James Barber

I'm a Liberal. I believe in civil liberties. I don't think anyone would wont lots on Ian Tomlinson's which is why the Met Police have repeatedly asked people to stay away from the troubles to make it clearer who is an antagonist and who isn't. apparently it takes a UK Police officer 4 hours to arrest and book in a suspect. In the current troubles that would mean arresting a rioter takes you away from the frontline and supporting your colleagues for hours. The original night they didn't have enough officers without arresting any except the most outrageous for fear of depleting their numbers. But other western liberal countries such as Canada it takes 30minutes to arrest and book in a suspect. This is not about bleeding liberals it's about bad management and processes gobbling up Police time. But now what can we do now today? Take a look at every image you can and try identifying people. If you do spot anyone tell the Police.

Hi KPR, I'll find out.

Hi charliebrown, http://www.metpolicecareers.co.uk/specials/Index.html Clearly states 16hours pcm and also states "Special constables also receive free travel on the London Underground, London Buses, Tramlink, Transport for London (TfL) operated Overground services and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is extended to all MSC officers both on and off duty." Last night London was spared serious problems because 16,000 police officers on duty - both regulars and specials from Metropolitan Police Force and other Police forces. more specials would really help the Met cope with such disturbances. As a councillor I'm barred - also I can't have another non work role to add to being a councillor - but I would encourage others. The last time I spoke to local police they were hoping new local specials would wish to police East Dulwich.

If anyone is really keen to help then sign up and become a Special Police officer. You have to committee to 16hours volunteering a month and get free travel pass as a than you.

Hi breadcrum45, You should report such suspicious activities to the Police. Hi Siduhe, The advice is not to travel and especially not after dark. Public meetings have been cancelled. I've rearranged work meetings into conference calls for the remainder of the week.

These humps seemed pretty standard to mew en I made a point of experiencing them late Friday afternoon. One of the sinusoidal humps seemed slightly large but within tolerances. Just across the border in Lewisham they really have dodgy sinusoidal humps ie they aren't and some of the old fashioned humps were huge. The real shame is no political party has adopted averaging speed cameras for a whole residential area. We wouldn't needs any humps or bumps then or alternatively the European insurance approach where the weakest participant in a crash is assumed innocent. Are the Dunstans Road humps so bad they need council officers to make a special survey. Driving over them should be sufficient.

The following is what Councillors have been told by Southwark Councillor.... Councillors? briefing? ? Here is the latest information on the council?s response to last night?s disorder ? Key messages? Here are the key messages from the police that we would be grateful if everyone could heed and pass on:? Parents and guardians should know where their children are and they should be at home tonight Onlookers should go home as they are hampering the police operations If you see something suspicious dial 999 ?All council services are operating today with the focus on getting the borough back to normal. ? Services affected? ?Social care establishments, such as Sumner, Bradenham and Sunshine House will close by 4pm. ? All libraries and leisure centres will close at 3pm today. Peckham Pulse opened later today as there were issues for staff getting in. Adult education services will also close at 3pm today. ? Registrars will closed after 2pm citizenship ceremony that is to go ahead ? Further closures are expected this afternoon. ? Advice to council staff Staff are being advised that it is business as usual in Southwark, but that managers can use their discretion and take a common sense and risk based approach as to when staff can leave. No staff are to be put at risk. The Leader has also thanked staff for their efforts. There are no reports of any staff member being hurt. ? Council property One council building (376 Walworth Rd) is reported to have been slightly damaged. But ?contrary to earlier reports, there does not appear to be any damage to Peckham library. Oliver Goldsmith school is also undamaged. ? Community Safety There are 25 community ?wardens on duty.?Thirty five uniformed officers will be available tomorrow, but there are no plans for wardens to be on the streets this evening due to safety reasons. ?Other community safety officers are on reassurance visits to local groups and are working closely with the police. ?? Waste services? All waste services are running normally and the affected areas were largely cleared by 9am. A large number of people have come forward, either to the call centre or on social media sites, asking how they can help. The council is thanking those who have made this offer on social media sites. Those who have contacted the call centre are being thanked, having it explained that the clear up is largely complete, but are being asked if they would be interested to leave their contact details in case we need some volunteers to help in the coming days. ? The civic amenity site closed at 7pm yesterday evening and will be monitored to see if it needs to close early today. ? Parking? The parking service suffered some disruption earlier today as the contractors base is above a shop that was looted. A full service was to have been restored by 1030.?The parking service has been asked to take a softer approach today as people may have had to leave their cars at short notice. An on call vehicle removal service is available today. ? Noise team? The service was suspended last night, and will be suspended tonight and tomorrow too. ? Highways? Rye Lane remains closed and there are partial pavement closures on the Walworth Road. Thames Water and Southern Gas have been asked to scale down their work sites to remove potential weapons.?Standard night operations were stood down last night and will not operate again this evening. ? Housing? We have taken the decision to close down 21-23, 25 and the AHO on Bournemouth Road in Peckham.? We have displayed notices outside the building regarding homelessness out of hours numbers.?Housing repairs is operational and contractors will carry out their own risk assessments before attending requests out of hours.?All Area Housing Offices are to close. ? Adult Social Care? Some homecare staff were unable to make their visits last night so these will be done today. One homecare agency was burnt out and the lists of visits staff from that organisation would have done will be picked up by the council?s localities team.?Council officers are identifying vulnerable residents and have contingency plans in place. ? ?? Events? The council?s health factor final event has been cancelled this evening and attendees have been informed. The organisers of community events being scheduled later in the week are being contacted to ensure full risk assessments are in place. ? Emergency Planning? The Local Authority Liaison Officer (LALO) is identifying rest centres in areas away from where the worst trouble has been seen. ? Businesses? Wardens are visiting businesses in the worst affected areas to share safety advice from the police (which is also available on the website) and to hear how shop owners think that the council can help. Practical advice is also being distributed by the council. Plywood is also available from the council should shops feel they would prefer to board up their properties. ? Community meeting? The community meeting mentioned in yesterday?s members? briefing will not take place at Cator Street tonight. A separate meeting is now being arranged with the police.

Edited to make clear that Stewart is our East Dulwich Police Safer Neighbourhood Team sergeant. The following is a cut and paste response asking for advice for local resident and business owners. Some residents are scared and may be running low of essentials so I'd like to emphasise checking your neighbours are ok and don't need any help or reassurance. "Hi James, ? We had some opportunist lootings in East Dulwich last night - mostly concentrated around the Lordship Lane area (as I'm sure you're aware). The disorder we saw here looked to be local people taking advantage of the serious situations in Peckham and Walworth. There is an?small possibility that some outsiders joined in?after Lordship Lane in Tottenham was widely publicised as?being targeted,?but we are confident the culprits are local. ? In regards to advice, I would echo the call of our Temporary Commissioner by saying to parents of young people of all ages to?ask them to stay in tonight and make sure?they know where they are. Don't take their word for it that they are staying at a?friends houses or that they are out of the area. Secure business premises as best you can and make sure that cash and valuables are removed (a sign on the window to that effect may help around here, the primary driver seems to be personal gain rather than violence and arson). Check on vulnerable neighbours and be vigilant on each others behalf. Please don't put yourselves at personal risk to protect property, it is far more important to keep yourselves safe. If you know the identity of looters or know the name of someone in possession of looted goods, please telephone us or Crimestoppers (in confidence if necessary). ? We were on duty into the small hours and just managed to grab a couple of hours sleep before getting back in for 1000. We will most likely be on into the early morning again tonight. I have been up and down Lordship Lane several times?today speaking with?people and giving what advice we can. We have also had a lot of thank you gifts delivered to the police station! ? Finally - don't believe the social networks! Almost nothing has happened this morning, but we are getting deluged with calls from people saying they have heard that the borough is being ransacked. ? Regards ? Stewart"

Hi zeban, Peckham has its own councillors and if they need help they'll ask for it. Hi puzzled, I understand your distress at what might happen and can't pretend such thoughts hadn't crossed my mind as well but keeping calm and reproting directly to the police suspiscious activities via 999 is the key. Vigilantism could well incite more unwelcome visitors than it solves and Southwark Police have 1,000 Police officers and many more sent from other boroughs to help. As a shop owner I would encourage you to secure valuables and be even more vigilant than normal. Hi DulwichFox, Isn't it great how quickly LL is getting back to normal. The more normal things look and feel the less likely things will go awry locally.

Thankfully it doesn't sound like LL needs it but a fantastic thought and idea. Let's all keep this thought for LL in case it needs it at another time. I'll happily buy all the brooms and shovels we would need from the DIY shops.

Hi Loz ED, Sounds a reasonable request and everyone should get a better swim. I'll ask. Regards james

Er we're spending ?15bn over the next decade or so. You link story states over 2 million miles of pipelines vs. UK 275,000. US 140 major incidents includes incidents with and without deaths or injuries vs. 3.5 UK incidents involving injuries or deaths a year. BUT 93 UK incidents of 3rd parties damading the UK gas distributor network. So I'm not clear any of these are comparing like with like.

A new station entrance will be opened after the new lifts etc are working. So the new road crossing and southbound bus stop will make sense then. Hopefully the northbound bus stop will also be moved to be closer to the station entrance.

Hi Huguenot, Tha slow speed of technology dissemination in the gas utility industry would be the reason I'd suggest.

Hi Huguenot, I'd read that. Cast iron pipes don't rust without oxygen. Originally they were deployed to carry town gas which had a high moisture content. the connections between each section of cast iron pipe layer involved jute which with the moisture in the town gas proved to be be an excellent yet flexible joint filler. Town gas was replace by natural gas which has a minimal moisture so the jute has dried out and the joints are more prone to leaking. Rather than replace the cast iron pipes because the seals are failing in the US they replace the seal from the inside using. Robot. To prioritise which pipes to reseal they have recently developed a car based censor that produce gas leak profiles with the vehicle able to proceed at 60mph. So they can map out a whole city in a week or two. The beauty of the CISBOT robot is you only a need a hole dug every 150m and the robot can reseal 150m of cast iron pipe joins in an 8 hour shift. So Frienr Road could be done in a week with this technology. As for risks of gas explosions. Replacing all gas pipes means huge amount of road works and every road work carries risk. This non intelligent method will be causing more death and injuries from roadworks than the risk of explosion.

Hi Peckhamboy, The new Champion Park pedestrian crossing, from memory an unsafely replacement Puffin crossing for the previous Pelican crossing is positioned for the new Denmark Hill station entrance. When will the new entrance be opened - I dont know yet but will find out. This is all connected with making access from street level to the platforms DDA compliant.

It costs an adult Southwark resident ?50.10 per annum for a Leisure Access Card. With such a card each of peak Swim costs(6.30am-4pm) ?2.00 per session or ?2.40 each peak session to swim as opposed to the non Leisure Access Card rate of ?4.00 & ?4.30 respectively. The old swim only membership was ?24pcm totalling ?288 a year. So having a leisure acces card means you could go swimming roughly (50:50 peak vs. off peak) 108 times before spending more than the old swim only monthly pass - or fractionally over twice week or two and a quarter times if only off peak. That doesn't seem too bad unless you swim 3 or more times a week...

Southern Gas Networks - 10 months of work to replace all the gas pipes on Friern Road. I challenged the need for 10 months with council officers on the one hand stating they would tell SGN they must be finished by Xmas and the other hand advertising 12 months of road closures. In the states they put robots inserted at 150m intervals to re connect cast iron pipes - fraction of the cost. In the Uk the Health and Safety Executive have insisted all cast iron pipes must be replaced at a national cost of tens of billions of pounds. In the states in earthquake regions they haven't been that draconian or wasteful of national resources.

Cllr Peter John also appointed the chair of Southwarks Olmypic Legacy Fund Tony Doyle who stated in Southwark Life the councils magazine "Ideally all cyclists should wear a helmet at all times". And Cllr Barrie Hargrove is backtracking like crazy from suggsting cycle lanes should be removed. And his planned meeting with Southwark Cyclists is welcome.

As this bus stop and crossing is clearly used by lots of ED residents I'll ask to see the safety audit. It clearly sounds bonkers.

I'm surprised the local counmcillors for South Camberwell didn't object to this. It clearly puts bus users at risk doing the perfectly rational thing of crossing directly to the rail station. I'll ask to see the safety audit that must have taken place.

Hi brummie, The green open spaces you see around such schools in Dulwich area are classified as Metropolitan Open Land and would need planning permission to build over and building car parks would be against stated Southwark policies. The coach service moves lots of kids to these schools without a seperate car for each kid. They avoid a lot of cars on our roads. As a member of Southwark Cyclists/Dulwich Safer Routes to School several years ago I helped analyse where kids come from for one of the large schools and the CO2 of getting them to/from school. That school had 2/3rd of its kids living in Southwark/Lambeth. I suspect extrapolating that to this school would show predominantly local kids. Hi Zebedee Tring, The coaches are not supposed to leave engines running. If you (or anyone else) witnesses this please note the time, date and vehicle regiration and tell me. I've been assured by the school in the past they don't want this to happen and with this information can and will act.

Hi PhilPhilPhil, Their will be more double deckers and taking into account fare doudgers who from other conversions back to double deckers stop taking busees an increase in capacity. But some bright spark will state the route has less capacity which although true doesn't explain the whole story of the 'free buses'.

Hi mrure, If you find this please do always ask what the pool temperature is. Collectively we had some effort to get the temperature raised. If its too hot it could be lowered saving lots of money but would'nt wantto go back to it beign too cold! But knowing the temperature means I can do something about it if necessary.

Hi Philphilphil, Yes I can confirm that November 2011 is still the planned date - this was from talking to the bus comapny liaison manager about 6 weeks ago. Hi bob, Sorry, I can;t keep tabs of every thread all the time. Can you (and anyone else affected) please email me a summary of the problem and I'll dig out my Royal Mail contacts.