What can the council do to make things easier during COVID-19?

[Rockets]

It may have been mentioned somewhere on this thread before but it would be good if the council looked at more bike securing devices along Lordship Lane. A lot of people do want to cycle to use the shops but are unable to due to the dearth of places to secure them.

[jamesmcash]

Hi all

I hope you are all staying safe and well, and that you have had opportunity to enjoy the fine weather.

Thank you for all the comments - let me address them each in turn.

Sue - I'm sorry to hear it! You can report bonfires here: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/environment/air-quality/air-quality-queries-and-complaints I hope that's helpful for future reference.

Applespider - Please you approve! Thanks for sharing.

seenbeen - the council is following government instructions on which types of outdoor facilities should be opened. I appreciate that it can seem a little nonsensical at times!

Rockets - great point! Would you mind suggesting this on the interactive map?

There are also a few comments about traffic measures and the survey. On the Admin's suggestion, I will leave these for the other thread. The one thing I will emphasise though is that you do not need to give us your contact details to participate in the survey - it is entirely optional. I do not apologise, however, for giving residents the opportunity to sign up to receive updates from their local councillors if they wish

Best wishes

James

[seenbeen]

seenbeen Wrote:

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

> Why doesn't the council open up the Peckham

> Football club ground on Dulwich Common since so

> many are intent on using up so much park space for

> their own games.

This was rhetorical and sarcastic- football is not allowed under government guidelines but many covidiots seem to want to play it anyway and thereby deprive others of exercise/sitting space- and there is no-one to stop them....

[Sue]

jamesmcash Wrote:

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

>

> Sue - I'm sorry to hear it! You can report

> bonfires here:

> https://www.southwark.gov.uk/environment/air-quali

> ty/air-quality-queries-and-complaints I hope

> that's helpful for future reference.

>

Thanks James!

[Rockets]

James, I added an entry to the interactive map. Will you be alerting us to which plans are being implemented and when, there are a lot of great ideas that have been posted?

[AllisonAdler]

Please can we have public toilets open again? Especially in Dulwich Park. Thank you!

[alice]

Bigger bins

[Earl Aelfheah]

We really need to follow the example of other cities around the world and urgently reallocate road space to people-focused public space. It?s impossible to pass down Lordship Lane and maintain social distancing rules.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Have there been any temporary road closures, pavement extensions or bike lanes put in anywhere in Dulwich to create space for social distancing? People are starting to return to work, the roads are getting busier and the window of opportunity to put in such measures is closing. It becomes much more difficult once traffic levels return to normal.

[KidKruger]

Yeah, the risk is entirely on individuals who are IMO effectively being pressured to squeeze into decreasing public space because of the encouraged return to work.

I wonder if the reason the Govt is not saying wearing masks outside (or at least on public transport) is mandatory is because they know we can't all easily get them.

A case of the requirements for safety being changed according to facilities available.

[Rockets]

Rahrahrah - I don't think there have been any. The only action the local councillors seem to have taken is setting up the survey for the Melbourne Grove closure and the invitation on this thread to come up with some ideas. Walking down Lordship lane it is clear that social distancing is a huge problem and there could be some very quick fixes to alleviate the problem like reclaiming the parking spaces in front of the Co-Op and Jazz's on the other side to allow people to pass safely - the section in front of Tandorri Nights is particularly narrow.

I can't work out why Southwark aren't doing more. A lot of other local councils (Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon, Camden, Hammersmith, Kensington) have moved with great speed and made wholesale temporary changes to roads and pavements to benefit their communities yet Southwark seems to be doing next to nothing and moving incredibly slowly.

To be honest I am amazed that our local councillors haven't done anything to help the shoppers and traders who use Lordship Lane. I just wish they had approached Lordship Lane and the wider community with the same vim and vigour that they jumped on the opportunity to try and close Melbourne Grove.

[redjam]

Can I second the suggestions on here for a) bigger bins in entrances to parks (and more frequent rubbish collection in/near green spaces when we're all using the parks so heavily) and b) opening loos in parks. Bit grim seeing guys peeing in bushes.

[goldilocks]

Would agree with that Redjam. The parks are seeing much heavier usage and this will continue as more interaction outside is allowed. Keeping the parks clean is important, so more bins and yes, toilets opening. For anyone saying its a risk and people should stay close to home etc - this just isn't happening, and having a park full of human waste is hugely unpleasant. Children like to play in the bushes too, so keeping them free of human waste feels like a key point. There needs to be adequate hand washing and rules about how many people can go in at once, but to the extent that cafes are opening, then toilets should open too.

[Rockets]

I think, and I might be wrong, that the council's hands are tied by government directives on this (although as we have seen on school re-openings councils can advise against compliance - maybe public toilets aren't such a political football!) but it would make absolute sense to re-open them as a matter of urgency.

I have been shocked by how little Southwark seems to have done to aid social distancing. Lordship Lane is a nightmare. On Saturday afternoon it was almost impossible to socially distance along its length - the lines that formed out of Moxons and Oddono's were ludicrous and often overlapped one another - the council could have easily put temporary bollards along the length of Lordship lane to take away the parking lane along it.

A few weeks into the lockdown I was very pleasantly surprised to see the efforts Lambeth had gone to to ensure social distancing near Brockwell Park by putting temporary bollards under the bridge near the station. A simple but very effective measure that benefited everyone.

By comparison, Southwark, or certainly Southwark council in the Lordship Lane area, has done nothing.

Perhaps Cllr McAsh might care to give us an update on what has come of all the great suggestions made by the posters on this forum?

[alice]

Do not go to lordship lane on Saturdays.

[jamesmcash]

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in responding. As some of you may know, I am a primary school teacher as well as being a councillor (being a councillor is not, for most, a fulltime role) and the ongoing preparations for school reopening has taken up a huge amount of time, in addition to my usual responsibilities both in the council and in school.

Let me try to respond to all these points.

Interactive map

Rockets asked "Will you be alerting us to which plans are being implemented and when, there are a lot of great ideas that have been posted?"

Yes I will - the filter on Melbourne Grove south is going ahead in the next few weeks and we are looking at getting bike stands installed on Lordship Lane. All other proposals are still being considered. I'll keep you posted.

Toilets in parks

I am afraid I do not know when these will be opened yet. I agree that we need them open soon but this needs to be balanced with the risk of them being places of infection. I have flagged it up with the Cabinet Member though and emphasised the need to open them as soon as is safe.

Bigger bins

I am trying to get bigger bins in parks, and them to be collected more frequently.

Transport measures

Thanks for raising this rahrahrah. Yes, we are looking at road closures and social distancing measures. Details on this thread: https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,2113728,page=3

Please do add your suggestions regarding transport to the interactive map. Goose Green has the second highest number of responses so clearly lots of people are but we want the comments to be as representative as possible!

I hope this answers everyone's questions. Have a great weekend!

Best wishes

James

[Spartacus]

This is how the council are ignoring local resident consultations and pushing through their ideas regardless using the excuse of "social distancing measures"

http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=50023147&Opt=0

Are we allowed to object to these schemes before they get steam rollered in ?

[first mate]

Please can someone explain exactly how the ?emergency? measures in MG encourage and help social distancing in ED?

The south side is to be blocked adjacent to Tell Grove. Double yellow lines will be put in (an odd ?temporary measure?) apparently to suspend parking so that cars have room to turn and go the other way. So the hordes of pedestrians and cyclists now able to somehow better socially distance will also be weaving through cars doing three point turns?

Meantime, parking pressure on all the surrounding streets will increase and will at some point beg for CPZ.

The hope is that every resident who voted for the above will immediately sell their car if they own one.

[jamesmcash]

Some cars will indeed have to turn around at the end but the overall number of cars on the street will plummet when it is no longer a through-route.

Best wishes

James

[Rockets]

James,

Where does the council expect that through traffic to go - I am presuming the council has modelled this? Perhaps you could share?

Are you expecting traffic to significantly increase along Matham Grove, for example, as people search for another route? The Matham Grove right turn onto Lordship Lane is pretty hazardous as it is and I suspect there will be a big increase in traffic along this route to avoid the no right turn from East Dulwich Grove onto Lordship Lane.

Are we to presume the traffic along Lordship Lane will also increase significantly with both the Melbourne Grove closure and the Dulwich Village closures? What plans does the council have to deal with this?

[EDAus]

Melbourne Grove South is being given a barrier to stop all traffic not a filter, please be accurate.

The best things people can do is email Richard and Dale with their objections as soon as possible:

[email protected]

Lead member: Councillor Richard Livingstone, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and the Climate Emergency

[email protected]

Contact: Dale Foden, Head of Highways Email: [email protected] Tel: 020 7525 2045.

[seenbeen]

This just occurred to me reading another thread that there are many builders around here doing extensions and refurbs and they are causing a nuisance in many cases- no dust control, excessive CONTINUOUS noise (should be 2 hours on, 2 hours off) and working outside of designated hours. No social distancing, littering, overfilled skips left for days etc etc

Some have hoarding around their sites with contact details- good for them- but there are some that don't and it is not right that they have been able to carry on working and the Council is not providing the Environmental Control Service when they breech the rules, (because of the lock down) and the neighbours have no way of contacting the company except by talking to the builders- some of whom don't speak English and some are downright rude.

Southwark should make it compulsory for builders on sites to display their contact details.

[jamesmcash]

Seenbeen,

Construction should have social distancing observed. Drop me an email if there is a site where this isn't happening.

Best wishes

James

[AllisonAdler]

PLEASE open the loos in Dulwich Park. The Horniman has opened theirs. It's perfectly easy to maintain hygiene in the park toilets as they have hands free operation and sliding bolts on stall doors that can easily be opened and closed with one's elbow. It would be incredibly simple to install hand sanitisers above the basins until hands free soap dispensers and taps can be installed. People with medical conditions and pregnant women are really suffering. PLEASE give this more urgent attention.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I've received a parking fine in the one of the new zones. I thought these were suspended for the Covid crisis? Some warning that they had rescinded this would have been useful