, the alternative arrangements in place following the temporary closure of Lewisham Library.

·         The Committee believes that a system of impact measurement should be developed to ensure that the redevelopment is meeting its intended objectives. Members ask that this includes an assessment of the availability of workspaces in the refurbished library for students.

·         The Committee notes the Council’s objective to make the borough carbon neutral by 2023 – and it encourages the ambitious delivery of energy efficiency and retrofit measures as part of the renovation of Lewisham Library[1]. Members would encourage bids for external funding to enhance this work.

[1] The Committee expects retrofitting measures to be in line with best practice – including the most recent PAS standards for whole building retrofit (rather than isolated improvements).