Is Plumstead a toilet? 3




(but not doing too well in Plumstead)

I had this response to my previous post, from anonymous, ( I wish people would use a name or pseudonym or something as you can end up calling someone Ann for short, which is all very well, but you just might end up getting the gender wrong!) Anyway Ann wrote in response to my previous post..

'Any statistic can be slewed to support any argument.

What I would say in response to the increased reporting of crime in the Plumstead and Glyndon Wards is that the Safer Neighbourhood Teams have invested considerable resources to tackling recidivist offenders with a high local profile.

By doing this they have encouraged residents to come forward and report crimes rather than turn a blind eye or to continue to live in fear.

I think that many people failed to report crimes through fear and intimidation in past years, the Police and especially the Safer Neighbourhoods Teams are working hard to help residents feel safer and more confident about coming forward.

Let’s look at the crime stats in 3 years time when I believe we will see a downturn in reported incidents, not because people are frightened to report crime but because crime has in fact reduced due to effective targeted policing.

I would prefer high crime stats which reflect a new found confidence in the Police rather than low crimes rates because residents are too scared to report incidents.'

Aside from the fact that this sounds very much like it comes straight from the Met's PR Dept. I agree that statistics of reported crime certainly don't tell us the whole story about crime in the area, but they are a better starting point than having no actual evidence at all to put forward a case. I am also aware that evidence from the British Crime Survey are more reliable measures of the levels of crime, but such information is not available for a borough, let alone a ward level.

However I am afraid that your logic is rather flawed, because to follow your argument, this must mean that in most of the rest of London where reported crime has fallen this presumably is because local Safer Neighbourhood Teams have failed to tackle recidivist offenders with a high local profile and therefore local people in those areas are now failing to report crimes through fear and intimidation, hence the fall in recorded crime.

I am afraid that the person has either fallen for the spin coming from the police or is in fact spinning for the police, that any increase in recorded crime can be explained away as evidence that the police are doing a great job in giving us the confidence to report crime and that any fall in recorded crime is down to the police in doing a great job in reducing the level of crime. You just can't have it both ways. I have never met anyone in Plumstead (and I have lived here for 21 years) who is too scared to tell the police that their house has been burgled, yet burglary is up nearly 20%, ditto their car has been broken into, up 15%. Drug offences presumably are not in the main dependant on reporting by victims and they are up by 40%. I presume that the increased reporting of Homicides is also down to our new found confidence in the police, as I expect a few years ago young people were being gunned down all over Plumstead, and that we just didn't bother to mention it to our local bobby on the beat.

An equally plausible case could be made for the increased crime figures not reflecting the true scale of the increase, certainly the last time I reported a crime in Glyndon ward the woeful response by the police would make me hesitate to bother to dial 999 again. This incident took place at 8.30 pm at a bus stop on Plumstead Road. A slightly built middle aged Asian lecturer who was going home after teaching his evening class was viciously attacked by a gang of youths and was left bleeding on the pavement. I phoned the police immediately and on two further occasions, despite the fact that Plumstead police Station is less than 500 metres away not one policeman was able to attend the incident, I was told 'it was a busy night'. No police arrived at all and I had to leave at 10pm having waited in vain for an hour and a half. If the police are unable to deal with assaults on wholly innocent people by gangs of youths how much low level crime must be going unreported?

As for the effectiveness of local safer neighbour teams in influencing the level of crime in the area I think you should take on board this direct quote from the chair of the Glyndon panel of the local SNT;

'The Safer Neighbourhood team (of which I chair the Glyndon Ward panel!) certainly don't frankly seem to make much difference - they are undermanned have no night shifts and are based in Thamesmead and one vehicle shared with another team (oh yes and of course only three of them are actually police officers with powers of arrest . . . oh yes and once any of those three actually make an arrest they are then off the street for several hours)'

All in all, on the balance of probabilities I am afraid to say that the increase in drug offences, which is massive, is probably linked to the rise in gun crime and homicide, the increased number of houses being burgled, cars being broken into and people being robbed. Even the local chair of the SNT in Glyndon thinks that the SNT is making little difference to the situation, because they are inadequately resourced.

So I absolutely stand by my final comment.

'Either the police are inadequately resourced to deal with the problems confronting them or they are failing to manage their resources effectively to bring about the falling crime levels seen in other parts of the capital.'

Is Plumstead a 'toilet' 2




(but not doing too well in Plumstead)

Following on some of the discussions as to what Plumstead is like I thought I ought to try and get some facts to go with all the gut feelings out there so to try and get a bit of informed debate going I took a look at the Met's crime figures. The first thing to say is that crime in Plumstead, is about average for London, there are places that are a lot worse, and some that are a lot better. That said, there are some disturbing trends that indicate that unlike London as a whole, crime in Plumstead is getting worse.


Recorded Crime in London fell last year by 6.1%, but Greenwich was one of only 4 Boroughs where crime increased. Information on some crimes can only obtained at a borough wide level, but some of this does not make for comforting reading, the number of Homicides doubled (from 4-8) at least 2 of which were in the Plumstead area (in Barnfield Road and another just off Herbert Road). Motor Venicle crime increased by 15% in Greenwich compared to a 8% fall across London and Gun enabled crime went up by 32.8%, compared to a 11% fall London wide.



When you look at ward Data, although there is a ward called Plumstead it does not cover the whole area, indeed much of Plumstead Common is in fact in Glyndon ward, there are also bits of Plumstead in Shooters Hill and Woolwich Common wards. However I have looked at Plumstead and Glyndon, just to get an idea if there are any trends. What I found out was rather disturbing.

The good news was that there were significant falls in Criminal damage, down 19.4% in Plumstead and 14.9% in Glyndon and smaller falls in Violence against the person of 9.6% in Plumstead and 4% in Glyndon but set against this, there were very large increases last year in some of the crimes which concern people the most. Burglery rose by 19.4% in Plumstead, with a smaller increase in Glyndon. and robbery went up by a whopping 28.7%. Some of these increases may be down to the other significant change and that is the huge increase in Drug offences in the area, up 40.6% in Plumstead and 19.8% in Glyndon.

So it seems that despite all the hoo ha from the Met about safer Neighbour teams and falling levels of crime, they don't seem to be doing too good a job around here. I think we all need to be kicking up more of a fuss. Either the police are inadequately resourced to deal with the problems confronting them or they are failing to manage their resources effectively to bring about the falling crime levels seen in other parts of the capital.

Rockliffe Gardens

Greenwich council describes the Gardens thus:
'These pleasant terraced, ornamental and formal gardens have beautiful water features.'

This is what they mean!






Just made a video of this little local disgrace, I would appreciate any comments



Someone has made off with a nice patio!


Even the trees have graffiti!


As usual, Greenwich Council, which is so good at initiatives, projects and regeneration, is completely crap at looking after what we already have, they seem incapable of maintaining anything.

The Great British Obsession

(House Prices, not the weather which is the other one!)

For most people house purchase is the biggest single financial transaction we enter into, so perhaps it is not surprising people take a keen interest in what they believe their home is worth, although I have never understood why so many people automatically think increased prices are a good thing. I am sure many of us get a warm glow when we hear our little pied-a-terre is worth a quarter of a million quid, but all that means is the next house up the housing ladder is probably £75,000 more rather than £50,000, well that doesn't strike me as much of a bonus (though if you are trading down, then that is). It is of course all right if your area is going up in value by more than the one you want to move to, but as for the poor sods trying to get on the housing ladder, my heart goes out to them, to get a house in Plumstead these days you need a joint income of at least £50,000.

I am not suggesting that falling prices are a good thing I well remember the misery of negative equity suffered by so many in the early to mid 90's, it's just one of those things, that really isn't as simple as, up good, down bad.
Nos 50,52 &54
In terms of the Plumstead market I think there is a bit of a boom going on, especially my end, nearer to Woolwich and the DLR. The 3 houses at the top of my road have all been sold over the last year and a bit, and are all a similar style, layout etc.
no 52. went for £172,500 in Feb 06, no 50 £182,500 in Aug 06, and no 54 was sold within a few days of going on the market last month so I expect it went for something near the asking price of £219,995. Of course, what this kind of fevered price increases tends to generate is a certain amount of greed in some people, as can be seen by the owners of the small rabbit hutch I look down on at the bottom of my garden, who are currently marketing their property at £245,000 and surprise, surprise, it is still on the market, unsold.

Rather than prices, what concerns me more is some of the wider issues, around housing. All the parties agree we need more of it, especially in London and the South East as this is the only long term answer to the problem of affordability, but then comes the problem of where. Nobody seems to want it where they live, the cry goes up of the Thames Gateway, but then you end up destroying unique habitats such as the Erith and Crayford marshes (more about these on a subsequent post), and you are also building on a floodplain which is a whole other can of worms.

But the lack of suitable new housing (whether for sale or rent) leads to other problems, one of which is HMO, or houses in multiple occupation as the jargon goes, as Plumstead has relatively low prices (by London standards) it is a target for buy to let purchasers, some of these houses are rented to families, which does not change the character of the area, but some are let off room by room to individuals. Now I am not having a go at every one who rents a room we all need somewhere to live, but this can cause problems, one is that it leads to a transient population with no roots in the area, it puts pressure on things like car parking, such houses are frequently not looked after, and there are often problems with noise. One house in my street was so comprehensively trashed that it is still vacant today.

The problem with HMO!
Another problem comes with the shortage of social housing for rent, there is so little available that when something does come up it goes to those in the 'greatest need', but what really pisses me off is that those in the greatest need are frequently people who have deliberately been irresponsible and the people who suffer are those who act reasonably manner. By irresponsible I mean people who choose to have child after child, while expected the state i.e. me to pick up the bill for their upbringing and accommodation. While others who are on a relatively low income, but choose not to breed until they are in a position to afford to do so are stuck on council house waiting lists. A little while ago Margaret Hodge was vilified, I think quite unfairly, for suggesting that established British families should have their long term residence in this country taken into account when social housing is being allocated, in my view failure to do this just gives oxygen to far right groups like the BNP, who can prey on peoples feelings of unfairness.


Not sure of the answers to all of these questions, but I do know they need to be answered.

Tour de France

Hits Plumstead High Street
Wait for it
Not yet
Soon
Nearly there
it's the leaders
The Yellow Jersey Fabian Cancellara

Now the pack

They keep on coming

More!

Nearly over
That's the end of the pack
One straggler

ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, PLUMSTEAD, GLYNDON

Came across this post on a bulletin board

'Plumstead, Is Plumstead rough??????????? God heavens yes!!!!!! you have Barnfield estate along plumstead common road! you cant get any more violent! further along you have Woolwich common estate - again very violent! further into woolwich you have Conaught estate - full of Junkies! Cardwell in Woolwich - i bet its still rough even with new houses!SE18 is just one huge dump!!!!! AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE! especially if you have kids!!!!!!! i moved to Scotland to escape that madness! i know all the hooligans of Se18 and i'm still young enough to still know they are still out giving it loads of grief - AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'


Obviously the writer was not too keen on the area!! But a few thoughts spring to mind, firstly, only one of the examples could even remotely be described as being in Plumstead (Barnfield). Secondly the writer clearly has some issues with Council Estates. I take it he or she is not a fan. Thirdly, who in their right mind would want to go and live in Scotland, which has one of the lowest life expectancies in Europe, is in near perpetual darkness for 3 months of the year and whose greatest addition to cuisine in the 20th Century was the fried Mars Bar.

Anyway I think that the writer has rather jumped from the frying pan into the fire if this report in the Times is to be believed.

'Scotland tops list of world's most violent countries'
By Katrina Tweedie '
A UNITED Nations report has labelled Scotland the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America. England and Wales recorded the second highest number of violent assaults while Northern Ireland recorded the fewest. The study, based on telephone interviews with victims of crime in 21 countries, found that more than 2,000 Scots were attacked every week, almost ten times the official police figures. They include non-sexual crimes of violence and serious assaults. Violent crime has doubled in Scotland over the past 20 years and levels, per head of population, are now comparable with cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Tbilisi. '

But enough about Scotland save to say it is my sincerest belief that England should relinquish ownership immediately and grant them their freedom.

But on to maligned Council Estates in Plumstead, although not mentioned earlier, one of the largest is Glyndon, which I walk through to get to and from work. I don’t live there and I am sure it’s not perfect, but it is a pleasant place, every morning I see any litter being picked up, on the way home lots of kids are playing happily. There are lots of trees and green spaces. The Council has gone a good job landscaping the area. I have never had one bit of trouble while walking through there (been doing so for 20 years now) , so I thought I would share a few Glyndon pics with you. Don’t expect you would want to go there for a day out, but don’t avoid it because some of the people might not have much money!! It is a nice place.

And best of all they have a Temple dedicated to Me, my very own Temple!!

The Si (bonetic) Temple.
They love me on the Glyndon.

While waiting for my food to arrive at the fabulous Capital Noodle Bar in Plumstead Common Road. I was flicking through one of the thoughtfully provided newspapers and came across this article. You may wonder what relevance this has to The good people of Plumstead. Well not a huge amount unless you have boys who want a decent choice of non bigoted secondary schools to go to.

By MICHAEL LEA
Political Correspondent
April 07, 2007

Lesbian teacher's £20k payout

A LESBIAN teacher won £20,000 compensation after being told she couldn’t have PATERNITY leave.

But another woman teacher who was RAPED by a 12-year-old pupil received just £11,000.

The cases emerged yesterday as it was revealed that payouts to teachers hit £20million last year.

Awards were made for reasons ranging from violent attacks at school to accidents and unfair dismissal.

The lesbian teacher wanted time off to help her partner give birth — but this was refused by the Roman Catholic school where she worked.

It said her lifestyle was “unacceptable” and warned she would be dismissed if she did not find another job immediately.

The unnamed teacher quit, but the National Union of Teachers took up her case.

The NUT won her £20,000 for breach of sexual orientation, paternity and adoption leave regulations.

That award was almost DOUBLE the compensation given to a teacher after a boy at her school raped her, then escaped in her car.

Graham Clayton, senior lawyer at the NUT, said payouts in criminal cases were not always satisfactory.

He added: “In some cases these do not always produce the kind of justice we think is justified.”

Tories branded the difference in payouts “perverse”. MP Philip Davies said: “Political correctness has taken over.

“We have got ourselves into an offensive situation when it is deemed twice as serious for a lesbian to be denied some time off as it for a teacher to suffer the physical and mental horror of rape.”

Well lets get one thing out of the way first of all, I think it is disgraceful that the poor woman who was raped and had her car stolen only got £11,000 compensation. This is the fault of the way in which Criminal injuries compensation is calculated. The issue of the apalling treatment of a teacher by a Roman Catholic school is a wholly separate issue, and is the one which has implications for the good people of Plumstead. Unfortunatly the Sun tried to link two separate issues in order to ilicit a homophobic response. It is sad that a Tory MP fell for this and just goes to show that the 'nasty party' is alive and well, despite David Cameron's attempts to drag the Conservative Party kicking and screaming into the 20th Century. (alas getting them into the 21st is probably beyond him).

What the rent a quote Tory hack did was to trivialise what had happened to the lady in question, she was not just 'denied some time off'. She was denied equal treatment, to which she is entitled to under the law, and was threatenen with the loss of her career, not because there was anything wrong with her teaching, but because the narrow minded biggoted attitude of her employer. I think the school was lucky to get away with only having to pay £20,000 compensation.

If this incidence of blatent discrimination and Homophobia were an isolated incident it would not be that much of an issue, however the reason why the school thought it was acceptable to behave the way it did is because it is a Catholic school. The advice of the Catholic Church is that homophobic bullying should not be mentioned in a schools anti-bullying policy. So I checked our local Catholic school's website,

St Pauls Academy

and sure enough, there is a mention of racism ('racist remarks'), but a big fat silence on homophobia. Why does this matter? Because in 2004 the Council forced the run down and eventually the closure of Abbey Wood School, so they could give the site to an expanded Catholic school. This means that if you have sons going to secondary school and you want them to get a education free from discrimination and biggotry, they can't go to Eaglesfield, because it has closed, Woolwich Polytechnic School has moved to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood School is closed to new admissions.

Quite why Greenwich Council thinks it acceptable to impose biggoted and medieval attitudes on local children is quite beyond me. It is about time that so called faith schools were given the boot and consigned to the dustbin of history where they belong.

Plumstead's latest celebrity!!
Alfie, fresh from his latest media appearance in

as

Alfie Wednesday, 28 March 2007 Age: 3

Breed: West Highland white terrier

Likes: Goat’s milk, house guests, chasing squirrels up trees and having his belly stroked

Dislikes: Cigarette smoke, foxes in the garden and going to the vet

Owner: G, London, SE18

Now Alfie would like to show you some pictures form his latest photo shoot:-










































Alfie is out to prove he is not the only Plumstead Celebrity, and is available for Weddings, Christenings, store openings etc.

His famous show 'An audience with Alfie, Plumstead's hardest Westie' is guaranteed to fill any venue.

Located as he is at his Plumstead Villa 'Doggietreat Towers'. He can easily get to you for a personal appearance.

Coming soon Alfie's latest Movie 'Plumstead, Common get me (if you think you're hard enough)

Or read his autobiography 'Lock, Stock and two Smoking Doggie Biscuits.

Plumstead Common or High Street


In case anyone has been following some other blogg threads on Plumsteadshire re:- Crime and the percieved fear of crime. I published some stats on Crime in Plumstead that I got from the Mets website http://www.met.police.uk/crimefigures/datatable.php?borough=rg&period=year

This led some people to believe that the stats were only for the Common not the High Street, so have downloaded Map of Plumstead Ward (above) and as you can see it includes all of the High St. from the station to the edge of Bosall Woods. The only bit of Plumstead not included is the western end of the Common which is in Glyndon Ward.

There seems to be a lot of debate about the relative merits of the Common vs. the High Street, so I thought I might give my thoughts., having lived by the Common for the last 20 years.
Like many of the recent arrivals I was attracted by the fact I could buy a House for the price of a Flat in any other part of London (not much change there then!!)

The Common is Green has lots of trees and in summer a lot of youfs hanging around cos they don't have the wit or imagination to do anything more interesting, though in my experience they are quite harmless if not very bright. Lots of dogs with attendant mess. It is a predominatly White area, with some limited evidence of gentrefication. Not many shops, but at least most of the ones that are, are genuine local shops, not faceless chain stores. The good old co-op which at least is ethical if not very efficient and is part of the History of the area (RACS was one of the most important co-operative societies in times gone by). Quite a few indifferent Pubs the odd OK one and a Curry House which is not to bad.

The High Street is shabby, down at heal, poorer, far more ethnically diverse and in some respects a bit of a dump, but on the other hand it has a very good range of shops and eating places serving its community, thought nothing for the middle class arrivals living up by the Common, which is presumably one of the reasons they look down their noses at the area.

I took my Dad (who is 79) and lives in Upper Norwood to the Red Lion Noodle Bar in the High Street and he insisted I take him for a tour round after the Meal, this was 8.30pm.He was really impressed with the area!! He said that the High Street was like High Streets in London used to be, with a range of shops where you could buy things that local people want, rather that the wall to wall estate agents and Restaurants that most London High Streets have become eg Crystal Palace, where he lives. He loved the fact that there were so many people around at that time of night and he didn't feel in the slighest bit fearful.

He also thought the Noodle Bar was fantastic, which is btw a fantastic example of regeneration, if you had ever been to the grotty pub that it replaced you will know what I mean! I suppose some of the new MC from up the Hill will think the Noodle Bar is to cheap to be any good (a 2 course meal for 3 with wine for under £40) and are yearning for some overpriced Italian crap, such as I had the misfortune to be served up on my last visit to Blackheath. But the food is fantastic and the people who run it are lovely.

Well I am rambling on here, to sum up, the Common and the High Street are both GREAT places, no they are not Blackheath or Clapham, they could both do with sprucing up, but both have a lot going for them and in any attempt to go upmarket, lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater and see them turn into yet another soleless middle class getto.

Well, what do you think?