Goose Green councillors - how can we help?

[Nigello]

https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-councillors Useful to find your councillor for your ward.

[Pugwash]

Hello. Appreciate it?s just out of your ward but presumably lots of your constituents value Sydenham Hill Woods just by the plough which is a community open green space but has been padlocked off. No communication and would really value someone taking a look into this. Thank you.

I think you mean the Old Grove Tavern.

[kiera]

There are four other entrances to Sydenham Hill Woods and Dulwich Woods that I can think of, e.g.there's one on Sydenham Hill and one on Crescent Wood Rd

Edited to say that, since posting this, the Cox's Walk thread has been updated, so there is better information on there, including a response from a councillor for the ward in which the woods are situated and a post from a London Wildlife Trust volunteer, so the situation is better explained on that thread.

It seems no-one knows who padlocked the gates - that it was not any council contractors nor the London Wildlife Trust.

The council have put in a new planning application to fell the trees. The application is still open for comments on the council's planning website.

[Sue]

decca Wrote:

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> Hello. Appreciate it?s just out of your ward but

> presumably lots of your constituents value

> Sydenham Hill Woods just by the plough which is a

> community open green space but has been padlocked

> off. No communication and would really value

> someone taking a look into this. Thank you.

I have posted contact details of where you are more likely to be able to find out more directly on the Cox's Walk thread.

ETA: And yes, Cox's Walk is opposite the derelict pub (ex Grove, ex Harvester) which now homes a skate park.

The Plough is opposite Dulwich Library.

[first mate]

Can local councillors please advise what plans are in place for covid vaccination rollout in Southwark and what centres are being allocated for this?

[jamesmcash]

Hi all

I hope everyone had as restful and pleasant a Christmas as was possible given the circumstances... Happy new year - let's hope this one ends more happily than it started.

LTNs and pollution

The ruling that air pollution was the cause of Ella Kissi-Debrah's tragic death is a reminder to all of us of the need to treat this issue with the gravity it deserves. When we evaluate the impact of the LTNs, this must be a key consideration. Those on both sides of the debate believe their position is better for tackling the issue. Those who oppose the measures point to the displaced traffic on main roads and claim that this creates significant increases in pollution. Those who support LTNs argue that by making car-use more difficult, and active travel safer and more pleasant, emissions drop overall. There is undoubtedly some truth in both - when we evaluate the schemes we will need to do so on the basis of evidence both ways.

Postal service

Thanks for flagging this up. I have had a number of emails about it too. You are absolutely right that covid is not a good excuse, and that this has been a problem since Sylvester Road closed. Such closures are, sadly, inevitably under a privatised model. Helen Hayes MP has been campaigning on this issue and I encourage you to support her in it.

North Cross Road bins

I raised this with the council's team and action is being taken.

Surgeries

We are not currently doing surgeries due to Covid. However, there are plans to relaunch them virtually very soon.

Crossing with ED Grove and Lordship Lane

I have submitted a funding application to install a pedestrian crossing here. I think it could aid with both traffic flow, and pedestrian safety. It's very expensive though!

Vaccinations in Southwark

Vaccinations will be available from the following

- hospital sites

- some GPs

- Mass vaccination centre (location to be determined)

- Some pharmacies

- 'roving' services (but this will depend on storage)

I am afraid I do not know precise details at the moment but anyone who is eligible for the vaccination will be sent the information they need to get it.

I hope that's helpful

Best wishes

James

[Penguin68]

Such closures are, sadly, inevitably under a privatised model.

Sylvester Road was closed (according to both the PO and the unions) because working conditions there were 19th century which is when it, (broadly) dated back to. Additionally it had been built to handle mail, rather than parcels, which have become the mainstay of the Post Office. It would have been ideal, of course, for another local site to have been found for the distribution office. However, to suggest that closing a building which was unfit for commercial purpose, and which offered very poor standards of accommodation for staff was 'inevitable under a privatised model' would suggest that nationalised industries should be marked by their use of inappropriate buildings which fail to meet modern and accepted standards for staff accommodation. A strange viewpoint for a labour councillor, I would have thought. Or perhaps not.

[first mate]

The advice on vaccination rollout is vague. When do we think locations for mass vaccinations might be identified or is it the case that, despite having months to plan for this, the council actually has no plan?

Is there a list of pharmacies and GP Practices? Is there a bit more on a 'roving' service?

[Penguin68]

the council actually has no plan?

Why would the council have a plan? Vaccine roll-out is a function of the NHS/ primary care commissioners surely? The council's only involvement would be where a site (owned or run by the Council) was identified as a suitable location for mass vaccination. The council have no 'lists' of those in each of the first 4 categories to be vaccinated (health care people, over 80s, those in care homes and vulnerable, over 70s etc.) and no role thus in planning for these to be vaccinated.

[nxjen]

Closing one site without replacing it with another much needed site, cramming postal workers into an existing office, and selling on the original site is very much part of the privatisation model. Asset stripping.

Penguin68 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Such closures are, sadly, inevitably under a

> privatised model.

>

> Sylvester Road was closed (according to both the

> PO and the unions) because working conditions

> there were 19th century which is when it,

> (broadly) dated back to. Additionally it had been

> built to handle mail, rather than parcels, which

> have become the mainstay of the Post Office. It

> would have been ideal, of course, for another

> local site to have been found for the distribution

> office. However, to suggest that closing a

> building which was unfit for commercial purpose,

> and which offered very poor standards of

> accommodation for staff was 'inevitable under a

> privatised model' would suggest that nationalised

> industries should be marked by their use of

> inappropriate buildings which fail to meet modern

> and accepted standards for staff accommodation. A

> strange viewpoint for a labour councillor, I would

> have thought. Or perhaps not.

[first mate]

You'd hope there was some communication between the various bodies involved? You'd also hope that after all this time sites had been identified and some sort of provisional plan was in place. The lists I referred to were pharmacies and GP Practices that would be providing vaccinations to the broader population, when the time comes; not sectors.

Penguin68 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> the council actually has no plan?

>

> Why would the council have a plan? Vaccine

> roll-out is a function of the NHS/ primary care

> commissioners surely? The council's only

> involvement would be where a site (owned or run by

> the Council) was identified as a suitable location

> for mass vaccination. The council have no 'lists'

> of those in each of the first 4 categories to be

> vaccinated (health care people, over 80s, those in

> care homes and vulnerable, over 70s etc.) and no

> role thus in planning for these to be vaccinated.

[Nigello]

I don't see why a council needs to be involved. It is just another layer of bureaucracy, which costs money and gives more opportunities for snafus. We all have NHS numbers and nearly all registered with a doctor and pharmacist so it is a case of waiting. I feel confident I will be contacted in due course, as is the case with my flu jab. Meanwhile, I plan to stay inside and see hardly anyone at all, and then only outside and six feet away.

[Rockets]

The distribution and delivery of the vaccine is an unfathomable logistical nightmare but it is what the NHS was designed to do and with the help of the army they will get the logistical help they need to FastTrack it - it's not the role of local councils. And whilst I would hate for the government to take any credit for it we are doing a much better job getting the vaccine in arms of those who most need it than pretty much every other country - fascinating piece on Newsnight last night on the struggles France has had after they managed only 500 vaccinations in the first week of their programme.

On the subject of the post office I, and I don't say this often, agree with Cllr McaAh that this is, in part, an issue of privatisation but we all know Cllr McAsh loves nothing more than to dig the government at every opportunity! ;-)

Which when I read the rest of his note made me think. He references Ella Kissi-Debrah's death and two things came to my mind: 1) is he aware that Ella's mother has been a key voice in the debate on the harm LTN's are causing to those who live on main roads and the social injustice that it causes and 2) what he would be saying if the Tories were running the local council and had forced the LTNs on residents in his area and the findings in the coroner's report on Ella's death had come to light. One suspects he wouldn't be so keen to follow the wait and see/let it bed in/we will share the results with you when we are ready approach his council are taking.

Also, I was concerned by his reference to "they're very expensive though" in relation to the much needed pedestrian crossing at the junction of Lordship Lane and EDG. Given the council has spent a small fortune on the various iterations of the LTNs and managed to add filters to the lights in Dulwich Village and install cameras to blockade the village (and I know this is central govt money) one wonders why he feels the need to tell us how expensive a pedestrian crossing is. People have been demanding action at that crossing point for years as it is incredibly dangerous and an accident waiting to happen and to read that they're expensive (which sounds like a pre-cursor to - we don't have the budget) is really galling seeing how much money the council has spent just a few hundred yards further up the road.

[Abe_froeman]

It's not an accident waiting to happen... Many accidents have already happened there and still nothing is done.

[Penguin68]

You'd hope there was some communication between the various bodies involved? You'd also hope that after all this time sites had been identified and some sort of provisional plan was in place. The lists I referred to were pharmacies and GP Practices that would be providing vaccinations to the broader population, when the time comes; not sectors.

But why, unless they happen to control a resource that has been identified as useful, would a council be one of the 'various bodies involved'. They have no responsibility for health care, that is the responsibility of the various trusts, primary and secondary, that deliver services, together with NHS England etc. I love to beat the council up, but not for something that doesn't lie in their remit. Indeed the healthcare trusts are not council based (for instance we come under a Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark consortium, I believe).

Which is not to say that lists of GP practices, pharmacies and others offering vaccines wouldn't be useful - just not the responsibility of Southwark Council to produce one.

[first mate]

Okay, you may well be right. My intention was not to try to beat up the council, I am genuinely concerned as to how mass vaccination will happen in terms of logistics. I thought there might be a multi disciplinary approach. It occurred to me, perhaps incorrectly, that many pharmacies and GP Practices will not be set up to store the Pfizer Vaccination and so wondered if there was a sense of those that are equipped. We cannot have the masses turning up to Kings etc.., so I had wondered if Council owned premises, like the various fitness centres, might be an option? Though storage is still an issue to be resolved.

Also wonder where, when and if the army gets involved? For something so big and so vital there seems very little info.

[Pugwash]

Pedestrian crossing LL/EDG those of you with long memories will recall that James Barber when in office tried very hard to get this through but with very little success. I cannot remember whether it was TFL or Council blocked the proposal.

[kiera]

As I recall, we were told that TFL wouldn't allow it because it's a bus route & a pedestrian crossing would delay the buses.

[Rockets]

I am not sure the council/TFL can play that card anymore given the delays caused by increased congestion from the LTNs....;-)

[rch]

I also tried to incorporate an EDG/Lordship pedestrian crossing into the initial first phase of EDG traffic calming measures implemented years ago. From memory, it was TfL who blocked it due to the delays of the two buses that are routed along that junction, but the council highway engineers agreed. That junction was originally going to be a four way signalled junction but this was dropped because it was agreed that extending the 42 and 37 bus routes east-west would be more beneficial to the community.

There is also a logistical/technical problem, as a ped crossing would need to be set back several meters from the actual corners of the junction, but the pavement along EDG is too narrow. Plus, it was assumed that pedestrians wouldn?t divert to cross over. Plus, it would need to be a timed signalled crossing, as a zebra crossing would cause too much mayhem with the traffic flow, and signalled crossings cost a fortune.

It will be interesting to see how James?s bid (assuming CGS?) pans out this time, as there doesn?t appear to be much joined up thinking from the highway dept, hence the chaos created by the LTNs.

[Penguin68]

It occurred to me, perhaps incorrectly, that many pharmacies and GP Practices will not be set up to store the Pfizer Vaccination and so wondered if there was a sense of those that are equipped.

The Pfizer vaccine is being distributed via hospitals, in the main, or specialist centres with enhanced cold storage, which do have cold storage facilities - it is the Oxford: Astra Zeneca vaccine, which can be stored like flu vaccines, which is mainly going to GP practices and pharmacies. Where GP practices have had the Pfizer vaccine (before the other was available they had had to issue it all within 4 days or suffer wastage - hence stories of patients in 'the next tier down' being offered shots when otherwise eligible patients miss appointments. Hopefully that won't be an issue in the future as the Oxford vaccine becomes more available.

[heartblock]

Dear James,

Has the pollution and traffic increase of the new mega-nursery on East Dulwich Grove been assessed? How will the increased risk to health from NO2 and particulates caused by increased traffic be mitigated and will any compensation be provided to residents of EDG for the increase in pollution and noise be given.

[Abe_froeman]

Wont all the traffic just head into the closed roads nearby to park during drop off and pick up (e.g. Melbourne Grove, Derwent grove etc.

[heartblock]

You still have to drive down EDG to get to the LTNs, so the traffic will increase on EDG.

[Abe_froeman]

Good point! But I bet the nimbies in those roads will still get upset and object to this nursery.