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Pam Gilby, right, with actor Janet Suzman at South End Green Association’s annual meeting on Tuesday |
‘Pam was just too friendly’
Campaigns champion quits residents’ group over social events proposal snub
TOGETHER, they pestered a developer into handing over £100,000 to revamp a Victorian fountain in the heart of their village.
They battled with Transport for London over where a bus stop should go, and they fought government plans to close their post office.
And the Town Hall hasn’t escaped the hawkeye watch of the South End Green Association (SEGA) either, with officials often dragged into rows over licensing, trees and rates.
But when association chairwoman Pam Gilby – the driving force behind these campaigns – suggested the group should also offer social events, the team spirit was suddenly lost. She resigned at the association’s annual meeting on Tuesday night, drawing to a close more than 10 years’ service – two-and-a-half of them as chairwoman.
She said she no longer shared the views of other SEGA members who believe that the group should deal solely with political issues such as traffic, conservation and the environment.
Mrs Gilby said: “It was a hard decision to take. I care deeply about South End Green and I have been involved for so long, but I decided, because of this disagreement, this was the only course of action open to me.”
Mrs Gilby set up a choir earlier this year – The Fleet Singers – who last week sang at the Royal Albert Hall. She had wanted them to be affiliated to SEGA but was voted down by other members of the committee.
“All voluntary organisations are facing tough times,” she said. “We must be flexible in our approach to how organisations work and make them more relevant to people. I felt music was a good way of doing this. I also thought we could do picnics on the Heath, hold more activities for children, that sort of thing.”
But Mrs Gilby’s initiatives met a series of stony silences.
“Some members of the SEGA committee were rigid in what they wanted the association to do,” she said. “They wanted us to solely consider issues such as conservation, traffic and bicycle racks. My vision was to bring people together on a social level.”
Mrs Gilby, who has lived in the area since 1972, has a list of triumphs to her name, including the restoration of the centrepiece fountain in South End Green. She also rallied support to move the No 168 bus stand.
Committee member Dominique Welbank insisted the association needs to retain its focus on the big issues.
“Our strength is campaigning,” she said. “Of course, what we do all depends on what the members want. In the meantime we will keep on campaigning on local issues as we always have done.”
At Tueday’s meeting, held in the Heath Library in Keats Grove, Gospel Oak councillor Lulu Mitchell praised Ms Gilby’s influence.
She said: “The traders know how much the Green means to Pam, and I want to thank her on everyone’s behalf for her efforts over the past 20 years. I don’t know what we would have done without her.” |
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