cella

Well, as the op says, bins are left outside all the time and not inside gates so not just on collection days. The Southwark letter we received was referring to this and not to do with rubbish collection days.

People do this in our road and sometimes it's unpleasant to have to walk past overloaded smelly bins. A couple of years ago everyone in the road received a standard letter from Southwark reminding people to put their bins away as it was unsightly, gave pedestrians less room for manoeuvre etc but not sure how this is formally policed. Unwanted household items & furniture are also left outside houses. A lot of us do care how the street looks and just don't understand how these residents don't seem to worry about the area immediately outside their own homes.

Seriously OP - "asking for a donation..." Lost me at that point.

I do think it's fine to offer the free gym & swim when it's less busy - otherwise it would be difficult to manage - and locals still benefit. What I think is more of a problem is the new management not engaging fully with customers. I've raised a very basic query with them and despite chasing several times I've not had the courtesy of a response. I've now emailed David Bibby, the top man, but still no reply. Serious contempt from a company who presumably feel that they now have the contract and don't need to bother. Machines not working for weeks, entry turnstile abandoned, reception crowded with merchandise, unhealthy foods on offer - Personally I had hoped for an improvement after Fusion.

Why so cynical? This was a planned Labour budget decision and a 2 stage plan to offer free gym and swim to the local community to try and reduce obesity. A big plus and we should be seeing this in a very positive light.

This is an unpleasant thread and was never hunerous to start with. Can it stop now please.

I mean the last pic in the ad - shows a large looking green garden - just wondered where it actually is!

So far exactly the same though the reception is looking rather crammed with merchandise. Also, similar to Fusion, I raised a query via their site and have still to receive an answer!

Looks lovely - but apart from the dodgy planning permission issues surrounding this M&S development, can't work out where the green garden might be!

I've always thought ther is a general lack of respect shown to this mural. Children regularly play foitball on the patch of green and their footballs are constantly being kicked against the wall. Workmen were doing some work on the Flying Pig next door and had ladders and work gear up against the painting for a few days. I posted a while ago about a man urinatung against it in broad daylight. Plus graffiti. Shame.

I agree it was slightly chaotic this morning at the start of the yoga class. The music didn't work in our class and people seemed to be experiencing problems at the desk despite lots of staff mulling round but hopefully these are just teething problems and will be ironed out quickly. I'm surprised that the new management didn't insist that everything was ready to roll out efficiently at the start of their new contract eg machines all working etc. More importantly, they haven't proactively written to customers explaining that they are taking over the contract and welcoming users. I look forward to things improving and do hope that they make up for a late start in building a relationship in the area.

LouiseC Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The air con is the biggest issue for me, yesterday > was so unbearably hot I left after 20 mins (and > I'm an Australian who isn't afraid of hot > weather), they used to have freestanding units but > these seem to have disappeared...bring on the new > management! However must say, I hope they keep the > really nice, helpful blond guy on reception, he is > one of the few who is genuinely helpful. Agree with this - he has very good people skills - maybe he could train up other staff!

On the whole I find the gym ok as I mainly use it for the classes. I do hope that the new management comes with better maintenance contract suppliers as machines can sometimes be out of action for some time. The air conditioning is variable and, my main bugbear, the entry turnstile rarely works first time so you have to have several goes at it with a queue behind you. Whether these issues are down to the previous poor managers or duff maintenance contracts isn't clear but hopefully the Council will have incorporated better performance targets into the new contract.

There are slots every day for gym sessions if you look at the website.

My broadband was down for exactly 24 hours. I couldn't complete work I had started which was really annoying. I called Vurgin 4 tines during that time and was given a different story each time. I also got contradictory information when I asked what compensation was available. I have now been credited twice but not sure that would have automatically been the case if I hadn't asked. The thing is I am very happy with Virgin overall but just wish they would give honest and consistent advice to customers as this would lessen the stress all round.

Thanks for the responses all. Retrospectively various possible courses of action occurred to us though at the time it all happened so speedily that we didn't have the time to do anything. We fully appreciate that some people have mental health issues that cause unfortunate behaviour but we don't think that was the case here as he was more interested in shock value and disappeared quickly with a grin on his face. It's still unacceptable and we have hopefully evolved enough to think that men exposing their genitals to women is archaic behaviour. It can also possibly lead to other sexual crimes so absolutely no truck with it. It's worrying to think that these men may have women in their lives and how they would react if other men behaved in this way to them. Anyway we've moved on and are enjoying the weekend.

Just wondered what people think about this. I was out with a friend this evening to celebrate my birthday. We had just left a posh restaurant in Mayfair and as we exited into the street a man just pulled down his trousers and exposed himself then just walked off. We were so startled and didn't have time to react but have both been so sngry all the way home about it. If there is time to act what is the right way to deal with this sort of behaviour on a busy street?

In any leasehold building everybody is required to contribute to the maintenance costs of the whole building so it's not relevant where you live in the building.

The accountable senior officer is Deborah Collins who advises councillors on hese issues. As has been reported on this forum and elsewhere she is invisible and has never been known to actually deal direct with the public.

I've just ordered a replacement bin using the link.

I take a 78 bus to Liverpool Street Station and walk down to the Museum each time I go. Or take a bus from Liverpool Street Station for a few stops. Alternatively a 35 from Canberwell or 42 from Okd Kent Road.

I go often and just hop on either a 36 or 436 bus. Depending on the time of day and traffic, on a Sunday morning it usually takes me around 30 minutes.

As mentioned many times before on here there is nothing wrong with the range of activities on offer, quite the opposite. It's just the basic management of the centre which has always been a bit hit & miss - equipment not working when there is a maintenance contract in operation, phones not answered, classes cancelled on the day, proper cleaning of pool & gym facilities etc etc. As importantly, management available at the centre to deal with issues immediately before they become major. Fusion did not deliver to a reasonable level so hopefully the new contract, which appears to be for 7 years, will have built in targets.

This is excellent and offers free sessions to the under 60s - those over 60 have had this for a while. The only concern is if Fusion are allowed to keep the contract. The statement is non committal as to whether they will continue. If they are allowed to they will need to significantly up their game and respond to customers in a different way. For instance, will they cope with large numbers of people all accessing free sessions at the same time on Fridays and parts of the weekend?

Well I got my usual interest paid today.