James Barber

Good. Sorry you've had such bother from Southwark council. Fingers crossed it's beautiful summers day.

Kids loved the revolving restaurant. Highlight of the holiday for them! Zoo was fabulous. Reichstag - but you need to book well in advance - was great. They enjoyed a river cruise - Berlin wall museum. Really good city week holiday.

It is outrageous. My recollection is at the planning committee - I was on the committee - the Friend of Peckham Rye objected to the possibility of the then proposed Harris Boys school having any use of the park. Some residents supported this. The committee approved the planning application but some members of the committee - and this is the hazy bit ward councillors as well - wanted a planning condition to block any park use. I proposed but the committee didn't take it up that IF Harris Boys were allowed to use the marked sported pitches then at weekends access to changing facilities at Harris Boys be made available to footie clubs,etc. That they contribute to the drainage system then needed. Win win for everyone. Sadly peoples prejudice against having the school blocked a sensible solution. All told Southwark council could have saved several hundred thousand pounds. So we have the situation other schools bus pupils to the park to use the open space. Harris Boys bus their pupils to other sports grounds. Anyone would think we didn't have climate change. The obvious solution is that one set of pupils is bused to sports provision and Harris Boys be allowed to book sports pitches and walk across the road - take classes out where it would benefit educationally being around green space - biology etc. If you think this is daft then email the Labour leader who could change this - [email protected] and please cc me. I know Harris Federation Chief Executive is seeking a meeting with the Labour leader about other matters. Hopefully this will also be discussed - so this is a really good time to raise the issue.

Hi tessmo, I've asked officers this very question and await a response.

For clarity it wasn't me who suggested closing Melbourne Grove. I was suggesting how to get full width speed humps. Cllr Charlie Smith cam up with the idea of closing Melbourne grove - it appears a really good idea to explore and I wish I had come up with it.

Happy to comment. The Police conducted a traffic survey over a two week period. It found 15,000 vehicles a week using the lower southern section of Melbourne Grove (East Dulwich Grove to Lordship Lane) or just over 2,000 vehicles per day on average. Many were speeding greater than 20mph. Eight local residents were in the deputation giving their views last night and several explained how they'd been abused when asking people not to speed - hence their reticence to be asked to do this on behalf of the Police. They handed out a useful pack that is too large to add here. It will appear on the Southwark council website and I'll link to it then. The pack included a petition where clearly the majority of households and people living on that section want a road closure. They have also started to talk to neighbouring streets and a number of residents from other streets have put on record their support. It will be interesting to see how that support develops. The comment about visiting people 5-6 times was how many attempts to find someone in to ask for their views. Welcome to my world! They were crystal clear that any road closure could only proceed if residents in all directly affected streets had a say. It was reassuring that they understood and accepted this. Some seemed miffed by suggestion that Townley Road residents be consulted when the same courtesy hadn't taken place when Townley Road changes occurred. What we agree last night was to fund a study of the anticipated impacts of closing the road. Once we have that study we will decide how to proceed. Clearly something needs to be done which could range for closing a road to better traffic calming. But until the study is completed - I suspect they have all the data already for this study - we don't know whether a road closure will be thought practicable. Lots of research to suggest some traffic evaporation would occur with a road closure - likely most would use Lordship Lane as an alternative. Some Townley. One final point the deputation made. Melbourne Grove had been closed result for many weeks while the junction was changed with East Dulwich Grove. traffic around the area still kept moving. People adjusted. This seems a pretty compelling real world example that it has worked when implemented temporarily. It would be surprising if people passed the Townley Road junction with Lordship Lane junction if they wanted to proceed westerly along East Dulwich Grove and were then using Melbourne Grove. 2 sides of a triangle. It seems more likely and that's what I mostly seem to witness that people drive cross East Dulwich Grove and are aiming to go up Dog Kennel Hill and vice versa. IF and it's a very big if residents wanted this after the study has been published and we had decided to consult on that as an option I would support a road closure. It would make many local streets fully residential again. If not then as a minimum I'd look for full width road humps to try some level of traffic calming. The suggestion of raised tables at junctions is lovely - but prohibitively expensive. We just don't have anywhere near that level of devolved funding to make that suggestion happen.

Hi OrchardProject, Yes that group disbanded some time ago. We have paid for a management plan of the heights which Southwark Parks have. If you email me direct I'll get you a copy - I may have one on my home computer.

Hi Glemham, Southwark contractors usually deliver such letters. They don't deliver them over a fortnight out as people forget. They usually do it at around the 1 week out mark. If you haven't had anything by Saturday please email me direct so I can chase. thanks.

I'm not sure if the friends group is still active - does anyone know/have contact details? It has a Green Flag so well worth you contacting Southwark Council to point out any issues - [email protected]

I broadly agree with you LM. The EFA chose one application for a new secondary school for East Dulwich. Both applications clearly showed need. If they felt each had covered a different geographic area then they could have asked both to proceed. So that makes me conclude that mostly it's the same supporters from the same areas.

We really need to have a meeting of minds on this. Their will be enough public consultations and planning applications, etc that a strongly divided community could really cause problems for our new local secondary school opening. The implied assumption of lump it for supporters of one of the two applications - could incentivise them to respond to the consultation that it shouldn't go ahead. We all lose with this potential risk. If as some suggest the original proposal was mid the eastern boundary then hopefully the proposal will at least return to that. But with nodal points causing such division I hope they drop the idea. The difference for supporters from DKH would be sub 200m. The supporters of a nodal point much further SEE would be more. But at least using a traditional school point to measure would be seen to be easier to understand, fairer and not appear totally arbitrary to some strong faction.

Hi @Woodwarde, The authorisation was in the recommendation of the Dulwich Community Council - don't recall if the decision was delegated to DCC or cabinet councillor decision. Did you have something in mind? Hi kiera, Thanks. I started a reply to @Woodwarde and was distracted before completing it.

Hi @Woodwarde, Yes. The junction will be closed 4 July -> 1 September. The dates were also advertised in last weeks Southwark News.

GOOD NEWS - Planning permission for this has been granted (8 June)and hopefully it wont be long before the works are undertaken - funded by ?1bn Post office investment fund set-up by the coalition government. James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Post Office have appleid to have a mega revamp of > the Post Office at 76 Lordship Lane. I've attached > the proposed new look and plans. > You can see the full planning application here - > http://planbuild.southwark.gov.uk/documents/?caser > eference=15/AP/1432&system=DC > > What do you think? > > Idea is to make it friendlier, some self-service, > more open counters and one secure counter.

Hi pinkladybird, It is up to UK and european government to ban chemicals that are harmful. Not individual councils. I would urge people to contact an MEP about this issue - https://www.writetothem.com for who our MEP's are. If we had a risk of drinking water being contaminated it would have become evident decades ago and Thames Water make thousands of tests day of water quality.

Hi traveler2, Picture a little dark to really see. If you forward me the email you sent council officers happy to investigate over the weekend. And pop in to see the manager.

Hi Colabottle, I had a a family event booked ages in advance - hence my non attendance. But the consultation event was surely about parents not councillors. I've given my initial input to this consultation. As councillors we have lots of other opportunities to give our views on this. AS the original instigator of this school campaign - the only site available is the Dulwich Hospital site and NHS health plan on building a new health facility n the eastern third of the site. In a perfect world I was always clear the site would have been about 1/2 mile SE of where it actually is to be in the centre of need. The mapping of supporters also shows this - great to be proven correct on that. But with so much contention about nodal points I suspect it will in the end come down to crow flies to the main entrance on East Dulwich Grove. Hi confusedbyitall, I can assure you me and my ward colleagues Cllr Rosie Shimell and at the time Cllr Jonathan Mitchell put in many hundreds of hour before a steering committee was even proposed by us. Much of it over xmas and New Year 2013/14. To suggest otherwise would be perverse.

I don't think they have the skills to appreciate what they need to do around web design. So yes I appreciate the craziness of even having to suggest it but it needs doing ASAP. I wont this sorted ASAP. Do you?

Yesterday I asked council officers to investigate and chased first thing tomorrow.

do we have any website design experts who could give DMC an hour or two of their time to help DMC make the DMC website clearer?

Let met ask if this can be added to the online appointments.

Street Parties/Events: Friday 26 June 4-7pm Archdale Road is closed Sunday 28 June 11am-5pm Hollingbourne Road (Warmington Road - Herne Hill) will be closed. If you'd like to close your road to hold a Street Party or Play Event get in touch so Cllr Rosie Shimell or I can help.

The problem is Southwark Council and it predecessor councils haven't set-up an endowment or sinking fund to maintain these places. New burials fund the very limited poor up keep. I understand private burial places such as Kemnal Park have. The difference in landscaping and maintenance standards is marked. The proposals to Camberwell new and old cemeteries are hugely expensive. They wont address the low standards of maintenance. The price per plot is such that I believe it cheaper for Southwark, and cheaper in the end for our residents whose families wish to bury someone, to buy a large number of plots from a private provider such as Kemnal Park. Southwark also needs to resolve how to fund these places maintenance to a good standard into perpetuity. The proposed capital spends to provide new plots at Camberwell old and new cemeteries could fund this. NB. I should make it clear I have a number of deceased relatives in all the Camberwell old and new and Nunhead cemeteries.

Hi bawdy-nan, I'll find out. as soon as I know will report back.

Hi tfwsoll, I will ask about this. Hi drewd, If you email me your details and when you tried I will ask the DMC - they may have a systemic issue that needs fixing. Hi bawdy-nan, Exactly the situation you experienced was raised at the PPG on Wednesday. We were told that this often means that either thy have doctors worknig through all the letters from hospitals, test results etc, or one instance between session periods. NHS England is monitoring their performance and one of the item on the agreed action plan is abut ensuring sufficient appointment slots. I suspect what you and I would call sufficient is different to NHS England.