Dog Day Afternoon

We were recently contacted by the Council, asking us to spread the word to Brockley locals that the Lewisham Animal Welfare Service is holding a free microchipping day on Saturday, in partnership with the RSPCA, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and Lewisham Safer Neighbourhood Teams to celebrate the launch of the BARK project.

BARK aims to reduce antisocial behaviour and the mistreatment of dogs. Dog owners will also get a free tag engraved with their details. Dog owners are asked to ring 020 8314 2098 to make an appointment. They will need to bring proof of ownership of their dog and proof of their address, this is open to all Lewisham residents and people can bring as many dogs as they like. The event is being held at the Wearside Service centre from 10.00am -3.00pm.

We're not a dog owner, but we do have to swerve to avoid their mess as we walk down our street. So our first reaction when we got the notice was to ask the BARK team what the Council can do to address irresponsible owners.

This is what they told us:

"We have also held two responsible dog ownership days, one in Crofton Park, the other in Downham.

"On these days our enforcement team, SNT, the graffiti team and ourselves promoted responsible dog ownership, leafleted target streets with information on dog fouling, sprayed stencils in target areas and spoke to dog owners.

"If this is something that your residents would like to happen in their area please let us know, we are hoping to hold one in the Honor Oak Estate area towards the end of November."

If you've seen one of these teams in action in Crofton Park, please let us know how effective you think they were. And if you'd like one to visit your part of Brockley, please post a message here or email us and we'll pass it on.

Brockley in the eye of the storm [Updated]

Tomorrow morning, BBC Breakfast News will tear itself away from the unfolding global economic drama to concentrate on the fate of Brockley Road.

While researching the rapid proliferation of betting shops in the UK, they came across this blog's coverage of the Homeview controversy and got in touch. The next day, they were being shown around Brockley Road by leading local campaigner Glenda Rodgers and Cllr Sue Luxton, who were both interviewed for the piece.

Needless to say, it's too late to make a difference to this particular case, but if our example helps to make a difference to other communities, then perhaps that some consolation for those who opposed Portland Bookmakers.

Glenda says:

"Our case has set a precedent for Britain where Councils will be afraid not to grant a licence because they don't have enough money to lose an appeal to their decision in court. Residents should keep an eye out for Change of Use signs for Commercial Premises from A1 to A2. It's good to write in opposing A2 use if you do not wish to have a betting shop on that site. A2 includes banks, real estate agents and bookies amongst a few other things."

And if Lewisham Council is watching, perhaps they will concur that our High Street could do with a makeover.

Update: Cllr Luxton writes - "It should be going out on the hour on BBC1 Breakfast news bulletins tomorrow morning. Cllr Ute Michel and Glenda are hopefully doing a live studio discussion too."

Train overcrowding consultation

Thanks to Barry, who draws our collective attention to the fact that the London Assembly Transport Committee have announced a public consultation on overcrowding on overground rail services.

See http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_rele...seid=18837 and http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/scruti...owding.jsp for more details.

They say:

The Committee is keen to hear from people who use overground rail to commute. Please send us your experiences - particularly around being unable to board full trains at certain London stations, and how much space is available on the trains you travel on.

Please send your overcrowding experiences to overcrowding@london.gov.uk or write to them at: London Assembly Transport CommitteePP10 / 6th Floor City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London, SE1 2AA

Healthy Brockley workshops

The chirpy team at Healthy Brockley (run by Brockley Community Church) are running a range of workshops this Sunday (5th October), and are keen for BC readers to come along.

The event will take place at Brockley Primary School, Brockley Rd from 12 til 3.30pm.

Among the treats on offer are:

- 'The How of Happiness' with mental health worker Sherry Clark & Brockley Community Church's Andy Parnham

- A local history walk led by Des Kirkland of BXAG

- 'How to Drug-Proof your Kids' by Mickey Bailey of Christian drug education charity Hope UK

- 'Laugh your Way to Happiness' with Cathy Collymore, a 'laughter coach'.

The church is also offering free massage sessions and smoothies all afternoon, along with stalls and other activities.

New image of London Bridge Station revealed

This is a brand new image of the redeveloped bus interchange at London Bridge, due for completion in 2011.

The old PwC building at London Bridge station is currently being demolished, to make way for the UK's tallest building - the Shard. And economic woes be damned, because this project's got Middle East money behind it and pre-let agreements for the hotel floors and much of the office space. So it is happening.

Part of the works involve tearing down the entrance hall and bus station at London Bridge and replacing it with this shiny new one. Admittedly, it's quite hard to tell what the new designs will look like (they were subject to a bit of revision by the government's design advisers CABE) but it is guaranteed to be a hundred times better than the grubby brown wind tunnel that currently does the job.

This project is separate to the redevelopment of the rest of the station, which is taking place as part of the Thameslink project.

PowerPramming in Hilly Fields

PowerPramming has recently launched in Hilly Fields. If you don't know what PowerPramming is, it's likely that you don't need to know, but it's basically jogging and with babies. The classes also include post-natal exercises, so you get a good, all-round workout.

Still in its first month, the Thursday morning class has doubled in size as word of mouth has spread.

One mum we spoke to about it said:

"If you're looking for a simple way to get out of the house and back in to exercise, then I'd recommend it, particularly as it's such a lovely setting. But a word of caution, it's not easy with two kids!"

Classes cost £5 and you can find more details here.

Brockley flashback: 1998

The other day, when we published a short interview with a German living in Brockley, Hugh retorted that the same interview could have been written in 1998. Brockley was ever thus and always would be.

So, as a relative newcomer to Brockley, we'd like to ask those of you who were in Brockley in 1998 whether Hugh is right? What has changed in Brockley, for better or worse?

To help jog your memory, Dr Doolittle, Armageddon and Godzilla were all in the UK box office top five, while Cher, Celine Dion, Boyzone and B*Witched slogged it out for pop chart dominance. Surely life has got better since then?