Goose Green councillors - how can we help?

[jamesmcash]

Hi all,

Don't worry - we are taking the monitoring process very seriously. It's too early to tell what the outcome will be but I would be very surprised if it does not result in changes being made.

Thanks a lot for your support.

Best wishes

James

[alex_b]

James - I believe Southwark are on the list of councils who have not yet given landowner permission for parkruns to resume (at Dulwich and Peckham Rye Parks). Do you know why this is?

[Abe_froeman]

Hello James

It looks like there are about to some fairly significant changes made to the road closure on Melbourne Grove. Can you explain what is going on please?

If there are changes being made now, doesn't that render Southwark council's ongoing consultation on this road closure entirely pointless?

[jamesmcash]

Hi all

High Street Recovery Fund

The council has launched a High Street Recovery Fund to help support local businesses grow after the pandemic.

It opens today and closes on the 27th July. More information is available on the council website here: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/highstreetrecoveryfund

abe_froeman

I'm afraid I am not sure what you mean by the significant changes to Melbourne Grove. Do you mean the children's activities painted onto the ground?

Best wishes

James

[Abe_froeman]

So no planned changes to the road closure in the next six months?

[AylwardS]

We had a leaflet through the door from those in favour of the road closures. Agree or not they have a suggestion I wish I?d put in my response to the consultation. Suggest a crossing at the East Dulwich Grove / Lordship Lane junction. One has been needed for some time, more so now.

If you?ve not responded the consultation is open until 11 July https://consultations.southwark.gov.uk/environment-leisure/dulwich-review/

[jamesmcash]

Dear all,

Great suggestion on the crossing. We're already investigating the feasibility of such a project. It'd be good to hear what people think of it.

Separately, the newest issue of our councillor newsletter is available here:

https://www.jamesmcash.com/blog/councillor-newsletter-june-2021

Abe_froeman - there will probably be plans to change the road closures in line with the Dulwich Review. No other major changes planned.

Best wishes

James

[jamesmcash]

Hi all

alex_b asked about Park Runs. I am told that Parkrun decided to not restart the programme until the end of lockdown restrictions, in July. I do not think this was a Southwark Council decision.

Best wishes

James

[alex_b]

jamesmcash Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> alex_b asked about Park Runs. I am told that

> Parkrun decided to not restart the programme until

> the end of lockdown restrictions, in July. I do

> not think this was a Southwark Council decision.

Thanks James, yes the delay to restarting was a national decision. I understand Southwark have given permission to use all four of the parks in the borough.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Can the council do something about the cars that are overhanging the pavement on Beauval Road? You seem to have approved drop curbs, so that gardens can be paved over for cars that don't actually fit in them.

[Abe_froeman]

Hello James, before I complete the survey on the Dulwich road closures, please could you feedback on the information you said would be key to the decision:

"The two key criteria are air pollution and traffic volume. Put simply, if these two measures are not reduced across the whole area then the scheme has failed. It is not enough to displace the traffic - we want to reduce it overall.

...

I have spoken to Cllr Rose and Cllr Burgess (the Cabinet and Deputy Cabinet members with responsibility for this area) to request that these measures be evaluated as soon as we can. I have further requested that the evaluation considers the following factors:

- Overall levels of pollution

- Overall levels of traffic

- The ?social justice? implications of how pollution and traffic are distributed (i.e. who lives on the more polluted streets?)."

Can you tell me where I can find your evaluation of those measures.

It doesn't feel like air pollution and traffic volume have reduced across the whole area but perhaps you could reassure us otherwise?

[jamesmcash]

Hi Abe

It's taking a frustrating amount of time to get hold of data on this but I understand it should be released in the coming two weeks, with a meeting to discuss it. I realise it would have been better for it to have come out before people respond to the consultation but this wasn't possible.

Best wishes

James

[jamesmcash]

Hi all

We are hosting two High Street Forums later this month. The first, Monday 26th July, will focus on Lordship Lane and North Cross Road. The second, Thursday 29th July, will focus on Melbourne Grove and Grove Vale. Both will be online and will start at 7pm. To confirm your attendance please email [email protected] .

The main focus is for the local businesses but if you frequent these high streets and want to support the local businesses, please come along.

I'll paste the full invitation from cabinet member Cllr Ochere below.

Best wishes

James

-----

Good Evening,

We warmly invite you to join us for the first High Street Forum for North Cross Road/Lordship Lane on Monday 26th July 2021 at 7pm and for Melbourne Grove / Grove Vale on Thursday 29th July at 7pm. This will be an opportunity for businesses, local residents and relevant community groups to come together and engage with the council to discuss challenges and opportunities in the area, with the aim of developing an action plan that we share and deliver together.

The Covid-19 crisis has threatened to exacerbate pre-existing problems faced by town centres and high streets and the council has therefore made their protection a priority. It is vital that we ensure our town centres and high streets remain vibrant, thriving, accessible spaces, safe for all, which contribute to the prosperity and cohesion of our local communities.

Town Centres and High Streets are one of the four central themes of Southwark?s Economic Renewal Plan, through which we have outlined the actions we are taking in response to the economic challenges brought by the pandemic. In addition to this, a dedicated cross-council strategic response for Town Centres and High Streets is in development and we want to ensure that we engage with local businesses and residents to understand the challenges and work with you to deliver what is needed to create places that not only drive footfall and increase the number of visitors, but that are also places that are welcoming and safe, and that encourage innovation and creativity.

We are looking to do this for a number of high streets across the borough. Your local councillors have made the case for why yours should be among the first.

To confirm your attendance please email [email protected] . We also invite you to share the details of this meeting with colleagues and other local organisations that may be interested in attending.

Best wishes,

Councillor Jason Ochere

Cabinet Member for Business, Jobs and Town Centres

[legalalien]

Could you not extend the consultation window until after the data is released?

The high street forums sound like a good idea.

amesmcash Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Abe

>

> It's taking a frustrating amount of time to get

> hold of data on this but I understand it should be

> released in the coming two weeks, with a meeting

> to discuss it. I realise it would have been better

> for it to have come out before people respond to

> the consultation but this wasn't possible.

>

> Best wishes

> James

[jamesmcash]

Hi legal alien

Good idea. I'll look into extending it a bit. That said, it won't really solve the problem that the bulk of respondents will have done so before seeing the data. Nevermind!

Best wishes

James

[Rockets]

Cllr McAsh - why has the data not been made available - the council has the data? Data was promised as part of the review yet none has been forthcoming and the review is due to close within days - can you share what has gone wrong?

[Artemis]

Never mind!? Is that not rather a flippant remark when many in the area have been asking for this data for months, and were certainly expecting it before the consultation closed? This is an issue that is causing distressing and unprecedented division in Dulwich and you say ?never mind? that the consultation is, in effect, massively flawed as Southwark has not published any useful data to show what is and isn?t working. Do you really think Southwark Council has done a satisfactory job here?

[first mate]

Surely the window will have to be extended enough to accommodate new responses, once the data is made available?

[jamesmcash]

Hi all

Rockets - I'm not entirely sure why it's taken so long. I think the crux of the problem is the number of different agencies and organisations involved. Some data is collected by the council, others by TfL, and it's being processed and analysed by an independent analyst. I have been pushing for it to have the earliest release date possible but I've not had as much success as I'd like.

Artemis - I don't think it makes the whole consultation flawed. We want to know what's happening on the roads (the data) but also how people perceive it and feel about it (the consultation). Ideally, I agree, we'd have the data first but the fact that we do not does not make the consultation results useless. They will still tell us how people feel about the measures. I said "nevermind" because sometimes when you try really hard to make something happen and you do not succeed, you have to just accept it. I have spent a lot of time trying to get this data released in good time.

first_mate - The timeframes are already very tight due to the maximum 18 months that the measures can be in place without being replaced or made permanent. For the earliest measures, this deadline is in December. There's a number of stages that we need to go through before then after the consultation is concluded which limits our time. Nonetheless, I am going to try to get the deadline extended but this will not change the fact that many people have already responded.

Best wishes

James

[jamesmcash]

Bumping this up again because it dropped to the previous page and I don't want anyone to miss it!

jamesmcash Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi all

>

> We are hosting two High Street Forums later this

> month. The first, Monday 26th July, will focus on

> Lordship Lane and North Cross Road. The second,

> Thursday 29th July, will focus on Melbourne Grove

> and Grove Vale. Both will be online and will start

> at 7pm. To confirm your attendance please email

> [email protected] .

>

> The main focus is for the local businesses but if

> you frequent these high streets and want to

> support the local businesses, please come along.

>

> I'll paste the full invitation from cabinet member

> Cllr Ochere below.

>

> Best wishes

> James

>

> -----

> Good Evening,

>

> We warmly invite you to join us for the first High

> Street Forum for North Cross Road/Lordship Lane on

> Monday 26th July 2021 at 7pm and for Melbourne

> Grove / Grove Vale on Thursday 29th July at 7pm.

> This will be an opportunity for businesses, local

> residents and relevant community groups to come

> together and engage with the council to discuss

> challenges and opportunities in the area, with the

> aim of developing an action plan that we share and

> deliver together.

>

> The Covid-19 crisis has threatened to exacerbate

> pre-existing problems faced by town centres and

> high streets and the council has therefore made

> their protection a priority. It is vital that we

> ensure our town centres and high streets remain

> vibrant, thriving, accessible spaces, safe for

> all, which contribute to the prosperity and

> cohesion of our local communities.

>

> Town Centres and High Streets are one of the four

> central themes of Southwark?s Economic Renewal

> Plan, through which we have outlined the actions

> we are taking in response to the economic

> challenges brought by the pandemic. In addition to

> this, a dedicated cross-council strategic response

> for Town Centres and High Streets is in

> development and we want to ensure that we engage

> with local businesses and residents to understand

> the challenges and work with you to deliver what

> is needed to create places that not only drive

> footfall and increase the number of visitors, but

> that are also places that are welcoming and safe,

> and that encourage innovation and creativity.

>

> We are looking to do this for a number of high

> streets across the borough. Your local councillors

> have made the case for why yours should be among

> the first.

>

> To confirm your attendance please email

> [email protected] . We also invite you

> to share the details of this meeting with

> colleagues and other local organisations that may

> be interested in attending.

>

> Best wishes,

>

> Councillor Jason Ochere

> Cabinet Member for Business, Jobs and Town Centres

[Artemis]

My point is that the Council promised data. You may feel a throw away ?never mind? is appropriate, but it feels a little bit of a kick in the teeth and as though the Council is not taking the lack of transparency to its constituents seriously. I DO mind that I?m paying my Council tax and the Council has engineered a project that has made Dulwich a much less pleasant place to live in, and the Council?s response to its own failing is ?never mind?. My response to the survey would be very different if the data told me that pollution levels over the whole area had decreased as opposed to increased. My strong perception is that it has increased, but how can I be sure? I can?t. That is why I think results will be flawed.

[Penguin68]

I am absolutely the last person who would want to defend this council, but there is a difference between data collection ('the council has all the data'); data analysis and data interpretation. Not that I trust the council either to analyse the data fully (rather than concentrating on the bits that make its case) or to interpret the data without bias - but these later stages do take time, if done properly (or even improperly).

[Artemis]

Fair point, Penguin68. However, I do feel that communication and transparency has been woeful in this whole process, and the Councillor?s ?never mind? seemed not to take the strength of feeling and the calls for more detailed information into consideration as seriously as I think appropriate.

[Rockets]

Cllr McAsh,

I hope you had a good summer.

I am just wondering if you had any thoughts on the LTN review data that was published by the council last week?

The constituents within the review area have, overwhelmingly (64%), voted for the measures to be removed yet the council is suggesting amendments to the current closures that will do nothing to alleviate the problems the measures have created.

It is clear, from the council's data published in the review, that there has not been the "significant reduction in traffic across the Dulwich area" as you claimed in your recent newsletter. The council is claiming a 10% reduction in traffic across the area but the monitoring data from roads like Underhill (which is a key displacement route) has not been published or included which means that the 10% figure is likely to reduce to closer to 0% once that data is included.

Could you summarise what you believe the benefits of the scheme to date have been as it is unclear to me, from reading the report, what they are? The measures have had more than enough time to bed in, yet:

- Pollution has not decreased (in fact it is likely to have increased)

- Modal shift has not happened (the report admits that cycling numbers are now decreasing to pre-Covid levels)

- Displacement roads are more congested

- Bus journey times have increased in many parts of the area

- Local businesses are being impacted negatively as is the attractiveness of the area as a shopping destination

- Emergency service response times have been impacted by the closures and lives have been put at risk

It is clear the council has failed to deliver against the stated objectives for these measures so why are you continuing to pursue them and for whose benefit exactly? It seems the majority of your constituents are being impacted negatively by them and don't want them.

[dulwichrunners]

Not sure if this has been covered, but I'd like to know how much revenue has been generated for Southwark from PCNs from the LTN measures. The signage for the bus gates is appalling and clearly designed as nothing more than a revenue raising measure.