first mate

uzzy112, You must remember that in these parts we are all expected to turn a blind eye if we see children doing something we suspect may be naughty, illegal or, gosh, damaging to their health. Never ever get judgmental about kids drinking or smoking or worse on this forum 'cos they'll have your guts for garters- it's because we all did these things in our youth, so that makes it okay.

I would think a "constantly" barking dog would draw the attention of more than just one neighbour. I agree with ruffers, if it is as bad as you say environmental health inspectors will be able to hear it for themselves and appropriate action taken.

New subject, but I'm seeing an awful lot of dead and dopey bumble bees. Is this normal? I always thought they died in autumn. With nay luck I just don't know enough about the bee life cycle!

Slightly off topic, but possibly relevant re casing properties. A few weeks ago one evening I saw a young lad (12-14'ish , white, skinny, brown hair) looking through my front window (he would have had to come into that area through the front gate). I rushed out to ask what he wanted, by which time he was on his way, rather quickly. He said he's kicked off his shoe into my front garden by accident and was retrieving it. Might have been innocent but it felt suspicious- particularly as he was peering through the window into my sitting room.

kylie6097, I hope you are right about safeguarding procedures- but I would suggest that your comment about Harris' lack of clarity on sports facilities pinpoints exactly the thing that makes people like me suspicious! I guess it might be artistic licence, or a kind of slip that reveals the real long-term intentions of the school and planners, but if you look at the 3D animated visuals of the school it begins with a long shot through a vista of trees on Peckham Rye. As we zoom in through the park and trees to the road- the school being over the other side- I notice that there is no fence or gate separating the park and school, it is as though the park is an extension, separated from the school only by the road. I know I'm being far-fetched but......?

Narnia and LE, I'm also sorry for continuing off topic. LE I hope you find a dog share person soon. Your boy looks a nice lad.

Rgutshell, What a nasty experience- was there any way of identifying the kids at all, just in case there are further incidents? My first reaction is where oh where are those mobile CCTV units when most you need them. Nipping this sort of behaviour in the bud by catching and charging the little b's would be a much better use of resources than endless pursuit of minor parking infringements- better for the kids too in the long term.

Steve T, You keep banging on about this and I understand your anger but everyone is responsible for the litter they discard/generate, by accident or not. Irresponsible people don't give a monkeys- whether they leave dog shit or fail to pick up broken glass or the revolting gum, chicken bones etc.. they spew over the pavement. Dog shit is unpleasant and sometimes dangerous, glass is dangerous (I know, I've been infected by a cut from broken glass left on the pavement). I also happen to dislike discarded gum and chicken bones (a nuisance to me and life threatening to my dog if ingested). You may not have seen much broken glass your way but I see an awful lot.It is the same laziness and lack of community mindedness that drives people to discard and leave any kind of litter.

It seems fairly clear that the ultimate intention is to use the park because there is not enough room at the school for adequate sports facilities. It has been denied all along that the park would be used for this but I would put good money on the fact that it will be.I think this denial of fairly clear intention gets up a lot of people's noses. I also think the concern of many is that once the Rye gets used a bit for school activities that usage will increase to a lot and this may begin to impinge on the freedoms of other park users. The park is there for all but it was never meant or designed to be a school playing field- or was it, please correct me if I am wrong? The FOPK have already indicated that the park cannot take the heavy usage that would be involved in everyday use of it for football, rugby and other sports involving a lot of people at once. Who would fund the extra upkeep involved with this usage? If sports are played every day does this mean that those parts of the park become no go areas for other users (I am thinking health and safety here)? I know that Harris Girls uses it a bit- and a number of park users were pretty hacked off with the attitude of some of the girls- but the use is occasional. A boys school probably has a much greater need to get the lads out and running around- my guess is the use by them would increase very quickly. Before people jump down my throat I am not anti children or anti them using the park, but I am one that feels that a park is not a school playing field. Sports have there place for all the community, but the use is not constant- as it probably would be in this case.

Steve T, How can you possibly know that broken glass is often accidental- any more than leaving dog shits? Both are acts of irresponsible behaviour. If you break glass in a public area- even if by accident- you should still clear it up because it is dangerous. I cannot understand why you seem to brush the issue of broken glass away. It rarely gets a mention.

And to follow up on Narnia's comment to TQ, one might also say 'are all you alcohol drinkers and smokers picking up your broken glass and fag buts- YOU ARE BEING WATCHED'. I get slightly bemused that people get so angry about dog do, but broken glass, of which there is loads, is seemingly fine. It's all litter and all anti social.

James, thanks for that. I'll try doing what you say and take a note of your number. What freaked me a bit was that the camera had turned itself on. I barely use it.

I'm surprised by just how much material workman are allowed to put on the roadside and kerb- I've seen generators, skips, piles of sand, portaloos as well as cables that stretch across the path- this goes on for weeks- is it legal. I would have thought that the cables, at least, were a health and safety thing.

Hi, Can anyone help? I've just had a warning message saying that I've had an access violation- something to do with my computer inbuilt camera software- oh and my computer camera had turned itself on (been turned on? Eek) Could any obliging computer-wise people explain what this means, how worried I should be and what best to do? I've got Norton 360, I've scanned and run registry cleanup where it found and deleted an invalid file of some type- but no evidence of trojans, malware, spyware etc.. If anyone can help please be aware I am a computer/techno eejit, so keep it very simple. Many thanks

Does GG need improving? It's a small patch of land. Common sense suggests that it'll be used more in the summer than the winter and mostly by families, young people and dog walkers. People walking and cycling to go about their business will use it as a cut through. Provided people can be persuaded to stop littering (including but not limited to dog fouling, broken glass, human food waste) and provided those on cycle don't hurtle through, is the park not pretty much fit for function as it is? I've always thought of the children's play area as separate and see that this needs funding for maintenance, upgrading etc..

What about when FFGW says "cor" is that allowed? No "yummy" and no "cor" would leave little to quote. Last night FFJT sampled the pud cooked by a Scottish lady copper and obeserved "I don't like the way your sauce has separated into two colours".

Cassidy, Those parents should be well and truly ashamed of themselves. What a bad example to set for their children- my rubbish but let someone else pick it up because I'm too 'busy'(lazy), and outside a school too- well, well. Lack of bins, what absolute nonsense, you just carry the bag until you get to a bin- it's in a plastic bag it can't hurt you. I also believe, though I'm happy to be corrected, that most people would not object to you popping a bag into their bin (if out on the street)- better there than turds left for the cleaners to pick up or dog owners like me to slip in! In a similar vein, I do see a lot of kids just dropping stuff willy nilly on the streets. Do we need to be educating children (and some of their parents) a little more about littering- oh as well as the errant dog owners.

James, I really do think that over the very cold weather poo will have built up but been hidden by snow etc..- where not even cleaners would see it. Would also point out that one dog per street will produce 14 deposits of excreta a week. If that is not picked up by the irresponsible owner you do not have to be a genius to see how quickly just one bad owner can leave our streets heavily befouled. There are certain cultures that loathe dogs. I would imagine that if as a cleaner you were a member of that culture you would be extremely reluctant to pick up dog poo and, in my view, why should you. The real solution is to find a way of catching the owners that don't pick up and hit them hard with a penalty of some kind. Perhaps it requires some very close round the clock monitoring on streets where there is a lot of dog poo, until culprits are caught red-handed and examples made. Those council cars with CCTV atop might be just the thing. To your knowledge has anyone ever been issued with a fine for dog fouling that is not picked up?

Thanks Louisiana for that very helpful summary. You've pointed out some worrying aspects of this scheme. I'm definitely out.

James, My guess would be that more of the wrong type are owning dogs ( a cursory glance at animal rescue centres servicing/ near Southwark shows a huge rise in certain types of dog, plus litters of puppies). Such people are more likely to allow their dogs to poo on the path in very cold weather/rain because they are too lazy to go to the park (where the poo is more likely to be hidden in undergrowth and therefore not seen, though I don't condone that). Also, during the snow I am guessing successive deposits will have been covered by snow etc..only reappearing after the thaw. In the last year I have noticed a great rise in the prevalence of certain types of dog- they are often walked offlead around the streets- I think there is a clue here as to why we have seen a sudden increase in dog poo. It really only takes a few antisocial types, James, to have a big impact on a neighbourhood, as I'm sure you know.

What about large and instant on the spot fines for anyone caught littering (dog poo not picked up is another form of littering)- all these community wardens could be tasked with more hands on monitoring until the message gets through. Bylaws need to be changed to make it an offence to have a dog offlead on the pavement beside a public highway. Finally, compulsory chipping and dog licenses should be instated. Handheld scanners can easily be carried by community wardens. Regular scanning of dogs when people are out and about and instant fines/confiscation for unchipped dogs, might help people get more serious and responsible about dog ownership and think twice about acquisition of a dog on a whim as the latest fashion accessory.

James, What about extending this to cover some of the other major litter issues? I find broken glass to be very hazardous and have cut my foot before, resulting in a severe infection that needed treatment. I also get extremely annoyed by chewing gum on my shoes and finally disgusting human food detritus that attracts foxes and rats and that is casually dropped on the pavement. What is your point about cold weather? I think you know that the real issue here is irresponsible, antisocial humans- deal with them.

cate, it's the " am I bovvered" type. They're the same people that litter indiscriminately: chewing gum, discarded chicken and lamb bones and broken bottles/ glasses after a night's boozing. The type that careers around in their car one hand on the wheel the other on their mobile; the ones that feel they have special exemption from speed limits and so drive up your backside. People that just don't care how what they do impacts on everyone else. It's not unique to dog owners its the type of everyday, lazy and self centered behaviour that crops up everywhere.

Today I saw a young male (swaggering tough guy with hoodie and dog type to match) walking his dog offlead and turning away as it deposited. I was in my car and unable to stop but he saw me stare at him very hard and point to his dog. He looked very slightly embarassed but ignored me. There is also a serial offender that lives near me. Again, teenage boy that exercises his dog offlead on the pavement whilst riding a bike. I've remonstrated with him but I fear it's still going on. It makes me so cross because all the people I know who own dogs, and they are many in ED, all pick up without fail. It's anti social, laziness that is at the core I think- I guess exercising your dog offlead on the pavement while riding a bike, also on the pavement, sums up the type of indivdual that is spoiling it for the rest of us.

Despite what I have said above, I do not want to detract from the awful fact of what happened to Emily Drab's Woody and to reiterate that although I am reasonably well informed about dogs even I will avoid a bull breed I do not know well, because I am not prepared to risk my dog's safety. It's a real dilemma.