ArchieCarlos

I used Mason & Green a few times for the airport and would recommend. Cheaper than Addison Lee but equivalent standard. Very punctual. Professional drivers. Can request baby or child seat if needed

I am delighted to hear the development was approved. In my opinion, the UK is building far too little housing. And unless we build on green belts, the only solution is to increase the density of our cities, which is exactly what this scheme achieves. Where I'm from (France), planning is generally looser and in my home city it's common to see single dwellings being razed to make way for a 5-6 story block of flats, even in city centres. Does it change the character of the local area? For sure! But I don't see another way to provide the supply to meet demand and provide ample supply of housing for a growing population. My personal experience is that in the UK, there is a lot more time spent on consultations, on achieving a perfect outcome for everyone. This results in generally better and more harmonious building than in France, but it makes things slower and more costly, with the need to coordinate many consultants. It's interesting to compare France and the UK as they have similar populations and population growth, with an economy centred on a huge capital city. When you look at the number of houses/flats built in France and the UK over the past 10 years, the result is pretty striking. # France UK Difference 2023 298,100 150,370 -147,730 2022 392,100 182,070 -210,030 2021 410,000 177,160 -232,840 2020 368,800 129,440 -239,360 2019 387,700 153,000 -234,700 2018 401,200 168,610 -232,590 2017 434,700 164,110 -270,590 2016 370,000 155,150 -214,850 2015 341,000 148,150 -192,850 2014 336,900 140,760 -196,140 2013 357,900 124,790 -233,110 2012 382,300 101,020 -281,280 Total 4,480,700 1,794,630 -2,686,070 Average 373,392 149,553 -223,839 When HS1 was built, the French engineers (it was built with the French high-speed signalling) were surprised at how Brits wanted to "gold-plate" everything. The UK arguably has the best, most effective, more reliable, more well-equipped high-speed line in the world, but we've only got 68 miles of it and it cost 2.5 times what it cost the French to build a line extension at the same time. In my view, there's no magic wand: just deciding who will be the losers. In France, people in established neighbourhoods my lose out as they see them change dramatically, while the new entrants benefit from a much higher supply of housing (and thus cheaper housing). In the UK, we give greater priority to preserving the lifestyle and amenity of the established dwellers over the new entrants who lose out as the supply is choked and prices are higher. A final point of comparison would be the price per square foot of property in Greater Paris is £467 while in Greater London it's £667 - 30% cheaper!

A nice article has recently been published about the Grove here: https://pa-training.shorthandstories.com/dulwichs-grove-tavern/index.html "We will start looking for a pub operator shortly.” Karen Wood, Head of Communications at the Dulwich Estate

Hi, I'm not the best at parking my car and I've got a fair few scratches on my wheel rims from the kerbs. Would anyone know of a garage in Dulwich where they could polish these out for me? Many thanks

So disabled parking 20m away from the chemist is not okay, but parking right outside, i.e. 5m would be okay? I think a disabled bay 20m and another one 25m away seems fair enough. If it's really too far to walk, then I really think home deliveries should be the way to go. Plenty of pharmacies provide this service if the one in the village doesn't.

There is a disabled parking bay in front of Meghan's on DV as well as one on Gilkes Place on the side of Meghan's. There is also one round the corner on Gilkes Crescent where it meets Calton avenue. The overall number of parking bays (paid ones with 30min free) is the same as before. This was achieved by creating new parking bays on Gilkes Place. They're not obvious to spot for those used to parking on the parade but they're there. I'm also glad the council has retained the free 30min as they'd initially proposed getting rid of it.

Not every cleaner is the same. We pay £20 per hour, which is a lot considering we give her a lot of hours, but we have someone who we completely trust, is very reliable (never missed an appointment in 4 years), also does baby sitting, and is very proactive (she regularly cleans the fridge/oven, regularly empties kitchen drawers to clean them then puts everything back the way it was, puts away clothes after folding and ironing, cleans the bins/patio, etc.). We also use her for baby sitting once in a while or cat sitting while we're away. This isn't usually what you get from the typical cash-in-hand cleaner (or agency for that matter). We had another cleaner before who was cheaper, but also wasn't as thorough, often cancelled on us and not proactive at all.

I was there a few days ago and it was nice to see so many people using the new space. Now if only there were more decent places to eat in the village...