Cllr Rowenna Davis

Time for a long overview update on the High Streets First campaign. For those who weren’t watching earlier, we’re calling on the government to give local councils the power to limit the number of betting shops in their areas. Constituents in Peckham continue to raise this as an issue with me, and together we’re going from strength to strength:

1) All three of the mayoral candidates for London have supported our campaign. In a hustings held by the Salvation Army on 18th April, Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnson, Brian Paddock and Jenny Jones all supported our cause. See the coverage here.

2) The campaign has inspired other boroughs who have come forward. Ealing is suffering from similar problems of proliferation and came to visit Peckham before passing a motion in support of our campaign at their council assembly (many thanks to Daniel and Katherine Crawford). Manchester and Waltham Forest have also expressed their support (special thanks to Kev Peel!).

3) The Chinese community in Soho have come on board. Problem gambling disproportionately affects this community, and Chinese church leaders met faith leaders in Peckham last week (many thanks to Rosemary Shaw at the Coplestone Centre and Citizens Campaigners Bernadette Farrell and Tom Chigbo!) who agreed to work together to support the campaign. Also many thanks to the Salvation Army and Methodist Churches who have been really helpful.

4) The media coverage has grown massively. On top of all the press coverage here, we were featured in an April edition of the Economist and are set to be featured in the Guardian on Saturday.

5) We now have our own official website here where you can get more detailed news on the campaign thanks to Matt Zarb-Cousin and David Bowerman, and we are officially endorsed as a Grasp campaign.

There are bluebells in Peckham.

They’re popping up one by one in the sunshine in my local park, defying the stereotype of a neighbourhood known as “Peck-nam” – a centre of urban violence and decay.

The tragic murder of Damilola Taylor, a high crime rate and last summer’s riots mean that Peckham comes with a stigma. My constituents have been told not to put their address on job applications, because it might lower their chances.

But the people of Peckham know a different story. They aren’t afraid to live here, they are proud to. Now they are taking their reputation into their own hands.

Flipside Peckham is a new initiative designed to challenge the image of Peckham. A grassroots community group set up by Angela, Jacob and Bernice, they are running photography projects in schools and holding celebratory events to tell their stories in their own words.

The campaign came about to challenge media perception. A dissertation by Paul Burvill from Bath University found that crime in Peckham was reported disproportionately compared to other areas with similar crime rates, and only a tiny proportion of the coverage contained quotes from local people or community groups.

Few news stories bother to mention that crime, although still high, actually fell in Peckham last year.

Focus groups with Peckham residents revealed real anger about the coverage. Locals felt that the actions of the few were being allowed to stigmatise the actions of the many, that it was putting off businesses from moving in and spreading suspicion.

No wonder they want to tell a different story.

Local press has already started to get this. Southwark News, SE15 and Southwark TV are already telling the positive stories of local community groups like Peckham Shed, Peckham Settlement, Peckham Residents Network, Peckham Voluntary Sector Forum and the good work of local councillors.

Like the bluebells, these stories are shooting through the stereotypes. They’re beautiful, they’re rooted in Peckham and they’re spreading. If you don’t believe us, come and see them for yourself.

I’m slightly worried they are going to usurp me. Since I was elected in May I’ve had four young people shadowing me in my role as a councillor. It gives budding young politicians some experience and knowledge of local democracy and it’s something to put on the CV.

Everen Yongo

“I have to honestly say that this is an experience that I never thought I would get in my life. Through shadowing Rowenna, I have realized that politicains ,especially, councillors have a great amount of responsiblity for thier communities. It is even more amazing as they still obtain a full time job, while dealing with issues in thier local wards. I have really enjoyed shadowing because I have learnt such a great whilst getting to know a truly inspirational individual.”

Iveren Yongo

“Through shadowing Rowenna Davis, I have been allowed to develop my political interest, knowledge and opinions. I have been inspired to inform young people and pursue a career within this field. I have observed that there are people involved in politics who genuinely care about people they meet, whether they are incredibly influential or unfortunate. Rowenna has helped me to appreciate my local community and raised the significance of individuals in society.”

Renie – my irreplaceable first shadow who followed me over the summer – already wrote about his experiences here. My current shadow – Dami Benbow – should be writing something soon.

Politicians should be people like us. When I was elected I pledged to help increase the diversity of Labour councillors in Southwark, so in October I helped organise an event with the fabulous Mary Foulkes and Paul Bates to do just that.

Over eighty people turned up during our day long conference held in the Beourmund Centre to hear about what it meant to be a councillor, why they cared about Labour and the community and how they could get involved.

We held role plays to give people a practical taste of the challenges of local government and I presented a “week in the life of a councillor” with a dodgy flip chart. A Q&A with some of our best councillors – including Michael Situ, Fiona Colley, Althea Smith, Darren Merrill, Claire Hickson, Abdul Mohammed, Richard Livingstone and Nick Dolezal – gave people the chance to ask about everything from expenses to work life balance.

Our excellent campaigner Ali Craft was also on hand to talk about Labour strategy in the upcoming elections, and there was even a free lunch. Can’t beat that.

If you live in Southwark and are interested in becoming a councillor, feel free to get in touch at rowenna.davis@southwark.gov.uk.

A fortnight into the campaign, the media attention has exploded. Here’s an update:

Mail on Sunday: When bookies are more common than post offices, Britain has a major problem

BBC News: More than 1,100 people have signed a petition backing a campaign to restrict the number of betting shops.

New Statesman: An Open Letter to Eric Pickles

LabourList: A Plague on Our High Streets

Left Foot Forward: Betting Shops are Blighting High Streets and Councils Can’t Do Anything About Them

New Statesman: Why You Should Back High Streets First

Liberal Conspiracy: Letting Betting Shops proliferate is part of a Wider Problem

Southwark News: More than 500 people sign new campaign in a day

And a letter of support from Prem Goyal

Independent – End Clustering of Betting Shops

New Statesman: Why something needs to be done about the betting industry

And we’ve also featured on the BBC Radio 4′s Today Programme, a whole set of student media projects. Plus we’re due to go on BBC’s the One Show, so watch this space!

The campaign to give local people power over the number of bookies in their area has had an amazing response in its first week. Here’s what we’ve managed to achieve:

Over 1,000 people have signed our online petition. Keep the numbers going by adding your name here!

As well as the New Statesman coverage, we were featured on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme and BBC News, we received excellent local press coverage in the Southwark News and the credible blogs Left Foot Forward, Liberal Conspiracy and Political Scrapbook all covered us.

We received an excellent list of endorsements including Tom Watson MP, Harriet Harman MP, David Lammy MP, London Assembly Member Jennette Arnold and the campaigners Owen Jones of Chavs fame and Neal Lawson of Compass.

We have written an open letter to Eric Pickles asking him to come to Peckham, meet the community and hear their concerns. Let’s see if he responds..

If this is what week one looks like, where will we be achieving by week two?

I’ve written an open letter to the big man himself, the minister for communities and local government Eric Pickles, for a tour of Southwark’s bookies.

It’s published in full in the New Statesman here, but here’s how it starts:

Dear Mr Pickles,

I’m writing to invite you to Peckham. People here feel that their high streets are being inundated with betting shops. They feel that they are losing control of the public spaces they love. They look to me and my fellow councillors for leadership, but at present we don’t have any meaningful powers to change things. You have the ability to grant us that authority, and we want to show you why.

Incidentally, if Mr Pickles did come, the tour might take quite a while. Here’s a map of all 77 of the betting shops in Southwark:

View Southwark Betting Shops Map – Harriet Harman MP in a full screen map

Credit: Harriet Harman MP. The Problem of Betting Shops. November 2011.

Betting shops are causing problems in Peckham. My constituents tell me that they take the most from the poorest. They complain that they are a source of anti social behaviour and recorded violence. They say they cluster on the poorest high streets, and put off other businesses.

The problem is that as a councillor, I can’t do anything about it. Current planning laws mean that local councils have no meaningful way of controlling the number of betting shops in their area.

We now have a rare chance to change that. Mary Portas recently conducted an independent review of high streets. One of her recommendations was that betting shops be put into a separate “use class”, which would mean that bookies have to get permission from the local council before they open a new branch.

This is not an anti-gambling campaign. I like to place the odd bet myself. It’s just about recognising local people’s right to have a say and having a high street that’s not just dictated by the market.  The communities secretary Eric Pickles has to make up his mind on this by May. If you think he should give councils this power, then please sign the petition, leave an endorsement and tell your friends.

Supporters so far come from across the political spectrum. David Lammy MP, Cllr David Parsons, Mark Ferguson, Laurence Durnham and Sunny Hundal are just some of the names who have already endorsed the campaign.  Will you join them?

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN AND READ ENDORSEMENTS HERE

Every night I walk home past Ladbrokes on Peckham High Street, and every night it gives me shivers. One evening I decided to do a bit of digging. The full article was published on 14/12/11 at the New Statesman here.

“I’ll pay you back as soon as I’ve won,” says the guy blocking my way out. It’s almost 10pm, and Ladbrokes is still open. I’ve come in to see what it’s like, and accidentally won my bet back ten fold. Now everyone is watching me pocket my winnings in a neon lit room littered with failed paper bets. I’m surrounded by a group of guys in black padded jackets who ran out of money long ago.

Betting shops have always come with their problems, but the challenges they pose today are fundamentally different to the past. We are dealing with an industry that has become commodified, mechanised and — in some of the poorest areas of our communities — totally mainstream. Our democratic structures were not designed to deal with this, and they’re failing. Something needs to be done.

Betting shops cluster around particular high streets as well as certain boroughs. They are often conveniently located next to payday loan stores. Their staff, in colourfully branded caps and t-shirts, echo nearby fast food outlets. In Southwark, they are spreading on Rye Lane and the Walworth Road, opening up whenever another business goes under in the downturn. There are 77 in Southwark alone. There are even rumours one may replace a local jobs centre.

Ladbrokes on Peckham High Street was one of the shops kicked in during the August riots. I remember it left a cracked spider web of broken glass. There’s a growing anger at these businesses from some of poorest people in the community I serve, and in others around the country. As a local councillor forthe Lane, I want to revisit this topic, talk to the staff and customers in these shops and figure out what can be done. Although after the close call last night, I might go back at earlier hours.

This article appears in full at the New Statesman on 1/12/11 here.

Ernest Nkrumah opens the door of his tiny flat with a blue tooth chip clipped to his chin, and a loud African shirt. His home is rammed with desks, computers and trailing wires. Posters of HIV and Aids line the walls alongside pictures of Barak Obama, Michael Jackson and Ghanaian flags. Nkrumah’s humble home on the top floor of a Peckham estate is also his Foundation. His mouthpiece lets him take calls from patients at anytime.

He spoke about a community I hardly recognise. A community where family, friends and faith leaders do not recognise the condition as anything other than a curse. A significant group, who still see HIV as a “dirty illness for dirty people”; a just punishment for inappropriate behaviour. NHS staff are still being refused entry to my local churches to offer tests, and banned from mentioning the disease in front of religious buildings. South London radio stations continue to pump out disrespect for sufferers in different languages, and free contraception is not taken up.