Last night,  I chaired my last ever meeting of the Southwark Environment Forum. I am passing over to the new councillor in charge of environment, Cllr Lisa Rajan.  (I would have chaired it much better if i hadn’t lost my voice…)

The Forum was re-formed when the Lib Dems won the 2002 election. (Shamefully, it had previously been abolished under Labour.) It brings together campaign groups like Southwark Friends of the Earth and the Friends of Parks groups,  voluntary sector organisations like Groundwork Southwark and SEA/Renue, and stautory bodies like the Environment Agency.   

For four years we’ve acted as a Forum and consultative body which has been fine but we have always wanted to a place on the Local Strategic Partnership - the Southwark Alliance.

 The Alliance includes the Council and the other big government organisations in the Borough like the Police and the local NHS. It is a Government led attempt to get more ‘joint working’ without having to give councils more power.

 The Alliance has sub-groups and policy themes which cover most of the key areas like health and community safety- but for reasons I never understood, it was set up without a specific voice for the environment at all. 

 The good news is that after four years of lobbying, Southwark Alliance has changed its constituion and has offered a place for the Southwark Environment Forum. That meant that last night we had to tighten up our constitution to become a formal partnership body that seeks to influence not just the Council but the Alliance as a whole.

I am not sure but think that we are one of the first Local Strategic Parterships to have done this.  

I hope that it will help ensure that environmental concerns can’t be ignored by organisations like the police and the NHS that don’t always understand what an effect they can have on our local environment.