Medley

But is anyone talking about the Tube to Bromley really? Surely more realistic to take the Bakerloo to Beckenham type distance at most? Anyway, hopefully SE London ends up with both fewer stop/longer distance services and all-stations stop Tube (although you can, as with the Met line, sometimes have a blend of both).

Harrow is nearly three times as far from central London as ED, so not really an apt comparison. But let's look on the bright side - if the Bakerloo is extended by around 2040, there can be a nice centenary aspect to the opening ceremony. I.e. it'll be a century or so since they first started digging beyond E&C to Camberwell.

Well so he has. Not just Bakerloo line extension, but also the idea of a South London Metro. Consultation doc and presentation and consultation form all here https://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/business-economy/vision-and-strategy/infrastructure-plan-2050?source=vanityurl

To repeat - I'm talking about S E London, not S London. I'm not doubting Brixton is in S London!

Oh East London is transformed - but not SE London. And of Zebedee's projects, JLE is to the far north of SE London (so to speak), DLR extension is fair and square in it, London O network likewise, Vic lines - er, not at all. Likewise the Battersea extension.

It IS great to see people talking about it more. There's such a case for it, to my mind. Time and again, developments come to London public transport: DLR, resignalling and so hiked frequency (Jubilee, Victoria), new trains (Met, Circle etc. lines), London Overground expansion and new trains, Crossrail, talk of Crossrail 2, even the flipping cable car, Barclays/Boris/Ken bikes. But most of them are for other bits of London. 'Nuff's enough.

James, agree about the Camberwell PTAL point. But you must be aware, or should be aware, that the idea that the cost of that DLR extension to Lewisham was exorbitant - so there may be an element of 'once bitten, twice shy' there.

Much as I like HACAN, I don't take anything positive for our area from that blog necessarily. Even if Heathrow change flight paths, it would remain to be seen what the effect on round here would be - I very much doubt we'd become noise free.

I bought in a not dissimilar block fairly closeby. Talked to people already owning and living there at the time before jumping in. They already had enfranchisement under way. That service charge is way too high, especially given the condition you're describing. If getting share of freehold or right to manage at least (where you hoof the management co out but are still with the freeholder) aren't options, partic share of freehold, then I'd probably counsel to walk away. No knowledge of the partic block, except from having cycled/driven past it lots.

I've cycled in London since '06, most days. It can be scary - that's the reality. However, it is also incredibly liberating - in terms of time, predictable journeys, money, fitness. Parking's no problem! I strongly, strongly urge you to book cycle lessons through the local council - they're free - as a starting point. Riding a bike is one thing; riding a bike in London is another. The lessons start gradually, suited to you, and build up to busier/trickier junctions and roads. Learning by doing has its place, but so does someone experienced helping you. My one top tip - look people in the eyes. Pedestrians, drivers, motorcyclists, other cyclists if needs be. It's an instinctive human reaction that once they've looked you in the eyes - not just seen you, but looked you in the eyes - they properly acknowledge that you're there and consequently give you space. Told to me by my cycling instructor and boy oh boy does it work. Particularly with pedestrians - it's often as if they've been pulled back from stepping into the road by a bungee.

If planning goes OK, when would you open, how many screens, what's the food/drink offer etc?

I don't know this shop, but as someone else posted above - why not call trading standards about it?

Oh totally agree - I was pointing to HOP/FH to make the contrast.

Plus the Overground service at HOP/FH has not arrived to the detriment of the Southern service to London B (albeit I'm still mourning the loss of the Charing X trains a bit) - so if all you need is the Jubilee line to head westwards, you've got 16 trains per hour or so to choose from. That really is turn up and go, the timetable becomes irrelevant.

Try a combo of: - tips on here and other threads on this forum - TfL journey planner in cycle mode - http://routes.lcc.org.uk/journey/

No, I'm talking about each way. E.g. next trains from HOP to C Water are: 17.26 17.36 17.41 17.51 17.56 18.06 18.11 18.21

The Burgess Pk area has a dire need for better public t. LO being only 4 per hour - depends on your LO. At HOP it's 8 per hour.

Of course some of this is about plugging the gap left when the third Crystal Palace line was pulled back in the '50s - trains ran: Ludgate Hill (City Thameslink) St Paul's Elephant Loughb J D Hill P Rye Nunhead Honor Oak (where the Wood Vale estate now is) Lordship Lane Upper Sydenham C Palace http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/honor_oak/

And I still don't really get the transient point. I get that right around Tube stations (Highbury, Finsbury Pk to take just two examples) can feel transient and scuzzy. But a couple of streets away you've got areas that don't seem to me to have less of a community feel. Just my opinion. In any case for me it's really about improved public transport that can cope in the peak, and get me to work easier and quicker. So it's not Tube vs no Tube so much as better vs worse public transport. I used to live in one of those transport holes - south of P Rye Pk (i.e. Honor Oak) - and then moved over the hill to Honor Oak Park. HOP doesn't have the Tube, but at 16 trains per hour in the morning peak it's got enough of a service, and its transport access is several worlds away from Honor Oak.

My rule of thumb: 3's not bad at all. 6 is off the chart/central London stuff. 2 is where you've got problems.

There's also the point that moving to be on a tube line is a financial impossibility for most tube stations. Which rather undermines the Bromley-type attitude of "no Tube here, thanks very much". Bromley did of course build a 'class' wall to keep out the proles. http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/11008018.Bromley_s__class_wall___a_7ft_barrier_between_rich_and_poor_stood_here_less_than_100_years_ago/?ref=mr There are indeed those public transport access holes. There is a data set called public transport access levels - this website's useful http://www.webptals.org.uk/ high scores are good, postcode searches need a space in the middle

I work in an office that is 500ft away from the runway at city airport. When I go outside for the occasional fag you can stand and watch planes take off and land and I can still have a conversation without needing to raise my voice. I don't doubt that the noise is annoying to those that say it's annoying. Why would I call them liars. What I find silly is the over egging of the pudding with things like YOU HAVE TO SHOUT ON THE STREET TO BE HEARD WHEN A PLANE IS FLYING OVERHEAD. That's just a nonsense, and doesn't exactly get people onside ---- That sounds jolly sensible, but it's unfortunately not true. I live in Honor Oak Park and when the planes are right overhead you have to markedly raise your voice if outside - not quite to shouting, but nearly. I think the point I take from this is that the noise experienced is a) subjective of course, but b) highly variable depending on distances vertical and horizontal, wind direction, engine/plane type, surrounding environment etc. So generalisations that ignore peoples' experiences don't, er, fly.

> The lease is new 125years and owned by the vendor. The ground rent starts at ?350p/a and doubles every 25 years. In >addition all of the freeholder's building maintenance costs are expected to be covered by the owners of the flats, not the > freeholder. That sounds very high to me. Depends what you mean by maintenance costs, but if it's normal level service charge plus that ground rent then that's a lot. Points by others about collective enfranchisement are well made. Beware using a non-London solicitor if they're not familiar with leasehold issues.

Thanks for the reply. But: - There's nowhere leafy and cat free. - We tried fat balls and peanuts. - We tried the ground idea, but enormous pigeons then descend to wolf it up. - We've been at this 2 years!! Fair point on manky food.

Here's a puzzle for you expert folks. My dad is mad-keen on bird watching, and has been since he was tiny (his dad was too). I'm less so, but take a background/genial kind of interest. So when we moved to our first house with a garden, a few streets south and east of Honor Oak Park station, I was excited and thought we'd be feeding many a feathered visitor. But there must be more birds within the Tube system than there are in our back garden. What are we doing wrong? We've got a water feeder, two seed feeders of different kinds, we've placed all this on a spike as far away from fences as possible. There are so few takers the food in the shed is now going mouldy. There are a fair number of cats around, as per usual in the 'burbs, and foxes, pigeons etc. Relatively few trees for birds to light on also. Tempting nature reserves nearby I suppose too. But we have almost no birds. Any ideas?