legalalien

Just to add I hope that when councils consider/ agree to exclusive parking arrangements for commercial hire bikes, they think about arrangements for private owners of conventional and ebikes as well. I don’t think there should be automatic priority for commercial operators in terms of prime spots or speed of roll out (let’s not forget, it’s in the interest of the commercial operators to create an infrastructure which makes it easier for people to use the hire bikes and not their own bikes). Maybe a principle that for every commercial parking area allocated, there needs to be a similar spot for non- hire users?

I’m not sure about the “trap” idea either, just saying that if Southwark is going to do a deal to facilitate parking bays etc specifically for these companies then they should be charging them commercial rates of some sort. And thinking about it, to set they stage they could do worse than start clearing the pavements of abandoned hire bikes, pending an agreement- which it seems is what Westminster are doing - see https://www.moveelectric.com/e-bikes/westminster-council-starts-seizing-rental-e-bikes-left-pavements. Southwark did, after all, sign up to the Equal Pavements Pledge just a few months ago… https://www.southwarklabour.com/2022/07/15/southwark-labour-passes-the-equal-pavements-pledge/

Is suspect it’s the companies themselves who are the worst culprits in terms of scattering bikes in inconvenient locations. I’ve only seen a few people on them locally and they have tended to be 30ish young women. Maybe later in the evening people ride them home after a few drinks as an alternative to a taxi (are they a good substitute for an Uber?)

Some quite interesting background on the scooter / ebike situation here https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s109708/Report%20-%20IDM%20Pan%20London%20E-scooter%20Trial%20and%20Southwark%20E-bike%20Trial%20final.pdf Looks like to date Southwark hasn’t has a formal arrangement with the ebike operators allowing docking stations etc but has less formally allowed bikes to be dropped and collected from pavements etc ( with no financial benefit to the council it would seem). A cynic might say that by behaving badly the bike operators have forced Southwark to the table to make a more formal agreement. It’s not clear to me that Southwark is going to demand more than its costs associated with making parking arrangements ( see paras 35 and 36), I certainly think they should be ( we’re talking corporate multinationals running these services for profit, not local folk trying to save the planet, whatever the marketing hype might suggest).

I agree with all of those (subject to any unforeseen safety issues with the bike racks - if on the front of buses I guess they might get caught on things?) reminds me that my mum used to hang my pushchair on the back of the bus when I was small http://transpressnz.blogspot.com/2012/01/carrying-prams-on-buses-in-lower-hutt.html?m=1 (Found a pic to illustrate this)

It could be worse.. https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/03/bike-share-oversupply-in-china-huge-piles-of-abandoned-and-broken-bicycles/556268/ Interesting Guardian article with some of the background here. https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jul/28/bicycle-graveyards-why-do-so-many-bikes-end-up-underwater Which led me to these which I thought was interesting, about the failed mobike roll out in Manchester, and their subsequent decision to go with something more integrated with public transport and not allowing loads of bikes randomly dumped about the place (ie docking stations required) https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/what-fate-mobike-can-teach-20582240?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target Although still some nervousness about the potential for vandalism https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/10/andy-burnham-dont-throw-manchester-hire-bikes-in-the-canal I hadn’t appreciated that Serco were behind the Santander bikes in London. Apparently they scrapped their Edinburgh scheme last year as vandalism was costing too much.

It was green, yes, and it seemed to come out of nowhere, wasn’t aware it had jumped the light. I think it might have had a name that started with “urb…” as the idea of something like urban sprang to mind, but I was a bit startled and can’t remember- old age!

Have just been reading the 2022 Pupil Place Planning Report, which is interesting not just in relation to the oversupply of school places, but also in giving information about trends in school catchments, both private and state schools. Although the birth rate in PA5 (Dulwich) has been dropping, the numbers at Dulwich schools are actually increasing by a margin of around 16%, which as the report notes, suggests that catchment areas are growing, which I imagine tends to increase the existing problem of motor journeys into the Dulwich area for school drop off and collection - see page 25. https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s109543/Report%20Annual%20School%20Place%20Planning.pdf I was interested to see stats on the independent school catchments as I thought they might shed some light on the scale of the school traffic problem. On primaries, "Of the 1,787 pupils attending private primary schools in Southwark, 1,644 (92%) of these were attending schools situated in PA5. That said, only 44 of the latter were LBS residents (3%)". Three percent? That just isn't right (I do the admin for a sports club and there are significantly more than 44 children falling into that category on our books, and we certainly don't have every independent schoolchild in the area enrolled). And then it says on independent secondaries that "The number of private secondary pupils in the local authority area at the eight registered private secondaries has not altered significantly (3,901 secondary age pupils, or around 130 classes), nor those receiving education at home. Around 95 secondary age pupils – 2% of the schools total – attend a private school in Southwark and are resident in Southwark." I'm not very convinced by these figures either, which suggest that only 16 boys in Years 7-13 at Dulwich College live in Southwark (and only 8 in Years 7 and 8 at DPL). If those figures are correct then you can see why it's a massive challenge to get everyone to bike to school (I know some children will live a short distance from the schools but in Lambeth/ Lewisham/ Croydon - but still...). I'm not convinced that they are, though. I seem to recall that in the past the council simply said that it didn't have info on the independent schools, so I wonder where it has come from for this report. If the schools and council are going to try and tackle the school travel problem then some accurate/ granular info about travel patterns would be useful, I imagine. Lastly Kingsdale is noted as having a very large catchment - "Kingsdale – whose admissions criteria are not distance based, and whose position in the far south of the borough on the borders with Lewisham, Croydon, Bromley and Lambeth means that the school receives a majority of its applications (68%) from outside Southwark, and recruits the majority of its pupils from outside Southwark as well."

Incidentally, I nearly got taken out yesterday by a four wheeled electric cargo bike (with a roof, it was nearly the size of a small car) travelling at a fair clip through the junction. Keep your wits about you! A lady cycling by commented that it must be on the borderline of what could reasonably be regarded as a bicycle. If I understand it correctly electric bikes are treated as "pedal cycles" as long as the motor is not able to propel the bike when it’s travelling more than 15.5mph. I'd be quite keen to have a slower limit than that for cycles traversing the Dulwich junction (noting that electric cycles coming down the hill could be travelling faster than that - I guess at the moment there is no speed limit on these electric bikes, but I believe it's possible to introduce byelaws for particular stretches of road?). Hard to enforce in all cases but appropriate signage would help, and at least you'd catch large commercial cargo bikes as they are branded/ it would be possible to contact the company and tell them to slow down.

Wait- they’re closing Turney Road now? Seems so as have just had a flyer through the letterbox… Guessing that blocking off aysgarth, pickwick and boxall will need to be next as not wide enough for through traffic… and then a show down with the Burbage Road residents’ association?

maybe Little Kickers in Brockwell Park? https://www.littlekickers.co.uk/find-a-class football magic in Dulwich good, but they do sell out, you might need to get yourself waitlisted https://footballmagiccoaching.coordinate.cloud/list?location=&age=&activity=&type=3705&name=&dates=&sold_out=

Having walked past a number of times and wondered when the construction work was ever going to finish, spotted this in a recent council capital monitoring report: “The Charter School East Dulwich is being expanded to address a shortfall in spaces in the local area. The project is in its final stage, as the demolition of the remaining buildings has completed. The contract to construct a new hall and refurbish the listed Chateau building is subject to a re-tender. The completion date for the project has been delayed due to the main works contractor withdrawing from the contract and so new procurement arrangements are underway. The project is now expected to complete in 2024-25.” Just thought others might be interested. https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s108740/Report%20Capital%20monitoring.pdf

Update on the two Melbourne Grove barriers - now officially being made permanent after the temporary orders made at the end of the previous consultation. https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IssueId=50029641&OptionNum=0 ETA - final report here https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s108753/Report.pdf

This is quite an interesting article comparing payment rates in different areas across the country. https://www.lgcplus.com/finance/revealed-winners-and-losers-in-council-tax-rebate-race-and-why-22-08-2022/?utm_campaign=13424519_Key%20Issues%2024%20Aug%202022&utm_medium=email&utm_source=London%20Councils&dm_i=192K,7ZQFB,47DH9Q,WOLXK,1 Councils have been pushing to be allowed to simply credit the amount against council tax bills - simpler for them - but also, and unsaid - a great means of collecting council tax arrears as presumably the whole payment is then applied against any unpaid council tax rather than the recipient choosing what to use it for.

If it's "behind" the running track/ treeline on the far side of the running track (as opposed to the field directly abutting College Road) then it actually sounds like that might be the DPL fields rather than Dulwich College. DC has a page about use of sprinklers on their website https://www.dulwich.org.uk/about/sustainability , which explains the situation / guidelines and how they are deliberately not watering at the peak times of 8-10 or 5-9.

Same signs on EDG relating to both MG north and south apparently. I imagine delivery vehicles to Charter East and MG north residents might think twice about entering the road…

Agree re the difficulty of reporting - not so much because it's a multifield form but because I have to give them my personal data, which I don't want to do. There are two parked at varying angles across the footpath in my road this morning, about 20 metres from each other.

It’s this I think https://www.laingbuissonnews.com/healthcare-markets-content/news-healthcare-markets-content/totally-plc-secures-urgent-treatment-centre-contract/ Walk in urgent care centre for minor injuries, presumably designed to take pressure off A and E. Will see if I can find more details.

The oversupply of school places in Southwark was discussed at this week’s Education and Local Economy Scrutiny Commission - details at https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=7373 including a link to the YouTube video of the meeting. It’s worth a watch. Council are now openly acknowledging that there is a problem and it’s implicit in what they say that there will have to be further school closures. Seems that GLA demographic projections for London have been way off the mark - but I do find it strange that councils seem to have followed those blindly without looking at their own admissions data... there is mention of the fact that they have been managing PAN reductions over the last ten years - why keep building schools if you are seeing numbers fall? Worth keeping an eye on the commission’s investigations. For example I’m mystified as to how Rotherhithe primary was recently rebuilt and expanded at great cost https://southwarknews.co.uk/news/education/albion-primary-rotherhithe-unveiled/ when it receives a fairly damning rating of its financial and operational controls https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/s107953/Internal%20Audit%20Annual%20Report%202021-22.pdf (page 37) and seems to be running with a significant annual financial deficit. Maybe the idea is that the new building will help it attract more pupils?

For info as likely to be a route used by ED residents: https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IssueId=50029845&OptionNum=0 Apparently consultation done in Feb/ March 2020 with flyers to residents within 50m and something on the website - I think most people had other things on their mind! As I interpret the final drawings they’ve decided not to go for the floating bus stops that Southwark Cyclists were lobbying for, which as a pedestrian/ bus user I’m glad of as am not a big fan.

Hi all Thought many of you might be interested in the new batch of minor/ non strategic traffic notices https://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?Id=7684&LLL=0 They cover a wide range of local streets, things like extension of DYL to improve visibility/ stop entrance ways being blocked, the DYL and “blips” in Court and Calton, removal of disabled parking bays where the residents whose presence initially justified them are no longer there - and interestingly a few (I didn’t read them all) where residents are installing dropped kerbs and as a result applying to have the CPZ parking spot outside their property removed. Not sure whether that trend is to avoid having a parking permit, or possibly more likely to enable them to install an electric charger off street. I think someone flagged earlier the risk that people would start paving their front gardens as an unintended consequence of a switch to electric?

For anyone interested a big chunk of last night’s Council Assembly meeting covered bus cuts and the number 12 specifically, starting with a couple of deputations and then moving on to a debate. Inevitably some bits on the “central govt or TfL” fault issue but importantly the council is very much against the cuts. The meeting’s available on the Southwark YouTube channel.

Will just take us all a while to adjust to it, is all. I remember back when they upgraded mumsnet into a new format in the late 2000s - oh, the drama. At least this still has a home-grown feel, plus I like the green colour. Agree it would be good to have functionality showing when a post has been edited.

Bit more detail in this version https://tdpelmedia.com/couple-loses-court-case-over-a-minor-trespass The gender neutral clothing is at https://www.ourlittletribe.co.uk/pages/about-us. While completely on board with the idea of clothes that can be handed down, describing the tshirts etc as designed to ?transcend siblings? made me smile. The so-called ?banker? apparently works in regulatory reporting for a bank, so is unlikely to be minted, I can only begin to imagine what a nightmare this has been for her, having made what appears to have been a generous offer to settle.

This has been open since Feb and closes on 24 June, apologies if someone has posted already but I couldn?t see anything on it https://consultations.southwark.gov.uk/children2019s-and-adults-services/disability-carers-service-service-user-questions/ Southwark Council wants to provide a new service offering Southwark residents, with a physical, sensory or learning disability, the following: Access to information, advice and support needed to help you with your disability A new way to connect with like minded disabled people and to access community based activities The aim is that disabled individuals, regardless of their disability, fully understand the local options for information, advice and support available to meet their specific needs. Why your views matter Why are we asking you to complete this questionnaire? Hearing the voice of disabled people is very important to Southwark Council. Feedback will help us: Understand what it is that residents with a disability want from a service Plan the best service possible to ensure that disabled people receive the best levels of support possible. There are separate questionnaires for carers and for service providers https://consultations.southwark.gov.uk/children2019s-and-adults-services/disability-carers-service-carer-questions/ https://consultations.southwark.gov.uk/housing-community-services-department-community-engagement-team/disability-service-service-providers/