Bakerloo line extension to Camberwell and beyond…

The Bakerloo line is the only tube line considered to still have spare capacity. So it could be extended. It already extends significantly to the north so a southern extension deeper into Southwark is the obvious direction and South London has very poor public transport.

1949-1952 such a southern extension was started – several ventilation shafts were built along the Walworth Road and tunnelling proceeded as far as Heygate Street. That Transport and Works Act passed by parliament in 1930 and renewed in 1947 was based on a stops at Walworth Road, Camberwell Green and interchange at Denmark Hill.

Transport for London in 2006 produced a study “Transport 2025” which suggested 3 options for such an extension.

Option 1 – Burgess Park, Peckham – Lewisham-Bromley.

Option 2 – Walworth, Camberwell, Denmark Hill, Herne Hill, Tulse Hill, Streatham Hill, West Norwood, Gipsy Hill, Crystal Palace.

Option 3 – Burgess Park, Old Kent Road – Lewisham-Bromley.

Option 2 would create the most new capacity with 6+ trains per hour. Option 3 mostly replaces Network Rail trains on train lines – increasing capacity from 5 to 6 tph Hayes into central London representing poor value.

Cost. When the DLR was extended to Woolwich Arsenal it cost £180M for 2.5km including everything – new carriages the works.

http://developments.dlr.co.uk/extensions/woolwich/details.asp?id=7

DLR trains are large and rectangular rather than small circular tube trains. So tunnelling under the Thames and other parts would be more expensive but DLR trains are much shorter so stations smaller – broadly similar costs per km. Also it was run as a PFI into DLR who have been shown to be much more economic at building things. Broadly they follow the Madrid model where after an election they spend 6 months planning a new tube line dividing it into 100M Euro chunks that contractors spend 3 years building and the new tube line opens a few months before the next Madrid elections. Contractors are managed for cost and know they can’t get future work unless they hit the price.

But TfL are proposing for the Northern Line extension of roughly 2.5km from Kennington to Battersea Power station £550M.

Adapting the Madrid model and getting DLR to run a project to extend the Bakerloo line could see the Bakerloo line extended to Streatham Hill for circa £600M all in or just to Camberwell/Denmark Hill for £250M.

Its clear TfL don’t have serious intentions to extend the Bakerloo line. So how to make it happen. The coalition government is now proposing to allow councils to borrow money against the Community Infrastructure Levy. Along any proposed extension route are many development opportunities – such as building above the current London road depot.

Interest costs could be offset by reducing bus services that would no longer be needed with passengers switching to tube journeys. Each bus route is subsidised on average cost £4M. Deleting the 68 and terminating the 468 at Camberwell alone would save £6M.

Such an extension would also be suitable for EU regional funding which could bring a many tens of millions.

The problem is TfL and its warped cost base and mayors with vision. But perhaps Lambeth & Southwark councils could use localism powers to make this happen. The former could be bypassed and handed over a turn key as they do with DLR projects and the latter local councils could really focus on such a step improvement in public transport.

Currently the only council doing anything is Lewisham committee pushing for Option 3 – the worst option for Southwark and Lambeth.

One last practical but important factor is where you’d build from. With the Heygate estate about to be demolished this is great opportunity to use this site to base much of the works from. The quid pro quo for the E&C regeneration is that it would make that scheme also much more attractive.

Do you think the Bakerloo line should be extended? And if so which option do you support?

Nice one for new Grove Vale library?

For a number of years I’ve been working towards a brand new Grove Vale library. We had a scheme ready but the banking collapse killed that one. The latest scheme gained planning permission earlier this year. But getting a sensible section 106 that details the library has proved shall we say ‘ellusive’.

Council officers wanted to include a clause about deciding whether to take a library or money instead with realy complicated ocnditions and clauses. So complicated that lawyers have been having a field day. The uncertainty this caused meant its been hard for the developers who have to keep in mind what banks will lend against. Banks don’t like uncertainty.

The developer, and even more so I, became worried that the council was deciding to stall and planned to take the money. It would appear from assurances today that I was reading the runes wrongly.

TODAY the council leader Councillor Peter John has stepped in and I sincerely hope will break the deadlock. He is clear that Labour Southwark also want to keep Grove Vale library and also want to have a new double sized Grove Vale library. So he has today stated that the cabinet report on libraries being decided 18 October will have a recommendation for the new Grove Vale library. Nice one. Thank you Peter. I will hold you to this.

Why so much passion for a new Grove Vale library? Its right on the doorstep to the most deprived area around East Dulwich – the East Dulwich estate. It will bring much improved access to books, etc but also computers, study places and space to job hunt. Huge proportion of our library users are job hunting and studying. So a real lift for people wanting to do this that can’t easily do this at home.

Night time parasites

The British Retail Consortium is asking for night time delivery restrictions to be lifted across London.  Apparently just for the Olympics and Paralympics….

Night time deliveries are severely restricted to ensure residents can sleep. So children do better at school, employees are attentive at work, etc.

The draconian Olympic and Paralympic Road networks are ‘problematic’ enough. Now businesses want to rip up the rules that help Londoners sleep. And we know that disproportionately poorer people live along our busier roads. These are exactly the people least likely to be able to afford to go and see the Olympics – all the hassle with zero benefits.

I just don’t get why the Olympic Delivery Authority doesn’t like London?

I really did expect the London Olympics to be a show case for London and Britain. Its turned into an event to cocoon and shield 50,000+ foreign officials, sports people and journalists from being in London while staying here. From Olympic zil express routes, to cordoned 5* hotels. The list of condescension  and concessions is endless and now the lorries to service these parasites want to travel at night time as well.

Where will it end?

Olympic Parking Fine Excess

London won the Olympics 2012. I was delighted. WOW!

But the plans for this and sponsorship make it clear that this won’t really be the London we all know and love Olympics but some emasculated parody of London.

The Olympic Delivery Authority is now asking London councils to impose draconian parking fines during the London Olympic 2012 games across London. So far Greenwich council is suggesting £500-£1000 parking fines and so far Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets support higher parking fines with most London councils yet to respond. I just think this sets the wrong tone.

I hope London Lib Dems will be holding out to minimise not maximise the disruption to London and Londoners.

The proposal for draconian parking penalties, wheel clamping, much more removal of vehicles, storage charges and disposal of vehicles fees should be an anathema to us all.

Londoners should not be cowed by the threat of heavy Olympic fines. London households are already hugely subsidising the games.

So no, we should not accept these increased charges. Frankly we should be telling the ODA to spend more time making the Olympics  friendly to London and Londoners generating sufficient good will so Londoners want to help make it happen. I really fear a nasty Olympic backlash and these proposals make that more likely.

Compulsory Food Ratings

I have a passionate interest in environmental health from a close family experience.

The Food Safety Agency working with local councils have a scheme for giving ratings to all food establishments – based on hygienece, cleanliness, process, training. You can see their ‘Scores on the Doors’ on line and Android and Apple apps.  The ratings go:

0   –  Urgent improvement necessary (8)
1   –  Major improvement necessary (48)
2   –  Improvement necessary (26)
3   –  Generally satisfactory (34)
4   –  Good (81)
5   –  Very good (35)

Amazingly businesses don’t have to display their scores in a visible place or schools having to tell parents. In Wales the devolved government is planning to make is compulsory.  Frankly it should be UK law.

Frankly all food establishments should be able to reach a score of 5. In the SE22 East Dulwich area we have 232 rated food places, 35 with 5*, 81 with 4*, 34 with 3*, 26 with 2*, 48 with 1* and 8 with 0*’s. Some really low scoring places are local schools!

Until all food establishments have to display their scores they don’t have to try very hard to keep the public safe.

Do you think all scores should have to be displayed?

Getting food safety wrong can be fatal and cause lasting life changing health issues.

Planning changes who gains?

I have serious reservations about the coalition governments plans for reforming the planning system. I doubt many MP’s have ever sat as a councillor on a council Planning Committee or for that matter been a developer promoting a scheme. I’ve done both and the current system is biased towards big developers.

The system isn’t perfect but it does balance many competing wishes in a relatively fair way. If anything the present system, due to concerns by councils about potential to lose appeals and have costs awarded against them, already have a tacit presumption in favour of developers. If anything objectors should be able to appeal against a planning application granted permission – they can’t currently.

So I’m hopeful that the fuss caused by the National Trust, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Friends of the Earth and others is successful in getting any changes to be balanced. Even better would be abandon these anti resident and community changes.

After all leading tory politicians were only to happy with the current system when major developments were proposed in there backyards and they used the system to block applications they didn’t want.

Meat Free Mondays

The Dulwich Vegan and Vegetarian Society (DVVS)  are encouraging residents and businesses to support the concept of meat free days.

I’m observing meat free Monday’s. Whole host of great positive reasons to support this – health, environment, finance and obvious animal welfare. My eating habits are entrenched but I’m making a real effort on Monday’s. I’m interested in becoming a vegetation full-time but the prospect of cultured meat that is grown in labs rather than on animals isn’t helping my motivation levels!

So far DVVS have obtained the following support:

Schools: Alleyn’s School (advertising the scheme to the students and providing meat free options)
Faith organisations: Churches: St Stephen’s Church, St John’s The Evangelist, St Saviour’s Coplestone Centre and Christ Church.
Local Charities: Southwark Friends of the Earth
Restaurants that serve meat free dishes: Blue Brick Café, Indian Mischief, Ganapati, Jacks, Tandoori Nights, East Dulwich Tavern, Locale, Peckham Rye Café.
Shops: SMBS, Dulwich Healthmatters, Dulwich Supermarket
Health and Sport: High Vibe, The Vale Practice, Energy Therapy, Dulwich Yoga Space.

Their target is to obtain over 1,000 Dulwich residents signing up to meat free days. Could you be one of them?

If you’re interested in making this pledge contact Thomas Micklewright, The Dulwich Vegan and Vegetarian Society:

T: 07789 322 920
E: thomasmicklewright@hotmail.com
Web: http://www.dvvs.vegangroup.co.uk
Facebook: The Dulwich Vegan and Vegetarian Society

Twitter: @DulwichVeganSoc

Will Food Poisoning Rise?

On Friday Southwark Council confirmed its Food Safety Business Plan for 2011-12.

Food poisoning can kill – lots of different horrible bugs, additives, etc. Ensuring the food chain in Southwark is good is critical to public health.

The strategy is to ensure the highest risk food manufacturers, shops, takeaways, etc are inspected at the MINIMUM recommended rate. Category C & D premises are takeaways, cafes and restaurants. It proposes that 324 of the 1102 Category C premises will be inspected at the MINIMUM rate of every 18 months. That ‘s around half the premises that should be inspected during the year. Category D premises should be inspected at least biannually but only 158/439 are planned to be visited. For Category E that should be inspected at least every 3 years 0 / 634 will be inspected. But the strategy does plan to visit all 301 unrated premises.

What’s really troubling is that without meeting at least the MINIMUM stated recommended inspection rate you can’t spot dodgy places that should be kept under closer more frequent inspection.

Inspection scores are made available via the wed – Scores on the Doors . Weirdly the strategy doesn’t promote the Apple of Android Apps that give very easy and GPS based access to these inspection ratings.

What feels odd though is that the Strategy also stated 12.5 council officers work in this arena. That should work out at around 2,600 available person days available per annum.

So why can’t they make at least the minimum recommended 1,796 inspections every year?

Lordship Lane – walking audit

In 2007 the East Dulwich councillors arranged for a walking audit of Lordship Lane. Over the years we’ve gradually been delivering it recommendations.

The final problems from that report that need fixing are crossing East Dulwich Grove where it meets Lordship Lane and crossing Lordship Lane around where the Coop/Somerfield supermarket it.

I’m chuffed to report that it has finally been agreed and approved to install three crossing to fixed these final problems. The timescales will be that the works will be completed by March 2012 and will include some rearranging of local parknig to ensure that overall a gain in car parking to make up for the loss of parking that these crossings need to proceed.

I’d like to thank residents patience. Businesses for highlighting that we needed to make good any loss of parking. Good challenge that we’ve ensured is more than met. And lastly a thank you to officers who’ve been really supportive to ensure we’ve come up with the best overal solution – and the East Dulwich Grove entry crossing solution was after a number of meetings with East Dulwich councillors and specialise consultants.

Roll on March 2012.