northernmonkey

Totally agree that this is a concern - we've seen much more crazy driving going on - its as though the wide open streets are a target for such drivers - rather than respite from the norm!

Its interesting the way that this is being portrayed and it isn't wholly accurate. The Melbourne South closure was part of the OHS consultation and therefore has already been consulted on. The rationale for the closure is not to change the route that people use to access their homes (whilst inevitable) but instead to stop the large volume of traffic that uses the length of Melbourne Grove as a rat run to cut off Lordship Lane. If you use a map and look at the layout of the road, the idea that traffic would cut down Melbourne south when travelling North and then right turn down Ashbourne or Chesterfield is clearly unlikely as it would essentially be going back on itself. Whilst there may be some journeys that go down these roads from residents of Melbourne its more likely that there will be a significant decrease in traffic cutting through to reach Melbourne Grove and travelling beyond. In addition - its worth looking at the work of the Liveable Streets group on traffic evaporation to see why there isn't a 1:1 correlation on diversion. Final point is that Melbourne Grove has the entrance to ED Charter and it is unsafe at present. When schools return social distancing on the pavement will be impossible and so children need a safe route. If Melbourne North is blocked off, then the parallel and obvious alternatives also need closing. In this current climate we need safe routes for cycling and walking and Melbourne Grove was identified as a potential route back in 2015, so taking action now would seem appropriate. Every person walking or cycling is one less car blocking routes for journeys that need to be made by car, so finding ways to encourage it is key.

Combi boiler should work fine - it just means that it might take a while to fill as the speed of hot water coming out is slower. We had a combi boiler and filled a pool fine - think it took about 20mins. We had a test run a few weeks before my due date just to check then on the day just filled it up when I thought I might like to get in.

Thank you - thats great!

Does anyone know whether you're allowed to light disposable bbqs in Dulwich park pls?

Hi Barry, The lighting at East Dulwich on the slope down towards the ticket office is not functionning properly again. 2 of the lights have not been working for well over a week now. It is quite dark without these and a little dangerous. Please could you look into why they haven't been fixed and arrange for the necessary maintenence. Seems like a common problem over the last few months, but given it has been I would expect that your station staff would have beeen monitoring whether the lighting worked or not. Appreciate the work you're doing on here - but I also think that the local staff could be more alert to these issues. Thanks

Re moving house - on our street people put wheelie bins out in spaces as they become available and hope that enough cars move before removal date - a sign explaining why the bins are out also helps. Although annoying, would point out that its better to get a parking ticket on your removal van than live in a CPZ and have to pay to suspend the bays, in Lambeth it used to cost ?175 per bay to suspend parking (probably more now) and a removal van needs 3 bays! (plus it inevitably means that some of your neighbours get parking tickets if they don't drive often so don't notice the parking suspension notice).

Not sure why my previous post was lounged as this is a local issue - maybe 'cos I'm asking about Dulwich rather than East Dulwich...... but would be grateful if anyone who's been to Dulwich park today could let me know whether the snow has all melted - thinking of running tomorrow morning, but not keen if its still slippery. Thanks

Can anyone tell me whether the snow is all gone from the footpaths / road bit there now please (wondering about running tomorrow morning)?

Barry Appreciate all the effort you're going to to keep people updated - as has been noted on here it is impressive. Just wanted to coment though re the approches to the platforms at East Dulwich. I went for the 6:51 train this morning and the approach to the station was compacted snow that had then iced over. I know that it snowed all yesterday, but I don't think that it did overnight or this morning. I just thought that it would be worth noting that whatever the teams were doing who were out at 1am and 4am, it wasn't shovelling snow off the paths. If all they're doing is putting down grit after snow it will take a long time for the ice to clear. The slope from the southbound platform was treacherous last night so it really is important that this is addressed before the evening commute. People have noted that the paths have got slushy from people walking, but before they freeze again they need clearing or there really will be a significant risk of accidents. Thanks again for all your work to date - and hope you can get this addressed to make East Dulwich station safer. Kind regards

Got the train about 30 mins ago - busy but fine. As has been said - most difficult bit is the exit slope from ED platforms - but its ok if you take it steady.

Barry The 6.39 train this morning was cancelled with no reason given. Whilst waiting for the 6:51, a train with 8 carriages (and people on it), looking suspiciously like the 6:39 train went straight though East Dulwich Station without stopping (at around 6:46). It looks like what happened was that the train was running late and someone decided to cancel further stops to get it to London Bridge on time. The only problem with this approach is that the 6:51 is a 2 carriage train with very little seating, and therefore it was very overcrowded. Not sure if you can raise with anyone that cancelling the 6;39 causes problems because of insufficient passenger accommodation on the 6:51. Additionally, given the growing popularity of the 6:51 service, do you know if there are any plans to add additional carriages to this service? Thanks

James, Thanks for the reply. I am on the electoral role and therefore will anticipate receving the consultation document any day now. Please could you post details on here of the process and timeline - ie how will responses be gathered, is there an online option rather than waiting for the documents to be delivered and when will consultation end? Thanks

As a resident of one of the roads mentioned, we have not received any information / notification on this. I am opposed to speed bumps as an initial measure to slow traffic. Surely a more reasonable option would be to make the streets a 20mph zone, and only if this wasn't sucessful, to then slow traffic using speed bumps. As pointed out earlier in this thread, bumps cause traffic to slow and then speed up - increasing road noise and pollution during acceleration. Additionally the noise of traffic going over the bumps is considerable. Going for speed bumps before trying to slow traffic through speed limits does not seem sensible, both for the reasons outlined and on a more basic cost level.

Brian, Another comment about revenue protection I'm afraid: When I arrived at London Bridge this morning I realised that my season ticket had expired on Friday (clearly as it has been a bank holiday, I haven't been commuting so haven't looked at it since). I went over to the excess fare window and was told that if it had been one day out of date then that would have been ok, but because it was more than that I'd have to pay a fine. After about 5 minutes of arguing that realistically there was no threat to revenue(I was essentially buying the same ticket (a monthly season ticket) that I would have done from East Dulwich and that realistically to penalise what was essentially a mistake is unreasonable) I was finally allowed to buy my travelcard. Whilst I appreciate that technically by not having a ticket I am in contravention of the rules, I was not trying to fare evade and once I'd realised my mistake, I instantly went to address the situation. Therefore there was no possible loss of revenue and threats of fines seem heavy handed and unreasonable. Realistically if there were barriers at East Dulwich I'd have realised before I got my train and wouldn't have been in that situation. The fact that Southern don't want to man the station and are therefore saving costs there makes it a little unfair to then benefit from this situation at the other end! Overall it was a stressful start to my day that I didn't need. I had hoped that after comments on here, the Revenue Protection staff would have a more pragmatic viewpoint (ie - allowing discretion for a one day expired ticket to be renewed in normal circumstances, but the next working day for bank hols / weekends in terms of tickets expiring), but sadly that was not my experience.

Its been about for a few weeks - perhaps 3 or so, just seemed to appear with no warning, but it is quite handy - previously there was a 24 minute gap between the 6:39 and the 7:03 which was a long time to wait when you mis-timed your walk to the station. Its only 2 coaches though and one of those horrible old trains where there isn't any room for your knees if someone is sitting opposite you.

The locksmiths on Lordship Lane (Callow) do call outs too. They've been really good when we've used them and they're much more reasonably priced than people we've just called up from the Yellow Pages previously. Thought it might be helpful to have an alternative just in case the recommendation above isn't available.

To be honest - I think that all of the places on Lordship Lane serving Sunday lunch do a veggie option, this includes Franklins and the Palmerston. Quite a few places seem to think that toad in the hole is an adequate veggie option - I'm not convinced, but sure lots of people like it as its offered so widely. I think that the Magnolia does a good Sunday lunch and its a lovely bright restaurant too. Last time I went it was really busy so I'd call in advance to reserve a table.

Its also open on a Sunday which is great as Pretty Traditional is closed then. I've been most weeks since it opened and have been quite impressed. I've had some great rhubarb from there - and the prices are reasonable too.

Probably a bigger ask, but it would be helpful to get another ticket machine at East Dulwich. The ticket office is generally closed (often even when it is supposed to be open) which means that the queues at the ticket machines can be really long. Add to this the fact that the trains really aren't that frequent, it makes getting a ticket and getting your train quite difficult.

Re my earlier post - what I should have said was that even though the pub wasn't very busy, it somehow didn't feel like sitting in an 'empty' bar so on that basis I'd be happy to go back on a weeknight too. Beats the crush at the Bishop any day! Could quickly become my favourite pub in East Dulwich / surrounding areas.

We went to the Duke for the second time last night. The food was fantastic -some of the best pub food I've had and on that basis am already planning my next visit. The service is lovely and the pub has a really nice atmosphere. Was a shame to see that on a Thurs night the place wasn't busier (although I could come to regret posting this if it becomes as full as places on Lordship Lane). Its also definitely a pub rather than a restaurant meaning that if you just wanted to drink that would be fine.

..

I've seen this too. Its no 19 Derwent Grove, so not even one of the 3 storey houses. Putting concerns about how they can actually fit 3 flats into one house even if they do demolish and rebuild the back, the main concern here is the impact on parking. I agree with the comment above that the conversion of single houses into multiple flats is the real reason why parking is such a problem in East Dulwich. The issue of commuters is minor in comparison - to be honest, I can't imagine where they'd find a space! There is only room for 1 car outside this house. Three flats could equal a minimum of 3 cars and they're going to have to park somewhere. Whilst I'm not suggesting you should be able to park outside your front door, a simple logic summary would show that if houses are converted to flats it is likely that there will be more cars on a street.

Just wanted to add to the comments about the improvements at the seacow. We hadn't been for about a year as our previous meals there hadn't been great. Following the comments on this thread we gave it another go last week. The service was lovely and the fish and chips were great- the chips in particular were dramatically improved from our previous visits. They've clearly worked hard to improve things and it shows. The only worry was that at 9pm on a Thurs night there were only 6 people in there. Hopefully things will pick up for them soon.