Wandsworth - 2nd in London's Pothole League of Shame

It's official: as well as being the most flytipped borough in London, Wandsworth has, after Croydon, the most potholes in the capital.

Figures provided in last night's Evening Standard show that fewer than 1 in 3 of those reported - and remember that reported potholes grossly undercount the actual number of potholes in the area - are repaired by the Conservative council.

And it's little wonder when this straightforward fact is exposed - admitted by the Conservatives at a council meeting last week.

In 2000/1 Wandsworth council spent £3.5 million on road resurfacing.

In 2006/7 they'd slashed that to £2.1 million.

That's a 40% cut in the budget.

So next time the Tories blame the weather for the pitiful state of roads in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, put the blame straight back where it belongs: on the penny-pinching Conservatives who can't even keep our streets repaired.

Remember: keeping our pavements and roads in good condition is the fundamental competence we should measure every single council against.

The change we see

These are some of the hundreds of new and revamped facilities around the country completed by Labour since we were elected. They're from right around the country, but here in Putney we:

• Rebuilt Queen Mary's Hospital in Roehampton
• Upgraded doctors and dentists' surgeries like the one in Augustus Road
• Are currently upgrading the pool at Southfields Community College;
• Built the Brandlehow Nursery extension
• Are about to fund a major refit of Elliott School and the expansion of Hotham Primary School
• Funded the expansion of South Thames College on their central Wandsworth campus
• Expanded Roehampton University

..Among other important local investments in our community. Continuing investment in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields depends on who wins the general election - and that depends on who you vote for locally. The Tories will cut these building schemes substantially. Labour has a track record of delivering for our area.

International Women's Day: United Nations Association meeting

More information at www.unaputneyandroehampton.org.uk

Humanity First

Last week I was pleased to take a delegation from the charity Humanity First to Parliament to meet with international development minister, Gareth Thomas MP.

Humanity First is an international aid agency that provides aid and assistance to those in need irrespective of race, religion or politics from registered offices in 29 countries. HF has active projects in 35 countries across 6 continents, including a team working on disaster relief in Haiti.

I was approached by Humanity First because they wanted to raise the profile of their work and wished in particular to take their first hand experience of aid and development issues from across the globe to the Government. I was pleased to be able to help and, following his visit to Putney last year, was delighted when Gareth Thomas agreed to my request for a meeting. The meeting was very productive and looks likely to have opened a useful dialogue between the Government, DFID and a well regarded aid agency.

For more details about Humanity First, visit their website www.humanityfirst.org.uk

Pictured above, from left to right next to me are: Mansoor Shah, Chairman of Humanity First; development minister Gareth Thomas MP; Dr Rashid Shahnawaz, Medical Director; and Masood Lone, Director of Fundraising.

New rules on student digs will help the Alton

New rules introduced by our Labour Government will mean that landlords who want to let their home to more than three or more unrelated people will need to get planning permission.

This is a really important measure because, in Roehampton at least, it will help rebalance our community.

Here's the problem. After their first year in halls of residence, most Roehampton University students move into private rented homes principally on the Alton Estate but in surrounding areas, too.

If they were dispersed throughout the estate that wouldn't be a problem, but what has happened on the Alton is that student homes are concentrated in very specific parts of it - places like Sherfield Gardens, Laverstoke Gardens, Swanwick Close, Hersham Close and parts of Bessborough Road and Petersfield Rise, to name just a few of those with the highest numbers.

The problem is that these aren't student-only areas: students live side by side with long term residents. And inevitably there are conflicts between students, here for no more than a year (and without a long-term commitment to the estate), and residents for whom this is their permanent home.

Add to that different lifestyles: those of students enjoying their three or four years before the responsibilities of working life kick-in, set against those of families trying to get their kids (or themselves) to sleep while a party is going on next door.

It creates tensions. This new planning law Labour has introduced can help resolve those tensions simply by capping the number of homes in any given block or street that can be turned into HMOs (homes in multiple occupation) rather than being kept for families or individuals.

Now I hear the concerns of the NUS - expressed in the Evening Standard article from Friday - about forcing students into a ghetto - but on the Alton it would have the reverse effect. It would break up student "ghettos" - and in so doing those areas would become cleaner, better maintained and more cohesive - happier.

And that's what the Alton's lost these past two decades since Conservative right-to-buy legislation started going wrong - when those who had bought their council homes moved out and buy-to-let landlords took over, renting house after house on the estate to students (and others).

I think the way to rebuilding a strong community on the Alton is rebuilding balanced communities that have pride in their area. We don't get that if any particular part of the estate is dominated by those who are simply passing through with different, conflicting priorities to others.

We've got to start paying more attention to our planning laws - it's a theme I return to again and again, whether it is this issue, local planning overdevelopment or the need for a Plan for Putney - because the Conservative laissez-faire, do nothing approach to planning is wrecking those areas that need strong communities the most.

Is Minstead being decanted?

At the end of September last year I noticed that several of the bungalows in Minstead Gardens looked empty. When I asked the council whether this was deliberate or just coincidence, they denied that there was any problem with vacant properties in Minstead Gardens at all. Here's what they wrote in a reply of 5th October:

"The Hostels Team are responsible for the management of all the odd numbered properties at Minstead Gardens (a total of 16 units).

"There are currently four void units amongst the odd numbered properties at Minstead Gardens. I would like to confirm that the properties are not being decanted for any reason. These properties became vacant after each of the tenants was made an offer of permanent accommodation.

"Members of the Hostels Team visit the tenants living at Minstead Gardens each week to ensure they are occupying their properties.

"The average length of time a property is vacant before a new tenant moves in, is two to three weeks."

So two to three weeks from 5th October - by the end of that month in fact, you'd have thought the flats would be let, wouldn't you?

Fast forward to Sunday just past, 24th January. At least five properties - the exact same properties I wrote to the council about in September - are vacant. They're self-evidently empty - anyone walking past them will be able to tell which ones have no tenant. And I say "at least" because those are the five we called upon based on the current electoral register - electors who don't exist at these bungalows.

But there are huge gaps in the Minstead Gardens electoral register - something not entirely unsurprising given that hostel accommodation generally has a high turnover of residents - but something which also suggests that the number of vacant - or void - properties here is far higher.

It is widely acknowledged that Wandsworth has a very severe housing shortage. That several council properties have been standing empty for months is completely unacceptable. Either the Conservatives are deliberately keeping them empty, callously denying local people a home - or they're empty because of oversight or carelessness: and that speaks to incompetence.

New Putney Papers out now

I've just published the Spring 2010 edition of the Putney Paper. For the first time ever, there are six versions of this Putney Paper: one for each of Putney's six wards: East Putney, Roehampton, Southfields, Thamesfield, West Hill and West Putney.

Local stories relevant to your specific part of our area rather than one version that tries to include stories from across the whole constituency, some of which you might not find of any relevance.

A great idea worth copying in Putney

One of the reasons Labour created Safer Neighbourhood Police teams a few years ago was because Londoners so lamented the gradual loss, over years, of bobbies on the beat: a police officer who everyone knew and respected.

In Bexley, their Safer Neighbourhood team have decided to take the next step towards restoring that bobby-on-the-beat link by setting themselves a challenging target of calling on every home in the borough over the next year or so.

I'd like to see the same thing done here in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields. I've written before about how most areas see their police teams regularly but some feel they aren't getting the attention they deserve. This is a way to tackle that, to build links and restore the link we lost with the police some time in the seventies and eighties.

Shouldn't the police be tackling crime rather than chatting to residents? There's something to that, but my view is that the police will achieve more in the medium and long term by building those links; when people can go up to a police officer they know and talk to him or her in confidence. Because the key to cracking crime is having the local network that police can go to and trust - and who in turn can trust their police.

I'd like Putney, Roehampton and Southfields police to take up the Bexley idea and run with it. They don't need a timetable; just set themselves the objective and get on with it.

And, incidentally, it's not exactly a terrible idea for local representatives: councillors and MPs - to do the same, and set themselves a target of calling on every household in their area at least once during their term of office.

Fromelles fallen laid to rest

I wrote last year about the dedication of the first war cemetery in fifty years on the site of one of the worst battles of the First World War at Fromelles in France.

It was the first major battle involving Australian and British troops fighting side by side on the Western Front. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5,533 casualties, of which 1,780 were killed, and the 61st British Division suffered the loss of 1,547 men killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

Well, a couple of days ago the soldiers who ended up in mass, unmarked graves at Fromelles were finally laid to rest at the new war cemetery, watched by relatives of the fallen.
You see a short clip of the burial service for the unknown soldier at Fromelles from the BBC.

Then, and now

I reported this pothole in Gwalior Road back in May 2008 - hardly the worst example of a pothole ever, and one that could easily have been put right at the time. But the Conservative Council couldn't be bothered to repair it.



Now look at it - this photo taken on Sunday - the pothole's bigger, and the problem's spreading along the road. This is called a false economy: penny-pinching two years ago by the Conservatives is now going to now cost us a lot more to put it right.

I call this poor value for money.

The state of Edwyn House

This is a video one of my volunteers took a few days ago whilst delivering letters about my campaign to save the 28 bus. Edwyn House is the middle of the three Arndale estate blocks in Neville Gill Close. I've written regularly about my concerns about the condition the Conservative council keeps the Arndale, and this is just the latest example.

Litter-strewn stairwells, heaven-knows-what stuck to the ceiling, nazi graffiti, roof panels torn out and general neglect are all shown in the above film - and all things I report over and over and over again to the Conservative council - but who never act to sort out the problem long term.

As I've said before: the Conservative MP and Conservative councillors for the Arndale wouldn't dream of putting up with such disgusting conditions where they live - so why should residents of the Arndale have to?

It's one rule for the Conservatives and another for everyone else in Putney. And here's the difference a Labour vote makes: live-in caretakers for the Arndale who'll have a stake in keeping the area clean because they'll live there too.

Labour councillors who'll make regular inspections of the blocks - not just the Neville Gill Close blocks but Wentworth Court, Eliot Court and Sudbury House - so that they really are up to the standard residents should expect.

Far tougher action on those caught littering, defacing the buildings or vandalising the blocks - those responsible for this damage (or their parents) should get one warning, have the damage added to their rent, and if the problem persists face eviction.

And far more regular deep cleans of the blocks - simply because they house so many families that the amount of wear and tear each will experience is greater than other housing estates in the borough.

That's what electing me your local MP, and Matt Hay, Alex Lisinge and Tom Marsom as your local Labour councillors, will achieve.

The Tories and Business Rates

I've exposed lie after lie made by Putney Conservatives about the impact of Business Rate revaluation on Putney businesses - Justine Greening going round telling local businesses their rates are set to rise when in reality they'll be cut in West Hill, Roehampton and on the Dover House estate.

But this story, exposed in tonight's Evening Standard exposes the reality of Miss Greening's concern for London businesses. Tory Mayor Boris Johnson had the chance to spare London businesses from the CrossRail levy - a tax on businesses to pay for the new train link that will be of very little benefit to Putney residents or shops, but which you'll still have to pay. He could have come up with a fundraising mechanism that lifted more small businesses out of paying the tax altogether. He could have come up with a mechanism that put the bulk of the burden on those who will benefit financially from Crossrail.

Instead, he's pressed ahead with the full Tory tax rise, saddling businesses with a MIMINUM increase of £1,100 a year.

Just consider how cynical the Conservatives have been on this - and Justine Greening has been at the forefront of this deception. On the one hand, they demand that a revaluation - that will increase rates on some Putney businesses but cut them on far more - be halted. They hint - but have not actually put down in writing - that they'll halt the revaluation if they win power. But when they have a cast iron opportunity to help businesses with their tax burden, as they do right across London what do they do? Hike tax by more than £1,000 a year!

In that light do you REALLY believe that Justine Greening will vote to abandon a revaluation of business rates if she ends up in power in fourteen weeks' time? Of course she won't. It's shabby political posturing in the full knowledge that they won't do what they're telling you they will do. They should put a stop to it - and if they won't, you'll have to put a stop to it at the ballot box.

Last night's Putney Society meeting & a Plan for Putney

Wandsworth Council has published draft new plans to guide future planning applications and redevelopments across the borough. The plans are out for consultation, and as part of this, Martin Howell, from the Council?s planning department, delivered a presentation at last night?s meeting of the Putney Society. Given the concern caused over the past few years by a string of inappropriate development applications ? some of which have been agreed by the Council in the face of fierce opposition from local residents ? the meeting was extremely well attended.

Along with the Putney Society I have been urging the council to produce a town centre plan for Putney for some time now, the absence of which has been a key factor in the propensity of developers to ?try their luck? with hugely inappropriate tall buildings proposals like Putney Place and Tileman House on Upper Richmond Road.

The Wandsworth Local Development Document comprises the Development Management Policies Document and the Site-Specific Allocations Document - Preferred Options. They can be viewed on the council's website: www.wandsworth.gov.uk/planning. I encourage you not to be put off by the somewhat impenetrable jargon and lengthy nature of the documents. By all means attempt to respond on the full range of issues being consulted upon; but I urge you to ensure that you definitely send in your comments on specific sites such as Tileman House, Capsticks and Putney Place ? stating the upper height limit you think would be appropriate.

The mood of last night?s meeting seemed clear to me: there was a definite consensus that the proposed upper height limit for tall buildings on certain sites was too high. For example, the council seems to think that a 15 storey tower would be appropriate on the Capsticks site. This for me continues to be too tall for this site and it would have a hugely detrimental impact on neighbouring residential properties. Other proposed heights are also alarming. I urge you to make sure your voice is heard, and take part in this crucial process.

I intend to submit my response to the consultation ahead of next Friday?s deadline. I?ll also post more on the council?s proposed plans once I have had a chance to go through it in more detail.

Is it the weather, or is it Conservative neglect?

We all know that freezing weather damages road surfaces. And we've had quite a bit of freezing weather these past few weeks. But already decayed roads are far more susceptible to damage than cared for, well-maintained roads. And so, yet again, Putney has a massive pothole problem.

Although the Conservatives eventually reinstated the one-third cut in the highways budget they made two years ago, its grossly inadequate to cope with the problems this winter's weather has wrought. But it's the roads that were already falling apart - and which I've raised before - that are now far worse.

Take Felsham Road, Darfur Street, Bangalore Street and Dryad Street - all in the ward of the Tory leader of the council - as one example.





Felsham Road - from Erpingham Road right along to Redgrave Road and beyond: pothole after pothole.



Bangalore Street



Darfur Street and Dryad Street

Put these down to the weather if you wish. But they've been in bad condition for years. And the weather is not the reason why, in the Bangalore Street examples above, the road has sunk below the level of the manhole, is it?

Elections are about choices. And council elections are about choices about basic services like maintaining our roads to a competent standard. The Conservatives have cut council tax to such a degree that they can't even repair our roads and surface our streets. That's both negligent and incompetent.

Your choice is whether to go on putting up with this; be it the state of our streets, the embarrassing neglect of Putney Bridge, the pollution of Putney High Street, the high-rise overdevelopment and the disgusting state our council estates are left in.

Stay tuned for more examples...

December's crime figures

The December crime figures show crime across all categories, and in five of Putney's six wards down again - figures in line with the borough and London average.

I've written before about the Conservative MP's dishonesty when she claims that burglaries in Putney are on the rise - and this latest set of figures again shows that she's simply not telling the true story. Burglaries in Southfields, Thamesfield and West Hill are down somewhat; they're up very slightly in East Putney, Roehampton and West Putney - but the trend remains downward in Wandsworth borough and London.

What I'd like the police to focus more on in the coming year is having higher visibility right across Putney, not just in particular parts of wards. I've come across concerns in Southfields, for example, that their Safer Neighbourhood Police - who do an excellent job - aren't seen enough along Merton Road. In part, that's because they're focussing on the shopping areas around Replingham Road and central Wandsworth where crimes like robbery will be highest - and it's of course right that police resources go where the need is greatest. But a regular patrol and an occasional focus on areas like Merton Road and the Earlsfield end of Southfields would be welcomed by residents in this part of the ward.

A trip (literally) across Putney Bridge

Members of my campaign team have again taken their lives in their hands to document the damage to Putney Bridge. Following on from yesterday's post on the potholes on the St Mary's Church side of the bridge, let's just take a walk on the Putney Embankment side - from Bishops Park to Lower Richmond Road...

...First up an example just past the bus stop on the Fulham side of why cycling across the bridge is so hazardous - the bridge is pockmarked with these craters: not huge, but enough to unseat a cyclist. And just look at the crevice running off the pothole: it's these that erode so quickly creating even more dangers and allowing far more surface water to get into the bridge's fabric.



Here's another example of the deep fissures that are opening up right across the bridge: again, dangerous for cyclists and accelerating the erosion of the bridge by allowing rain water to penetrate more quickly and deeply:



You'll see several examples of how the Conservatives' botched patching is so inadequate: the sheer volume and weight of traffic over the bridge quickly break up the temporary fixes. But that's the problem: the Conservatives are using temporary fixes instead of having a serious programme to maintain and resurface the bridge:


This is at the apex of the bridge. Two things to note here: not only has another temporary fix around the manhole eroded, creating a pretty large crater right in the middle of the carriageway; but look also at how the entire section around the manhole is sinking into the bridge:



I mentioned in yesterday's post on the bridge the deep ruts that have opened up right along the "join" between lanes on the other (Putney-bound) side of the bridge. Here's a clearer, closer example of what I'm talking about. How on earth can a cyclist navigate this sort of damage safely?



Another of the increasingly alarming fissures opening up across the bridge -I highlighted this one a few weeks ago on the blog - it's got worse since then:



Not the worst example of the Conservatives' neglect of the bridge, but this photo - just before the bus stop on the Putney side of the bridge - shows how the road surface is being stripped away:



...And this photo, looking back towards Fulham, shows just how pockmarked and cratered the entire bridge surface is:



This is right by the bus stop on the Putney side of the Bridge - another of the Tories' short term botches falling apart:



Another of the craters that make crossing the bridge a nightmare for cyclists - this one's just by the bus stop for buses terminating at Putney Bridge Station:



And another collapsing manhole - this one just past the junction with Lower Richmond Road:



Another major pothole by the junction of Lower Richmond Road:



And last but not least:

Putney Bridge deja vu

When oh when are the Conservatives going to meet their responsibilities in respect of Putney Bridge and repair this damaged and neglected structure?

They cannot blame the cold weather for the state it's in right now: the erosion is happening all year round and anyone who's a regular reader of this blog will know I've beeing trying to persuade the Tories of the importance of repairing the bridge properly for months and months.

These are just photos of potholes on one side of one half of the bridge. The biggest problem with the bridge is not these huge potholes that keep opening up or collapsing into themselves every few weeks - serious though those are - because at least the Conservatives make some effort to patch them up. No, the real problem are the long "ruts" that run along the length of the bridge usually where lanes meet - which is of course where cyclists tend to be. These ruts are usually ignored by the Conservatives and they're getting deeper and deeper.

Sooner or later, a cyclist will be thrown off their bike because of this Conservative negligence, and on one of London's busiest bridges that is a frightening prospect.

My five point plan for Putney Bridge is straightforward and will sort it out:

1) Force the council and Thames Water to sit down until they've hammered out a joint agreement to repair the bridge between them

2) Fix the leaking pipes that run through the bridge that are the principal cause of the erosion

3) Resurface the entire bridge properly: laying the northbound cycle lane while this is being done
4) Repair the floodlights illuminating the bridge - if necessary replacing the existing floodlights the council has trouble getting to with those it's much easier to reach

5) Take out the traffic lights that stop traffic in the middle of the bridge - or alternatively fix them so they only do what they were set up to do: stop traffic only when a 22 or 265 bus is seeking to get from the bus lane across to the lane turning into Lower Richmond Road.

We'll only get this plan if you vote for change at the elections later this year. The Tory neglect of Putney Bridge is a disgrace. And it's happening despite the leader of the Council himself being one of the area's local representatives. If he is incapable of taking sufficient pride in Putney Bridge to keep it in an acceptable state, you need to elect representatives who are.

Janet Grimshaw, Chris Locke and Bibi Qureshi as your local Labour councillors will do just that.

The Legacy of Hope

Holocaust Memorial Day this year is poignant for two particular reasons. First, because memories of the Christmas attempts to steal and sell-off the "Work shall set you free" sign above the entrance to Auschwitz are still raw. And second, because today is the 55th anniversary of the liberation of that death camp.

Today's Holocaust Memorial Day focuses on the message "The Legacy of Hope" because the most constructive response the world can make to every single holocaust or genocide is to learn from it and strive to make sure we never experience anything like that ever again.

You can light a virtual candle to mark HMD2010 at the Trust's website. This is a really simple way to mark these atrocities and, while some may say it is trite because it requires nothing more than to click on a website, I disagree because in the few seconds it takes to choose to light that candle, you get to reflect on the monumental import of the liberation of Auschwitz and achieve, in one small part the Trust's aims this year. In that respect, it is as helpful and important as the minute's silence on Remembrance Sunday.

New Met Police crime leaflet

The choice on home repossessions

Ever more clearly, the differences between Labour's active intervention to minimise the impact of the recession and the Conservatives' do-nothing approach that caused such damage last time they were in power, are coming to light.

Home repossessions in 2009 were almost half the level they were in 1991 at the depth of the Conservative recession. And this despite last year's global recession being the deepest since the great depression. How dumb do the so-called experts who forecast similar repossession levels now look?

And this chart, which shows the numbers of repossessions for each year from 1990, as provided by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, shows not just the difference between 1991 and 2009, but the clearly better Labour record from 1997 onwards, compared to the Conservatives:


Does this figure mean anything? I suspect it means quite a lot to the 70,000 people still in their homes because of Labour management of our economy who would probably be out of them if the Conservatives had been in charge, replicating the do-nothing, care-nothing approach they took last time they were in power.

Losing your family's home is as traumatic as long-term unemployment. Anyone who has moved home knows how stressful it is when we make the choice to do so - to have it forced upon you, often through no fault of your own is even worse. So yes, I think half the number of repossessions matters - it matters a lot.

It's one reason why my campaign team and I are out on doorsteps every single day of every week calling on residents asking for your support - because there is so much at stake, and such a sharp distinction between Labour intervention and do-nothing David Cameron.

It's a truism to say that elections are about choices - but it's no less true because of it.