legalalien

Looks as though judgment has been sent to the parties and is publicly available From 10:30 today: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/royal-courts-of-justice-cause-list/royal-courts-of-justice-daily-cause-list#administrative-court-daily-cause-list

I'm in SE21 with different sorting office and haven't seen any post in the last fortnight either. Had dinner with a relative who is temping at Royal Mail in another South London borough and he says the depot is completely overwhelmed, permanent staff are on a bit of a go slow, and unless there is a parcel or a tracked package involved, items are likely at the bottom of a large pile of stuff. Virtual Christmas cards this year! On a related note, I diligently filled in the form and posted off my old-style stamps to the designated Freepost address weeks and weeks ago, and no sign of any new style replacements. I did take a photo of the form and stamps before sending, but I'm not optimistic about receiving the replacements, it has to be said.

I think the new occupants of my tree are indeed redwings. Here’s a pic. Def change in visitors this year, usually pigeons and parakeets have eaten all the fruit before the leaves fall off the tree, this year lots of small birds (tits, sparrows etc) Bird picture

Flicking through some recent Council documents (the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Commission look like they are going to gather evidence about availability of medical appointments) and came across a council- funded organisation I hadn’t heard of before called Healthwatch Southwark https://www.healthwatchsouthwark.org It’s a kind of local health watchdog tasked with providing advice about accessing services and also on how to complain about services- and has some power to visit publicly funded places to see what is going on. If there are particular concerns about any local NHS practices it might be worth contacting Healthwatch and getting them on the case? There’s a contact form on the website and you can request a call back.

I think www.justairports.com have baby seat options - they used to anyway.

I now seem to have attracted a whole bunch of things that look like thrushes. Are they likely to be fieldfare? I googled and that seems to be the closest looking thing, although the video said they were more October time visitors to towns. But then again the wood pigeons were late?

For anyone who wants to watch the relevant bit: From around 28 mins. As someone who is relatively feminist it does irk me when people throw around the word "mansplaining" when people are just expressing an opposing view. My take, as always, is that local government in this country is far too party political. I got the impression that the council leader really does believe that this is some sort of Tory party initiative, and I think perhaps he has that the wrong way around - my impression is that Clive and the other guy (whose name I have temporarily forgotten) stood for the Tories because they wanted to argue about the junction, rather than are arguing about the junction in order to make Labour look bad. Of course I can't be sure about that. Tristan? Tristram?

Quick reminder that the petition regarding emergency service and blue badge access at Court Lane/ Calton is on the agenda for today’s 11 am Cabinet meeting. https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110558/Report%20Petition%20Calton%20Avenue%20and%20Court%20Lane%20Access.pdf I believe it will be live-streamed on you tube with a link to watch later. As a sometime critic of some of the ways the council seems to go about things I was very pleased to see another agenda item regarding a senior council reorganisation which seems to focus on better governance and finding some efficiencies in corporate areas. Presumably this has been instigated by the recently appointed CEO. I like the sound of it. https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110727/Appendix%20A%20Senior%20Management%20Update.pdf

Spotted this on the council website and thought it would be of interest to users of Dulwich Leisure Centre. The project to bring the services back in house from Everyone Active is continuing with an expected transfer date of June 2023. https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110542/Report%20Progress%20with%20Insourcing%20of%20Leisure%20Services.pdf Not surprisingly in the current economic climate / given the cost of energy, it looks like the services will cost Southwark more to run than originally budgeted. Oh, and apparently there’s a nationwide shortage of swimming pool chemicals which has forced pool closures in other places - so that’s one to keep an eye on.

Maybe try Girls United who are local and run some mixed age sessions at Alleyns, they say it’s for all levels of experience, but if it’s not the place for a 14 year old beginner I’m sure they’d tell you and maybe point you in the right direction! I’m involved in a different sport and have come across the Girls United guys at one of our shared grounds, they seem like a nice bunch. Good luck! https://www.girlsunitedfa.org/london-club#londonclub-sessions

Usually we get 5-6 giant wood pigeons who arrive in September and scoff all the crab apples from our tree. None this year, which made me sad and wonder about bird flu (although a bonus for smaller birds who have been feeding there). This morning a very skinny looking wood pigeon arrived on its own, and must have eaten its own body weight in crab apples. And now there are three of them! They’re not the most exciting birds but I am pleased to have them back.

Perhaps he thought you were part of a car burglary ring and were doing some advance reconnaissance? If I had a car I might think it was odd that someone was taking a close up picture of it.

It does look like transport professionals trying to resolve a conflict.

The company who are going to run it look interesting https://www.hartshornhook.com/immersive

Just seen one of the latest tweets with an extract from correspondence between Southwark and TfL, presumably released in response to an FOI request to TfL, in which Dale Foden says local councillors “seem to want blood” as a result of the TfL report about the cause of Croxted congestion,and describes the Turney closure consultation as like “dropping a ten tonne concrete block”. Interesting thought: after the last couple of years, Mr Foden must be very well aware that a succession of FOI requests are going to be submitted to TfL and that TfL have a history of responding to them thoroughly. Is this a back door way of making a degree of frustration with the councillors public? Will look for the relevant response on the TfL site. ETA: link to TfL response here (I haven’t read through it yet) https://foi.tfl.gov.uk/FOI-1820-2223/FOI-1820-2223_Redacted.pdf Idle thought, I note the various foi requests are limited to emails, which made me wonder if requests could extend to things like text messages and what’s app as well - from a quick google it seems that in principle they can http://publicsectorblog.practicallaw.com/its-the-message-not-the-medium-that-matters-information-commissioner-comments-on-digital-communications-and-social-media-and-the-extent-of-foia/ ( from 2017 , would be surprised if it had changed since then)

No particular views on this but thought it would be of general interest https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IssueId=50030768&OptionNum=0

Hi all I’ve previously posted council info about falling primary school rolls in London, reduction in admission numbers at some schools and the difficult financial situation some schools are finding themselves in as a result, in specific threads about St Francesca Cabrini (now closing) and DKH. The council has now produced an overall strategy paper on the subject which is going to Cabinet on 6 December - its online here: https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110485/Report%20Place%20planning%20Across%20Southwarks%20Primary%20Schools%20A%20strategy%20for%20future-proofing%20quality%20an.pdf (Appendix - which has the details of the steps in implementing the strategy - but no information about individual schools - at https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110486/Appendix%201%20Place%20planning%20across%20Southwarks%20Primary%20Schools%20A%20strategy%20for%20future-%20proofing%20quali.pdf) In short there is a significant oversupply of places across the borough -around 22%- resulting in a need to remove around 19-25 forms of entry. Because school funding follows the pupil, this is sadly going to mean a combination of reduced admissions, amalgamations and some school closures. Before everyone panics about local schools, it’s important to note that past reports have indicated that schools in this area are generally well-subscribed compared with other parts of the borough, where many of the problems lie. However, there was a reduction in admissions at Dog Kennel Hill last year, and there was also some proposals around Ivydale that I think were reversed following councillor intervention. The timeline for implementing the new strategy is “ Cabinet agreement of strategy (December 2022), Schools informed of recommendations (March 2023), Informal consultation (June/July 2023), Statutory consultation (September 2023), Final Cabinet decision (July 2024).” I’m being longwinded, the point I really wanted to make was that against this background, when considering the primary school you wish to send your child to in Sept 2023 I think it’s worth doing a little due diligence on its financial situation if the school is a council-run school (the situation is different for academies as the council can’t control academy intakes / decide that they should close), and also keep an eye out for any council proposals. You can find some financial info about schools here: https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/ It’s a very difficult situation for the council given they’re supposed to be responsible for the overall picture but seem to have very limited control over the academies. Add to that, there’s a risk, identified in the report, that some schools threatened with closure may opt to become academies to avoid closure. It sounds as though this is going to be a very stressful time for governors and staff at some schools, hopefully this can all happen as smoothly as possible.

For info, the formal decision on closure of the school is to be made at the cabinet meeting on 6 December - more info here https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?id=65537&LLL=0 For those wondering about the future of the building, the report says “The councillors made suggestions for the council to keep the building for education purposes. This was explored by the education team, although it is not straightforward as the school building doesn’t belong to the council.” Southwark’s strategy for the oversupply of places in the borough is also on the agenda for the 6th, I think that deserves its own thread with a separate title.

Also on the agenda, report in response to local petition regarding blue badge holder etc access through the Court Lane / Calton junction, and the redesign process https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110558/Report%20Petition%20Calton%20Avenue%20and%20Court%20Lane%20Access.pdf Not sure who all these locals they have consulted with are, I live very local and walk through the junction at least once a day and haven’t heard anything...

This document prepared for next month’s cabinet meeting is worth a read. It sets out the council’s future strategy on use of streets, with particular reference to on street storage of cars and cycles (as previously suggested, borough wide controlled parking, more cycle storage including for hire bikes (hooray!) and e-scooters (not so keen). There’s a specific reference to the south of the borough in this regard so maybe various complaints about badly parked hire bikes have not fallen on deaf ears.) https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110560/Report%20Streets%20for%20People.pdf This bullet point makes me wonder whether removal of on street parking in Croxted might be in the offing: “ Parking controls that enable the council and TfL to deliver much- needed comprehensive bus prioritisation schemes that improve the journey times, frequency and ridership of our bus network, through greater confidence in the bus network.” And this one surely refers to Dulwich: “29. Creating safer roads and streets for all schools, with improved air quality for those schools on main roads. Tackling local area issues in relation to clusters of schools and the parking and vehicle volumes associated with term time traffic and car use generated by non-catchment schools.” (this is in a list of things to be achieved in the context of greater resident engagement). I think we can all agree on the target but as always the “how, exactly?” is the difficult part. Parking charges also due for an overhaul. There’s a comment that “Parking is managed on our streets through the implementation of a simple emissions based parking charging structure. The impact of this charging structure on change of vehicle ownership to less polluting vehicles has been minimal.”. Not sure what the implications of that are - removing the discount for EVs and putting parking charges up generally? Anyway, plenty to digest and speculate about.

Thanks for posting that - was wondering about this just last week when I wandered past.

So - it seems the decision on Rye Lane has been made and the result is TFL/bus users 1 Southwark Cyclists 0 i.e. the Council is going for the two way bus option. The report “ 4. Recommends that once the bus arrangement has been formalised, further interventions are implemented based on other feedback received during the consultation. This will include a full review of the restrictions on all Rye Lane side roads. Specific areas to focus on are outlined in Appendix 1 and include consideration of safer cycling infrastructure, increased footway width to ensure pedestrian safety and potential additional space for retail and hospitality, review of side roads for increased public realm and disabled parking, and will support waste management and refuse collection. A further report will be brought should further interventions be proposed on Rye Lane.” Link to report here https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110310/Report%20-%20Rye%20Lane%20Traffic%20Arrangements.pdf Paragraph 17 is an interesting read, picking out points in Southwark’s policies which justify the decision: “. The recommendations in this report will support achieving the following objectives of the council’s delivery plan: 24a - Work with local communities to design safer, greener and healthier streets for walking and cycling, prioritising areas with high health inequalities and low car ownership first. 24c - Deliver on our equal pavements pledge, working with older people, those with disabilities and limited mobility to make sure Southwark’s streets are accessible for everyone 25e - Ensure older and younger people, women and our Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities all have a full say, so we design streets and public transport that works for everyone. 25a - Work with TfL to reduce traffic on main roads and and to make bus journeys quicker and more reliable“ (Anyone think the Dulwich scheme ticked these boxes?) The report on the consultation responses is at https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s110311/Appendix%201.pdf Around 1500 responses, 61% in favour of two way buses. The demographic breakdown of responses is in the Appendix and is pretty much what you would expect. A lot of responses raised the need for better rubbish clearance and that’s going to be looked at.

Melbourne. What were they thinking scheduling this there so early in the season? Great that it’s on channel 4.

There does seem to be some conflict between the CLP and head office, and potentially a little bending of the rules of Southwark News is to be believed… https://southwarknews.co.uk/news/politics/exclusive-labour-party-dismisses-entire-selection-panel-in-row-over-harriet-harman-succession/ As a casual observer, from what I’ve seen of them in past council meetings Evelyn and Peter both seem reasonably well spoken and on top of their briefs. I think it’s better to have local candidates. Sent from my iPhone

Looking at the comments there was a lot of push back on the original proposal, which would have seen West Norwood hived off into Streatham and Herne Hill split up. (You can see some of the comments given at the oral hearings here. https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/London_PH_Westminster_Transcription-of-day-2.pdf including the reps from the Dulwich Society. The written submissions are on the website linked above. For the technologically challenged like me - when you go to the website and search on postcode, the map will show the proposed new boundaries, if you click on the “boundaries” button you can turn the existing boundaries / boundaries initially proposed on and off.). It looks as though the main change to the D and WN seat is to add the DHFC stadium and Sainsbury’s? Given how little we hear from / about our local MP other than immediately before elections (and the odd photoshoot relating to the ED sorting office) and how safe the seat seems to be, I find it hard to get too excited about this, even though it is of course important in principle.