Brockley Life

It must be time for some rainy weather again. The company to whom Lewisham Council have outsourced the upkeep of Parks maintenance is mowing the grass. Their timing seems impeccable, Wait until there is rainy weather and then mow the grass. Then leave all the cuttings laying to get soggy and fester in large lumps. It is almost as if the original contract included only "cutting the grass" and said nothing about removing the cuttings. To be fair there does seem to be some attempt a few days later to hoover up the debris with a large vacuum machine, but it is usually too late. Why can't they cut the grass when the weather is dry and pick up the trimmings as they go?

The roads around Hillyfields are a lot quieter (and safer) at the moment. The contractor for the gas company have dug up the end of Harefield Road where it joins Tressillian Road thus providing road closure on one of the the main Rat Run routes through Brockley.

The road repair contractors employed by Lewisham Council really seem to be out of control. I witnessed an event where a blue light flashing fire engine was unable to go along Tyrwhitt Road from Loampit Hill purely because of a badly parked Construction lorry at the entrance to Tyrwhitt Road. The fire engine had to reverse and go along to the next junction. When you actually reach the junction you find you cannot look to the left because the view has been totally obstructed by a large site hut dumped on the pavement corner by the contractors. Just 50 feet along the pavement is plenty of space for the site hut to be safely located.It really makes turning right at that junction a total gamble. As usual the road repair contractors show no consideration for the safety of other road users. Surely such works should be inspected by the sponsoring authority?

Meanwhile the narrow Tyrwhitt Road is further obstructed by the contractors using the site to store a huge pile of paving stones. The is no reason why those paving slabs could not be stored remotely and called in when actually needed in smaller quantities.

Wow what great weather today. Plenty of mum's and toddlers out in the sun on the Hilly Fields park. This time of year is great with the fresh new leaves on the trees and the grass seems extra green.

There is a great view from Hilly Fields, particularly at night. Over the years the view of Canary Wharf has changed as more buildings are added. Why is it that in these days of carbon footprint sensitivity that the bosses of these international companies cannot arrange for the lights in these buildings to be switched off at night. Every night the lights of the Canary Wharf towers blaze out showing a profligate waste of energy.