James Barber

As a councillor I have sat on Planning Committees to make decisions about Planning Applications for uPVC double glazing replacing non uPVC windows - even though the orignial windows needed replacement. What are the new window frames going to be made of - if uPVC then you'd probably need permissions. Email me and I'll get a definitive answer from planning officers.

Latest on secondary school places is that 10 Southwark children are without a secondary school place. Of these 10, 2 are girls living in SE21 and one SE15 boy with no SE22 residents now affected, remainder are from north of the borough. Huge improvement from 34/44 SE22 kids without a place. Clearly no guarantee they've been allocated places they orignally wanted though.

I'm still chasing this. Boy, it is taking a long time to fix.

Hi skyblue, I'll happpily let you know how ED cllr visits to Harris Boys and Kingsdale go. Single sex schools. Southwark has more single sex girl schools than boys schools. It means that coed schools have more boys than girls and isn't as balanced in the way most parents and kids would expect. Personally I'm not keen on single sex schools - the research that says they're more successful is usually on selective schools - but if we're going to have them then broadly we need equal number of places between total single sex boys and girls schools. What hadn't struck me was the how many of the 34 kids in SE22 were boys and how many girls. I'll find out.

The food waste pilot is to be extended to the blocks on Friern Road. Letters will go out during the nest fortnight and collections from brown communal food waste bins from 18 April. I'm really thrilled with this and the orignal pilot wasn't testing any new concepts but this will be - hence I proposed it and suggested they start in East Dulwich at Friern Road. ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP SO WE CAN FIX. Also in April/May the council will start offering blue bins to replce blue boxes and bags to those that want them. Details to come later.

Hi skyblue, I'm afraid I don't see the need for another secondary school in south Southwark. The problems we have appear largely due to Southwark secondary schools taking so many none Southwark kids. I'm not sure where you get 200 parents from? The actual number of Southwark kids in SE22 not allocated a secondary school in the first round was 34 with 44 for the whole of Southwark. Do you mean the number who didn't get a 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice? I received a PM asking about the hospital site. For a school to be built the land would need to be purchased. And then planning permissions etc. You'd be talking about ?30M and proving to the Department of Education that a need exists. But the Labour led Southwark council has wobbled about the need for a new secondary school in Rotherhither with 10,000+ more homes being built so I'd be surprised if they felt a case could be made for a new school when no real home building is taking place in our area - total sub 100 new homes in the next 5 years I'd guess.

Overall the same number of Countdown boards in ED. Where new boards placed old ones will be removed. Crazy presumption that everyone has a smarthpone and if they do that they want to wave them around to entice muggers. remote infrequently served bus stops wont have countdown. Overall spend ?13M. For that they should have been able to deploy a new countdown at every bus stop in London - which would be a smarthpone in a box with big indicator board using GPRS to keep it updated.

Hi Jeremy, I was talknig to a very recent buyer of an ex.council flat in a council block in ED. Prices had braodly done the same as no ex. council flats. He suggeated I look at something called Zeboo or something to see for myself.

With the criteria of avoiding Heathrow Express then roblay suggestion of getting to Victoria either via Denmark Hill or Peckham Rye stations depending which part of ED you're travelling from, then district and then picadilly. TYhis interchange is just crossing over the platform. I tend to use Barons Court at busier times as its quieter and you have an advantage in getting a sesat over people changing trying to do the same but at Hammersmith.

Hi AllyCat, Buses are controlled by TfL buses and subsidised. The London Mayor decides on this and is scrutinised by Greater London Assembly members on the Transport Committee.. The two GLA members I'd recommend you contacting are Val Shawcross and Caroline Pidgeon. Val is the GLA member covering Southwark & Lambeth, currently the chair of the Transport Committee but I don't believe she lives here - [email protected]. Caroline lives in Southwark, former Southwark councillor and from memory is the vice chair of the Transport Committee - [email protected]. Last year Carolien was chair and Val vice chair. I suspect this will happen again and anything involving buses will take years to make happen or eve not happen.

To reiterate. The pruning was a horrible mistake and the Parks Manager who is accountable for the tree department that asked for this assures me it will never happen again.

Hi trinity, Council officers assured me this morning they are aware of the problem and are on the case. When a road become 20mph they have a sign facing vehciles going into the 20mph area stating 20mph and usually the flip side facing people leaving stating 30mph. They usually hanf from a post. Rotating the sign then states 30mph going into a 20mph road etc. I'm clear that Wood Vale is 20mph and the sign will be corrected to this.

If someone is looking for a site Grove Park has a huge old building previously used as a Home Office Training centre - so it has the correct planning classification. It would be good to see that building and its site brought back into use.

Hi trinity, It sounds like the 20mph/30mph signs they place at the edge of 20mph zones has been turned around. I reported it and asked for it to be fixed.

Hi Katie1997, But a guaranteed minimum pension of ?140 rather than current ?97 + plus mean testing is fantastic news for pensioners on top of re establsihing the link between pensions and earnings. Winter fuel payments. The Green Deal starts by providing insulation for all pensioners. Much better way to help is to reduce the need for fuel rather than paying for some of it.

I've attached the sub-committees decision. Hours: Reduced to 23.30 serving alcohol Friday and Saturdays and closed by midnight. Conditions: ? The 4 conditions proposed by Trading Standards and listed on page 23 of the agenda are to be added to the licence in full. Police conditions listed below are to be added to the licence: ? The personal licence holder must be on the premises at all times that intoxicating liquor is being provided. ? That a CCTV system is installed at the premises and be maintained in good working order and be continually recording at all times the premises are in used under the licence. The CCTV system must be capable of capturing an image of every person who enters the premises. ? That all CCTV footage shall be kept for a period of 31 days and shall, upon request, be made available immediately to officers of the Police and the council. ? Condition 303 is replaced with the following conditions: o When the premises is used for an event promoted either internally by the premises or by an external promoter, where it is advertised in the press and on websites and where people pre-purchase a ticket or pay at the door, the organiser must complete a Promotion/Event Assessment Form (MP696) supplied by the Police and ensure that a copy of that and the agreement is provided to the Police and Licensing Unit a minimum of 14 days prior to the date of hire. This requirement does not apply to events directly associated with a registered charity. o When events as described above take place at least 2 SIA registered door staff should be employed at all times from 21:00 to the terminal hour the premises is being used. They shall be provided with hand-held metal detectors and ensure that searches are carried out in respect of all admissions including members of the public, performers and their assistants and the door-staff will also be provided with a mechanical counting device to ensure the accommodation limit is not exceeded. o You shall notify the Police and the Licensing Unit on all other occasions when the premises is hired out to any third party at least 7 days prior to the date of the event. ? If requested by the Police and Licensing Unit a Promotion/Event Assessment Form will be submitted and security staff be employed as above. ? The DPS and premises management will hold meetings with the Police and Licensing Unit to discuss operational issues as and when requested.

I met with council officers about this scheme yesterday. They've since confirmed that of the 12 reported collissions on Grove Vale in the last 3 years, 3 considered to involve speed as a contributory factor - one being the fatality when the car hit the kerb and flipped. The most expensive parts of this scheme are the raised treatments to slow vehicles down. I'm still unconvinced that the annual traffic flow of Grove Vale being inconvenienced by negotiating the proposed raised roads outweighs on average part of the contribution to one crash every year. The fataliaty was such extreme driving that I really don't think its representative. I say this taking into account the extra convenience of people crossing Grove Vale and how it would make such crossing easier for me but equally make cycling and beign a bus passenger much less comfortable. So again on balance I'd prefer the proposed raised road didn't happen and the money be used to make others parts of Southwark safer.

Hi skyblue, My perspective. It seems at best bizarre that some secondary schools in Southwark are taking Lewisham kids who are travelling past Southwark kids who've not been allocated places in Southwark secondary schools. Yet at the same time Southwark kids are being offered the places Lewisham kids didn't want in Lewisham. Charter School catchment criteria appears doctored by not accepting the pedestrian cut throughs of Wanley Road or Greendale to Blanchedowne. Kingsdale criteria works against some extremely local kids. These schools are now so well accepted that I would hope they could open up more to local kids. Which is why my eard colleagues Cllr Jonathan Mitchell, Rosie Shimell and myself have arranged a visit to the Harris East Dulwich Boys Academy and are in the throse of arranging a visit to Kingsdale.

I've had a very quick response that the works were a mistake and were halted as soon as it was realised. Assured this wont be repeated and await a report about how much work was done and why. The manager concerned I have confidence will get the bottom of it and will ensure the same mistake is not repeated.

Hi Penguin68, Lots of dicsussion around the junction of Underhill Road with Barry Road and the collissions has taken place on another thread. Hi trentk69, I had taken up some casework about potholes on Barry Road. Im not if that or another issue meant these works took place but not telling people and removing machinery in the very early hours afterwards is at best inconsiderate. Would people prefer to have had the works take place on a Saturday rather than very late evening?

I reported the problem yesterday and checked this morning and still the junction timings appear incorrect. Some vehicles chsoe to ignore the lights and this is a recipe for an avoidable collission. I'll chase this again now.

I was horrified to hear this. In East Dulwich the East Dulwich councillors have allocated a lot of our annual Cleaner, Greener, Safer capital funds to planting more trees on East Dulwich streets - we certainly wouldn't expect street trees to be 'savaged' and certainly not at the wrong time of the year. I've contacted the head of parks that includes the tree management department. When I received her response I'll post it here.

or been involved in the Lacon incident.

Hi candp, Slightly out of my patch but happy to report it and ask to see the paper copy of the traffic light sequence. NB.I've been asking for all traffic light sequences to be made publicly available as we must have loads of traffic engineers and others who could finesse the current settings and squeeze more pedestrian time out of them. Whenever I give a specific example of a daft set of settings they get improved but never get whole set of traffic light sequences. This is a slow way ot improve things.

Hi civilservant, The extra crossing outside COop/Somerfield is meant to have happened this financial year! We will eventually get it. We'll also get one on Lordship Lane at the junction of East Dulwich Grove. My brai nwave appears to have cracked this junction conundrum of traffic lights causing more harm than good and doing nothing not good enough. I'll chase officers for the latest time lines. Hi Kraken, Those speed signs tend to reduce average speed by 1-2mph. Helpful but not a panacea. Hi rahrahrah, Speed sinusoidal humps on Matham, Ashbourne and Chesterfield. Remainder speed signs.