Thread by @Andrewwood17

I have been in Germany for the last few weeks for my mums 80th birthday party
So here are some tweets about good ideas we can take from Germany, except maybe this 1st one, Germany has elections in September, there are lots of posters everywhere, mainly of politicians faces!
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The 2nd thing we must definitely have more of in London are German cakes (pics from my mums birthday party)
1st pic Friday choice
2,3,4th pic Saturday choices 😀
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We already have some of these in Tower Hamlets
Places where people can leave their books for others to borrow & read - a local residents library
Germany just does it more professionally & at scale
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We have something similar in Canary Wharf but if you buy glass bottles of apple juice for example, you can return them (a year later in my case) and get refunds for each bottle
Supermarket has a machine that will scan bottles & issue a refund that you take to the till
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My mums litter bin with 5 compartments in her kitchen
-Paper
-Plastic
-Organic/food
-General
-Metals
In her apartment block different rubbish bins for most rubbish types or nearby other receptacles for glass & plastics
TH level of recycling is around 22% by comparison
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Taking my niece to playgrounds in Germany is depressing, she loves them but when I compare to what we have locally in TH I despair at the comparison
Memmingen @StadtMM the town has a population of around 45,000 people, smaller than the IoD, but far more playgrounds
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I cannot even show you the best playground as always full of kids but is huge and water-based, with all kinds of shallow water play activities + 3 beach volley ball pitches
They also build classrooms in the woods nearby
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The Germans even build new playgrounds in areas with new housing developments!
One large new playground next to a new 5 storey block
In London, we rely on private sector developers to build new playgrounds at the edges
In Germany, the local government builds them
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It is not just formal playgrounds
Throughout the town are places where kids can play or
climb or
jump on golden tiles that each make a different musical note or
walk in the stream (its cold!)
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Although we have underground car parking in TH it is much more common in Germany, makes for a more efficient use of space
That park with the town theatre in the background is also an underground car park with a park & playground above it
Reduces impact of cars at street level
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Dogs are well catered for as well
Need a bag to pick up dog poo?
In the parks, you will find free poo bags
Just take one
I think part paid for by advertising on the bags
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Did I mention cake?
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Some other good ideas
Really solid durable play surfaces
Maps & historical information about the town, paid for with advertising
Bins & clear rules at playgrounds
Audible timers for blind people at road crossings
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This year lots of areas with bee friendly wild flowers in verges & in parks
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Many beautiful houses & small apartment blocks
I despair at the quality of equivalent English new development
(although my mum says german standards slipping)
May comment later about Munich
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I will comment later about cars and liveable streets, this being southern Germany (BMW, Audi & Mercedes Benz all based nearby) but cycling & pedestrian better than in London
This is the town hall (with the modern office annex to the right)
Memmingen has its own Mayor
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This is the main administration building
German local government is much more local than its equivalent & has real powers, Memmingen town with 45,000 people has social infrastructure similar to that of the whole of Tower Hamlets with 330,000 people
More later on this
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I am not saying everything is perfect, you could easily write tweets in reverse about taking English ideas to Germany
& noticeable that more graffiti than a year ago
But at a local level the Germans do some things better
Plus it has its own brewery!
memminger-brauerei.de/brewery/histor…
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