eastdulwichhenry

Hi James Just wondering if you're aware of the loud noise issue on the Dulwich Hamlet FC astroturf? More details at http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,336529,1670120 It's been going on for a few weeks now, and there's some suggestion that they have a "loud noise" licence from the council. Is there such a thing, and if so can we protest against it? It's really making it difficult to relax on a Sunday afternoon. Thanks

I'll also call Southwark Council tomorrow. This is completely unacceptable in a residential area, particularly as it's not a one-off. Surely we have a right to enjoy our Sunday afternoon with some peace and quiet?

Yes, I have also noticed this. It is going on right now. As others have noted, the stadium noise is usually not too bad, even with the tannoy going, but this is on another level. The music is really loud, and the bass is so piercing that it rattles the house. Has anyone had any luck with speaking to the club or the council about it?

I find the transport fine. Regular trains and buses. Dont't want the tube, it just turns areas into urban hell.

20mph for main roads like Lordship Lane and Denmark Hill is too slow. If you rigidly enforced it then even more traffic would end up on the smaller residential roads, which wouldn't really be good would it?

Sad news about the Sea Cow. Lordship Lane is sadly losing its charm as a haven of independent businesses, and becoming chain central. I assume these Meat Liquor guys are a chain.

Yes, Penguin, in general it would be good news, and hopefully as you say it would be worked out in consultation with passengers. I'm just worried about the specific issue of season tickets. It's already more complicated for people living in Wandsworth Rd etc. who have to buy tickets for journeys longer than they really do, just to still be covered by a national rail fare.

You've sold the place so well, Jeremy

I'm having a bit of a gathering soon, with a few families coming who have kids, and wondering where the best spot to go in the area would be. For a meal, a drink or two, and somewhere where young children can have fun too. In the past I've been to the Florence in Herne Hill, which used to have a great children's play room out back (maybe it still does) but that's gone a bit fancy schmancy gastro pub recently, although may consider it if there's nowhere better. Thanks.

This is bad news. Point to point season tickets will no longer be available, meaning a commute from ED to London Bridge will cost ?140 per month instead of ?68.

I'm having a bit of a gathering soon, with a few families coming who have kids, and wondering where the best spot to go in the area would be. For a meal, a drink or two, and somewhere where young children can have fun too. In the past I've been to the Florence in Herne Hill, which used to have a great children's play room out back (maybe it still does) but that's gone a bit fancy schmancy gastro pub recently, although may consider it if there's nowhere better. Thanks.

I've done this sometimes in the past. The best part of the ride, if you can get to it, is to go through Tooting Bec Common, from north to south. It's a lovely bit of off road riding. That means either going through Herne Hill and Brixton and then down Abbeville Road and Cavendish Road (a bit of a long way round), or across Brockwell Park and wiggling down through Upper Tulse Hill -> Telford Avenue -> Emmanuel Road. This means going up and down a hill. Either way it's well worth it though, because the route is a painful urban slog other than that, with lots of bad junctions and little in the way of good cycle route. Here is a map of the Brixton route: http://goo.gl/maps/Iwv4F

Hi all I haven't heard much recently about the proposals by Hadley Property Group and/or Southwark Council to redevelop the Greendale fields behind the football stadium. Did Southwark re-acquire the area following the expiry of the lease by DHFC? Or is the lease still running? And are there any further developments in the Southwark proposal to build a nature area there?

Someone should start a Zoopla service that does not require estate agents to pay fees to appear on it, and relies on advertising for its revenue instead. Then it could list *all* available properties from all agents and be much more useful to buyers than the current set up.

Agree with a lot of the sentiment here. The Camberwell and Walworth Road areas are those that need this by far the most. There is no rail station at all for these densely populated areas. Old Kent Road I don't know about, but it does look like quite a big black hole on the map railwise as well. So I think the priority should be to build both branches, and worry about onward extensions later. This should take place well before "the 2030s" As for onward route, for me Peckham Rye does not urgently need a tube line, it already has train service to Victoria, Clapham Junction and London Bridge, as well as occasional services to Blackfriars and St Pancras. Denmark Hill, similarly, whilst no longer having the London Bridge connection, is still quite well connected with the links to Victoria and Blackfriars. I don't see the value of the Herne Hill/Streatham link, those places are well connected already. If you're going to add an extra station then placing it further south, around East Dulwich or the Peckham Rye common would actually be more useful. We don't have any rail links to the west end at present. Finally, on the idea of it going out to Bromley I really don't see the point of that. Tube lines are not well suited to long distance routes - getting to Heathrow by tube, for example, is a major schlep on the slow Piccadilly line. I think Bromley is well enough connected by rail, and the investment is far more needed closer to town.

James Just a quicky, there was a closure at the end of Melbourne Grove tonight, where they're apparently resurfacing Grove Vale, by the rail station. I approached this closure by car from the East Dulwich Grove end of Melbourne Grove, but there was absolutely no warning, either on ED Grove, or at the entrance to Melbourne Grove itself. The first I knew of the closure was when I turned the corner and there it was. There were several other cars behind me, and we all had to do awkward three point turns in a tight space to get out again. Surely it is correct to post notices about such closures at the other end of the road, and preferably signpost a diversion for drivers as well?

Looking at that pitchero plan, it seems the access to Abbotswood estate will be provided by opening up the end of St Francis road. This doesn't seem acceptable to me - that road is very narrow once all the cars are parked up, and often has people coming both ways looking for parking spots, even as it is. Forcing the road to handle all the DHFC traffic as well as all the houses in Abbotswood will create a hideous bottleneck.

Taper, for the most part you speak good sense, I'd like to see good use of that Greendale site as well. Although it is frequently used by footballers from around the area, some of whom may not automatically have anywhere else to play, and might otherwise be forced to turn their attention to criminal activity, so it is not altogether a bad thing. However, your comment about new houses is way off, and I wonder why this is so often repeated by Councillor Barber and others? Are there vast industries or employers in East Dulwich that require all this new housing for their staff? I assume the "housing shortage" is a reference to the need to house more people who work in central London, which is all well and good, but it's not something we *have* to be concerned about immediately in our area, and right now our services simply can't cope with the existing population. Schools are all oversubscribed. Doctor's surgery waiting times are horrendous. Build more of those things first, and then I'll be right on your page about building more houses.

Never mind the Garden Centre, which frankly wasn't great to start with, it's the demolishing of part of our station building that's disturbing me! It's part of the area's heritage and should have had protected status, with Waitrose forced to make do with it as is if they want to open a store there.

Alex, maybe that's the reason, they got planning planning permission for a gym when they actually want to build houses. Strange (but good) that there's no movement on this, 2.5 years now down the line.

"The first stage will be a consultation event to give everyone an opportunity to respond to our initial ideas for the future of the area based on the opportunities and constraints." Well that's nice, but I would feel like I had even more of an opportunity if they'd actually published what those initial ideas are... The same newsletter is printed on a lamppost near the ground actually, and ominously it features a picture of the metropolitan open land behind the stadium, which suggests they're likely to bring back up the proposal to relocate the stadium there. I hope the council and the national planning inspectorate are able to stand up to their pressure, especially given the inadvisability of increasing the homes to services ratio yet further in the area, but somehow I fear the worst here...

What does "curl one out" mean?

Thanks!

Sydenham seems a long way to go to get a car wash... is there still no chance of an agreement between the club and the guys who operated in the car park? I guess after this length of time they must have had to move on to other things anyway by now

Wow, four pages of analysis on stretchiness of bladders, reactions of people when drunk etc. Someone should consider writing all this up for the British Medical Journal.