Rockets

The empty roads had encouraged people to drive like idiots. There was an upside in the early weeks though, apparently the police were given permission to chase cars (normally they are not allowed to for fear of causing a crash) and quite a few baddies got the shock of their lives when they got chased and arrested!

There is a huge amount of self-interest driving this. Melbourne Grove seems to be the epicentre of self-interest but they seem to have the ear of the councillors and seem to be listened to more than anyone else in East Dulwich - look at how they were pandered to during the CPZ "consultations" and look at the red-carpet that was rolled out for them at the CPZ council hearings whilst traders and others were given scant regard and were completely overlooked. And James, your assumption that traffic magically evaporates is nonsense - it just goes another way. I was kind of hoping we might get a more reasoned response from the "opposition". ;-) To use the Trojan horse of corona-virus to lobby to try and fast-track this through is beyond belief - you could apply the same acid-test to every street in every city in the country at the moment. I do wonder whether the councillors are trying to force this through before social distancing reduces from 2m to 1m and all this becomes a bit of a moot point. This is political opportunism at its absolute worst.

You need to download and print your permit and put that and a recent utility bill on your dashboard - you also need a photocard driving licence. As you drive towards the recycling centre there is an initial holding point before the roundabout where you stop and they check your number plate, look at your permit and utility bill through the windscreen and then they look at your driving licence through the (closed) car window. If you are early for your time slot you then wait there but I was within the time slot so was waved through. As you enter the facility they stop you again, check your number plate against their records and then radio ahead and wave you through. At the top of the ramp they stop you again to tell you which bay to go to. The bays are bigger than usual and each bay has easy access to the different categories of waste so you don't have to go near anyone.

I went online and got a slot last week and went today and it was very smooth - in and out in no time at all - three separate checks by staff on they way in, all very efficient and well run.

For any resident in that area it is worth noting: This is one of Cllr McAsh's pet projects that he is shamelessly using Covid-19 as the catalyst for engaging those who live on the impacted roads to get the restrictions put in place. Cllr McAsh was canvassing Melbourne Grove residents some months ago agitating for the closure on the basis that the Dulwich Village Healthy Streets closures would push more traffic along Melbourne Grove. If you have any opposition you have to be vocal directly to Cllr McAsh and the council and make your voice be heard throughout the community - you are his constituents but he only tends to listen to the minority that further his goals. The survey Cllr McAsh has forwarded will exclude from the findings any input from anyone who does not live on the impacted roads. The same happened during the CPZ consultation. If you have any concerns make sure you are heard. He is supposed to represent you and look after your interests not those of his party.

Cllr McAsh was doing door to door lobbying of people on Melbourne Grove using the Dulwich Village proposed changes as the Trojan horse to drive home the changes on Melbourne Grove and now he can't go canvassing support door to door (repeating the 40% traffic increase lie) he is using the cover of Corona-virus as the catalyst to fast track this change through. Using Corona-virus for political gain is the most shameful opportunism and utterly beyond reproach. One would have expected better from Labour.

James, it is quite clear the numbers for DV the council have been peddling are untrue. As the local councillor I would expect you to come back with a definitive answer...you presented those figures as fact yet when challenged seem to be taking what is being said in blind faith. It doesn?t take Sherlock Holmes to do a little research and determine the council?s claim of 40% is utter tosh. Why don?t you back your constituents who have asked you a question and find out whether the stat is correct or not? We have uncovered a significant falsehood used by your council to lobby people to vote for your plans - you would be up in arms if another party did that. You?re lying to us. Then you brazenly send a survey about Melbourne Grove using Corona-virus to help your personal/political crusade to close Melbourne Grove to traffic. This is shameful. Just months ago you were lobbying for the CPZ on the basis that people used Melbourne a Grove to park their cars to use the station...yet now we hear no-one will be using the station so now what is your concern (ahem, sorry the concern of those residents who contacted you in such numbers that you felt compelled to start a new survey). Then you lobby people for more traffic measures on the basis of displaced traffic from the DV ?improvements? and now this... ....do you think we are stupid? You?re out of control and are taking all the residents of East Dulwich for a ride. What are you actually doing for your constituents....I read with interest the 5 things you are most proud of during your 2 years in office thus far https://www.jamesmcash.com/blog/two-years-down-two-to-go And I note there isn?t a lot about things you have done for your constituents, plenty of things you are proud of to further your political aspirations and curry favour within your party but little of tangible benefit to the majority of your Goose Green constituents. Are you in it for the people or the party?

Rollflick, all James cares about is party politics and keeping the comrades happy. I completely agree that the council should be amending Lordship Lane for the new socially distanced world but I think many of our fears are being realised that the council see Corona-virus as a great opportunity to fast-track some of their broader political traffic plans through without any scrutiny. The Melbourne Grove survey is a joke. They are starting the land grab, ignoring the fact that people are likely to look to cars as few return to public transport - it?s going to be chaos. I am shocked by the brazenness of it.

I hope the powers that be at local, regional and national level take a pragmatic approach to this. Yes there is clearly an opportunity to change travel trends and usage in light of the pandemic but they cannot, as they have done in the past, take a sledge hammer to crack a nut and they have to be mindful of what is actually happening rather than pursuing their own agendas. They need to be mindful that the majority of these people will be moving away from public transport - which has, for so long, been lauded as one of the solutions to the pollution problems - that is a huge issue as so much of our road and transport infrastructure is built around, and prioritises, public transportation. Careful thinking and planning needs to go into this - for example, the temporary widening of pavements at choke points makes perfect sense - but this cannot be a trojan horse employed to carve up what is left of the road dedicated to car use - that would be a foolish pursuit as car use will have to increase if public transport is limited. Also I read people lobbying to get e-scooters legalised and whilst they seem like a commonsense approach to travelling longer distances they do come with big challenges, namely rider safety (we have all seen the idiots buzzing along the roads at breakneck speeds on them) and, I visited Munich and they are legal there and the city is littered with thousands and thousands of the things, just left waiting for the next person to jump on one - cluttering pavements and creating a huge eyesore. I sense this may have been more about companies rushing to try and claim a stake in the e-scooter rental market but if you thought discarded Lime bikes were a pain you wait until the e-scooters arrive!

James, Are you telling us porkies.... the numbers below that were posted on here sometime ago suggest something completely different.... Can you provide a source for that please? Soutwark Council's own traffic surveys do not support that. Their figures for DV over the last few years show: 2014 = 15,414 movements 2015 = 15,055 2016 = 14,822 2017 = 10,007 low because of works to DV 2018 = 14,375 estimate because they changed the reporting basis 2019 not yet published According to those figures there has only been a 47% increase between 2017 and 2018 when the DV works were being carried out. Also, as you were canvassing the Melbourne Grove area were you offering your support to your constituents to lobby against the plans your colleagues in the council are suggesting for the DV area to reduce the impact on their area or were you merely lobbying for additional restrictions on Melbourne Grove as a result of the plans in DV?

Cllr Mcash what was the feedback from those residents you were canvassing in the Melbourne Grove area? Were they aware of the impact on their streets and what was your message to them? Are you opposing the measures on their behalf or lobbying to extend the programme to include their streets? BTW your twitter photo is brilliant - that may be socialism in action but the man in the photo is looking at you like a man who isn't convinced! ;-)

The council manipulating and fudging figures for their own benefit....surely not..;-).....they did it for the CPZ consultation and are doing it for the DV activities too. The 47% is a good headline figure for them to rally support for their proposals but scratch beneath the surface and you realise it's complete nonsense and nothing more than misleading propaganda. They shouldn't be allowed to do it but they always get away with it....zero accountability, it's why so many of us have lost all faith in politicians.

There were notes being left on cars on Woodwarde Road today by Conway workers after they put no parking signs along the road to commence works. I do hope everyone was able to move their cars before they were forcibly removed. All seems a bit bizarre and badly thought-out given the current circumstances.

But are the police there to move people on or get their own takeaway they are actually checking out the menu! There seems to be a serial leaker of stories or a Daily Mail journalist within our midsts.....

We should all take every article with a huge pinch of salt....it was only a month or so ago that media were reporting that more men in China were dying of Corona-virus because so many of the male population smoke there. The issue is no-one really knows much about what works, or doesn't work, with this virus. Also there is a lot of noise about flights still coming in but only about 10% of flights are still running, most are desolate, many are carrying nothing but cargo (they are covering the seats with netting to load cargo instead of passengers) and some are re-repatriation flights (we saw a plane heading over East Dulwich towards Heathrow a week or so ago which was, I think, Trident Airlines - not an airline anyone would have heard of before it had been chartered to bring people back from Florida). One thing to say about Trump is that his nightly press conferences, which have become must-watch in our house, are pure comedy gold; it's by far the most entertaining thing on TV (just a shame the subject matter is so serious)...last night's entry to which The Standard's article refers should have been entitled When Science and a Deluded Narcissist Collide.

Seenbeen, I think there is an issue for a lot of households given the fact many families are consuming more as children are at home rather than at school. I also think a lot of people have been taking the opportunity to do a bit of spring cleaning during the lockdown. We went for a cycle today and followed the recycling lorry along Friern Road and the road was strewn with recycling debris - my initial thought was that the waste collection teams were being a bit careless but the issue was that every bin was over-filled and were depositing items as they were wheeled to the lorry and then as they were lifted. It resembled the Old Kent Road on a Sunday morning by the time the lorry had departed but completely understandable given the amount that was being crammed into each bin.

That French story has so many layers it's just begging to be peeled! Selfish so and so's. And in Dulwich Park this morning police were on bikes having to move people on who weren't exercising.

Mako, you chastise someone and ask them to retract for quoting something they have said yet you quote a BBC News Feed that was linked to the previous post on here that was a less than accurate report of research by medium.com. I was very surprised the BBC added it to their news feed as they are mostly good at fact checking. The second most dangerous thing at the moment, after the virus itself, is misinformation.

...if you're slip streaming....and even then the article says that if someone coughs, sneezes or breathes ahead of you (when you are slip streaming - and that part is important here) the largest droplets (which are the most at risk of contaminating you) will drop onto your clothing as they are heavier...so there is a lot of ifs, buts and maybes there and I very much doubt anyone is slip streaming when running right now (i.e. using the person in front of them to reduce your own drag which suggests you are very close to them). The study, from which the journalist takes the information (the journalist is a self-described life-long athlete), is of the impact of slip streaming whilst exercising not exercising per se.

KK - wasn't being sarcastic - you seem to be having a daily run-in with runners - no pun intended. From my experience that seems unlucky - as from my own observations I am not having the same experience as you: I have been out for my daily exercise since the lockdown began and had one incident with a runner - I chastised them for their foolishness in the hope they would not do it again to anyone else. My point was quite clear - there are idiots (not just runners) who are risking their health and the health of others by ignoring the rules. The government is modelling this (I think they estimate it can be anything up to 30% of the population who will be non-conformist) and they will have a point when they will trigger a most stringent lockdown to help control the curve. Timing is key - you have to phase the lockdown and the degrees of severity therein. You can clamour for a hard lockdown but you cant do that from the get-go because research and experience elsewhere shows (unless you are in China and the populous is more scared of the government than the virus) that after 10 - 14 days people start going back to normal.

Every time KK goes out they seem to have an episode with a runner - they must be very unlucky. I think we have all seen stupid and selfish behaviour by people over the last two weeks: dumping of PPE equipment, speeding, congregating in groups, sunbathing, runners not giving way, pedestrians with dogs walking three abreast with a dog on a long lead, bad cycling and people even having picnics. But these are the exceptions - the majority seem to be following the guidelines and taking a commonsense, courteous and mindful to other people approach. No point trying to demonise one group more than any other as there are fools everywhere and it will be the minority who ruin it for the majority. Weekends are the biggest issue right now, especially warm weather weekends when people would naturally want to be enjoying the first spring warmth. Perhaps we should all do a rain dance!

Dulwich College has also been using their DT labs to make masks and visors for NHS staff....that is something I am sure every school could be doing as well once staff return from Easter hols.

James, Many thanks for following up on this.

Cllr McAsh - can you confirm that any works associated with the CPZs have been suspended in East Dulwich? And if not, why not? If seems ludicrous that during a lockdown the council would be proceeding with works that forces people out of their houses to move their cars (so the council can proceed with new CPZ road marking). This is within your constituency so I am sure you can get to the bottom of this very quickly.

James, Check out the thread on the non-Corona part of the forum. No parking signs have gone up for March 30th so the council can paint the lines of the road.