ed26

Good videos and I totally support the forthcoming changes, but there are a few errors. 1. The pedestrian priority video should show a car doing a right hand turn into that road, with traffic building up behind them while more and more pedestrians cross the road, and drivers behind going up onto the pavement to get past the car that is waiting to turn right. 2. The wait to turn near cyclists shows a cyclist cycling along the inside of a car that is already indicating left, and the Highway Code (and updates) say that they should not do that. 3. The zebra crossing video shows a cyclist waiting at a zebra crossing, which is clearly a joke. Serious point though - crossing East Dulwich Grove at the Lordship Lane junction is a nightmare - I usually cross Lordship Lane to avoid the junction. It's also difficult to turn into EDG because a lot of pedestrians just cross there without stopping, possibly because they believe the junction is traffic-controlled by the nearby pedestrian crossing on Lordship Lane. Changes to the Highway Code could make that junction even more dangerous if more pedestrians believe (rightly) that they have priority and drivers / cyclists don't obey or understand the changes. Junctions like that will definitely need a change of signage / infrastructure if they are to become safe.

But are collective efforts being made? If this chap is a Councillor, then he is implying that it's not the Council's responsibility and that no effort will be made to improve things. If the Council will in fact step up, then he's just spreading misinformation.

Yes, it is bad luck for a few hours while alternative measures can be considered. But you can't close a load of secondary roads permanently and then have no plans to get traffic moving again when one of the primary routes is blocked. I'm not saying that Court Road or Dulwich Village should be the signposted diversion, but a soft reopening so that locals can go about their business would be an easy option. That can be achieved quickly and easily with a few temporary signs (or just bin bags over the signs like when the residents' parking was suspended for a while) and a few posts on Southwark's website / twitter. Word would soon get around to local residents. It doesn't have to be a perfect solution but every local car relieved from the gridlock makes it easier for the through traffic and the residents of Croxted Road, East Dulwich Grove, etc. But my initial problem with the tweet wasn't the LTN itself but the "it's not our responsibility" approach when it is absolutely the Council's responsibility to try to keep local traffic moving, regardless of the cause of the problem.

> > Most cyclists don't regularly ride on the > pavement, don't jump lights, and have lights at > night. 2/3. Must try harder. I don't buy the argument that most cyclists don't jump lights. Maybe when there's a huge group of cyclists at a major crossing, most will wait for the lights. But at any pedestrian crossing or minor junction, fewer than half of cyclists will stop. I don't have a big issue with cycling on the pavement itself, as long as it's sensible. It's far safer for everyone if a cyclist rides slowly and carefully on a pavement than the wrong way down a one way street for example. When I take the kids to the park, I let them cycle on the pavement but they understand that pedestrians take priority. They wait behind people walking until it's safe to cycle past. And I don't let them cycle on busy pavements like Lordship Lane. They either get off and push (or make me carry the bike - grrr) or we go up one of the quieter streets. Ringing a bell at pedestrians on a pavement or shared pavement/cycle path is pretty much like a car driving down a cycle path and beeping the horn to tell cyclists to get out of the way. Neither is acceptable.

Rather bizarre and unnecessary tweet (see image), I thought. Started well with good info, then an extremely patronising plug for walking and cycling (duh, do you think I'd be sitting here in my car if walking was an option?) and then a thoroughly bizarre "not our problem mate" bit at the end. OK, Thames Water messes up again - not sure if this is still the old Victorian water mains, or a poor replacement or repair. But it isn't Thames Water's fault that half of East Dulwich and Dulwich Village are almost inaccessible when a single pinch point is closed. Surely the Council should take some responsibility for getting the traffic moving again over the next week, instead of forcing local drivers to trundle all the way up to Herne Hill and back? They should be able to suspend the bus gates and open the streets blocked by flower pots in cases like this.

fleur201 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I?ve had over 100? worth of stuff taken. Parcel > left at my front porch. Feeling gutted. What's the legal position these days? I was close to ordering something yesterday and the delivery info said that they will only re-ship if the courier confirms that the item was lost in transit. Since the start of the pandemic, it seems acceptable for "proof of delivery" to be an X in the signature space or a photo of the item outside your front door. So if I haven't authorised a safe-space delivery and an item goes missing, who is responsible for the cost and replacement?

I put mine outside on the 6th last year and it was there for almost 2 weeks before it was collected, so I would think you have a few weeks' window.

I've now had an invitation from the GP service that I mentioned above. Options are Tessa Jowell or Lister. Plenty of availability.

Thanks for the feedback. I just heard that they are doing jabs at the Oval - not sure if Southwark residents are entitled to go there. Massive queue at 9am but in and out within 15 min at 11am.

CPR Dave sums it up well. Although I agree with DuncanW that a bad driver could be a greater harm to a pedestrian, bad cyclists (not all cyclists) are a bigger menace on a day to day basis. Yes, I've seen cars driving through red lights on pedestrian crossings, but not dozens of cyclists, every day, every time I cross the road (which is how it feels sometimes). There's also the case that motorists, good and bad, are always seen as the bad guys and, in the eyes of the various councils, cyclists are often put on a pedestal (granted, for some good environmental and traffic reasons). London has done a lot to make cycling safer over the past few years, often to the detriment to road and pavement space. So I think that pedestrians and motorists feel particularly aggrieved when bad cyclists flout the rules that are supposed to keep everyone safe, including cyclists. A good example of this is the cycle superhighway up through the Blackfriars area. Buses now stop on the road side of the cycle path, so passengers have to cross the cycle path (which is VERY fast moving and you get shouted at) or walk up to the pedestrian crossings, just to get to the pavement. The pedestrian crossing has little traffic lights with bikes on, low down, so there's no excuse for not seeing them. Yet a large number of cyclists still charge through when pedestrians are crossing. Generally speaking, motorists don't shout at pedestrians to get out of the way when they are crossing the road and drive at them at full speed, but a lot of cyclists do.

Because if/when everyone abuses the system, they will stop accepting lateral flow test results as proof of a negative test, as I understand they have done in some EU countries. I don't really understand what this country's obsession is with gaming the system (and this isn't a dig at you, Sue, as I know it's a genuine what-if...). Ever since the pandemic started, people have gone on about ways of getting around the restrictions - "I'm exempt from wearing a mask"; "I'm going to put my house on the market so my mum can come to view it"; "my hairdresser is in my bubble" etc. It's this constant aim to find loopholes instead of using some common sense that has made the rules so convoluted (like the scotch egg being a substantial meal thing). I just think you have to be a pretty sad person to go to a crowded venue knowing that you have Covid (which would be the only reason to fake a test result unless you really can't take one for some reason), or to pretend that you have a mask exemption just so you can go and breathe your germs over everyone.

I'll try to remember to take the little one with me when I go then ;-) On a more serious note, I received the general NHS encouragement to book a booster, but I was hoping to receive a GP text like I did for the first two vaccines - these came from "Improving Health Ltd" on behalf of Gardens Surgery and allowed me to go to Tessa Jowell Health Centre for a pre-booked appointment. Does anyone know if they are doing this service this time around?

"Some people only see the bad cyclists though" - of course - you don't go to the cinema and remember the dozens of people sitting quietly and enjoying the film; you remember the two idiots who chatted and texted all the way through the film. The problem is that the number of cyclists hammering down Crystal Palace Road and weaving in and out of traffic and pedestrians has definitely increased lately. It's not all cyclists, but it's certainly more than it was and I'm not sure if it's the general return to work, or the designation of CPR as a cycle route that has done it. And I agree that there's bad motorists around too - only yesterday I was just starting to overtake a stopped bus on East Dulwich Grove when the car behind me decided he/she could get by more quickly and overtook me while I was pulling out to overtake, nearly taking my front wing out. Shortly after that, a moped rider dashed across the entrance to Copleston Road while I was turning into it, across the pavement / pedestrian area and then the wrong way down the Oglander Road one way system. And while we're on it (!) I don't understand why so many motorists won't pull into a space between cars on their side of the road when I've stopped there so that we can pass each other. Grrr. So yeah, not just cyclists, but my point was about cycling on Crystal Palace Road getting worse, and I think it's a fair one.

The standard of cycling on Crystal Palace Road this week has shocked me. I see that the "spine" words have been put on the road, so has the spine route only just been launched? Maybe the wording / cycle signs are giving cyclists a false sense of security that it's a cycle path rather than a busy residential road? Or maybe I've just witnessed more than my fair share of idiots this week. In my walks up and down the street this week I've seen many, many cyclists with no lights on, including one who zipped through a narrow gap when a car was reversing into a space. Another yelled rudely at a lady who was crossing the road with her young daughter (and to be fair, I think they'd started crossing before the cyclist came around the corner). They fly across East Dulwich Road when the lights are red, both when the pedestrian crossings are on green man, or when East Dulwich Road has priority. And they seem to ignore the no-right-turn into East Dulwich Road, which is a hazard for oncoming traffic that wouldn't expect anyone to be turning right there. (OK, it's a pointless no-right-turn, but it's been there for years and everyone is used to it). I guess most of these people are just passing through and would previously have been on Lordship Lane or Peckham Rye. It won't be long before someone complains that it isn't safe and results in more restrictions for local road users.

Technically the bit in the middle is pavement, so people shouldn't be cycling over there anyway. The cycle gates are either side. No excuse for the poor parking though.

It's a very strange situation and seems that all networks suffer from some significant not-spots in SE22/SE15. I've been on Vodafone 4G for about 10 years and always suffered a complete data drop-out when heading on the 63 through Peckham (probably from about around Commercial Way through to Peckham Rye Station). The signal was always useable at home (near Peckham Rye Park). I then moved to near Peckham Rye Station around 2 years ago. I called Vodafone as I had no signal and was told that there was a mast down. I registered for their text alerts and routinely get messages saying they are working on the mast and that the problem has been fixed. But I rarely get a usable mobile signal indoors. I miss calls all the time as they go straight to voicemail without the phone ringing. I also had to drive out of London recently and used my phone to stream BBC Sounds in the car. There was absolutely no streamable signal until I passed Brockley and then it was full signal with no buffering all the way out through New Cross, Blackheath, etc. I find it difficult to understand why the mobile phone operators let SE15/SE22 have such a hole in the service. Is there nowhere to put up a new mast? Or are the local council too anti-masts? Or is there something else around here that stops the signal from travelling? I don't experience this problem so consistently in any other built-up areas in London (and I get around a lot).

So what happens when Thames Water want to dig up your road and you have to move your car? And what about if you only have to move it a few spaces, so you push it without starting the engine? ;-) Auto pay is the way forward, as no investigators can accuse you of not having paid the ULEZ charge if the cameras haven't nabbed you. I'd do it for congestion charge if it was free but I think it's ?10 p.a. and I've only driven in the congestion charge zone twice in about five years, both due to taking wrong turnings.

Surely the best option is to sign up for auto-pay, so you pay the ULEZ fee if you pass a ULEZ camera on your journey. And if you don't pass a camera, you don't pay the charge, and you're not doing anything wrong.

I checked this out a while back. It's 30 mins free but you still have to register, apparently. I called the number and no one answered for ages. Instead, it kept playing a message to say that I could use the PayByPhone app. I downloaded it and put the location code in. However, the app doesn't give you option of registering for the free 30 mins. Instead, you have to select paid parking. I didn't do that and risked popping into the shops and got away with it. I contacted the council about this, asking how we are supposed to register for free parking if the phone number and app don't work, but I never received a response.

Was serving draft lager about a month ago

> I would only be faffed wearing a mask if i knew it > protected me, i dont really care about wearing it > to protect others as masks give me discomfort, and > i should be able to do what i like (so i do). And it's this attitude that is making so many people nervous about the unlocking. Just imagine how much easier things would be, if everyone had the common sense and manners to try to protect those around them.

Is that the old roof coming off or the new roof going on. Doesn't look any higher than the neighbouring properties from the photo, so I'm not sure that planning permission would be an issue. But of course, the right process needs to be followed.

@Alan Medic - Yes, I do. e.g. if I'm standing at an open-air TFL station and there's no one around, I think the rules say I should be wearing a mask, but I'm going to be a rebel and choose not to, especially in this heat!

My pals had a disaster with Wren - ended up having to take them to court. Measurements wrong (or measurements right and cutting wrong - can't remember which). Replacement items took months to prepare. No contractors available when replacement items arrived resulting in another month wait. Things done in the wrong order (e.g. units and oven installed before wiring work behind units completed). Fitting contractors wouldn't come back to uninstall the units as they'd done their job. Electrician contractors refusing the remove the oven (not my job guv). Wren saying contractors were at fault when they were supposed to be project managing. And so on...... They were without a kitchen for 9 months and now they hate it, partly as it isn't up to the standard they'd expected, and partly as it reminds them of the stress they endured.

C - Bearing in mind that a mask is designed to stop us passing our germs onto others (a fact that STILL seems to be lost on a lot of people they interview on the TV) I'll wear a mask out of respect and courtesy to others when I'm in a busy environment, and I won't if it just seems pointless. I'm nervous about the relaxing of the rules but I agree that this is the best time to do it, with the schools closed for summer, the students not living on top of each other in halls of residence, and the potential (and, so far, reality) for warmer, drier weather. If they delay the relaxation for another month, then the schools will be about to return. A month after that, the universities will be reopening. A month after that, we'll be into the normal winter flu season, so there won't be much chance of relaxing the rules until next Spring. Not a fan of the virus passport idea, but if it means that the hospitality sector can stay open when the students return to uni and the cold weather approaches, then it makes perfect sense. People worried about "their rights" will have to refrain from visiting their local Ritzy for a while. I get the point about this leading to enforced vaccination and so on, but this decision seems to be sensible in isolation.