British Airports Authority have been plastering all the media they can find to promote that Heathrow Terminal 5 ‘is working’ after the incredibly unedifyingspectacle that was its original opening.
Working at what though….increasing global warming? increasing the number of flights over London including? increasing the number night flights?
I’ve actually been to Terminal 5 and it was a demoralising soulless experience that I will move heaven and earth to avoid again. I suggest you do the same.
Its been reported that Transport for London has now estimated the cost of building the Cross River Tram would be £1.3 billion but that 40-60% of that would be contingency funds ie. money in place on the self assumption TfL will screw up or not manage its contractors.
Over the last five years TfL extended the Docklands Light Railway from North Woolwich to Woolwich Arsenal with 2.5km of big bore tunnels under the River Thames. This was done on budget and on time.
Why is it that with that recent success TfL feel they can’t repeat such project management. Or is it a Political decision by the London Mayor Boris Johnson and the Labour Government who would have to fund a major part of it to make it sound so expensive that this decision to ‘can it’ is accepted.
Shame on them all.
Adult habits can be swiftly changed via childrens pester power. You know you should do something and a kit of pestering can get you to d othe right thing. No parent wants their children to have less respect for them.
The Swinbourne University of Technology in Melborune Australia havea great kids game at: www.keepwintercool.com.au
It helps kids indentify how to save electricty and stop the bad guy Mr.E.Mission melting a snowman. My young kids thought it was great. If have kids try it with them. It made them think about turning lights and other items of.
Some years ago a very dear friend was killed by a huge tipper truck (12 wheeled with 4 steerting wheels) turning left. The driver had been working 7 days a week for many months, 12-14 hours per day and being half term had a child in the cab. Whenever I see a truck in London I think of her. She will forever be young and beautiful.
What I’d never realised was how easy it is for a lorry driver when alert to find it hard to see a cyclists. A less alert driver through tiredness is even more likely to kill.
The following photo shows a cyclist in front of a lorry:
From above:
From the drivers position in te cab:
I found it quite shocking how he cyclists head of an average to tall man can only just be seen.
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.
A European Directive means central government must be able amongst other things to provide noise mapping.
Gascinating site: http://noisemapping.defra.gov.uk/wps/portal/noise/maps
Excessive noise is a serious pollutant which results in serious educational problems – people can’t concentrate with such noise around them.
It shows in East Dulwich that two of our primary schools Goose Green and St.Antony’s borders roads with noise issues. Fortunately St.Antony’s is more set back and probably no more affected than Heber or Goodrich.
Take a look.
30dB (decibels is a conversation in a private room), 55dB or above and people inside rooms will start to be seriously disturbed.
In America petrol prices have reached levels once considered unimaginable equivalent to 50p a litre! This price is double what it was for Amercians in 2004 and has resulted in swift dramatic increases in public transport of +10->15% in just one year. In some instances such switching has been far more dramatic +35% in Charlotte.
For the first time in 30 years Amercians drove less miles one year compared to the next. Down -4.3%.
So are such high oil prices hell? clearly not from an environmental perspective.
Ford have described the prices as having helped the car industry ‘reached a tipping point’ and the SUV 4 wheel drive vehicle as an ‘endangered species’. The American car industry are also describing how they need such high prices sustained over time to justify the huge investments required to move from large inefficient fuel guzzling vehicle manufacture to hybrid efficient car vehicle production.
So are such high oil prices heaven?
Real term increases in the price of motoring will see everyday decisions and choices being made where the car wont win as often. People are choosing to walk, cycle and use public transport more often. These are all good social and health enhancing choices. Personally I need the extra push.
But for those who have made big life choices based on cheap oil – living some distance from services and shops – it must feel like hell.
At the latest Womad world music festival, the 26th, they wanted to reduce litter. They used an old idea of a deposit. Their version being a 10p deposit for every paper cup beer was served in. Anyone who took their cup back received 10p. Some kids earnt over £60 a day tidying paper cups.
The organisers must have been chuffed as it was a complete success and it cost them nothing for this very tidying up. The only people to suffer were hardcore litterers who could’nt be bothered to recycle paper cups.
What can we learn from this in nomal high street terms we can use in East Dulwich. Returning to bottles having a deposit and return value would further improve current levels of recycling. Perhaps similar for cans.
We just need to persuade central government to implement such policies. With it current levels of unpopularity I see little chance of this.
The latest Key Stage 2 results for Southwark Primary Schools – key stage 2 – show fab results this year.
English +3%, Maths +4%, Science +2%.
Nationally, schools have improved on average by +1%, +1% and 0% respectively. So Southwark is catching up with the national averages. This years results build on several years of Southwark schools catching up.
WELL DONE – pupils, parents, teachers, assistants, governors and head teachers. What a great team effort must have been taking place
Still lots more to be done before every school in Southwark is better than the national average…
Oxford has announced it is plannning to introduce Brtain’s first city-wide 20mph speed limit next year on all residential streets. Oxford is small city. Fitting considering the Cowley car factory history dominating the non academic side of the economy for so many years.
Ubiquitous 20mph in residential streets is exactly what we’re working towards in Southwark. East Dulwich latest 20mph zone is being worked on now centred around Friern Road.
I recently visited Portsmouth which I udnerstood to have implimented such 20mph zoning but spotted little evidence. Shame.
The next step will be considering implementing 20mph zones even where no speed humps and bumps have been built. Even doing this has just with 20mph signs has been shown to reduce average and extreme speeds.
Watch this space…