ellabrunswick

I think we need secure places for bicycles at home. If you live in a terraced house converted to flats, or share a terraced house with lots of other people who want to cycle, or live in a small flat on the fourth floor of a block ... there's nowhere safe to leave your bike overnight. I think that lots of people who don't cycle at the moment might if they had somewhere to keep a bike. Even if they only use it for short journeys. Especially if they only use it for short journeys! That's what makes it normal - lots of people, of all ages, just popping to the shops or to visit a friend by bike. Look at this brilliant project in Lambeth using Bike Hangars - they are secure mini-sheds for 5 or 6 bikes that sit on the street and take up half a car parking space each. http://www.cyclehoop.com/product/bike-lockers/bike-hangar Lambeth ran a pilot in Bonnington Square (near Oval) and are now putting in 26 hangars as part of a larger traffic calming scheme around Hackford Road, off Brixton Road. http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/TransportStreets/GrassRoutesStreetsForPeople.htm Wouldn't it be great if Southwark tried putting in a couple of bike hangars in a street in East Dulwich?

And not forgetting the Turkish Food Centre just a little way up Camberwell New Road from Camberwell Green - good quality veg at wholesale prices, cartons of sour cherry juice, and giant bags of pulses, nuts etc.

Hi LondonMix, The two new blocks are to be built by the council as council flats. The converted drying rooms are to be sold off as private flats.

Hi EastDulwichHenry - I agree, the buildings of Dog Kennel Hill Estate are characterful and well-designed. The council's proposal is to add two more blocks on the sites of two of the original 1930s blocks, Southdown and Gatebeck, which were knocked down in 1970s and 90s. One site is near the corner of Pytchley and Dog Kennel Hill (currently an open space used for parking), the other faces the junction of Pytchley and Quorn (currently the football kickabout 'cage' and parking). Do have a look and see what you think of the designs for the new blocks.

People may be interested to know that there is a new consultation period for this planning application for the East Dulwich Estate: two new blocks (27 flats in total) along Pytchley Road, conversion of drying rooms into 18 flats, and landscaping including changes to parking, playgrounds, open spaces. The new consultation period was set up because essential drawings were not uploaded to the planning website at the start of the first consultation period. Consultation now runs until 16 Feb. See Southwark planning website http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/485/planning_applications/554/search_the_planning_applications_register under reference 12-AP-3563.

I spotted the notices around the estate on December 24 - but they are not very prominent or numerous, given the size and complexity of the works proposed. You can find the application and dozens of associated documents on the Southwark planning website under reference 12-AP-3563. The statutory planning consultation period has been extended to January 16, following an appeal from residents and councillors. The planning officer says 'the earliest this application will be determined is at the Planning Sub-Committee on February 12th, and we will take into account comments received up until shortly before determination, although you are advised to get your comments in sooner if you can'.

They are managed by Bikeaway http://www.bikeaway.com/. Here's a link to the waiting list. http://www.cyclemanagement.co.uk/lockers.aspx

I saw the collision Robbie described on the 29th September. It was really shocking how violent the impact was even at a low speed. I think (this is my sense of what happened) that the driver had stopped on the crossing (because of stationary cars ahead). The pedestrian stepped out because she saw that the cars had stopped, and was standing at a crossing, so assumed that the traffic lights had changed (I have done this mistakenly myself on the new Lordship Lane crossings, especially as there's a long pause between lights changing and sound signal to pedestrians). When the traffic ahead of the driver moved on, he started off without looking beyond the back of the car ahead, at the very moment when the pedestrian stepped out. As Robbie suggests, it could easily happen again. That morning, after the collision, I kept noticing how many drivers were moving along LL bumper to bumper, not keeping the crossing clear, stopping over a crossing (forcing pedestrians to weave through cars when given the signal to cross), or driving on regardless through red lights. Bus drivers too. It would help enormously to have the usual eye-level green/red man signals for pedestrians. It just seems to make sense to have the signal where it encourages you to look up and outwards! James B - can they ever be added on to a puffin crossing? But it would probably also help if the police could spend a few hours (a Saturday morning is probably the most significant time) monitoring how drivers actually use the road and reminding them of the law and highway code (e.g. 192 'In queuing traffic, you should keep the crossing clear' and 194 'Allow pedestrians plenty of time to cross and do not harass them by revving your engine or edging forward') Any chance of that? Who do we ask?

I've just been sent this info. I hope it belongs in this section, given that extending the bike hire scheme is a hot ED forum issue and it's a chance to gossip... 'Cyclists are invited to come to chat and cycle about cycle issues with Jenny Jones, London Assembly member, tomorrow, Tuesday 10th May. 08:00: Meet at Camberwell Green. 09:30: Cycle to Clapham common (Clapham common/Long road near the Long pond) to meet Wandsworth cyclists. Potentially explore the soon-to-open CS8 Superhighway route from Wandsworth to Millbank. 12:00: End at City Hall. Jenny Jones is keen to improve cycling around London, raise cycle awareness and to expand the cycle hire scheme to the same scale (at least) as the Paris Velib. If the London scheme were on the same scale as Paris, Camberwell would be within the area of the scheme.'

Has there been any news about this proposal? I emailed 'traffic orders' a month ago and was told that the scheme engineers would be in touch with me to discuss my query - but have not heard from them. Has anyone else?

Thanks, Nunhead Man - yes, Southwark Cyclists are great for advice and shared experience on this (as well as for going out to enjoy cycling in London on the social rides!) Brain Opera - Draft plans have been put through doors of flats on the estate with some terrific ideas for better playgrounds, wild-flower meadow planting instead of mown grass and strimmed shrubbery, fenced dog exercising areas, some tree planting etc. You should be able to see a plan if you ask at the temporary Albrighton Centre (Portacabin at the top of the estate). However, the budget for 'environmental improvements' includes essential repairs to Victorian drainage, and dilapidated walls and steps, as well as landcaping, so there's a lot of pressure on it.

Hello Brain Opera! Welcome to the lovely East Dulwich estate - it IS lovely, but don't lock your bike to the railings on the ground floor and expect to find it there in the morning. I'm one of a small group of people living here who have just formed the 'Bike and Buggy Users Group' - we're lobbying for secure storage to be included in the designs for the landscaping of the estate (the last stage of the regeneration and due to begin this summer, funds allowing). We're planning to fundraise to buy sheds (eg via Cleaner, Greener, Safer fund as DJKillaQueen suggests - this has been successful on nearby estates). We're meeting on Saturday 5th to look at suitable spots for lockers and plan next steps - do PM me for details!

> I keep on thinking the time has come to get a > bike, but what I'd like to know is where people > keep their bikes overnight? Our house is prettycont > small so there's not really room to bring one > inside. Are those bike box things any good? This is a question that's been bothering me - and I wonder how far lack of storage puts people off cycling altogether? Would there be any interest locally in a hire-purchase scheme to make front garden bike boxes more affordable? or the Dutch-style street 'cages' for (I think) 6 -10 bikes, each replacing one car-parking space? (There's a picture of one on www.vivavauxhall.org) On the East Dulwich/Dog Kennel Hill estate (opposite Sainsburys), we're no longer supposed to keep bikes on the walkways outside the flats (quite reasonably - to keep access clear in case of fire) but bikes locked to the ground floor railings get stolen and hallways inside the flats are too small even for hanging bikes up. So my beloved, elderly bike is still carried up 3 flights and locked outside the flat (it's at the end of a walkway though, so I'm the only one who'd have to get past it!). For anyone who lives on the estate and cycles (or wants to) there's a new Bike and Buggy Users Group looking particularly at storage (email spaceforwheels [at] gmail.com). It would be really good to hear from other people about solutions that have worked elsewhere...?

To pick up on the discussion about cycling and shopping streets, I agree that making it easy to shop by bike is all about having plenty of places (formal or informal) to park. And I'd be keen to join the walk to look at good places to add cycle parking on Lordship Lane. It also helps to have well-designed panniers, baskets or pull-along-trailers-that-convert-into-trolleys - avoiding backbreaking transport by rucksack! In Holland, vinyl panniers are left on many bikes most of the time and handbags/shopping bags are just slung into them without much faff. On the question of evidence that cyclists spend money in local shopping streets - yes, there is research that shows this. Four years ago, Southwark Cyclists ran a project from Surrey Quays Shopping Centre to promote cycle training and encourage cycling for shopping trips. The report on that project includes a few pages summarising research on cycling and shopping, including the European Commission's view that cyclists are 'better customers' because more often exposed to temptation (great!), and work by Sustrans on cyclists' contribution to local vitality. The report is on the Southwark Cyclists website http://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/content/campaigns and is called 'Shopping Centred Cycling' (the relevant pages are 9 to 11). Full disclosure (as they say): I wrote the report. Please excuse me for posting a link to it - it's in the hope that the research and references could still be useful to others.

There's a good account by Roy Mayall (a pseudonym, obviously...) of some of the reasons for the postal dispute here: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n18/maya01_.html