peterstorm1985

The reason I consider this to be an ED issue is that there has been a regularly demonstrated concern about access to police services by contributors to the 'main' section and so it should be of interest to anyone who might wish to influence the availability of police services in this area. I know that the only localisation is by borough but it does mean that the survey is considerably less global than, say, climate change. I refer to the 'main' section as such as this forum is called Eastdulwichforum and so I expect the focus to be on subjects of interest to East Dulwich residents in particular. The list of suitable subjects mentioned includes transport and planning; I would expect policing to fall into a similar category. Whilst I do scan the titles of threads in the lounge, I have found that only a very small percentage of threads hold any interest to me so I don't open up every one. Consequently, many subjects will pass me by unnoticed. I imagine I am not the only one. However, I recognise that I am not as educated in the use of the English language as other users on this forum so I apologise if my use of the word 'main' antagonises. Perhaps 'primary' would be preferable.

Surrey Docks farm is lovely but tiny, but then all city farms tend to be. I doubt you'll find one that would last more than half an hour for anyone over 7 unless you travel further afield. There are details of all the city farms here: list of farms

Is that 41% increase on premium quoted, or 41% increase in premium paid? We changed insurer this year and our premium is approx 10% more than it was last year with a different provider. So, if there is someone on this forum who pays 72% more this year than last, the average of the 2 is 41%.

My street has a mix of houses and flats (and has some modern houses in amongst the Victorian) but Zoopla doesn't seem to recognise that; properties that I know are flats are listed as semi detached/terraced. I did notice that after a rush of flat sales the values for the houses dropped suggesting that that impacted on other street property values regardless of actual type (I suppose it could just have been a coincidence). Our street has a high proportion of houses that have been in the same ownership for over fifteen years and so the average value, based on historic sales (and recent flat) sales, hugely undervalued many of the properties. Someone before me had obviously asked for estimates on a number of houses but without knowing anything about them internally. I spent an amusing afternoon filling in extra info on some of my neighbours' houses (extensions, period features, wooden floors, correcting flat/house records) and seeing the changes to the Zoopla estimate - this was ?200K for one house.

We tried all the comparison sites and the results were shocking. Went to Aviva and got a much more reasonable deal.

Really important to find out what type of houses Foxtons has under offer (and where they are). Are they similar to yours? If you've got a three bed Victorian semi in a good street but all their houses under offer are new builds squeezed into an old builders yard, then there isn't much chance that they can be of any more help than your current agent.

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > And if you think that divide only exists on > Chinese building sites you've never worked for the > NHS. Or London Underground. Or the Fire Brigade. > Or BA. It's not just manufacturing - service > industries is where it's at. I didn't think I was going to agree with anything DC said, but this bit is so true. When the profit line is in an upward direction and bonuses fall into pay packets everyone rubs along nicely; but I've seen the back rooms of a couple of call centres when cuts have been suggested and the management/worker divide quickly opens up. Pretty uncomfortable for me as I've been doing audit work, so 'one of them', but I didn't notice any of the 'workers' sitting down for a rational discussion of whether it might be necessary to benefit the business and the remaining employees long term. My view is as others have said: "If you agree with the protest - strike. If you don't agree - don't strike."

I wrote to Admin via PM to ask for this to be moved back to the main section. Yes, it's badly designed - very badly in fact - but it may very well be used to inform budget allocation and the questions aimed at counter services may have a direct impact on the provision in East Dulwich. It looks like the type of survey that proves awfully useful later to justify decisions, and any lack of response will be taken to mean that we are all perfectly happy with someone else making the decisions for us. I've filled it in and would encourage everyone to do so. If it really does annoy you so much that you can't bring yourself to do so, then why not make a complaint about it; there are links on the Met website (where this survey is) to complaint and contact forms.

Good idea Shaggy - it's only the same principle as adding engine noises to electric cars after all

Tarot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The ground where the mum and baby bays should > have visible lines painted in pink maybe, Now this is a brilliant idea. Pink with a pretty flower pattern all around the space. That might put off some of those who really shouldn't be there. I can just hear the parents of teenage children being told - by their children - where they can or can't park.

I love parent and child parking spaces simply because I don't want small children in the rest of the car park. Children have a horrible tendency to be distracted by anything - dog, other child, leaf, stone, reflection in a puddle etc and merrily skip away form the parents. They also tend to be below the sight level of wing mirrors which have been set for traffic level. When I reverse out of a (non parent and child) space* I find it far less stressful that all those small things are near the shop entrance and not near the wheels of my car. I really don't care a hoot if they somehow 'deserve' a bigger space or not. *Thrice yearly shop in borrowed car so even the adults might be at some risk from my reversing.

What surprises me about this is that they knocked on the door. I'm tempted to give them some benefit of the doubt as this seems a bit too honest. If they were simply intent on thieving they wouldn't have bothered to knock. Although unlikely, I don't quite understand why it's so certain that they weren't charity collectors (perhaps there is something the OP hasn't mentioned). We regularly get plastic bags put through the door from reputable charities asking for donations (last one was less than a fortnight ago) and from past experience the collectors aren't always timely. I stopped leaving donations in this way simply because I didn't want an uncollected bag sat outside my house for weeks on end. And I have to admit that I would have expected an 11 year old to be capable of answering that sort of question or, if unsure of themselves, to call for a parent rather than giving an answer to a stranger. I wonder if perhaps the OP was just very unfortunate.

The Co-Op (ex Somerfield) on LL has been selling Kelly's mint choc chip for months (far right freezer cabinet), although it was on offer last week so may have run out. Worth checking though.

DJKillaQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That is a good point Ms B. A lot of pedestrians > just freeze when they hear a bell. I'm one of those who freezes when they hear a bell behind me, simply because I have directional deafness; I cannot tell if the sound is coming from left or right so I dare not turn round in case I turn the wrong way, straight into the path of the bicycle. I always understood that bicycle bells took the same place as a car horn, to be used when someone steps off the kerb when not looking (a regular event on Rye Lane) but otherwise to stay silent. If I cycle in the park and find my way blocked by pedestrians, I slow to their speed and simply ask if I may go through. The human voice has the ability to say 'please', bells don't.

My ten year old NZF got just the same thing last year. I spent months chucking one chemical after another at it. I hoped that the bad winter would kill them off but 'fraid not. Final solution was somewhat final.

Annoyingly, Renardine was taken off the market a few years ago. It worked brilliantly; the smell stopped the foxes coming anywhere near the garden. The only trouble was that it put the humans off using the garden too. If you want to try and copy the idea a mixture of tar/creasote/diesel has similar olfactory properties. Male urine does work but ditto effect on human's sense of smell. As was mentioned above, if you remove the current foxes it will simply open up the space for the next. Not much you can do I'm afraid. One thing I would note though is that there isn't much relationship between the behaviour of urban foxes and country foxes. I've lived out in the country where there were masses of hedgerows and areas of woodland but they're a shy animal there and their territory covers a much larger area, simply because there isn't (and never has been) the abundance of food. The only way to stop them in town is to remove all the food sources.

I know it may seem that there are so many potholes that it is not worth reporting them but I would encourage everyone to do so if potholes annoy you. Councils prioritise budgets and there is nothing that gets something further up the priority list better than the risk of court action. Whilst a particular pothole is not recorded, if an accident happens because of it, the council can hide behind lack of knowledge of its existence. If you report it, and make it clear that there is a danger to particular road users, its amazing how it speeds up the repair team. I've done this on a number of occasions and been delighted with the response. I'm very descriptive of the damage that a particular pothole may cause. My favourite response is the one that came after I reported seeing a Porsche driving down the road outside my house and dip as a wheel went into a very deep pothole. I described the sound made by the underbelly of the car scraping the ground. I explained that I was prepared to be a witness in any court case for damage of this car or any others. The reaction time of the repair team was a joy to behold.

Pugwash makes some good points but it may also be that lenders are concerned that when times are hard (now) the authority freeholder may try and delay major repairs as long as possible. This is a serious financial risk to the lender; if the mortgagee defaults the lender wants to be certain he can sell the property to cover his losses. If there are outstanding repairs, with no certainty of completion, the property may not find a buyer.

Sue, you seem to be stating that you are at financial risk here, but if you have contracted with the artists, surely you also have a contract with the venue, so there is no financial risk to yourself. It's their problem to comply with the license, not yours, and if they fail to provide what they have contracted to supply then that is a breach of contract, with all the normal remedies available.

I've only lived in this area for the last 25 years so I can't say what it was like 40 years ago, and I'm not quite sure what makes the Irish community 'ethnic' but I'm certain that they've never been a pre-dominant group. Otherwise, I agree with Marmora man, "There's "nice to have" and "must have" categories in council spending -the Irish Festival falls squarely in the former category."

A minor point but different trees need pruning at different times so it may be worth specifying which trees you want pruning in Autumn, otherwise the council may change it's entire pruning regime. Also, do you mean 'late' Autumn? If they do it too early the trees may still be in the growing season and put on new growth that will be more susceptible to frost damage.

If you want to complain to southwark about potholes then please refer to this In addition, it is well worth reporting the pothole on this website National pothole reporting If in the future someone's car is damaged then reference to this national reporting site (there is another - can't remember the name) can provide evidence in court that the local authority had been warned (and so they should have repaired the hole).

I forgot to provide a reminder that there is no exemption for children from the law that prevents cycling on the pavement (In another thread I linked to the relevant bit of the act). The police will turn a blind eye when no harm is done but if you allow your child to cycle on the pavement and they hit someone, causing injury, you may find yourself in court for a negligence claim. As your child will have been committing an illegal act your house insurance will not cover it. Old people fall easily. A broken hip can be a death sentence. Negligence cases can be expensive. Bye bye house/car/lifestyle. I cycle a lot. I have been known to cycle on the pavement on really nasty roads, but I'd never cycle passed a pedestrian. I get off and walk.

DJKillaQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >> "Chief officers recognise that the fixed penalty > needs to be used with a considerable degree of > discretion and it cannot be issued to anyone under > the age of 16." > > (Letter to Mr H. Peel from John Crozier of The > Home Office, reference T5080/4, 23 February 2004) > > > So in other words no-one under 16 can be fined or > prosecuted for riding on a pavement.... The last sentence is not correct, but that's what started the urban myth that kids can cycle on the pavement with impunity. The fixed penalty notice is designed to speed up the process, rather than wasting a lot of police time for minor offences but it is recognised that it would be unsuitable for children (who may not understand the significance and chuck the bit of paper in the bin and not tell their parents) It is quite true that children under 16 cannot be given a fixed penalty notice, but they can be held to account in the normal way, ie escorted to the police station where a parent or guardian can be called to witness/support them as they are charged with the offence.

I'd have been pretty upset if they continued to fund the Irish festival while other budgets are slashed. I'm sure that great fun would be had by many at this event but not the most needy. Other sources of funding would be more appropriate when times are hard.