aggie

Ellie Reeves MP will be outside the Herne Tavern at 10.45 today to hear the concerns of local people. Ideal location for discussing GALA.

Just a reminder that the ‘consultation period’ ends on Tuesday, comments need to be in by then. The petition is going well, every signature helps!

Gooseygreeny, would you ever consider taking a sound system into your garden and playing music as loud as it can possibly be? Would you think of doing this from lunchtime until 10.30pm for 3 days in a row and then repeat it the following weekend? Somehow I think not. No reasonable person would do this, considering that we are all surrounded by neighbours. You would surely realise that whilst you might be enjoying yourself an awful lot of people are not and that they would be extremely upset. Would it occur to you that your antisocial behaviour would cause misery and untold stress to others? This what Gala does - big time.

Would like to sign the petition. How do I find it?

I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure that John Hartley is married to the new leader of the council. Her response to a complaint about her husband would be interesting!

Apart from being yet another eyesore in our lovely park the track is going to be 5 metres wide, that’s wider than my living room! By the time this is installed it will be too late for people to object. This must be rethought, even more of our park is being given over to GALA. The council didn’t factor in HGV access when they planned the flood alleviation works and now they expect park goers to suffer further. Complaints might help, worth a try but needs to be before the consultation ends on Feb 10th

Obviously I would prefer it if the event wasn’t happening at all but we must count our blessings. I’m now a bit concerned about the remedial drainage project in the park. It looks a really big deal and large chunks of the park will be out of bounds for a period of time. I can’t figure out when the work will start - let’s hope it’s not straight after GALA.

Yes indeed, they use numbers/percentages to their advantage when they make decisions. Low responses are just what they hope for, maybe that’s why they plan the consultation meeting at such an inconvenient time for working people and those with young families. 6pm has to be the busiest time of day for parents. Even if you can’t attend I would suggest emailing [email protected] to say that you want to attend but the meeting is at a bad time for you. It will all be on record. I love the way they will announce the venue on the morning of the meeting - like an illegal rave!

Whatever our objections are (and there will be many different ones) we must complain to as many people as we can. Our councillors, MPs, leader of the council, events team, environment department, Cabinet member Councillor Rose, and anyone else we can think of. We have to make a big noise if we want to be heard. It can make a difference as in the recent CPZ climb down. If we do nothing I fear that our park will just become a commercial venue that we are allowed to use occasionally.

Thanks for all that advice. Have phoned Southwark but they said it should have been queried before we paid the £195. No mechanism for a refund, not surprised. Suggested we take it up with Royal Mail. No barcode/date on the envelope so not in a strong position. Maybe if we work hard and persevere we might be lucky enough to get a free book of stamps! Thanks again.

Royal Mail have surpassed themselves. A local letter arrived today but unfortunately 3 months too late. It was a PCN from Southwark telling us that if we paid within 14 days it would be reduced to £65. The offence took place on July 14th! Obviously in the meantime we got stung for £195 for non payment but didn’t appeal as we had no proof. How do you prove that a letter did not arrive? We may try now but not very hopeful. Royal Mail is a complete shambles.

We had a similar experience recently but didn’t appeal. In fact we never received the first letter and by the time the other one came we had then missed the chance to pay £130. Ended up costing £195! Assumed we wouldn’t be believed despite the fact that everyone knows we have a delivery problem.

Storage for cars is not free. Try leaving an untaxed car on the road and you will find out! HM Revenue & Customs definition on Vehicle Excise Duty : ‘V.E.D. is a tax on vehicles Used or Kept on public roads and rates depend on vehicle type’

Has anyone had very slow internet in the early hours , between 4am and 8am? Seems to happen fairly often at around these times. All is Ok later in the day. Internet is fed from the Dulwich phone exchange - ADSL not fibre. Anyone know if they are doing overnight work that affects the internet availability? Been like this since last December.

Help-Ma-Boab is quite right in his assumption and headphones would have done the trick. It's a regular occurrence and Sunday seems the favourite day. Annoying when you have a night shift ahead of you and you're trying to get some sleep.