jamesmcash

Dear all, First, a big thanks to everyone who voted Labour in the recent elections. We have the ward breakdown and Goose Green residents voted overwhelmingly for the Labour Party with all three of their votes. We councillors will continue to listen to residents who raise concerns but it is reassuring to hear that we're broadly on the right track. LTNs on your road Until the Dulwich Review is concluded it's hard to know the prospects of future LTNs. If the review concludes that the existing ones are working then we may well implement more in other parts of the ward. I suggest that you suggest your own road for one when you fill in the consultation. Dulwich Library The layout of Dulwich Library means its full opening is not yet possible. I do not have a date for when it will be but I understand that the council is working hard to make it happen as soon as possible. More info here: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/libraries/find-a-library?chapter=6 Cheers James

Hi all, First, a quick reminder that our community meeting to support our local high streets is happening tonight at 6pm. Please do join us. You can register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpd-2rrTguH9eHKxmW_zvfCfZ0hv4brgxj Climate emergency The climate emergency plans have been delayed as a result of covid but the full strategy is due to be released soon. LauraHW - you've raised some really good points about the climate emergency. And good guess on the 15% stat - my understanding is that transport makes up 16% of carbon emissions in Southwark (although this is a few years out of date). The council is look to reduce these emissions through promotion of active travel, improving accessibility and sustainability of public transport (with TfL) and working to end freight and commercial delivery through polluting vehicles. As for buildings, the council has already moved to renewable energy for its offices and will do the same for council housing soon. Private sector housing is more complicated because the council has no direct power over these properties once they are built. The New Southwark Plan is being strengthened and amended to ensure that new buildings are net zero. In terms of existing buildings, the council has committed to supporting them to be retrofitted. The council is also working to increase local sustainable energy production. I hadn't come across Hackney Light and Power. That sounds like a good model for doing so. I will raise it. In terms of engagement, the council is creating an expert advisory panel to provide challenge to its work. It is also creating Citizen Juries to assess the action plan and make recommendations. These will be drawn up to represent the diversity of the borough. There will also be an annual climate emergency progress report put to an annual climate conference. Election results Thanks everyone who voted in the elections, whoever you voted for. I am, of course, delighted with the huge majority won by Marina Ahmad, our Labour candidate for Lambeth and Southwark, and proud too that Sadiq Kan won his second highest vote in the city from us. LTNs Just to be clear, I believe that LTNs can play an important role in reducing traffic and improving air quality. But that does not mean that I am 100% committed to the existing Dulwich LTNs staying as they are. The consultation process leaves open the option for them to be retained, removed, or amended. I am keen to hear everyone's feedback in this process - and see the full dataset - but my working assumption at the moment is that some changes will need to be made. I don't think that they're working perfectly by any stretch of the imagination. Best wishes James

Reminder: this meeting is tonight. Looking forward to seeing you there. Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpd-2rrTguH9eHKxmW_zvfCfZ0hv4brgxj Best wishes James

Dear all, I have had a response from the Royal Mail. It comprises specific responses to individuals, which I will forward on but cannot share on here. However, the general gist of it is that they have had some staffing problems but that the deliveries should now be back to 6-days-a-week. I see that there are some more positive posts above, and not many negative ones for a little while. Does this mean that the issue has been sorted? It may be that my intervention had an effect. If not though, please continue to let me know (email is best, with your full address and details of the issues) and I will pursue it further. Best wishes James

Hi all Some great suggestions on here. Interesting to hear everyone's views on the NCR market - there's an ongoing discussion about its layout. We need to balance the needs of market traders and the bricks-and-mortar businesses. And of course, make it welcoming and pleasant for the visitors! Good question from Spartacus about finances - but a difficult one to answer! It depends a lot on what the initiative is. For instance, we can try to get TfL funding for anything on the highway or related to transport. That's how the benches/parklets on Elsie and Melbourne Grove were funded. In general, there is more potential for 'capital' investment (i.e. committing funding to infrastructure) than there is for 'revenue' funding (i.e. ongoing spending on a service, e.g. waste management). But I'm keen to hear all ideas - big and small - and see where we get with them. Best wishes James

Hi Monica, The invitation for the meeting went out to everyone on Fitzroy's email list. This is made up of everyone who has attended another ward or community council meeting. He didn't discriminate between residents and businesses, he just sent it to everyone on the list. But of course, there are people who may want to come to this meeting who have not been to one before. That's why I put it on here. I also sent out a further email to email addresses for local businesses that I had saved, and asked them to forward onto other businesses. Sorry you didn't get it. I've just forwarded it to you now. I'm sure Fitzroy will respond to you soon. He wasn't working on Friday and he doesn't work weekends. Is this the video you mean? I spent some time at the market today and spoke with some of the local businesses and the market traders. Everyone was positive about the measures that had been put in today. I'm looking into further ways we can make the market work for everyone. Happy to discuss further with you. Best wishes, James

Hi all, I hope everyone is having a good week and enjoying the first few days of laxer restrictions. I've been working on an e s s a y so not managed to get to a pub or restaurant yet - hopefully soon! Upcoming community meeting I've posted about this separately (/forum/read.php?5,2201246) but worth repeating: As you know, this has been a difficult year for local businesses. Our data suggest that 70% of businesses lost over 75% of their revenue in the early months of the pandemic. The council has tried to help plug the gap, issuing over ?12.5million in1500 grants to businesses in the SE22 postcode but we know that in many cases this has not been enough to make up for lost trade. Now, as restrictions begin to be lifted we want to do everything we can to make our high streets as vibrant and attractive as possible. One business suggested that we host a community meeting with businesses and local residents to discuss how we ? as a council and as a community ? can support our local businesses. So that?s what we?re doing! Please join us on Tuesday 11 May for an online ward meeting. The theme is: Local High Streets Let?s come together to discuss: - Supporting our local businesses - Making our high streets as vibrant and attractive as they can be - Bringing the East Dulwich community together after a tough year The meeting starts at 6pm - 7:30pm and will take place via Zoom. Pre-registration is required to attend this meeting. Simply visit: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpd-2rrTguH9eHKxmW_zvfCfZ0hv4brgxj and enter your name and email address. You will then receive a confirmation email with the meeting link and passcode. If you have any issues with this, please contact Fitzroy Lewis at [email protected] We want this meeting to be useful for you. So please let us know in advance if you have ideas that you want to discuss - especially if you are from a local business yourself! Transport and other sources of emissions Transport is not the sole source of carbon emissions. The council has shifted all the energy used in its offices, buildings and street lighting to renewable energy. Housing will switch over by September https://www.southwark.gov.uk/news/2021/jan/southwark-takes-strides-towards-sustainable-energy Newsletter Every street in Goose Green should have received the newsletter. I'm not sure of the exact streets in other wards but in total it covers 18,000 addresses. Following this thread, it is not true that "no-one east of Lordship Lane received them". In fact, a resident emailed me about this thread to say that they and all their neighbours had received it. They didn't want to post on here because of the toxic atmosphere... That said, I am sorry if anyone did not receive it. You can read it here: https://bit.ly/3dnCOZp And you can sign up for the consultation here: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/news/2021/jan/southwark-takes-strides-towards-sustainable-energy Best wishes James (I edited this half a dozen times because it wouldn't let me post and I couldn't work out why not so I had to put it up in parts. Turns out it was the word e s s a y that caused the problems...

Those planters look really nice. Yes this is exactly the kind of positive initiative that we want to discuss. Cheers James

Hello all, As you know, this has been a difficult year for local businesses. Our data suggests that 70% of businesses lost over 75% of their revenue in the early months of the pandemic. The council has tried to help plug the gap, issuing over ?12.5million in1500 grants to businesses in the SE22 postcode but we know that in many cases this has not been enough to make up for lost trade. Now, as restrictions begin to be lifted we want to do everything we can to make our high streets as vibrant and attractive as possible. One business suggested that we host a community meeting with businesses and local residents to discuss how we ? as a council and as a community ? can support our local businesses. So that?s what we?re doing! Please join us on Tuesday 11 May for an online ward meeting. The theme is: Local High Streets Let?s come together to discuss: - Supporting our local businesses - Making our high streets as vibrant and attractive as they can be - Bringing the East Dulwich community together after a tough year The meeting starts at 6pm ? 7:30pm and will take place via Zoom. Pre-registration is required to attend this meeting. Simply visit: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpd-2rrTguH9eHKxmW_zvfCfZ0hv4brgxj and enter your name and email address. You will then receive a confirmation email with the meeting link and passcode. If you have any issues with this, please contact Fitzroy Lewis on [email protected] We want this meeting to be useful for you. So please let us know in advance if you have ideas that you want to discuss - especially if you are from a local business yourself! Best wishes, James

Hi all, I've supported a few Goose Green residents with this. It should be straightforward to have your permit extended but if you have any trouble please do let me know and I will assist (or if you're not in Goose Green, I'm sure your councillors will do the same). Best wishes James

Hi all, Yes, government rules are being changed so statutory council meetings can no longer be online as of May. I think that's a shame - online meetings were a good way of engaging the wider public. I don't really understand the point of this thread. I walk around East Dulwich fairly frequently. I suspect that most people who see me have no idea that I'm the local councillor - why would they? If you need to get hold of me, send me an email and I'll get back to you. Best wishes James

Dear all Thanks for your comments. Let me respond to them in turn. Overall improvements and social justice I don?t think our lungs care how much we earn- wouldn?t we all be better off cleaner air? Which requires less car journeys to be made overall. Feels like we need we need to raise our aims higher, from socially fair distribution of toxic emissions to less, everywhere, for everyone. Are we fighting the right battle? We need a balance. You're right that the overall goal has to be to improve air quality and reduce emissions overall. Afterall, our planet faces existential threat from climate change. But if these changes require sacrifices then those sacrifices should be shared. Village and Lordship Lane When comparing different streets we cannot just look at what is on them, we must look at how they fit in with the wider network (including bus routes). Closing Lordship Lane to motor traffic would require substantial changes elsewhere in the network. That's not to say it can never be done, but it would be difficult. Is this something that people are keen to see? I would have thought this would be much more controversial than the changes to Melbourne Grove but I'm happy to look into it if there's a desire for that. Data and evidence In my post above, I shared evidence about the demographic composition of inner London streets, written by academic experts in the field. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d30896202a18c0001b49180/t/5fb246b254d7bd32ba4cec90/1605519046389/LTNs+for+all.pdf Sillyseason accused me of misleading people by quoting incorrect figures from "poor sources". They then quote different figures, from an anti-LTN twitter account. I always take a critical approach to what I read, and I don't take academics' words as gospel. But it's quite odd to suggest that academic research is a "poor source" but a twitter campaign account is not. That's not to say that you'd always believe the former over the latter but surely you'd need some reason to have more faith in the findings of the twitter campaign? It's actually quite hard to compare the two sets of figures because the tweeter has showed them in a completely different format (risk ratios etc instead of proportions of each demographic living on each given type of street). Moreover, lots of those figures are for Greater London, whereas the ones I quoted are for inner London (as Southwark is an inner London borough). That said, it's good to be having these debates. I hope that when the evaluation process is properly launched next month, the council will be able to provide some better data for Southwark specifically. Red Route research Thanks, heartblock, for sharing this (https://www.globalcleanair.org/files/2021/03/EDF-Europe-Centric-Lab-Rethinking-Londons-Red-Routes.pdf). We're already doing a few of the report's recommendations (reallocating space to people and deprioritising road traffic, introducing signalised junctions) but I appreciate that there is much more to do. LTNs and the Tories The Tories are indeed committed to removing LTNs. They have done so in some of the boroughs they control (K&C, Wandsworth). I don't think they have the right approach on this. Fortunately, we live in a deomcracy where you can have you choice at the ballot box. East Dulwich Grove newsletters I'm sorry and surprised to hear you have not received the newsletter heartblock. 18,000 were delivered in hard copy and EDG was definitely on the distribution list. If you want one then you can request a hard copy or access it online. There will be another one coming out next month too. Cycle hangars The council has launched a page where you can request cycle hangars on your street. This follows a major investment in funding new hangars announced earlier this year. Sign up here: Cycle hangar sign up https://cyclehangarsinsouthwark.commonplace.is/ Peckham West CPZ permit extension A few people have contacted me because they purchased a permit for the Peckham West CPZ last April and are now being charged for a new one, despite the zone not coming into effect until June. If this applies to you then let me know by email and I will get your permit extended by a few months. Best wishes, James

Hi all, There have been a few missed collections recently. I'm very sorry about that. If you do not have any success reporting a missed collection please feel free to email me and I will chase it up. Best wishes James

Hi all, We Goose Green councillors have just allocated funding for a feasibility study into a cycle lane on East Dulwich Grove, and for changes to the physical infrastructure around East Dulwich station, to make it more cycle friendly but also to make it more attractive and inviting. Best wishes James

Dear all, Thanks everyone who sent me their experiences. I have compiled them and sent them to the Royal Mail. I will keep you posted on the response. Best wishes James

Hello all, I am in touch with someone senior in Royal Mail about this issue. He seems to think that the problem has been largely resolved - I have told him that it has not. If any Goose Green residents have examples of post going missing or being severely delayed please contact me by email at [email protected] and I will flag them up. Please include your postal address in the email. Cheers James

Dear all, I hope you are all well and that you managed to enjoy some of the beautiful sunshine today. LTN consultation The consultation on the LTNs will begin shortly after the May election. Residents should have received a newsletter. I was told that businesses would too (and checked this multiple times) but it sounds like they did not. I can only apologise for this. You can read it online here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/154LtvSg4ps5lT6OMFPhwfyzu8vXpcz5Y/view?usp=sharing LTN Consultation area Everyone will be able to respond to the consultation, wherever they live. It is not the case that only those living on roads with filters will be consulted. Equity and LTNs It is true that main roads do not benefit from LTNs in the same way that side streets do. But it is not true that poorer people are more likely to live on main roads. In fact, the opposite is true: 4.5% of households with an income below ?20k live on main roads compared to 5.8% of middle-income and 4.6% of high income households. Black and white people are equally likely to live on a main road (4.9% each), with asian people slightly less likely to and Arab, Mixed and Other more likely to. If you have a disability that limits travel, you are slightly less likely to live on a main road than those who do not. All this data is from page 35 of this report: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d30896202a18c0001b49180/t/5fb246b254d7bd32ba4cec90/1605519046389/LTNs+for+all.pdf) Dulwich Village is indeed one of the more affluent areas of Southwark but it is not the only place where LTNs have been implemented. There are now dozens across the borough in a diverse range of neighbourhoods. Local businesses I was very sad to learn that Callows is moving, but I believe that they are staying very locally. Yes, we are in touch with local businesses about ongoing issues. My fellow Goose Green councillors and I are hoping to host a community meeting to discuss how best to support our local high streets - open to businesses and residents. We can't do it until after the election but I will keep you posted on it. Timings of LTNs and school streets janepinkcat This is definitely an option. It's something we'd want to look at in the consultation. Stay safe! Best wishes, James

Hello all I hope you're all enjoying the sunny day today. End of lockdown The Streetspace measures were introduced as a matter of urgency due to lockdown but that does not mean that cannot serve other purposes. The council is organising a monitoring and evaluation process over the summer which will assess them on a number of variables - if the covid restrictions are over by that point then there will be no need to assess them with regards to that issue. Langton Rise Ah, no wonder I wasn't aware of this. It's in Dulwich Hill ward. It sounds like Siduhe has explained why this is, but if you have any further questions then do contact Cllrs Browning and Hartley. Hierarchy of roads No, people don't live on motorways. I was just using motorways as one extreme in the hierarchy of roads, with cul-de-sacs at the other end. The point I was making is that roads are designed with specific functions in mind. Main roads are built to sustain higher volumes of traffic, higher speeds, and larger vehicles. This isn't my personal view, but the universally accepted one. That's not to say that people living on main roads should have to put up with poor quality air. Of course not. We must improve air quality everywhere, but especially where there are vulnerable people (children etc). 4321 I have to say, I have never before been accused of pandering to private schools. Nor do I own property in the Dulwich wards. My legal name is indeed Ashworth-McLintock. It is a combination of my parents' surnames. Before I was born - and before they knew whether I'd be a boy or a girl - they started calling me "McAsh" as a first name. They never stopped. It's an unusual story but nothing underhand. I'm quite open about it: James Barber - I do not know if James Barber had anything to do with the changes in Champion Hill. But it happened after his term ended and not in his ward in any case. He is completely entitled to campaign for changes in his local area - as we all are. "One party state" - This phrase normally refers to states where rival political parties are banned. This is not so in Southwark: our elections are free and open to all, and there is a lively group of opposition councillors from the Liberal Democrats. It may surprise some of you to hear that I get on fairly well with them. The fact that Labour wins elections in the local area does not make Southwark a one party state, it just means that we're popular. Abe_froeman I believe you're referring to a paper that was wrongly published, without the knowledge of either local ward councillors or the relevant Cabinet Member. There are no plans to implement a further CPZ in East Dulwich. Thanks, everyone. Best wishes James

Hi all, I would not for a second question your eye, nose and lung monitors heartblock! But no one's individual perceptions will be as accurate as holistic monitoring and modelling. For instance, it is much easier to spot individual traffic jams than it is to notice a smaller rise in traffic throughout the day. Moreover, without a birds-eye view, we cannnot compare effects across different streets or indeed identify the cause of these effects. Longer-term monitoring for EDG sounds good. There's a vague plan to have a meeting for EDG residents - perhaps we can discuss there. I broadly agree with legalalien that it is not a success for the schemes to just move the same volume of traffic around different streets. In terms of traffic, we'd want to see it drop overall. That said, some streets are clearly better suited to high volumes of traffic than others: traffic movements which would be entirely acceptable on a motorway would be catastrophic on a cul-de-sac. Rockets In my previous post I said "If indeed the schemes have led to increased traffic then they are not successful." I did not say "If the schemes have led to reduced traffic, however small, this will be considered an unmitigated success regardless of any negative effects." In the scenario where traffic decreases overall (a key objective of the schemes) but at the cost of other problems (ie congestion on specific roads) we would need to weigh one against the other. Hoi Polloi Would you mind emailing me with details on this? Road space should not be used like this for months at a time. I'm happy to look into it. Best wishes James

Hi all, I get lots of emails from those on both sides of the debate. Contributions were similarly varied when we hosted the community engagement meetings. Some residents believe that the LTNs have made traffic much worse, and some think they have made it much better. In part, I think that's due to people living in different areas and using streets at different times. The constantly changing picture with lockdowns confuses things further. I suspect the true picture - across the whole area - is somewhere between the two. The LTNs are supposed to reduce traffic overall, by making cycling and walking safer and more pleasant and by making car journeys a little less convenient. The objective is not to shift traffic around, but to reduce its total volume. There's loads of evidence to support this approach but it's clear that the effects depend on local conditions. If indeed the schemes have led to increased traffic then they are not successful. That's what we need to know more about. I share your frustrations that we do not have these monitoring data yet, but until we do I am not going to second-guess them. Best wishes, James

Hi all Nigello - Let me look into it and get back to you Rockets - I have not seen such a map. My understanding is that the whole Dulwich area will be able to participate - as indeed they should. If you haven't already, I would get in touch with your local councillors Cllr Browning and Cllr Hartley. (I suspect you have done this already though!) heartblock - I totally share your concerns about high levels of traffic. We're doing everything we can to encourage active travel and reduction of car-use. LTNs are part of that effort. Best wishes James

Hello No, that's not true. It's the first I've heard of this in fact. I share your frustration on the delay - I had a useful conversation with fellow councillors and the Cabinet members this weekend and it's clear that progress is being made but plans are as of yet incomplete. It's possible that they'll be published this month but I suspect it could be next month now. Best wishes James

Hi all, Helen Hayes has written this useful blog about Royal Mail deliveries. It might be useful or interesting to some of you https://www.helenhayes.org.uk/royal_mail_0221 Best wishes James

Hi all I hope everyone is well during these difficult times. Royal Mail sorting office abe_froeman "How much money will be made by redevelopment of the site? Where has that gone and could it not have been used to fund a new, more appropriate location for the service?" I think those are questions that were for the labour council to answer when they granted planning permission to this scheme. Sadly, planning law does not allow a council to reject planning permission on such grounds. It's really frustrating but so long as developers tick the right boxes they can do a wide range of things which are really unhelpful - or even damaging. North Cross Road market Council officers are now at the market regularly to assist with social distancing. The police also attend. Lordship Lane / East Dulwich Road crossing I'm afraid that we are still at very early stages of this. It may not happen at all and if it does it will take some time. All of the points raised in this thread will need to be fully considered. This process will definitely include a public consultation. Evaluation of LTNs We are due an announcement on the evaluation process in the next few weeks. The good news is that it looks like it will match up with the commitments I made to you back in October. Recycling I'm sorry to hear you've had issues bonaome. Staff capacity continues to be a major issue in the waste collection service. If you have a similar issue again please drop me an email. Best wishes James

Dear all, Thanks for all your comments Privatisation I enjoyed reading this debate. Privatisation, by its nature, leads a service to be run according to the needs of the market. This can often mean making cuts if parts of the business are insufficiently profitable. Clearly I do not think that workers should be expected to endure unsafe conditions but the solution to inadequate building space does not need to be the total removal of the service! Vaccinations I do not have any further information but if anyone has any issues with accessing their vaccination point please let me know. Proposed nursery The application for this nursery promises it will be 'car free'. However, various objectors have suggested this might not be possible. We Goose Green councillors are liaising between objectors and the council. More details when I have them. LL/EDG crossing It's useful to hear about some of the past attempts to do this. I think the context has changed. Comparisons with the low traffic neighbourhoods are a bit like when young people are told to cut down on avocado to save up for a house: the costs of the two interventions are on different scales of magnitude. Best wishes James