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The decision on the Council’s plans to charge for parking in parks is now scheduled for the end of July.
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 SE22 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
Dulwich Society Annual General Meeting - 7 May 2019
Executive Committee Reports For The Year 2018
The Dulwich Village, Dulwich Wood and Dulwich Hill Ward Safer Neighbourhood Teams are now based at Gipsy Hill Police Station. Goose Green (formerly East Dulwich) are based in Peckham.
Goose Green:
Sergeant Helen Williamson -
PC Olivia Broughton -
PC Tibor Fodor -
PCSO Terence Staples -
Dulwich Hill:
Sergeant Jonathan Adams -
PC Jonathan Grantham -
PC Deepa Patel -
PCSO Simon Johnson -
Dulwich Wood:
Sergeant Jonathan Adams -
PC Ross Kennedy -
PC lance Sharrock -
PCSO Ediz Mustafa -
Schools’ officer:
Joel Bastable (Dulwich College etc) -
Dulwich Village:
Sergeant Jonathan Adams -
PC Stephen Bush -
PC Daniel McLynn -
PCSO
Schools’ Officers:
PC Grant Seager (Alleyn’s & JAGS) -
PC Thomas Smith (Charter Schools) -
Work started on 16 February and the sign says it will take 8 weeks. Our understanding is, however, that this is just the first phase. Visitors trying to come to Dulwich from Forest Hill are already aware of the potential delays - last week there were tailbacks along the South Circular from the Grove Tavern to West Dulwich Station.
There are continuing reports of water pressure and supply problems in the tall flats in Farquhar Road & Dulwich Wood Park. Thames Water are reported to have had to provide bottled water to some blocks.
The lease is being taken back and the current operator is leaving. Locals are very concerned at what might happen but, given that change of use on pubs in Southwark is covered under an Article 4 Direction, and not allowed under permitted development, it is likely to remain a pub of some sort.
Public Meeting - Getting Around Dulwich - Towards a healthier, safer and more active future. Hosted by The Dulwich Society. Held on Saturday 12th January 2019 at the Herne Hill Methodist Church Hall, 155 Half Moon Lane, SE24 9JG at 2.30pm. Notes from the meeting are now available - click here to download (PDF).
Helen Yemm on “The modern cottage garden”
7.30pm Wednesday 10th April 2019
at Alleyn’s School, Townley Road, London SE22 8SU
This year’s Spring talk will be given by Helen Yemm, who writes the weekly Thorny Problems column in The Telegraph. Helen’s talk, “The modern cottage garden” builds on her experience of establishing gardens in both London and in West Sussex, where she now lives. Helen’s books include the RHS Grow your own flowers and Gardening in Pyjamas: horticultural advice for obsessive dawn raiders. After the talk there will be an opportunity to meet Helen over a glass of wine.
Tickets are £10 each (including a glass of wine) and may be purchased through www.eventbrite.co.uk (search “Dulwich Society”), or by sending a cheque payable to the “Dulwich Society” and SAE to Jeremy Prescott, 142 Court Lane, London SE21 7EB.
Enquiries to Carol Britton
Visit to West Dean Gardens and Woolbeding Gardens, West Sussex
Thursday 20th June 2019
Coach from Dulwich Picture Gallery, College Road, SE21 7AD. 8.30am for 8.45am departure; back around 6.15pm. Early booking advised.
West Dean Gardens, in the South Downs near Chichester, comprise some 100 acres of gardens and parkland surrounding the historic West Dean House. The gardens have been restored since the 1987 storm and include a large working kitchen garden and a cutting garden with 13 Victorian glasshouses. Beyond that, there is a sunken garden, a 300 feet long Edwardian pergola and Spring and Wild Gardens running alongside the River Lavant.
Woolbeding Gardens (National Trust) have been leased to Simon Sainsbury and his partner since 1972, since when they have created a theatrical country retreat with remarkable gardens. Features of these are the extensive Formal Garden Rooms designed by Lanning Roper and the Longwalk, a wooded Pleasure Garden designed by Julian and Isabel Bannerman which includes architectural follies such as a ruined abbey.
We will arrive at West Dean at around 11am. Following lunch (not included) we will move on to Woolbeding. Refreshment facilities are available at both locations, as are plant sales (limited at Woolbeding). We aim to arrive back in Dulwich Village around 6.15pm. Please bring bags for plants.
Tickets, including transport and entrance to West Dean Gardens, are £27 each and may be purchased on through Eventbrite (www.eventbrite.co.uk – search “Dulwich Society”) or by sending a cheque (payable to The Dulwich Society) with a note of your email address and a stamped addressed envelope to Jeremy Prescott, 142 Court Lane, London SE21 7EB. No cancellation refunds will be given.
Entrance to Woolbeding Gardens is not included in the ticket price. Entrance is free to National Trust members so do please bring your membership card. Non-NT members will have to pay £8 for entrance which will be collected on the coach.
Enquiries to
Visit to Polesden Lacey and Moleshill House gardens, Surrey
Wednesday 17th June 2020
The visit has been cancelled for Covid 19 reasons, and ticket refunds have been issued