Walked down Hither Green Lane this evening to see what effect the road closure and bus diversions were having.

On the positive side, road traffic seemed much lighter than on a normal evening. Good news for cyclists and fit pedestrians. Traffic heading south along Hither Green Lane had plenty of opportunities to take diversions and things seemed to be going reasonably well for them.  It was more chaotic for the traffic which intended to travel northwards from Courthill Road and found the entrance into Hither Green Lane blocked and were forced to take last minute decisions  on whether to turn back, or to continue along Courthill Road past its road closed signs, or continue into Morley Road.  Complicated by the cars coming south along Courthill Road.  One scary moment when a car went up the wrong way up Courthill Road into the oncoming traffic.  Overall, a lot of stressed and angry motorists.

When I reached Lewisham High Street I decided to test the instructions to bus drivers that they were supposed to pick up and drop off passengers wherever it was safe to do so along the route of the diversion.  I managed to stop a 225 at the bus stop outside the Ladywell Leisure Centre going southwards along Lewisham High Street.  Everything seemed OK until he ignored the requests of the people on the bus to stop along Brownhill Road.  He also ignored the diversion into Torridon Road, turned into Hither Green Lane at the Brownhill Road junction, and only stopped to let off some pretty angry passengers at the Duncrievie Road stop. 

I decided to test whether this was a one off and caught another 225 in Torridon Road. This driver seemed pretty friendly and helpful.  He failed to pick up a passenger who hailed him on Brownhill Road, but that was a non-deliberate oversight, and he let me off at Lewisham High Street at the corner of Courthill Road quite cheerfully.

A bit later, waited to see if buses would stop again outside Ladywell Leisure Centre.  A 225 bus driver came along and, upon seeing me, passed by.  After a certain time, a 181 bus driver came along and, upon seeing me, passed by.  As witnessed by Max Calo.  And then a good Samaritan 181 driver came along, questioned me as to where I was going, and took me to the junction of Brownhill Road and Torridon Road, and let me and the other passengers off, as according to the regulations.

So it all depends on the goodwill of the bus driver as to whether (1) you get on and (2) get off the bus.

One thing which people in the area were universally annoyed by was what the lack of notice at the closures.  All in all a sorry story which needs more probing.

Thought I'd give a plug to Nature's Gym, for all those people who want to get fit and improve the environment at the same time.

 It offers a chance for people to improve their fitness by taking part in environmental conservation activities in local Nature Reserves and Parks.  A number of these session will take place in our area.

Nature's Gym sessions take place every Thursday and once a month on a Saturday from 11am-2pm. Full training is given on the day by an experienced leader, who will also be able to answers any questions or relieve and concerns a volunteer may have on the day.  Being and working outdoors has a number of benefits, the sessions not only give you a physical workout, but being in green spaces can be a great way to relieve stress and reduce depression. 

For the current programme of sessions please use the link below, where you will also find more information about this and other volunteering opportunities in the Borough.

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/LeisureAndCulture/ParksAndRecreation/NatureConservation/ConservationEvents/

The 181 and 225 buses will be diverted as follows while the sewer is repaired at the junction of Hither Green Lane and Courthill Road:

Routes 181 & 225 from first bus towards Lewisham only.
Route 225 from Torridon Road at Hither Green Lane, ahead Torridon Road, right Brownhill Road, ahead Brownhill l Road, route 181 from Torridon Road at Hither Green Lane, right Hither Green Lane, right Brownhill Road, ahead Brownhill Road, both routes left Plassy Road, right Sangley Road, right Rushey Green, ahead Rushey Green, ahead Lewisham High Street and pick up line of route.

Towards Hither Green
From Lewisham High Street at Courthill Road, ahead Lewisham High Street, ahead Rushey Green, left Brownhill Road, ahead Brownhill Road, route 181 right Torridon Road and line of route, route 225 left Hither Green Lane, ahead Hither Green Lane, right Duncrieve Road and line of route.

I have to say that this is adding insult to injury for Hither Green residents.  First, sewage has been pouring out for weeks at the junction of Hither Green Lane and Courthill Road before the Council starts to repair it.  And now the 181 and 225 bus services will be diverted away from Hither Green for the duration.  I would have thought they could have reduced the bus service disruption by diverting buses along local roads in Hither Green. 

Received the following e-mail from Lewisham Council, which is self-explanatory. But it is disgraceful that it has taken so long to repair! I will be asking what will happen to the 181 and 225 buses.

Dear All,

Owing to a broken sewer on Hither Green Lane, just east of the roundabout at the junction with Courthill Road, raw sewage is being expelled onto the highway and requires repair as soon as practicable. In order to facilitate this an emergency closure of Hither Green Lane, between Courthill Road and Ryecroft Road, will be required. The contractor will be Cappagh's who will be starting the investigation and repair on Tuesday 5th August at 10am, but unfortunately they could last for couple of weeks since a shaft of up to 5m depth may have to be excavated in order to access the sewer and damaged connection.

For exact location please follow the link:- http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=538366&Y=174839&A=Y&Z=1

Since the majority of side roads are residential or traffic calmed they are unsuitable for the volumes and type of traffic which may be displaced it is proposed that the diversions will begin from the South Circular and Lewisham High Street. Local access and egress will be maintained for residents and businesses in the immediate area.

The proposed diversions routes will be:-

Eastbound traffic on the south circular:- St.Mildreds Road, Burnt Ash Road, Lee High Road and Molesworth Street
Westbound traffic on the south circular and northbound from Verdant Lane:- Brownhill Road, Catford Gyratory, Rushey Green, Lew High Street.

Eastbound from Whitburn Road & northbound on Lewisham High Street:- Lewisham High St, Molesworth St, Lee High Rd, Burnt Ash Rd, St.Mildreds Rd.

Southbound on Lewisham High Street:- Lewisham High Street, Rushey Green, Brownhill Road.

Buses will also be on diversion although I haven't yet received details of their preferred routes.

Advance warning signs will be erected in the next day or so but clearly there is likely to be congestion in the area in the early days until drivers find their way around the works but this generally settles down fairly quickly. Information letters will be distributed to the residents of the adjacent properties tomorrow, Friday 1st August.

For further information please contact me either by email or on the numbers below.

Regards

Dave Wheeler
Network Management
Tel: 020 8314 2218
Fax: 020 8690 4905
Mob: 07793 906 940

There's a whole host of activities for children and young people in Lewisham listed in the Summer's Alive 2008 brochure, including events at Ladywell Leisure Centre and Lewisham Library.  Too many to list here, but I was especially intrigued by the "Aqua-Max Crash Courses" at Ladywell Pool.  I wonder if Mr Calo has any involvement?

Anyway, full details at the Summers Alive website.  

Thought I'd give a plug to the launch of jobclubs for parents which will be taking place at Lewisham Town Hall Civic Suite from 10am to 3pm on 6 August. 

You can find out about:

• childcare as a career; and
• jobclubs for parents with children under five, with a chance to talk to back to work benefits advisers, careers advisers from New Horizons and Opening Doors, and Jobcentre Plus who will be there with their database of current vacancies.