former East Dulwich councillor - how can I help?

[James Barber]

Hi tiger ranks,

I can assure you Southwark constantly monitors the weather and 12 hours before bad weather is due to arrive has three GPS monitored gritting lorries out covering its 340km of roads and pavements. We also have 300 core street cleaners who get diverted to keeping pavements and roads clearer when needed. Some of these use manually propelled salt spreaders that can reach the places the big gritters can't easilly reach. Also, fleet of vans to get the grit from the depot to where needed.

We have 950 tonnes of salt stored at the Bournemouth Road depot.

For more details please look at - Winter Gritting.

[James Barber]

Not sure how many East dulwich residents this affects but until March Farquhar Road bridge is closed for strengthening works.

If anyone needs more info let me know.

[Tarot]

Jim lad will we have a local police station open again, or patrolling the back streets, especially near bus stops, where mugging imbeciles seem to lurk,'?

[James Barber]

Hi Tarot,

Not sure how I can help?

[Agent007]

Hi

Would it be possible for you to ask the council to Gritt the Roads of Southwark Please

[neilson99]

Councillor Barber, I don't doubt that you believe these facts about the amount of salt, number of people and equipment that is available, but clearly the officials in council are not deploying these resources. What a joke Southwark Council have been shown to been tonight. I wouldn't mind if this was out of the blue or similar levels February this year but we have a half hour of sleet and the whole place comes to a grinding halt. Hundreds of people walking up Peckham Rye this evening, I've seen more salt in a bag of Golden Wonder. What on earth does it take to get the basic services right?

If one Councillor can come up with a decent plan to sort out basic services then they will get my vote come the next election.

[Penguin68]

What I find particularly annoying is that roads used as bus routes were not being gritted - when most of the traffic problems around ED have been directly or indirectly caused by buses unable to make it through the freezing slush. There were 4 (yes 4) buses out of action in about no more than 50 yards of Underhill road - 2 bendy 12s one behind the other where the Rye meets Barry Road and god knows how many more - a slew around Forest Hill, I believe.

ED is hilly, buses have very weak engines (particularly when loaded) and need all the traction they can get.

If you can't even get round to gritting bus routes...

[ralphation]

It would be handy if the council stopped collecting stats on grit stocks to give to councillors and actually spent some time deploying it. Westminster doesn't seem to have this problem - I have had no trouble getting around the West End all week yet, there doesn't appear to have been a single grain of salt deposited on a road in Southwark that wasn't previously resident in a kebab wrapper these past few days. The weather has been a bit icy and snowy (note, not a Siberian winter) for almost a week now. Is there any chance the council employees that spend so much of their day in Crossroads Cafe in Bellenden Road could actually get to work on the street outside? even if they just sprinkled the salt shakers on the pavement it would be a start.

[cw]

Hi James

No one seems to have gritted the roads this year for the snow - obvious reasons why this is not good! Could the council sort this out for next time it snows?

Thanks

[intexasatthe moment]

Yes ,I do wish we had access to grit so that we could all do our bit of the pavement .

Do think that with all the rain ,that preceeded the burst of snow last night ,that it would have been tricky to grit effectively.

[SeanMacGabhann]

There is this idea that other countries are, like, wizards at dealing with snow and stuff and that Broken Britain is an embarrasment in comparison

it's worth pointing out that large swathes of North America for example were out of action yesterday due to snowy weather - airports shut etc. And they are more used to dealing with snow than we are

people localise it to silly degrees - on here it's

"the local council" or "Southwark council"

on BBC London it's whoever's council

On national radio it's Berkshire council

When in reality it was a short sharp blast of extreme weather that was not forecast at that time - and people are too quick to point a finger.

If the weather does get more extreme over the coming years I would expect to see major improvement in council responses but to suggest this is indicative of the 2012 olympics is just self-flagellation

[helena handbasket]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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

> There is this idea that other countries are, like,

> wizards at dealing with snow and stuff and that

> Broken Britain is an embarrasment in comparison

>

> it's worth pointing out that large swathes of

> North America for example were out of action

> yesterday due to snowy weather - airports shut

> etc. And they are more used to dealing with snow

> than we are

>

> people localise it to silly degrees - on here

> it's

>

> "the local council" or "Southwark council"

>

> on BBC London it's whoever's council

>

> On national radio it's Berkshire council

>

> When in reality it was a short sharp blast of

> extreme weather that was not forecast at that time

> - and people are too quick to point a finger.

>

> If the weather does get more extreme over the

> coming years I would expect to see major

> improvement in council responses but to suggest

> this is indicative of the 2012 olympics is just

> self-flagellation

True, but when we are talking about being caught off guard there, it is not three inches of snow over four days. My parents recently had 17 inches overnight (not unusual) and the temperature dropped from -8 to -47 (-56 with the wind chill factor, which is important to add). There are plenty of days where you have chinook winds that warm everything up to 10 degrees and melt the snow, only to drop below -30 overnight and freeze the whole mess up. And yes, that can make for an interesting commute to work the next day. It doesn't happen often, but it WILL happen at some point to people are somewhat prepared for it. Soooooooo, when the BBC bangs on about "extreme weather condtions" and the country falls apart, one has to wonder why Britain has not learned to adapt to it's own particular climate? I've been here long enough to have seen it a few times, and at first it was charming but now it's just starting to be annoying. No, there is not much snow here. But there is plenty of sleet and winter means temperatures below zero, so why no expertise in dealing with freezing rain? Why do the trains shut down every time there is what I see as fairly typical British weather? This country should be world leaders in understanding weather and track interactions, and yet........ somebody please enlighten me, tell me I'm wrong, maybe I've missed something.....

[iamyamyam]

Do your parents live in Sydenham? I heard it can get cold up there on the hill

[helena handbasket]

Saskatchewan

[Administrator]

Please stay on topic

[BARA]

The snow on Monday was not forcast for London and South East - even lunch time on the news there was no mention of the fact. Like everyone else including James and Southwark Council - we were all caught on the hop. If I recall correctly Dog Kennell Hill and Lordship Lane come under Trasnport for London - surely we should blame Boris!!.

As loads of other people have moaned James - it is the side roads which require gritting - Darrell Road, Pellatt and Landcroft were terrible last night - did not help that I had a passenger on crutches and had to find somewhere to park where she could not step out on ice.

[James Barber]

The snow on Monday was unforecast. We don't have weather conditions to grit 'just in case' every single winter day. We'd all be alarmed at the council tax rise that would require.

So Southwark Council officers constantly monitor Met Office weather forecasts. They regularly measure road temperatures for freezing conditions. If it looks like freezing or snowy conditions they grit main roads first. If bad weather arrives they then grit main roads, roads and pavements that are busier or have a gradient, then after all that they start on quiet residential roads.

So frankly, yes everyone was caught out on Monday and the main roads had not been gritted in advance and the roads then jammed with stuck vehicles. And boy was it a pain to get home and around.

I've attached the council's winter snow plans. A couple of changes I'm aware of. We now have 3 gritting lorries and 80 mechanical gritters for pavement use. I spotted 3 in use in East Dulwich early this morning on our quiet residential roads.

[James Barber]

Freedom Pass 2010 renewal.

If you're over 60 years old or know someone who is or disabled and they/you want a Freedom Pass for free bus journeys applications need to be submitted between 4 January and 13 February.

My understanding of the process is:

For Older Persons

Get an application from local Post Office FROM 4 January. Fill it in then take it back to Post Office with proof of age, proof of address and photo. Post office issues a receipt. Post Office send form and photo to a documentation bureau. Bureau issue Freedom Pass within 10 working day via 2nd class post.

For Disabled Person Freedom Pass.

Get reassessment form from Southwark Council. Apply with required proofs and photo. Southwark checks form and if necessary arranged for occupational therapy assessment. Applicant takes letter of authorisation, prooft of age!, address and photo to Post Office who issue a receipt. Post Office sends documentation to documentation bureau. Bureau issues Freedom Pass within 10 working day via 2nd class post.

Any problems let me know ASAP. Last time these passes were renewed it all went pear shaped across London. Everyone working really hard to avoid this. So any problems please tell me.

[Sue]

I didn't know these had to be renewed? Thought I had mine for life :))

Edited to add: I read all the info thoroughly and I don't recall anything about having to renew it annually, especially within such a limited timescale?

[James Barber]

Sorry Sue, but Freedom Passes apparently do have to be renewed biannually. We'd prefer them to be ten yearly but this has not been agreed on London wide basis or nationally. Some concern that as each Freedom Pass is worth quite a lot of money entitlement has to be checked every couple of years. And before you ask no I don't know of any elixhirs of life.

Full details from Southwark Council.

[Sue]

I only got mine in July! Seems a bit of a waste of admin time.

[James Barber]

Hi Sue,

I completly agree. I took part in the Scurtiny review of the 2008 Freedom Pass process. I very strongly suggested biannually was bizarre and a waste of people's time and energy. However, Southwark Council is one tiny cog in the overall scheme that supports national legislation.

Regards james.

[Penguin68]

James' advice doesn't quite match that of the Freedom Pass site - when you renew your pass depends on what your name is - the following is from the web site:-

Use the list below to work out when you should go to the Post Office to apply.

A/B/C/D/E surnames: 4-16 January 2010

F/G/H/I/J surnames: 18-23 January

K/L/M/N/O surnames: 25-30 January

P/Q/R/S/T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z surnames: 1-6 February

If you miss your week, please apply 8-13 February

The link is here

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/freedompass/renewing/default.htm

A new type of pass is being issed - with the photo on the card itself, not a separate photo-card - hence the need for a photo even if you've already got a photocard. The site also says the pass will be a valid for 5 years.

[James Barber]

Hi Penguin68,

Many thanks for this extra granularity.

Didn't know it would become 5 years. An improvement.

The surname restriction bit seems excessive. Guess aimed at avoiding everyone waiting until the last possible moment.

[sian]

You could do something about the awful customer service at the call centre. I called this morning to ask for our bin to emptied as it --and our elderly neighbour's - had been missed out when all the others were collected. The person I spoke to said there is no point in calling until after 6 as "the refuse will just ignore it". I asked if he could pass the info on or take a message or raise a query. He said that he wouldn't be around and wouldn't pass it on. I would have to call back after 6pm. Superb.