11th May Goose Green community meeting: supporting our local high streets

[nxjen]

I agree that turning the stalls around to face the street has been a good move. It was difficult to make progress along the pavement before and would be impossible for visitors to socially distant. If people don?t feel safe visiting the market then they?ll stop coming which won?t be good for shops or stalls.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

"A really simple way of helping stop birds and foxes get into the refuse sacks that litter pickers place on the streets is to make sure they are always put on top of the nearest litter bin. It really helps but not all pickers put them on top, even if a bin is nearby."

I find this habit really irritating: how am I meant to extinguish and dispose of a cigarette? Just throw it on the floor?

[Spartacus]

Hi James

How much financially can the council bring to the table to support the retail businesses as we start to ease out of the worst this pandemic?

Knowing that will enable realistic ideas to be put forward.

[rachp]

May be we need designated cigarette bins next to general waste bins?

[Nigello]

No, never litter. Why not stub it out in a wall and take it to the nearest bin? 🤨

[jamesmcash]

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

[rachp]

Thanks James, I honestly think with the waste management, you wouldn?t require a lot if any more money. It?s just about thinking differently/smarter. So rather than spend money clearing up the mess, spend the money to avoid it in the first place. There are so many examples where this would be possible!

[alice]

I did notice that dulwich village got ?2K to renew contract for hanging basket care. That sounds like a ?service? rather than?infrastructure?

[first mate]

Hmmmm.

[redjam]

Very much agree with Rahrahrah's point about those temporary barriers to widen the pavement opposite the cinema - they look so ugly. That pavement either needs to be widened permanently or changed back to car parking spaces, preferably the former. Either way I don't understand why the bus stop outside the cinema is closed as the road is no narrower than before (though I realise this is probably a TFL decision not a council one).

Also agree with other posters about litter being a big issue, especially after the market has closed. But I like the new layout of the market itself - seems much more sensible to have them all facing the same way, i.e. inwards.

[Earl Aelfheah]

In addition to permanent widening of the pavements on Lordship Lane (where they are currently temporary) - Would be good to pedestrianise North Cross road permanently and allow for landscaping etc.

Maybe some temporary closures to Lordship Lane around the weekend as they have done along Northcote road in Battersea, to allow bars and restaurants to provide outdoor seating (see below):

 

[Spartacus]

Whilst I don't disagree with closing north cross road , there aren't enough eating establishments along there to make it viable

Now if you also closed some shops and make them cafes / bars / restaurants then totally feasible

[Nigello]

I would like to see our councillors doing simple but achievable things to help the high street (and the roads that lead off thme that have businesses). It can't be that time consuming at all to be on top of the grot spots (shops with refuse bags outside, vandalised shop fronts, BT/Virgin cabinets that are painted on, etc.) and it could yield a lot of positive results from just a small amount of effort. Do councillors go out and press the flesh? If not, please do - just speak to the shop owners, even if it is point out their failings, and offer to help, or tell them where they can get help, or liaise with TfL, for example, to get them to commit to monthly upkeep of their (often vandalised) bus shelters, etc.

[rachp]

Building on my earlier post, here is an example of where we need to get back to basics with waste management routines.

These are the bins near Spinach restaurant on LL today (Thursday 30/04). The bin has been overflowing like this since Tuesday morning and the rubbish bags have been piling up all week. It's a miracle that the foxes haven't got into the bin or the bags and strewn it everywhere, as they have with bags just a long the pavement.

Adding more bins in busy areas or more regular emptying, plus extending the daily domestic waste collection to this stretch of the road seem like viable options which wouldn't involve a great deal more resources. I also think on a busy road like LL, this is a pretty basic level of waste management service to provide. We're not talking about getting hanging baskets, just the basics.

[first mate]

Indeed, what a very simple but effective way to massively improve the look and feel of the high street and also create more space on the pavement. However, get this is not a sexy or innovative intervention...

[Otto2]

Much of the rubbish removal from shops is a paid-for private service - not council. There are no bins for that - just special bags provided by the private companies that specify the kind of material (recycled, etc).

[Nigello]

Rachp - you can send this image to Cllr McAsh and Cllr Smith and also send it to the MP as a CC. More quickly in terms of results is reporting it online or on 020 7525 2000 - it can be done without having to leave any personal details. https://www.southwark.gov.uk/allservices - streetcare and other options (eg. bins/refuse)

[rachp]

This is residential. The shops seem to have a pretty good, daily service. So whilst it is on the pavement in bags, it gets cleaned up quickly and is usually bagged up well to. So doesn?t end up all over the pavement. Unlike residential (above shop) waste.

[rachp]

This is residential. The shops seem to have a pretty good, daily service. So whilst it is on the pavement in bags, it gets cleaned up quickly and is usually bagged up well too. So it doesn?t end up all over the pavement. Unlike residential (above shop) waste.

Nigello, I have a hot line through to the environment team to report this stuff. I am just appealing for a more proactive approach to prevent it. If you have too few bins, not emptied regularly enough, and a weekly collection service for residents who have no wheelie bin, you are going to have a rubbish problem somewhere as busy as LL.

[alice]

Lewisham picks up residential flat (over shops) rubbish daily.

[Nigello]

Good that you have a hotline. If more people reproted grot spots it would benefit all. So, now the question is, what else? Lobbying councillors? DIY - knocking on doors of businesses to tell them their rubbish is, er, rubbish?

[Metallic]

I'm thinking up a new phrase for "we are listening" for Southwark Council to use on the top of their comms to residents.

How about: "We are listening but not registering what you say, we don't really care about any of you"

[alice]

the gap between listening and hearing.

[alice]

double

[first mate]

The cloth-eared council.