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The Society has set up a public meeting for 12 January to review the ‘holistic’ traffic report prepared as part of the Village junction works and also to talk about the potential impact of the new controlled parking zones coming out for consultation – these are in Croxted Road (West Dulwich) and in Dog Kennel Hill & Lordship Lane (East Dulwich). Local councillors and the cabinet member for environment, transport planning and air quality will be joining us.
If residents want to be considered for CPZs, they should email
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.
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.
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.
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
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
As promised earlier this year, TfL are finally carrying out a public consulting on this junction with the aim of improving pedestrian safety - there are currently no pedestrian crossings or pedestrian phasing on the traffic lights. Comments are to be made by 25th October. For more information go to: consultations.tfl.gov.uk/..
Demolition work progressed over the August/early September period & the building is now a pile of rubble. Crushing machinery arrived on site last week - to begin crushing the old concrete slab and foundations. The work should be complete by the end of September.
The Dulwich Estate has confirmed that a convenience store called ‘Simply Fresh’ will be taking over the former Shepherds unit in the Village but we don’t yet know when they will start trading. We await information on the opening date. The ‘Proud Sow’ the new butcher did not open as originally promised at the end of August. It appears that it has yet to receive planning permission for alterations to the shopfront.
The former ‘Park Garage’ is under offer as a yoga studio and refurbishment work is ongoing. The former ‘Audi Showroom’ unit is also apparently under offer but we don’t know as what - the ‘Sari project’ is the current temporary occupier and its lease runs out in December.
In West Dulwich, the former pizza restaurant next to Tesco’s has been taken by Eastern Mediterranean restaurant Peckham Bazaar. In the new development by the surgery, the chemist is due to open in October and one of the other four units has been let to the existing orthodontic practice in Park Hall Road. The Estate’s recent eNewsletter says that ‘it will provide state of the art cosmetic orthodontist services including providing semi and totally invisible braces. There will also be a retail section selling dentist and orthodontist products’
The Estate also says that the former kitchen shop on the corner of Alleyn Road is under offer, and that it will be carrying out a small-scale refurbishment of the former Lloyds bank before putting it on the market. There has also been some work in the former Phase Eight shop but there is no information on who the new tenant will actually be.
The restaurant at Belair House has closed. The building will continue as a venue for weddings and private events.
The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Home Office Direct Communications Unit 2
Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
13 August 2018
I have recently been contacted by constituents in Dulwich and West Norwood, regarding an increase in motor vehicle crime and moped and bicycle-enabled crimes in the local area. These crimes include theft of motor vehicles and theft and misuse of mopeds and hire bicycles, particularly docking-station free hire bikes.
My constituents would like to see the government take a more proactive approach to moped crime, including working with moped manufacturers to ensure that they introduce better security measures to stop mopeds from being so easy to steal, and by funding councils to install more secure anchor points for mopeds, an effective way to reduce the theft of mopeds and prevent stolen mopeds from being used to facilitate other crimes.
My constituents are further anxious to see the government act to reduce vehicle theft. It is clear that action is needed to urge ensure that manufacturers improve security and locking mechanisms in order to stem the epidemic of “relay” and other types of vehicle theft. Many manufacturers use the same electronic key to both open vehicles and start the engine and this appears to be a key weakness.
I have also received reports of docking-station free hire bikes being used to facilitate robbery in my constituency, particularly those brands of bikes with weak locking mechanisms which are easy to break by hand. I fully support measures to increase cycling and to make bike hire more accessible, but it is clear that this unintended consequence is not acceptable and must be addressed. I am therefore requesting that you engage the providers of docking station-free hire bikes to address this issue as a matter of urgency.
Finally, I have highlighted on many occasions the cuts to police budgets which are stretching our local teams to the limit. Reversing the £1 billion cut to the Metropolitan Police budget would ensure that the police have the resources to be proactive in addressing these crimes. I look forward to hearing from you.
Helen Hayes MP
There is a new emerging “neighbourhood planning” group for Sydenham Hill Ridge – and it will join the nascent one in Dulwich Village and the one in Crystal Palace & Upper Norwood.
Broadly, the area they are looking at a neighbourhood planning area running along the top of Sydenham Hill and covering Southwark and Lewisham (including Sydenham and Dulwich Woods). The proposed Neighbourhood Area would run in a north east/south westerly direction from opposite Horniman Museum in the north east, to the meeting point of Sydenham Hill road with Crystal Palace roundabout in the south west, following the line of Sydenham Hill road.
If of interest, please contact