Today East Dulwich cllrs Jonathan Mitchell and I (cllr Richard Thomas is on holiday), along with Greater London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon met with Southwarks Police Commander Malcom Tillyer along with other Police and MPA officers.

A very useful third meeting to discuss the future of East Dulwich Police Station.

We discussed the East Dulwich councillors proposals of how a Police station as we would see it could be kept on the current site, combined potentially with other council facilities, while meeting Police aspirations for new facilities commensurate with their requirements while obtaining capital receipts for the site.

Unfortuntely everything is on hold while the Metropolitan Police Authority reviews it property plans. Hopefully, in 4-8 weeks time we can continue these discussions.

Southwark Council and Southwark Police have been recognised for excellent partnership working. Hopefully we can deliver a role model in East Dulwich that takes such partnership working to an even higher level by sharing facilities and increasing how joined up services are for the general public. If successful this could be a model for other sites in Southwark and London as a whole.

Fridays South London Press had a story of how some local authorities are proposing to fund private loos in shops etc being made available to the general public.
My understanding is that this had been in place in Southwark for some time. My ward colleague cllr Richard Thomas while the executive member for the environment in Southwark had led this.

Weirdly Patrick Blunt the chairperson of Southwark Chamber of Commerce thought it ill conceived to expect businesses to participate.

it works like this. Businesses can agree to provide such public toilets under a planning condition - e.g. the Al Jamirah hotel on Blackfriars Road planning Section 106. They can be paid to offer this service to the community OR they can be public spirited.

For many residents and visitors to Sotuhwark they need to know that they can find a public toilet when they need one. Many have conditions that mean they can’t last as long as the rest of us. We allo know that public toilets in the old sense are poorly supervised and local authorities can;t pay for permanent supervisors.

So this type of scheme is the perfect solution. Little used private facilities are opened up and the owners receive a payment IF they choose to take part.

Today Retail Price Index inflation is reported at 5%. Ouch!

National pay negotations for local government employees appear stuck around 2.45%. So a real term pay cut while they help councils deliver productivity gains ahead of national government ‘Gershon’ targets (while that same national government fails to meet its own productivity targets).

The same week it’s revealed that 26 London MPs voted themselves a 9.4% basic pay rise and Cabinet ministers a 4.3% pay increase. Which also means a mega pension increase when they stop being MPs.

Shouldn’t MP salaries be linked to average earning and pensions. They be very motivated to implement policies that boost wages and pensions.

At long last Caffe Nero, having spouted considerable vitriol about Southwark Council, East Dulwich residents, council officers, and after the latest 30 day deadline, Caffe Nero have finally removed two noisy illegal and ugly air conditioning units they’d installed within a few feet of residents bedroom windows.

I never thought I’d quote the “unacceptable face of capitalism” and think it resonated with the appalling actions of a business located in East Dulwich.

Imagine what it must have been like having these units feet away from your bed, working 24/7, and being particualrly noisy in summer when you need to have your bedroom window open to keep cool.

At last some good news for these residents who can finally get a good nights sleep.

I feel sad and angered with the anouncement today that all eights proposed Post Offices closures in Southwark will go ahead. One of the East Dulwich Post Offices will close. The one on Melbourne Grove.

The service given at this Post Office is so good that many users bypass other Post Offices. Some people just can’t queue for quarter of an hour. This decision is particualrly bad as the Camberwell Post Office will close for an extended period while it is kncoked down and rebuilt. So at the very least delaying until after that project happens would make sense.

But this isn’t about making sense. It is about closing profitable popular urban Post Offices with the presumption customers and their business can travel to other Post Offices and boost profits from urban Post Offices. These decisions are not about giving excellent, better or even the same level of service.

The whole landscape needs to be changed to maximise customer service. Ministers and Post Offices decision makers are not customers of Post Offices. They have other people to run such errands. Hence this daft decision - timed to be announced just after the 1 May elections.

What relief that the London elections have passed. The amount of time and effort to help with a good campaign is exhausting - especially for families patience as well.

What did amaze me is how many homes don’t have house numbers. How tricky for postal workers.  

This election has seen terrible weather. Within the space of a week I was snowed on, rained on, pondered whether to be worried by lightning and then peeling from sunburn.

Has Caroline gained the numbers to win the Lambeth & Southwark GLA constituency seat….

Apparently plans are afoot to close t he Lewisham Accident & Emergency service.

Where will people who need A&E, who would currently be served by Lewisham Hospital, go?

My guess is they wont go to Woolwich or Farnborough as proposed. My guess is they will travel, in distress, all the way to Camberwell and Kings College Hospital. What particularly frustrating is that Guys A&E was closed with the expectation that many users would go to Lewisham A&E.

Apart from the extra stress on the Kings A&E that users from East Dulwich ward that I represent will experience.  In these times of increased caution about a big terrorist incident reducing the capacity of London to cope with a severe incident is alarming.

The Post Office is planning to close Melbourne post office. This is part of a huge programme directed by the Labour Government.
Liberal Democrats think that when a Post Office master says they are making a profit that it is bonkers to close such Post Offices.
Local Labour MP’s voted last week for such closures. They also appeared in photos campaigning against such closures.
How hypocritical is that?

I understand that the Labour Government Post Office closures programme has been announced today.

In East Dulwich it is proposed to close the Melbourne Grove post office. This really is vandalism by the Labour government of a local community resource. Secondary shopping parades all over london will be badly affected with post office closures. In a time when we need people to walk and cycle to local services to reduce CO2 emissions the Labour government seems predicated to creating car journeys. Truely bonkers.

The three local East Dulwich Liberal Democrat councillors had a big turnout of helpers on Sunday to personally call on home and deliver a parking survey to residents near to East Dulwich railway station and around Lordship Lane.

Over the last three years cllr Richard Thomas, Jonathan Mitchell and myself have had many people complaining how hard it is to park on their street. Hence the survey.

In several weeks time we should have the survey results.

Watch this space….