Village Shops

The ‘Proud Sow’ has finally started fitting out works, hopefully it will be open for Christmas.  There is no further information on ‘Simply Fresh’ who are taking over the former Shepherds unit. As far as we know, the former ‘Park Garage’ is still under offer as a yoga studio, as is the former ‘Audi Showroom’ unit but we don’t know as what. The relocation of Harvey and Wheeler has also been delayed following construction delays.

In West Dulwich, there has been no progress on the new Eastern Mediterranean restaurant, ‘Peckham Bazaar’, nor has there yet been any fitting out in the new chemist shop which had been expected to open shortly.

Crime

The spike in youth on youth robbery in the last few weeks continues. The use of force has increased and masks/balaclavas are now being used.  Although the local Safer Neigbourhood Teams are doing their best in adjusting shifts etc – some wards are currnently under-strength and we have now learnt that, at this time, there are no designated school’s officers in any of the Dulwich wards.

Local MP Helen Hayes has met the local police Inspector to discuss the issue, and she will then be meeting local schools.  She is also  planning to attend the next meeting of the Dulwich Village Safer Neighbourhoods ward panel on 21 November, to update residents on this issue.  Burglary & car crime also remain concerns.

Good news on Dulwich Hamlet

An agreement has been reached after the conclusion of successful talks between Dulwich Hamlet Football Club, Southwark Council and Meadow Partners that will see the club return to Champion Hill. Fixtures should start in 4-6 weeks.

Grafton Dance Centre

The Grafton Dance Centre in Village Way is looking for local support for a   Southwark blue plaque to commemorate Bob Burgess and Doreen Freemen, one of the leading ball-room dance partnerships of the 1950 and 60s, and who ran a dance school at the site from 1972-2001. Voting is at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or there are voting slips at libraries.

Letter from Helen Hayes MP re Royal Mail service failure in the SE22 postcode area

Ms Moyà Greene
Chief Executive
Royal Mail Group plc
100 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0HQ

20th September 2018

Dear Ms Greene

Urgent Royal Mail service failure, SE22 postcode area

I am writing to you on behalf of thousands of my constituents living in the SE 22 postcode area who are suffering as a consequence Of serious service failures by Royal Mail.

As you will be aware, in the face of fierce opposition from the local community, you recently closed the SE22 delivery office on Silvester Road, requiring customers from SE22 to travel to Highshore Road in Peckham in order to collect parcels and registered post. SE22 deliveries are also now being made from Highshore Road. The closure has resulted in serious service failures for SE22 customers, including very long queues at Highshore Road, with some customers having to wait as long as an hour - and many giving up on the attempt; and staff shortages resulting in the Highshore Road office failing to open on time. In addition, my constituents across the SE22 postcode area are reporting that deliveries have become erratic and infrequent and. Have received reports that local managers have told commercial customers that delivery delays are a result of staff shortages.

Concerns about the impact that closing the SE22 delivery office would have on Royal Mail services were raised with you on many occasions prior to the closure, including repeated calls for Royal Mail to establish a replacement collection facility in the SE22 area. These calls were ignored, and it appears that your organisation has utterly filed to put in place arrangements to ensure the continuation of reliable high-quality service for SE22 customers following the closure. Staff at the Highshore Road report that no additional staff have been allocated to the collection desks from the former SE22 office to service the additional workload from a whole postcode area.

The current service failures are critical, and cannot be allowed to continue. Please could you provide urgent confirmation of the immediate steps you are taking to address the staff shortages and service failures at Highshore Road and across the SE22 postcode area. Further, I ask once again, that you reconsider the request that I have made on many occasions for a new collection facility to be established in the SE22 area to ensure that my constituents do not have to face long journeys and lengthy queues to collect their post. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Helen Hayes MP