Nigello

Fast food culture + ubiquitous snacking x littering = rodent heaven

Boris Karloff was born on Forest Hill Road, on or around where the CoOp is. There?s a blue plaque.

I agree with the last post. I don't have a car, bike, scooter, so use my own legs and the occasional bus. LTNs have not made my life any easier; they have not encouraged me to do anything more or less than I would have done but they have annoyed me because supporters think they are more influential in reducing traffic than they actually do. I think having timed restrictions in the Village is better. Having two roads blocked off and the restrictions in the Village make for a triple whammy - too much and optically not good.

Maybe Danish kids take the bus or walk? There are more children walking to school than I used to see (but then again, there are now more schools). I blame the parents...

Good that you have a hotline. If more people reproted grot spots it would benefit all. So, now the question is, what else? Lobbying councillors? DIY - knocking on doors of businesses to tell them their rubbish is, er, rubbish?

Rachp - you can send this image to Cllr McAsh and Cllr Smith and also send it to the MP as a CC. More quickly in terms of results is reporting it online or on 020 7525 2000 - it can be done without having to leave any personal details. https://www.southwark.gov.uk/allservices - streetcare and other options (eg. bins/refuse)

That sounds bad - but then again, is it? Just because they are near to a property doesn't mean they are actually in it and/or affecting badly the produce and staff. I agree the optics are not good because we immediately associate rats with disease, etc. but if a rat expert/health and safety person can chime in to tell us whether proximity equals infestation/infection, please let us know. (I mean, there may well be thousands of woodlice or earwigs out back of any pizza shop, but is that in itself a cause for concernt?)

First Mate gets it - much of the early morning and mid-arvo traffic is made up of either coaches taking children back to the areas they live (better than lots of cars, I grant you) and parents/guardians taking one or two (usually one) child to a school or back. Lots of children do walk and cycle but not enough. I don't see why an LTN should pretend it is doing its job when at least some of what it is doing is displacing traffic that is there and still will be unless action - I know not what - is taken. So, really, it is a simple matter of personal responsibility, but nobody really wants to hear that because it is too distressing.

Agreed, Pugwash, yet if one dares challenge even "nice" riders (the ones who think that having a child on board or nearby allows them to ride on footpaths), expect eye rolls or entitled nastiness. I am pro-cycling but only when it does not impact badly on those who don't or can't cycle.

Rats are just as valid a life form as mice, wasps, sparrows, woodlice etc. If they?re in your home or in a commercial property they ought to be dealt with but in the wild, good luck to them.

Ronni, I did not suggest you call the police about the child's misdemeanour but about teh general danger, you know, as a responsible and rational adult attempting to use a few minutes of his or her time to at least do something positive. As it stands, your original venting on this forum was picked up by the internet gods and goddesses and it got to at least one schoool, so you did something good - be proud of yourself for your input! You may have saved a life or limb. Good on you!

PUNTER FROM EDF: Tell schools about incident, express concern and suggest ways of avoiding this happening again. SCHOOL: Headteacher writes short note about the incident and ways of avoiding it, and emails it to all teachers, who tell kids, and also to all parents, who tell kids.

If you are concerned about the safety of thsi child and others, the very least you can do (apart from tapping away on a keyboard to put a post here) is to get in touch with the school and the local police. You can search both easily, and the police - probably Goose Green division - do put themselves out there on Twitter, etc. So, if you really want to at least be in with a chance of effecting change, that's your best route. If not, continue to be outraged and all eye-rolly; that way, at least your predictions can keep you company when you hear about the next near-miss (whcih is what I hope it will only be).

This child does not sound sensible, according to what the OP wrote. I agree some children are totally ok with obeying traffic and pedestrian rules, etc. but this one didn't, at least this one time. (At least he wasn't in the back of a car being driven, though!)

Such solipsism! When I say you, I mean "one", so please don't be so secure in the belief that I was necessarily talking about you, first mate. To think I was "insinuating" something about a complete stranger on an anonymised website suggests a bit of a victim mentality. Why not talk to a doctor about this. (Or a nurse?) Also, how do you know I don't have a non-simple condition? You don't, so I will make a point of using "one" in future to avoid baseless accusations of "insinuation" and lack of care and concern from people I don't know. I hope you (not one) get the care you want.

I think that is perfectly correct for trained nurses to be doing stuff that need trained nurses. Doctors are needed soemtimes, but not always. I have seen pharmacists at my surgery and have been pleased with their consultation. If you are concerned about there being a shortage of doctors, write to your MP and ask them to campaign for newly qualified docs to have to stay for ten years before going abroad, for example. There will always be a GP you can see, it's just that you may not need to see one and be perfectly well cared for by someone who despite their less heralded status is up to the job.

There is room for both concern about a potential hazard, especially for the elderly or disabled, and support for a local institution that is much-frequented and supportive of the wider community. So yes, hooray for small businesses like this and, at the same time, hooray for making all of our area as passable and pleasant as possible. See - a smile and a good word for everyone!

I agree totally that the buses should be back on Rye Lane. The diversion is through a residential area and must cause disturbances. Also, Rye Lane looks less lively without them, given there are then no motor vehicles at all. It's a dump, anyway, even though the shops are useful and cheap. I avoid it because it is so depressing to see the litter, emptiness and scrawl.

I would like to see our councillors doing simple but achievable things to help the high street (and the roads that lead off thme that have businesses). It can't be that time consuming at all to be on top of the grot spots (shops with refuse bags outside, vandalised shop fronts, BT/Virgin cabinets that are painted on, etc.) and it could yield a lot of positive results from just a small amount of effort. Do councillors go out and press the flesh? If not, please do - just speak to the shop owners, even if it is point out their failings, and offer to help, or tell them where they can get help, or liaise with TfL, for example, to get them to commit to monthly upkeep of their (often vandalised) bus shelters, etc.

I think the idea of closing off a street for one day is good but it is not the answer. Seeing the large number of vehicles - mainly cars with one occupant, or one + child - thsi morning hammers home that a few people are responsible for a lot of emissions. I saw plenty of cyclists, which is great (apart from the yuppy daddy on the pavement with kiddies in tow, obviously as a get-out-of-jail-card to him) and lots of pedestrians but my main takeaway was that DV and EDG are full of school runners.

Re Goodrich - maybe the school was not notified, but the contractor put up at least five, yellow signs with clear writing at eye level for most adults on trees and posts on that stretch of road at least a week before the lines were painted. One teacher came out halfway through and moved it. 0/10 for observation. The conctractor said he was not obliged to put so many up but he wanted to give as many people as possible a heads up and, kindly, his colleagues carefully moved cars and painted bit by bit so that they would not get ticketed (explaining that a traffic warden was on their way). Win for Conway (this time, at least).

The priority to vehicles coming from Dunstan's has been there for many years - at least fifteen, probably more - so it is not a new thing. That said, not everyone knows (= CBA to look out for signage) so you get jams. Also, since there is no sign on teh street near teh new DYL/zigzags, does it actually hold any weight? The man who put them in said not, but, not being a driver IDNK. (He also said the road really ought to be retarmacked but noted - with a smile - that then they'd have to paint the lines all over again...)

Gaby, I agree with you about bins. Some houses have to house their bins on the pavement due to the design (stairs leading to the front door, etc.) but others don't. It is so lazy and renders parts of the street impassable for some people with a disability, with children/prams, etc. Also, they really do make the place look untidy - ironic, seeing as they are rubbish bins! Local councillors do very little to enforce the rules, likewise with overhanging branches (which also can make life harder for the blind, those with limited mobility and pretty much anyone who doesn't like getting whacked in the face with a twig or three), because they don't like doing the "bad cop" kind of politicking (even though it would be popular with the majority of would-be voters who don't let things go). I know that it may seem trite, even petty, to some but everybody deserves to be able to walk/wheel down a street without having to turn back, go into the road or get thwacked by privet (worse when wet) and if that means a local "leader" or two has to get down to brass tacks with a very small number of people, so be it. As for relevance to the cafe, as stated in my previous post, it is a great asset and any problem can be solved by talking to the owner/manager in the short term and, in the longer term, by asking the council to build out the pavement. In the meantime, could a table or two be put on the road where there is a DYL, meaning there woudl be full width on at least part of the footpath as a passing place? I have eaten often outside there and have never seen a situation where nobody could pass, though I agree that a diner ought to be always aware of that possibility.

I, too, am sick of parents drivign kids to school, especially those who live near to the schools in question. But, there is no law against it, so selfish humans will do what selfish humans do, so that is why, despite wailing and whining, some measures have to be taken - just because humans CBA to get up half-an-hour earlier or take a bus, etc. LTNs are not necessarily bad, but when they are bunged in hurriedly, without notification, let alone consultation, bad feelings are bound to arise. So, if you - yes YOU - are reading this and thinking "well, I am a good person because I don't do take my car out that much", think again and promise to get your arses into gear at least once a week so as not to have to make that journey you think is a must.

Please don't encroach on pedestrian/wheelchair space by just "nipping onto the pavement" to cycle over the crossing. It takes an extra ten seconds to dismount, push bike, and remount. I am all in favour of cycle lanes, where needed and not duplicatory with bus lanes, etc., but I also think pedestrians need a space for their feet or wheels.