Small is beuatiful

Well, I am pleasantly surprised to report that Superdrug has swung into action, and given the most excellent customer service. Good on them, and so please, go and spend money with them:

Dear Mr Cannings,

As promised, our store assessment team have visited the St Margarets store regarding the valid concerns that you raised and the following actions have now been put in place:

1. No deliveries will be made prior to 09:30am.

2. Our shortest length articulated vehicle (10m trailer) will be used as the team feel this should fit the loading bay without causing issues. However, this will be reviewed on the next delivery and an alternate option put in place if the overhanging problem is still evident.

I hope that you find the above actions satisfactory and that you will contact me directly if you have any further concerns. May I take this opportunity to thank you for your valued feedback and be assured of our best interests at all times with regards to the local communities where our stores are situated.

Yours Sincerely,

Simon Reynolds

Superdrug

Unit 1

Prologis Park

Arenson Way

Dunstable

LU5 4RZ

An accident waiting to happen, happened

I made myself somewhat unpopular when I suggested to the Council that they get a licence to use the CCTV camera at the station for parking enforcement way back when. I did suggest they sent warning letters, and not a sheaf of parking tickets, but nonetheless they did get the licence and use it, and now there are many fewer cars, vans and lorries blocking the sight-lines into Broadway Avenue.

Was it justified?

Well, I've just got the accident statistics for the stretch of road up to the A316. In the last 3 years, there have been only 4 accidents involving the injury of pedestrians on St Margarets Road up to the roundabout. One was someone falling getting onto a bus. Two were at the top of Amyand Park Road (if you've crossed there, you understand), and the other one? A driver turning left into Broadway Avenue hit a child.

Tell me it's not worth keeping traffic out of the way on that corner.

Superdragged into the fray

Well, I have to say I have surprised myself this time. I sent Superdrug a long letter the other day with a load of photos of what their lorries were up to, and got a near immediate response as follows:

Dear Mr Cannings,

Thank you for your letter dated 30th June 2009 relating to concerns with deliveries to our store at the above address, the matter has been elevated to our planning management team who will now re-evaluate the way in which we deliver to this store.

Our immediate intention is to send a member of our store assessment team to visit and feedback best practice to the planning department who will ensure that all local restrictions and hazards are taken into consideration and ultimately abided by.

It is not the policy of our company to cause disruption or dangers within the local communities and assure you that a satisfactory conclusion will become evident to the local residents.

Due to the nature of the information you have provided full focus will be now be applied in order to ensure that measures are put in place as soon as practicably possible.

Again, thank you for your feedback and be assured that when the new delivery profile is established it will be communicated to you accordingly. If you have any further concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours Sincerely,

Simon Reynolds

Limping back into action....

I am amazed to see that my last post was in 2007.

I sat back and waited for the TfL review of the crossings, and predictably got nothing apart from an unofficial agreement from two TfL engineers that the crossings were dangerous, and that cars regularly mistook the red crossing lights for the red filter light for oncoming traffic.

To my shame, I then didn't do too much for a while, until in a burst of enthusiasm, I started writing letters again.

TfL's response was very simple. No-one's been killed or injured, so we won't spend the money. But we will spend money upgrading the lights to be exactly the same as they are now (a process that started a few weeks ago). So, we are staring at an accident waiting to happen, and when it does, they will try to prevent the next one!

I now have a copy of the accident statistics, and it is true that there have been no reported injuries, although there may be others where there was a near-miss, which fall outside of the stats (A really big thanks to the fine officer at the Met who responded in a quick, helpful and friendly manner to my request.)

It feels a little Kafkaesque. The Council wants to help, and use some of its ill-gotten station camera money to make changes to the crossing, but as it's a TfL piece of road, they can't. And as TfL is very good about never giving you a real person to talk to, pestering them is proving difficult.

Next step is to gather some more stats from local residents who have seen issues at the crossings, and then off to the papers again. The Rich & Twick were great in the Tesco fight, and got us syndicated to the Standard and even the Guardian in the end. Maybe they'll do the same now?

God, it's no wonder so few people bother to complain. How do we get the time for a day job?