former East Dulwich councillor - how can I help?

[first mate]

Thanks for that James.

I take it that since you did not really answer my questions that you did not make any objections vis a vis the knock on effects on surrounding wards.

I am not clear about your answer on hours for CPZ. You seemed to indicate that 12-2pm is not your preferred option on the grounds that enforcement would be cheaper....in theory? So again, what would your preferred CPZ hours be. I think it is useful for us to be clear now because I am pretty sure that is what you will be wanting around here too and given this is your ward I gues you'll put up more of a fight to get it implemented too.

BTW all your arguments hang on the premise that CPZ really works well in favour of residents. At the last major debate on this forum many people disagreed. I suspect it is rather like your vision for ED to be changed into a Dutch style cycling utopia- nice in theory but the reality is somewhat different.

[James Barber]

Hi first mate,

No, I didn't object as plenty of evidence to me a real problem exists, how majority clearly felt at public meeting and the consultation results means people living there were clear they wanted CPZ.

I tried to mitigate its effect as much as possible with various thoughts and ideas.

11am-noon.

Last debate about CPZ on the EDForum. I've lived in CPZ. It worked we had no problems parking. That particular zone didn't suffer domino onto neighbouring streets - we were on the border. Perhaps we were lucky. This could well change.

[bels123]

Hi James, apologies if this has been covered already but do you know the latest position on the hoardings by ED station? Not only do they look particularly ugly at the gateway to East Dulwich but their current position is making the pavement directly by the station very narrow, particularly adjacent to the bike storage where the gap is only 2-3 persons wide.

If work was underway I'm sure we could grin and bear it but with nothing happening in the foreseeable future it seems an unecessary blockage of the public highway at a busy station entrance. Could you try to get the developer to move them back to the boundary?

Thanks

[edhistory]

Unless something has changed, the red dotted line is the boundary.

John K

[James Barber]

Hi bels123,

The last I heard and talking to planning officers. The developer due to steeply rising build costs wanted to change some aspects of the development - squaring things rather than odd shapes - the planners alledgely vasilated from expecting to approve changes to finally saying withdraw the request or they'd reject the proposed changes.

It now over 3 years since the last full planning permission and the planners are saying they want a new economic appraisal for the scheme. So we could be looking at another extended delay. Sorry. I wished they'd all get on with it.

And yes John the site boundary is surprisingly far out into the pavement.

[BrandNewGuy]

James, does Southwark have a clear policy with regard to sweeping autumn leaves from pavements? Main roads only? With today's rain, there are stretches of Melbourne Grove and Glengarry Road where the pavement is flooded because the leaves have blocked drains and are all over the pavements too - making it slippery as well.

I know there was a 'policy' with regard to snow the other year that side road pavements weren't going to be cleared, but we didn't know it until the snow and ice was already getting compacted.

It would be nice to know, because then we could take matters into our own hands.

[Grok]

BrandNewGuy Wrote:

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

> James, does Southwark have a clear policy with

> regard to sweeping autumn leaves from pavements?

> Main roads only? With today's rain, there are

> stretches of Melbourne Grove and Glengarry Road

> where the pavement is flooded because the leaves

> have blocked drains and are all over the pavements

> too - making it slippery as well.

>

> I know there was a 'policy' with regard to snow

> the other year that side road pavements weren't

> going to be cleared, but we didn't know it until

> the snow and ice was already getting compacted.

>

> It would be nice to know, because then we could

> take matters into our own hands.

Oh deary me. Leaves. The councils fault. I want a Nanny state. Grow up.

[Abe_froeman]

Grok there are other London boroughs that manage to clear leaves and litter on a daily basis.

https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/parking-transport-and-streets/your-streets/street-cleaning/street-cleaning-services

[BrandNewGuy]

Grok, you're a troll. Nothing you said could be inferred by my post. Now get to bed - school tomorrow!

[RobMiller]

@James, is there *nothing* that can be done for the next six months re: the Crystal Palace / Upland Road situation? http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,1586179,1597493,page=2#msg-1597493

Surely there's enough evidence here to get someone to try a teeny bit harder??

[edanna]

Good point on the leaves - they are very slippery after all the rain.

[BrandNewGuy]

I think James mentioned last year that the council weren't going to pay for the temporary extra staff for 'leaf fall' season. I would just like a clear statement from the council stating that they won't be sweeping our pavements of leaves or snow, then we can get on and do it ourselves. Putting my grumpy council tax-payer's hat on, I don't want to do it if I've already paid them to do it...

[uncleglen]

This attack on the front line services was so predictable after the Tories got in...happens every time...

[BrandNewGuy]

If local councils could be properly, independently and publicly audited in a way that residents could understand (and not with just a few simplistic pie charts), then perhaps we could see whether or not a lot of 'back office' is being ring-fenced at the expense of highly visible frontline services or not. As it stands, it seems to me that these sorts of crucial decisions happen behind closed doors, giving rise to understandable suspicions.

[siousxiesue]

Ooh I came on here with the same question as Brandnewguy! I'm lucky enough to be active and agile but I'm finding it slightly treacherous on the pavements-particularly Barry Road/Melbourne.

[EPB]

- and Lordship Lane is pretty treacherous.

[Abe_froeman]

If there are fewer front line services to organise is does rather suggest that there would be less need for staff to implement them.

[keane]

Has James answered the question about the leaves yet? Lordship Lane from court lane to the library on the library side of the pavement is totally covered in thick leaves from the huge trees on that part of the lane, my daughter slipped & fell today as couldn't see that three was a tree root breaking through pavement underneath all the leaves & cut Her forehead open on some gravel. I sweep up outside our house but can't do the whole section of this part of the lane as the leaves are huge & need bagging up. K

[Grok]

I think you have all answered your own questions; you have identified a possible risk of slipping due to the (annual) shedding of leaves, coupled with wet weather. Therefore, take extra care, clear your pathways, and be responsible. The Tinkerman isn't needed to slag off the Labour run council for you. You dont need to slag off thecouncil either. Justbtake extra care. Or of course you could ask the council to use the vast sums of money spent on the recent firework display, and the up coming fortune to be spent on needless xmas decs and lights to be used for a bit of street sweeping. Nah, didnt think so. Tory cuts, get used to it.

Sorry admin if not on correct thread.

[keane]

Yes I would rather the money was spent on street cleaning than lights not that my opinion particularly matters & you are obviously being sarcastic but if you saw the depth of leaves along the stretch of road I am referring too you would realise it does need clearing & bagging.

[James Barber]

This is the email below all councillors was sent last week. This year feels much wetter than previous years and in my mind the leaf clearing needs to vary depending on how much risk the leaves present. So this years accentuated risk due to all the rain so more clearing and quicker should be taking place.

It does bigger belief how little extra resource has been organised to cover 650 km of road.

In the last we had significantly more street sweepers and we employed many more at leaf fall. But different political parties have different priorities:

"Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2015 05:41 PM

To: Councillors (Lib Dem); Councillors (Con); Councillors (Lab)

Cc: Smith, Ian

Subject: Information on Leaf clearing during Autumn

Dear All

On average each autumn the council?s cleaning service collect in the region of 1,200 tonnes of leaves from the borough?s streets and housing estates, in order to cope with the extra demands leafing places on the cleaning service we deploy additional resources in terms of staff and machinery for a six week period during the leafing season starting in early November and finishing in mid December, specifically these additional resources comprise of the following:

12 street cleaner operatives

1 refuse freighter

1 grab lorry

2 large mechanical brooms

1 small mechanical broom

1 leaf vacuum

During the leaf fall period, street sweeping staff are switched from their normal duties to solely concentrate on leaf clearance however litter picking staff continue with their normal duties of litter picking and bin emptying during this period. Grounds maintenance staff who would normally be responsible for grass cutting are also switched to leafing activities as are some external estate cleaners on housing estates.

The leaf clearance schedules allows for all roads in the borough to be visited by the clearance teams during the leafing period with those with a heavier leaf fall receiving more frequent visits. Unfortunately, we are unable to ensure that the borough?s pavements remain leaf free at all times as due to the nature of leaf fall, l a road that is cleared of leaves on one day can be completely covered in leaves within hours. Whilst we endeavour to do our very best to remove the leaf fall across the borough as quickly and efficiently as possible we would ask for all residents to bear with us during this very busy period.

Thank you for your understanding

Regards

"

[keane]

The stretch of lordship lane I sm referring to definitely falls into the category of heavy fall due to size of the trees but I haven't seen leaf clearing up this way for a couple of weeks. K

[Penguin68]

I've noticed that the mild autumn has considerably extended the period of leaf fall - I still have deciduous trees where leaves haven't even started turning yet. Maybe the recent strong winds will help - but the longer the period of leaf fall, the more costly it is to continue to sweep up. I recall when bonfire night saw the bulk of the leaf fall burned in bonfires - now this looks to be continuing through to December.

650km of roads will now need sweeping perhaps 4 or 5 times to clear them - whereas in the past that might only have been twice or three times.

Hence the time taken to sweep particular roads. And the apparent ineffectiveness of the work done.

[edhistory]

> 650km of roads

And how many kilometres have trees?

[nxjen]

Also as our wonderful plane trees are growing so tall, the amount of fallen leaves is increasing year on year.