BrandNewGuy

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi BNG, > Residents from Melbourne Grove had been contacting > ward councillors for many months, held meetings > with residents, newspaper stories, letters to > newspapers. This follows on from previous > campaigns before I became a councillors - so > clearly an ongoing sore. This has not suddenly > come out of the wood work. Your awareness of it > may be sudden. I live less than 100m from Melbourne Grove and, as you know, take an active interest in local issues. This thread was the first time I'd heard about the proposal.

wulfhound Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A no-left..? Surely not. I don't think the people > who campaigned to keep the right turn (of which I > wasn't one, but you can't deny they had some lungs > on 'em) meant ".. so ban the left turn instead". It's temporarily closed off during the works.

rahrahrah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The problem is... Not specifically in this thread it isn't. Either the charity was badly run ? as many have said ? or it wasn't. The rest of what you say might be broadly true, but it's worth pointing out that care for vulnerable kids has been appalling in this country for decades, regardless of who's in power. Actually, it's probably been appalling for as long as there have been vulnerable kids.

And as has been shown repeatedly, there is no more 'speeding danger' on Melbourne Grove than on other local roads. A mendacious bit of scaremongering for an absurd scheme. I have no doubt it won't happen, but what gets my goat is the ease with which up to ?10,000 was chucked at a feasability study. Remember, folks, when Southwark come bleating to us about the savage cuts in some other matter, remind them of their dumb profligacy. And remember, Cllr. Barber is an active proponent of all things cycling. Anything that helps that agenda, no matter how absurd or profligate, gets his support.

I didn't bother checking as they get every contract as the 'preferred' contractor borough-wide. Hence their use of council offices at Tooley St. Cosy.

I'm with Louisa. Even 100 miles would take you to Birmingham. Is that local? I suspect we've taken these 'standard' distances from farmers' markets in the USA, where a three- or four-hour drive is seen as a local journey.

Fusion. Conway. Lend Lease. All 'friends' of Southwark Council. And all of them unassailable.

Totally agree. And much of the hullabaloo about buggies / kids / swearing / e-cigs etc would be solved if pubs of a certain size went back to separate bars. If there's one thing my father taught me it was by all means swear in the bar but not in the lounge...

When is local not local? When it's 150 miles away? The Forest Hill Food Assembly ? which looks like a good endeavour ? has posted here: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?30,1519414 "It is 14 local producers, 2 hosts, almost 800 members and more than 150 fresh, local and organic products on offer every week. It is a new way to buy direct from local producers via a web platform and pay at a fair price. It is also a new way to meet other friendly people from your neighbourhood." I popped along to their website, where it says, "All our producers come from less than 150 miles away. You will meet them during the collections." Well, that's not my definition of local, as it covers anyone from Exeter to Grimsby, and from Sheffield to... er, Lille in France. A while ago I saw that the Herne Hill Farmers' market has "locally-produced foods and arts and crafts from within 100 miles of the market". Again, that's quite some distance. I appreciate that this is not the same as air-freighting "fresh" veg from Kenya and I don't want to sound like a moaning minnie ? I genuinely wish them well ? but a more transparent use of the word "local" would be good.

Clearly tongue in cheek. "No wonder so many people I know are leaving London: and the fact that they?re all in their 30s, starting to have children and therefore wanting bigger houses and more school options, and happen to have amazingly flexible jobs that allow them to live where they want, is a mere coincidence. I also looked at my local high street, where I used to see such a pleasing ethnically mixed selection of shops: the Greek shop that sold olives, the Indian shop that sold spices, the Spanish shop that sold cheese. Obviously I never shopped at any of them ? there?s a Waitrose up the road ? but it was always good to know they were there." It's actually quite funny.

"Sir Howard said that the recommendation for a new runway to the north of the present airport was "clear and unanimous"." And "Sir Howard said that a second runway at Gatwick was a "credible" option but was less able to provide connections to long-haul destinations and would create lower levels of economic growth." So, bearing in mind his admission that the Gatwick option has less of an environmental impact, it might be unanimous but it's far from clear. Another decision delayed, despite how it's been reported.

Walking is the way forward, but there's not a lot of lovely cash to spend on pedestrians, so they tend to get ignored in the rush for funding.

bodsier Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Restaurants closing down... > > http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/25/its > -like-a-ghost-town-lights-go-out-as-foreign-owners > -desert-london-homes > > > Granted, it is the only one I have read about that > refers to the eeriness due to lack of people in > the area generally, but so many others have closed > Worrel thompsons, Blancs, Ramsey's and many > others. Due to recession they claim. Ive never dined in Kensington and Chelsea, so I wouldn't know. But recently the Standard had a piece about restaurants moving to or opening in Zones 2 and 3 to avoid sky-high central London rents. Which is a good thing, I reckon. http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/chefs-spurn-city-centre-for-taste-of-the-suburbs-10307264.html Londoners have been deserting pubs for thirty years or more without the help of nasty developers or pubcos. And craft beer bars are not for the wealthy. Lots of micropubs opening up all over London at the moment. Beer, cider and good company. What's not to like?

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sadly the new northern E&C junction probably isn't > worth it. > > TfL don't do any cost benefit analysis of the > hold-ups during construction versus the results. I > read a paper that did this for California and the > payback was typically 20 years - no sane person > would undertake works on that basis. > > The works will result in a large peninsular > sticking out - solely due to the Faraday electric > substation sculpture. I very much doubt this new > area will be a vibrant new square for E&C as per > the business case. I sincerely hope I'm wrong. The problems are as much a result of the year-long construction of the cycle superhighway from E&C to Farringdon at the same time: http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/8118

hertburs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Could our local councillors please comment on what > is happening at this junction to improve things > for pedestrians. At the moment, their silence is > deafening! They've claimed that TFL won't do anything to slow down the traffic on such a main intersection by adding a proper pedestrian phase to the lights. One way you could do it in the current climate is to make the Cox's Walk/Grove Tavern crossing part of a cycle 'quietway'/'superhighway' or what you will and we'd have the permission and funding pouring in within weeks.

Meself and Mrs BNG are up for it too.

That's Tuesday 30th, I think?

Crystal Palace has become ED extremely quickly. Only four or five years ago, CP was still a bit 'edgy' and had a bunch of interesting shops, businesses and people. Most seem to have moved away... It's at the Gipsy Hill end, but Mrs BNG and her friend were the only people in Beer Rebellion last night at 10 o'clock. She thought that was a sign of incipient dullness :-)

Two bottles of Hop Back's Summer Lightning. Possible tin of Beavertown Gamma Ray if I'm still thirsty...

Good news! Must bring back our two flagons for refills...

hillcourt_jester Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 37 from Brixton. Totally agree. If I'm out late in central London, the Victoria Line plus the 37 is a breeze to ED. At night, it takes about 15 mins from Brixton Ritzy to ED.

First half yesterday was pretty dire. Woeful passing. Pleased to see the pundits are now being critical when they need to be - earlier in the tournament there was little criticism and too much 'cheerleading' on behalf of the sport, which was annoying.

A slice of the early 70s from the much-neglected Mike Cooper

We have a similar problem, KK. A self-seeded sycamore on council property ten feet from our house has caused structural damage. The council refuses to cut it down but are happy to accept liability to pay to remedy any further damage. Insanity. We're going to make one last request for them to remove it... If that doesn't work, I'll be out with the chainsaw ;-)

TJ Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Actually, my whole point was for local residents > to stop being so obstructive, argumentative and > complaining about every single change that anyone > proposes. Such as building a house in a back garden? Are you OK with that? If not, then there are presumably valid reasons for objecting to certain developments. Or shall we just build, build, build?