eastdulwichhenry

Any updates? I gather that today is the date of the "court case" regarding this issue (although I don't think it's yet been clarified what is to be argued at that case...)

When is a McDonald's going to open in Lordship Lane?

What kind of school is this going to be? Feepaying or free?

There's no doubt that it's possible to get wet if you're in the wrong position around the car wash area. It's happened to me when going through the car park and up the stairs to Sainsbury's.

But that doesn't mean the car wash should not be there. And they certainly shouldn't build flats there. Councillor Barber you've got the wrong end of the stick - the area needs more *facilities* such as schools, surgeries and indeed car washes. It does not need more residential complexes bringing in ever more families to stretch the limited existing facilities further still.

Some cyclists need to stop being dicks. Particularly those who sail through red lights with no consideration at all and those who barge on to pavements as if they have a right of way.

But equally, some pedestrians need to stop getting on their high horse about the occasional careful cyclist who moves slowly on a pavement, taking care not to interfere with pedestrians, in order to avoid them and their children facing a particularly dangerous stretch of road.

@steveo: And you think "a bit of fiddly diddly" is alright do you?

Has anyone ever used Southwark council to eliminate mice in the house? We seem to have quite a big problem, they've been there for a while now and getting more daring. I'm torn between going with the council vs calling K&O who seem to be highly recommended here but more expensive.

DavidH could you try to contribute without the personal attacks. Even if you don't agree with Councillor Barber, you can still frame your arguments civilly. Not every elected official is good enough to talk directly to their residents online, so we should respect that at least.

On the subject of closing the parks, I have always assumed it is not to keep the bad guys out, but to keep the good guys out, so that they don't get harmed by the bad guys. I could be wrong though.

What annoys me on the park issue is when St Francis Park closes early, well before dusk, because it has been rented out for a private party. This is usually accompanied by an over-officious suit with jangly keys yelling at everyone to get out. I suppose it's good that the council is able to raise much needed revenue in this way, but still quite annoying when I get kicked out of facilities I've helped pay for.

I don't know about anyone else but it certainly makes a difference to me whether a shop has its door open or closed. I want to go in the shop, have a quick look around, buy something if it takes my fancy and then leave again. Having to open the door makes me far too conspicuous so I would tend to forego that impulsive browse and walk on by.

So the plan is to demolish all the big blocks on the dog kennel hill estate, Petworth House, Walcot House etc. and replace them with private housing? I think that's quite sad as unlike many council flat blocks these seem like elegant buildings which add a lot of character to the area.

A couple of days ago I noticed that the back window of the car belonging to the Domino's pizza guys, which they use to deliver their cheesy sustenance to the masses, had its back window smashed while parked in St. Francis Road round the corner from the store.

Two guys from the store were discussing the matter whilst trying to decide what to do with the two pizzas they had intended to deliver.

I guess we need to be careful about leaving valuables in view within cars in the area.

Why the assumption that people want a CPZ in East Dulwich? If I recall the survey last year correctly only Derwent Grove voted in favour of having one. Even St Francis Road, right next to the station, was not in favour. Kind of suggests this drive-to-the-station brigade are not really the nuisance people imagine.

@the-e-dealer - are you sure? According to the season ticket calculator website http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/seasonticket/tickets you can still buy a weekly ticket from Denmark Hill to Wandsworth Road for ?10.30, even though Wandsworth Road is now an Overground only station.

Does anybody know the latest news on the proposed gym behind houses of Talbot Road and Abbotswood Road? About a year ago it was granted permission by the all knowing national planning inspectorate, but I'm not aware that any building work has started yet.

Does anyone know if national rail season tickets are valid on the London Overground?

When do you think we will see a McDonald's in LL?

DMC used to be brilliant, but now it's pretty bad. Except that somehow my wife is always able to wheedle a same day appointment by speed dialling at eight in the morning. I think the axing of the 48 hour target in the health and social care bill might have something to do with it?

Why is everyone so hell bent on building flats on every available plot of land in ED? The area has vastly too many people per level of services already. More flats = more families moving in = more kids to try to squeeze into our already overcrowded schools. Now if they said they were closing the Garden Centre and building a new school then you might have me listening, Dr James Barber :)

I don't want to be a naysayer, and I quite believe all the stories above, but I have actually not had any bad experiences at Dulwich Leisure Centre. My son does swimming lessons every week, and we sometimes attend the rafts and rascals on Saturday afternoon and it is always a pleasant experience. We always use the family changing area though, so can't comment on issues with showers and benches in the Mens' / Ladies'. The showers in the family area all work and have variable temperature!

The only negatives I can think of is that the coffee and cakes are quite overpriced, and the water in the pool is rather on the cool side (29 degrees I heard somewhere) for a family fun session, though fine for the lane swimming.

I'm afraid it is the whole area between both Abbotswood and Talbot Roads and the railway - it is basically one long thin strip, which you can't really tell is there from the ground, but which looks like a nice green tree zone on Google satellite: http://g.co/maps/4h6gc - I don't know what the proposal does with the trees, but their loss would be as bad as anything, in terms of being a CO2 sink for the area.

Here is the planning page for this application: http://tinyurl.com/7agnu6w

Urgghh that's not good, and suggests that whoever looks at appeals is not minded to listen to neighbour objections about noise and traffic or environmental issues (that area between Abbotswood and the railway is the only area of green in its surroundings).

I'm not very familiar with planning laws, but it does seem from this case as is the current system, with appeals possible even when the council gives solid grounds for rejection, favours corporations with big clout over local people and the goal of preserving what green space remains in inner London. (If I'm not wrong, an appeal can be made to a national planning inspectorate, taking the decision out of local hands altogether).

Personally I am quite happy with the roundabout as it exists, both as a driver and as a pedestrian. The zebra crossings are essential for pedestrian access to the surrounding roads, and they work well - traffic generally respects them.

The only problem I know of is that sometimes traffic builds up on the roundabout itself while pedestrians are crossing, preventing other movements. For example, if a pedestrian is crossing Lordship Lane, then traffic may be irrelevantly prevented from turning right from East Dulwich Road into Grove Vale. A bit of horn hooting may ensue, but this problem rarely persists for more than 30 seconds or so so really isn't a problem.

Given this, and the aforementioned low collision rate, I'd say if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Update: The sports ground application has been refused by the council.

Application home page: http://tinyurl.com/7mau9nn

Decision reasons: http://tinyurl.com/7aco9ux

They seem to have ruled against, on quite a variety of reasons including the metropolitan open space, the environmental impact, transport impact etc.

Does anyone know where the application goes next? I guess the applicant has the right to appeal the decision, not quite sure to whom?

So this may not quite be the end of the road but good news for now, anyway.

You could always just walk down Lordship Lane instead... (now flame away!)

In that case, anyone who has opinions should get their comments back to Ms Pettit by then, so that a wide range of opinions can be noted. Most of those already lodged from residents seem to be against the proposal.

I've no idea if this makes any difference to the decision though. The worry is that the applicant, with their fancy 40 page documents, can muscle their way to the decision anyway.