Weir breach leaves secondary river channel dry

Thanks to Chris Wheal for reporting this. The Environment Agency and the Council have now both been notified and I have replies indicating they will be taking the appropriate action.

Robert Sheppard

Encouraging considerate cycling

Ladywell Fields is a pleasant route between Ladywell-Catford, well-used by pedestrians, skaters and cyclists alike.  This is to be encouraged.  However the park is also used by dog walkers and young children who, at times - especially in the vicinity of the cafe - find that some cyclists using the pathways pay scant regard to safety and seem reluctant to moderate their speed at all.

 

The 'official' cycle route through the park runs down the eastern (Hospital) side, adjacent to the River.  However that path is less direct and in quite poor condition in places.  So it's not at all surprising that cyclists opt to use the western path, adjacent to the railway, which is straighter and has a better surface.

 

This problem has been the subject of discussion amongst park users, and with the Council's Parks Team,  for years - but there's no obvious solution.  Additional signage will just clutter the park and is unlikely to make much impact - and we don't really want humps or chicane-type obstacles even if they were to solve the problem.  In the meantime the few inconsiderate cyclists seem to be giving the responsible majority a bad name - and invariably the offenders will be affronted at any suggestion that they're exibiting poor behaviour.

 

However on 15 June, between 7.30-11.00am, the Council will be running a 'Doctor Bike' session outside the 10,000 Hands Cafe and plans at the same time to hand-out leaflets which, inter alia, encourage considerate cycling.  Lewisham Cyclists have been invited to meet to discuss the issues and to feed into the proposed leaflet.

 

Robert Sheppard  

Glendale flyer spells out basic service commitment

With the scaling-down of the static park keeper service (to only 2.5 days per week in the case of Ladywell Fields) it is all the more important that we, as park users, report issues that need the attention of Glendale's mobile team.  Glendale have produced this flyer, which includes all the relevant contact details.

You can also download and use the 'Love Lewisham' smartphone app for reporting problems in parks (in the same way as you can use it for reporting on-street issues such as flytips).

 

In relation to litter and bins, Glendale works to the following timescales -  and, where possible, aims to exceed these.

 

Litter - Glendale aim to resolve reported litter issues within 6 hrs (during operational hours).

 

Full bins - Glendale aim to have full bins emptied within 3 hours of being reported (which means if this is reported by 1.00pm the issue should be resolved the by 4.00pm the same day and if reported after 1.00pm, the issue will be resolved by 10.30am the following day).

 

 

Robert Sheppard