Nigello

There is a new, large (about 6' x 3') bin for small electrical items in DV, near to the P4 bus stop at the small graveyard. It's the first one I have seen of its kind around here. Perhaps there are others?

I am trying to get my way, yes, in the same way anyone else is trying to do the same. To pretend I am more selfish than anyone else is specious. This section of road is meant to be safer by dint of its having been narrowed. The huge lorries slam over poorly maintained road and houses shake. Again, these are facts. It is also a fact that the school head and teachers do not live near here yet seem to think that they have the right to say what ought and ought not to happen to a part of the neighbourhood that is home to people permanently. To suggest I do not care about safety is incorrect. I have seen what heavy lorries can do (look up Sowerby Bridge accident) and do not think that the council is doing its utmost to satisfy the problems that continuing to allow very heavy traffic along a stretch of road that is patently not designed for them. Lorries of that size do not belong in this road, or others nearby, yet delivery lorries for CoOp and Sainsbury's and other massive vehicles are sent down these roads (plural, not just this one). So, I shall continue to campaign for a solution that addresses my concerns about my property as well as those pertaining to safety. That way, two birds are killed with one stone. Why you think that I have it in for 900 kiddiwinks is beyond me - and probably lots of others who don't have such a florid imagination as you do! Safety is for all, but so is the correct use of a road so that dangers to humans and property are as few as possible, and I think that any right minded individual should be trying to solve as many problems with as few side effects as possible. In an ideal world, heavy vehicles would be made to use Barry and Forest Hill and not this stretch of road, including the normal bit outside Summerhill (ie. the standard width). I believe I am searching for a solution that will tick as many boxes as possible whereas you feel it best to claim a high ground because you've been comparing notes and sniggering with your important council contacts and like to pretend that I am somehow imperilling hundreds of cherubic children because I want to stop heavy lorries from coming past the very building they angelically inhabit (temporarily, of course). Forza!

The school says it does not want a road to be blocked off under council Covid rules to make it more green, less busy, cleaner air, etc. - even though it recognises the problem of too many parents (and staff, if it wanted to be fair) driving to the school by promoting walking, etc. via school newsletters and PTA. Goodrich is narrowed to about 6'6" at a junction with Dunstan's Road, ahead of a (never respected) mini roundabout. Eight-axel vehicles and small children are, IMHO, not a good mix, **but others disagree**, even though the road section in question was adapted to *make it safer for the children*, thereby acknowledging a potential dangerspot, one that with the type and volume of vehicle is worse than it ever could have been 20-odd years ago when it was altered and narrowed. (Eight-axel vehicles sent via sat-navs down unsuitable streets down streets with badly maintained speed humps are not a good mix, school nearby or not. Barry Road, LL and FH Road are there for those kind of vehicles; small roads never designed with huge lorries in mind should be kept for standard-sized vehicles that are not just saving the driver of huge company's lorry a few precious minutes.) Change will come!

The MP did not agree with waht she was told from the council - that is a fact, so please do not say otherwise. She simply quoted a council very high-up, that's all. She acknowledged that the situation was not satisfactory, as did this council bod, who said that further inquiries will be made into all aspects of road safety. Please tell me, then, about your self-interest, for surely that is at least somewhat driving your antipathy towards the original closing off to vehicles. Making out that I am acting selfishly whilst you are not doing the same won't wash, as won't having a temporarily-used building making out that it is the be-all and end-all of how traffic (which runs 24/7/365) should be managed. This stretch of road is not suitable for heavy vehicles. The humps are badly maintained and the road is too narrow so I will continue my "campaign" to keep eight-axel lorries and their like away from what is supposed to be a street that acknowledges the need for safety through its (now rather old and past its usefulness date) narrowing ahead of a (hardly ever respected) mini roundabout. Traffic has increased in both number and physical weight, as has the attitudes of drivers, neither of which could be anticipated but can now, at least in part, be addressed. Onwards!

I have no idea about the other residents, nor do I know (and think you don't know either) what "plenty" means here. The valid and important thing is that the MP quotes a council leader, no less, when she says that the school objected to it. No mention was made of other residents, only the school, which led me to point out the oddness of a school, which ought to have safety of its pupils as a top priority and which has several safety features in place, including a now-obsolete narrowing of road through which large lorries using modern routing technology not anticipated when it was installed, being the body that seemingly has the council's ear. The Dunstan's Goodrich closure was to have been a semi-permanent barrier, much like those in Court Lane and Melbourne Grove, but it was taken away after the hoo-ha over similar restrictions in places that are double lane roads (ie. not narrowed in the name of safety) not as near to the schools as this one is - ie. right outside it. More work is needed but I am confident some kind of restriction will be put in place. You cannot plead safety and spend money installing and maintaining a narrowing of road to then allow eight-wheeled lorris and other massive vehicles sent down it to a mini-roundabout. It makes no sense and I feel confident a right-minded arbiter will agree.

I had a reply from the MP saying that Goodrich School (well, its head and a few others, I reckon as it cannot mean all parents and teachers) objected to closures at Goodrich/Dunstan's on account of the amount of traffic it already has to deal with! Hmm. So, a body that is only there for about 1/3 of any day and then only during term time gets to dictate what happens to a local community citing road traffic figures even though it has no power to reduce that (whcih is what the council and its policies can do). Talk about tail wagging the dog. I shall be pursuing and pointing out the topsy-turviness of this.

I had a slightly (on a scale of 0-10, a 1.5) tender arm where the needle went in and a bit of dizziness for a couple of hours and tiredness after Pfizer, but I think being at home and not able to do normal things means we have more time to pay attention to such mild side effects.

I disagree people are doing their best. I think taht most of us are aware of lapses and just say "oh well, I am doing my best mostly" and let themselves off. It's that kind of self-deception that this virus loves, as do others. I see groups of friends meeting in teh park and hugging, white van men sitting three-abreast with no masks and windows shut, doctors and nurses walking around health centres with ill-fitting masks. It's practically everywhere and then we wonder why the lockdowns don't work....

I agree, BBC, which is why I am concerned about the lack of interest from some shopowners/landlords at keeping their shops as attractive as possible. I have asked Cllr McAsh to get involved and have suggested to the shops that they can get in touch with the council to get scrawl removed free of charge, as long as they sign a waiver. It is the most I can do (and I live at least a mile away but walk there often and use some of the shops). Retail needs all the help it can get (which is why I lament the Ponderosa state of Rye Lane and its pitifual appearance once all the shutters are down and no buses are going along it.)

The chemist?s at the top of Melbourne is moving into the Tessa J Centre in early March. It takes up two shopfronts so it?s absence will be felt. (I?ve commented on the tattiness of that bit of the road with vandalised shopfronts and worry that it?ll look even more unloved once the property is empty. Retail needs all the help it can get.

Hmm, lovely Luca that refuses - as printed on the menu - to give a hot water top-up to your teapot and adds a "gratuity" to the order for table service, unlike other similar establishments on both counts. Not convinced that constitutes "lovely", though I do think it is a good addition to NXR and wish it well (and hope it rethinks its miserly tea top-up attitude!) And yes, I did speak up when I was there (a few months ago so maybe it has changed) so I am not moaning into the ether.

A disunited SNP, more like? We in teh south don't really get what is going on up there from anything other than a London broadsheet or tabloid, or even the BBC and ITN - it is broadbrush when it comes to the regions/nations (probably because time is short on a bulletin and being general appeals to most people, so not knocking them). The nationalists/separatists/SNP/Scottish National Party (different people call them different things) are very popular but there is a large proportion of people who are fed up of them, especially the leadership. I hold no side but just ask that people educate themselves more on the positives and negatives of any nationalist party, even if it goes against what you believe. Next week should bring more attention to the workings of the SNP, if not its policies.

Six or seven young women in PR Park, hugger-mugger, very unlikely from the same households, squeezing together (inches apart) to get past others. I know the virus is less transmissabe in the open air but if they are flouting the rules about meeting up then what else are they choosing to ignore? Some people just can't help themselves...

I like the idea of communal bins but there are more people living here, I would say, and not all are as genteel as the good burghers of the Scottish capital. We produce too much waste. Use this time of missing bin collections to think on...

The weather was very bad last week and it was slippery underfoot, even with the (patchy, it has to be said) gritting by the council. I agree that it is preferable to have bins, especially ones with food wasted, emptied as scheduled but also get that the council could have caused injury to its employees and damage to property had it gone out in the bad weather. It is a great opportunity to realise how much stuff we throw away, even the "nice" rubbish, like old cabbage and plastic packaging....

It is a real problem, especially for blind and disabled people, and/or those taking care of children, to be hit in the face with branches or forced to go into the road to avoid them. I think the council should pare them back, willy-nilly, if householders don't do it themselves. If we want to persuade more people to walk then lots of things, some of which may look trite, are important to consider: pavement conditions, bins blocking footpaths, vandalism of properties/street lighting, etc., absence of greenery all matter.

I agree that the mini music festival on that particular site is a bit Marie Antoinette. I would prefer the money used to help make the stretches of road that are now closed appear less "redundant". Bigger planters could be put in, trees planted, etc.

James, please could you let me know (via PM if you like) what your thoughts are re improving the appearance of retail areas, namely by offering Southwark's services to business owners to clean up their shutters, walls, etc. Is the council still offering it? If so, could you let the businesses know as part of your councillor duties? Thanks

You cannot guarantee anything without proof. I hope you never find yourself on a jury! The verbal attack was wrong and deserves punishment because it was seriously damaging to the victims' wellbeing and against society's basic principles. That does not mean that conjecture and projections instantly become true! Anyone who is interested in knowing what comes of it can ask the OP via PM, otherwise it is just fantasy. I hope they both recover and that the perpetrator is punished, which I suspect will happen.

I disagree that calling someone a name is worthy of taking someone's job away from them. I think that everyone deserves a chance to express regret and to make amends, and be punished accordingly, like being put on warning, or losing a portion of one's wages, writing to express regret, making a donation to a charity, etc. (I can "tick a fair few boxes" and would not like it at all if a person who called me a derogatory name in the street had his or her job taken away for a one-off offence.) I would want him or her to apologise in writing to me and for the employer to assure me that punishment was given. The witch hunt aspect of the current discourse (going from 0 - 80) is evident when people demand the ultimate penalty available for a first offence.

"Wokery" has become a hobby and a lifestyle for many. It won't last. Something else will come along and the fast-clicking "first-to-like" types will leave it behind. There's a kind of corporateness to it, a sort of mass-scale aspect - there are unofficial but strictly adhered-to checklists of good and bad and every effort has to be made to show you are with A and against B and any absence of such demonstration is an indication you are siding with the baddies. Social media has permitted the fast and furious spread of the fight for social justice but it seems flimsy and shallow to me, which is a pity as real change in certain areas is needed. Just be nice and don't apologise to yourself or anyone for being short, black, gay, academically gifted, double-jointed, blind, - it is just the way you are and you, despite your feelings of "empowerment" and "agency" and other such buzzwords, cannot change your genes and nor should you. Attitudes can alter, of course, but most people are fundamentally OK so don't beat yourself up if you are not able to turn yourself into a shining example of the W-word, let alone maintain it.

I don't agree that companies don't take action. I would bet that there will be an investigation and the culprit will be reprimanded, especially it is now in the public arena. I don't think it is a sackable offence but he should be chastised, asked to apologise and perhaps be told that any further problems could result in his sacking. I agree that despite our liberalness, gay people of all ages don't like the idea of being demonstrative in public places, which is a shame. Onwards!

I agree it is good to do good stuff locally, but this case of a tree or two may be the clicktivism you refer to. It is a fact that sometimes, rarely, trees have to be lopped or chopped because of danger to humans. I think Southwark will be able to offset the damage to an extent, such as planting several new trees. If you really want to make an impact locally, somethign that is quantifiable and easy to most people, plant a tree or two in your garden, pick up litter, report fly tipping and vandalism, etc. to the council, walk more, turn off the lights, turn down the heating, buy less, etc. I think this is much more valuable than spending lots of time and effort on two trees that have had a long life but which are endangering human life, situated in a wood of thousands of trees of similar size and age. Context is everything.

Report it to Veolia (sp) and say you have informed the police and your MP (which you can do here, remembering to include your full name, address and phone number). https://www.writetothem.com/ Onwards!

Thanks A I am not an arborist. I am not an engineer. I like trees and nature and do a bit each day to help it (clearing litter, feeding the birds, gardening without chemicals, walking, not driving). I also like people not getting maimed or even killed, so I err towards safety of humans over everything else. I won't be signing, despite my green credentials generally.