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rch

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Everything posted by rch

  1. These bicycle marking kits are funded by the annual Cleaner Greener Safer bids that I submit every year, approved by our ward councillors. We?ve used the CGS funding on the cycle marking kits for two years running now and I?ve submitted another bid for next year. I always post a notification of the sessions on the Goose Green SNT thread on the EDF and also attend all the sessions in order to interact with the team and the residents (community engagement with a visible police presence is a vital part of the process). In addition to Next Door both me and the police post updates on Twitter as well. These cycle marking sessions have become so high profile that some of the Dulwich SNT teams have applied for funding for their wards. We use any underspend on other devices to address local concerns... for instance, we bought a proper speed gun so that officers can issue speeding tickets on relevant roads, reported by residents. We?re currently looking at attack alarms to hand out. Because of ongoing budget cuts, this funding is extremely useful on multiple levels!
  2. Good to hear you?ll be coming along, DulwichFox... it would be good to see some new residents as well.
  3. The police still visit Lordship Lane and the area on a regular basis. I saw a Response Team buying ice cream from Oddono?s recently when the weather was warm, plus many still stop and buy lunch when driving through. I always stop and say hi when I see them, as it?s always reassuring to see them around. Furthermore, our local SNT often patrol in plainclothes in areas where residents have reported issues, which is why we always encourage people to report suspicious behaviour even if there is nothing specific, as our teams are often keeping their eyes open.
  4. My understanding is that the tree died because of the snow (which has also affected several other trees along Dulwich Village)... not sure if the pavement was also salted again (which affected the first tree). Various tree officers are looking at a more robust species to replace it, but my impression is that the situation could get a bit political.
  5. Just to flag that the Goose Green SNT are having their third ward panel meeting of the year on Monday, 18th October 2021 from 7pm at East Dulwich Picturehouse, 116A, Lordship Lane, SE22 8HD. This meeting will be in person for the first time in months and is open to all Goose Green residents to attend. It?s a perfect opportunity to talk to our local police team and discuss any local concerns.
  6. I suspect that the bigger issue was that police staff have been overwhelmed in dealing with various climate change protests and were therefore preparing to deal with Clapham Common in addition, which was strangely quiet in the end. I heard about it via email updates on various police committees that I serve on, but I also noticed it wasn?t publicly promoted very well. I was going to say more on social media, but I didn?t want to misinform. It will be interesting to see if something happens in the next couple of weeks, as the weather is getting worse. Will try to stay in better touch (I still have loads of alternative info on LTNs, as well)... but most people are aware that Thames Water have caused such severe damage to my house that I?m literally struggling to survive, therefore my community work is a bit hit and miss.
  7. It was cancelled at the last minute due to the Wayne Couzens trial concerns... I only found out in the morning before I walked over there. Sorry not to post an update, but I couldn?t find the thread (as it had been moved) so I assumed it had been deleted.
  8. A Lordship Lane resident posted above that he can hear it, and I?m at the Lordship Lane end of Melbourne Grove. I went to Camberwell Old Cemetery yesterday afternoon and it was really loud, so I recognise the style of the music. Sounds travels in bizarre ways...
  9. I can actually hear the music inside my house on Melbourne Grove in East Dulwich tonight. It?s not too bad inside (just sounds like a neighbourhood garden party), but it?s quite noticeable in the street outside my front door. It must be really loud in order for the sound to travel this far away, so I called the noise team and logged it for future reference, as it must be unbearable for the residents who live nearby.
  10. Just a quick reminder that the Goose Green Safer Neighbourhood Police Team will be running a Cycle Marking Session tomorrow outside of Franklins on Lordship Lane from 10.30am until 1pm. The timing is useful as we?re hoping that the visible presence of the local police team will reassure residents who are concerned about the stabbing incident nearby earlier in the week. So, come by to say hello and meet our local police team!
  11. The reason I said that it?s a difficult issue is that it?s extremely difficult for police to stop a speeding e-scooter zipping by when the police are on foot (as they often are when patrolling or doing speed monitoring sessions). The difference between addressing speeding cars and speeding e-scooters (and bicycles) is that cars have registration plates that the police can verify and issue tickets even if the car doesn?t stop, whereas e-scooters don?t have registration plates. So, until e-scooters are legalised and registered, issuing fines is going to be a bit hit and miss, depending on the circumstances! Why don?t you come by on the 24th, Nigello, and say hi and speak to the police directly? I know that you?re very community minded, so maybe you can help to support our team in different ways? I don?t have any particular connection with them, but I?ve been submitting CGS bids to help fund aspects of police work for years because it?s something I believe in.
  12. FYI, another positive aspect of the Lordship Lane cycle marking exercise is that bicycle theft on Lordship Lane reduced significantly in the aftermath of the series of police cycle marking sessions. This is important because Lordship Lane was one of the top two locations in the borough for cycle theft statistics. In the last police SNT Panel Meeting, this was stressed, which is why it was so reassuring that ward councillors awarded us more funding to continue the community engagement exercises on Lordship Lane.
  13. I agree about the e-scooters (I?ve also seen concerning adults carrying children as well as personally dodged the pavement e-scooters) and I?ve actually pointed out issues in situ when I?ve been walking about with the police. But my understanding is that this is a difficult issue to address (especially for police on foot patrols!). Will mention it again when I see our guys on the 24th... plus, I encourage other GG residents to come along and meet the team as well, as this is a Community Engagement exercise.
  14. Just to flag that, now that Covid rules are relaxing, the Goose Green SNT Police will be starting up their Bike Register cycle marking events outside of Franklins at 155 Lordship Lane. The next session will take place on Saturday, April 24th, from 10.30am until early afternoon. Please note that as the cycle marking kits are funded by Goose Green Ward CGS funds, Goose Green residents will be given priority... so, if you are a Goose Green resident with a bike, please come out and support us! Also, as per my above post, the team bought a speed gun with CGS funding and has started doing speed monitoring sessions in the ward again. They had a successful session on Barry Road a couple of days ago. More updates to come...
  15. Here?s another useful document... the Dulwich Area Traffic Study published in April 2018:- https://www.southwark.gov.uk/assets/attach/6887/Dulwich-TMS-SDG-Full-Report-Final-April-2018-.pdf
  16. Bicknell and slarti... everything, including the drawings, are in the document that I?ve posted the link to above...
  17. Here?s a link to the information that was publicly circulated for the Phase 3 Consultation:- https://consultations.southwark.gov.uk/environment-leisure/our-healthy-streets-dulwich-phase-3/ There are several useful links at the bottom, as well. FYI, I actually attended the presentation listed at Alleyn?s on February 8th, which I found to be quite frustrating. But I haven?t seen any information on the outcome of this consultation, so I look forward to this being made public...
  18. Yeah, Abe, I think that consultation might have also included the CPZ that we objected to down at my end of Melbourne Grove. But the advance cycle lights at the Townley/EDG junction aren?t the actual problem... the whole design of that junction and the Dulwich Village junction are both completely dysfunctional. And heartblock, you?re bang on... the signalled crossing just south of the EDG/Lordship junction is in the wrong place, which is causing traffic to back up around Goose Green roundabout. This is also why implementing a signalled ped crossing across EDG is going to be a problem, as the two crossings won?t be properly logistically synchronised. This is something that the highway engineer explained to me in 2017... almost everything on Lordship Lane needs to be taken out and readjusted, which will cost a fortune. There are so many knock on problems that tweaking anything will create a domino effect. There?s no joined up thinking. Sorry, James... we should take this discussion onto another thread. But I?m genuinely curious as to how your crossing is going to work, as I?m not sure that the new highways dept know the background.
  19. It?s taken a long time to identify species that are suitable, because ?native? trees don?t work well as street trees or in the warmer urban climate. Also, smaller trees look better planted closer together in a mini avenue as the visual impact is more noticeable, hence applying for funding for three Sunset Boulevard cherries for Blackwater to start with, which we can add to later on.
  20. Thanks for posting this info, including the FOI, Serena. Ironically, I liaised closely with the amazing Highways engineer who conducted the scoping exercise cited in point 8 of the FOI. But, unfortunately, the proposals to finally address the Lordship Lane issues were eventually railroaded into a Healthy Streets consultation, which featured pocket parks in unsuitable locations, without addressing the general issues.
  21. Intriguingly, I?ve been working with the council?s tree officers for years to identify small ornamental trees which would work in our area as street trees, specifically to add a green feel to the roads without creating subsidence or blocking out light. A couple of years ago we experimented with a columnar Sunset Boulevard cherry tree to replace a dead chestnut tree in front of the terrace at the junction of Melbourne Grove and Blackwater, as it has a small root ball and a vertical crown. It?s worked so well that I recommended this to some residents on Blackwater Street when they asked me which small trees would suit the side of the road with no trees. The ward councillors didn?t approve our CGS bid to fund three Sunset Boulevards on Blackwater last year, so I resubmitted the bid again this year, fingers crossed. But there are several options which will create a green feel to a road, which won?t cause problems, so I?m happy to hear that this is now a Southwark Council policy.
  22. I also tried to incorporate an EDG/Lordship pedestrian crossing into the initial first phase of EDG traffic calming measures implemented years ago. From memory, it was TfL who blocked it due to the delays of the two buses that are routed along that junction, but the council highway engineers agreed. That junction was originally going to be a four way signalled junction but this was dropped because it was agreed that extending the 42 and 37 bus routes east-west would be more beneficial to the community. There is also a logistical/technical problem, as a ped crossing would need to be set back several meters from the actual corners of the junction, but the pavement along EDG is too narrow. Plus, it was assumed that pedestrians wouldn?t divert to cross over. Plus, it would need to be a timed signalled crossing, as a zebra crossing would cause too much mayhem with the traffic flow, and signalled crossings cost a fortune. It will be interesting to see how James?s bid (assuming CGS?) pans out this time, as there doesn?t appear to be much joined up thinking from the highway dept, hence the chaos created by the LTNs.
  23. Totally agree re the Janice Turner Times article... ironically, she lives locally and follows me on Twitter, so she?s completely aware of the local multiple layers of complexity.
  24. Apologies if this has been posted somewhere else, but this is the latest formal traffic study for the Dulwich area, published in April 2018:- https://www.southwark.gov.uk/assets/attach/6887/Dulwich-TMS-SDG-Full-Report-Final-April-2018-.pdf There?s a lot of intriguing data presented in a dubious context, in my opinion, but perhaps we can discuss/analyse on another thread?
  25. Also very interesting is the Investigative and Conclusions section of Appendix 3 which legalalien notes disses the most recent iteration of the junction. The main problem with this dysfunctional junction design was the staggered crossing along Dulwich Village, which caused pedestrians (including me!) to regularly divert around the junction to cross along Court Lane and Calton, hence obstructing traffic flow. This is exactly what I pointed out would happen when I attended the public meetings, but was gagged. After allowing the dysfunctional new junction to ?settle in? for a couple of years, the council launched a Streetspace style ?consultation?, which I took part in... and the largest number of logged complaints were about the staggered crossing which caused everyone to walk around Court Lane and Calton to circumvent it. I also noticed that there were a number of requests to close the junction in order to address these concerns, which was worrying. But, my observation was that addressing the staggered crossing by making it a direct crossing had a higher number of supporters. Hence my comments that tweaking the junction would be a more simple option overall. The reason why staggered crossings are popular with junction designers is that it increases the motor traffic flow through the junction (thereby reducing traffic queues) by breaking up the pedestrian light timings into two phases. But for an area with a high number of pedestrians, this is very unpopular. The supreme irony with the Covid junction closure is that pedestrians are still crossing over the staggered junction as well as across Court Lane and Calton because the cyclists and e-scooters are riding directly through the junction now, which makes it feel unsafe to walk. I experience this so often now that I haven?t walked down to the Village for ages as it?s very unpleasant. It?s also difficult to walk on the pavement in front of the shops because of the cyclists. So, this is why I stress that some kind of logic would need to be imposed if the closed junction was to be made permanent, but I don?t think the proposed layout that I?ve seen is very appealing. Lastly, also be aware that the diagram on the Appendix 3 notes is incorrect... it?s actually the previous junction, not the recent dysfunctional junction, which is extremely misleading. Edited to stress that this council administration actually used free Quietway funding to create a dysfunctional junction that was so bad that they have now used free Covid funding to circumvent the poor design that they created.
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