Flats above Somerfields Shop. New

[fredricketts]

Fooled again by Lib Dems,who knew the flats above Somerfields, is in fact a new hostell,not just ordinary flats. No wonder the company were never taken to court for dumping rubbish on the foot path. Any one know what sort of hostel it is?,as some of the shop keepers have seen a rise in breakins in the area.I would have thought that if councilors are open and above board, they would have told the local residents.But they have kept it from us, Why?

[fredricketts]

See,East Dulwich councillor - can I help?

[James Barber]

Hi fredricketts,

The East Dulwich Lib Dem councillors did not and do not know that these flats are a hostel.

As for suggesting the management company is placing black plastic bags outside on the pavement how do you know this?

What we do know is that historically the planning permission without any proper place for rubbish or recycling was granted by the previous labour councillors for East Dulwich. With no proper space to put rubbish or recycling it has proven exceptionally difficult for officers to resolve this problem.

You'll also be aware my colleague cllr Jonathan Mitchell has been perservering with this.

What are the next steps.

All three East dulwich councillors will be meeting with enforcement officers during the next 4 weeks about this and other East dulwich planning enforcement issues.

[fredricketts]

I beg to differ, Mr J Mitchell did know about the hostel, as he hinted to me that there was something he could not say. You are in power in the Council, are you telling me, that a change of use was done without the Council knowing, it would appear that everyone else in the Council knew about it except you and your councillors. When a developer breaks the planning rules the Council are down on them like a ton of bricks. When the Council break the rules you just fob people of with stage 1, 2, and 3, of the complaints procedure and when that is finished your answer is you can now take it to the Ombudsman, you never put your house in order and be seen to do something, about the mistakes that Councillors? and staff make, in fact you give them a another job somewhere else, and more pay, LETS SEE SOME SATISFACTORY JUSTIC DONE whoever is to blame. You have had a petition from the residents of Ashbourne Grove for several problems related to speeding, Arctic lorries coming down the road, parking, rubbish etc, and the only thing that you have decided to deal with is 20 mph speed limit, which will be Nye on impossible to enforce, this is not only my opinion but that of most of the residents of Ashbourne Grove.

I did not say the management was placing plastic bags outside the premises, I said the tenants were, and they are only collected once a week, which someone in the Council hastily put in place, to shut us up about the conditions of planning being broke, and to probably cover up, the fact that it was turned into a hostel, as before this for the last four years the rubbish has been left on the pavement in Lordship Lane, and because of years of complaints. Picked up wily nilly by the Council, with promises that the management company for the flats would be prosecuted, NOW we know why there were no prosecutions. The resolution was quite simple the planning committee broke the rules by allowing the residents to move in, without any where to put there rubbish, now do the right thing and move them out, they should not have been there in the first place. We know it?s very hard to resolve, because for the last four years they have had no where to put there rubbish and they still haven?t. The fact is that since this has been a hostel we are now getting graffiti up on the roof of the building and several shops have been broken into.

I give Mr J Mitchel his due he has tried to resolbve the problems, but has not tried hard enough, if the rubbish department knows its a hostel, how come you lot dont know.