worldwiser

Not all Free Schools can be designed by Norman Foster, that was Labour's Academies' racket. Free Schools have to operate on the same budgets as other maintained schools and this is a very acceptable design which works pretty well in the streetscape. I say get on and build the thing.

I have no problem with the occasional building going higher than the average, especially where there's overwhelming societal need. 99.9% of the buildings in the area are 2 or 3 storeys and the idea that even a few dozen developments that break this norm will destroy the character of the area is deluded scaremongering. The need for increased educational provisioning (especially at primary level) is becoming acute and frankly trumps any narrow-minded insistence on aesthetic absolutes.

James, you first stated you had requested a site meeting about this on January 2nd following an appalling accident. 5 months on, are you saying you're still waiting to have this meeting?? Please do update us.

All of Crawthew was out.

?2m + ?1m refurb = 600k per house cost price. Sell for min 850k per house, ?1.25m profit. No brainer. I bet offers will come in way above that.

Haart have admitted in writing to me that they don't automatically remove boards. The implication being that they expect owners to do it or that they are happy with flouting the Town and Country Planning Act. Either way, totally unacceptable.

Just might be the incentive to get people cycling and running to work. Going to give it a try..

Direct Debit?!

Fun, slightly irreverent, reassuring.. a light-hearted, mild Alice in Wonderland reference? Definitely fire their Comms team immediately. They're not issuing a white paper, they're handling an unfortunate and unintentional delay with good humour and communicating with a modern audience. This is how all successful companies handle problems these days. What were you hoping for, the CEO kneeling in the street and begging for forgiveness?

ZT this isn't a delayed commuter train, it's a cinema. In a really old building that likely presented huge challenges along the way. I fail to see how their email treated anyone like children. Why do we need to know the ins and outs of the delays? It's not a public service, it's a privately operated cinema. When it opens we'll all go. You think they have any interest in not opening at the very first opportunity?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/16/anti-vaccination-activists-should-not-be-given-a-say-in-the-media Read this and then schedule the appointment. Now. Not vaccinating your child has societal consequences and there's no excuse anymore not to do it.

Because there aren't any. They all have good strengths and intolerable weaknesses. Take your pick. The amazing midwives at DMC are a compelling reason enough to choose them if you're going to get pregnant. But you'll have to fight tooth and nail to get an appointment for anything else. Good luck!

I certainly didn't suggest fining. But insisting errant patients only book in person would be one deterrent. Treating the practice badly is not an adult reaction to being treated badly in the first place. That's schoolyard behaviour. And if the figure of 10% lost appointments is to be believed (it's certainly the national average), that would go a long long way to improving the service.

I did take the time to register and there are some appointments currently available in 2 weeks. I'm going to check in the morning and see if earlier appointments are made available day by day. My old practice used to update its appointments at midnight. There, you could book for today, in 48hrs, next week or in two weeks. A similar system at DMC would be very welcome. I honestly don't understand why practices are able to decide how they administer this aspect of their work. It should be mandated nationally and not depend on the whim of a local practice. On another point, missed appointments should be clamped down on massively. Ease of cancellation is certainly one issue and should be improved (online booking would certainly facilitate this) but reminder texts would be make a huge difference too. When this is in place, people who forget, decide not to go or otherwise unnecessarily waste this precious resource should be dealt with firmly.

Certainly one piece of great news about the online appointment booking service. How long has this existed for? People have been clamouring for this for years.

No. It closed. A proper Italian opened a few doors down, maybe you've seen it.

In terms of skill vs fees, I don't think I've yet come across an agent that wasn't fabulously poor value for money. Especially in London. You can't tell me the costs of running an estate agent here are double what they are outside London, or that their costs have doubled in line with property prices in the past 10 years. Why are estate agents' charges linked to property prices anyway? It makes no bloody sense at all. Total racket.

I'm gratified to see that, in theory, the skip licensing requirements are reasonably onerous. ?66 per 4 weeks.

As my English teacher frequently used to say: That's just awful awful awful awful. No way it gets passed. Unless they do an M&S 'wear-down-the-council-with-lawyers' move.

It's the number of KFH branches that I can't fathom and they're just as aggressive and bellendy as Foxtons. They've been on Rye Lane for ages so I guess Foxtons has decided they can't have all the fun to themselves.

Indeed, loved having you there. Any idea who's taking over?

Can't find any trace of this application on Southwark's site. Any chance you can post a link? I do know you don't have to own a property to submit a planning application..

Bollocks. The law makes it impossible to use money from CPZs for anything other than running CPZs. So there's no net benefit to the council.

Why be so mean about it? You think they duped us all into joining by telling us it would open a mere 3 months earlier than they knew it would? What a pointless conspiracy! The building is old and being converted to a use never before imagined - I'm happy to accept they encountered unforseen obstacles and take the delay in good faith. Anyway, it's their cinema, not yours. Let them open it whenever they want. When it does, we'll go. What's the problem?

This only incentivises people bringing their cars into the area from outside at a time when it's practically at breaking point. It took me 20m to find a space within 6 streets of my house today - we need a CPZ as soon as humanly possible. Just a one hour restriction in the middle of the day is required, nothing more. It works absolutely everywhere else in London and I don't believe the circumstances of ED are so utterly unique so as to buck that fact.