joobjoob

Dog/people socialisation/education classes in the park are surely one of the best solutions. NOT JUST FOR DOG OWNERS but also for worried and fearful park users, especially children. Teaching children and adults to recognise and understand dog behaviour AS WELL AS DOG OWNERS too understand just how terrifying it can be to have an unfamiliar creature, (often larger than you), bearing down at full slobbering speed, is not something to be dismissed as "only a puppy" or " don't worry - friendly", after you've wet yourself. Its understandable and reasonable to expect owners to have enough control on there off lead dog, not to raid picnics, or slobber babies. Well advertised classes, held with reliable and friendly dogs for children and adults who have had bad experiences to come have good experiences and also learn how to handle such a situation, or simply differentiate friendly from aggressive dog behaviour (should it happen again) would go a long way towards greater tolerance. Im the owner of a boxer (a mastiff type) which sadly means people sometimes cross the road even when she's on a lead. Whereas people who have experience of Boxers will practically fall over to have there faces kissed. Friends and neighbours who've been terrified of dogs, have now got over it, thanks to her and are now reasonably confident with other dogs in the park. Horrifically my dog has also been savagely kicked by a man who deemed that she walked too close to his buggy on the path (we were simply passing him on the path in super boggy january). As for the poo issue, perhaps all dog owners- as we're so experienced at picking up our own dog poo's, should pick up other poo when we see it. It never occurred to me, till I saw an old friend and fellow dog owner pick up the most disgusting one the other day. ALso challenge owners who walk away, its better to embarrass then to spend the whole day fuming.

Some of the residents in our road who have more than one car to the household, do it on purpose-so that when the other person comes home they move the badly parked car and both get a place. Roll on defined bays! The best days are when those tiny little cars come along and scupper the plan.

The council are consulting on a CPZ around the station, see the link below. This has crept up on us and as we live in Nutfield rd we will be hugely affected by this... Has any road bordering this CPZ been contacted by the council or formally told about this proposal? We haven't. http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/2877/grove_vale-controlled_parking_zone_study

Nope - I've never seen anyone using them.. Boris Bikes would be great in the area, it's only half an hour from ED to central london, and Boris Bikes are free for the first half hour!

The Mayor is conducting a consultation on the public use of "front counters" in police stations, with a view and a criteria for doing away with them (cost saving). East Dulwich's police counter currently does not meet the criteria proposed. (It is only opened for limited hours.) I would hope that anyone who cherishes this local point of face to face contact will take part in the survey. For now you can pop in to the local station to find out how! Personally the following springs to mind: 1) All Telecoms networks crashed in London during 7/7 as well as most public transport. In our uncertain age is it wise to limit the places of contact to telecommunications or transport dependent points? 2) Most of the alternative suggestions, phone, internet and public transport distance proposals discriminate against the elderly, the vulnerable and English second language speakers. 3) Issues of harrasment, sexual violence and intimidation are often only reported by victims, on a personal and face to face basis, and are by there nature more immediate therefore not initially dealt with by the safer Neighbour hood teams. 4) The front counter at the local station is what makes the station local in the eyes of the residents, without it- it becomes just another government building. The demise of which would probably go unnoticed until the response times increased.

Thanks for the info, we wondered what was going on as they seem to shift the flight paths more over 24 hours than they used to. If we hit the jackpot and have the 4 am flight path over us, you can guarantee we'll have 2 little chaps in our bedroom thinking it's morning within ten minutes. It's no fun facing a school day when you are 4 and 6 year's old after starting the day at 4 am. I will certainly be following your thread. I've also been wondering how many loose flight time rules will be broken when everyone arrives for the olympics?

I think it's a great idea, good for you sky blue for initiating it. I would say the first point of call would be an informal chat with some of the education officers at the council. They or Harris should be fairly upfront about what it would take in order to change the structure and admission criteria. I agree that the problem probably lies with SE22 kids not applying for Harris girls. No surprises since I believe it was closed by the police for gang related problems a few years ago. (http://londonist.com/2006/09/peckham_academy.php) I suspect that the demand to separate the sexes was a well intentioned desire to protect daughters. However this incident illustrates rather well that isolating girls does not make them any safer from social problems. Perhaps splitting the sites into a lower and upper school and merging the sexes would create a more balanced and less divisive atmosphere for the community. Merging the schools as a co-ed, would also force Harris to broaden their specialization, increasing the appeal across the social spectrum. Keep us posted when the campaign goes live!(tu)

As you may know the government plans to sell-off of publicly-owned forests. You can read about it here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12257835 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/28/england-forest-sell-off-q-and-a http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/8287080/Forest-sell-off-could-leave-heritage-sites-in-hands-of-supermarkets-and-sleazy-bankers.html If you want to protect common forests for our generation and the next, there is a petition outside the co-op today. OR you may wish to visit the following websites for an on-line petition. http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests#petition If the gvt sells our forests, it assumes someone else can make a profit, why not for once, keep something to profit the tax payers! Our forests are priceless national treasures, once lost they can never be taken back. Please do something!

Southwark guidance, safety on the road leaflet says all children under 8 should cycle on the pavement. Cycling with my children, on the road I have been shouted at by car drivers who tell me to get on the pavement. We still go on roads which are quite, but cycle on the pavements to avoid rat runs where drivers generally are impatient and ill tempered ie. Crystal Palace and Northcross - Barry road. I think its a good compromise. As for breaking the rules the debate is out about light jumping in areas where there is no provision for the safety of cyclists on the road, by road marking or driver behaviour. Sadly I know of three cyclists who may still be alive, if they had jumped a light ahead of HGVs. If you look at the stats very few cyclists are killed jumping lights - the vast majority are killed while using the road properly and correctly if not timidly.