The Melting Pot.

The photo above was taken by me in Park Crescent, Erith; it shows a dumped box of empty Nitrous Oxide canisters. Not really something one would expect to find in the quiet, leafy and prosperous "Beverly Hills of Erith". The gas, which is inhaled, has become a popular recreational drug over the past few years. According to the latest Global Drug Survey, Nitrous Oxide – or laughing gas – is now the seventh most popular drug in the 50 countries surveyed. Just over half the UK respondents said they had tried the drug at some point, and 38 per cent said they had used it in the last year, making it more popular in the UK than any other country. Nitrous Oxide is a colourless, sweet tasting gas that has been used recreationally since the late 18th century, most notably by Sir Humphry Davy, former president of The Royal Society. Medical use was established in the early 20th century and Nitrous Oxide remains an important anaesthetic, tranquilliser and painkiller, used by dentists, obstetricians and sports doctors. Indeed, many members of the public will have experienced the effects of Nitrous Oxide themselves without realising it. The popularity of recreational use of Nitrous Oxide is unsurprising. It is legal in many parts of the world, it is cheap and it reliably produces a short-lasting euphoria as well as heightened senses and a slight feeling of disconnect from the body and is often used as a drug at concerts, nightclubs and festivals. As one can see, the desired effects would be a quick little “pick me up” but continued usage causes major damage. Physically, Nitrous Oxide is not considered an addictive drug; psychologically it is because it mimics other narcotics. It is a very quick high which usually causes intense repetitive behaviours in its users. Users of this drug will continue to try to get more and more high, which again, in turn, creates major issues. In the last week a report on the long term effects of Nitrous Oxide abuse has been published, and it makes for very worrying reading. The drug, also known as “noz” and “hippy crack”, is very popular with teenagers and young adults, including clubbers and those attending music festivals. It is the same substance that is given to women during childbirth and patients undergoing dental treatment to control pain. Those using it illicitly often breathe it in after it has been transferred from silver vials into balloons. It is the second most commonly used drug among 16- to 24-year-olds in England after cannabis. Half a million of them have used it in the last year – one in 11 of that age group. Many more males than females that age turn to it in their search for a euphoric high, the latest Home Office figures show. Purposely making the human body pass out or by cutting circulation of to the brain does not only kills brain cells but can creates numbness in extremities, Vitamin B12 deficiencies, suffocation, and it can even lead to death. If a person is to stop breathing, even for a short period of time, it also affects the central nervous system which includes the brain, brain stem and spinal cord. Death typically occurs in people who highly abuse Nitrous Oxide. They continue to chase their first high and try to inhale more and more gas. If death does not occur from doing this, it can cause severe brain damage due to asphyxia. There have been statements made about how the effects on the body after going on a Nitrous Oxide binge and then not doing it for a while, can be similar to the withdrawals that someone may experience if they have not smoked marijuana in a while. There may be bouts of nausea, impulse to want to do Nitrous Oxide again, headaches accompanied by lethargy, and just an overall feeling of achy joints and weakness. The government tried to ban the misuse of Nitrous Oxide when it introduced The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, which was designed to provide a blanket ban on new psychoactive substances (popularly, although erroneously, known as “legal highs”), as the existing legislation was considered too slow in responding to the emergence of what are potentially harmful drugs. A substance is defined as psychoactive if “by stimulating or depressing the person’s central nervous system, it affects the person’s mental functioning or emotional state”. So all psychoactive drugs are, by default, controlled under the 2016 ban. A number of substances were exempted from the act, including caffeine, nicotine, tobacco products, alcohol, EU approved foodstuffs, medicinal products, and drugs already controlled under The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The exemptions were deemed necessary to avoid restricting access to medically useful and socially tolerated products. These exemptions played a key role in two recent trials involving the supply of Nitrous Oxide (“laughing gas”), where the judges advised the juries to reach not guilty verdicts. The defence teams successfully argued that Nitrous Oxide – despite being a popular recreational drug, and assumed to be controlled under the 2016 act – is covered by the medicinal product exemption. These court decisions came as a surprise to many observers: while Nitrous Oxide is clearly a medicinal product under supervised use as an anaesthetic, there is unlikely to be much legitimate need for it in recreational settings. Nevertheless, at the time of writing, Nitrous Oxide is not actually illegal, despite the very serious effect misusing it can have. Nitrous Oxide is particularly hard to prohibit, given its widespread uses in catering, medicine, and motoring – and its rising use demonstrates that attempts to ban it have failed. The problem is country - wide, but especially bad locally. What do you think? Please leave a message below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

The £73 million redevelopment of the Arthur Street Estate has now begun, even though the final green - lighting of the ambitious new housing scheme has not yet been given by Bexley Council. The upper of the two photos above shows the current estate, whilst the lower picture gives an idea of what the redevelopment will look like once it is completed - click on either photo for a larger version. The estate, which is located on the opposite side of Northend Road to the Erith Park Development, which, incidentally won London Regeneration Project of the year at the London Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Awards (RICS) in 2017, and was shortlisted for a National Housing Award for Best Regeneration Project. The Arthur Street Estate consists of three high rise blocks of flats – Cranbrook House, Cobham House and Canterbury House, and some low level accommodation – Challock House, Charing House, and The Nursery. Orbit Housing Association have managed the estate since February 1998. Historically the Arthur Street Estate has been regarded by many as somewhat of a problem, this is principally because historically there has been a large proportion of prolific offenders, people with a criminal background, and people with high support needs - particularly with drug and alcohol dependency living on the estate. Figures from a police report for the 12 months to 30 September 2011 (the only data I could find) showed 56 suspects of crime in Bexley living within the postcodes for Arthur Street Estate. Of the 56 crimes, only 1 was a motoring offence and 3 public order offences, the remaining 52 more high level crimes. The effect on community sustainability has been huge, with law abiding residents seeing this as short term housing, a means to an end. They have often been subjected to incidents of Anti  - Social Behaviour. This led to those residents requesting transfers, moving out from the properties and increasing turnover of residents. Orbit have been working with Bexley Council and various authorities to address these issues, and much good work has now been done, in a similar way to how Orbit were able to filter out the real trouble makers from the old Larner Road Estate, and not permit them into the new Erith Park Development, and since the start of the programme the situation has markedly improved. Now Orbit are about to start a new project in relation to the estate. In an interview published in the News Shopper and elsewhere, a representative of Orbit Housing Association said:- "This estate regeneration project will significantly improve the site, both visually and in terms of how it will function. A substantial number of new homes will be provided, with an uplift in affordable homes and affordable floorspace achieved as part of the overall provision. The proposal will help foster a more balanced and mixed community due to an approach that re-provides affordable housing tenures on site in a more diverse way. An injection of market housing also works towards the diversification of the overall offer, representing 20 per cent of the units provided. The proposal will provide a total of 320 homes of which 80 per cent will be “affordable housing”, comprised of of 121 affordable rented homes, 77 shared ownership homes and 58 homes for London Living Rent". One outcome of the various redevelopment and new build housing schemes in the local area will be a fairly dramatic increase in the local population; this will increase the need for improved infrastructure, including power, water, drainage, schools and medical facilities. On top of this, I was contacted by sometime reviewer of Erith’s food outlets, Brian Silk, about something tangentially related to food. Brian wanted to point out that Erith station is the only one in Bexley that doesn’t have a convenient shop to pick up a pint of milk or loaf of bread despite there being an obvious vacant space for it nearby. Brian, who lives in the West Street area, said, “People who commute by train from Erith don’t have a shop close to the station to get those bits and pieces on their way home, such as a pint of milk, loaf of bread or other basic provisions.” Brian suggests that the shop should go on the unused land opposite the main entrance to the South East London College campus, less than a minute’s walk from the station. A small convenience store in that location would not only be used by commuters and people coming to work or study in the town but would probably be used by people who live in Stonewood Road / Cricketers Close, West Street, the new Erith Baths residential development and around Christ Church. Brian believes it would have plenty of customers at all times. Brian understands that the land is owned by the Council and that at least one well-known supermarket has shown an interest in the site. Bexley Council have said, in their recent Town Centres Consultation, that they want to make Erith an attractive destination for people. For Brian, a shop just outside the station would help with that. If you agree with the idea of a shop for Erith station, you can let Bexley Council know by emailing towncentres@bexley.gov.uk or call 020 8303 7777 and ask for the Town Centres Team. You can also speak to your local councillor or contact the Chairman of Bexley’s Planning Committee, Peter Reader.

An update on upcoming events at The Bookstore Cafe in the former Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith. The Exchange have announced:- "The Melting Pot is a new recipe book made up with local people's family recipes and stories, exploring the cultures of Erith and Bexley through food. If you have a recipe that you think should be included, please come to our event on Monday 27th (12-2pm) with the prepared dish and your story. If you can't make it, get in touch with us as there will be other events and opportunities to share. Or if you are just interesting in the eating please do come along and sample the areas culinary expertise! This book will be published and available from The Bookstore Cafe and Bar. Every recipe and story will be fully credited. We look forward to tasting your food!" Also, a new feature has been launched at The Bookstore Cafe - "Cafe Nights at The Bookstore - Thursdays - Saturdays, 6-10pm. Cafe Nights are taking off! Each week we will be preparing a different hot dish to add to our evening Bookstore offer. We have so far had Tagines and Spaghetti weeks; this week we are celebrating the beautiful gooey camembert! Toppings available = Toffee apple and blue cheese | smoked pancetta | garlic and rosemary | or red onion marmalade". You can read more about, and book your place at forthcoming events at the former Carnegie Library by clicking here. 

The photo above was taken in the summer of 1907 (click on it for a larger view), and shows how the residents of Edwardian Erith dealt with a heatwave similar to the one we experienced last year. The first public swimming baths in Erith was an outdoor one in Walnut Tree Road; the photo was taken during the opening ceremony on the 3rd of August 1907. The pool cost £700 to build and was sixty feet long by twenty five feet wide. The water was heated using the waste boiler heat from the adjacent Erith Power Station. Bearing in mind that in addition to the coal fired power station, the swimming baths were close to the livestock holding pens at Erith railway station. I would imagine the smell must have been eye watering at certain times!

Over the last few months, the popular press has been getting very excited by machine intelligence, otherwise known as artificial intelligence, or AI. This is all very well, but unfortunately the enthusiasm of the journalists (and their lack of understanding of the hugely complex and technical field) has led to some rather inaccurate and overhyped reporting. According to a Wall Street Journal  article titled "Artificial Intelligence machine gets testy with programmer," a Google computer program using a database of movie scripts supposedly "lashed out" at a human researcher who was repeatedly asking it to explain morality. After several apparent attempts to politely fend off the researcher, the Artificial Intelligence ends the conversation with "I'm not in the mood for a philosophical debate." This, says the Wall Street Journal reporter, illustrates how Google scientists are "teaching computers to mimic some of the ways a human brain works." As any Artificial Intelligence researcher can tell you, this is utter nonsense. Humans currently have very little idea how the human, or any other brain, works, so they can hardly teach a machine how brains work. At best, Google is programming (not teaching) a computer to mimic the conversation of humans under highly constrained circumstances. The methods used have nothing to do with true cognition. Artificial Intelligence hype to the public has become progressively more strident in recent years, misleading lay people into believing researchers are much further along than they really are — by several orders of magnitude. We are decades away from anything remotely approaching a sentient computer, if it is at all possible. One researcher once said “If the human brain was simple enough for us to understand, we would be too stupid to be able to do so”. What software engineers at Google have been able to do is to create a synthetic environment in which their software can mimic the responses to questions placed by a human, in a manner which suggests to the human that they are interacting with another human being. They have succeeded in partially beating the Turing Test. The Turing Test is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. Alan Turing proposed that a human evaluator would judge natural language conversations between a human and a machine that is designed to generate human-like responses. The evaluator would be aware that one of the two partners in conversation is a machine, and all participants would be separated from one another. The conversation would be limited to a text-only channel such as a computer keyboard and screen so that the result would not be dependent on the machine's ability to render words as speech. If the evaluator cannot reliably tell the machine from the human (Turing originally suggested that the machine would convince a human 70 percent of the time after five minutes of conversation), the machine is said to have passed the test. The test does not check the ability to give correct answers to questions, only how closely answers resemble those a human would give. Google’s program convinced three out of seven humans that they were interacting with another human – somewhat short of Alan Turing’s own estimates of what constitutes a success. Computers are great at carrying out tasks where the rules are finite and established, however complex that they are; this is one reason why computers are now better than people at games like chess. In open – ended situations, such as a conversation with a person, they are far less successful, and though this will improve, actually creating a self-aware computer is still well in the realms of science fiction, and likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future, despite what certain journalists might have you believe. What do you think? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. First the report from Barnehurst ward:- "The Team have had the following reported on the ward over the last week: Criminal damage to motor vehicle overnight Sat 18/05/2019 / Sun 19/05/2019 along Appledore Avenue; Theft from motor vehicle along Heath Way between Sun 19/05/2019, 07:30 and Mon 20/05/2019, 10am; Theft of motor vehicle on 13/05/2019, 07:45pm – A locked motorcycle was stolen from an address along Colyers Lane. There is a date set to meet with your local team on Thursday 6th June between 4 - 5pm at the Barnehurst Golf Club. If you wish to come and meet the team then please feel free to come and have a chat'. Belvedere ward:- "The team recovered a stolen motorcycle from Shortlands Close recently. It had been taken from an address in Erith a few days previously – a call from a resident alerted us to the whereabouts of the motorcycle and it has now been returned to its owner. There had been graffiti sprayed in various areas throughout the upper part of the ward – we visited the affected areas and gave advice to residents on how best to remove it. Where possible (if the graffiti can be seen from the road), we have liaised with Bexley Council and requested that the graffiti is removed as soon as possible. We have also attended Lumley Close after concerns raised to us in relation to a disused garage that was thought to be being used to store stolen vehicles. With assistance from the owners of the garages we were able to gain access to the garage in question and discovered a moped that was displaying a false registration plate – this has now been seized for further investigation. The team were made aware of an attempted burglary in Picardy Road last week, which is thought to have occurred during the day on Thursday 16th May whilst occupants were away from the address. There was clear damage to the front door of the address however entry was not gained. Our ward panel met last week and have asked that the teams priorities for the coming three month period are Burglary, Motor Vehicle crime and ASB in relation to parks across the ward. We attended the Guru Nanak Temple and gave away several Smart Water kits to the members. This is in response to the Asian gold burglaries in the city. The kits are being very well received by the temple communities. They will help reduce burglaries as the users have warning stickers displayed in their windows and prominent places. The kits also help Police to identify who has been handling any stolen property marked with the smart water as each kit is unique. Our next Community Contact session is due to take place on Tuesday 28th of May from 1pm at the Asda café in Lower Road". Bexleyheath ward:- "There have been no reports of burglaries over the last week as well as any attempted burglaries. There have been three theft from motor vehicles reported all along Rydal Drive on the following dates: Wednesday 15/05/2019 Friday 17/05/2019 & Saturday 18/05/2019. Also on the Friday Friday 17/05/2019 there was a report of an interference of motor vehicle reported along Wenvoe Avenue. The team have conducted about 10 stop and searches along Martins Avenue and car park areas on the ward including the Premiere In and the Marriott. Two were stopped for possession of cannabis are now being dealt with accordingly. Five youths have been referred to the Council in relation to ASB issues on the ward. Also regular patrols are being conducted around the war memorial as the team have received complaints about ASB and drugs. A new NHW has now been set up along Lavernock Road". Crayford ward:- "A silver Olympia bicycle was stolen from outside Crayford BR Station platform 2 between 20.00 on Saturday 18th May and 21.00 on Sunday 19th May. Number plates KL57 OUW were unscrewed from a vehicle parked in Crayford Way overnight between 13th and 14th May, they should be on a beige Vauxhall. A blue BMW Z1200 GT motorcycle was stolen from Acorn Industrial Estate on Wednesday 15th May at 15.35, it was wheeled away. Cigarettes were stolen from the front seat of a vehicle parked outside Bookers on Friday 17th May at 9.50 am. A burglary occurred in London Road on Tuesday 21st May between 11.11 and 13.25, entry was made via the front door and porch, at this time it is believed jewellery was stolen. A silver Mercedes E class had the passenger front window smashed in Crayford High Street after 21.45 on Thursday 16th May. Tools were stolen from a vehicle whilst parked at Hall Place on Tuesday 21st May between 9.00-9.30. Tools were stolen from an unlocked van whilst parked at Crayford Leisure Centre on 21st May. A theft from motor vehicle occurred at Green Walk on 20th May between 00.35-00.40, suspects were seen on CCTV trying several cars, items were discarded. Our apologies that our community contact session booked for Wednesday 22nd May at Vintage Lindy Lou's had to be cancelled at very short notice. Our next community contact session will be on Tuesday 28th May at Crayford Library between 10.00-11.00". Erith ward:- "Another week with zero burglaries – However as noted in the crimes below, Theft from and of motor vehicles is up. Please see the crime advice: Car security at home •Where possible ensure that your vehicle is parked on your driveway or in your garage if you have one. Alternatively, ensure your vehicle is parked in a well-lit area. •Have an alarm and immobiliser fitted if your vehicle doesn't already have one. This is an effective way of deterring criminals. A Thatcham-compliant immobiliser or steering lock can help secure older vehicles. •Locking wheel nuts are cheap and easy to fit to prevent your alloy wheels being stolen. •Catalytic converters can be marked using a specialist metal security marking chemical and secure labels to warn potential thieves that the catalytic converter carries an identification mark. Securing your motorbike or scooter •If your motorbike or scooter doesn't already have one, consider having a Thatcham or Sold Secure approved electronic immobiliser professionally fitted. Ask your insurance company which devices they would recommend that will not invalidate your policy. •If you have a security device fitted, always use it. A wide variety of locks can be used, such as chains or padlocks, disc locks and D locks. The most important thing to remember is to secure your motorbike to a solid object that can't be moved. •Always put your steering lock on. •When you are not using your motorbike or scooter, put it in your garage or a secure outbuilding with a fixed or ground anchor to secure it to inside the building. Don't leave your garage open and make sure your vehicle is covered up, even when you are at home". Northumberland Heath ward - no report this week due to technical problems.

Slade Green and Northend ward:- "In the last week, number plates have been stolen from vehicles in Alderney Road, Aveley Close, Frobisher Road and Sandpiper Drive. All of these offences occurred through the night. If you would like some anti-theft screws, please let us know. Off road bikes have become very prominent over by Erith Yacht club due to the pinch gate proving not to be efficient in stopping access to the location. Over the course of last weekend 5 bikes and 15 individuals were removed by our team and all the relevant warnings, letters and words of advice were given. All of them tried to claim they hand the landowners permission (which is not true) and contact has been made with the landowner making him aware. The pinch gate has now also been damaged, this has been reported to Bexley Council for repair and hopefully a better gate. Over 10 stop and searches made across the ward in the last week some drugs seized and all the necessary action taken regarding the individuals found in possession. We have 2 new Watches in our ward at Cook Square and one half of the Rainbow Road estate from Crimson Road down to just past Budgens. Plus our Alderney Road watch is also back up and running after several months lapsed". Thamesmead East ward:- "Burglaries: No burglaries this week. Please remain vigilant at all times. Crime Prevention: Close and lock all your doors and windows, even if you're going out for a few minutes. Photograph and keep a detailed inventory of each item of jewellery and keep it in a separate place. Motor vehicle crimes: On Wednesday 15/05/19 between the hours of 9:00am and 11:30am a vehicle parked in Seacourt Road had the rear passenger window smashed, nothing taken. Between the hours of 05:30pm of Thursday 16/05/19 and 09:30 am of Friday 17/05/19 a vehicle parked in the underground car park Staplehurst Court, Southmere Drive had the rear quarter window on the passenger side smashed ,nothing taken. Also at the same location of Staplehurst Court underground car park an attempted theft of a motor scooter occurred on Friday 17/05/19 between the hours of 08:40 am and 10:00 am. An unknown suspect stole a motor scooter from Bledlow Court between the hours of 10:30pm on Thursday 16/05/19 and 05:00pm of Friday 17/05/19.A car battery was stolen from a vehicle parked in Glimpsing Green between the hours of 06:00am and 06:10am on Monday 20/05/19. Between the hours of 3:30pm and 09:320pm Monday 20/05/19 the front and rear number plates were stolen from a vehicle outside Shire Court, Redpoll Way. Criminal Damage: Between the hours of 1:00pm and 1:30pm on Wednesday 15/05/19 a property in Lime Row had the kitchen window smashed". West Heath ward:- "This week has been all about car crime. Overnight Wednesday 15 - Thursday 16th May there were three thefts from motor vehicles in Little Heath Road where a satnav was stolen, Hurlingham Road where a purse was stolen and lastly Cranbrook Road. There was also a fourth theft from a vehicle in Leckwith Avenue over the weekend Friday 17th-Sunday 19th . There was one possible attempted burglary in Brampton Road in the early hours of Sunday 12th May where the victim saw two shadowy figures at their bathroom window who then made off, entry was not gained. The team have conducted MV tasking patrols on our hotspots with the assistance of…. Two male stopped and searched in Mayfair Ave resulting in one male arrested who it turns out wanted theft of motor in Bromley. Another male stopped for possession cannabis in Chessington Avenue. The team assisted our partners in DWP and Organised Crime Unit around some concerns for modern slavery. The street briefing in Brixham Rd on 20th May raised a few issues mostly around antisocial behaviour from quad bikes, dog fouling and fly tipping. Our next Street briefing will be in Orchard Avenue on 30th May at 7pm".

The end video below shows an excerpt from a football match featuring the youth team from Erith Town FC playing a local game.

Bonehill behind bars.

The photo above was taken by me on Tuesday evening; it shows a pile of illegally fly – tipped old and worn out lorry tyres that was dumped in Appold Street, off Manor Road by persons unknown. I spoke to a couple of the residents in the road, and none of them heard or saw anything suspicious. I suspect that the fly - tipping may have been carried out in the early hours of the morning, when most locals would have been asleep. I reported the matter to the Police and to Bexley Council Environmental Crimes Unit. To their credit, the unit got the tyres collected for proper recycling within twenty four hours. Appold Street has proved a favourite location for illegal tipping for many years – hardly a week goes by without some scumbag dropping a load there. I know that a number of Appold Street residents would like to see CCTV cameras installed to record such illegal activity. This is despite concerns about personal privacy – they feel that things have become so bad that the stopping of fly tipping is more important to them than any intrusion into personal privacy.

I don't know about you, but I get an almost incessant stream of junk mail through my letter box; much of which is delivered by the Royal Mail. Sometimes I feel that I would like to fit an electric paper shredder to the inside of the front door, and I am certain that I am not alone in that sentiment. The news that a scheme that would have allowed households to stop billions of items of junk mail has been secretly ditched by government ministers after a series of objections from Royal Mail and other delivery companies has leaked out. The Times reported earlier this week that after a freedom of information request was submitted on the subject, it became clear that the junk mail blocking proposal was quietly shelved after a row between the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Direct Marketing Association about which companies were joining. The scheme had the potential to cut thousands of tonnes of waste by letting households opt out of receiving both addressed and unaddressed junk mail. The current scheme only applies to addressed mail. Every year in the UK an estimated twelve billion items of unsolicited marketing mail drop onto doormats around the country; this is equivalent to roughly five million trees. In 2014 Royal Mail revenues from delivering junk mail increased to more than £500 million, with the company delivering over three billion items of unaddressed post. The deal with the Direct Marketing Association to stop sending junk mails to people who opted out soon broke down; The preference scheme was known as the Door Drop Preference Service was ready to launch in 2012. Unfortunately the arrangement soon fell through, as the Direct Marketing Association accused the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of not doing enough to sign up other organisations who send junk Email to the scheme. The trade body argued that if its members joined, advertisers would switch their junk mail to free newspapers. This analysis was rejected, and the deadlock was never broken. Earlier this year the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs finally admitted that the scheme would never materialise, but somewhere along the line a decision was made that no public announcement would be published. All in all the situation is a mess; there are two existing non – addressed junk mail opt – out schemes, but very few people know about them – one is run by Royal Mail, and the other by the Direct Marketing Association – both schemes have to be joined by post, and registration on both expires after two years, when households have to reapply. The figures suggest that less than one in fifty UK households is signed up to these schemes. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Last week I wrote about how local residents were losing confidence on the recently launched Dart Charge system at the Dartford River Crossing. It would seem that things are even worse than I described. This week MP for Dartford Gareth Johnson has called for the government to withhold payment to Sanef, the company that operate the Dart Charge system. In an interview in the News Shopper, Johnson said “Since the Dart Charge system was introduced it has been woefully inadequate. I have had hundreds of people contact me who are deeply frustrated with the system. I have already called on the Department of Transport to withhold payments to Sanef, the company which operates Dart Charge, and I urge them again to do so. I don't want to see any tolls on the crossing let alone a toll system that doesn’t work correctly. Motorists need to be able to trust the system and yet that is not currently the case." The number of complaints about poor service, incorrect charging and fines being sent to people who had actually not used the bridge or tunnel has increased markedly. These were initially explained as “teething troubles”, but it would appear that they have not improved since last November when the service was launched. On top of the MP for Dartford getting on the case, now Edmund King, the President of the Automobile Association has become involved. He recently said “It is particularly galling that any toll remains at Dartford. The tolls and charges were supposed to be lifted in 2003 when the cost of the scheme had been met.  The new scheme has undoubtedly eased the congestion at busy times but, for some, there is a new concern regarding the behind-the-scenes bureaucracy that accompanies this supposedly high-tech, non-stop tolling. We expect many drivers to incur penalties through not being aware of the scheme.  And those who seek help with problems they have experienced with the 'back office' may get frustrated when problems are not resolved quickly or easily enough.  We believe that, so far, only around 400 appeals have been considered by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and thankfully, because of the teething problems, the vast majority of drivers are winning their cases.  We expect appeals to ramp up in the coming months and if the authority does not act quickly to reduce errors it could be embarrassing. With the scheme now into its seventh month, the AA calls for a transparent review of customer service standards and the performance of the electronic processes so any needed improvements can be made.  The AA also believes a complaints system and 'users group' should be established to ensure users have a voice. The AA welcomes Dart Charge’s decision to issue warnings not penalties to first-time non-payers and hopes that this continues until awareness of the scheme increases”. Quite. Now that both Gareth Johnson MP and Edmund King are backing travellers who use the Dartford River Crossing, hopefully the public attention the issue gets will increase. Back in November last year when the Dart Charge scheme was launched I predicted problems of exactly the type that have since been experienced. It is much to my regret that I have to say that I told you so. Not only does the Dart Charge system have trouble reading vehicle number plates, but it is clear that the number of cloned plates is higher than many had anticipated – this seems to be one of the contributing factors to the warning notices and fines being sent to entirely innocent people, so the blame for the failure of Dart Charge to work properly cannot be put solely at the feet of Sanef – your common or garden local crook also has a hand in this.

The photo above was taken in the summer of 1907 (click on it for a larger view), and shows how the residents of Edwardian Erith dealt with a heatwave similar to what we have experienced in the last week. The first public swimming baths in Erith was an outdoor one in Walnut Tree Road; the photo was taken during the opening ceremony on the 3rd of August 1907. The pool cost £700 to build and was sixty feet long by twenty five feet wide. The water was heated using the waste boiler heat from the adjacent Erith Power Station. Bearing in mind that in addition to the power station, the swimming baths were close to the livestock holding pens at Erith railway station - which you can clearly see in the period photograph below - I would imagine the smell must have been eye watering at certain times!

Over the last week or so, the popular press have been getting very excited about artificial intelligence, and the efforts made to progress research in this field by various organisations and academics. This is all very well, but unfortunately the enthusiasm of the journalists (and their lack of understanding of the hugely complex and technical field) has led to some rather inaccurate reporting. According to a Wall Street journal  article titled "Artificial Intelligence machine gets testy with programmer," a Google computer program using a database of movie scripts supposedly "lashed out" at a human researcher who was repeatedly asking it to explain morality. After several apparent attempts to politely fend off the researcher, the Artificial Intelligence ends the conversation with "I'm not in the mood for a philosophical debate." This, says the Wall Street Journal reporter, illustrates how Google scientists are "teaching computers to mimic some of the ways a human brain works." As any Artificial Intelligence researcher can tell you, this is utter nonsense. Humans currently have very little idea how the human, or any other brain, works, so they can hardly teach a machine how brains work. At best, Google is programming (not teaching) a computer to mimic the conversation of humans under highly constrained circumstances. The methods used have nothing to do with true cognition. Artificial Intelligence hype to the public has become progressively more strident in recent years, misleading lay people into believing researchers are much further along than they really are — by several orders of magnitude. We are decades away from anything remotely approaching a sentient computer, if it is at all possible. One researcher once said “If the human brain was simple enough for us to understand, we would be too stupid to be able to do so”. What software engineers at Google have been able to do is to create a synthetic environment in which their software can mimic the responses to questions placed by a human, in a manner which suggests to the human that they are interacting with another human being. They have succeeded in partially beating the Turing Test. The Turing Test is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. Alan Turing proposed that a human evaluator would judge natural language conversations between a human and a machine that is designed to generate human-like responses. The evaluator would be aware that one of the two partners in conversation is a machine, and all participants would be separated from one another. The conversation would be limited to a text-only channel such as a computer keyboard and screen so that the result would not be dependent on the machine's ability to render words as speech. If the evaluator cannot reliably tell the machine from the human (Turing originally suggested that the machine would convince a human 70% of the time after five minutes of conversation), the machine is said to have passed the test. The test does not check the ability to give correct answers to questions, only how closely answers resemble those a human would give. Google’s program convinced three out of seven humans that they were interacting with another human – somewhat short of Alan Turing’s own estimates of what constitutes a success. Computers are great at carrying out tasks where the rules are finite and established, however complex that they are; this is one reason why computers are now better than people at games like chess. In open – ended situations, such as a conversation with a person, they are far less successful, and though this will improve, actually creating a self-aware computer is still well in the realms of science fiction, and likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future, despite what certain journalists might have you believe.

A U.S government-appointed panel concluded in a recent report that Americans should eat less red meat and processed meat, and to avoid all fatty processed meats such as Salami in particular. A more plant-focused diet is better for health and the environment, it found. Not exactly a surprise – similar recommendations have been made in the UK for many years.  One problem with telling people to limit total fat is that people end up eating fewer monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats – the kind found in nuts, vegetable oils and fish – which are really healthy, and are precisely what dieticians recommend people to eat. In a recent interview, Penny Kris-Etherton, the Professor of Nutrition at Penn State University, and the chair of the American Heart Association's nutrition committee, says she thinks it's unlikely that lifting limits on total fat intake will be much of a sticking point. "There is a pretty solid consensus now that it's the type of fat that's really important”. Both the British and American Heart Association still recommend "selecting fat-free, 1 percent fat and low-fat dairy products" on their respective websites, but this information is now out of date. Professor Kris-Etherton says that in practice, the association isn't defending the low-fat position anymore. The AHA's new lifestyle guideline implies that it is best to substitute polyunsaturated fats — found in things like almonds and avocados — for saturated fats. "A lot of people still look at how much fat is in foods, and we're now saying don't focus on that: Look at the quality of fat you're consuming”. Another interesting point is that many low fat products (such as low fat yoghurts) tend to have much higher levels of added sugar in them – what is apparently a healthy diet choice can actually end up being worse for you. A classic case of unintended consequences. One possible side – effect of the promotion of awareness of healthier eating options may be hitting high street eating habits.  Fast food giant McDonald's is set to close more stores than it open for the first time in forty years. In a sign of changing consumer habits, as more and more consumers reject fast food chains for more niche eating establishments, the company has been forced to shrink. The global dominance of McDonald's, once taken for granted, has tumbled in recent years. The company announced in April that around seven hundred stores worldwide would close after underperforming. The closures are nothing new, but in the past the number of new stores opening had outweighed those closing. The figures reported may actually be far worse than they seem; the seven hundred stores mentioned only include those directly owned and run by the company. A majority of McDonald's stores are actually franchises owned and operated by private companies or individuals – the numbers don't include these at all. McDonald's has also announced that it will no longer publicly announce its sales figures each month, as it focuses on improving the 'small things' – such as how long it toasts its burger buns. The fast food giant is currently experiencing one of the worst periods of its sixty year history, as US workers hit out over pay and customers turn to competitors such as Subway. The firm's British-born boss, Steve Easterbrook, unveiled an overhaul of McDonald's divisions, including cost-cutting measures, earlier this month - and has now also confirmed that the chain will no longer reveal its monthly takings to its investors. Instead, backers will have to wait for a quarterly report to see if plans to revive the chain have been successful. Whilst local McDonald's such as the one in James Watt Way, Erith seem to be doing decent business, I have heard (unsubstantiated) rumours that the large 24 hour drive through in Plumstead has been struggling for some time. The need for two permanent security guards in the restaurant due to continual problems with violence and drug dealing, plus the less than ideal location near the junction of Pettman Crescent and Nathan Way, mean that it gets little passing footfall – the area is not very pedestrian – friendly. I have heard that a percentage of their business comes from bus station staff from the large garage opposite, and post office workers from the sorting office right next door. Most of the rest of the trade comes from visitors by car. I don't know if any reader has a better insight into this matter – please feel free to contact me at hugh.neal@gmail.com with any related information.

That hate filled and bigoted individual Joshua Bonehill has been in the national press yet again. You may recall that I wrote about him back in February this year, after he sent me a threatening Email. I ignored his threats and published his message in full. If you are new to the Maggot Sandwich and are not aware of the activities of extreme right wing racist Joshua Bonehill, you can read about him here. Now, on top of everything he has done in the past,  he’s been arrested and is now on remand in prison until he appears in court on the 13th July for inciting racial hatred, after announcing plans to "destroy" Israeli flags and burn Jewish holy books.  Bonehill made a series of posts on his blog about an anti-Jewish rally which took place in North London yesterday. Only around twenty of his followers actually turned up, opposed by a far larger crowd of anti racists.  In the online postings, he encouraged people to destroy Israeli flags by hand at the demonstration in Golders Green, which has one of the capital’s largest Jewish communities. He also said a "private ceremony" would take place at a secret location just before the rally, where extremists would set fire to Jewish holy texts. He even had the temerity to create a particularly offensive leaflet with an image showing the walls of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau and a can of weed-killer. It carried the words: “Liberate Golders Green: An anti-Jewification event. We've become complacent and allowed for weeds to grow in the cracks of London. It’s time to clear them out with roundup and liberate Golders Green for future generations of white people. Join us on July 4 for what promises to be an absolute gas!” I need say no more other than it was high time Bonehill saw the inside of a jail cell. As I have previously written, I have been told by someone qualified, that it is highly likely that Joshua Bonehill is suffering from mental illness, but it has got to the point where he is causing suffering to so many people that he needed to be locked up – ironically prison is the one place where he could potentially get effective treatment for his delusions. We will see what happens when his case comes to court on the 13th. Watch this space. 

The new anti-gang Police team set up in Thamesmead / Abbey Wood has a number of serious challenges to deal with. Not least of which is a worrying problem with unlicensed warehouse raves, the most recent of which ended with a murder. A young man called Renea Campbell aged 26, died following a triple stabbing outside the unlicensed London Igloo party in Abbey Wood's Lyndean Industrial Estate in the early hours of June 20^th. A group called Igloo organise illegal parties which they advertise via their website. The parties run all night, and usually finish at about 6am. This is despite Greenwich Council going to court to get an injunction preventing such events back in May. That did not stop the £20 a ticket London Igloo event - billed online as "the only party where you can bring your own bottles" - taking place with hundreds of revellers involved, according to concerned local residents fed up with the noise and disruption. I wonder that now that a young man has needlessly lost his life that the problem of the unlicensed events will finally be dealt with once and for all? Currently it seems that whenever a story gets into the local news about Abbey Wood and Thamesmead, it has negative connotations. There have been a number of stabbings, mostly relating to gang territories and the related “rights” to sell drugs. Unlicensed raves tend to encourage gang members to meet where they normally would not – whether they intend visiting the event for fun, or merely seeking new customers for their illegal recreational pharmaceuticals; the mix of gang loyalty, illicit money and knife culture never makes for a good result. I also wonder why the owners of the building where the rave has taken place do not do more to prevent such activities? Surely any insurance covering the building would be null and void if something happened during a period of illegal use?

Malcolm Knight of the “Bexley is Bonkers” blog was the first outlet to break the good news story that Bexley Council’s plan to sell off the Old Manor Way playground in Barnehurst has been dropped after intense public protest. The story is now all over the local press. Whilst this is extremely good news for the parents and children who use the playground, and it paints Bexley Council in a somewhat favourable light, I think that it is probably another nail in the coffin of the campaign to save Belvedere Splash Park. The extremely hot weather that we have been suffering with this week really went to show how much the Splash Park means to local people. I was on the 99 bus from Woolwich on Wednesday afternoon, right at the hottest part of the heatwave. When the bus stopped outside of the closed Splash Park, I saw a mother and a small group of children visibly upset that the park was closed – they obviously did not know about the closure, or the concerted campaign to get the place refurbished and re – opened. Consequently you had a bunch of upset kids and a Mum who did not know what to do with her hot and bothered kids on the warmest day of the year. As Malcolm Knight has also highlighted, the recent arson attack at the play area in Abbey Wood is going to cost the council’s recreation budget a pile of money – although I am not aware of what insurance provision (if any) the council has for damage of that type. Any possible remedial work and possible re – opening  of the Belvedere Splash Park may well fall victim to the non – closure of the Old Manor Way playground, and the fire damage in Abbey ruins. My understanding is that the possible financial grant from Cory Environmental to refurbish and reopen the Splash Park is in grave doubt, as Cory are currently up for sale, and actively looking for a buyer for the business. Cory has long had a somewhat tarnished reputation in Belvedere and Erith, mainly due to the way in which they forced through the creation of the plant in 2007, against the opposition of many local people, and the then London Mayor, Ken Livingstone. Opposition centred round the possibility of emissions from the incinerator, which add to the local concerns about existing industrial risks in Lower Belvedere. There has been a long standing dispute with Thames Water about the smell from the Crossness sewage works, and the ineffectiveness of attempts to force an end to these added to local concerns regarding fumes. A further concern raised is that while Bexley Borough has one of the best recycling records in London, this is offset by the fact that other boroughs evade recycling quotas by having their refuse incinerated in Bexley. Cory have no doubt hoped to create some better P.R for themselves by sponsoring a number of local community projects. This may now be over – hopefully there will be a new incumbent running the incinerator, who will have a strong and active corporate social responsibility programme to which the Belvedere Splash Park can benefit. Time will tell. 

The end video this week is something I came across on YouTube. It has been put together by local resident Lee Ricketts - you can see his Youtube channel by clicking here. This short film shows the demolition of the old Erith Town Centre back in 1969, and also records the construction of the first phase of the hideous concrete monstrosity of the replacement shopping centre that was to blight the town for several decades. Only in the last ten years have things improved. See what you think.