London Borough of Lewisham

London Borough of Lewisham
—  London borough  —
Coat of arms Council logo
Lewisham shown within Greater London
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	London
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Status	London borough
Admin HQ	Catford
Incorporated	1 April 1965
Government
• Type	London borough council
• Body	Lewisham London Borough Council
• Leadership	Mayor & Cabinet (Labour)
• Executive mayor	Steve Bullock
• MPs	Jim Dowd Heidi Alexander Joan Ruddock
• London Assembly	Len Duvall AM for Greenwich and Lewisham
• EU Parliament	London
Area
• Total	13.57 sq mi (35.15 km2)
Area rank	301st (of 326)
Population (2011 est.)
• Total	276,900
• Rank	40th (of 326)
• Density	Bad rounding here20,000/sq mi (Bad rounding here7,900/km2)
• Ethnicity	55.7% White British 2.4% White Irish 7.1% Other White 1.7% White & Black Caribbean 0.7% White & Black African 0.7% White & Asian 1.1% Other Mixed 2.3% Indian 0.7% Pakistani 0.7% Bangladeshi 1.6% Other Asian 11.5% Black Caribbean 9.0% Black African 1.9% Other Black 1.4% Chinese 1.4% Other
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Postcodes	{{{postcode_areas}}}
Police force	Metropolitan Police
Website	www.lewisham.gov.uk

Lewisham, an important transport hub

The London Borough of Lewisham ( pronunciation) is a London borough in south-east London, England and forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council and it is based in Catford.

The Prime Meridian passes through Lewisham.

History

The borough was formed in 1965, by the London Government Act 1963, as an amalgamation of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham and the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford, which had been created in 1900 as divisions of the County of London.

Minor boundary changes have occurred since its creation. The most significant amendments were made in 1996, when the former area of the Royal Docks in Deptford was transferred from the London Borough of Greenwich.

Geography

See also: List of districts in Lewisham

The borough is surrounded by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to the east, the London Borough of Bromley to the south and the London Borough of Southwark to the west. The River Thames forms a short section of northern boundary with the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Deptford Creek, Pool River, River Quaggy and River Ravensbourne pass through the borough. Major landmarks include All Saints Church in Blackheath, the Citibank Tower in Lewisham, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Church (Sydenham's German Church, technically located in Forest Hill), the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill and Millwall F.C. are based in the borough, their stadium The Den being located in South Bermondsey.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, Lewisham has a population of 248,922. Its population is 66% White, 12% Black Caribbean, and 9% Black African. Fifty percent of households are owner-occupiers.

Civic affairs

Motto

The motto of the borough is "Salus Populi Suprema Lex", which means (roughly translated) "The Welfare of the People is the first great Law".

Administration

The current Chief Executive is Barry Quirk. The borough is administered by the four directorates of the council: Children and Young People, Community Services, Customer Services, and Resources & Regeneration.

Twinning

The borough is twinned with the following towns:

• Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
• Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, France
• Matagalpa, Nicaragua

The borough has also signed a "friendship link" with Ekurhuleni, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

Freedom of the Borough

The honour of Freedom of the Borough has been awarded to:

• Alan Milner Smith, OBE, Town Clerk (9 December 1971)
• Frederick William Winslade, Esq., JP, appointed OBE for services to local government in Lewisham and Camberwell New Year Honours 1967 and CBE for services to local government in Lewisham Birthday Honours 1978(28 November 1975)
• Daisy Amelia Elizabeth Hurren (10 October 1985)
• Alfred Anderson Hawkins (30 March 1990)
• The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu (4 May 1990)
• Terry Waite, CBE (16 November 1992)
• The Reverend Sybil Theodora Phoenix, MBE, MS [Medal of Service, Co-operative Republic of Guyana] (8 March 1996)
• Dame Cicely Saunders, OM, DBE (10 March 2000)
• James Leslie Hicks ('Les') Eytle (8 June 2007)

Politics

Wards

The London Borough of Lewisham is divided into 18 wards, first used in the 2002 elections, they are:

• Bellingham
• Blackheath
• Brockley
• Catford
• Crofton Park
• Downham
• Evelyn
• Forest Hill
• Grove Park
• Ladywell
• Lee Green
• Lewisham Central
• New Cross
• Perry Vale
• Rushey Green
• Sydenham
• Telegraph Hill
• Whitefoot

Previous wards

Previously the borough was divided into 26 wards and 6 areas, used for elections from 1978 to 1998. Some of these former wards had the same names as the present wards, but their borders were different. When the wards were revised for 2002, some became larger, absorbing others. The previous wards and areas were:

Lewisham central Blythe Hill Crofton Park Ladywell Pepys Lewisham North East Blackheath Hither Green Manor Lee St. Andrew St. Margaret Lewisham North West Drake Evelyn Grinling Gibbons Marlowe

Lewisham South Bellingham Catford Perry Hill Rushey Green Whitefoot Lewisham South East Churchdown Downham Grove Park St. Mildred Lewisham South West Forest Hill Horniman Sydenham East Sydenham West

London Borough Council

Main articles: Lewisham London Borough Council and Lewisham local elections

Unlike in most English districts, Lewisham's council is led by a directly-elected mayor. The system was established at the 2002 council elections, and has now run for three mayoral elections, all of which Steve Bullock has won for the Labour party. The current number of councillors after the last local election is Labour 40, Liberal Democrats 12, Conservative 2 and Green Party 1.

Westminster Parliament

The borough includes the constituencies of Lewisham Deptford, Lewisham West and Lewisham East.

These are the MPs who have represented constituencies covered by the borough since its formation in 1964. Note that constituencies change their boundaries over time, even where names remain the same.

MP	Party	Represented	Dates
Heidi Alexander	Labour	Lewisham East	2010–Present
Christopher Chataway	Conservative	Lewisham North	1964-66
James Dickens	Labour	Lewisham West	1966-70
Jim Dowd	Labour	Lewisham West	1992–present
John Selwyn Gummer	Conservative	Lewisham West	1970-74 (Feb)
Carol Johnson	Labour	Lewisham South	1964-74 (Feb)
Patrick McNair-Wilson	Conservative	Lewisham West	1964-66
John Maples	Conservative	Lewisham West	1983-92
Roland Moyle	Labour	Lewisham North Lewisham East	1966-74 (Feb) 1974 (Feb)-79
Colin Moynihan	Conservative	Lewisham East	1983-92
Bridget Prentice	Labour	Lewisham East	1992–2010
Christopher Price	Labour	Lewisham West	1974 (Feb)-79
Joan Ruddock	Labour	Lewisham, Deptford	1987–present
John Silkin	Labour	Deptford Lewisham, Deptford	1964-74 (Feb) 1974 (Feb)-87

Transport

Lewisham station, once known as Lewisham Junction, is located at the junction of the lines to Dartford and Hayes, and is also the terminus of the southern branch of the Docklands Light Railway. The East London Line (on the London Underground network) terminated at New Cross and New Cross Gate until December 2007. An extension to this line opened on the 23 May 2010, serving, Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill, and Sydenham. This forms part of the London Overground network which is operated by National Rail.

Railway stations

Beckenham Hill Bellingham Blackheath – on the border between Lewisham & Greenwich Brockley (Also part of London Overground) Catford Catford Bridge Crofton Park Deptford Forest Hill (Also part of London Overground) Grove Park

Hither Green Honor Oak Park (Also part of London Overground) Ladywell Lee Lewisham Lower Sydenham – on the border between the Boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley New Cross (Also part of London Overground) New Cross Gate (Also part of London Overground) St Johns Sydenham (Also part of London Overground)

DLR stations

• Deptford Bridge – on the border between Lewisham and Greenwich.
• Elverson Road – on the border between Lewisham and Greenwich.
• Lewisham

There are no Tube stations in the borough, as the East London Line is now part of London Overground.

Main roads The South Circular Road passes through the centre of the borough from the border with Dulwich in the west to Eltham in the east. Except for a short section in Lee as it approaches Eltham, it is purely a one-lane-each-way road.

Sport and leisure

Millwall F.C. is based in The Den in the New Cross area.

The Borough has a Non-League football club Lewisham Borough F.C. who play at the Ladywell Arena, in Catford.

See also

• List of people from Lewisham
• List of public art in Lewisham

External links

• Lewisham London Borough Council