malumbu

No, I support restrictions on motorists across the UK. Better you channel your energy in to encouraging people to travel more sustainably to cut air pollution and carbon emissions. The Brixton Road has long since been one of the most polluted roads in the capital, nothing to do with LTNs which is a highly selective campaign. So there is no 'sudden' deadly levels of pollution. Cars themselves are deadly due when you are hit by two tonnes of metal, often travelling at excessive speed. I understand from friends in Lambeth that they were pretty good there in more gently introducing LTNs than perhaps other places.

Tut tut Cat, Brexit has been eclipsed by the LTN in terms of posts - keep up will you!

There is common confusion between air pollution (principally particles of unburned fuel, and nitrogen oxides) and carbon emissions. Unless you are in a room of carbon dioxide when you would asphyxiate, CO2 is not toxic and is of course essentially to life being fixed by most plants as part of the carbon cycle that produces the basis of all foods. Carbon dioxide is a climate change agent, and rising levels since the industrial revolution is changing life as we know it. The fumes you see coming out of exhausts are water vapour, harmless and a product of combustion (and similarly respiration). Blue smoke usually on acceleration is due to worn engines - although really a thing of the past. Black smoke is either a knackered disesel, a seriously knackered petrol engine, or where the fiters have either failed or been illegally removed. There should be no visible 'soot' and it would be straight forward for the police or other enforcement agency to stop a vehicle and require it to be tested at an MOT station. There is a smoky heavy vehicle hot line but not one for cars (common government!) Good point on construction - it is easy to fixated on vehicles. Like it or not HS2 has to go through numerous environmental restrictions, both on the construction and the vehicles used. Doubt if there are the same restrictions on smaller construction sites. Whether we need then or not! We could reduce air pollution and carbon emissions from road vehicles very simply by the way we drive them (smoother, better anticipation) and the occupancy. Sadly most aren't bothered. Trebants are two stroke, one of the dirtiest engines known to man (not sure how they compare with maritime, and old diesel trains)

Why is it 'of course' angry LTN poster? Not every one is angry, in fact I am quite relaxed (both in views and in posture). Come over and join me on the light side, you'll be thankful in years to come.

I checked out the great tit's nest and found one unhatched egg. Hopefully they had a big brood and the others survived, rather than laying one and abandoning it. Last year there were two unhatched eggs, a couple of skeletons but the rest would have been successful. I also saw a blue tit in a neighbour's next box, which was comforting, as they have had a difficult spring. Bally squirrels have stolen a feeder.

I quite like long bus journeys as it gives me the chance to meditate, look out of the window, eves drop and catch up on reading. And I always get a seat. Almost wrote 'mediate' there, but some would think that was out of character. I don't like it when the 185 stops in Camberwell to 'even out the service' (or words to that effect) and I am sure it must be Southwark's doing.

A general plea to title your threads properly. And also not to conflate Southwark's proposals to build social housing, with LTNs. There are enough threads on the latter on the ED part of this forum. Did join the ride yesterday around some of the small green areas that Southwark may build on. There is an adult conversation about this. The big picture is that 40 years or so ago the then government, who were anti the state owning and renting out housing, sold most of the local authority stock to tenants. There were probably more winners than losers at the time, but the lack of replenishment, and further clipping of councils' wings such as the move to housing associations, have led to where we are today. That is not a criticism of housing associations. And the current government, with their stamp duty holiday, have further contributed to making houses even less affordable to many.

The key to the 185 is the single lane on Camberwell New Road. If the traffic is free there, ie before rush hour/school opening (Sacred Heart) and there is nobody blocking the subsequent bus lane is wizzes down. The cycle lane at the Oval is irrelevant, it is the traffic around Vauxhall Bridge which is the key determinant there. The return journey is a pain as you have to go round Vauxhall bus station.

Hi Tom, some thoughts for your event. I've attended many and run some myself. Avoid the 'wouldn't it be nice if", "we only need to do that", "ban this that and the other", as you need to consider what is achievable. Think about how this would be achieved - national government, local government, transport users. What the means to do this? Current powers, new legislation, behaviour change. Don't underestimate the resistance of motorists for change. This is not aimed at most of the people on the forum, rather the population as a whole. Don't get side tracked up by the dirty diesel debate. The reason many of us bought diesels were that they were some damn good, and car makers simply produced more of them, and smaller vehicles for this reason. The common rail system of fuel injection revolutionised this technology, 30 years ago diesel vehicles were agricultural. VW dieselgate actually worked for the benefit of the environment as subsequent controls on emissions now work properly and the latest generation are relatively very clean. On this matter I am not sure of the value of talking about what car manufacturers can do. They respond to profit and regulation, and on the latter none of them went beyond what they had to do on air pollutants as there was no market advantage. Most are now well down the route of electrification - but a big both to Toyota for continuing to push their hybrids, which are almost the worst of both world (but a big cheer for their hydrogen car). I don't see any value in discussing SUVs and the like. It's sold as a lifestyle. If drivers/owners were environmentally conscious most of us would have been driving Fiat Cinquecento's for the last 15 years (the modern ones!). Think forward, beyond electric cars, to smart and connected transport. There will be time not so many years off when many of us wont need to own a car, with mobility as a service (at a touch of a button a pod will whisk you away to your transport node, a passing driver will stop to share their journey, or your car club vehicle will be ready and waiting). Even learning to drive will appear an anachronism to some in future. Just imagine all the space that will be freed up. Broadly the four options for reducing pollution and carbon emissions from cars are: - Existing vehicle operations are made less polluting. There is limited opportunities here for example all older London buses will have pollution reducing technology fitted. Improved driving style - better anticipation, less accelerating and braking, will also reduce air pollution, carbon emissions, in part as if we all drove like this there would be less congestion. - Cleaner vehicles are taken up more faster, for example, by providing tax and financial incentives for newer vehicles. It's easy to be dismissive, but government is ambitious, has thrown a lot of money at this and manufacturers are responding. The continued subsidy on the new price is wrong, this is subsidising the well off, historically many of them used their zero emission vehicle as the second car. There has already been plenty of discussion that switching from the internal combustion engine to zero emission is only part of the solution. - Pollutant emissions are displaced outside hotspots or kept away from populated areas. That is not necessary closing roads (as said please don't focus on LTNs), but smarter traffic controls, and smoother driving (through both education, post driving testy training and average speed cameras). Freight consolidation centres help reduce freight mileage. A proper national road user charging system where you are charged according to vehicle, time of day, and location would be revolutionary, and in my view a no brainer. This is a scheme that rewards drivers who driver more environmentally as they would pay less than the current system (vehicle excise duty) and could be further rewarded if they use more sustainable means. - Demand for more polluting transport modes is reduced, for example, by encouraging people to drive less and walk or cycle more, or by using planning rules to control transport demand. Road user charging can also be included here. You've already spoken about adopting a more sustainable lifestyle including considering how goods are delivered. I fear this is another one where the average person will need to be dragged kicking and screaming from their Amazon deliveries. Ultimately it is all aspects of your life, where you live, work, having a family, educating them, leisure pursuits and holidays, but we are not in a single party state so beyond encouragement and a carbon tax on flying (it has to come)...... Anyway this is purely for your event, rather than for further discussion here. I've already bleated on ad nausium. Good luck.

I've been campaigning for many years, attended (and occasionally presented at) many events, have long since changed my behaviour. I don't recall this level of discussion in the past on this Forum - so it appears that many have only woken up to air quality in the last year. It would crop up on the Lounge from time time, where we could have a reasonably balanced discussion. I'll dig up some of the earlier discussions if you want me to demonstrate that point. I've also posted some wider stuff on air quality, which gets very little traction, for example recently I put details of the Hackney Ultra Low Emission Zone - a very brave step and Southwark would be crucified if they went this far! Interesting debate about zero carbon on the repeat of Any Questions currently on Radio 4, where one of the speakers was stressing personal responsibility. Exactly. heartblock Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why would you ask 'why are you getting involved > now?' why assume that they haven't been actively > campaigning on clean air issues before? This is > exactly the attitude that irritates me, the > assumption that anyone anti these particular LTNs > and is voicing an opinion on them are only 'now' > thinking about air pollution and green politics. > It's very patronising. > Just to add as an edit..Tom, who started this post > added some really interesting dimension to the > discussion and it's a pity that instead of joining > in a discussion a certain 'someone' just > personalises the argument.

tomszekeres why are you getting involved now? The UK has been exceeding air quality standards ever since they were introduced - in 2008 the Ambient Air Quality Directive set tighter limits on pollution hotspots https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/uk-eu-policy-context The Government has also been ordered by the Supreme Court to meet these limits in as short as time as possible. You will understand that I believe that many have only woken up to air pollution since LTNs were introduced. I hope that your seminar will go broader than LTNs and look far more at what we can do, rather than blaming others or having an excuse for taking action. https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/uk-eu-policy-context

Nigello Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Walk more. Drive less. Minimise deliveries. This has hit the nail on the head. The only things that I can add: Air quality is a short term issue, climate change is global and is screwing the planet up. Air quality has been an issue for a few hundred years, climate change since the industrial revolution, why are you waking up to this now? Think beyond your local boundaries, think nationally and globally Stop blaming others, think about what you can do in every aspect of your life. {PS this is the Lounge territory, no more threads on the LTN perleese]

Any Chels fans embarrassed about your celebrity fan? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57355599 There is no mention of Gove's pastimes and hobbies in wiki, although a reference to a Grauniad article that says he is a Hoops fan. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/19/diary-michael-white-wembley-qpr-derby Well I suppose it could be worse, Cameron supports the Hammers, Villa, Burnley and Scunthorpe - the last pretty appropriate when you think along the lines of John Cooper Clarke.

Yey, mine is on the app, but it was good to be reminded to check. Much appreciated.

Fullers and Youngs in particular have both sold out. Perhaps that is a discussion for another thread! The Dolphin in Sydenham is a further alternative although I'm not happy with the change to yet another pizza place. The owner of this and the Dartmouth in Forest Hill helped to introduce gastro to pubs just outside the area.

Poundland great for bird food - and good quality. Otherwise that big pet superstore, or pay a little more at Sainsburys. I mail order tens of kilos of the stuff. I saw on springwatch that it has been a disaster for blue tits as their food sources are out of sync with the weather. Climate change has already started this (caterpillars are coming out too early as average temps go up). And this spring has been a bit of a disaster due to an extreme April and May I had a clutch of blue tit eggs last year, but think a great tit is nesting there this year. Pond has suddenly gone crazy. Frogs are back and newts, no tadpoles yet again, having to cut back the foliage to give more space for the amphibians. On the subject of Springwatch do catch the Peckham wildlife photographer Penny Metal and her love for an amazing number of insects captured a few minutes away from Rye Lane. https://insectinside.me/

The Allinone behind Forest Hill station has a large garden. The owners were running it down a couple of years ago as there was permission to turn it into a boutique hotel. They'd got rid of the kitchen which was a shame. The deal fell through but I have not visited it since the lockdowns - must make an effort. Incidentally it is a Victorian pub with a 1940s add on, there is some lovely unspoiled oak panelling in the old dinning room, similar to the Ivy. I'm sure it is worth a try. There was a play area, but as with the Blythe, this may have been sacrificed for more table.

Hello peeps, hope you missed me. I'm going to try to restrict myself to factual stuff, as I've made my general opinions clear over recent months. Droid refers to the new Birmingham Clean Air Zone. This was very delayed and was a result of the government being ordered to meet air quality standards several years ago. The then Mayor of London had jumped the gun a little by announcing an earlier similar scheme - the ULEZ. I see from the news that there are groups opposed to the Birmingham Scheme. It was suggested that Southwark could do similar to Birmingham, but this is essentially a matter for the strategic authority - ie GLA through TfL. There is a wider discussion on how London boroughs work together. Hackney has introduced their own Ultra Low Emission Zone - not a charging one as per ULEZ and Birmingham but an outright ban at certain times on certain streets for all but plug in electric vehicles and hydrogen electric vehicles. https://hackney.gov.uk/ulev-streets I've not seen any publicity nor do I know how popular it is, some vehicles are exempt. The then Mayor of London stated his ambitions about the ULEZ extension, and also that there would be a no emission zone in the central congestion charging zone. I expect the latter is some way off.

They've put their prices up as pubs have to make up for lost trade. Bitter is still hovering around the ?4 mark, but they have the IPAs and the like which will be much higher. They tried to keep Guinness down to below four quid for yonks but will have passed that by now. I don't drink lager, but the farmhouse cider remains decent in terms of cost and price. Another fave is the Ivy but their prices are well above the Blythe and not the same quality - I do tell them! I see that Tim Brexiteer wants to bring European bar staff in on a special working visa. That takes the biscuit, but is for another thread.

Went for a walk in Bermondsey and onto Rotherhithe yesterday, near Tower Bridge 7 is the new 6, and even in a Sam Smiths pub two halves of cider and a bottle of beer was over ?12 (no draught or fizzy beer on tap). Obviously Bermondsey proper is cheaper. Although you have refuges like the Blythe and the Hope in West Norwood (hasn't done what the rest of Young's Estate has done) Where you will get plenty of changer out of a tenner for two pints. And there is always Tim Brexiteer's places.

Thanks all. She has gone for equity release as felt embarrassed at the family offering. IFA charges ?1750, but the interest on the loan is only 3.5% (LV) which in the great scheme of things is reasonable, and as important a proper valuation on the house rather than using probate value (20% less). Legal fees around ?800, So whilst we would have given a better deal, this is being done properly. At least we didn't have to work out our return (a third member of the family said 0%, I thought inflation + .5% was reasonable, but not far off what she is paying. Just found out that I am next of kin, so something else to think about. Family member who had worked for Citizens Advice, Age UK very helpful. As are my good friends in the area on EDF.

Bought a bike part during lockdown, never arrived, couldn't get the shop to chase as they said they had proof it was delivered, ebay wouldn't resolve, Paypal refunded me. Recently bought a rare bike part of an unheard of site. Charged in US dollars. No confirmation from the seller. Googled and found it was a likely scam. Some criticised Paypal for not refunding. They refunded me in a week. Well done. Thanks all.

In deed Cat, what do others think? Here's a toon to get you thinking

Sit at a desk or table, with a proper chair, keyboard and PC, adjusted for your height. I expect many of you work in offices where it is the employer's legal duty to assess your workstation. Do the same at home. Use your phone for calling people, the odd short text or Whatapp, apps for identifying wildlife, night constellations and the like (and if you are sad checking out where the plane in the sky is going)and checking the web/e-mails/EDF. Occasionally you may need to use it to check in for a flight (remember that?), NHS app, find your way when lost (tip, check a hard copy or soft copy on a decent screen before you go out) and the like. Never posted anything from my phone. It may sound pompous but I think of it as pretty good advice.

You really don't want to go back to Coventry in the early 80s, it was scary, trust me. I expect it is quite nice now.