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The Old Sorting Office
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Devonshire resident


Posts: 5
Joined: Jan 2010
Post: #1
10-10-2011 12:27 PM

Can someone explain the logic to me of the conservation area in Devonshire Road. Residents are unable to make changes or even trim a tree without the council's permission. YET, a developer can make an arrangement with the ex-owner of the old postal sorting office which is in the hands of liquidators, break into the building, dump building rubbish on the forecourt, have cement lorries turning up throughout the day causing traffic chaos and blocking off the pavement, have his workman break into the building on a Sunday to try and strip off what lead remains on the roof and the council, police and Kalmars estate agency who are selling on behalf of the liquidators appear powerless to atop them breaking and entering, fly tipping and attempted theft of metals. The council are totally uninterested and planning, building regs and the listed property team all say it is nothing to do with them. The local plods were called yesterday and just let the dodgy builders walk away even after catching them in the building they had broken into which Kalmars say NO Persons should be on the forecourt on in the building and they have changed ye locks several times yet Mr Dosgy Builder and his workman take not notice of this and just smash off new locks within hours of them being replaced. Why should anyone else in the Deconshire Road area abide by any conservation rules whilst this abuse continues????????

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Johnc


Posts: 138
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #2
10-10-2011 05:22 PM

I did wonder what was going on, having seen earth etc being dumped there. As it happens I was walking towards the station on Sunday and spotted a small dump truck that had been unloading at the old post office going into the the small roadway on the south circular, opposite Devonshire. Its not far from the boarded up coffee shop.

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Devonshire resident


Posts: 5
Joined: Jan 2010
Post: #3
10-10-2011 06:44 PM

That is the new development of a block of flats which officially are listed as Waldram Crescent; this development fronts onto the South Circular where the blue boards are next to the railway line. The old post sorting office is now in the hands of a liquidator and they are looking for a buyer. The roof has been striped of lead and water has seeped into the facade of the building around the drainpipes as there is no drainage protection behind it to feed the rainwater into the hoppers.

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dovetail


Posts: 42
Joined: Dec 2007
Post: #4
17-10-2011 06:21 PM

Gates were wide open this morning and two huge piles of earth in the courtyard!! Obviously the CCTV cameras and threats of prosecution are having no effect whatsoever.

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Devonshire resident


Posts: 5
Joined: Jan 2010
Post: #5
17-10-2011 06:37 PM

There is no CCTV just the stickers. The workmen have also been removing knotweed from the development site and dumping it here to be moved later. No doubt when our gardens are full of knotweed next summer we will know where it came from.

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Satchers


Posts: 262
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #6
17-10-2011 10:35 PM

Have you repoted this to local Councillors. I think environmental health may be interested in the knotweed. And the Councillors should know who is interested in the fly tipping issue?

If you don't ask they can't help.

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blushingsnail


Posts: 371
Joined: Dec 2005
Post: #7
18-10-2011 10:30 AM

If they are removing knotweed then it has to be disposed of in a certain way. Lewisham doesn't have any information on its website but http://www.knotweed-uk.com/Knotweed-and-The-Law.htm says the following:

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Japanese Knotweed is classed as ‘controlled waste’ and as such must be disposed of safely at a licensed landfill site according to the Environmental Protection Act (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991. Soil containing rhizome material can be regarded as contaminated and, if taken off a site, must be disposed of at a suitably licensed landfill site and buried to a depth of at least 5 metres.

Section 34 of the EPA imposes a duty of care on persons who produce, import, dispose of, or treat controlled wastes. The movement off site of controlled waste must be covered by a waste transfer notes. The transfer notes must be completed and signed, giving a written description of the waste and a waste code. This description must be comprehensive enough to allow the receiver of the waste to handle it in accordance with their own duty of care. These provisions are set up in the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991.

Section 33 of the EPA states that it is an offence to deposit, treat, keep or dispose of controlled waste with out a licence. There are exemptions to waste management licence's stated in the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994. The Environment Agency Code of Practice 2006 states in accordance with their Enforcement and Prosecution Policy, failure to have a waste management licence or permit, when dealing with the knotweed growth on site, would not normally be prosecuted if the Agency’s Code is followed.

An offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act can result in a criminal prosecution. An infringement under the Environmental Protection Act can result in enforcement action being taken by the Environment Agency which can result in an unlimited fine. You can also be held liable for costs incurred from the spread of Knotweed into adjacent properties and for the disposal of infested soil off site during development which later leads to the spread of Knotweed onto another site.

As well as the two items of legislation outlined above, third party litigation for damages may be sought by adjacent landowners when Japanese knotweed is allowed to spread onto other property.


Are you sure it's Japanese knotweed they are moving to the other site?

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shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #8
18-10-2011 07:27 PM

There was another big truck in the forecourt there again today.

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Perryman


Posts: 820
Joined: Dec 2006
Post: #9
19-10-2011 09:13 AM

Quote:
There was another big truck in the forecourt there again today.


....blocking the pavement.
Haven't they got any consideration for the cyclists in SE23?

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Fish Face


Posts: 135
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #10
19-10-2011 10:21 AM

Laugh

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dovetail


Posts: 42
Joined: Dec 2007
Post: #11
19-10-2011 07:50 PM

Saw the little dump truck this morning with another load of Japanese knotweed infested soil. Perhaps allowing parking in front of the property would be the best way of preventing flytipping since they wouldn't have access into the courtyard.

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Foresthillbillie


Posts: 19
Joined: Nov 2010
Post: #12
18-11-2011 09:55 AM

When they cant get access to the forecourt of the Old Post Office, they've taken to discharging the wet cement from the lorry into the dumper truck in the road! You can see all the wet cement splashing around as they drive the dumper truck along the road.

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roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #13
18-11-2011 09:41 PM

One day last week the gate was left swinging open with no one around and the site left open to allcomers. Whoever is doing the work or whoever owns the site doesnt seem to care about their own property. The pavement was covered in mud and extremely slippery. If I experience this again I'll call the Highways department as there are regs about how public highways are left- they are meant to wash down the area every day. There should be something like this in the planning conditions.

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dovetail


Posts: 42
Joined: Dec 2007
Post: #14
19-11-2011 03:53 PM

Yes, the pavement is getting very slippery now and the temporary wall/gates are sagging outwards. Don't feel very safe walking past the sorting office now, it's either going to be a fall or be crushed by a heavy panel. Come on Kalmars/police or councillers, sort out these flipping cowboy builders.

Thumbdown

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