Brook Lane Community Church Christmas Crafts

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Council forced to find further £60 million savings

On 20 November the Executive agreed to make a recommendation for a 1.99% increase in the Bromley element of the council tax.

This was part of the process to finalise the 2014-15 budget, which will be considered by Full Council in February 2014. This recommendation was in recognition of the need to achieve a balanced budget in 2014/15 and to partly address the increasing ‘budget gap’ in future years, while protecting front line services.

Said Council Leader, Stephen Carr about the recommendation:

“This council is proud of its reputation for the robust way we manage our finances and refuse to resort to short term gimmicks.  Over the past three years we faced drastic reductions in government funding, high inflation and low interest rates and had to make savings of over £57 million. This was done through sound financial planning while protecting quality front line services - often to some of the most vulnerable in our borough. Demand for our services is increasing, at the same time we face further significant funding reductions and must find another £60 million savings over the next four years.

“We are determined to continue to take a long-term view and achieve a sustainable budget for 2014-15 and beyond.  As part of setting this budget we consulted with residents at our annual public meetings.  Their views informed the choices we have made in the last three years and this year many of our residents told us they accepted a rise in council tax is unavoidable. Be assured this recommendation to increase council tax is not taken lightly. Our record speaks for itself - over the years we have consistently had the lowest council tax in outer London . We will turn down the one-off bribe from government this year to freeze the tax because accepting would only store up major financial problems to be faced in future years and is not the financially sound thing to do.

“Residents also said they want us to continue to press home our argument with government about Bromley’s historically low levels of funding. Our council receives one of the lowest levels of overall government grant.  It has faced the biggest reduction in formulae grant in the last three years.  If we received the average level of funding for London our income would increase by a staggering £98 million.

“In refusing to take a short-term and arguably easier approach to managing the budget, difficult decisions must be made.  We are determined to make it the right decision on behalf of our residents.”

Burnt Ash Library Christmas Coffee Morning

For more details visit the library or contact the librarians on 020 8460 3405 or by email at burntash.library@bromley.gov.uk

For details of other activities at the Burnt Ash Library see the following link:-
http://www.bromley.gov.uk/directory_record/34386/burnt_ash_library

Never take things at face value

A member in New Street Hill shares his experience of dealing with a tradesman advertising in the telephone directory.

We decided our roof aerial, which must have been up there for 40 years at least, was looking unsound so decided to see about getting it taken down.

Having looked in  the local phone book we phoned a firm with a Bromley Number who quoted £69 plus VAT and that they could come the same day.When the technician arrived it was for a different firm; he asked to examine access etc and then said he would write out the quote.When this was presented the figure showing was £220 plusVAT!!! When this was challenged he stated the phone quote would have been for taking an aerial down from a smaller property. He was sent on his way.

We then investigated quotes on the net and spoke with a firm in Welling; they took details of our house, viewed it on Google and then quoted £80 plus VAT. We have accepted that quote.

Whether we are being cynical or not we wonder if the original quote of £69 was that company’s finders fee. Perhaps they were relying on a client who was not prepared to argue against the higher quote. We had verged on contacting Trading Standards but left matters. Perhaps the best advice is to beware some of the firms showing in the local phone book.

The second company arrived when agreed and removed the old aerial despite it being a windy day. As advised always obtain more than one quote. Also look online at the company's website to see if there are any reviews (but treat these with caution as they may have been made by the company itself.) 

Another way of checking on companies is to use the "Safer Bromley Trader Register" website at https://www.traderregister.org.uk/bromley/index.php or Rated People at http://www.ratedpeople.com/.

The consumer organisation Which also has a website at http://local.which.co.uk/ but requires registration.

While every care has been taken in the compilation of this information, it is for information only and does not imply any endorsement by LERA for the businesses or their products.

Take long walks to reduce your risk of stroke

New research finds that spending a long time walking each day, even at a slow pace, can lower your 

risk of stroke.

Doing exercise is obviously a good way to reduce your risk of any cardiovascular event, but new research published in the journal Stroke has found that for older men, at least, it might not be necessary to walk at high speed in order to lower your risk of stroke. Spending a long time walking on a daily basis appears to have a stronger effect than the speed of your walking.

Researchers from University College London, who were part-funded by the British Heart Foundation, analysed data spanning ten years from more than 3,000 healthy men, all of whom were 60 or older.
The data showed how often the men walked, for how long and at what speed, as well as incidence of stroke – 195 men suffered a stroke in the ten-year period.

The men were then grouped according to how much and how often they walked – and the results showed that men who walked between one and two hours per day had a 33% lower risk of stroke than men who walked less than three hours a week. For men who walked more than 22 hours per week the risk of stroke fell by two thirds.

Those who walked faster did show further reduction in risk but, say the researchers, this is a result of their walking farther than men who walked slower. They suggest that what’s important is the time spent exercising rather than the intensity. Interestingly the researchers didn’t find a strong association between total leisure time physical activity and reduced stroke risk. 

For more details see this article in the Daily Mail walk for longer not faster

Welcome to November’s newsletter.

Burglars across South London are being targeted as we launch a burglary initiative to
coincide with the shortening days, in conjunction with a campaign to remind residents
that there are simple measures that they can take to reduce the risk of being a target
for burglars.

Operation Bumblebee will see the boroughs of Bromley, Bexley, Greenwich, Lewisham, Lambeth, Croydon and Southwark target burglars through a new ‘South Area Bumblebee Team’, targeting our combined resources to detecting where burglars may strike and arresting suspects in efforts to tackle the traditional rise of these offences at this time of the year.

Whilst overall, burglary across the MPS is down by 7.4% - and down by over 10%
across Bromley - as the clocks go back there is a seasonal trend for it to increase over
the period from September to December. Figures show that homes become more
vulnerable to burglars at this time of year as the evenings get darker with burglars on
the prowl for valuables and cash. During this period residential properties remain in
darkness for much longer periods which makes them easier for burglars to target,
especially if there are no obvious signs that there is anyone home.

Whilst we are determined to raise people's awareness of security and help stop burglary from happening in the first place, we are also introducing a tough new approach to improving performance in investigating and
tackling burglary through the creation of the new 'South Area Bumblebee Team'. This team will be made up of experienced and specialised officers and will be able to work across borough boundaries, co-ordinate search activity for outstanding suspects, manage an improved forensic strategy and work in partnership with the MPS’s Territorial Support Group and the London Crime Squad to bring offenders to justice.

We will also be exploring other tactics such as predictive policing, which enables us to identify where certain
crimes are more likely to be repeated. It uses a specially designed computer algorithm to produce crime maps, which can then direct police officers to the areas where they are more likely to be successful in preventing and detecting burglary.

More details on this, our latest Operation Big Wing and details of some of our latest convictions can be found at the following link :-Borough Commander's Newsletter
Steph Roberts
Borough Commander

Burnt Ash Library Reading Group 28th November

The next meeting of the reading group at Burnt Ash Library is on Thursday 28th November 2013 at 2.15 pm.

The book to be discussed is:-

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield

Behind this rather prim title lies the hilarious fictional diary of a disaster-prone lady of the 1930s, and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos: there's her husband Robert, who, when he's not snoozing behind The Times, does everything with grumbling reluctance; her gleefully troublesome children; and a succession of tricky servants who invariably seem to gain the upper hand. And if her domestic trials are not enough, she must keep up appearances. Particularly with the maddeningly patronising Lady Boxe, whom our Provincial Lady eternally (and unsuccessfully) tries to compete with.

Due to high demand they are currently unable to take new members.  Please ask if you wish to join the waiting list.

For more details visit the library or contact the librarians on 020 8460 3405 or by email at burntash.library@bromley.gov.uk

For details of other activities at the Burnt Ash Library see the following link:-
http://www.bromley.gov.uk/directory_record/34386/burnt_ash_library

Messy Nativity Sheep Trail

Messy Church usually happens at St Andrew's Church every 3rd Sunday of the Month at 4pm. As part of the preparations for Christmas the Messy Nativity Sheep Trail is a collaboration with St Andrew's Church, their knitters and the shops and library on Burnt Ash Parade.

Find the names of the missing sheep.

The actual knitted sheep may look different from these two

One of the Burnt Ash shepherds has lost his sheep. He knows that he went into 13 shops on Burnt Ash Parade. He needs help to find his sheep. You will need to collect a form from the library, the church or Minn's Hardware Store. On the form there is a list of the shops visited. You will need to look in each one for a knitted sheep. When you find the sheep leave it where it is but write its name on the space on your form. When you have found all the names complete your details on the form and post the first page of the leaflet in the prize draw box at Minn's, the library or the church.

The prize draw will take place on Sunday 22nd December at St Andrew's church at the 4pm Crib Service.

Redevelopment of the Baring Hall Hotel Site

For some years now the Baring Hall site has been a bit of an eyesore. The owners have submitted plans to redevelop the site. Several of the outbuildings are to be demolished and replaced with new buildings with shops on the ground floor and one or two bedroom flats above.

The proposals can be viewed on the Lewisham website at:-

http://planning.lewisham.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=_LEWIS_DCAPR_71296

There are 26 documents but the most useful one is "Design, access and conservation" which includes the following statement on page 15

"For the purposes of long term planning, we note that the intention is to restore the deteriorated
Baring Hall Hotel back into a functioning and successful public house, however as mentioned previous [sic] this is financially dependent on the development of the rest of the site, "

We'll drink to that!

Attempted Burglaries in LINKS estate

Following two attempted burglaries in the estate the police have posted the leaflet below to nearby houses. The advice below really applies to all householders in the area. Please note that as this is an image the web links are not clickable. To view the website you will need to type them in.