LauraHW

No it's not. Halloween is derived from All Hallows Eve. All Hallows Day have been celebrated in Scotland and Ireland for Centuries and Trick or Treating is believed to have been around in England and Scotland since Medieval times

Shame that presumably a professional comms / marketing officer can't tell the difference between it's and its

Elected Labour politicians not listening. Now where have we heard that today? Councillors please listen and respond.

Dear Cllr McAsh I'm just bumping my original post from last week. I'm sure you're busy and haven't had a chance to look at this yet but just in case it's been missed. I'd really appreciate your thoughts on the below. Many thanks Dear Cllr McAsh I'll hold my hands up now and say that you're not my ward councillor: I live in Peckham Rye ward but despite repeated attempts to contact my local councillors on this issue I haven't had a single response or an acknowledgement of my emails so am unclear how to get a answer for my questions. I have also tried signing up to the Council's climate emergency newsletter twice and haven't had a single newsletter. Also apologies for highjacking the thread but I'm just picking up on a something you raised in your post: "Transport is not the sole source of carbon emissions." Indeed it is not, I imagine transport contributes less than 15% of Southwark's emissions. The elephant in the room that I've not heard a single mention of from Southwark is about how we are going to tackle the largest source of carbon emissions in the borough which is domestic emissions in the private housing sector in particular heat. A massive, ambitious plan is needed at a local level to address this and I'm not sure I've seen anything from Southwark that acknowledges the scale of what is needed. Two years since Southwark declared a climate emergency and there's no firm, costed, targeted plan. A draft plan was quietly consulted on last July and now its April. What's been happening since then? Your target is achieving carbon neutrality in eight years? It's not going to happen while the council focuses all its efforts on transport and LTNs. The announcement about a ?101m budget to support carbon reduction was thin on detail and mentioned measures to reduce the emissions from the operational estate but what does this actually contribute to the overall reduction in borough emissions? 2% perhaps? Other councils across the UK are forging ahead and have really got this. Southwark is left behind and its lack of ambition and failure to get to grips with what is needed is shocking and negligent. A few laudable actions have happened like the creation of a DHN using waste heat from SELCHP, but again this covers a tiny proportion of households. And talking about creating planters at the end of closed streets whilst A Good Thing, is window dressing. Regardless of the inaction and obfuscation, the constant stonewalling of any communications is most frustrating. Especially when achieving net zero will only happen when you actively engage and consult. I know there was a climate change conference last year but how many people actually attended and how was this publicised? What has been done since then to genuinely engage the whole Southwark community? This isn't going to go away and the consequences for inaction are unthinkable. It's a real cliche but all the effort going into LTN is fiddling while Southwark burns. Again apologies for highjacking this thread but I literally can't get a response from anyone (officer and Cllr alike) and would really appreciate your thoughts. Many thanks

Agreed. Sorry - that's a lazy approach just to put links in. I was just trying to highlight the range of measures / actions that other LAs are taking across the country. - Hackney have formed their own company - Hackney Light and Power - to (amongst other things) roll out a retrofit energy efficiency programme in the housing stock; develop PV assets on its buildings and develop renewable heat networks. - Plymouth City Council are massively proactive and 3 years ago developed a city wide district energy strategy. In addition, they have formed Plymouth Net Zero partners with a range of organisations across the city including police, university, NHS etc to collaborate and share good practice as well as consult on city wide measures. - Oxford - OK maybe not the best example 35 years ago but now is showing vision and leadership and was the first council to develop a citizen's assembly and has now appointed a scientific advisor from Oxford University to scrutinize its plans and strategies. - Barnsley - help set up and facilitate Energise Barnsley which works in partnership with the council to develop community owned energy assets on its buildings. My point was that there is so much councils can do and Southwark just doesn't seem to be doing it. But more worrying is the stonewalling and lack of communication and genuine engagement on the issue. As shown clearly through the LTN you have to bring people along with you in this and if you're not even going to respond to polite emails time after time it's not going to work. I'd love Councillor McAsh to share his views and totally realise that it's not just up to one pro-active Councillor to speak for the elected officials and the Council itself - which are two separate things. But to get some sort of response would be a start.

Agreed although other councils are making a pretty good stab at it and showing real ambition rather than plant pots and paper straws e.g Hackney, Plymouth, Oxford, Barnsley are some great examples. https://hackney.gov.uk/hackney-light-and-power https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/climateemergency/climateemergencyactionplan/powerandheat https://www.oxford.gov.uk/news/article/1592/oxford_city_council_announces_appointment_of_scientific_advisor http://www.energisebarnsley.co.uk/about/

Yeah but if you're going to have a target of net zero for the borough surely you have to have some idea of how you're going to reduce the largest source of carbon emissions? Otherwise don't make bold climate emergency declarations

Dear Cllr McAsh I'll hold my hands up now and say that you're not my ward councillor: I live in Peckham Rye ward but despite repeated attempts to contact my local councillors on this issue I haven't had a single response or an acknowledgement of my emails so am unclear how to get a answer for my questions. I have also tried signing up to the Council's climate emergency newsletter twice and haven't had a single newsletter. Also apologies for highjacking the thread but I'm just picking up on a something you raised in your post: "Transport is not the sole source of carbon emissions." Indeed it is not, I imagine transport contributes less than 15% of Southwark's emissions. The elephant in the room that I've not heard a single mention of from Southwark is about how we are going to tackle the largest source of carbon emissions in the borough which is domestic emissions in the private housing sector in particular heat. A massive, ambitious plan is needed at a local level to address this and I'm not sure I've seen anything from Southwark that acknowledges the scale of what is needed. Two years since Southwark declared a climate emergency and there's no firm, costed, targeted plan. A draft plan was quietly consulted on last July and now its April. What's been happening since then? Your target is achieving carbon neutrality in eight years? It's not going to happen while the council focuses all its efforts on transport and LTNs. The announcement about a ?101m budget to support carbon reduction was thin on detail and mentioned measures to reduce the emissions from the operational estate but what does this actually contribute to the overall reduction in borough emissions? 2% perhaps? Other councils across the UK are forging ahead and have really got this. Southwark is left behind and its lack of ambition and failure to get to grips with what is needed is shocking and negligent. A few laudable actions have happened like the creation of a DHN using waste heat from SELCHP, but again this covers a tiny proportion of households. And talking about creating planters at the end of closed streets whilst A Good Thing, is window dressing. Regardless of the inaction and obfuscation, the constant stonewalling of any communications is most frustrating. Especially when achieving net zero will only happen when you actively engage and consult. I know there was a climate change conference last year but how many people actually attended and how was this publicised? What has been done since then to genuinely engage the whole Southwark community? This isn't going to go away and the consequences for inaction are unthinkable. It's a real cliche but all the effort going into LTN is fiddling while Southwark burns. Again apologies for highjacking this thread but I literally can't get a response from anyone (officer and Cllr alike) and would really appreciate your thoughts. Many thanks

On the new PR playground do we know why the tyre swings have been removed? They were only there a couple of weeks and a big hit

I can fully recommend our childminder Becca who lives at the top end of Peckham Rye park. She has looked after our now 2.5 year old for a year and before that his sister was with her for nearly 2 years from the age of 1. She provides a really warm, nurturing and stimulating environment. The children go out nearly every day to playgroups or the park and my son is very happy there. PM me for further details Laura

The strings club held at prendergast school in brockley is running last week of holidays

Big?

Henry definitely. Much better than previous Dyson. Plus James Dyson is a complete tw*t so wouldn't want any more money to go his way!

Hi Emlford The whole building has been demolished as part of the redevelopment of Peckham Rye park. Not sure where the new playgroup will be located but think it will be a while before this is in place. Laura

We have recently had the front windows of our house replaced with timber sash windows by Timber Windows of Dulwich. They are new to the area and would just like to say that we were really impressed with their work. They were by far the most reasonable quote that we received. But their customer service from start to finish was excellent. The installation itself was speedy but thorough and they have been quick to deal with the minor snagging issues that we had. The windows look great and we are very happy with them!

If you can face the drive Mousehole near Penzance is an amazing location. Loads of stuff to do round there and the village is a great base with a lovely harbour / beach that is very kid friendly

I'm going on holiday in October half term with my children (ages 8, 5 and 2) and my mum. We want some sun but don't want to fly long haul. Would prefer self catering (apartment or villa) but would like a pool (gated if private). Does anyone have any recommendations of locations / accommodation? I'm thinking Cyprus or Greek Islands but have no idea where to start! Many thanks in advance Laura

Slightly off thread but does anyone know if there are any charities that are asking for donations of children's Christmas presents?

Watching with interest as would like to know the same thing!

We're looking for a recommendation for a sash windows company. We've got a quote from Bespoke Windows and just want to get another one for comparison's sake. I've tried without success to get Scenic Windows to come over and provide a quote but with no success! Many thanks Laura

Maybe we should start a tsunami of calls to their contacts line. Jam the lines. Campaign starts here! 020 7938 6000

JohnL Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Cowbridge in Cardiff has always been an upmarket > desirable area. Sorry to be a pedant but being from Cowbridge I'd just like to say it's definitely not in Cardiff - it's about 14 miles outside. I remember it being referred to as Ambridge in the Vale once in a disparaging piece in the Western Mail. Dunno if that makes it upmarket.

Hopefully this will mean an end to the ridiculous teaching of the metric system in schools. Who cares if it makes far more sense and that most of the world uses it. We managed an empire and single handedly won two world wars with the imperial system. Roll back decimalisation too