Penguin68

Crimes run in fashions - so you can see an upswing in one type of crime locally (which is scary) without being aware than another type of crime is coming down. Often if a criminal is successful in one endeavour, he or she continues and their success encourages others to enter, indeed maybe change crime targets. I'm afraid I see the incapacity of the police to do much as a greater factor in crime increases in a locale than issues of cost-of-living crises. Certainly when the police do 'blitz' particular activities that type of crime does fall.

As the OP - no it bl**dy wasn't. I specifically ask in the post if this was just an unfortunate one-off, or whether others had experienced it - if this was a common trait of inconsiderate and dangerous behaviour then it would be something worth taking action against, if it was just one bad apple then it would be an inappropriate use of scarce resources. I actually said, and I quote myself 'Have others suffered this abusive use of electric bikes, or is this (I sincerely hope) a one-off of thoughtlessness, or indeed even recklessness?' And to those who think that riding a powered bike on a pavement isn't 'inconsiderate and dangerous'... well, enough said!

On Sunday (!) I had 9 items of post delivered (with no deliveries for the 6 preceding days)- the normal letters looked current, the two weeklies were for the Friday before last, and that Friday's weeklies weren't there at all. I get parcels delivered much as I would expect in 'olden days' - normal letters delivered one day a week only and regular magazines (which used, certainly, to have a lower fee than standard large envelopes) 2 weeks late. It's (still) a joke.

If you mean by that 'the police don't bother' - then that would be true of virtually all road traffic offences by cyclists, to a significant number of whom the Highway Code is 'more or less' to quote you, irrelevant. And much other 'crime' locally - shop lifting and mugging is 'more or less decriminalised' under those aegis's. But actually 'decriminalised' does have a specific meaning in law. Something is, or isn't, decriminalised. 'More or less' so carries no weight in law. Practically of course you are right, the police aren't even there to care.

But not on the pavements in Underhill Road, I believe, which is where this took place! And I'm not even sure that what is licet for push bikes is also licet for powered bikes, which this was.

The respondents in the sports industries were not, in fact, the target audience for the Olympics (why should they believe in the 'magic' of publicly funded sports events, particularly?) - The target audiences(s) were punters who liked to see sports and (more importantly) those influenced by 'soft power' of the UK being able to put on what was, by all other reports, a very effective show, very well staged and managed. Music industry respondents are not, in fact, the target audience for e.g. Glastonbury, as a further example. Did the 2012 Olympics do anything for UK Sports long-term, probably not (even if that was a declared outcome to 'justify' expenditure before the event). Was it a damn good show - yes. For the Gala, and future events, you need to focus on what the underlying outcome is meant to be - which, frankly, is revenue to the Council, regardless of the feelings or cares of those who mistakenly thought, because they lived 'next' to it, that it was in someway 'their' park. We, and the park, exist to be a revenue source to the council - we (and the park) are their chattels, to be be squeezed dry for dosh. Simples. As has been said by council sympathisers - if you don't like the way the council operates, p*ss off out of here; we don't want your sort here.

Yesterday, at around 6.45 in the evening, I was narrowly missed by an adult male racing (well, riding fast) on an electric bike on the pavement in Underhill - the road was at that time entirely clear of traffic. Have others suffered this abusive use of electric bikes, or is this (I sincerely hope) a one-off of thoughtlessness, or indeed even recklessness?

I wonder whether removing these pesky trees will allow Southwark to rent out even more space to passing entrepreneurs, after all who would want trees when you can have beer tents and sound stages - and probably slightly boggy ground, if there is any - gets in the way of remunerative fun. It's a lot of trees scheduled to go so they can get the ground all nice for their paying chums. And I note there is no suggestion of any replanting, once the site is levelled (or not that I can see). Trees do, as has been stated, remove water from otherwise boggy ground, of course, but, if we're just talking about a park for the enjoyment of local people (but of course we're not) it's never been a problem. But trees do get so in the way when your renting out space to entrepreneurs, who really don't need trees getting in their way. The water-logging problem was caused when, a couple of years ago, a festival was being held when it was raining, and the weight of people caused the land to bog-up a bit. Those who pay the piper, of course, call the tune, and our local taxation is not seen by the apparat as paying the piper. Just as their right to receive it to allow us to live here.

Sadly the law presupposes delivery based on date of posting (oh, when that was true!). You could request of Ms Hayes some confirmation that poor and missed deliveries have been a continuing problem locally for some time which she has been struggling against - it may be that a letter of support from your MP could help any plea of mitigation, but you will be able to 'prove' nothing. This is part of the ongoing disgrace that the private and mainly foreign owned company quite wrongly, in my opinion, trading under the name 'Royal' Mail has become. And its Regulators, knowing full well that it had failed its service obligations still allow it to trade.

Clothes, scarfs etc. can be put in a freezer (for 36 hours or so - 3 days to be safe) and this will kill eggs and larvae. Then keep woollens in sealable plastic bags (you can buy these specified for moths on-line, they often come with sachets of anti-moth stuff) when you are not wearing them. This will protect them in storage. Sticky cards (pheromone laced) will attract and trap male moths, hopefully before they have mated. Blitz them (steam cleaning and freezing) - and then operate vigilance - protecting clothes in bags really does seem to work. I would put less reliance on things like camphor balls, which may discourage some moths but are more an annoyance to moths than a physical barrier or a poison or a fatal temperature (too hot or cold). [A very hot wash will also kill eggs and larvae in clothes, but will also ruin woollen clothes].

Two things in particular may impact sound transmission - the way the wind is blowing (and its force) and what stands between the source and you - trees, particularly in leaf, or evergreens, act as a surprisingly effective sound baffle, as of course do buildings. Its very possible for someone quite close to a sound source to be less impacted than someone quite far away depending on these issues. And some surfaces may in fact reflect sound towards you (trees in the main don't).

Contractors for Openreach are pulling fibre today down Underhill Road (south end) - the guy I spoke to said they had now completed fibre installation (street side duct) in Forest Hill. So the main delivery infrastructure for FTTP will be in place - but the wait time for individual household connexion to be enabled (which may be offered in 4-6 weeks for order) is still a moot point of course. For those who want it, fingers crossed!

You haven't actually made any money till you have sold - and why should you if you are happy where you are living? You could of course (I wouldn't advise it) re-mortgage to release equity, but to do so to buy expensive bread is probably a false economy. Asset rich, cash poor is a very real thing, and it still means living as if you're cash poor. Yes, investing in property in ED 30 years ago was a good property investment, but buying a house in ED 30 years ago and still living in that house gains you nothing, except in theory.

Whilst I am generally very happy with the no-mow-May concept (some of the local cemeteries which follow this look great with their inner clumps of unmown meadow) I was plagued, as a child, by the miseries of hay-fever and pollen-induced asthma (and still can be), so removing the source close to schools does seem a generally sensible idea - it's particularly bad for sufferers during the exam season. Timothy grasses in particular triggered me. Although drug regimes are now far better than they were in the 50s and 60s, removing the source is still probably a better remedy than taking drugs for school-child sufferers.

For those who are fit (and frequently young) this is an excellent choice, but for those of us less fit, or indeed old with the frailties that accompany this state, this may not be a choice, in which case the normally infrequent (2 an hour?!) and frequently missing train services are a disgrace. And if you are not travelling North : South of course effectively non existent.

Actually, this is unlikely - most of the shop foot-prints are too small for most High St chain stores - although the restaurants are more compatible with size requirements. Chains are already - mainly - in the ones with sufficient space, so more are unlikely (although there will be changes - as M&S occupied Iceland's space).

Please remember that many people who travel into our area by car are people who serve in our shops, staff our surgeries and pharmacists and schools, mend or service our equipment and so so. If they are travelling east: west public transport isn't really a practical option. The myth put forward was that these were all people 'stealing' our Zone 2 location and going on to their fat cat city jobs, rubbing their hands with glee that they were also stealing our 'free' parking. This wasn't, in the main, so. Indeed I recall parking spaces being (somewhat) empty in some local roads at mid-day (Ondine Road, for instance) and becoming impossible to park in only after 6.00 in the evenings. But saying it was 'foreigners' (foreign to ED at least) was one of the Council's scare tactics when the issue was last debated on and 'consulted'. [What's the difference between 'consult' and 'insult' to Tooley St? Well, that would be the spelling!]

Maybe it’s worth reminding people of a few salient facts and assumptions about air quality. 1. There are a number of factors which impact local air quality, of which private vehicles (and particularly those which are ULEZ compliant) are only a part. Industry, commercial vehicles, wood-burning stoves, open fires of any sort are all also contributors, as are adverse weather conditions (temperature inversion) which trap particles close to the ground. For many people, pollens (tree, grass etc.) are also pollutants in that they can exacerbate, indeed cause, respiratory distress. As a generalisation, air quality in the winter in cities tends to be worse than in the summer. This means that summer and winter measurements should not be directly compared. Nor of course should spot measurements at different times of day, and on different days of the week, as (at least for traffic) overall volumes will differ. An ‘average’ measurement week on week in similar seasons can be compared, so long as the measurements are being taken at regular and repeated times of each day. This will show change but may not give you an accurate ‘absolute’ measurement. 2. CO2 is not, as regards respiratory health, a pollutant; indeed without it we would have no plants. It does contribute, as a greenhouse gas, to the greenhouse effect which may lead to global warming. Other greenhouse gases exist which are either more potent, or exist in greater volumes – such as water vapour. 3. Slow moving and static traffic will, everything else being equal, generate more pollutants in a given locale than swift, or at least unimpeded traffic movement (if you take a minute to cross a mile your minute’s worth of pollutant in that mile will be far less than if you take 7.5 times as long – average speeds across London, at 8mph - mean that, in the city, vehicles tend to pollute seven and half times more densely than in the countryside. 8mph is an average, which means in areas where the speed is below that the pollution will be higher. What this means is that pollution levels on roads with (more) slow moving traffic will tend be higher, where everything else is equal. 4. Parked cars are not polluting (for the time they are parked).

PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) services are analogue - and end-to-end - whereas Digital services are packet switched. It is technically easier to move voice over analogue, but it makes no practical sense to operate two types of network services, once sufficient digital (packet switched) traffic is being generated. This is assisted by former analogue broadcast services moving to digital over e.g. fibre. The analogue voice service provided over copper is/ was powered from telephone exchanges, which hold large batteries (with diesel generator back-up) in case of power outages to the exchange, which allows almost continuous country-wide voice telephone services. Once you move to packet switched services the routing of packets (and the way you power home installations now (eventually) linked by glass fibres and not copper wires) means that you can no longer power from the exchange. This was why, when they still had the opportunity, customers maintained their BT PSTN analogue lines - firstly because packet voice, at the start of cable TV provision, was poor (indeed non-existent), and secondly because of the 'always on' nature of the PSTN. As noted above, the removal of exchange powered voice services is the one, and quite significant, downside to the move to a fibred technical economy. Any long-term power cuts (where mobiles will also lose stored power) will have a significant impact on lives in an effected locale. Remember that last winter mains power was lost to some communities for close to a week. That will in future mean they may be wholly cut-off from communication to the 'outside'.

Fibre to the Home (FTTH) and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) are the same thing, I believe, FTTP now being the term most commonly used

I believe the 'evidence' shows that people in ED (before the LTN introduction) were already undertaking proportionately more local, short journeys without using cars than in other areas anyway.

Yes. Clearly Hearing is a group of practices but I am talking about the one in ED, Zenoria St.

The lady in Zenoria Street has been very useful to me and my family, thankfully for (relatively) minor issues; I would certainly trust her for advice on more serious issues, as a first shot. I am sure that if she feels an issue is beyond her competence she will make that clear early on. She does seem to know her stuff (and she's a nice lady, in my experience)

Well, I wouldn't. In ED I do want to see a reduction in the use of highly polluting vehicles, such as elderly diesels, but I see no reason to want to see individuals and families and working people having to curtail or stop their activities for business, for pleasure or for, e.g. household management because other people don't like the idea of personal choice or freedom. We live (well, those of us who are actually ED residents on these boards) in a part of London poorly served by public transport, compared to many other parts of the capital (4 trains, sometimes two trains an hour is not well served; bus frequencies being reduced, very poor east: west public transport provision at all etc. etc. - it's all in the report linked above). On too many occasions trains are out of service at weekends, for engineering work, on too many occasions buses are re-routed (or simply stopped) because of road works. When I do rely on public transport I have to give myself an hour longer for any given journey than it should take if I have a deadline to meet (a hospital appointment, a meeting etc.) or risk being late, and (for a medical appointment) losing it. And at my age I don't have that many spare hours left to waste. And, once again, let me remind everyone that working people often rely on vehicles to access their clients or to transport materials. Home-Care workers, rushing between jobs (time isn't paid for that, disgracefully) would be unable to live on their minimum wage if they had additionally to use public transport between jobs, with the time penalties that implies. Privately owned vehicles are frequently life-lines, and not just for the car owner.

Well, I would certainly encourage those who agree with you to walk on the roads locally, unrestricted by parked vehicles slowing the traffic. Or are you suggesting increasing pavement widths by 5 ft or so on both sides of the road? If so I do hope you plan to charge pedestrians for occupying so much of the real estate? For comparatively so little time.