Nuclear conversion

I’ve been passionately against nuclear energy for many many years. Nuclear energy uses Uranium and results in nuclear waste that will be left with our descendants for millennia upon millennia. It also has nuclear weapon proliferation risks and masses of hidden subsidies. Nuclear energy from uranium is part of the environmental problem not the solution.

But it transpires this is only part of the nuclear landscape of options.

Significant work took place from the 50’s to 70’s on producing energy from Thorium. Thorium was never popular with governments as its doesn’t result in nuclear weapons grade by-products. It also doesn’t have the nuclear waste issue of Uranium nuclear power.

So what’s stopping us deploying Thorium nuclear power?

Institutional inertia mostly. One small step towards removing it will hopefully come from the All Parliamentary Group set-up earlier this year. I’m chuffed to see so many members of this group being Lib Dems. UK plc needs to starting investing in this technology.

Statutory sick pay

For a number of years we’ve had legal minimum wage. Unfortunately statutory sick pay has not kept pace. In fact its never been in the same ball park.

Statutory sick pay works out as £85.85pw with many organisations paying sick employees at this rate for up to 28 weeks. The minimum wage for 21year old is £6.08ph or £243.20pw for a 40hr week.

So why the gap?

Beats me and I think it needs to be closed. Have you ever received statutory sick pay and how did you cope financially?

Beyond daft?

I took this photo 6.40am today. Exactly the same traffic managementwas in place at 6pm last night and a number of iterations of this have been proceeding south to north along Walworth recently.

We also had the same issue at Goose Green in East Dulwich recently.

I don’t doubt that all these road works are necessary but why are lanes closed and temporary traffic lights in place for the hours outside when a whole lane needs closing?
Other local authorities I’ve worked with would insist that the lane required by workers when working to ensure their safety are released outside the working period.

Instead we have 16 hours out of 24 hour day where temporary traffic lights are in operation when they needn’t be. Sometimes such pointless traffic management is left in place over whole weekends.

I’ve contacted the Labour cabinet member to ask why this is now allowed to occur. If you also think this is beyond daft email barrie.hargrove@southwark.gov.uk the politician responsible and copy me james.barber@southwark.gov.uk.

Residents kept in the dark…

I was amazed to discover that Southwark Council is considering switching of Southwark street lighting. Clearly adjusting street lights is an ongoing sage managing over 16,000 street lights in Southwark.

What’s really amazing is that this news is buried in Highway Electrical Newspage 12. The article is titled “42% of Councils in England and Wales Planning Some Street Lighting Cuts”. It shows Southwark as one of of the local authorities in the “Councils planning total or partial night switch off”.

I haven’t knowingly heard this before. Have you?

It’s the only London Authority listed in this category. No public announcement. No public consultation even with the Police let alone residents or businesses.

Another example of no democracy in a Labour led Southwark.

What is particularly galling is that it took me four year to get all the street lighting in East Dulwich ward brought up to modern standards – bright white light rather than faded yellow light. This saved buckets of electricity. So really frustrated to hear they might be turned of.

Olympic chaos

For many months Londoners, who lets not forget are each paying £240 towards the Olympics being held in London, have been inundated with communications to minimise travel. That banned night time deliveries will potentially be allowed. That Zil lanes will be created to whisk non athletes Olympic hangers on with snouts in the 5* trough around London at break neck speeds. Olympic ticketing shambles where applicants appear to have feast or famine with tickets. Sponsorship from companies with no London or UK connection – just dull global brands.

Twenty days ago at the 100days to go mark someone in the Olympic organisers suddenly realised that the Olympics appears a pretty rotten deal for Londoners with even less interest outside London. That a huge glut of Londoners putting their homes up for rent during the Olympics. Many are planning to simply avoid all the crap by being out of London for as much and long as possible.

A sudden plea at 100 days from athletes to enjoy the Olympics and ‘a golden summer’. I hope the Olympics are a roaring success but boy have the London Olympics committee done everything they can to alienate it from Londoners. The London Olympic brand appears very tarnished.

I have been fortunate in the ballot and have tickets for two Olympic and one Paralympic events. This is solely for my children to enjoy the buzz. I’m prepared to cover up for their sakes as much of the rubbish as I can to make it the best possible experience. They wont realise we’re conforming to the petty debranding of their cloths to avoid any embarrassment.

Oh why oh why couldn’t the London Olympics have kept the original Olympic type spirit. Even the London 1948 Olympic austerity games would have been preferable to the complete sell out and apparent incompetence we’re experiencing.

Regulate into employment

Fascinating research from Josh Bivens. He suggests that far from reducing economic growth and employment much regulation can boost both.

His argument sounds convincing. When economies are doing well and booming new regulations takes resources away from increase output. That at such times people are willing to pay more so costs of regulation are passed onto buyers feeding inflation. But when capacity is not growing and company board rooms have record cash piles and are unable to pass price rises on adding regulations can make companies use some of their cash mountains to impliment new regulations.

The example of regulations he referenced are US regulations around clean air – The Mercury and Air Toxic Standards. They’re designed to stop up to 11,000 premature deaths a year and attempts to delay them beign enforced are taking place.

So what are environment regulations we could impliment to improve our air, etc that would drive companies to spend some of the UK corporate cash mountains whil saving lots of preamture deaths?

Capital Projects

At the last Dulwich Community Council meeting we decided (in no particular order) how to allocate our limited capital to projects:

1. Artistically illuminate East Dulwich station bridge £10,000 – we think making the station area more attractive will help reduce crime and the fear of crime there.

2. Go slower signs £6,000 – residents often contact us that people are speeding on there roads but they don’t want speed humps. Where do you think we should put the 4-5 active speed signs?

3. Cycle contraflow on Henslowe Road £8,500 – some residents have told us its a long cycle round while others have told us they don’t like pavement cycling. This should solve both points but we hope to do it for a lot less than the ridiculous sum council officers have suggested.

4. Fix North Cross Road grot spot £4,000 – just by the electricity sub station.

5. Community notice boards £3,000 – they’ve worked well so far and more should work even better.

6. 20mph Lordship Lane £15,000 – we’re hopeful that with the new crossings on Lordship Lane simple signing of a 20mph speed limit will work making Lordship Lane even more attractive.

7. Trees on Lordship Lane £8,500 – we want to make Lordship Lane even greener and more friendly.

8. Goose Green School £5,400 – they’ve asked for help greening the school grounds.

9. Goodrich School £3,300 – they’ve asked for help greening the school grounds.

10. East Dulwich Crime Reduction fund £8,000 – some more funds for local Police to tell us how to reduce crime further.

11. Worlingham Road grot spot £5,000 – space between sheltered accommodation and 31A Worlingham Road.

12. Goose Green playground £5,000 – a little help to make it an even better playground.

Total £81,700 (with reserve of £312).

New Grove Vale Library

Yesterday core samples were taken under the Dulwich Garden Centre – see the picture. Core samples of the ground are used to check how much weight the ground can hold and what type of foundations will be required and a key step forward.

It also marked the Section 106 agreement making another step forward. Watching paint dry would be quicker but progress is progress. Still not resolved and still with some daft sections but close to being sufficient for building to be started.

If you’d like to know more about this scheme for a new Grove Vale library in late 2014/15 get in touch.

Food Fight

The coalition appears to be heading for a food fight with plans to ban Environmental Health Officers from having the right to enter food premises to ensure they’re safe and not causing food poisoning and risking public health.

The Protection of Freedoms Bill could result in EHO’s only being able to inspect premises with the invitation of owners or a court order. Obtaining court orders takes time – allowing food poisoning to spread OR the owner to cover-up whatever the root causes of poisoning have been. The same type of problems are likely for pollution control inspectors and trading standards officers.

I really think this is a case of throwing out good regulations. Most people who eat out do so on the basis of believing businesses are responsible and regulations will find out the bad businesses. Breaking that covenant means people will feel less certain their health wont be compromised by the perfectly innocent act of spending money in local food businesses. To rely on outbreaks of food poisoning to catch badly run businesses and inspections where the business is forewarned to put on an act will see more instance of food poisoning.

Hopefully no one in East Dulwich will become a martyr for the foolishness of these changes.

Draft House

Blackcherry appears to have been sold and renamed Draft House.

The first thing the new owners do – talk to neighbours NOPE but apply for shorter licensing hours.

They have applied to be open Thus, Fri and Sat 10am until 1am and the  rest of the week 10am until midnight. Draft House licensing extensions. This is dramatic improvement on the current 2am and 3am closing.

If you think Lordship Lane and East Dulwich already has enough anti social problems from late night revellers then please do SUPPORT this application by emailing licensing@southwark.gov.uk and please copy me james.barber@southwark.gov.uk. Equally if you think we don’t have enough late night drinking tell me that.

The only tweak would be closing at midnight on Thursday.

Whenever you see or hear any anti social problems that don’t warrant a 999 call please do call the the non emergency 101 number. Without reporting problems they never happened as far as licensing and Police officers are concerned and businesses can keep on causing alcohol fuelled problems for East Dulwich.

But this application is a move towards a saner East Dulwich.