alex_b

Contributions to pensions up to the annual (and lifetime) allowance are pre-tax. Essentially you’re reducing your tax bill now in return for paying tax later - the assumption being you’ll be lower earning in retirement and therefore be better off overall (plus you benefit from having that extra money in your pension in the meantime).

I suspect it would be too much text to add to the sign, but the actual order does state its term time only. I think it would be better if they’d started the school street at the junction with Nutbrook but the council chose not to. I presume it was to minimise the size of the closure.

They are not in force outside of term time.

I don’t think so. One of the earlier school streets had barriers that could be retracted but the school struggled to have enough staff on duty to bring them in and out to let legitimate traffic through. Camera enforcement is fine in theory, but so many drivers are so inattentive that they breeze right through them. What would your proposal be to improve road safety outside the school while guarding against accusations of hidden revenue generation?

The proposed Bellenden Rd signs show bus only rather than no traffic, presumably to allow the P13 to continue as is. The driving at that corner in the mornings is frequently shocking with lots of cars and HGVs trying to manoeuvre through fairly narrow streets with parked cars. My worry is that without physical barriers inattentive drivers will continue to ignore the signs like they do on Adys Rd with the St John’s school street.

A 6 minute mile (which would be a very hard run for most people) is 10 mph. The world record for the marathon is an average of 13.1 mph. If the speed limit was 25 we’d have people complaining about being unfairly ‘done’ for going ‘only’ 28 mph, just as people feel it’s unfair to be penalised at 35 in a 30.

Try giving Bad Moon Cafe a call.

We need the insulation in our rear loft topping up (and possibly boarding out). Does anyone have recommendations from recent experience?

I think a lot depends on how you will deal with school drop offs and pickups in primary school. If you’re going to have a nanny to do that then great, but if you’ll be doing that yourself you’ll need to factor the home -> school -> station timings. Our son went state (Belham and Charter East) which with wrap around care made the timings manageable. I don’t know if the private primaries have busses, so maybe it’s not so bad… Commute wise it depends where in the city you work. Thameslink is great if you’re near St Paul’s or Farringdon. Southern to London Bridge and then tube or bus (though I hate changing to the Northern Line at rush hour at LB). Or even for some places Windrush to Lizzie line, district line or walk (when I go to Bishopsgate I tend to walk from Shoreditch High St). Choosing a station with options helps with any transport disruption so Herne Hill of the places you listed. If you’re looking further afield, towards Denmark Hill has good connections and you can walk/cycle down Greendale to get to Alleyn’s or JAGs. You might also consider some of the streets near Warwick Gardens on the Peckham side, the Villa is a well regarded pre-prep and Peckham Rye station is well connected. Good luck.

We’ve had a permit for about eight years. We’ve never had an issue renewing and always get a reminder by email. Googling “Southwark renew parking permit” brings up the correct Southwark page as the first result. Not sure what is “practically impossible” about it.

I saw someone in a new Volvo SUV this afternoon drive full on into the bollard turning left from Nutbrook into Adys. Their left wheel was at least eighteen inches onto the curb when they hit the bollard!

I had assumed that this must be a scam due to the .co.uk domain (rather than police.uk or gov.uk), but it appears the be legit: https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/campaigns/2025/stay-informed-with-met-engage/ What on earth were they thinking setting up a site that could so easily be spoofed?!

It’s only “hazardous” if you chose to drive in such a way that your vehicle crosses the pavement and risks hitting a pedestrian. If the junction is too tight for a vehicle to be able to safely do so the driver should take an alternative route - no different to avoiding a low or narrow bridge. Also the council had already removed parking opposite the junction to give vehicles more space to manoeuvre, it used to be much worse with coaches regularly getting stuck. .

I live near that corner. The current bell bollard is the only one that lasts five minutes without being taken out by a van, truck or car. It used to be less deeply set and was unearthed fairly regularly. It’s clear there are a large proportion of drivers who think driving across a pavement is acceptable as you cannot hit it unless your vehicle crosses the pavement. Last year it was replaced by a taller upright bollard that literally would be knocked over within a day of being installed. The council must have fixed it six times in two months before reinstating and more deeply setting the current bollard. My son was almost hit by a van that cut the corner while he was walking on the pavement. It’s likely the bollard saved his life. If a vehicle cannot safely navigate a corner without crossing the pavement then it shouldn’t be driving on that road.

Has planning permission been granted for demolition? I would have thought someone would have shared that information if it were the case.