Zebedee Tring

It would be somewhat drastic to chew one's own foot off rather than live in Wanstead, unless one was heavily into self-mutilation. Have you been to Wanstead recently? I grew up near there and was pleasantly surprised to see how it had come on. Delightful High Street with shops on one side and largely open on the other side. Lots of pavement cafes and Epping Forest nearby. Numerous dodgy geezas around, several attending Snaresbrook Crown Court, but then there are loads of Sarf London villains in the vicinity of ED.

Surely it was inevitable that ED would go upmarket at some time when Dulwich Village became too expensive for a group of upwardly mobile people, who then colonised ED. The same thing early happened to Herne Hill - in the Swinging Sixties when I had a girlfriend living there, it was very much 'erne 'ill. It has happened all over London. The village part of my old stomping ground of Walthamstow has become fashionable because people can no longer afford to live in Woodford Green and Wanstead.

I never thought that William Rose were some kind of hippy philanthropists working for the common good of man and womankind. But good luck to them. Surely they are the kind of small business that the anti-Cafe Nero people should be supporting.

IMHO William Rose deserve the credit for being the first business to attempt regenerate a part of LL that is still fairly grotty.

Good point, Maurice. We must have consistency, whatever we think of the individual applicant. I'll be interested to see the responses to your questions and the arguments contained in those responses.

The problem is that Cafe Nero's use of the premises wasn't in breach of the Council's stated policies, hence the officer recommendation to grant permission. It was the Committee that refused permission, apparently against its own policies. If it is not happy with the outcome of the Cafe Nero application, the Council should change its policies; however it can't do so retrospectively just in order to deny permission to Cafe Nero. As I have already said, I foresee Cafe Nero winning their appeal with costs. Whether or not this is a good or bad thing is quite another matter.

Well done, Administrator. In future you should ban posters who use offensive language like that used by a certain poster on this thread.

Why are you apologising, dulwich mum? You have nothing to apologise for, It's not the controversy that I objected to, since I engage in that myself on a regular basis, otherwise I would stay off this MB. It was the offensive comments from another poster, namely one Shu.Kurimu.Sensei, that led to my response. We have a full schedule over Xmas, so hopefully things won't be too bad. Thanks for your kind words.

For Heaven's sake, how can a thread about bloody Cafe Nero degenerate into a rant about white supremacists and neo- Nazis? A course of sedatives would be in order for a certain poster, who should reserve his accusations about racism for the genuine racists in our society, who are sadly so common. I also don't take kindly to reading over the top, gratuitous and offensive comments about pissing on corpses when I have had a son who has died during the last year,

Yes, and I've heard that it's going to be bloody expensive - about ?4 a loaf. This would be more like Knighsbridge prices.

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- 'I prefer to look at this from the perspective of the real world, as opposed to some idealised dream world' 'Martin Luther King's last words I believe' Yes, but whether King would have supported Caffe Nero's application for planning permission is unfortunately something that we will never know.

I prefer to look at this from the perspective of the real world, as opposed to some idealised dream world. As I said earlier in this thread, the Southwark planning officers recommended that Caffe Nero should be granted permission but the Committee went against the officer recommendation. It's therefore going to be bloody difficult for Southwark now to resist an appeal, since Caffe Nero are going to use in their favour the arguments that the officers put forward for recommending the grant of permission. And possibly get their costs as well.

ASR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Posted by: fish September 26, 08:01AM > > Wasn't there a restaurant called Chez Nico, or > something? The owner of this establishment, > somewhere near the police station, went on to > become quite famous - or was he before? Can anyone > remember? > > Wasn't Chez Nico where Mr Liu is now?

dc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What I still do not understand is how the > recommendation from Southwark's officers namely: > > "The use of the premises for combined A1/A3 use > would result in the partial loss of retail > floorspace. Although the site is located within a > protected shopping frontage, the proposal which > involves a combination of both A1 and A3 uses > would not undermine the shopping objectives of the > area as it would not result in a reduction of > retail uses below 50% of the shopping frontage in > compliance with Policy 1.10 of the Southwark UDP > 2007. Furthermore the proposed use compliments the > retail function of the parade with no adverse > effects on the vitality or viability of the > shopping frontage." > http://www.southwark.gov.uk/Uploads/FILE_25666.pdf > (dated 01/03/07) > > Was turned on its head when the decision was > taken: > "The proposal has resulted in the loss of a Class > A1 retail shop within a protected shopping > frontage, and a reduction of Class A1 retail uses > below the 50% split between retail and non-retail > uses, leading to the compromise of the retail > vitality and viability of the area and > consequently a loss of amenity to local residents. > As such, the development is contrary to Policy 1.7 > Development within Town and Local Centres, Policy > 1.9 Change of Use within Protected Shopping > Frontages and Policy 3.2 Protection of Amenity of > the Emerging Southwark Plan (Jan 2007) and Policy > S.1.2 Secondary Shopping Frontages and Policy > E.3.1 Protection of Amenity of the Adopted > Southwark Unitary Development Plan (1995)." So if the Committee refused permission against officer advice, Caffe Nero are bound to win their appeal and possibly get costs as well.

When a major store opens in the area, such as Sainsbury's, we hear a cry from the small retailers on the lines of 'It'll kill our local stores with their friendly personal service'. And I say to myself 'What "friendly personal service"?' This is sadly missing in so many cases.

A couple of times recently the mail was sticking out of our letterbox when we came home, which was a clear indication to people with criminal intent that we were out. The last time it happened I chased after the postie to tell him not to do it again. He seemed to be about 19 years old and didn't really seem to get the point I was making. Was he one of the temps or casuals?

had a pint of guinness with suggs yesterday, but not in ed, i was in a place called the toucan off soho sq When it comes to name-dropping, toucan play at that one. I'll get me coat!

Nice to see that we are in the Red area. And, before any pedants come in with any sarky comments, I was born after WW2.

Although we non-smokers now have much cleaner and pleasant pubs and restaurants to visit, the downside is that in good weather pub gardens and pavement tables at restaurants and cafes are now monopolised by that poor downtrodden minority, the smokers.

Pedestrianisation of LL is a totally impractical idea. LL is the traffic hub of SE22 and Barry Road couldn't cope with all the extra traffic, which would make the jam at the Peckham Rye/E Dulwich Road junction even worse than it is at the moment. In addition lots of traffic would be diverted through residential roads such as Eynella, Woodwarde and Beauval Roads. There would be massive problems for buses, and more importantly emergency services, especially ambulances heading towards Kings College Hospital, so the traffic authorities wouldn't buy the idea. On the other hand, there is an urgent need for at least one pelican crossing between Northcross Road and Goose Green

An N power geezer knocked on my door just off Townley Road during the evening about a week ago. I gave him short shrift, saying that I never bought or signed up for anything at the door.

I've just had my third bloody letter from Foxtons - and they aren't even opening for about three weeks.

Where exactly is this esteemed estate agents opening? (Certain degree of irony contained in last sentence)

I've seen Jenny Eclair in Sainsbury's and James Nesbitt lives thereabouts, though he may now have moved to Herne Hill.

Funny you should say that. I saw a number of pigs in flight formation over our house yesterday. And Spurs are definitely going to win the Premiership next season.