Increasing grubbiness of Lordship Lane pavements!

[m7post]

This is an issue originally raised in the 'East Dulwich councillor - can I help?'

- but i wanted to put it out to a wider comment base - I hoping we can persuade the area office of the need for actually cleaning the increasing filthy pavements of Lordship Lane. It's becoming embarrassing how just dirty it is round here.

see below last reply to councillor James Barber.

Hi James, Thanks for your note. ( Re: East Dulwich councillor - can I help?)

Thanks for the info on funding - unfortunately I'm all to aware of how the system dose and doesn't work.

Back to the point though - the grubbiness of L.L..

The out each morning - they are not cleaning though are they - they're just picking up litter and alike.

The pavements really need cleaning - as mentioned - around all the bins, buss stops, take awakes, late night shops, fish stalls around the station - there is thick blackening grime - that then gets walked out across the pavements - rain will not wash this away - even if it would - surely we can not rely on the vagaries of the weather to determine whether we live in a clean environment - we need to clear and clean up after our selves.

Please could we have some action in changing the regime - so at least occasionally / fortnightly the pavements are washed/pressure washed in the most needy areas.

Please could come back to us with what can be done.

Thanks

Martin.

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JBARBER Wrote:

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> Hi m7post,

>

>- every day including Sundays a dedicated

> team are out from 6.30am cleaning Lordship Lane.

> I'm sorry its grimmier. We need more rain to wash

> away stains and spills.

[BigPhil]

you think lordship lane is bad, come have a look at Peckham Rye, its absoluting disgusting, especially outside the butcher / fish shops where they dump and drain the rapidly unfreezing produce.

im surprized health and safety doesnt close the whole st down

[huncamunca]

.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Wasn't there a time (and I could be imagining this from too many films) where the pavement outside shops was the shops responsibility rather than the councils?

Even if I'm wrong I see the council as the last resort for this sort of thing - like a lazy adolescent, the more the council tidies our room, the more the public takes it for granted. Individuals and business should take more responsibility and be punished more harshly for not doing so IMO

[intexasatthe moment]

Totally agree with Big Phil.

Am in constant communication with Southwark re state of Highshore Rd ,near Post Office sorting office . ( in Peckham )

And thanks to Samuel Ofosuhene ( the guy who's arranging the current street audit around Forest Hill Rd etc ) with some success.

But all that money spent on repaving Crystal Palace Rd ,and now Court Lane ,plus the fancy cross overs to the side roads joining Lordship Lane.

How on earth does Southwark prioritise this type of spending ?

Is it all zoned ? " Oh we've not spent much money in East Dulwich ,let's do it now whether it needs it or not ?"

" Oh,let's keep the good burghers of Court Lane happy and further improve their already immaculate pavements ? "

[Mark]

I think it would be great if the businesses that supply the rubbish i.e. the take aways, late night shops etc and those that supply the drunks i.e. the bars, would spend 5 minutes every now and then in the evening cleaning up the rubbish left by their customers. Just send someone up and down the road to have a bit of a tidy up, it would be great to show they had pride in the area and contribute to keeping it clean.

[Domitianus]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Wasn't there a time (and I could be imagining this

> from too many films) where the pavement outside

> shops was the shops responsibility rather than the

> councils?

>

> Even if I'm wrong I see the council as the last

> resort for this sort of thing - like a lazy

> adolescent, the more the council tidies our room,

> the more the public takes it for granted.

> Individuals and business should take more

> responsibility and be punished more harshly for

> not doing so IMO

Equally, SM, the more people do the Council's job for it, the less incentive there is for the Council to pull its finger out and fulfill its legal duty (assuming of course it IS the Council's duty). If everyone brushes doen their steps then Council inspectors could come along, inspect it, observe "it all looks fine to me" and de-prioritise any further cleaning. And what happens to those street areas that are not directly outside a shopfront? Who takes responsibility for that?

I applaud your call to public spititedness and there is little as encouraging as seeing a proud shop owner taking a brush and bucket of water to the pavement outside their shop but is that really the way forward long-term?

[SeanMacGabhann]

Do you know, I think it might just be. It's not unheard of is it? And it would be A Good Thing? So no matter how many obstacles you see in the way (and I probably agree with you on most of them) I would rather see the challenge head on instead of shrugging and saying it can't be done

[jimbo1964]

It would be good if the take-aways would reduce the amount of packaging. There's no need for a polystyrene box with your kebab / chips.

[SeanMacGabhann]

slightly different issue tho jimbo - although I agree with what you say

Whether I have a small paper bag for my chips, or a huge plastic container, the same bin is just feet away - yet people just chuck 'em wherever

[huncamunca]

and the starter for 10...

what changes in LL of late seem to have been mirrored by the grubby pavement issue ?

Cake / eat interface

[m7post]

Thank you Mr Barber - Please do keep us updated on future plans that hopefully this 'Assembly Question' will result in. Let's hope we can have a clean centre to out community - if we can't achieve that as a council / community, what can we, it's a basic really isn't it.

Regards,

Martin.

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JBARBER Wrote:

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> Hi m7post,

> Its the chewing gum that really annoys me.

> Agree we need occassional deep clean of grime that

> litter picking, manual sweeping and rain just

> doesn't seem to shift.

>

> I'll ask a question at full council assembly to

> get a definitive answer.

[Domitianus]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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

> >

> Do you know, I think it might just be. It's not

> unheard of is it? And it would be A Good Thing? So

> no matter how many obstacles you see in the way

> (and I probably agree with you on most of them) I

> would rather see the challenge head on instead of

> shrugging and saying it can't be done

Will we see an according reduction in Council Tax bills as we would be doing the Council's job for it?

[Mark]

Domitianus Wrote:

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> Will we see an according reduction in Council Tax

> bills as we would be doing the Council's job for

> it?

Sounds rather like the little girls saying "My dad says it gives people jobs" in the anti-litter adverts from the 70's/80's. Do you throw litter in the street because someone in the council has a job to clear it up? Of course you don't.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Probably not Dom - have a look around - there is plenty the council could be improving expenditure on

[soapyE]

I run the shop under the dulwich Cafe and not a saturday goes by when I dont have something exceptionally nasty to clean up. Sometimes its let over chicken bones, chips, cigarette packs, other times its worse.

With the location of the shop being in the basement, it is difficult enough to get people to venture down into the unknown, we do our best to keep it clean.

Its OK the council wardens being about during the day, however they need to address LL during the evenings. There are often groups of people lurking around.

Have you been down the stairs to see us yet?

Where you worried about what you might find lurking about?

Well fear not. You may be surprised.

E

www.fortaroma.co.uk

We are under the dulwich Cafe

Lordship Lane