BigED

the-e-dealer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If I borrowed something from someone and it went > missing in my charge I would feel obliged to > replace it. Am I wrong? First, I might consider it my responsibility to try to locate the item(s). The chairs went somewhere and we are trying to find out where. If you can help with that we'd be very grateful. BigED

I hadn't assumed they were stolen - I hope not. I thought people might have just borrowed some chairs to continue the party in their gardens without really thinking about it. But with the community centre now down a few chairs, it is a bit of a shame. So if you know someone who has them and doesn't know what to do with them, do please let us know.

Hi - just to reiterate - we were short of 7 plastic chairs ( a mix of red and grey ones) at the end of the day. Could whoever took them away at the end of the day please get in touch. We borrowed them from Darrell Road Community Centre and if they aren't returned then the whole community loses out - a lot of people put in a great deal of time and effort to make the day a success and losing the chairs has put a real damper on things. The community centre has always been very supportive of the Big Lunch as well as providing a fantastic resource to the whole of East Dulwich - so if you find that you went home with some extra chairs, please let us know where we can pick them up and return them. And for those who want to see some pictures of what a great day it was, here is a link: http://www.flickr.com//photos/jermynphotography/sets/72157633903578019/show/with/8937596553/ BigED

Hmm - I thought it was the right hand side as you look out from the house into the garden. I do know that there is a default side. But that isn't a lot of use. Any property conveyancers or similar who can give a best-of-three tie-breaking answer?

As an update to my rant... I had a helpful reply from a poster who, as they contacted me via PM, I won't name. But the gist of the message (also featured elsewhere) is that: - it's not a case of law - there is no law against serving meat rare - however, a lot of councils' Environmental Health Depts and officers work on the basis that all food must be cooked through to a temperature of something like 67-70 degrees C - effectively ruling out the possibility of serving meat rare - not surprisingly, a lot of restaurants and food companies don't want to jeopardise their positions and ratings with councils - councils' approaches don't take into account whether it is manky pre-minced beef or high quality fresh meat sourced responsibly and minced/ground shortly before preparation and cooking - there are some legal cases about it ongoing. So, my rant is now withdrawn and the Clock House remains free of my Big East Dulwich Boycott. (Now,if they had explained it was because of the council's environmental health policies rather than some legalistic canard... - maybe I should just calm down.) Thanks to the person who sent me the PM.

I went in a couple of weeks ago for lunch and asked for the burger. I was told it came cooked medium but I could have it cooked... so to speed things up a bit I interjected "rare please". And then I was told that they couldn't serve it rare as it was against the law. I pointed out this was nonsense. Then it was company policy - everything had to be cooked to such and such a temperature. I asked why but the waiter, to be fair, owned up to not knowing and didn't try to invent any more legislation. I cancelled the order for a burger and had the much cheaper scotch egg. It turned up hot on the outside, with a particularly cold egg in the middle. Not sure what temperature it reached but the sausage meat was cooked and it did taste good. All in all, a bit of a shame. I've had very good rare burgers at the New Cross House (I think that's the naeme - same chain as the Actress) and at the old Rye Hotel. I'm quite capable of deciding for myself how well cooked I want my food and I don't appreciate being treated like a child, nor being fobbed off with non-existent legislative requirements. So, new Clock House, please offer us the possibility of having meat cooked rare when that is perfectly safe. I won't ask you to serve me rare chicken or pork, but if I do then you can tell me it's not safe. As for the refurb, it does look much brighter in there. However, out the back near the kitchen it was pretty well rammed with the mother-and-baby-and-armour-plated-buggy brigade so weekday lunchtimes may not suit all if a wail-fest commences (it was peaceful when I went). Given the no-rare-burger-allowed policy, the Clock House is in danger of joining my Big East Dulwich Boycott list, but first I'd be interested to find out if this really is company policy and if so, why.

While these monthly numbers look like they are varying a lot (61, 45, 75), the changes aren't statistically significant (though I grant you they are significant enough if they happen to you). The numbers are just too small to draw any inference. There is too much natural variation from month to month in what are still (fortunately) rare events - statistical "noise", if you like. Which is why it's only really worth looking at aggregated figures such as for a number of wards, or for ED year by year. But for the record, there are around 5,300 residential households in East Dulwich ward, so these burglary figures (admittedly each for just one month - January - in 2011, 12, 13) are a very small proportion of the total: 1.15%, 0.85% and 1.42% respectively. The figures are also susceptible to recording decisions - if you are burgled but not insured, do you phone the police anyway? If you report a burglary, do the police always record it as such? Practice varies from force to force and even within basic command units. It's why there are often discrepancies between police recorded crime figures and the victimisation estimates produced by the Crime Survey for England & Wales. I've not looked at commercial properties (neither does the CSEW) - some of the burglaries will presumably have been in non-residential properties so the percentages will actually be smaller as a proportion of all properties in ED ward. Like I said, it's no comfort if it happens to you, but it's not evidence yet of a local burglary epidemic. Mind you, some additional precautions and security measures would probably help most of us.

The simplest way is a no.40 bus from LB (the southern end of the bridge) to one of the stops on Lordship Lane - either Heber Road or Crystal Palace Road. The quickest might be to get a train from LB to Peckham Rye, then a 12 or a 197 from Rye Lane to the 4th stop on Barry Road which I think is Goodrich. No doubt somebody will now come on here flaming me for giving bad advice and you could shave at least 20 seconds by some other route...

You can see where the bombs fell on London in WW2 at this new website. Just manoeuvre the map to show ED and environs. And you can then walk along your perfect Victorian suburb and spot where the post-war building infill happened. Of course, that was before they tried to stick up townhouses on any handkerchief-sized vacant plot, but that's another rant for another day. http://bombsight.org/#15/51.5050/-0.0900 BigED

I had a couple of magazines due last week, never turned up. Contacted the distributors who say they were definitely sent out. New postie on our round says there definitely isn't anything left on the shelves in the sorting office. Who knows? Had a similar thing happen a year or so ago - when you know a magazine comes out each week/month, you can be sure it hasn't been delivered. What worries me is all the post that I don't know about that never made it. Like my premium bond jackpot, maybe.

Yup - corner of Silvester and CPR - the lights and fans overloaded the electrics and it went afire. It was all over the South London Press at the time - the story is from before the earliest archive on the SLP website though there are copies of the article on some stoner websites. ?25k street value, so they said at the time. Of course, East Dulwich was less posh then (November 2004). Of course, if you go back a bot further (early to mid 90s), East Dulwich police station was a key centre in the south London dealing scene. Some boys in blue got nicked for it - as I recall, something along the lines of arresting someone with 1kg of wed, charging them with half that, and the other half disappearing from the evidence suite - though on a bigger scale than that. When EDPS was home to the South East Regional Crime Squad. I've often wondered whether there is any link between the planned closure of EDPS and its sorry history in the 80s and 90s. A couple of links about the story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/oct/06/nickhopkins and here http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_03_12_00.txt

If the outside space is really that important to you then you should really try to find a property that already has it. When we are all living cheek by jowl, the limited privacy we do have becomes increasingly important. I don't want to be overlooked as I would be if neighbours built a roof terrace. It's not as if I'm doing a Kate Middleton, but I do want to be able to enjoy the tiny garden we have without somebody else looking in on us. Southwark Council and the Planning Inspectorate (for appeals) have taken a very consistent line - if an application for a roof terrace would cause overlooking of neighbouring properties it is very unlikely to get the go-ahead. There's nothing to stop you putting in the application, but you can't expect your neighbours to be supportive - what would make your home more enjoyable, more valuable and easier to sell would have the opposite effect on their homes.

All this and spotting Yosemite Sam and his hantavirus skulking round the nethers of Lordship Lane's eateries.

You could try renting a room through www.mondaytofriday.com - renters only have use of the room from mid-day on Monday to mid-day on Friday and the place is yours for the weekend. Obviously you need to commit to cleaning their room and changing sheets etc before they return, but it works well for a friend of mine. You don't have to provide meals or food - just cooking facilities and fridge/supboard space. It suits people whose work requires them to be in London but who, for whatever reason, live beyond normal commuting distances. For them, a big consideration is the travel to work time. East Dulwich works pretty well for people working round London Bridge or parts of the City and Docklands. And if your advert mentions the fact that a baby is in the house then people for whom that's a problem wouldn't bother getting in touch.

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/2389/tree_maintenance_schedule_2010-2011 Southwark council's tree maintenance schedule. To be honest, it all seems completely haphazard what gets done, when, and to what standard, but at least there is this to check against. The link says it's 2010-11 but it gets more up to date than that.

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just to clarify, if you want a smoke after 10:30, > can you still nip out and have one (as you have > always been able to in the past)? As I understand it, yes. But I think you won't be able to take your drink outside. And the terrace areas and benches are not supposed to be in use. It'll be up to TGE to make sure they and their patrons comply with the licensing conditions. But smokers will still be able to nip outside for a quick gasper.

Just back from the licensing sub-committee meeting - many thanks to all who attended and especially those who spoke. And thanks also to everyone who has submitted objections, signed petitions and attended meetings. The outcome: - The rear courtyard ("the Gin Yard") to close to patrons at 9.00 pm every day - The front and side terraces to close to patrons at 10.30 every day. The applicant and other interested parties have 21 days to appeal but it seems a fair decision to me all round. Unless there is an appeal, let's see how the new rules bed down. Any breaches of these conditions and any excessive noise can be reported via the 101 non-emergecy number (make sure you get them to log the call). With a bit of luck and good will and effort on the part of The Great Exhibition, we won't need to be calling. Thanks again to all for their support.

A (possibly) final reminder that the Licensing Committee hearing covering the application by The Great Exhibition and Zelgrain is taking place tomorrow morning, Thursday 30 August: Ground Floor Meeting Room G02B - 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QH. Nearest station: London Bridge. I know a number of local residents will be making the journey, taking time off work, giving their views to the committee, etc. Thanks to all of them who are able to do so and have let the council know. As a result of the withdrawal by TGE/Zelgrain of most of the points in the original application (following the conciliation meeting in East Dulwich Community Centre), the remaining issue is over the status of the rear courtyard (The Gin Yard) - whether it can be used and, if so, during what hours and on what days. For those living close by, a key factor is that this courtyard was not previously open to patrons when the pub was the CPT and its use by patrons does have a significant noise impact on some neigbours in particular. As I understand it, the licensing committee on Thursday won't be considering wider issues of noise from the pub, whether from inside or from the front and side terraces. That would need to be the subject of a licensing review which residents can push for in due course. Personally, I'm pleased that TGE/Zelgrain withdrew most of their application - I don't suppose they realised the extent of hostility before the conciliation meeting but their response was sensible (and yes, with a bit of effort they could have found out easily enough, but let's assume they were carried away by the fact that plenty of people - me included - do enjoy going there for a drink). In the meantime, if there are problems with noise from TGE (or from any pubs) then you can call the 101 non-emergency number and the Southwark Council noise hotline (don't have it to hand, sorry) - do make sure they record the details and give you a reference number as it can be helpful in the event of a licensing review. And let's hope we don't need to call them - what with the complaints on the EDF about the aeroplanes coming in just after 4:00 am and the recent possibility of TGE not closing up until 02:30, we would all have been getting super-cranky. (Unlike the posters on this thread, of course.)

It was certainly very noisy at TGE around 9 last night when I came back. I came inside, didn't bother opening the windows, put the fan on and tried not to melt too quickly. The combination of long warm days, ready availability of alcohol and a supply of patrons who aren't worrying about work in the morning does make for some very loud people the longer that progresses. Just think what it might be like if the pub is open to 2.00 am (plus another 30 minutes drinking up time, of course). Once the current application is out of the way, press for a licensing review and requirements to: - close all outside spaces at 10pm (the front and side terraces and the courtyard (aka the gin yard) - close by midnight on Fridays and Saturdays (ok, plus another 30 mins drinking time) - close by 11pm on other nights (plus 30 mins) - no treating of Sunday before a bank holiday as having the same licensing hours as a Friday or Saturday - no 36-hour opening over new year's eve/new year's day (personally I'd be sympathetic to a 1 am licence for new year's eve) - security staff required on the same basis as at the Actress - improved sound limiting - either through restricted opening times and restricted hours for activities, improved management of the building structures (shut the windows and doors, use lobby doors to all outside spaces, use ceiling fans or AC units to keep inside temperature at am acceptable level), sound limiting devices to limit amplified noise, acoustic blinds (or equivalent) to be fitted to windows, possibly also double glazing - or some combination of all of the above I'd just like the Great Exhibition to be a good neighbour - it's already a good local pub but you can sense all the goodwill seeping away.

Just a reminder that the conciliation meeting takes place this evening at 6.30, at the Community Centre on Darrell Road. The format is an informal discussion between the applicants (The Great Exhibition) and local resident with an interest in the license application (you don't have to have put in a formal objection or other comment to the council to come to the meeting, though I think formal invitations have only gone to those who did). Southwark Council licensing and environmental protection team officers will also be attending. It is an opportunity for those with concerns about the application to put them to the Great Exhibition in person. And of course it is an opportunity for the Great Exhibition to allay at least some of those fears. Do try to come along if you are potentially affected by the proposed changes to the license - the more people who turn up to have an input, the more likely it is that Southwark Council officers will take note of reasoned objections.

and the start time is still 18:30. The council afficer arranged the new venue as some people were uneasy about having the meeting at the Great Exhibition.

Just a word of encouragement - it seems to be important that people who are concerned do turn up to the conciliation meeting to let the GE applicants know the degree of local concern. There has been talk of it being quiet at the Great Exhibition some nights last week. Well, it seemed to have recovered by Friday night - doors and windows open at 11pm, lots of people outside, no sign of anyone being moved inside, plenty of noise - nothing amplified, but late at night, when the world goes a bit quiet, you notice a load of people who have been drinking for a while and talking a bit louder then they need to. It's quite a contrast with The Actress just a couple of minutes down the road where people are moved inside at 10 pm (I think) which does mitigate the noise problem for neighbours. I don't really understand why the council can't impose similar restrictions on all pubs in residential areas as standard practice. For those saying it has been quiet lately at the GE, the Olympic games have been on in London (no, really) and lots of businesses have been complaining about a downturn in business - too many people staying at home and shouting at the telly, rather than watching it down the pub - that's what happens when you stop Sky from having a stranglehold - everyone can watch. Also, it's the summer holidays and lots of people have been forced to spend time on holiday with their nearest and dearest rather than running to the pub to escape them for a few hours. Anyway, if you are able to make it to the rearranged conciliation meeting at the Great Exhibition on Wednesday 15th then please do come and let the GE hear your views first hand. And we can listen to any reassurances they might be able to give (though personally, there is no way I can envisage being up for agreeing with the opening time extensions or the siting of a bar and food service area in the rear courtyard). See you on the 15th.

I got an invitation too. Will go if I'm free. Anyone else going? Don't fancy being there on my own!

Hello piazzola, how did your meeting with the council go? BigED

If you want to submit comments to Southwark Council, today is the last day. The Southwark website is still throwing up all sorts of script errors - unless these get fixed soon (and even if they get fixed), you may want to email directly: [email protected] quoting reference number 838498 Given their IT problems, it's probably worth asking for a confirmation that they have received your email. And if your email system can provide delivery receipts then do request one (I know Microsoft Outlook has this facility). Then there need be no problem about them denying ever having received an email (I speak from Southwark Council experience). Or you can try telephone: 020 7525 5748 - not sure what is the status of telephoned objections though.