Nigello

I agree with rachp and add that a general tidy up (pulling down banners on railings that are half-attached, filling in trip hazards on pavements, cleaning shutters and paintwork, cleaning green BT/Virgin cabinets and phone boxes, etcc.) is much needed. The latter two could be achieved by a simple letter to the local BR/Virgin managers from a council official reminding them it?s their responsibility to keep their property clean when it?s on a public highway and seen by hundreds daily. It just takes a tiny bit if effort and imagination.

Issue or time - my sentiment remains valid. The police go after cars that are driven by speeding drivers and I support that action. They don?t go after new-fangled law breakers because they?re from a very conservative body that doesn?t always react quickly enough. Illegal and safety threatening applies to cycles, electric scooters but they?re not interested because it?s not in their muscle memory. People have died on these things, others have been injured - why wouldn?t a law enforcement agency do its utmost to police them sensibly and sensitively? 🤷‍♂️

Why is it a ?difficult time?? Being a human being is difficult! Sheesh. Those who disrespect laws are already likely to be less supportive of the police, so by doing nothing the police run the risk of causing those who generally do support officers to be less supportive: it?s a double loss, with potential accidents not being foiled and loss of respect from the result of not tackling illegal and unsafe electric scooter riding. Poor show

73jem - I too have seen groups of Sunday cyclists sweep through the lights at the Village Calton crossroads. It?s high handed and boorish but they likely think because they?re of a certain social bracket, probably better educated than most and with more responsibility at their places of work, they don?t need to obey the law. (I did mention this some three weeks ago.) One small group of cyclists did stop but only after I?d glared at them as they approached the red bike light at speed.)

Nice to see they are stopping motorists who speed. I would like to see them doing the same with electric scooter riders (both the on-road and on-pavement variety, especially those who carry children as passengers in a kind of school run deathrace 2000!)

There are a lot of unhappy, unfulfilled people who feel better by "acting out" (eg. retorting about how the council ought to clean up after them because they've paid for this service) even if their actions are ultimately to their detriment. I just accept they will always be with us and not get hung up on it, but still do what I can to tidy up or deter litter.

One easy way of helping retail is to do a clean up - painting peeling lampposts, railings, cutting back overhanging branches, scrubbing away markings on bus stops, shop fronts, etc. Some of that can be done by the relevant bodies (TfL, etc.) but a fair amount can be done by individuals, such as business owners, tenants etc. It's not an affront to that person to ask him/her to keep their property looking neutral (it doesn't even have to be pretty or attractive, just a bare minimum of clean and tidy). So, if any of this applies to you, please consider doing your bit and carry on doing it to help the area cope as well as it can with the aftermath of the pandemic. Multi-thousand quid planters are not needed - just a bit of oomph and elbow grease.

Please tell 101 and/or the Dulwich Hill ward police - you can easily search the latter. They can build up a profile and/or may already know of such a suspect.

Nice to have if they?re in a built up area with no green space but in already leafy DV, a few hundred steps away from a big, beautiful park and green space in the shape of Belair Park and mini orchard it?s a waste of money.

Nuthatches in Dulwich Park in the gated wildlife area are pretty easy to spot. They like the seed feeders.

The receptionist says the website works, but not the app. - Now edited to say the website is working.

I find it hard to envisage two cycle lanes (one on each side) in EDG, which is not that wide and has double-deckers and other large vehicles going in both directions, especially rush hours. Is there a danger that accommodating cycle lanes could make it more perilous for the (much) bigger number of users/passengers - eg. pushing large vehicles towards the centre of the road by at least 18" on each side?

The computer system which allows you to book, review and cancel sessions in the gym and pool for all the centres in Southwark is down, and has been for more than 24 hours. Perhaps it was demand that caused it to fall over? Whatever the cause, it's not working and the reception is impossible to reach by phone.

I agree. An individual can both make a change and make a point simply by picking up litter and not caring if others are watching. It may trigger something in a potential litterer or potential litter picker-upper.

The PR Councillors are rubbish, at least in the bog-standard-reply-to-short-email department. I think the council treats that part of the borough contemptuously.

The council ought to take into the account factors such as fewer people travelling into work and fewer people being able to afford to buy new bicycles before committing money to the more expensive aids to encouraging people to cycle. Why spend all that money on, say, raised kerbs, etc. when there are likely not going to be as high a number of users as in a non-pandemic situation. By all means, encourage, but do so only after all factors are taken into account. (As for waste - the on-road perforated kerbs and removable posts to extend pavements outside schools are beginning to disintegrate and disappear, respectfully. Nobody CBA, as far as I can see, to make sure this makeshift measure is upkept, so the money that was invested is not getting the same kind of payback as was originally planned.)

Yes, as I said, segregation is good (in this case) so if the bus lane, with its 6 foot+ width and nice, thick line already provides such separation, performative road painting will be both pointless and wasteful.

After I had complained to the DV councillor (one of them) and to the park officials, extra bins were put in. My suggestion to double up the smaller bins at pinch points wasn't heeded, as wasn't putting up posters on the bins already there to get people to take the rubbish away with them. Gail's could burnish its credentials by sending out a staff member (on their time, not volunteering) to tidy up once or twice a week, but maybe they don't see the value of that as much as the value of their ?5 breads and ?3 coffees?

Rye Lane is like something out of Quatermass and The Pit at times. It is lacking life from the station downwards to the Rye, especially in the mornings and after shopping hours. It is covered in scrawl (though the odd bit is art) and with no buses it looks even more neglected and lifeless. The trendies will move on soon - to Catford or Deptford or wherever else becomes with-it so don't depend on the youth pound to aid regeneration. Goodness knows what the local councillors and officers are doing to boost footfall and aid retail. Nothing, it seems. (I wrote to the MP but as I do not live in that ward she could not help me, due to rules. Fair enough but the problem remains.)

Why is a cycle lane needed? Are there not bus lanes already to provide a cycle route by default? Please do not waste money if it is a case of doubling up. It is just performative nonsense. If, though, there are not already lines for buses/taxis/cycles, it may be a good idea, but haven't we got to the point, or near it, that most people who will have thought of cycling will have taken it up? Ie. where else can money be spent to achieve the goal of less congestion and noxious emissions?

Car drivers/owners who point blank refuse to park up the extremes of the parking areas are so annoying. So much time is spent looking for car parking spaces - why leave a gap at the white line when there is already maneouvering room built in?

M and S in the gold packet is good.

Great pic, Maple - where are you? I hear some raptors like areas nearer to PR Park, Dawson's Hill, etc.

I was phoned up a good two weeks ahead of schedule for the second jab from the TJC and was done a few hours later. I am glad they are thinking of ways of pushing ahead and avoiding waste, etc.