Ahead of local voters going to the polls in the Evelyn by-election on Thursday 2nd May, Lewisham Liberal Democrat candidate Bunmi Wajero has called on Evelyn Ward voters to back diversity over division in the face of Brexit.

Bunmi Wajero, Liberal Democrat candidate in the Evelyn Ward by-election, has donated and planted an Oak tree as part of the Evelyn 200 project.

Bunmi planted her tree with the help of volunteers from Deptford Folk and Trees for Cities, the groups behind the Evelyn 200 project. Their aim is to plant 200 trees to celebrate the first publication of John Evelyn’s diaries two centuries ago.

Max Brockbank, Liberal Democrat candidate for Whitefoot Ward, is calling for coordinated and imaginative action by Lewisham Council to tackle flytipping and litter in our streets and green spaces.

In the past few weeks the Lib Dem team has reported numerous flytips, to Phoenix and Glendale as well as to the council. Lewisham’s road sweepers are ideally placed to report problems that they see on their rounds, but have no easy means of alerting Phoenix or Glendale if the rubbish is on land they manage.

Welcome to the third of our monthly looks at what’s happening at Lewisham Council. There were no public questions at the full council meeting in April but we’ve still been busy scrutinising the council with Freedom of Information requests and reading the papers for meetings. So here’s our three things you need to know for this month...

• LEWISHAM ACCUSED OF HYPOCRISY OVER CLAIMS TO BE OPEN AND TRANSPARENT AS COUNCIL COMES SECOND TO BOTTOM ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION IN LONDON...

Lewisham council’s claim to be improving openness through its democracy reviews has been attacked by Lewisham Liberal Democrats after research reveals that Lewisham is second from the bottom over dealing with Freedom of Information (FoI) requests.

Lewisham Lib Dems have selected their candidates to fight two by-elections in Lewisham on May 2nd, created by the recent resignations of Labour councillors in Evelyn and Whitefoot wards. Bunmi Wajero has been selected to fight the Evelyn ward and Max Brockbank for Whitefoot.

As the country gets closer and closer to the Article 50 extended deadline for leaving the EU, Lewisham’s community has been at the heart of the growing opposition to the chaos of Brexit.

Local Lib Dems have praised Lewisham residents for being at the forefront of opposition to Theresa May’s Brexit plans. As the number of signatories to the “Revoke Article 50” petition reached five million and with over a million people marching in London on Saturday, Lewisham Lib Dems have called for all political parties in Lewisham to unite in calling for a People’s Vote ahead of expected "indicative votes" on options in the House of Commons this week.

Commenting on the news that Janet Daby (Whitefoot ward) and Alex Feis-Bryce (Evelyn ward) have resigned as councillors and that by-elections will be taking place, Lewisham Lib Dem spokesperson Lucy Salek said:

Liberal Democrats from Lewisham will be taking to the streets of London on Saturday to demand a Final Say over Brexit. We'll be joining thousands of other Liberal Democrats and hundreds of thousands of people from across the country to say 'Put it to the People'.

March 2019 latest...

This is the second of our monthly reports on what’s happening at Lewisham Council. Although Lewisham is a one-party state, that doesn’t stop us from doing our best to scrutinise what’s happening in the council through the monthly public questions at Full Council meetings and in freedom of information requests.

So what’s new this month?

Crime and anti-social behaviour are real concerns for many people who I speak to in London. We all want to feel safe in our communities and we want to know that the police are doing everything they can to tackle local crime.

• Chair and Working Group formed solely of Labour politicians. 
  
• Lib Dems call for outside “Challenge Panel” to represent all political views in Lewisham. 
• Call for public vote on scrapping Lewisham Mayoral system in 2020. 
  

Figures to be revealed at today's (Wednesday 23/01/19) Full Lewisham Council meeting show that spending on security at Old Tidemill Garden has topped £1 million in just three months. Local Liberal Democrat campaigners have obtained the information in a public question as part of the Full Council meeting on 23rd January.

Chris Maines, Liberal Democrat Mayoral Candidate in Lewisham has called on the Government to announce this week an amnesty for families of the Windrush community threatened with deportation and a loss of rights.