Screened out

Here’s a sneak preview of the crime screens coming to Blackheath on Monday. Photo by @Nicole_Nation in Lewisham. That is some seriously tacky looking screenage. I really hope the police aren’t paying promogroup for those terrible looking screens. Nice to see private enterprise working hand in hand with the police.

Big screen and big brother

On Monday the police are planning to bring a large video screen to Blackheath, in order to project images of suspected looters from around the area. I’d love to know how many convictions will result from this. All it will do is make people feel as though they live in a police state. Maybe we could all stand in front of the screens and hurl abuse too?

Man’s body found in burnt out car in Blackheath

See BBC News story here. Spotted by Darryl:

Just been past the crime scene off Blackheath – burnt-out car and forensics teams still there. Nasty business. http://bbc.in/hMBHbN—
  (@darryl1974) February 26, 2011

Nasty business indeed.

East London Lines has more.

(I’m not in London this week, so will be more behind the news than usual – sorry).

UPDATE: Two 19 year olds arrested: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12590365

Blackheath hit and run: police asking for witnesses

View Larger Map

As reported by many people yesterday, there was a car crash at the junction of Stratheden Road and Charlton Road around Blackheath Standard yesterday, resulting in the death of an elderly lady. An eye-witness emailed me with this info:

Two cars were chasing each other like lunatics and going at very fast speed, I reckon about 90mph. They both nearly hit my car on the Charlton Road before the first one went out of control and crashed into the pedestrian traffic island opposite the Old Dover Road (near M&S)

The really awful thing is that they collided head on with a pedestrian who was killed outright. She wouldn’t have stood a chance at the speed the car was going. It was so fast, that the car took most of the concrete and railings with it.

Amazingly, the driver and passenger weren’t injured but then got out of the car and tried to run away. At least one of them was chased and caught by some builders in the area.

I know the police are keen to take more witness statements of anybody who saw what happened. They really want to get a conviction since this poor pedestrian died so I wondered if you would mind publicising this.

If you know anything, you can call 0300 123 1212 to get through to Greenwich Police.

Burglar Bill in Blackheath?

According to a slightly spurious press release yesterday, Blackheath came highest in a list of London postcodes for home insurance theft claims.

Across the UK, Chorlton in Manchester came first, followed by Blackheath, then Hammersmith.

Greater London has 10 of the 20 worst postcodes in the country.
Local councillors have called the survey “unfair, broadbrushed and misleading”.
The survey analysed more than 1.1 million insurance inquiries on the site last year.
It found 8.65% of homes in Chorlton claimed for theft or burglary.
It also found Blackheath, SE3, and Hammersmith, W6, as the most at-risk postcodes in London for theft-related insurance claims, with 8.17% and 8.06% respectively.

BBC News

The survey covered request for home insurance quotes on moneysupermarket.com which sounds slightly iffy to me… How can a quote be used as a test as to whether a valid claim was made for a theft? These aren’t crime statistics.

I should reveal that before living in Blackheath, Mr & Mrs Bugle lived in Hammersmith, near a strip club. Never had any trouble there, possibly due to the high proportion of bouncers, but it certainly felt less safe than Blackheath.

On the whole, this story is great news. If it encourages people to avoid moving to Blackheath, on the basis that it is a terrible place to live, then that leaves more space on the lovely heath (and the trains) for the rest of us!

So, here’s the question – does Blackheath really qualify as the most burglar-ridden area in the UK? Or is it just that people in Blackheath are organised enough (and can afford) to sort out their home insurance?

Blackheath pubs open til 4am?

Lewisham Council are about to reconsider the rules around late licenses for bars in Blackheath.  This is carried out through a piece jargon known as the “Cumulative Impact Zone”.  The long and short of it is this:  if you like the fact that there is less vomit, fewer broken bottles, windows, and hearts on a Saturday morning in Blackheath, there’s a good chance that it is down to this piece of legislation.  It makes it harder for licensed premises to request later licenses.  Let’s face it – if you want to go out on a late night bender, Soho isn’t that far away, and you can get a night bus back to Blackheath.

But, according to a recent email from the Blackheath Society, we need to send emails to the council, telling them to keep the “Cumulative Impact Zone” (couldn’t they have found a catchier name?).

So, if you want to stop all the pubs opening til 4am every night, you might want to send something along the lines below to licensing@lewisham.gov.uk :

Dear Lewisham Council.  Please maintain the Cumulative Impact Zone in Blackheath  As a resident, I believe that it has noticeably improved the lives of people in the area.  I think that there is less crime, disorder, and public nuisance late at night as a result of the zone.

There’s more here from the Blackheath Village Residents Association, but the only relevant page I could find on the council’s website about this is here (which is where the zone map, shown below, came from).  A page from the Society’s original request is here, but there’s nothing else about it on their site at the moment.

Dear Member,

We wish to draw your attention to this subject again, in view of what we see as the importance of the CIZ in limiting the impact of late night noise and nuisance associated with licensed premises in Blackheath. The position was explained in our December Newsletter.

Our discussions with Lewisham’s Licensing Department have made it clear that there can be no certainty that the CIZ will continue in force following the forthcoming review of Lewisham’s Licensing Policy. However, its continuation will be more likely if representations are received from residents and organisations. The Society has already written to urge the continuation of the CIZ.

However, letters or emails from individual residents may well be more effective than those from organisations, and we hope that Members who are or have been affected by noise and nuisance will make their views known by writing or emailing as soon as possible. A copy of the Newsletter item is attached to this email, with details of the address to which letters or emails should be sent.

Any members who would like to discuss the matter before writing should contact Julian Crispin (8852 6338) or Frank Smith (8852 6390).

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Beware hoodies at the station

Peter writes:

Please can you let Blackheath folk know to keep an eye out for hoodies at the station. Our lad (only 11), on only his second day at his new school, got off the train at Blackheath, and three hoodies on bikes, hit him for no reason. It happened on the platform at around 4.30pm yesterday.

Not a very nice way to start school.

Burglary in Blackheath

Warren writes:

Last Wednesday I had a break in at home in Mycenae Road and all my camera equipment was stolen. It is Nikon professional equipment and is my working gear. I was hoping you may be able to spread the news in the hope someone comes across it and also to warn people in the Westcombe Park area that this is happening quite a bit. We have a downstairs flat and access was through a window at the front which is concealed from the road. Through the glaziers and the police I have been informed of two other such break-ins in the last couple of weeks. It is the holiday period and this happened during the day.

I have had police and forensics around but no prints were detected. A theory of a neighbour is that Wescombe Park station is used as a mode of escape as it is so near. I am going to contact Network Rail to see if they can scan their CCTV for the few hours I was gone last Wednesday. I am also in the process of contacting all the local camera shops and Cash Converters with the missing gear and serial numbers.

Photo by flickr user Bixentro of artwork by Bortusk Leer (nowhere near Blackheath).

Residents meeting tonight to discuss recent stabbing in Blackheath

The recent stabbings in Blackheath will be discussed at Vanbrugh Park Estate Residents’ Association tonight.  It takes place at 7.30pm in Mycenae House, Mycenae Road, Blackheath.  More info here.  From a tweet by @troublebrother.

UPDATE:  More on Evening Standard website here, along with dumb toxic comments beneath.

Don’t go north of the railway, whatever you do!

Spotted this new set of crime maps being tested by the met police. It’s a nice idea, and good to see this sort of data being offered to the public. I was surprised to see which parts of Blackheath get the worst figures. Do you think it is down to dodgy goings on on the heath? Or altercations outside the many pubs within the scary-looking Red Zone?

http://maps.met.police.uk/