Manda

I know Nigel Rd, it's all pretty much residential and so pretty quiet at night. Thank god someone came by. So sorry to hear about this. Have you told The Lane Safer Neighbourhood Team? There might be a pattern. You can email them on [email protected] They'll bring it up at neighbourhood meetings etc

Thanks everyone, Amelie, I will do that. Thanks especially. We used Noise Direct, who kept us sane and guided us through the legal process, they were a god-send. They said we could take Southwark Council to court for neglecting their duty of care and/or the noise-maker. We only had the energy for one battle, so we opted for the latter. Here's their website: http://www.noisedirect.co.uk/ X

If you are scared, don't approach. If it is a real problem for you, here's my advice: Southwark Noise team will try and fob you off. Get more neighbours to complain with you, keep a noise diary and call them to come out whenever it happens. Anything before 11pm they won't respond to, anything after that does count. Noise team will also say they need to be in your property to assess noise levels, they don't but go along with it unless it makes you a target or they'll refuse to help at all. Defra issued guidelines in 2005 that gave councils very strong powers but Southwark quote their own policy, which directly contradicts Defra's and actually makes getting Southwark to act very difficult. They stood in my home and said "right kind of noise, wrong time of day" then it was the "right time of day but the wrong kind of noise". A few times they said they'd been and sent me a letter saying they tried to access the property and no one was home but we were home all the time. In the end they caused us more stress and upset than the original noise makers. I know other people who have suffered similarly. I had them on speed dial on my phone at one point, they were useless. Get support from your neighbours and hit the council en masse, much harder for them to manoeuvre out of helping you that way and they will do all they can not to act so be persistent. I speak from bitter experience. Get your local councillor involved too. The council don't like being shown up. They really are very bad, we had to take our own action in a magistrate's court under Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act in the end, we won a noise abatement order. According to the judge it was an open and shut case but for four years, Southwark council did nothing but make excuses. One day I'll write about them properly, right now I'm still recovering from the trauma of it all. They have a lot to answer for. Good luck

I haven't really had a problem with cyclists in the park, they all seem pretty aware that there are people on foot and more importantly children running around. Maybe if you are out very early when they're going to work they're faster as they're in a hurry. If you don't hear them and they suddenly whizz past, it does frighten you, as you could have changed direction at the last minute and they would have been powerless to avoid you. Just ring the bell, I really don't mind. I think cyclists in London tend to be aggressive, mainly because road users in London are aggressive, it's about survival but in a park they should slow down. I got knocked down by a cyclist last year when he jumped a light and he cycled off without saying a word, despite almost coming off himself. It winded me and I couldn't get up for several minutes. It's made me view them as a danger and they really don't like to hear that they are dangerous. I think they are battling through traffic all day and just see pedestrians as another thing to battle. In the pecking order, pedestrians are at the bottom of the pile. Not all are like this, but it's definitely noticeable. I sympathise with the lady.

This from the Islington Gazette: http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/features/do_we_really_need_to_have_a_right_royal_knees_up_1_811135 It seems that Islington council haven't received a single application for a street party that weekend, despite waving the standard fee it costs to close a street i.e ?3,200. Seems as though a lot of people just aren't up for it.

I swim there a lot and the water is colder than some pools I've been in until you start swimming and then it's fine. I prefer it that way as it keeps me moving, which is my whole reason for being there. However for kids perhaps it's a little cold, I remember at my old pool (York Hall in Hackney) the separate children's pool was always like a hot bath compared with the adult pool. We're having to share at ED so I suppose a compromise has to be reached. From an environmental perspective, it's probably better to be conservative with the heating rather than over-heat for comfort. Changing rooms are fine too. I prefer them to be luke warm as opposed to hot as you don't want to shower and dry yourself only to break out in a sweat the moment you put your clothes on. For children, again this might be different, I always hated cold changing rooms as a kid but just had to deal with it. Brrrrr. I go in the evenings and haven't found them dirty so far. All in all I really like the pool, they're never perfect but I think it has a lot of good points.

Thank you James, Did anyone at the meeting ask why they are making such drastic cuts if it isn't necessary to do so?

What a cool idea for a thread, hope it continues... this was something I witnessed that I still think about. I was coming back from a night out and passing through Elephant and Castle tube station, two girls were drunk and winding up a really rough looking man who had obviously just tried to chat them up and been knocked back. We were all waiting for the lift together with one other man who was stood behind me. I was getting really anxious as I could see the situation was getting out of hand because the girls were taunting this man and he was a bit volatile. There were no staff about. Then the rough looking man just lost it, he picked up a nearby glass bottle, smashed the end off and lunged at the girls shouting "you want some?". The girls started screaming hysterically and quick as a flash, the man standing behind me, darted straight in front of the other man and said very calmly but confidently "You really don't want to do that mate, put it down now". The other man looked at him for a few tense moments, then he smashed the bottle down and ran off. The girls ran away into another lift and the man and I got in the same lift. I was so relieved and grateful and told this man what an amazing thing he'd just done and said those girls should thank you but they're not going to so I will. He said to me, "what kind of man would I be if I let that happen and didn't try to do anything?" People are so different, while some are just vile, others are incredible, I still can't believe he did that.

I was 8 and really excited about Christmas, my Mum was getting me and my little brother ready for school when the Capitol Radio news bulletin came on (no breakfast TV in those days). I remember my Mum stopped helping me and stood absolutely still as she listened to the report. We were all very shocked because we couldn't understand why anyone would do that, gun crime was also not a familiar topic in the UK back then and it was shockingly violent. As a family, we all loved the Beatles' songs and still do. That day it felt as though something really important had been taken away for ever. Everyone we met on the way to school was talking about how shocking and senseless it was. I'll never forget it. They played "Imagine" constantly after that, but the first time we saw the video on Top of the Pops, I think everyone cried a little, he looked as though he was in heaven.

See the URL for a link to a blog I found on the subject, it's fascinating reading... it explains Assange's motives and gives details on the rape allegations (which were retroactively brought against him after the wiki-leaks.) Julian Assange, defending our democracies (despite their owners' wishes)

Genius detective work VeryBerryCherry.

I agree with binary_star. Spot on. My school had a policy, they taught us not to give in to harmful "self fulfilling prophecies" which I think was very helpful in a lot of ways. It was a tough and struggling school in what was a poor area of Hackney at that time, a lot of kids were left on the waste heap, for lots of different reasons but poverty was the prevailing factor. My mum always wanted me to go to Uni, she saw it as my "way out," so I had that and the financial support of both parents, which enabled me to stay in full time education until I was 18. Without both and a full grant, I wouldn't have dreamt of going. Only 10 or so kids in my year went, the school didn't even have a sixth form. Arriving at Uni with all those other kids from a diverse range of economic backgrounds - not many poor ones although it soon became apparent that everyone had their struggles - was the single most intimidating experience of my life but I adapted pretty quickly, after reminding myself that I did belong there. I'm finding this discussion really illuminating.

In response to Mic Mac, I think if it's relevant to the discussion then sometimes it's more honest to state where you are coming from (socio-economically that is), it's undoubtedly going to shape who you are and the perceptions you make, snobberies you may have (inverted or otherwise). I prefer people not to use it to justify why they think the cycle of poverty shouldn't be broken by Govt intervention, it makes me think of that whole "I'm alright Jack" Thatcherite thing... but it's true that we do have to take responsibility for ourselves and we've seen a lot of abuse of the state in recent years, so I also see why people use it like that sometimes. It can also mean you've worked your way out of poverty, which is something to be proud of. It's obviously not relevant to say "I grew up on a council estate" if you're having a conversation about the weather, unless perhaps they get worse weather on council estates these days.... I grew up on a council estate by the way, I only mention this because there was a girl on the estate called Angelique who also kept a donkey in her flat, until the council came and took it away (animal cruelty). The weirdest thing was seeing the Donkey's face through the net curtains.

Yeah it's Ray Winstone too. Set in 1969, they're all in period costume. My friend just told me they are outside his flat.

Anyone suffering from a noise disturbance and being ignored or fobbed off by Southwark Council (as have I!) do get in touch with these people. http://www.noisedirect.co.uk/ Southwark Council misquoted The Housing Act to us for three years, we've now been told we can take them to court as well as the noise offenders. This is a huge problem, as anyone suffering knows full well.

I have an Orange mobile contract, don't do it! They have been awful, drop out rate on all calls is really high, I don't get messages for days after they've been left, can't make or receive calls even from my garden and get nothing at all when inside my flat and my 3 complaints to Orange have been ignored. Also they have no cooling off period so you can't road test them, once you sign that's it! For me that has meant 2 years of crappy mobile reception and service. I hate them. Should have stayed with 02 they are streets ahead (only 9 months of my contract left to go :-() and i will never use them again.

I spend so much time in this park and have always loved it but it's especially beautiful this year and I know a lot of hard work goes into making and keeping it this way. The gardeners do an amazing job but a huge thank you should go to the committee who run the Friends of Peckham Rye Park. They have all given their free time to fund raise for many, many years and have been absolutely crucial to the ongoing restoration and protection of the park. Everyone's starting to notice the results of all the many years of hard work.

I was at the Bellenden Big Lunch and a kid came over to me and said "have you got a pen and paper?" I looked around for quite a while, found him some and a pen and handed it over (he was about 15 and with a mate of the same age). He didn't say please or thanks, took the paper tore it in two, threw a piece on the ground and wrote a mobile no. on the other half, in full view of me. I thought about this and decided I had to say something. When he handed the pen back to me, I said "Did you throw that on the floor?" and pointed to the piece he'd thrown, at which point he sullenly said "NO!" so I leaned towards him, looked him in the eye and said very clearly "Yes you did, I saw you", he then mumbled something, bent down, reluctantly picked up the paper and chucked it in the recycling bin next to me. I bet he hated me but I'm glad I did it. Not sure if it was silly to take a stand but my instinct took over. What a disrespectful little sod! My mum would have hit the roof if I'd ever behaved like that.

Hi Otto, There is a way to deal with this, via Southwark's Anti Social Behaviour Unit, have PM'd you with details on who to contact.

Hi Tina, I found your phone, it's safe, have PM'd you Amanda

Thank you James, You are an extremely patient man.

Buy it or don't buy it - that's your choice What isn't your choice is how the seller then gets to spend that money... You can't have it all your way. Who in their right mind would pose as a homeless person/Big Issue seller if they didn't need to? They don't all conform to the Disney ideal of homeless people, (doffs cap and says thank you Guv'. Maybe we should start providing PR training to our homeless? "how to make the most of your homeless status and not alienate your public".. blimey you lot!

Yes but if they caught you doing it, you'd get clobbered! Why risk getting into a fight with these people? Most people are intimidated into putting up and shutting up.

How annoying, he is obviously putting the bins out on a non collection days so as to reserve their parking space! Why does Southwark ASBU have to deal with everything in such a long winded, round about way? It's an offence to obstruct other's right to park isn't it? Surely there are more effective ways of dealing with is person?

I think Wiggle's a genius! I know who does this, it's not accidental... The Safer Neighbourhood Team might be able to help with this. They could tell him that his behaviour will lead to resident's parking being brought in, he won't want to shell out actual money for a parking space so may think again before being so selfish and ignorant. Good luck