James Barber

Residents on Etherow Street have highlighted that no.12 and 40 buses which terminate and turnaround there are dumping all the rubbish they clear out of their buses and overfilling Southwarks rubbish bins. Technically this is trade waste. Council officers have visited the no.40 bus depot in Camberwell. They've been assured all bus drivers will be told to dispose of rubbish thoughtfully. Most of this rubbish, around 90%, is newspapers. So council officers are also arranging with our waste contractors Veolia to deploy recycling bins. These will be in place next month and with the bus drivers help resolve the current problems and result in more recycling.

Hi peckhamgatecrasher, I hadn't thought of cleaners at 4am. The lighting comes on term time, weekends, holiday times, xmas day. So I don't think this is down to cleaners. I'm sure the school would like to half the electricity it uses for this illimination. Most likely they don't even know this is happening. I've explained how we might be able to help with a really cool timer that can cope with term time, holidays, weekends, lighting levels, etc.

Hi Karter, I can assure you the crossing was supported by vast majority of those that responded to the formal consultation. I'm sorry if you personally don't agree a crossing there is a good idea or necessary. The reason this crossing didn't proceed is mostly down to TfL buses causing council officers concerns and taking fright at what TfL might do if a crossing proceeded. East Dulwich councillors made a big fuss. Several council officers have since changed. East Dulwich councillors have been assured a crossing as per public formally counsulted support will be constructed and funds have been found to do this.

Heber School lights are coming on at 4am. I've had one resident contact me about this as it wakes them up shining into bedroom. Any other experiencing this? Eitherway I've asked how we can hel pthe school avoid this, save some money and reduce its CO2 emissions.

I'm shocked at this suggestion. I have just contacted the relevant director in Southwark Council to try and establish the facts. The pool was due to re open late Spring and then phase 2 starts where the gym temporarily located to the new dance studios while the main gym is renewed. So reception could have been responding to the pool or gym reopening. So I will find out ASAP and post the response.

Membership of London Cycling Campaign is CTC both bring cycel shop discounts on acessories and bike bits. Membership of these usually pays for itself every year in discounts.

Hi karter, A consultation was completed last summer. Conusultation papers with freepost reply, email, etc was delivered roughly to all homes within something like 200m radius of areas from Goose Green to Northcross Road - from memory 1,200 homes. Huge majority wanted a crossing outside Somerfield supporting the views I and my ward councillor had gleaned from many doorsteps in the area and residents surveys. Hence why we requested the works. The problem was TfL Buses stating that a zebra crossing could not proceed as so many people would clearly want to use it to cross the road and this would delay buses. We suggested via council officers that narrowing Lordship Lane at the pelican crossing clsoe to Northcross Road would allow shorter green time for pedestrians and thus less red time for buses. They weren't interested. We suggested meeting on site. No interest. So we've now been told that TfL buses could probably accept a Pelican crossing outside Somerfield. Not as good as a zebra but better than dashing across hoping to make the other side. The bend. We had originally hoped that the kerb would be built out on both sides so that the bend would make little difference to a zebra crossing. It also halves the distance to cross. It would also minimise issues around car parking being lost as one car park space from each side would be lost. But then the bend would'nt be an issue for a Pelican as the lights will be clearly visible. Hope this makes sense.

Southwark Council provides free cycle tuition and route planning. We all think we know how to cycle but the trainers opened my eyes to a couple of bad cycle habits and suggested some route alternatives.

Reading the London Mayor's Draft Municipal Waste Management Strategy, I know I need to get out more, it highlights that on average flats on estates only recycle around 10%. This is a mega problem as half of London's homes is in the form of flats. In Southwark I've been told by a council officers we have 70-80%.

Hi edf, During the summer we should expect to see a proper pedestrian crossing of Lordship Lane where Sommerfields/coop shop is.

In East Dulwich we funded the East Dulwich Police via Cleaner, Greener, Safer funds to provide state of the art speed guns/camera and active speed sign. They now have the tools to enforce speed limits. The Peckham Rye Police team don't have such tools so they can;t enforce speed limits. I wonder if the Labour Peckham Rye councillors will have decided to provide such tools or other crime fighting/prevention kit?

Breach of planning laws would be embarassing for Southwark. Such a breach could be resolved in a number of way from atomic one of closing a buuilding/knocking it down to fines. Tend to agree the one one or two during year with people moving into and out of the area unlikely to have a material impact or concern. If a school were to ignore planning laws then I suspect parents would be reticent to apply as they might find an offered place is withdrawn at the last minute. So I'd be amazed if any school would play fast and loose on numbers.

Hi Magpie, Sorry you've not spotted the context. When renewing the road surface it makes it hard to go back later and renew pavements as the kerb line is often affected by pavement works. So the pavements are renewed first THEN the whole of Melbourne Road will be renewed. That how Dunstans Road has progressed, Crystal Palace Road road will have its road renewed from 22 March, and not so long after than Melbourne Grove. All these works were started at planning stage last July and part of the 09/10 planned programme of street renewals and maintenance.

I made a point of walking down Melbourne Grove over the sunny weekend. I could see a couple of small areas where the pavement works were still in progress. One of then was full of shredded tree which would need to be removed before paving could happen. Suspect that has held these two sections up. I could see some snagging issues for completed areas. Other than that lots of progress sicne the previus weekend.

Next Monday 22 March the Crystal Palace Road resurfacing begins. It will be phased and the current angular humps will be replaced with sinusoidal ones. Any concerns, problems or issues please do get in touch with me.

Hi intexasatthe moment, The planning application stated a number of pupils. Gonig above that number would be a breach of the planning application and council officers would enforce the planning application. Whatever other processes Harris would wish to take regarding pupuil numbers. For this school with its actual planning permission it has a maximum number of pupils. Harris Peckham Academy is reducing its number of places by two forms of entry per year. I'm amazed no parent of a boys at the temporary site hasn't said anything on this forum.

WELL DONE Bunny19.

Hi intexasatthe moment, IF a planning application is submitted it can be refused by planning committees. Refusal can be appealed to the Secretary of State by the applicant. Hi Cathyg1947, The architectural and planning officer advice was that the aesthetics were ok. I seemed to recall asking the applicant around dull facade but the answers and officer answers were helpful. Having seen its unfinished backside I'm keen to see that the completed building will actually when completed be ok.

Suggestion that perhaps some cycle parking should be the road. I've been helpfully sent the attached. Not sure it would suit Lordship Lane - what do people think? If nothing else its made me smile.

Hi Barry, I can formally confirm that ?6,000 has been decided by East dulwich cllrs coming from East Dulwich Cleaner, Greener, Safer funding this coming financial yrar. So the money is available first thing in April. Perhaps a site visit in the next fortnight?

I believe this school is costing ?30M to build and open with the land provided free by Southwark Council. That isn't a small amount of money or land opportunity cost to me. Harrow, Eton and Dulwich College I'm sure have large areas of playing fields but importantly they were contructed a long time ago in then rural areas. Buying farmland then would have been cheap. To create such playing fields in East Dulwich would need either Peckham Rye Park or Common to be handed over to a school or compulsory purchasing many many hundreds or thousands of homes. Which might well reduce the need for a new school. Allowing Harris Boys to use the common would result in a very similar amount of playing fields for local boys. So in my mind we have the ingredients its just having the local will to use them together. Admissions numbers. I'd be surprised if they would'nt need to reapply for planning permission to change the numbers. I'd be amazed if a planning committee agreed to an increase when the original evidence and subsequent research suggests 750 is optimal numbers. Some bigger schools are being subdivided into smaller units of this size. I went to a comp that had twice these numbers - close to 2,000. Great for being lost in the crowd. Not good to ensure every child progresses well.

Hi elliescott, Zebra crossing are great in that people walking get to cross more or less when they need to and vehicels are not held up when no one crossing but the mere suggestion someone might cross normally reduces speeds around zebra crossings. Could you PM exactly where on Barry Road staing house numbers - hence the request for PM. I'll then take a look and come back to you.

I was on the planning committee that decided to grant planning permission. I did ask at the time whether the Academy could be allowed to use the common/park but in exchange allow its changing rooms to be used at the weekend. This would allow all those unsightly shipping containers to be removed. I was told that the friends of Peckham Rye Park at that time were against such a concept and the applicant didn't want to rock the boat.

The playground is being rebuilt after receiving planning permission earlier this year. I believe this is largely funded by Southwark Council using central government funding to improve playgrounds but along more naturalistic lines. So kids get mounds, grass, tunnels, etc. Naturalistic playgrounds are thought to promote more adventure and imagination. That this funding tipped up with Community Concil CGS funding. When I was asked about playground priorities in East Dulwich ward I suggested the ones at Goose Green, Dulwich Park and Pekcham Rye Parks.

The kerb build out were placed to stop people driving the wrong way up Spurling Road. Residents told me that this happened at speed as drivers preumsbly wanted to reduce the time they spent doing this illegale maneuvre. Rather than just place a block to illegal cars I asked that we allow cycle through as they can then reach lots of quiet roads. I'm told that a traffic order needs to catch-up with this cycle gap. As traffic orders are a legal requirement and cost a lot of money - I was quoted typical costs inclduing pubcli consultation, legally required advertising etc of ?5,000 - I'm expecting it to be piggy backed with other traffic orders. Fortunately as the gap was included with the Goose Green rounabout changes consultation it shouldn't need a reconusltation.