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Latest update... turns out that the Thames Water works were meant to carry on until Friday, but they finished early, so the lines weren't scheduled to be removed until next week (in case the works overran into the weekend). I've spoken to council engineers to see if we can get the line removal escalated to tomorrow, or worst case first thing Monday morning, will know if we're successful later this afternoon.

Just to let everyone know that Thames Water have mostly finished the sewer works on Melbourne Grove this afternoon and that the council are due to burn the yellow lines off tomorrow so that parking can return to normal. I'll let you know if anything gets delayed.

Yes, I'm a female Robin (long story, which some of you know) but, don't worry, I'm used to the confusion and don't take offence.

James loves trees, you should see the ED ward tree budget! Okay, so I tracked the tree manager down to talk about capping empty tree pits in Village ward and asked him about when the Barry Road trees should sprout, only to be rewarded with a fascinating lecture on "advantitious" budding. Basically, the short layman's explanation is that the severely pollarded trees probably won't sprout until later on in the season until the secondary growth phase kicks in. Keep in mind that a lot of the trees were freaked out by the late cold spell, so they are sprouting quite late anyway - the Japanese Cherries got really confused and started to blossom and then went into a snit. He further noted that the Barry Road trees are well loved and has said that he can look at raising the pollard points over time in order to allow a less severe pollarding technique in the future. But the Barry Road trees need to be pollarded for legal reasons due to insurance claims, as pollarding will control the root growth and is therefore preferable to cutting down the trees completely. Ever since the Barry Road Birds Nest incident last August, the manager has implemented a policy that large trees will only be pollarded while they are dormant, from Oct until the end of March, so the recent ones were probably only done just under the wire. He's going to have a look at the Hairy Tree and any others that grow basal shoots on their trunks in reaction to the pollarding with a view towards cleaning them up in the autumn, so let us know where this happens...

Ah, that explains why Members Enquiries just laughed at me...! But no one will tell me what's going on... if you see anything interesting, can you let me know?

I decided to take a break from casework to walk up Lordship Lane in the sunshine and buy bread and ice cream only to see these posters announcing 'theyarecoming' fly posted everywhere... this one I've attached is in front of William Rose's. Does anybody know what this is about? Is this a May Day joke? Are aliens finally going to land in East Dulwich?? I hope whoever comes brings scissors with them, as one of my pet peeves is posters strangling our beloved trees with string!

Yes, I know all this, but the bottom line is that there is a view that severe pollarding is a false economy if the council have to go back and sort out the problems with all trees like the one on East Dulwich Grove in the attached photo.

Was waiting to see what James said, as Barry is in his ward, but am having similar problems here in Village, so I'll chase. If nothing else, I'll see whether it's possible to have the basal growth on the trunks trimmed back over the summer in order to encourage growth on the crown stumps. I'm not a big fan of severe pollarding, but I'm just a councillor. The good news is that we've had a bit of a change in tree officers so maybe a different management strategy will prevail...?

Thanks for the positive comments, Penguin68 and Betsy... and special thanks to those who stopped to express support while I was cleaning the front of my house yesterday afternoon. :-)

From my point of view, this thread illustrates precisely how misinformation gets disseminated as "fact", leading to misunderstandings, so I'm grateful for this opportunity to publicly correct the above allegations which appear to be aimed at me personally. 1. Firstly, as tiddles points out, the double yellow lines on Melbourne Grove have nothing to do with me, they have been temporarily put down as part of a Thames Water operation on the section of Melbourne Grove from Colwell Road to Blackwater Street, after which they will be removed. You can read the full explanation here:- http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,1090750 2. The council does NOT clear the snow from the front of my house - I go out and clear it myself with my shovel everytime it snows, as I have done for years (taught by my Dad when I was a little girl). It's really easy to do this first thing in the morning when the snow is still powdery, it takes about 5 minutes and is no more difficult than sweeping dirt. Other residents are now beginning to join in voluntarily clearing the snow from the front of their own houses and in front of elderly or disabled residents' houses. As council resources are limited, snow removal priority is given to hospitals, schools, shopping parades, etc., so I'm happy to clear the pavement in front of my house myself because I don't like slipping and I don't like using salt, as it kills the trees if it gets into the tree pits. I also sweep and bag leaves from in front of my house, as well as rubbish, which I usually do on a Sunday when I do housework... sometimes I'll even pick up from across the street and either side of my house if it's particularly bad. 3. The Melbourne Grove Urban Orchard was planted back in 2007 as a result of a community campaign ("community action rocks, yay!") to beautify a local "grot spot" where the pavement was torn up in addition to abundant fly tipping and so much dog poo on the grass verge that the council maintenance teams couldn't cut the grass. The Orchard consists of edible apples such as Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and Cox which would be free for all local residents to pick and eat if they weren't vandalised every year long before the apples ripen in October. All the trees are named after children on the local housing estate and the opening of the Orchard was marked by a community day featuring a poetry contest where the prize for the best poem was awarded with an Apple iPod (geddit?). This project is thought to be the first community Urban Orchard in London (planted before the more well-known one in the north of the borough), it was written up in various environmental magazines and even in Time Out, but now it tends to keep a low profile due to the ongoing vandalism issues. The space is also the site of a community notice board and a plaque honouring the local victims of the bombing raids in WWII (placed there by the Dulwich Society). Sadly, there is going to be further protective work on the area at the request of the residents and the police, which I'm sure I'll be blamed for somehow... although I will say that I think it's a shame that something that was meant to be nice for the neighbourhood is so negatively regarded, as per the comments above.

In addition to the petition, we are going to publicly discuss the Dulwich impacts of the New Policing Model with the SNT sergeants and Chief Inspector at the Dulwich Community Council meeting on this Monday night, the 22nd Apr. So, if you want information directly from the horse's mouth or to make your views heard, then you are welcome to attend. The meeting will be held at Kingswood House on Seeley Drive (next to where the College ward police "step off point" is located), SE21 8QR. This item is due to begin after the break at 8.40pm.

Dear Guys, To clarify my layman's description... I didn't mean that shared sewers were odd, I meant that the shared sewer system along that section of Melbourne Grove was odder than most. There is a whole range of criteria to be considered which I am not qualified to comment on, but I don't think that shared sewers within "normal" terraced houses on other roads will be affected.

UncleBen, go back and read the article more carefully. It goes on to say, 'But he [sutherland] added that the site could be used as a "patrol step off point" where cops could input information into a database if it was "cost effective".' This is basically what I am saying above. Dulwich Councillors cross-party support the use of the Gatehouse as a touchdown base/patrol step off point to supplement the New Policing Model and we will be going back to meet with the Borough Commander to assess the costs on Apr 30th. We are clear that we consider this to be an "interim" step until future funding can be identified to fund a patrol base with an integrated front counter service within a "Dulwich Cluster" of up to 5 wards.

Residents have been asking what is going on in Melbourne Grove with the double yellow lines - I've asked council engineers to send out a letter to elegantly explain the Thames Water letter that went out, but I'll post what I know here in the meantime in order to address concerns (please note that this is a layman's explanation and not official!). The section of houses (odd numbers) on Melbourne Grove from the corner of Colwell Road to the corner of Blackwater were converted from old Victorian shops and workshops. Due to this, that section has a very odd arrangement of shared sewers which has been picked up during the ongoing sewer assessment that is being conducted in the area. Thames Water has come up with a solution to address this arrangement, but it involves digging 5m deep ditches along one side of the road, hence the temporary double yellow lines to restrict parking. The other side of Melbourne Grove (even numbers) will be kept clear to allow traffic to pass through, in an attempt to minimise disruption to the whole area (the other option is to close off the whole section, which would probably cause chaos, so the chosen set-up is the least worst option in my opinion). The works are due to begin at 8am on Monday morning (Apr 22nd) and last for approx 4 weeks. They will start at the Colwell Road end and work sequentially to the Blackwater end. At the end of the works, the double yellow lines will be burnt off and we can go back to normal. I would suggest that drivers plan to avoid this end of Melbourne Grove until the end of May, unless you live locally. I've met all the engineers now and the supervisors who will be on site... they are all really pleasant and determined to make this as painless as possible.

Just to let everyone know that cross-party councillors met with the police Borough Commander last night to discuss the logistics of using the Gatehouse at the Dulwich Hospital site as a "touchdown base" for our ringfenced police officers under the new Policing Model set-up, which is going to come into effect on June 24th in Southwark. This means that, once the police officers have travelled into their wards from the Camberwell Police Station, they can remain in their wards during scheduled breaks and for one on one meetings with residents, thereby enabling them to spend more time out on the streets without having to travel back and forth to Camberwell several times a day. This should make a significant enough difference in commuting time to warrant the small amount of expenditure offered by the council. Although this still isn't confirmed, councillors made a strong enough case that the Borough Commander has agreed to consider a proper business case study on the Gatehouse proposal and meet again to discuss logistics and costings with councillors on the 30th April. So, hopefully we're getting there slowly but surely.

Hi UncleBen... don't shoot the messenger, I'm just telling you what's happening, I have no control over anything. We simply don't have time, everything is happening NOW, in April, which is the beginning of the new financial year. All the PCT/NHS properties are being transferred into the new national PropCo and the Met properties are being transferred to the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). I have no political motivation in this at all... the use assets and replacement of services are being driven by funding issues that are far beyond my remit. Councillors, AMs, and PMs are uniting cross-party to salvage whatever we can before it is broken up. On a personal level, I probably use the services of the Community Hospital more than most people reading this forum, having just yesterday got my third batch of blood test results since December. But I think we will be lucky to salvage more than two acres of the seven acre site for medical services. In addition to a medical centre, I would personally like to see more elderly care services consolidated and based there, but I don't have much influence. What happens to the rest of the site will depend on how much funding can be identified. Same with the police station. If you can think of a way to raise several million pounds FAST, let me know! Conversely, if there are any benevolent millionaires reading this, please contact me asap...

Hi ianr... the new set-up is now functioning as the NHS Southwark Clinical Commissioning Group, the site wasn't working yesterday, but it's up now here:- http://www.southwarkccg.nhs.uk/pages/home.aspx There will be two public meetings on this at St Barnabas Church - one in the evening on Apr 30th and another in the afternoon of May 22nd. Furthermore, there will be another drop-in session at Dulwich Community Hospital on the evening of May 8th (I attended the first one on Mar 15th). Plus we will have a short presentation on this at the next DCC. I would urge everyone to participate in this consultation and I'll post the Dulwich SPD consultation details again, as this planning document will help to determine what happens to the hospital site that isn't going to be used for medical provision as well as setting the parameters for development in Dulwich over the next 5-10 years.

Here's an old link to the Crystal Palace Police Station, I've heard it's definitely been sold now:- http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34913017.html Councillors weren't silent on this at all, it was our first choice as an alternative to the current station, but it got boarded up and sold off before we could even launch a campaign. We fought hard to retain the hospital site for medical use, as well... you all probably don't remember the Save the Onions campaign I launched to stop the demolition of the east wing with the famous onion domes when I was first elected in 2006. But the problem is that councillors are actually very low down on the decision-making totem pole, which makes it very difficult for us to influence high-level decisions. There is currently a consultation out by the PCT which will determine how much of the site will need to be retained for medical use. We are anticipating that only a portion of the site will be needed, so we are trying our best to retain a community use for at least half the site in the event that the site will be put up for sale. If half the site is developed for much-needed housing, then this will create a need for more community facilities as the demographic of East Dulwich will shift. The Gatehouse that we are proposing for a Dulwich Patrol Base is currently being used by the hospital's own security guards, so a police base won't impinge on any medical use of the site... in fact, the consolidation of the police and the security guards by the front gate will actually strengthen a presence on what is now virtually a brown field site until the hospital site is redeveloped.

The CGS awards will be announced at the next Dulwich Community Council meeting on April 22nd. In the meantime, I've been continuing the work on the Hogwarts Bed in the Physic Garden. But, due to the cold, I've planted this year's crop in pots in my kitchen... I've just sown the Mandrake seeds, potted three more Spikenards (after the first one went into a snit and died), plus a Ginseng.

There is sufficient concern that the knock-on effect of the actual, or perceived, lack of police presence will increase crime in the Dulwich Community Council area. To address this issue, ward councillors, MPs, and Assembly Members have all united in a cross-party attempt to convince the Met to reconsider the decision not to provide an alternative contact point and local patrol base when the ED Police Station closes immanently (rumour has it that the process will begin in April). To this end, we have identified a viable solution at the Gatehouse at the front gate of the Dulwich Hospital on East Dulwich Grove and negotiated an excellent and affordable deal with the NHS for the Met to occupy the building for between 5-10 years, depending on the Met's requirements, which will in turn allow us the breathing space to develop a more permanent base either as part of the redevelopment of the current police station site or as part of the redevelopment of the hospital site. Even better, the Cabinet member for Community Safety has identified council funding for this base, so it won't cost the Met much at all to integrate this location into their operational set-up. Village ward councillors have met on site at the Gatehouse with the Deputy Mayor's policing advisor, who agrees that this is a perfectly viable and cost-effective solution. But for some reason the Met are continuing to resist. As the Met has agreed to keep the SNT base on Seeley Drive in College ward operational, we are still fighting to convince them to let us provide the Gatehouse as a stepping stone from Seeley Drive to Camberwell to plug up the 'black hole' of reduced police presence in Dulwich. Not only does the Gatehouse have the space to serve as an SNT patrol base, but it also has the facility to provide a front counter service and a private interview room for face to face police meetings for intel updates and victim support. Furthermore, it is conveniently placed along the more inaccessible east-west axis for local police to quickly reach hotspots in both Village and East Dulwich wards. For the moment, all that is tentatively agreed is for a front counter to be provided for a minimum of three hours per week at the Dulwich Library, but there isn't enough room there for a patrol base. Plus, there is the inevitable problem that some residents might be discouraged from attending an openly public location. We haven't given up yet, as there is complete agreement between all parties concerned - all we need to do is to convince the Met that this is a viable solution. In the end, it will be interesting to see if the Mayor's office will prevail over the Met's resistance in order to address the concerns of the representatives of over 50,000 rate-paying residents.

I live within sight of the current police station on Lordship Lane... it takes me about 20 minutes to half an hour by bus (depending on when the bus actually shows up), walking to and from the bus stops, to reach the station in Camberwell. The problem isn't just about public access to a front counter to report crime - this can be done with increasing efficiency by calling 101 - what it directly affects is the police presence on our streets. The Village Safer Neighbourhood Panel has calculated that up to 25% of police time will be spent commuting back and forth from the Camberwell base, assuming that they don't get abstracted completely out of the ward into other parts of the 'cluster' as they do now. In other words, when one reads claims that the police are closing stations in order to save money to retain officers on the streets, one has to wonder what benefit this is going to be to the Dulwich area if our beat officers have to endure a half hour trek each way several times a day... Because of the Dulwich wards' geographic size and logistical complexities, we have even had problems with Response Police in emergency cars responding quickly and being able to find locations when they actually do get down here. I recently had someone witnessing a knife incident in a local park call me on a Sunday afternoon in distress because he had heard the sirens around the perimeter of the park but they hadn't actually attended. What's worrying is I'm getting calls like this more frequently and I'm not trained to deal with emergency incidents. DulwichFox, don't laugh, but the Police Box was introduced 90 years ago in April 1923 precisely to deal with the logistical problem of police being diverted from their beats to report to inaccessible police stations, so the Camberwell commute is actually a return to the pre-Edwardian policing mindset. Here's a bit of history for you:- http://www.policeboxes.com/pboxhist.htm 'Chief Constable Frederick James Crawley of Newcastle-upon-Tyne introduced police boxes in Sunderland, starting in April 1923, to increase the efficiency of constables on the beat. He had realised that much of a constable's time was wasted travelling to and from his police station - for example, a half-hour refreshment break called for a visit to the police station (or any other suitable place), and then a return to beat duty. This meant that up to a quarter of a constable's beat time could be wasted.'

The next Dulwich Community Council meeting will take place next week on Wednesday evening, January 30th, at Christ Church, Barry Road. Given the interest expressed about planning applications in general, along with the future of the ED Police Station, the Dulwich Community Hospital site, and the possibility of a new school in the area, Southwark's Director of Planning, Simon Bevan, has agreed to come here to explain all the processes and answer questions about how we can achieve our aims as a community. This ties in with the launch of the consultation of the Dulwich Supplementary Planning Document, which will determine the parameters of development in the Dulwich area over the next five years. Therefore it's extremely important that residents are aware of how to respond to this consultation. For instance, if the community genuinely wants to investigate a Park & Ride facility on the Dulwich Hospital site, the Dulwich SPD is the document to incorporate this request into. We've also asked Simon to explain the basic process of how to object (or support) a local planning application, so that there is no question of how to get your voice heard. Furthermore, there is an exciting array of brand new national legislation which devolves power into the community. We can identify which public buildings that we can list on an asset register and create a project bank of items that we want to use public funding and development income for, such as a new police station, a new park, library improvements, even selected highway improvements. In addition to the Director of Planning, we've got legal officers and other high-profile experts available for the whole evening to address our concerns. So, hopefully many of you will be able to take advantage of this unique opportunity to have direct contact with senior council officers to express your views. The meeting starts at 7pm, but the main presentations begin at 7.25pm and the officers have agreed to stay until 9.30pm. Here is a link to the full agenda:- http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=176&MId=4317

You also might notice that Eric the Dragon has donned a Bobby Helmet in support of our community campaign to locate a Safer Neighbourhood Team police patrol base at the Gatehouse directly in front of him on the Dulwich Hospital site.

And I would like to thank Hamish Lodge from Cut Above Tree Management for donating the mulch for the garden pathways. In December Hamish delivered an aromatic blend of pine and eucalyptus which smelled gorgeous over the Christmas holidays. The mulch was spread by the Grove Vale residents and is now bedding in to line the paths in preparation for the top layer of wood chips that Hamish is going to deliver during the winter pruning season. It's really heartening to see how everyone is coming together in this community project!

Will write an update when I can, but some of you might be interested to know that the new Borough Commander is appearing at the Herne Hill Forum meeting tonight at 7pm at the Herne Hill Baptist Church on Half Moon Lane.