Penguin68

But wasn't that what was happening at that place near Tandoori Nights? Platform something or other? A pop-up but not a 'rolling pop-up' I thought. Happy to be proved wrong. And I think it would have been more 'waiting for a full-time tenant' and not an intentional business plan for change.

Too many good eateries last a few months and then the custom falls off and they close. Ideal would be to find an entrepreneur willing to invest in a good quality kitchen and then find restaurateurs willing to run say, 3 months pop-ups - changing over regularly. For them, it would be a chance to try out a formula - for us a new cuisine every quarter that we could all fill and then not worry about returning too frequently 'to keep it going'. LL palates seem to get quickly jaded - maybe this would be a way round that. And having a regularly changing venue (but in a good and intentional way) would probably be good for the Lane as well. Sensible scheduling and planning could have a pie-shop style outlet in winter months, something more salad-y and light for the summer. Just wishful thinking of course, but no more so than previous posts perhaps?

what, they changed their toddler's nappies on their own? They didn't try and get the waiting staff to do it for them? It's the location, not the fact - but you knew that, didn't you?

Apparently a large number of people (customers) expressed opinions against the sale of fireworks last year - I also expect that the costs associated with selling fireworks (sales area, dedicated staff, security) may well have outweighed the revenue per square foot calculations - where such low net return items (if they are) are given selling space it is normally because they boost foot-fall - my guess would be that customers buying fireworks in Sainsbury's were customers anyway - the offer did not bring them in specially. And clearly it gives them some good publicity in these XR days!

I would like to see a shop or eatery which has been well researched (as regards local needs) and which is economically sustainable - which probably means with a flexible approach to changing customer needs. It needs (based on the high rents and rates being charged) to either sell high ticket or (and?) high volume items. It will need to understand the constraints of small footprint outlets and to cope with increasing parking restrictions which will make it reliant either mainly on (very) local trade, or on mainly bus access. The fact that restaurants seem to be doing better than traditional shops may reflect the area's greater accessibility by car out of normal shopping hours.

As fishbiscuits notes - this seems to be about wanting to import outlets which are anyway just round the corner, a bus ride or a cheap uber away. Our local community really is slightly larger than just LL. If you like these places (and I do like many close but not on my doorstep) just go to them. And I'm not sure LL is really right for late night opening night clubs, with all that they bring with them. [Nor are the outlet footprints really large enough]. Purely selfishly I'd like to see a wider range of food - a good Vietnamese, a modern Chinese (not just cantonese cuisine), a South Indian (i.e. Keralan etc.) - but I'm not sure we have the customer base to support even one of these. Oh, and Farmer's already offers good value domestic consumables - maybe not pound store cheap, but very competitive and with a very wide range.

In the 1990s, a few doors up from Binester Toys. Later the site split and one half dealt in mobiles. It then just sold sports shoes but earlier had sold a much wider range of sports equipment.

I would like to see a sports shop, not a JD Sports, but a shop selling cricket bats, pads, balls, hockey sticks, sports trainers, slips, tennis rackets, balls and the like. We did have one, once; first it halved in size, then closed - suggesting that we can't offer the market for one.

If it goes like the ED one, what you collectively say you want, and what the powers that be in their infinite wisdom will give you will have little overlap. Unless, collectively, you want CPZs imposed on every street in the survey. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If so, your prayers will be answered.

That's a pity as police should use reports such as this to built up a picture of what is happening I wholly agree. This sort of crime (cyber crime and fraud) are reported to a unit in the City of London Police, who are meant to analyse them and them send them out to local forces - but of course these have virtually no fraud or cyber crime experts on them. Banks avoid response where they can and ty to place blame on their own customers to avoid liability. Famously they use 'data protection' to avoid giving details of the accounts to which funds have been siphoned. Apparently there is so much of this that police resources are overwhelmed, to the extent that they no longer really bother. Elsewhere on this (or another) thread I have recounted the lack of police follow-up when provided with photos and car details of burglars in an incident local to me. Not enough was stolen for them to bother, as far as I can judge. If you kick someone's door in and then fail to make a suitable haul, well, we're so sorry and better luck next time, eh lads?

I don't think they'd tell you this just as if you've had money fraudulently taken from your bank account they won't tell you much about what happened. Current evidence is that nothing will have happened - there has been a lot of coverage recently to suggest that there is virtually no follow-up in these sort of cases. Most reports of such crimes are not even seen by actual police officers, but are 'checked' (and I use that word quite wrongly) by computer algorithms and occasionally civilian employees.

It could be argued (and I would) that an outlet in a public park should be obliged to support purchasers without discrimination - we now lived in a mixed economy where cash and cards are both generally accepted and should be accepted here. An outlet on the high street may choose only one exchange medium (many, because of bank and merchant issuer charges do not choose to offer credit, or even debit card facilities) - but I think that an outlet in a public park offering refreshment should be obliged by their council landlord to accept cash transactions. Not to do so, as I and others have pointed out, is to discriminate against legitimate park users.

Although under 18s can now have debit cards - considering how many are mugged for e.g. phones I wouldn't want to risk a child having a card on them unaccompanied, which means that they will be restricted from buying stuff which, as a child myself (I can just remember that far back) I used to do - ice creams, pop and sweets. Independently buying small value items is sort-of part of what growing up's about. This is exactly the sort of outlet where that should be 'safe'.

This isn't a heavy cost for cafes or shops that decide to use one. Moving to cashless is in the bank' best interests, they don't have to handle cash (which has costs) and accounting is electronic. Banks should be offering machines virtually for free, considering the operational value to them of so doing, and particularly where debit or cash cards (credit risk-free) are concerned. Small enterprises run on small margins (often) - anything eating into that margin surely is unwelcome. However, cash handling has operational costs (and risks) for small enterprises, hence their many moving into cashless only (but some also offer cash only transactions - presumably each outlet is making its best estimate of cost efficiency).

When I lived in Battersea an 'inner' front door in a purpose-built block of flats (as strong as an outer front door, and protected by e.g. Banham locks) was entered by using an electric saw to cut away the door leaving the locks etc. intact, but redundant. When thieves want to get in, little will stop them. The door was out of sight of passers by, which made it the more vulnerable. In ED thieves kicked in an outer front door near me - I photographed the robbers (and gave the pictures to the police) - and another neighbour took down their car number but, since little of value was actually taken, they (the police) weren't really bothered to make any arrests, although I believe they did identify the suspects (and had my photographic evidence and another witness statement). The only real purpose of reporting non-violent (crimes against property) crime now is to get a crime number which aids insurance claims.

Thank you, Renata, that's really useful as an aide-memoire. Am I right in thinking that it is a move between the classes (A-D) which constitutes 'change of use' and not within any one class?

To go back to the question I asked (and have regularly continued to ask) - can you, do you, trust the council, its elected representatives or officials? Time and again what they say, or are meant to say, and what they do, part company. As regards their own housing density standards, this appears to be (another) case in point. I am sure the councillor feels he is doing good things - but local standards separate from him were set to allow us to judge that against fixed criteria. Housing density standards are not a starting point for debate, they are a rule, or rather not when it comes to Southwark apparently.

Strangely, one of the larger units on LL - East Dulwich Deli - was split up into two, after which a chain (Sweaty Betty) took half of it. So... I am not 100% convinced of this argument. This is certainly a chain, but it's hardly a 'High Street' chain. It describes itself as offering 'boutiques' (40-50 in the UK so hardly in every, or most, high streets) - and it is very much a specialist retailer. ED fits its target demographic quite well. As a 'boutique' its footprint requirement is more limited. If you were asked to list 'typical' High Street stores, I doubt whether it would ever make your, or anybody else's top 30. This is the sort of shop which may well come to replace the traditional High St store, over time.

With all due respect about 25% of Lordship lane, are chains Almost all the largest retail properties are already chains, certainly, but largest here is a relative thing. Generally they either sell very high-value items (such as the estate agents we have) or have high-frequency sales (such as the chain coffee shops or bookies) or have comparatively small relatively high value items (i.e.pharmacies or jewelers). Chains tend to have minimum size outlets they want to take-up - most of our continuing independants fall below that minimum size - although the size criterion can be reduced for 'mini' outlets (where the item prices are often higher than in larger stores). Where we do have chains they tend to be of the smaller type (hand-fulls of stores) , rather than the national chains which inhabit traditional high streets. However, what we are also seeing is a significant change in retailers generally - my own view is that traditional high streets will continue to deplete 'traditional high street stores' rather than them spreading to LL. Small chains and specialist retailers may well be the store of the future, offering something that you can't (yet) get on-line.

The downside I see to these cashless operations are Charitable donations. - And indeed tips. I tend to tip change into a tips saucer for small purchases - but if I touch in a card, nada. Actually I prefer non-tipping societies (Japan, Iceland) - but that means you have to pay serving staff properly. With increased prices at the till.

Please don't be surprised in 5 years time when Lordship Lane, becomes another faceless high street. This is, in fact, unlikely. Most of the LL shops have far too small a footprint to be commercially attractive to 'the High Street' shops. They need both frontage and storage areas. That has been our saving grace - we are great for small local independants, not attractive to chains. More likely is that increasing rates and rents drive everyone out - and we end up with closed shops or charity/ pop-ups. It is net profitability per square metre which is the driver in any retail operation. Drive up fixed costs and you drive down profitability, for any given turnover.

I used to use a moped to get to work in the City - I broke my arm twice - once coming round a corner to meet a whole slurry of dumped fruit and vedge, once hit by a car coming out of a side street into the Strand (I found out later it had been stolen). Be very careful, wear protective clothing (even if it seems OTT on a moped) and assume the b**gers are out to get you. And they are very stealable, particularly now. Get top-grade locks. Take advice from current motorised 2 wheelers - I'm out-of-date, but after 5 years and two accidents I was grateful to give up and go back to the misery of public transport commuting.

You can get metal tea filters for loose tea so that you don't have to rely on teapots and strainers for your cuppa - this is an amazon link but there are many other sources. And that way you can make your own blend! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tea-Strainers-Filters/b?ie=UTF8&node=3544852031

but tagging rarely comes into this category - and has a different motivation Moot point https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB753GB753&sxsrf=ACYBGNQzU09Bl2GSKtzRsc_RsNCyUkcHJw:1570109116998&q=the+vaults+graffiti+tunnel&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZorWhmIDlAhUXSxUIHQNRCWAQsAR6BAgIEAE&biw=1616&bih=814

...mind you, if Banksy wanted to get out a spray gun...