BrandNewGuy

Well, not a great opening day for platforms 14 and 15. The 08.50 from ED finally trundled into plateform 15 at 9.45 and there were plenty of trains backed up after us. I appreciate they're trying to reconstruct the station while still using as much of it as possible, but these sort of 'congestion' problems can surely be foreseen. I'd have preferred it if they'd cancelled a train or two so at leat you'd know you could make alternative arrangements.

aquarius moon Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, I'm one of those annoying people who stand by > the doors. With good reason. No, it's selfish and delays others - the driver has to stare into his mirror at every stop just to check you're not getting off. Please don't do it.

AbDabs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You'd never be able to get a warranty period of 5 > -10 years on normal pavement repairs due to the > damage caused by misuse. Our street's pavements > have been destroyed by builders lorries and skips > being parked on, or dragged across, the pedestrian > pavements. > If you wanted that sort of warranty you'd have to > specify pavements suitable for traffic - much more > expensive Ironically, much of the pavement along Melbourne Grove used to have vehicles half-parked on it, but no longer. The stretch of pavement outside the shops never has vehicles on it to my knowledge, given the lamppost and bin effectively prevent it. It really is just pedestrians using it. And still the paving slabs wobble, crack and sink.

Drivers ignoring the temporary traffic lights on East Dulwich Grove - sailing blithgely through a red light. Well, it's temporary innit, so not really like a proper traffic light. Pillocks.

Many thanks.

James, that pavement outside the shops on Melbourne Grove is wobbly, broken and dangerous yet again. It was only October when they 'fixed' it last time, namely a lad with a bucket of sand... Once again, please can Conways be told to fix it again - at their expense, as this will now be (I think) the third time it's needed repairing. Useless and contemptuous of the local population.

Agreed re wind, solar and tidal. These are fine for local and specific needs (eg solar passive water heating, wind power for pumping etc), but to suggest they will feed the grid to replace the contribution from fossil fuels is delusional. One of my problems with nuclear is that it too (along with the hi-tech renewables options) relies heavily on fossil fuels. Think of the mining, shipping, construction etc that is dependent on oil. As those costs squeeze, so do those of nuclear. There is no cheap way out of the cheap fossil fuel era I fear.

PokerTime Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We already do have a solution in nuclear power. > France has the cheapest energy prices in Europe > and generates 80% of it's energy from nuclear > power. It sells energy to the rest of europe. I'm not knee-jerk anti-nuclear, but these energy prices need to be taken with a pinch of salt. French state subsidies (mostly indirect) to their nuclear industry are significant and are not reflected in cost to consumers, although French consumers, of course, do pay these through their taxes. I'm not saying that's necessarily wrong, but nuclear as an alternative to fossil fuels is not a cheap option.

And there would have been fewer parking spaces in ED under the proposed CPZ than there are now.

This morning and yesterday evening for me. Must be that they feel the need to 'display' to me as an obvious Alpha Male ;-)

the-e-dealer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > People who "sit wrong " on trains with their legs > in the aisle so you cant walk though. And blokes who sit with their legs wide apart, trying to tell the world that their meat 'n' two veg are so impressively large that they can't close their legs unlike lesser, more poorly-endowed weaklings. Tossers.

TFL are looking for comments on their proposals for the Elephant. As it potentially affects a lot of ED commuters, I thought it relevant. The consultation closes April 30th. Here's the link: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/roads/elephant-and-castle

Picturehouse and the architects clearly have a preference for Dulwich Picturehouse - here's a snap I took of the proposed front elevation.

Yeah - man up!

Not if you've got a van, Jimbo ;-)

One of the architects said they hoped for planning permission within three months and to be open by Christmas. Apart from the side extension, internal work and a picture window at the front, there's not a lot of major structural work to do, so I suppose it's possible. Here are the arhcitects, though they haven't put the plans up on their website yet. http://www.panterhudspith.com/projects/arts.html

My favourite Snowdonian cottage - though sadly not for rent: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music/led-zeppelin-fan-ruth-dale-4875086

Nipped into Flying Pig for a couple of pints last night. Late Knights' lovely Great Exhibition ale for ?3.50 a pint. And a strong, amazingly tasty ginger black saison from By The Horns for ?2.50 a half. Money well spent IMHO and for two beers of a style (and possibly quality) almost unheard of before a few years ago.

Agree with the above - any issues to do with design, noise, waste disposal and parking have been addressed more than satisfactorily. It'll be a great addition to the area. Good luck to them.

PokerTime Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bedroom Tax is the phrase coined BNG. By the Labour Party. And it's not a tax. I agree with you that the housing system needs a serious overhaul, but I don't see any political party doing that.

PokerTime Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Splitting hairs Brand New Guy. You try paying ?14 > out of ?71 weekly jobseekers allowance and see how > you get on. I don't know what planet you think the > disabled and unemployed live on. No it's not. If you name something according to your political persuasion (the "bedroom tax"), then you can be expected to be picked up on it. And as I said before, "You can argue that that reduction is wrong". If you want to know what I think (FWIW), the reduction attempted to right a wrong ? subsidised empty rooms ? but has been poorly implemented. If proper alternative accommodation is available locally and if the disabled or sick who need extra space are exempted and if there is a reasonable transition time for tenants, I have no great objection to the reduction in benefit.

PokerTime Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > They have no solutions BS. That's why some of > these tenants are getting into arrears. There is > something called 'a discretionary housing > payment'. That is a fund the government allowed > LAs to set up to help those in difficulty with the > tax. They don't "pay the tax". They have a reduction in benefit.

Re the bird feeding, I think the mild winter has meant there's a lot more natural food out there than usual, so the birds haven't needed to use garden feeders, which they would rather avoid. Several people I know who participated in the Garden Birdwatch this year saw absolutely nothing for the whole hour, whereas in previous years they've had plenty of activity.

PokerTime Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > But the bedroom tax is only going > after those in receipt of housing benefit. Well, that's because it isn't a tax, it's a reduction in housing benefit. You can argue that that reduction is wrong, but calling it a 'bedroom tax' doesn't help the argument.

Meanwhile, some good news - Dulwich Hamlet's convincing 4-0 win at Carshalton last night puts them three points clear at the top of the table.