Nigello

Please can someone who is not invested in either side explain the pros and cons of cutting down these trees. Then I may make a decision to sign a petition.

No blackbirds, jays, sparrows, tits, etc. just pigeons, and mainly bog standard, not even wood! I have seen very few birds apart from pigeons in my garden, though I did have a crow twice last week, which I have never had before.

I have a tree - now about seven foot high and sturdy but still spindly - that is a hazel, I think. It's surprising that a hazelnut could have got to this small area of soil. I don't put them out for birds to feed on so either a jay or a squirrel is the way it got there. I'm pleasantly surprised that it took root and is flourishing all on its own (though, of course, I understand that that is how nature works)!

Re the camera issues - I had the same response when I asked for more controls on stopping massive lorries routinely using their GPS, etc. to squeeze down an already narrowed section of Goodrich Road, right next to the school. An LTN was planned for Dunstan's and Goodrich - right next to a 900+ pupil school - but some people's objections to LTNs in places with no such safety concern made the council rethink this location. I asked for cameras to be installed to stop the lorries on pain of fine, or a proper narrowing chicane but was told the cameras were expensive and it was not mentioned further. I am still pursuing it and hope to see a reversal of the LTN plan (ie. for it to be put in, as orignally suggeted) or some other method to stop 8-axel vehicles bombing down this stretch of road that was already narrowed because of safety concerns. So, yes, the cameras = too dear thing is not just a one off excuse.

Much of Dunstan's (Dawson's Hill side and a bit near the school) is gritted, as is Mt Adon park and some of LL near that road, as well as part of Gallery Road. It's spotty, so are people helping themselves or are the gritters doing it? Are we permitted to use the grit that is there in the boxes? I suppose we are because the roads are gritted by vehicles. Any answers?

I think the old fashioned idea of chucking salt down in and around one's property is valid, or is this now deemed legally and physically (as in physics) wrong?

The road that links Underhill and Wood Vale, cemetery side. The graveyard itself could have done with some also but IDNK whether the staff there are on shift.

Clap emoji I saw some pavements well gritted this morning. Are we "allowed" to use the grit ourselves?

It's a long road, where are you?

How does the council manage to compost such a wide variety of foodstuffs, I have wondered. We can put fish, meant, bones, skin, etc. in with teabags, fruit peelings, etc. Does it go into a massive hot composter?

Is there a small, registered and honest charity that would like a small contribution made up of lots of pennies and two pences? It's not likely to amount to more than a tenner and they'd need to change it and send a receipt. PM me if you are that person. PS - no charity that is exclusionary and/or is religion-based is welcome.

I think flags are useful but can be abused. I also don't like the idea that it is ok for people to be lauded for waving, say the saltire, but not the union flag. (Eg. people who like the idea of an indy Scotland and the associated manifestation of that through flag waving there but decry self-determination for Britain outside the EU and any linked showing of the union flag).

LTN in Private Eye's podcast https://www.private-eye.co.uk/podcast/58 15' in

I agree that this gel/spray is to be used in conjunction with masks, handwashing, distancing (probably the most important), ventilation, etc. I wonder whether smearing your nostril insides with Vicks or even petroleum jelly would help in any way in blocking viruses/baceria?

It has been suggested that because Macron and Merkel know that vaccines are in short supply they are saying that no 65+ will get an O-AZ jab - easier to say you can't have one because it is not approved, or "quasi effective", because it is too dodgy instead of saying there's not enough to go around. The vaccine's efficacy on 65+ is less known about because there were smaller numbers of this age group to test on: many wanted to follow the rules and stay at home. Lack of knowledge does not translate to lack of efficacy or, worse, hazard. Macron as elections in 15 months' time and there is a fear/acknowledgement that the far right will make gains on the back of national and EU-level poor performance on vaccines.

I support better facilities for cyclists (at the same time as castigating those who don't wear lights or who go through red lights, cycle on footpaths, etc.) but lament the lack of support for all of us - ie. pedestrians/wheelchair users. We all walk or wheel on footpaths whether or not we are cyclists or drivers or riders or bikes, yet we have shoddy pavements, dropped kerbs that pond when there is rain, a council that does not clamp down on householders who keep bins outside their properties and don't cut back branches. More people would be happy to walk if they felt it was that bit less of a hassle, perhaps. So, if you have a bin on the footpath or a bush that pokes out into the road, please do your bit. The council may, if asked, come along and do it for you if you don;t, especially as it tries to convince us to do more walking and less driving.

Sounds like a nice fixture - thanks for sharing the news and good luck if you go for it.

I disagree. Even without the ongoing and likely continued yuppification of LL and nearby, prices in indy shops will likely be higher and ranges narrower than in supermarkets, which have the benefit of allowing you to shop for several items at the same time. Some shops are great on LL but to think that they can be a supermarket substitute - especially when people need more space to physically distance - isn't right. (LL has good indy shops and a good variety of services, for certain, but some tend to the gift/more upmarket/speciality side.)

I emailed the address on the board in the park and attached a picture. IDNK the exact name or title but I got a response, also from the councillor I CCd, which was good.

Hands off CoOp. It is a good supermarket with patchy management. It's got a social conscience and puts its money where its mouth is with its loyalty membership that gives to charity. The products are good and the prices are keen, especially when there is competition from Lidl, etc. (though not within less than a mile). I much prefer to shop there than at the mega-corporate Tesco or Sainsbury's, especially as the local branches of those two are at best glorified mini-marts.

But it is NOT just about what "you" want to do. The fact that others are disregarding medical advice/regulations and meeting up for social light bites, keeping close to one another, etc. does have an impact on others, an impact that could copromiise somebody's health badly. So it is entirely invalid to say "don't go there and then all is fine". If the non-compliant people's actions had no impact at all on those who decide to stay inside or shop alone, masked and quickly, it would be fair to criticise them but this is the opposite of what is correct, namely that all of us a potential vectors to a new variant of an already easily transmissable and possibly deadly virus. Sheesh, nobody needs a pulled pork sandwich and weekend catch up au marche that much!

The snow melt adds to the problem. Parts of Dulwich Park are locally flooded but the huge puddle opposite the horse track near to the Court Lane entrance is much smaller. Maybe my reporting it to the park manager had an effect or maybe it is just a coincidence? Is it because we are on clay and it just can absorb only so much water?

It's a mishmash of a job which has insufficient powers and importance and the ones in the other big cities are an unnecessary layer of politics and politicians again because their powers are limited or are already there at borough/city leve. I vote in all elections but this one I may give a miss on. (If the LM was granted greater powers I would likely vote but at the moment I just see grandstanding and an extra way of opposing the Westminster government.)

It is really flowing much faster. I know that the recent heavyish rain will be behind this mainly, but the banks have been cleared of lots of vegetation and generally cleared out. It actually looks like a stream (not a river, though).

I think that corporate advertising is going to be with us for a lot longer than the OP wants. I object more to private firms that use railings, etc. to house their own banners, usually tied on with plastic ties that break in the first windy weather, thereby leaving banner to slowly wilt and break down as more ties get blown off. Lost cat A4s on posts, etc. are fine, if a bit sad, but not those ads for men-with-ven or home sales (whose put-uppers never take them down).