If you’ve left Lee Green up Dermody Road and over the railway bridge to Hither Green Lane in recent weeks, you’ve probably seen (or smelled!) the leak that’s been running down the hill from the junction at Courthill Road lately.

The good news is that following pressure from my Lib Dem colleague who represents that side of the railway line, Cllr Andrew Milton, the leak is to be fixed.   The bad news is, it’s going to mean closing Hither Green lane between Courthill Road and Ryecroft Road from Tuesday.

Andrew has the details of the closure here.    Of course, it’s also going to mean the 181 and 225 bus need re-routing - again, Andrew has the details here.

Residents along Southbrook Road will be aware that Transport for London proposed earlier this year to install fixed stops along their road to serve the 273 route.

Following objections from residents, the plans for Southbrook Road have now been revised.    Stops will now be situated outside the Northbrook pub and the small industial estate opposite, with no stops outside residents’ homes.   Southbrook Road residents should receive a letter from TfL to this effect in due course.  

Unfortunately retaining the hail and ride system is apparently not an option, as this is being removed right across London.

Stops along Fernbrook Road will now be located:

• Opposite Hither Green Station where the timetable frame is now (Petts Wood direction)
• Just west of the junction with Fernbrook Crescent (230b) (Petts Wood direction)
• Outside the Manor Cafe (Petts Wood direction)
• Outside 65/67 (Lewisham Direction)
• Opposite 68a (Lewisham Direction)
• Directly outside Hither Green Station (Lewisham direction)

Manor Park will proceed pretty much as planned, with an additional set of stops to be located on Staplehurst Road in the area people use at present to board and alight.  

If you’ve ever walked down Southbrook Road, you’ve probably noticed the walls outside the flats at the Burnt Ash Road end.     Well, not so much the walls, but the lack of them - as the photo to the right shows.

We’ve made sure Lewisham Homes are aware of the problem - including through a walkabout last year - but due to tight budgets, they’ve been unable to fix them up to now.

However, the launch of Lewisham Homes’ resident-led programme has meant we might be able to secure some funding.    There’s half a million pounds up for grabs, and bids for funding will be judged by fellow residents.

Sven and I popped round tonight to chat to residents about making an application.   Every resident we spoke to agreed to sign a petition to show their support, and we agreed to sort out the forms to make a bid for the walls to be repaired.   We’re also going to expand the bid and ask if Lewisham Homes are prepared to fund entryphones for the front doors to the block.

We want the bid to have the best chance of suceeding, so we need to demonstrate as much support as possible.   I’m going to ask the Lee Manor Society and our Safer Neighbourhood Team if they’ll support the application.   If you live in the local area and support our bid then do add a comment below and I’ll make sure they’re all passed on to Lewisham Homes.

One of the most frequent complaints I get from residents in Lee Green is about streetlights that remain on all day - what is apparently known in the trade as ‘day burning’.     Residents (rightly) worry that it’s bad for the environment, costs the Council money and makes the area looked uncared for.

One example is on Taunton Road, where I reported two dayburning lights in February this year.   They were fixed shortly afterwards - however, one of them is now day-burning again (along with a third streetlight) and it’s moved a resident to poetry - see pic right.

I’ve reported these to Council staff once again, and hopefully they’ll soon be fixed.  If you know of any other day-burning lamps, do let me know (poetry or prose gratefully received!)

Several residents on Milborough Crescent have told me about two streetlights which have been constantly ‘on’ for some time.   I’ve now received an email from Council officers saying they were being inspected this week and repairs are to be carried out.

The recycling banks between the railway bridges on Manor Lane have been of concern to your councillors for some time.  They are frequently overflowing with waste - much of it non-recyclable fly-tipping.

The banks are emptied twice a week, and your councillors have received assurances that:

• Parking will now longer be allowed on the pavement in front of the banks as this blocks access when the banks are emptied (the white on-pavement parking lines have now been removed)
• Council staff have been instructed to lock the banks after emptying to prevent large items being dumped in the banks
• The Council is developing a more robust locking mechanism for these banks to prevent them from being broken open
• A member of Council staff will be visiting local businesses to encourage them to subscribe to the commercial recycling scheme
• If the actions proposed aren’t successful, officers will gather evidence with a view to launching prosecutions.

I’ve recently been helping a consituent who was concerned about rubbish on the railway embankment opposite the houses on the stretch of Fernbrook Road between Staplehurst and Fernbrook Crescent.

Network Rail tell me they cleared the embankment yesterday, and have provided me with some useful numbers which you can use to report issues like this:

You can call Network Rail  24/7 on 08457 114 141.  The helpdesk should give you a reference number which can then be quoted if you need an update.   Apparently all complaints directed through this route are monitored on progress by Network Rail, so they reckon this is the quickest way to get through to the correct dept.   However, it doesn’t include stations which are the responsibility of the train operating company - in our case, SouthEastern.

There’s also the British Transport Police number, which you can use to report railway crime on 0800 405040 .

Of course, you can always contact us too!