madger

I's just like to gently point out that Cllr Barber has no obligation to post helpful things like this on the website, he does it, I can only imagine, to let people know so that the local community can take action if they wish! And people can be quite aggressive under cover of anonymity, which is a pity. I just thought it was a shame, Richard Tudor, that you were criticising what was actually supposed to be a helpful action. You can easily sign up to the list to attend these Community Council meetings, so maybe you could do that so you can find out in advance if there are things you're interested in, that might be less frustrating. 10 metres does seem a bit excessive, given that East Dulwich ward is mostly small offshoot streets, and the local shops rely on people being able to park. It's always a balance, it seems, between stopping parking becoming too dominant, encouraging pedestrians and cyclists, and allowing the shops to have good passing trade.

Hi all, I wasn't sure if there was already a group like this. I wondered if anyone was interested in forming a small group to do things to the ED station which might make it a bit more enjoyable for everyone to travel through - cheap and cheerful hanging baskets, litter clearing etc.

I think you'll find that the many long term dwellers here who know a bit about the situation will probably tell you that the woman in question has no interest in turning her property into 'prime retail space', doesn't want 'help' and is quite happy doing what she likes with her own property... hats off to her. A bit of stubborn eccentricity, if that's what you want to call it, or simply just a willingness to live and let live, as others on this thread have suggested!

I agree it would be good for kids (though they looked adult size and given the masked faces it's hard to tell) to have somewhere to ride, but having stood right in the middle of this while it was going on, it felt pretty menacing. There were kids' parties in bits of the park where they were riding, they were all masked, probably going at c.25/30 mph past pedestrians on pedestrian paths, about 30 of them on motorbikes, the helicopter was circling, the police team locked the gates, and when I asked if they were dangerous one of the police team looked at me as though I was a real banana and said 'yes'. I totally get the theoretical arguments for more engaging activities for young people (if indeed these were kids) but being in the middle of 30 roaring bikes, ridden by people with full balaclavas in a pedestrian park felt a bit menacing really.

Hello, I wonder if there's scope for a sort of 'swap your home produce ' stall or something... I have loads of tomatoes I can't eat, and I know my neighbours make chutney etc and maybe there cd be a community stall on NC road where you bring whatever spare you have, a loaf of bread, jams, veg etc, apples, and swap?!

I've left a message with the community policing team, thanks KK!

Hello, Just wondered if anyone else had seen a guy hanging around this bit of the area? My neighbour just called to say he'd come up our back stairs and was peering into all our windows before she interrupted him, when he stared at her and after a bit walked away again, but had another good look on his way out. Black bomber, shaved head, shorts. She thought there was talk of a few burglaries up and down the Lane, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

I 'd like to highly recommend Greg as well... he cut down to size an old door we'd bought, hung it really well, installed the locks etc., and was kind enough to give me advice over the phone when I was buying the door even though he hadn't started the job yet! He was friendly, knowledgeable, worked hard and did a great job.

Yes, I live on LL and the whole flat shakes - actually shakes - when buses/lorries speed over the dips and holes late at night.... a bit further up from the HSBC.....

Very exciting to have TWO amazing ice cream places here... proper ingredients, amazing piece of sunny Italy in grey south east London - what's not to like?!

I'd be sad to see another chain here, largely because a company the size of Starbucks pays way over the market rate for their rental, which encourages the few other commercial landlords on the road to raise their rents to the sort of amounts that only big corporates can afford, not small independent businesses depending on a small group of family or employees to run it. Once this starts happening it usually reaches the critical mass necessary to push all independent shops out, and then you have a high street identical to every other high street with all the usuals. Not saying those shops don't have a role, but I think it's important to fight for locally owned and run businesses; they're an important part of our community, if not the most central part of it. Other Councils have worked with local residents to keep areas chain free - stoke newington, for example. Might a similar thing be possible here?

I think the best thing to do is go online at royal mail's website... there's a customer service number,which is the best way to make a complaint. The more info they get, the more they can do about it I suppose!

Hi, we had severe problems with our postal service last year, relating to one particular postman (so we were told by Royal Mail central) and we were then contacted by a royal mail investigator saying that there had been widespread, serious complaints in this area concerning missing post. They then ran a test and apparently suspended the member of staff, though I don't know what happened after that. Anyway - 2 things have gone missing in the last 2 weeks - a disc and an important doc. Had anyone else had anything similar happen recently, especially around the Lordship Lane area?

Hello all, just to say thanks so much for all your reporting...I live in LL in the bit that was attacked earlier, but am away and it's so helpful to read your updates, though horrible. Keep safe.

Hi all - I wasn't expecting such a wide response to this thread... I really do want to emphasize that I'm not interested in bashing late night drinking for the sake of it, I know that I don't live in rural Kent, I love east dulwich - having made it my home since the 1990s - and I like staying out later at the weekends for a few pints. I'm not trying to criticize anyone else's way of life, I just feel that 2am on a sunday night is too late for a bar like the Adventure Bar to stay open. If it was people just having a nice time and leaving quietly, then great - but when i went past on Wednesday, coming back from town with a friend, it had just closed and the 4 people who had just been chucked out at closing were now settled in with tinnies at the bus stop, and one of the guys became very aggressive with us and, frankly, that is the sort of thing that annoys me about the bar, and I just don't think the company behind this bar takes enough responsibility. I am NOT saying let's all live in a quiet, tedious, stifling little neighbourhood and think piggy thoughts about other people having fun, I'm merely saying that there has - as others of you on this thread have also found - been a real explosion of 2am screaming and puking and fighting, and I just don't see why this should be something we're all just supposed to accept because we live in zone 2 London, albeit a very residential part. And I don't think it is about things staying the same - this isn't some tedious, retrospective harking back to some apparently more 'golden time' when everyone fed the ducks and had a nice cup of tea and bun and went to bed at 9 with a small schooner of sherry, it's about saying - why should every area of London, as soon as it becomes 'popular' and mentioned in the property pages, slowly turn into the same old, boring, ubiquitous mix of late night bars that you get in Clapham and Battersea and places - it all starts to look the same. Fundamentally, some bar owners based in Battersea - which is, i believe, where the Adventure Bar team are based, would like to make a fat lot more money by extending their late licensing to Thursdays and Sundays, and they, quite naturally, have no interest in whether there are people who live all around this bar who may be sleeping at 2.30am (which will be actual chucking out time on sundays if this license goes through), or have an early start on Monday morning. I don't think this is about an 'either/or' response. It's not a question of 'should we have late night licensing or should we not'. I don't care about the abstract arguments for or against, and I'm very happy to make use of late licensing myself. But then I never spill out of a bar and shout my way down the street, outside people's homes, and puke in their gardens or pee or scream - and these are the problems. Our driveway now has a collection of empty beer cans EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND, accompanied by piss, which we have to clean up every single weekend. When I recently confronted a guy at about 2.45am who was peeing against our wall - and whose crashing around our garden had woken me up - he was so drunk he couldn't even speak. So he just kept pissing and then stumbled away. This has only started happening since the late licensing round here has become so much more prolific. Is it unreasonable of us to find this discouraging and to want to do something about it? I don't want to stop the late night drinking, but I want to stop the aftermath of it - and it may be that certain bars just aren't able to handle their clientele or their licensing conditions. I am merely trying to explain what has started happening to those of us who have homes on or around the Lane, and asking any of you who agree to help. I sincerely wish you all well. Madger.

No worries Stevebailey, and thank you so much for your reply. It's easy to do on these sites - we'd all be much softer on each other if we were talking face to face. And thanks too for your suggestions DJKillaQueen.

Apologies Steve Bailey, I do not mean to antagonise anybody, I am merely posting this because if, peaceably, anyone agrees with us, then it would be lovely if they could write to the Council; I do not wish to offend anyone, or become embroiled in an online debate about our community.... Of course I respect the fact that other people will feel differently to me on this. Actually, Liquorice is equidistant from my place to the Adventure Bar so, yes, I encounter the late night spill out from both places... the only reason I am talking specifically about The Adventure Bar is because they have made a NEW application for thursdays and sundays, not because I am wanting to have a general rant. And by 'other places' I meant - spend ?1.20 on the bus and take advantage of wonderful late night central London, which is so brilliantly noisy and social anyway, and which can take that level of late-nightness. i was NOT meaning that I hoped people would merely shift up the road and disturb other people!! You say that these things will happen anyway, but I hope that is not the case. We have the right to object to license applications, and if enough people feel strongly enough to write then that could make a real difference. I see no reason to sit back and accept this new licensing application as inevitable. i know I might be sounding a bit fuddy duddy here - but having lived here for 11 years, I just think it would be lovely to keep the area from turning into a late night dive, while retaining all its exuberance and later hours in the pubs etc etc. Sorry for any offence!

thanks for the link KalamityKel.... and I've also enclosed the postal address that was on the license application in the first post of this thread - objections must reach them by 11th August.

yes - that's the one! Georgia - I totally understand that some people don't work regular hours - I don't either - frequently working late into the night, but it's the TYPE of drinking. I think it's lovely if people have a good, social time, but I don't think it's lovely when they then start punching each other, screaming, vomiting in my garden, peeing in the driveway, and shouting..... which now happens every single weekend. I love going out here myself, but it's getting out of hand. I've lived here for 11 years, on the Lane itself, and can definitely say it's become unbearable. But of course, totally respect your opinion Georgia. I'd just be really happy if anyone who does feel the same makes their objection before 11th August.

Hello all - for a couple of years now the noise at 2am closing time has been getting worse and worse on lordship lane... and I've just seen that the Adventure Bar is applying to extend its 2/2.30 am opening hours to thursdays and sundays too. I know many of us like to have one drink or three, but it's become almost intolerable - the fights, the screaming, the vomit - every single weekend, and I wondered if anyone else would be happy to oppose this application? The deadline is 11th August. I just hope that we can preserve east Dulwich's lovely, quite unique feel as an 'urban village' and these 2am licenses are starting to erode that, severely. It's lovely to have such a range of bars and restaurants, but the Adventure bar and Boho bar very aggressively market happy hours and then don't take any responsibility for the chaos that ensues. Please help!!!! there are plenty of places in London and Southwark to stay out until 2.30am, but I don't think Lordship Lane is the right place.... would be really grateful if any of you who feel the same could write to the LBS Licensing Service, c/o Southwark Community Enforcement Business Unit, Chaplin Centre, Thurlow Street, London SE17 2DG to oppose this - and your Councillor?