Canada Water is an embarrassing tip
Just gone for an evening walk to the area outside Canada Water Library and area and it is an embarrassing tip.
What a shame that so much money has been spent on the area yet it’s been treated like a rubbish dump.
Is there anything we can do to catch and fine the litter bugs?
Name and address supplied
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The Blue is like a race track
It is not my imagination – the centre of Bermondsey, the Blue and surrounding streets, has become a race track during the recent warm weather.
I fear for the life of pedestrians, cyclists, bystanders and especially the young and the old crossing any road. Quad bikes, scramble bikes and high powered cars are all using the streets as race tracks, all breaking the law either helmetless or exceeding the speed limit.
I cannot remember the last time I saw a Bobby on the beat and have completely lost a sense that anything can be done about these flagrant law breakers.
It is only a matter of time before someone gets killed. If it is a perpretator I, personally, will not shed a tear.
Name and address supplied
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Cycle hire should extend even further
It is fantastic news that the cycle hire scheme has been extended south into Brixton.
We want to work with Transport for London and the South London Boroughs to make this a success and push the scheme even further south.
This will be a big help towards achieving the Mayor’s aim for 80% sustainable transport, i.e public transport, walking and cycling, and will go some way towards improving our air quality and people’s health.
The scheme should not stop at Brixton. South London has always been poorly served by transport options. The cycle hire scheme and supporting infrastructure such as quiet-ways and cycle lanes should, where appropriate, spread south across the whole of both Lambeth and Southwark, giving people healthier opportunities to travel and reducing the pressure on our polluted roads.
Florence Eshalomi , London Assembly Member for Southwark and Lambeth
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Friends of Green Dale stand firm
Your report last week (Hamlet’s future ‘put in danger’ by council not deciding on on new stadium, Southwark News 13 July) contained a few errors which I’d like to put right.
It states that ‘the planning application remains unanswered’, but Meadow Residential’s appeal immediately put the decision into the hands of the planning inspector and out of the hands of the council. Ironically, there might have been less delay if Meadow Residential had not appealed and let the process at council level take its course.
One reason this didn’t happen, I suspect, is that the developers were pretty sure that the council would refuse the application. Indeed, the council have recently submitted their view to the planning inspector that they would have refused the application on five separate grounds: impact on Metropolitan Open Land; development on other open space; reduction in sports facilities; height, scale and massing of the residential development; and insufficient affordable housing.
The Friends of Green Dale stands by these reasons for rejecting the planning appeal.
Your report also states, ‘Dulwich Hamlet Supporters’ Trust has also raised concerns that the council may not renew its lease on the site, which is due to expire in November.’ I believe the lease in question is for the Green Dale site and not the current Champion Hill Stadium site. Moreover it has already expired and the council and the club are currently involved in legal discussions over the future of Green Dale.
Finally, club chairman Liam Hickey states, ‘Our rent bill is very high on the site.’ That is nothing to do with the council but is a matter between the club and Meadow Residential who, along with their partner company Greendale Property Co. Ltd, own the Champion Hill Stadium site. If Meadow Residential truly want a sustainable future for the club, it would be odd for them to do the club harm financially.
Guy Haslam, The Friends of Green Dale
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Join us for the Big Wild Sleepout
Join the RSPB’s annual Big Wild Sleepout this July, and discover the nightlife in your own garden or on your favourite RSPB reserve.
Thousands of people will be pitching tents in gardens between 28th and 30th July as the RSPB’s Big Wild Sleepout returns for a fifth fabulous year.
Big Wild Sleepout is free to take part in; all you need to do is register online at www.rspb.org.uk/sleepout, to find lots of fun ideas, activities and tips to help you and your family have a really wild night out!
In South East England, the recent Big Garden Birdwatch survey results also revealed some of the nocturnal wildlife you can expect to see in your garden. Almost half of South East residents have spotted a hedgehog in the last year and 89 per cent have been visited by a fox!
New for 2017, campers can now get even closer to nature by taking the first step towards their Wild Challenge, the RSPB’s new free online award scheme, which encourages families to go out and get closer to the nature.
By completing activities ranging from minibeast safaris and habitat exploring, to making a compost heap and planting for wildlife, participants can log their achievements on the RSPB Wild Challenge website and collect bronze, silver and gold awards.
For an extra special sleepout experience, you can even book an overnight stay on one of the RSPB’s participating reserves!
Pitches are filling fast, and some events are already full for 2017, but there are still places available at RSPB Pagham Harbour, RSPB Pulborough Brooks in Sussex, and RSPB Rainham Marshes near London.
Visit www.rspb.org.uk/sleepout to book your place now!