Children's rides in Chinbrook Meadow this weekend

This sign was posted by the entrance to the foot tunnel under the railway line. I did not notice any great activity at the Amblecote Road end of the Meadows so it may have been affected by the weather.

May be worth a look on Saturday when the weather is supposed to be mainly dry but not Sunday when it is supposed to be raining heavily. Their webpage just has an "under construction sign" so is no help.

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Community Day on Facebook

At the LERA AGM Tony Isbitt spoke about the Community Day which is being organised for the 14th July in King's Meadow. He listed the many contributors and activities planned for the day. It is hoped that 2000 people will attend and that it will make the previous days held at the parade of shops seem like nothing.

He mentioned that there was a Facebook page which held far more information about the progress of the planning process but that it had a complicated web address. Please visit the Facebook page by clicking on the following link :-

Community-Day pages on Facebook

You don't have to be a member of Facebook to see the Community Day pages so don't be afraid of following the link. Please also click on the LIKE button at the top of the page.

If you have not yet viewed the LERA page about the community day the follow the link below:-

leralink page for community-day-going-for-gold
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Classic Film Club St Andrews Hall, Burnt Ash Lane 30th April

South Pacific

Starring Mitzi Gaynor and Giorgio Tozzi

Monday 30th April 2012

Time 7.00pm doors open 6.45pm

Cost £2 minimum donation per person is suggested to include refreshments at the interval.

For more information ring:-
Brian at James Harper 020 8464 0080
Rev'd Angela King      020 8313 3434
Rev'd Liz Davis           020 6460 4672

All welcome

St George's Day and other reminders

Events today

Metropolitan Police Commisioner webchat 3.30 to 4.30 pm details at :-

metropolitan-police-commisioner-webchat

LERA Annual General Meeting 7.30 pm start. See agenda at :-

AGM Agenda
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Community day "Going for Gold"

Use your library or risk losing it

An article in today's Bromley Times highlights the survey being carried out at Burnt Ash Library on behalf of Bromley Council. The survey includes questions on possible closures. Claire-Louise Maloney organised a petition last year when Bromley was considering closing libraries is now concerned that this survey is part of a plan to reduce hours or even close the library.

The survey has not been publicised so if you want to ensure that our library remains open why not visit it and see the person running the survey. While you are there you can collect a copy of the Bromley Times and read the full article then borrow some books. You can borrow up to 12 items with a maximum of 6 audio and 3 video items.
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Dangerous Jequirity Bean Bracelet

An alert has been received regarding the sale of bracelets, as pictured above. These have been on sale at various retail outlets across the UK, including the Eden Project in Cornwall. Information has been issued from those retailers urging customers to return the red and black bracelets made from the Jequirity bean. The Jequirity bean bracelet is made from the deadly seed of the plant abrus precatorious. It contains the toxin abrin that if swallowed, has the potential to kill in doses of just 3 micrograms. Abrin is chemically similar to ricin, a chemical warfare agent. People who have bought, or are in possession of the bracelets, are being urged to bag them, then wash their hands and avoid touching their eyes.

If you are in possession of one these bracelets, double bag the bracelets, seal the bag and hand it in to your local police station where they will arrange disposal.

Details of the harm that can be caused to wearers are published in the Metro of 19th April at the following link :- toxic-bracelet-i-bought-on-ebay-ruined-my-life

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Metropolitan Police Commisioner webchat 23rd April

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe is hosting his next regular interactive, live webchat on Monday 23 April giving Londoners an opportunity to ask him questions on any subject they want.

Join the webchat between 3.30pm - 4.30pm at http://www.met.police.uk/askmetboss/. You can also join the discussion on Twitter using #AskMetBoss.

Hundreds of people joined the Commissioner during the last hour long webchat, questioning him on a variety of topics. The Commissioner answered a number of questions during the session which was hosted on the MPS website. A series of online polls were also run during the event to gauge views and concerns about policing in London.

The webchats are part of the Commissioner's commitment to speaking directly with members of the public to find out their views on how the Met can be the best police service.

You can aslo replay previous webchats by following the link above.
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Reminder of the LERA Annual General Meeting 23rd April

Monday 23 April 2012 in St Andrews Hall starting at 7.30pm

The Hall will be open from 7.00pm and the meeting will start promptly.

A copy of this agenda together with the Chairman's Report for the year
to 31st March 2012 has been distributed by street representatives.
Light refreshments will be served after the meeting

For the full agenda please click on the following link

  agenda of annual general meeting

Safer Neighbourhood Public Meeting

Public Meeting 7:00 pm Thursday 19th April

Burnt Ash Primary School, Rangefield Rd.

Hear and see presentations on:-  

• August 2011 Riots  with CCTV pictures of wanted suspects.
• The SNP Ward Community Day in Kings Meadow 14^th July 2012
• British Transport Police and the Bromley North Line

Meet, and have your questions answered by, the Presenters and members of your Safer Neighbourhood Panel and Team.

A Plaistow & Sundridge Safer Neighbourhood Panel Production

Tea and Coffee available.

Community message from Bromley Borough Commander

I am sure that you have been as shocked as I have regarding recent media reports of apparent racist remarks and alleged assault by some officers in Newham in August of last year. In line with the Commissioners response to these events, I wanted to take this opportunity to clearly and categorically reiterate that there is no place for racism in the Metropolitan Police Service.

The Metropolitan Police has changed greatly over the years, constantly striving to improve our relationship with all Londoners and those who visit us. Unfortunately, incidents such as these can be very damaging to public confidence.

Following the events, an officer was suspended from duty at the time of the incident and others have been placed on restricted duty whilst a full investigation continues by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The Metropolitan Police is absolutely determined to police communities we serve with dignity, humanity, fairness and respect. Any failure to adhere to these standards of professionalism will not be tolerated. What we have heard over the last few days is of course completely at odds with all the close work that goes on with communities across London and in Bromley every day. I would like to reassure you that we will continue to work hard to forge strong relationships with people who can advise us and rightly hold us to account.

Steph Roberts

Borough Commander

Bromley

uPVC doors and Burglaries

We are asking residents to ensure that they are correctly locking their uPVC front doors,
as burglaries continue to occur where the doors have not been secured properly.
During one week alone last month there was at least one burglary each day in the BR5
and BR6 postcode areas, where the door had not been properly locked.

Burglars are targeting properties with high value cars - Audi's, BMW's & Mercedes -
and are stealing the cars after getting the keys by gaining access to the property via the
unsecured doors. UPVC doors can be easily opened from the outside if they are not
locked with the key from inside. Shutting the door and merely pulling the handle up
does not in fact lock most of these doors, and it is then relatively easy for a skilled thief
to pull the handle down and ‘pop’ it open.

To correctly lock the door you should close the door, pull the handle up and then
use the key to lock the handle in place. This is also known as deadlocking and will
greatly increase the security of your door. Whilst this is the best method of protection,
you should also ensure that you are able to exit as quickly as possible. Therefore,
advice is that you keep house keys upstairs or store them near the door, out of sight, for
easy access in an emergency.

By just adding this simple step to your lockup routine, it is possible to dramatically reduce
your chance of becoming a victim of burglary. Please ensure that your doors are
properly locked.

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Bromley Borough Commander's Newsletter April 2012

Welcome to April’s newsletter.

When I took over as Borough Commander here at Bromley in January the intention was
 that it would be a temporary posting until a new Borough Commander had been selected.
However, I am very pleased to announce that I have now taken the post permanently.
I am delighted to have been chosen to lead the Police on this borough, and am confident
that by working together with our borough partners, and you, the community, we can
make Bromley even safer.

Since last month’s newsletter we’ve had a major announcement from New Scotland Yard
regarding a new investment in neighbourhood policing beginning this Autumn, which sees
an extra 2,000 officers in neighbourhood policing teams after the Olympic and
Paralympic games, along with a new set of promises in how we serve and protect the
communities of London. Neighbourhood policing will be the foundation of our total war on
 crime and our total care for victims. Our refreshed approach to local policing will see us
being more visible to the public, more flexible in how we use our resources, and more
focused on meeting the needs of victims and people affected by crime.

Our new policing model will see a number of firm commitments to the public - We will
increase visibility in neighbourhoods by putting significantly more uniformed officers where
the public want to see them; We will operate with greater pace, flexibility and momentum,
while leadership will be more visible and more intrusive; We will seize every opportunity
to cut crime, tackle offending and support victims; And we will speak to and listen to
people, and respond to their concerns.

More information about the new local policing model will be announced in due course,
I’ll keep you updated. There’s been some concern recently regarding PCSO numbers
on our Safer Neighbourhood Teams but let me reiterate that there are no plans to reduce
the number of PCSOs serving on our Safer Neighbourhood Teams. Bromley - like other
boroughs - is seeing some PCSOs start their training to become police constables.
However there is a corporate PCSO recruitment process to recruit 500 additional PCSOs.
To date this has attracted a huge response from members of the public, with over
3,700 people requesting application packs. There will be a short term ebb and flow
during this process and therefore across the MPS all PCSOs not in core roles will be
redeployed to fill any vacancies that arise in our SNTs.

We’ve had some fantastic results recently, making some great arrests in respect of
burglaries and robberies. The suspects are currently making their way through the
Criminal Justice System. Others have already been convicted and sentenced and
just last Friday we conducted our latest ‘Operation Cubo’ day of action, seizing
a further seventeen uninsured vehicles from drivers. Our war on crime will continue
relentlessly over the coming months.

Steph Roberts
Borough Commander

Diamond Jubilee Road Closures Tuesday 15th May

Bromley town centre will be hosting a unique event to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in May. A number of roads will be closed to accommodate the special circumstances for one morning only on Tuesday 15 May.

People in the Links Estate live very close to the diversion routes and there will be some disruption and inconvenience. These closures will include:

• A21 Kentish Way and Tweedy Road

• Widmore Road

• Masons Hill

• Elmfield Road

• Market Square and High Street, Bromley

The roads will be closed from 9am on the morning of Tuesday 15 May and will re-open at 2pm. Between these times there will be no vehicle access in or out of the closed roads or areas in between. A number of diversion routes will be in operation to keep traffic disruption to a minimum. This will not affect most parking arrangements but it will mean that you will not be able to move your vehicle on to the closed roads during this time.

Please consider where you park as access may be restricted within the closure area and time period. A number of town centre car parks will not be accessible after 9am and before 2pm. If you need to travel through this area on the morning of the closures, please allow extra time for your journey or consider walking within or to the town centre. You may also need to think about altering the times of any deliveries you have planned.

Please see the online maps which show the planned road closures and diversion routes for cars and HGVs. For more information about the event, public transport, parking and detailed maps, please visit the website at www.bromley.gov.uk/diamondjubilee.

Map of closures is at Town Centre Closures
Map of Diversion routes for smaller vehicles is at Diversion routes for normal vehicles
Map of Diversion routes for HGVs is at Diversion route for HGVs

The road closures will cause some disruption and Bromley Council sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused. Please feel free to contact them with any queries you may have. In the meantime they hope you will be able to join in with the celebrations.

Pharmacies Open over the Easter Weekend

Most local pharmacies are closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday and many on Easter Monday.

The only pharmacy opening on those days within 1 mile is

Grove park Pharmacy, 344 Baring Road, Grove Park, London, SE12 0DU 020 88575904

This pharmacy will also be open on the following dates:
Fri Apr 06 09:00 - 14:00 Sun Apr 08 10:00 - 14:00  Mon 09 10:00 - 14:00

Burnt Ash Library Reading Group April

The next meeting at Burnt Ash Library is on Thursday 26th April at 2.15 pm and everyone is welcome. The book to be discussed is

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

After years abroad, Lucy returns home from Japan. She is newly haunted by her father's unresolved death a decade ago. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family's lakeside house, she discovers, locked in a window seat, a collection of objects that appear to be idle curiosities, but soon reveal a complex family history.

For more details visit the library or contact the librarians on 020 8460 3405 or by email at burntash.library@bromley.gov.uk