ellabrunswick

Jonathan (All City Sparks) recently completed first fix and NICEIC certification (installing lighting points, smoke alarms and consumer unit) in a new flat in Ladywell for me. He's very thorough and happy to explain the reasoning behind his decisions in terms of regulations and to discuss design possibilities. He's a pleasure to work with - considerate of people and the space he's working in. He's looking for more work in south London, having moved here fairly recently, so I offered to add a post here. Jonathan 07415 737 073 [email protected]

Part-time opportunity for friendly and organised person, starting ASAP and continuing to September. Full details here: https://www.theruss.org/2023/05/31/resident-sales-contact-job-opportunity/

The dynamic, inspiring German MEP Terry Reintke will talk about the experience of women in politics, the importance of hearing young people's voices and how to get involved, and her work on equalities. She led work in the European Parliament to tackle sexual harassment and was featured in TIME magazine's 'Person of the Year' issue in December 2017, as one of the "Silence Breakers" honoured for speaking out against sexual abuse and harassment. She'll be joined by Gulnar Hasnain, one of the two leading Green candidates for MEP in London, who will talk about the London context. All welcome. Sunday 12 May, at 2pm, upstairs at the Prince of Peckham pub, five mins from Peckham Rye station. Please RSVP https://www.southwarkgreenparty.org.uk/terry_reintke_20190512

Many thanks to Mark and Kate for setting up and chairing the East Dulwich Community Centre hustings last Friday - it was good to meet local residents and hear about their concerns. As I'm not one of the Green Party candidates for Goose Green and Dulwich Hill (they were unfortunately unable to make the date) I'm posting a link to information about those candidates for anyone interested in finding out more. Thanks! Eleanor https://www.southwarkgreenparty.org.uk/dulwich_hill_ward_candidates https://www.southwarkgreenparty.org.uk/goose_green_ward_candidates

Apologies for reviving an old thread, but would you be able to update us on the topiary trees? When the trees first went, there was a message on the school fence saying they were being looked after and would return. But I see that the bed has been tarmacked over...

Just writing to second David's suggestion about getting in touch with Southwark Cyclists. In fact the AGM is tonight and Cllr Darren Merrill will be there (Chair of the council's Joint Cycle Steering Group)so it would be a good chance to discuss the junction with other local people who cycle through it and think about how to make improvements http://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/events/southwark-cyclists-monthly-meeting-and-agm/

There will be a chance to meet all the candidates in the South Camberwell by-election on Thursday 8 October. Hustings will be held 7.30-9.30pm at the Albrighton Community Centre, East Dulwich Estate SE22 8AH (opposite Sainsburys on Dog Kennel Hill). Candidates will have 3 minutes each to present before questions from the audience. Chaired by Linda Craig. Come along and ensure your voice is heard. All welcome!

There will be a hustings for the South Camberwell by-election this Thursday 8 October at the Albrighton Centre, 7.30-9.30pm. All welcome.

It would be great if the feasibility study can look at nearby examples of road treatments and how they actually work - the best thing is to visit and see how it feels. If you have a chance to go to Van Gogh Walk/Isabella Street in Lambeth, that's a great example of how a whole group of local streets can become really pleasant to walk/cycle/sit out on/play on. http://www.vangoghwalk.org/ People can still drive to get to and from home for errands, but all kinds of other uses of the space come first. Nearer to East Dulwich - I've recently started using Kelly Avenue and Chandler Way to cycle between Peckham and Burgess Park. Both have gates or bollards at one end. The streets are wide, with lots of trees, and there seems to be plenty of room for car parking. People come and go by car, but there are no delivery vans whizzing through. Lots of waves and informal 'after you', 'no, after you' negotiation between drivers and cyclists and pedestrians. Especially in this warmer weather, it's really nice to see people standing in the street chatting and children playing on the pavement without huge anxiety about games spilling onto the tarmac. There's awareness of vehicles - I heard kids telling each other, 'a car's coming' - but not that sense of danger being just one step off the kerb. Anyway, do take a walk that way and see what you think. It was quite a surprise to me to discover a couple of almost Dutch streets so nearby.

Southwark Council uses glyphosate (Roundup) This was discussed on the forum last year here: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,1334257 Since that time, further concerns have been raised by the World Health Organisation. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/21/roundup-cancer-who-glyphosate-

Thanks intexas and Lucy! The roof garden is on the existing plans - it's proposed to cover it with astroturf and have some natural play equipment there. It's L-shaped - a rough guesstimate gives 3.5m x 6m for one leg and 12m x 5m for the other (with skylights taking up some of the available space).

I walk and cycle along Bellenden Road and the topiary trees are a delight at all times of year. They compliment the architecture of the building and make excellent use of a narrow space. They make me smile - and many others too, I'm sure. I've only just learned from this thread who was responsible for the years of work it's taken to shape the trees - thank you Lucy for all your work on making them so beautiful. The architecture of the building will be considered as part of the planning application - and the heritage report shows there's been careful thought about how to make a historical building work as a modern school. Similarly, I think the new school could really make a feature of what it has inherited in the topiary display - it's a huge investment of time, money and imagination by both the council and local people. There is not enough detail on the planning application to judge how the proposed space would actually be used for gardening by the children, especially as they are proposing a planter containing an 'instant hedge' in the same narrow corridor. From the 'Design and Access statement' of the planning application: Growing area The strip of land along Bellenden road will be connected with both the main and the Reception playground. A new planter with instant hedging set behind a new vertical bar metal fence will separate this space from the street, safeguarding pupils. It will enhance the street setting of the school and provide a learning resource through proving planting space for all the Years of the school.' From looking at the drawings, I can't agree that this hedge will 'enhance the street setting of the school' more than the existing topiary. I think the school should retain the yews, and simply keep that strip closed off to pupils (to avoid any risk of accidental consumption of leaves). Yes, it is a small site for a school. So small that playtimes will apparently have to be staggered. But there is a roof garden proposed which could offer much better conditions for growing food in containers than the strip between the high school building and a hedge. There are two great gardens - Marsden Road Wildlife Garden and Bellenden Road Nature Garden - within short walks of the school, the latter perhaps in need of a school partner now that Highshore has moved. There are lots of possibilities that would connect the school with the local community. I am going to respond to the planning application with these points and suggest anyone else interested should do so with their comments too. You can write by email [email protected], stating the application number 15/AP/0174 and your postal address (if you don't want your address and email address to show on the scanned version of your comments published on the website, make sure you ask for these to be redacted before being published).

This is a great idea - please do keep us posted here. My other dream continuation of this route from Queens Road would be east along Besson St, over the parking in front of New Cross Sainsbury's and right over the railway tracks, using a cycle and pedestrian bridge (like the railway bridge in Cambridge http://tinyurl.com/mvr4m97 )descending by Fordham Park and joining up with existing routes to Deptford and Greenwich. It would be great to be able to avoid the narrow, busy road outside New Cross Gate station.

Just a reminder that the deadline is this Friday. Still time to apply with a good idea - for cycle parking or anything else that fits the cleaner, greener, safer description!

If you want to cycle but can't because you have nowhere safe or accessible to keep a bike, you might be interested in Southwark Cyclists' new guide on how to get cycle parking http://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/cycle-parking-guide/ There are links to various websites where you can request cycle parking of various different kinds, from Sheffield stands - the usual U-shapes found on shopping streets - to individual lockers and the new 'breadbin' style hangars for six bikes. There's also some specific advice on proposing locations for cycle parking to the council's Cleaner Greener Safer scheme. Several EDF people applied last year - and two were successful, in Heber and Ulverscroft Road, thanks to supportive councillors. The hangars haven't yet been installed - but they will be! The deadline this year is 7 November, and it's a very simple online form, so it's well worth applying if you have a good idea.