Erith Christmas Tree Festival 2017.

The photos above were taken by me yesterday at the Christ Church Erith Christmas Tree Festival (click on any one to see a larger version), which also included a Christmas Fair in the church hall, and a pop - up food truck festival in the church gardens. A very large number of local and not so local people visited the events; visitor numbers were definitely up by a significant percentage when compared to previous years, and donations made were also up, though the final figures are not yet available. The event raises money for both the church, and Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice. As you can see, the famous Erith Lighthouse made an appearance outside of the church, and Peter and Sarah of The Exchange were on hand; Sarah led an art group showing children how to make classic tree decorations like paper doves and clove stuffed oranges. The feedback from the visitors was exceedingly good, with many people travelling significant distances to attend the annual event. 

The Maggot Sandwich is published a little earlier than normal this Sunday; this is for a very good reason. As has now become the pre Christmas tradition whenever a new film in the Star Wars canon is released, I am attending a private screening of Star Wars - The Last Jedi at the CineWorld cinema in Bexleyheath on Sunday afternoon. This is an annual, invitation only event that has now become part of the local social calendar. Photographs of the event will be published on the blog next weekend.

Fly tipping is a real problem around a majority of the UK; for some reason - possibly due to population density, it seems to be particularly prevalent in the South East. Bexley has a very bad problem with illegal waste disposal. The issue is something that seems to be one that people have very strong feelings about, but they also feel powerless to affect. As many people will know, I have been involved with combatting fly tipping in and around Erith for many years as part of my role as a Neighbourhood Watch coordinator. Only last Sunday I found a load of builder’s waste in rubble bags, dumped in Appold Street, just past the old railway bridge. I reported the illegal dumping to Bexley Council, and to their credit, they engaged a contractor to clear the mess very quickly. You can see the rubble in the photo above - click on it for a larger image. I have suggested to several local councillors a suggestion that has been widely accepted as a good idea, but for some reason nobody in the council seems to want to grasp the nettle and actually enact the proposed experiment. As long term readers may well be aware, I had the idea of making commercial deposits at council recycling sites such as the Thames Road waste depot free, instead of charging something in the region of £120 a load for construction waste. It is well known that commercial contractors such as builders use private vehicles to take waste to tips, to try and avoid paying the tipping costs which are normally charged to businesses. Else they fly tip, causing all sorts of environmental damage, and the associated costs to either the council, or to the private individuals, if the waste is tipped on private land. I have been reliably informed that Bexley Council pay a private waste disposal contractor something in the region of £300 per lorry load of fly tipped waste that they collect. It seems to me only logical that if, say for a trial period of six months, the council made tipping by commercial enterprises free - all of the other paperwork would still be completed in the normal way, so the level of accountability would not change in any way. If this was to reduce the level of criminal fly tipping by a significant amount, it might well end up paying for itself, or even saving money. I feel that if the link between cash and tipping can be broken, it might well encourage those engaged in fly tipping to do the right thing - there can only be so much stick, when you also need some carrot. The fines issued by the council to those caught fly tipping could also be used to subsidise the increased running costs of the recycling centres. It would be interesting to see the usage statistics after a six month trial period of a system of this nature - I think it would be cost neutral, or possibly make a small profit. What do you think? Would a trial period making commercial use of recycling centres within the London Borough of Bexley be a worthwhile experiment? I know that a number of Bexley councillors read the Maggot Sandwich; Will one of them take up this issue and get it raised? Let me know your opinion on the subject by either leaving a comment below, or Emailing me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Radio Caroline have been carrying out some test transmissions on their newly allocated 648 KHz medium wave frequency. Reception outside of their licenced coverage area of Suffolk and Norfolk has been exceptional - reception reports have come in from as far away as Finland, Estonia and Turkey - not bad at all for what is intended as a purely local AM service. I think that OFCOM have finally bowed to popular pressure - 648 is a pretty much clear channel for Northern Europe, and the allowance of a one kilowatt ERP for what is intended as a local service says a lot - they implicitly comply in the fiction that Radio Caroline will be restricted to a small geographic area with their AM broadcasts, when it has now become clear that the signal can be heard over a very wide area indeed. I don’t know when the tests will end, and proper broadcasting on 648 will begin, but I get the feeling that it will be sooner, rather than later. Their web and DAB based broadcasts continue as normal. I have had a number of readers ask me some quite specific questions about the station, thinking that I am still closely involved with Caroline. This is not actually the case; I am a regular listener, and do occasionally contact the station management, but other than that I have little involvement nowadays. Caroline in the present is a far different organisation to the one I worked for back in the late 80’s and very early 90’s. To be honest it is a lot stronger and better organised nowadays; back in the day when I was involved, it was a very amateur affair for the most part, something that is far from the situation nowadays, I am very glad to report. I wish them all of the best, and look forward to when the station becomes a major force in UK mainstream radio once again.

Here is part two of transport professional John Burch's account of his involvement with the former Dartford Tunnel Cycle Buses. Part one, published last week, was exceptionally well received by readers. John takes up his account, as he and his colleagues finally encounter one of the supposedly scrapped buses in a former quarry. John writes:- "One of Leon’s colleagues had come across this place several years previously while looking for old Land Rover parts. It was when he had entered the quarry that he found something quite astonishing. Knowing Leon’s interest in buses he passed on the location and Leon later went there and found the vehicle that he had taken me to see. We headed into the old quarry passing derelict old vehicles until we found the vehicle which was parked up against a cliff face. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a TT class vehicle! The top deck had been used as a mess room / office by the workers in the quarry. It was parked up against a hollowed out side of the quarry and a telegraph pole had been erected alongside the bus to take an extension wire for a telephone. This effectively prevented the vehicle from being removed from the location. It was completely hidden from the nearby road, which ran along the edge of the quarry above the bus, because of the way the vehicle was position with an overhanging cliff concealing it. The vehicle was missing a front axle and mechanical components and identification was not easy. However it bore the faded crest of Shrewsbury Corporation. This gave away the vehicle’s identity as TT4 (529FJJ). So presumably it had been sold for scrap by Shrewsbury Corporation either because it proved to be a poor purchase, or perhaps it did find use with the Corporation for a while, though I have never seen any evidence of it actually being used by the council. Leon had attempted several times to negotiate with the man who owned the quarry and the vehicle, and I remember on the occasion of our visit he tried again. The man wanted a ridiculous amount for the bus as he had obviously gained the impression it was a valuable artefact and worth a lot of money. Leon, quite rightly, declined. However he left his business card and asked the man to promise that if ever he came to dispose of the bus he would give Leon first refusal. He did at least agree to do that, but there did not look like much hope it would be going anywhere soon as the telegraph pole effectively pinned it to the cliff face of the quarry! I was fascinated by this find and believed it would make an incredibly worthy restoration project. In the meantime I undertook some research because the vehicle would need replacement parts if it was ever going to run again. Luckily one of my friends, who was also a Radio Caroline supporter, also worked for Ford’s research division at Warley. He arranged for me to have the original workshop manuals for the Thames Trader chassis. This demonstrated to us that the vehicle could be reasonably easily mechanically restored as many of the parts were common to other Ford Thames Trader commercial vehicles and were still reasonably easy to find then. The body was the difficult bit, although panel work was reasonably easy to complete and all the upper deck windows were still in place. The difficult bit would be securing the cycle racks as these had been removed. I compiled quite a file on the TT class vehicles and did a reasonable amount of research ahead of the vehicle being acquired. I left Ensign employment in June 1992 and forgot about the TT for a while. I returned to work for Leon in September 1996, after the old Ensign tendered bus operations had become Capital Citybus. I discovered that 6 or 7 years after our original visit to Shropshire, Leon had managed to persuade the quarry owner that the vehicle was worthy of disposal and so, a deal being done, Leon now had to find a way of getting it out of the quarry. This is a story in itself, but with a missing axle the vehicle was going to be a bit difficult to move. Eventually a team were assembled. Well known preservationist Peter Stanier loaned a tank transporter to haul the vehicle back from Shropshire and it eventually made it home to the South East. Leon arranged for it to be stored at the Capital Citybus Dagenham Dock depot, but when space got tight there it was moved first to Northumberland Park. The vehicle was given some bodywork attention, but time just wasn’t on Leon’s side and TT4 was eventually moved to the company’s Hackney depot were it lay for a while. Eventually space at the Hackney depot was also at a premium and so the vehicle had to be moved again. I helped to prepare the vehicle for its move to its current resting place. It has lain here ever since. I don’t want to give away the location as the vehicle is reasonably safe in storage here. With the sale of Capital Citybus to First in July 1998, Leon Daniels progressed through the group and eventually ended up as MD of First UK Bus. From here he moved to TfL as MD Surface Transport in April 2011. He has just retired from this post and has said that the restoration of the TT is a project which he will now, at last, have the time to progress. It is his intention that our old friends at Ensign Bus will undertake the work. This seems highly appropriate as they operate the only current regular bus service across the River Thames using the Dartford crossing! I moved away from London with First Group in 1999 to become General Manager of First Red Bus in North Devon. Amongst my responsibilities I found myself operating a cycle bus service with my new employer. I operated two especially converted Leyland National vehicles on a bike bus service between Ilfracombe and Okehampton. More recently I was also involved in planning a 2 year Surf and Cycle bus project in North Devon. The Dartford Tunnel buses inspired a project awarded to Stagecoach operating two specially converted double deck buses for the purpose. So the TTs are not the only double deck buses to be converted for carriage of cycles!" Thanks John for a truly fascinating insight into the world of the specialist bus, and some very unusual social and industrial history. 

Now that the Carnegie Library building in Walnut Tree Road is about to be refurbished - as you may well have seen, I photographed the scaffolding being erected around the building last week; I am hopeful that the restoration and refurbishment work gets under way in good time. When the library had an open day recently, I got a chance for a good look around. The place is absolutely huge - when it was opened as a library, only roughly one third of it was open to the public. I had no idea that the ground floor was as large in floor area as it is, and the former Erith Museum on the upper floor also houses the former Head Librarian’s apartment - something I was not aware of until my recent visit. I can see that the historic building has a huge amount of potential - in fact I have suggested to The Exchange that they contact the producers of Channel 4’s “Grand Designs” - as I feel the huge scope of the project would be of great interest to viewers of that programme. It would also help to further put Erith on the map as far as ambitious public building renovation projects are concerned.

There was some intense Police activity in Erith High Street and Wharfside Close on Thursday afternoon; a regular reader who chooses to remain anonymous took the photo above of officers on patrol - click on the photo for a larger view. After making some enquiries with the Police, it turns out that they were searching for a known felon who had been spotted running along Erith High Street, wearing only a pair of socks and boxer shorts! Apparently, even though there had been several sightings of the wanted villain by members of the public, and the man was nearly naked in freezing temperatures, he was not located. 

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "Good news for Barnehurst residents, there has been no residential burglaries in the past week. Barnehurst Local Policing Team will continue to patrol burglary hotspots and are making every effort to encourage residents to be part of Neighbourhood Watch for their road. If you are interested in becoming a Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator please let us know and we will be happy to discuss with you what is involved. With Christmas approaching do not advertise Christmas presents under the tree and remain vigilant to deter unwanted visitors. Coffee with cops will be held at 1.00pm at Barnehurst Golf Club on Thursday 21st December 2017, please feel free to join us. Follow us on Twitter @MPSBarnehurst". Belvedere ward:- "The team dealt with a stolen vehicle last weekend that had been bought to our attention by a nearby resident. The vehicle was recovered by us and was taken away for forensic testing. CCTV enquiries were conducted and CCTV has been located relating to the incident. We also completed a street briefing in Ruskin Road where residents were able to discuss various issues with us. Councillor Daniel Francis was in attendance at this meeting and was also able to offer possible solutions to some of the issues raised. We also dealt with youths riding off road motorbikes in two separate locations on the ward. One of the reports was of a nuisance off road motorbike driving up and down the pathway from Upper Abbey Road and Clive Road. Apparently there are between two and four male youths using this bike to cause a nuisance in the area. If anyone has any information as to who the youths are then please contact the team. The team have been patrolling Nuxley Road and Upper Belvedere areas following 5 robberies over the past 3 months. We have been providing crime prevention advice on Twitter - @MPSBelvedere". Brampton ward:- "Brampton have only had 3 relevant crimes to report. There was criminal damage to a motor vehicle in Wenvoe Road and to a vehicle in Normanhurst Avenue where both vehicles had their tyres slashed. There was also a particularly nasty aggravated burglary in Church Road where 4 white men forced their way in and threatened the young victim with a sharp implement before taking an amount of cash. On a brighter note the council have agreed to install CCTV in Birchington Close in an attempt to stop the criminal damage to motor vehicles occurring". Christchurch ward:- "Unfortunately we have had two residential burglaries that have been reported. Both of them happened on Rowan Road on the 7th December. Entry was gained through the back of the properties through the doors and items taken. A suspicious vehicle was stopped and searched along Townley Road shortly after the burglaries reported. We have also had two attempted burglaries on the 7th and 8th Dec. Townley Grammar School and Lloyds Bank were targeted but nothing taken. Also we have had two Theft from motor vehicles. Below is a brief summary of them: 8th Dec – Front window smashed on a vehicle and items taken from inside along Albion Road 8th Dec - Items taken from a van along the Broadway Bexleyheath. Please be mindful of pick pockets that are targeting the Broadway which we are getting reports of this happening. If any NHW members do see anything that requires Police attendance. Please make sure you use the appropriate method in contacting us. In an emergency please dial 999 and 101 for non-urgent reporting". Crayford ward:- "Here’s our news for this week and the week before. We are really pleased to say that in the last two weeks there have been no burglaries in Crayford, fingers crossed that we haven’t just jinxed this positive outcome by writing about it! There have been a number of public order offences, domestic incidents, assaults, in most cases the suspects are either known to the victims or are being investigated, these matters are taken very seriously. In the lead up to Christmas there has been an increase in shoplifting offences and we will endeavour to patrol the relevant areas to deter and apprehend offenders. A white Piaggio Vespa was stolen from outside a property in Beech Walk on 27/11/2017 at approx. 00.40. The owner still has the keys. Between 22-29 November an X registered Silver Ford Focus was stolen from outside an address in Iron Mill Lane. Someone forgot about goodwill to all men/women and festive cheer when they stole two reindeers from the front garden of a property in Thames Road on 5th December between 14.00-14.10 by cutting through the power cables". Erith ward:- "2 x Stop and Search conducted at Bosworth House last Thursday. Result - 2 snap bags of cannabis. Investigation is ongoing. No burglaries to report. In the week the team assisted in assisted in putting up the Met Police Remembrance Christmas tree as part of the annual Christmas Tree Fesitval at Christ Church, Victoria Road, Erith". North End ward:- "We have had an overnight burglary in Leycroft Gardens on Sat/Sun. A new car was stolen after the keys were taken from inside the house, entry via the UPVC front door not being locked with the key. Please lift the handle AND turn the key if you have a similar door. A theft from Motor vehicle happened in Reddy Road overnight Friday, toys stolen from the backseat. Plus a number plate was stolen from the front of a car parked in Slade Green BR station last Saturday. Two of our current ward promises are Drugs in the ward and ASB in Daleview. Last Sunday evening PC Telfer and PC Brookes-Smith stopped a group of 5 males and females in the stairwells at Daleview. 4 of them had cannabis seized from them and drug warnings were given making this a positive patrol for both promises. Last Saturday our PCSO along with the Erith PCSO attended an Orbit Sheltered Housing Scheme Christmas party where they engaged with residents including having a bit of a Christmas dance. Pictures are on our Twitter page. Pulse patrols are ongoing across the borough with police officers targeting known offenders and ASB hotspot areas in all wards". Northumberland Heath ward:- "It has been a quiet week on the ward with just one attempted burglary reported to us, and no vehicle crime. The attempted burglary took place in York terrace overnight on Saturday December 9th. The victim was away when she received a call from the alarm company stating her house alarm had been activated. A family member attended the property and found that entry had been attempted to the rear patio doors and the lock to the door was damaged. Thankfully entry was not gained and it is believed that the alarm being activated disturbed the intruder. The team have conducted home visits this week to parents of youths who have been causing anti-social behaviour in Bexley Road and Dickens Close. The youths were identified by CCTV". Thamesmead East ward:- "Good News - no Burglaries this week. x2 Theft from Motor Vehicle - Seacourt Road, Sunday 10/12/17 1030pm-745am Sunglasses and loose change. Seacourt Road Monday 11/12/17 0945am smashed driver’s window purse taken. A female has been arrested for theft by PC Pruden - investigations ongoing. Crime prevention advice – Remove any personal belongings from your motor vehicle. If you lock your car using a remote key fob please try at least one of the door handles to confirm it's locked before you walk away. Always lock your car when unattended, even for a few moments. Never leave items in view in your car or home. Keep your purse or wallet secure. Remember when leaving your property check windows and doors are locked. Tell your neighbours if you are going away and ask them to keep an eye on your house. Protect your important property, register at: https://www.immobilise.com. Always report anything suspicious". 

The ending video this week shows some more of the problems the rebuilding of Bexleyheath Broadway have caused to pedestrians and motorists alike, by making the delineation between the road and the pavement so indistinct. Do give it a watch, and feel free to leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

St. Anne's nursery.

The News Shopper are currently featuring a story about the enforced closure of St. Anne’s Nursery on the Erith Park Estate (what used to be known as the Larner Road Estate before it was redeveloped). Their article can be seen here.  I have done some investigation into the story, and have found out that it is far more complex and nuanced that the News Shopper have described. In the story, reporter Josie Griffiths makes several key errors – principally in believing everything that the nursery owners have said, and printing it as fact. I have done some digging, and found a far different state of affairs, and far from the “black and white – Nursery good / Orbit bad” situation as described in the News Shopper. The reporter writes “St Anne's Nursery is a not-for-profit business run by Liam Connolly and owned by Silon 7”. This is factually incorrect. A simple check with Companies House confirms that Silon7 is  a ‘private company limited by shares’ with one shareholder – Liam Connolly. So it is definitely not a not-for-profit organisation as the News Shopper incorrectly states. Reliable sources have told me that Liam Connolly has run the nursery as a profitable business for some years. A couple of years ago Orbit Housing Association (the landlords)  instigated a conversation to suggest that the nursery might want to switch to a not-for-profit model such as a charity or social enterprise. Liam Connolly said no, it was a profitable company, he planned to grow it and he expected to have a commercial relationship with Orbit. Liam and his company Silon7 own the nursery and control the finances, but are not involved in the day to day running or the childcare which is all delegated to the (excellent) staff. At the time the nursery moved to the current premises, Orbit knew that rent was owing on the previous location.  Orbit therefore gave the nursery a licence (rather than the security of a lease) with a clear message that the nursery were required to enter into an agreement to pay off the arrears as a condition of the Orbit partnership continuing.  No proposal has been made by Liam.  Rent has been paid on the current property but only after Orbit involved lawyers. Silon7 have not responded to any of Orbit’s attempts to open up a conversation about moving this forward – if they were to do so, they could still consider it reopening as a not-for-profit business with transparent accounts and reinvesting profit in the business. I also understand that the statement about nursery staff not being admitted to the building when the locks were changed is also untrue. My informant tells me that  on the morning Orbit changed the  locks, one of the staff asked if she could go in and get the records, and Orbit representatives let her take as long as she liked to find what she needed and she confirmed that she had found what she was looking for.  Since Orbit changed the locks,  they have had no contact from Silon7 to request  access. The big shame in all this is the effect it is having on all the children – by all accounts the nursery was excellent, with dedicated and caring staff. My understanding is that the nursery staff had little if anything to do with the business side of the enterprise, which was solely administered by Liam Connolly. It would appear that through some kind of failure on his part, the staff and children are now suffering. The News Shopper have also deleted two comments made by readers – which, knowing the history the local paper’s website has with online trolls, may not be that surprising. One of the comments alleged that Liam Connolly had a history of criminality, and that he should not be allowed to run a nursery for that reason. I have absolutely no idea whether this is true or not, but the allegation was made – and the News Shopper webmaster made the (wise in my opinion) decision to remove the post from the website.  The bottom line would seem to be: 1) Liam Connolly has reneged on an agreement with Orbit Housing Association; 2) As a result of this, Orbit have closed down the nursery, as they are legally unable to subsidise a commercial organisation with their tenants rent money, and 3) All this has left the hardworking and dedicated staff, and the children who used the nursery with nowhere to go.  It is a pity that the News Shopper have only published half of the real story.  What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

With all of the debate going on at present about improving road and rail connections across the River Thames, It is interesting to see enterprises that instead of viewing the river as a barrier, they use it as a means of transport in itself. Back in 1963, a unique experiment was carried out. A hovercraft ferry service on the Thames was set up. The Denny D2 Hovercraft could carry seventy passengers at speeds of up to 21 knots, and the service was launched in early July 1963. It was operated by Thames Launches, who planned to operate a service every day until that October with a schedule of three trips per hour. The fare was £1 for adults and 10 shillings for children – a very substantial amount by the standards of the time. Built in Dumbarton by Denny Hovercraft, the hovercraft travelled under its own power along the east-coast, which was at the time the longest trip ever made by a hovercraft. The hovercraft also required a permit to fly along the Thames, as they were officially classed as aircraft, under the Air Navigation Order 1960. As such, a Times newspaper report into the new service was written by the Aeronautical correspondent, not their shipping one. The first passenger carrying “flight” took place on 1st July, with some five hundred customers on the first day. Initially the hovercraft service was limited to running three trips per hour between Tower Bridge and Westminster, but a series of experimental flights were also made down river, at least one of which was to Anchor Bay, Erith, to the area that is now the site of Erith Construction Ltd’s six and a half acre logistics and materials treatment facility. A key advantage of the hovercraft over conventional ships was that it would race along the Thames at much higher speeds as it caused minimal disturbance to the river as it passed over the water, a problem which limits speeds on the Thames to this day. Sadly, the experiment was a failure, and the builders were forced into bankruptcy the following year. The hovercraft was eventually sold in 1970 to begin life on a new route in the Caribbean linking Kingston, Jamaica, with the island’s Palisadoes Airport. If things had turned out differently, it could have been that Erith residents took the hovercraft to work in the morning. It would have certainly been a somewhat more interesting commute that using Southeastern trains!

Some great news. The Kent Chilli Farm have moved their artisanal chilli sauce and jam production facility into Erith. I will be running a special feature on this independent local business shortly. You can find out more about the Kent Chilli Farm by checking out their website and online shop here. 

The two photos above are a "then and now" photo showing the Erith end of Manor Road at the junction with James Watt Way and Erith High Street. The upper photo was taken in July 1966, and shows the old Co-Op store, not very long before it was demolished. The lower photo shows what the site looks like recently. The KFC drive through and the new block of affordable apartments for rent, which replace the old Erith Trades and Social Club that used to be on the same site in James Watt Way. As you can see, the area has changed beyond all recognition in the last fifty years; many would say not for the better. Further East along Manor Road, the houses are little changed - many of which date back to the 1860's, so there is still a lot of history in the area. 

Bexley Police have just issued the following updates on matters of concern to local residents in relation to safety and security matters:- 

Erith Safer Neighbourhood Team.

The team has received reports of drug activity in different locations across the ward. A different approach has been taken to tackle the issues where letters have been posted to each address in the affected areas providing the teams contact details and requesting residents to report matters directly and anonymously. The idea behind this will be to provide the team with more regular intelligence / information with a view to catching those responsible. In crime news, a high value vehicle, stolen from during a burglary from an address in Greenwich, was recovered on the ward.  A prolific shoplifter was caught in the process of stealing items from Morrison’s supermarket and arrested and sent to court. The team has arrested 7 people during January for numerous offences such as criminal damage, theft and motoring offences.  The team is now on twitter! Follow the team at @MPSErith. The team has some upcoming surgery dates and encourages residents to come along and meet the team and have a chat about problems on the ward. The next 3 surgery dates are as follows:-

29 February 2016 - Erith Library 2pm-3pm

29 March 2016 - Erith Library 2pm-3pm

22 June 2016 - Erith Library 2pm-3pm

Northend Safer Neighbourhood Team.

During January the team has continued to focus on their ward promises which are Anti-Social behaviour in Forest Road, increased visible foot patrols across the ward and Drug use.  Anti-Social behaviour patrols in and around the Forest Road area and tower blocks have seen positive results and a reduction in ASB related calls. Several searches have taken place in stairwells of some of the tower blocks after males were found at locations believed to be involved in drugs offences.  The team have recently acted on information in relation to people involved in drugs supply on the ward and executed 2 search warrants. One of these warrants led to the seizure of a quantity of drugs and 2 arrests made for drugs offences. They also continue to work closely with the local housing authorities and will actively target residents engaged in anti-social behaviour who cause issues for their neighbours and the local community. The team are committed to tackling anti-social behaviour and will explore utilising enforcement powers for breaching housing / tenancy agreements. They are currently working closely with L&Q housing and Orbit housing in two such cases. A number of arrests have been made over the past month for a variety of offences such as drug possession, criminal damage and public order. On 1st February the ward panel meeting took place. After listening to panel members who raised some local issues the following new priorities for the ward were set. Traffic Issues due to the upcoming major roadworks on Northend road and the knock on effect this will have on the surrounding streets. Block Patrols. Continued reports of youths loitering and drug misuse in communal areas of several of the wards tower blocks. General increased visible patrols of the ward which will include Erith marshes and other key locations on the ward known for Anti Social Behaviour, as well as any identified crime hotspots. Please find below a list of Northend’s upcoming events. Please come and speak to members of your local team about any issues you have.

Drop-in Surgery 

Date - Sun 14th February 2016

Time - 6pm - 7pm

Venue - Pier Road Safer Neighbourhood Office

Drop-in Surgery 

Date - Sat 23rd February 2016

Time - 10am - 11am

Venue - Forest Road Cafe

Street Briefing 

Date - Wed 24th February 2016

Time - 8.30am - 9am

Venue - Peareswood School.

I see that TGINO (Top Gear In Name Only) announced their full presenter line – up this week. I wonder how much the BBC will be spending on the re-launched  show? Having seven presenters is going to make a big dent in the BBC wage budget.  As I have mentioned previously, I don’t think the new version is going to work, especially not with Chris Evans at the helm. I have heard a story that when TGINO comes back, it will be at a prime spot at peak viewing time on BBC1, instead of at 8pm on a Sunday evening on BBC 2 as it used to be.  The thinking behind this seems to be fairly straightforward; the change in channel and time will ensure that the viewing figures look good in comparison with the old show. Such “massaging” techniques are fairly common by TV producers. Personally I won’t be watching the show, as I cannot stand Chris Evans. I have however taken out an Amazon Prime subscription – which for me at least seems like pretty good value. Some Amazon Prime only shows have proved to be very good viewing indeed. The bonus that Clarkson, May and Hammond’s new ultra high budget motoring show will be aired on Prime is also welcome. I would expect that I won’t be the only person attracted to the online channel because of this.

For years a debate has been bubbling away between psychologists, child welfare experts and video game players about the effect that playing video games has on adolescent behaviour. Now a large study conducted over a considerable period of time has been published. A fair number of studies suggest that there is a link, but those can be contrasted with other research that says there isn’t. The problem is that there are so many different factors to take into account, along with a swiftly-changing medium and difficulty in obtaining high-quality data—we'd need an avalanche of research to answer the question definitively. While it's not an avalanche, a group of researchers, led by biological psychologist and video game violence sceptic Peter Etchells, has published an analysis suggesting that players of violent games might face a very small increase in risk for behavioural problems. They’re the kinds of small results that would be met with disappointment by authors who were hoping to find an effect, but they’re there. And yet, as always, this analysis isn’t the final word. This field is so tricky to navigate partly because of the wealth of potential confounding factors and difficulty finding causation among the correlations. It’s conceivable that substantial exposure to on-screen violence could cause a change in behaviour, but it’s also conceivable that people with behavioural problems would seek out violent media. And many studies have looked at “games” in general, which encompasses a wide range of media. Even if we manage to focus on just violent games, there’s the problem that games that are violent are also other things as well: challenging, competitive, fast-paced, and so on. If players of these games show higher levels of violence, it’s difficult to say for certain that it’s the violence that's causing the problem. For instance, games that are highly competitive have been found to increase aggression in the short term, even if they're non-violent. Games are also a modern and evolving phenomenon, which means that the best data is still in production. Ideally, to see whether a long-term habit has long-term effects, you need longitudinal studies that takes measurements from people over years of their lives, but that data takes decades to collect. Peter Etchells and his team were lucky enough to be able to use an existing study, but it came hand-in-hand with the weakness that the games in question were all from the '90s. To see the effects of modern games, we'd need to wait even longer. The study which had started with more than 14,000 pregnant women in 1991 and 1992. Around 2,400 of the children in the study had answered a questionnaire on their gaming habits when they were eight or nine years old, and around 5,000 had completed an interview called the Development and Well-Being Assessment (“DAWBA”) at the age of fifteen. Approximately 1,800 children fell into both categories. The researchers focused on two outcomes of the DAWBA: risk for depression, and risk for “conduct disorder,” which is a term describing antisocial behaviours in children. Then, they tried to eliminate or control for as many confounding factors as possible. They looked for children who had been rated as high-risk for conduct disorder by their parents when they were seven years old and removed them from the study. The researchers included family history of mental health, maternal education and socio-economic status, religious beliefs, family structure, gender, bullying victimhood, IQ, and social and emotional problems in their model as well. What they found was that children who had reported playing shoot-em-up games (a stand-in category for violent games) at the age of eight or nine had a slightly increased chance of conduct disorder, even after controlling for all the confounding factors. The effect was weak, though; just on the border of statistical significance. The initial risk for conduct disorder is small, too, so any additional risk above that is going to be even smaller. There didn’t seem to be an association between the number of games the children reported owning and an increase in risk for conduct disorder. When examining depression among shoot-em-up players, there was evidence for increased risk before the researchers controlled for all the confounding factors, but not afterwards. There are some obvious weaknesses in this study. They couldn’t control for the question of whether the children who played shoot-em-ups were already predisposed to problems but didn't yet display them at age seven. They also had to rely on self-reported data from eight-year-old children, who might not have known what a “shoot-em-up” game was when they answered the questionnaire. Even more problematic is the question of what games eight-year-olds are likely to play. Maybe children generally only really start with violent games when they’re a little older, which is why this study didn’t find much. A more detailed look at gaming habits in later childhood and adolescence could find a stronger link. In any case, '90s games are not today’s games, which have changed drastically, and often don’t fit in clear genres that are clearly violent or non-violent. We need to move away from a generalized discussion of “video game use,” the authors argue, and look rather at the content of particular games. This research sits squarely in a middle ground: it found an effect that ties in with other, more alarming research, but the effect sizes were so small that they don’t really provide much support for the idea that video games are a major concern. “Some have claimed that the magnitude of this effect is larger than the effect of exposure to smoke at work on lung cancer rates,” they write. “Our findings do not support such claims.” This rather leaves us back at the beginning – and provides more fuel for those on both sides of the argument.

Housing association Peabody is seeking responses from local people to its proposals to regenerate south Thamesmead over the next decade, which includes the building of fifteen hundred new homes on the estate on Wolvercote Road. Peabody plans to rehouse the nearly six hundred residents currently living in the Wolvercote Road area to its housing zone on Harrow Manor Way, which recently received a £1m funding boost from London Mayor Boris Johnson. The six towers and housing blocks on the site would be demolished under the proposals and replaced by better designed, better quality homes with improved public spaces. Peabody intends to start a planning application in 2017, with residents being rehoused over three phases, and demolition planned to begin in 2020. In addition to this, it proposes refurbishing existing homes in Southmere and Parkview that are in need of repair and regularly suffer from cold and damp, with high heating bills. My concern is that as this will happen shortly after the full opening of Crossrail, with its South East terminus at nearby Abbey Wood, there will be a great temptation for the developers to market the new estate at higher wage earners, and to "gentrify" the area (I detest the word "gentrify").  Peabody plan on spending £440 million on the regeneration of the South Thamesmead estate, and will want to see a decent return on their investment. Another improvement will be the demolition of the unsightly concrete wall facing Yarnton Way. The boss of the Peabody Trust, Stephen Howlett, said in a recent interview with the Bexley Times that "We are passionate about Thamesmead – the people, the place and its future potential. Our proposals take into consideration the wants and needs of the thousands of residents we have consulted over the past two years. Our proposals are ambitious but they are based on what we believe we can realistically do. Residents are vital to the future of Thamesmead and we want to encourage as many of them as possible to share their views.”

The surprise news that popular Dartford pub the Paper Moon is closing for good today came as a shock to many local (and not so local) residents. An online petition was set up, and after reading the comments on the site, it is clear that feelings are running high. I understand that the reason given for the closure of the Paper Moon is that there is another Wetherspoon’s pub only a couple of minutes walk away in Spital Street. The Flying Boat was converted from a Beadles car showroom and generally caters for a younger client base, who at the weekends use the giant pub before heading to the night club. The Paper Moon seems to have a mixed set of regulars, but primarily those who are slightly older. I am certain that no amount of campaigning will get Wetherspoon’s to change their mind. It may well be that there is more to the closure than has been publicised  - the lease may have expired on the building, which prior to being used as a pub, was a branch of Lloyd’s Bank. If Wetherspoon’s no longer want to operate the Paper Moon, I cannot see why another brewer or pub chain could not take it over, if indeed there are sufficient loyal customers to make such an enterprise viable. Personally I would love to see a Fuller’s pub in the area, though I am not holding my breath. I am quite surprised at the extent of the support for the preservation of the Paper Moon – it is OK, but just another corporate Wetherspoon’s operation. One can take a walk for a minute or two up East Hill and take the first left into Darenth Road and visit the absolutely superb Malt Shovel pub – a fifteenth century hostelry that offers a wide range of Young’s real ales and superb, home cooked food. I definitely rate The Malt Shovel as the best pub in Dartford, and it is only pipped to the post as my favourite pub of all time by the stunningly brilliant Robin Hood and Little John, in Lion Road Bexleyheath. Both highly recommended. Do you have a favourite pub in the local area that you would like to tell people about? Drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com and let me know.

The end video this week is an aerial film of Erith Yacht Club. The impressive clubhouse building and workshops are not known to many people, as the club is situated at the far East end of Manor Road, out on the Crayford Marshes, well away from most people. The area around the club is stunningly beautiful, and I would highly recommend it for a walk on a sunny day. Back in 2012 the Olympic torch was landed at Erith Yacht Club as part of its tour round the UK.