Pothole of the week: 30 June 2008

The Conservative Council doesn't discriminate in its neglect of our roads: whether you live in Putney, Roehampton or Southfields all their roads are thoroughly run down.

This example is from the Alton Estate: Tangley Grove, which is off Danebury Avenue. What's even more remarkable about the Tories' neglect of the roads around here is that the foundation of the roads on the Alton are actually giant slabs so it should take even more neglect to allow them to fall into this condition than with more traditional road surfaces.

The so-called public representatives responsible for this neglect are Putney Conservative MP Justine Greening and Roehampton's three (or is that two?) Conservative Councillors.

It's working!

Kingsmere Road...................................... Hotham Road

The other day I spotted that one of the potholes I'd flagged up on this website - in Kingsmere Road in West Hill - had finally been patched by the Council. Success Number One.

On Saturday, the Hotham Road potholes had also been patched - though large chunks of this street need a proper resurfacing, not just a slapdash patching. But success Number Two, none-the-less.

These happen to be two of the earliest potholes I flagged up on this website and while the Tory Councillors will of course deny any relationship between our naming and shaming exercise and them finally getting their act together, I leave you to determine the reality.

Far too many roads remain in a disgraceful state, so if the Council thinks filling-in one or two potholes is going to make us back off and leave them alone, they've got another thing coming. Putney Heath and Victoria Drive in particular remain in a completely unacceptable condition so if I have to publish five, ten, twenty or one hundred potholes a week before they get the point, so be it.

One of the reasons it's important to have a Labour MP is because your Conservative representatives (every single one of Putney's councillors, and your MP, are Conservatives) simply will not stand up for their local patch. I will - and as you see, I get results.

Brandlehow demolition: accept the verdict

The Council is absolutely right to insist that the property developer who demolished the Grade 2 listed Brandlehow School Caretaker's Cottage start work rebuilding it immediately.

The developer responsible was prosecuted in November 2007; taken back to Court this March, ordered to reinstate the building to its original condition and pay over £30,000 in fines and costs. By the time the building has been rebuilt and his own legal fees have been calculated, the total cost of his folly will be getting on for £100,000. And that's excluding the cost of his actually buying the site in the first place. Yet despite these two Court experiences and the expense he is being subjected to, no work has yet been undertaken.

If being fined over £30,000 has been ineffective then further action appears necessary. If he fails to fulfil the obligations placed on him by the courts, maybe a further fine or a spell of community service is in order. Planning regulations exist to preserve and enhance our built environment. It is important that those responsible for enforcing these regulations are robust in their efforts in such open-and-shut cases like this.

Veterans Day

Today was Veteran's Day - a day for us all to acknowledge the contribution our armed service-men and women make to our country. In London, the event was marked by a Trafalgar Square rally where London Mayor Boris Johnson and Labour Defence Secretary Des Browne announced several ideas to make the lives of our veterans better. This was the third Veteran's Day and its gradually becoming a more significant event.

But there's a long way to go before Veterans' Day becomes something other than fourth or fifth-tier news story on our evening news bulletins. And the reason I say that is that there were no local events in Putney to mark Veterans' Day.

Holocaust Memorial Day is, rightly, marked locally. So is Armistice Day. Both these events exist to remember suffering and loss. It's time we also marked the positive contribution our soldiers make. Can you imagine the US marking its Veterans' Day in the same half-hearted; uncomfortable; almost embarrassed way that we in the UK do so.

It's one reason why a few weeks ago I came out in support of making Veterans' Day a Bank Holiday. That way we can make much more of a statement of our appreciation of what it is to serve, to put on more events nationally and locally, and get more people along to these celebrations. This isn't about us having another holiday; another national party. It's about us saying thank you to those prepared to offer up what the Americans call the last full measure of devotion.

Pothole of the week: 27 June 2008

Werter Road, which runs off Putney High Street along to Oxford Road (or vice versa as it's a one-way street!). Generally this road is in pretty good nick - though the bit around Sainsburys is decaying rapidly, but even in the few road surfaces in Putney that aren't falling apart you come across potholes like this.

The representatives responsible for this example of neglect are Putney Conservative MP Justine Greening and her three Thamesfield ward Conservative Councillors: Edward Lister (the Council leader), Jim Maddan and Rosemary Torrington.

Putney's grand designs No.2

Continuing my infrequent series of posts about the great buildings of our area, one of the issues I've touched upon in previous posts has been the damage done to Putney by planners. The most stark examples of this can be found in central Putney where fantastic gothic mansions were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s and replaced by architecturally similar, blander apartment blocks.

These proliferated up and off Putney Hill; in Carlton Drive, St John's Avenue and Merciers Road to mention a few. However, interspersed with these apartment blocks remain some of the original homes, that give us an idea of what central Putney used to look like.

One of the grandest examples of these is pictured here in St John's Avenue. But there are several other original mansion houses in Carlton Drive in particular.

Vigil for Zimbabwe this Friday

This Friday, 27 June, a vigil will be held outside the Zimbabwe Embassy at 429 The Strand, from 10am to 4pm to mark the death of democracy in Zimbabwe.

There will also be a 'funeral procession' to the South African High Commission in South Africa House, Trafalgar Square between 1pm and 2pm.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have come out today against the survival of the defeated Mugabe regime and I was heartened by the more vociferous comments yesterday of Jacob Zuma, the ANC President in South Africa. Britain's TUC has also been urging a more interventionist approach by the South African Development Community (SADC): the group that has most clout with Zimbabwe and which, if they were minded to, could probably bring about the downfall of the Mugabe tyranny.

The Zimbabwe Vigil Coalition holds a vigil outside the Zimbabwe Embassy every Saturday between 2pm and 8pm.

Voting Day: Thursday or Sunday?

In the UK, polling day is traditionally on a Thursday. Historically, this is because Thursday was market day so outlying villagers were more likely to be in town to vote.

But elections can, in theory, be held on any day. In the US, they take place on a Tuesday. In much of Europe elections are held over a weekend, or on a Sunday.

The advantage with weekend elections is that a lot of people won't be at work. The disadvantage is that they may be away, and the same problem as with Thursdays will arise in that there are plenty of other calls on our time whenever elections are held. And, if we were to move to Sunday voting, that may create problems for the devoutly religious, among others.

The government has just launched a consultation on these issues. You can download the consultation briefing here. Remember: decisions are made by those who turn up.

The cost of living

If you've ever watched the cartoon "The Simpsons" you'll be familiar with the father (Homer) yelling "Doh!" whenever he's missed something blindingly obvious; usually some prank by his son Bart.

I'm not quite sure who should be yelling "Doh!" this time, but a few days ago, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published a report that recalculated poverty statistics to - shock, horror - take into account the cost of living. The image above is from the Channel 4 News report on the story which shows how much London and the West Midlands are affected.

You may be wondering why it is that the amount it costs people to live (in other words outgoings), and not just the amount they have coming in has not been analysed before. So do I.

It is surely self-evident that if house prices, food prices, energy prices and transport costs are dramatically higher than elsewhere (as they are in London), then wages have to be proportionately higher too, or else those who live here will be worse off. It's why we have London weighting but even this doesn't come close to reflecting the true cost of living.

London is, paradoxically, both the richest and the most deprived part of the United Kingdom. Areas traditionally regarded as poor because of their relatively low income levels - like Scotland - are, when cost of living is added-in, among the best off.

It is remarkable that politicians of all parties, who regardless of whether or not they represent London constituencies tend to have homes in the capital, have never really acknowledged quite what a problem this polarity between exceptional wealth and extreme poverty is. And because jt has never been given the prominence it deserves in official statistics, London has not done as well as it should for decades.

London is the wealth creator of our country: it is right that the huge wealth generated by the City is redistributed. But a fair share must be reinvested in the capital to mitigate the high cost of living here. All of the country has benefited from increased investment in schools, hospitals, housing and getting people back to work, but some have done better than others.

I want to see the cost of living properly reflected in government spending from now on and I hope London MPs (and those in the Midlands, which has also been put at a disadvantage) of all parties share that aim.

Pothole of the week: 23 June 2008

You're sending me so many photos of Putney's potholed roads that pothole of the week is now going to be published twice a week for the forseeable future.

Last week I exposed the dreadful state of Rotherwood Road on this blog and alluded to the fact that neighbouring roads weren't much better.

Well, here's the evidence. Let's start with Putney Embankment itself - this just past the junction of Festing Road (and thanks to putneysw15 discussion forum contributors for the heads-up on this one):



Adjoining Rotherwood Road is Bendemeer Road:



And off Bendemeer Road is Gladwyn Road:



Finally (for this batch, at least) the road after Bendemeer Road towards Putney Bridge is Glendarvon Road:

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's opposition leader - and the first-round winner of the Presidential election - Morgan Tsvangirai has withdrawn from the run-off election because what should have been a celebration of independent Africa has become a horror show of murder and terrorism.

It remains to be seen whether this move will end the campaign of terror that has led to the assault, torture and murder of many of his officials, MPs and candidates - it seems unlikely given that Zanu PF has said the election will still go ahead, and will want a huge vote on the pretext that this will somehow make them Zimbabwe's legitimate rulers.

What criticism and approbrium has been left unsaid about Robert Mugabe's terrorist, criminal regime that is stopping at nothing to prop up this octanagarian tyrant?

The breadbasket of Africa has become the basketcase of Africa.

The totally unacceptable situation in Zimbabwe is the second challenge to the international community in recent months (the other being Burma). Finally, finally, African leaders are beginning to speak out against the murders, torture, terrorism and vote-stealing that Mugabe is so blatantly carrying out. What a shame it took so many deaths, so much devastation, so shameless a rigging of the election before they stood up to be counted.

The West seems cowed by the imperialist ghosts Mugabe absurdly throws around, as if regaining control of his devastated country is a prospect any vaguely competently-run state would want.

South African Premier Thabo Mbeki has shamefully abrogated his responsibility as just about the only remaining Head of State with any influence over the madman destroying Zimbabwe.

And even the media - who I accept are hardly uncritical in their coverage of the elections - still cede too much to Mugabe. Why, for example, is the BBC still asserting that Tsvangirai did not win a majority of the votes cast in the first round: as copies of the statements from outside each polling station showed he did? Especially when the Mugabe controlled Electoral Commission spent three weeks sitting on (and opening up, illegally) the ballot boxes.

There should not even be a second round to this election, let alone one which Mugabe would have "won" even if he received not a single vote. If the international community does not take action to rid the world - and more importantly, Zimbabwe - of Mugabe it is not fit for purpose.

High Street's vacant shops on the up

Conservative Councillors in Wandsworth are now openly admitting on the putneysw15 website that landlords in Putney High Street are starting to struggle to let their premises.

The number of vacant shops in our town centre is on the increase again. In fact, we're probably back to the position we were in 2005 when I launched Labour's Save Putney High Street campaign.

If Putney High Street is facing economic difficulties, that isn't the fault of the Council - it's a consequence of the international credit crunch (though consumer spending was remarkably robust last month).

No, the charge I level at Putney Conservatives, including the MP, is that had they acted to recession-proof the High Street when times were better over the past three years, retailers would be in a better position to weather whatever economic turbulence we're in line for. I believe Shadow Chancellor George Osborne calls this "fixing the roof when the sun is shining".

My ten point plan to fix the High Street has been around for three years now; common-sense points which those of you who've taken my survey have supported hands-down. The Putney Society has been similarly vocal in its concerns about the state in which the Conservatives allow our High Street to remain. Yet the Tories have ignored us - they've even denied there's any problem at all.

For the past three years, when Putney High Street needed some political vision, leadership and direction from its elected representatives, its had none. Let's hope that High Street retailers do not pay too high a price for this absence of courage from the complacent Conservatives.

Rotherwood bother

I know I'm only supposed to be doing a pothole post once a week (next one on Monday, incidentally), but just look at the state of Rotherwood Road. The thing that makes Rotherwood Road stand out - and be under no illusions that all the riverside roads in this area are in a thoroughly disgraceful state - is that it's potholed along its entire length, which is a remarkable feat even for this neglectful council.

The elected representatives responsible for this sorry excuse for a road surface are Putney Conservative MP Justine Greening and the three Conservative councillors for Thamesfield ward. I have to ask, given that Thamesfield has the highest number of potholed roads in Putney: what is the benefit of having the Leader of the Council representing your area? Maybe he needs to spend a little more time with his ward?

Here are five photos of Rotherwood Road, running from the Putney Embankment end up to Lower Richmond Road:

King's Head remains headless

On Tuesday councillors rejected plans to redevelop the King's Head pub on the corner of Roehampton High Street and Roehampton Lane.

The King's Head is Roehampton's oldest building, dating back to the 17th Century. For the last three years it has been empty having been closed down after lots of complaints about rowdiness and poor behaviour. It is one of six pubs and clubs Roehampton has lost in recent years.

I want the King's Head restored to use - but not at any price and I think, on balance, that councillors were right to reject this planning application.

This site adds to the impression that Roehampton village is in decline. The Conservative Council and the Conservative MP could and should be far more concerned about getting this site back into use: promoting the area to investors, working with them to submit strong, impressive plans and ensuring that they help kick-start a revival of this important part of our constituency.

One thing that would be unacceptable would be for councillors to use the pretext of their so-called regeneration plans for the Danebury Avenue area to stall any work on this site, because that could mean the King's Head remaining derelict for another decade.

I hope the applicants go away, reflect on the council's decision and come back with a more sensitive, more thoughtful plan that better addresses the challenges this important site poses.

You can read the report on the planning application for The King's Head here.

Putney is not Manhattan

This post is an extract of my editorial in the new edition of The Putney Paper.

Nor is it Dubai, Hong Kong or Tokyo. That may sound self-evident and in itself it's not a criticism: they are all vibrant, successful cities if you like that sort of thing.

But Putney has no tradition of high rise buildings. Those we have been saddled with have - with one notable exception - been to our area's detriment.

The ugly post-war office buildings along Upper Richmond Road; the neglected, claustrophobic Arndale estate above the Southside shopping centre and the monotonous, unconstrained riverside apartment blocks that I feel blight our riverside; all these can hardly be called local success stories.

Ironically the one recent success which has transformed part of our town centre - the Brewhouse Lane development by Putney Bridge - the Conservatives fought tooth and nail against. It's clear the Tories lack sound judgement when it comes to planning. So I'm glad that our amenity groups, including the Putney and Wandsworth Societies, are rightly campaigning on this issue.

You can read the rest of this editorial by downloading the Summer 2008 edition of the Putney Paper.

Burma

If you didn't see the report on last night's Newsnight by Dr Chris van Talluken; the first British aid worker given access to the Irrawaddy Delta, I'd strongly recommend it.

A small clip of the report can be viewed on the BBC website here. But you can watch the whole thing - which runs to about ten minutes, by watching the Newsnight programme: the report's about 31 minutes in, if you want to skip the other reports.

I should warn that some of the report is pretty unpleasant viewing as there remain bodies still not reclaimed two months after the hurricane. Among other extraordinary sights, Dr van Talluken meets someone who sustained extensive injuries to his back caused by nothing other than the sheer force of rain water driving into him.

This really is an extraordinary report that is not simply an attack on the Burmese junta, but is actually all the more damning for that.

Time to act on fuel speculation

I've written before about some of the reasons why fuel prices are currently at record levels, causing some hardship and considerable anger here and around the world.

For me, the least acceptable reason fuel costs so much is that oil is currently the focus of some of the most cynical speculation on the financial markets. Without speculation, oil would be trading at somewhere around $99 a barrel, as opposed to around $140 a barrel at the moment. In other words, some of the richest people in the world are getting even richer speculating on oil prices, driving them up, while we pay for their greed at the petrol stations.

There have already been stirrings in the US Government about clamping down on speculating on oil prices in their NYMEX market, but of course the financial markets are global so for any move to restrict or ban oil speculation we'd need simultaneous action from Tokyo and the London Stock Exchange among others. And even if we could get a global governmental pact to regulate the markets, e-trading could simply move speculation to other, unregulated channels - even e-Bay!

That, however, is not a reason we should not try to sort this out. Let's be clear: nation states need to prove that they are still relevant in tackling problems like fuel scarcity, the credit crunch or environmental degradation.

If they don't we will face a choice between further seepage of power (with or without the consent of we, the people) towards far less accountable pan-national bodies like the European Union, the G8, the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank because only these bodies have the muscle to exercise control over the markets.

The even less appealing alternative is a democratic vaccuum where the market does what it wants unfettered with any issues of social justice, fairness or equity. That's utopia for the money men, but it's the nightmare scenario for the rest of us.

A river runs through it

There was some coverage over the weekend of proposals by London's Mayor Boris Johnson to unearth or open up London's rivers.

Because so many of these have been concreted-over or have dried up it is unsurprising that many who aren't familiar with London's history have no idea that our Capital has far more rivers running through it than just the Thames.

Locally, we are fortunate to have one of the few that remains above ground, at least for large sections of its length: the Wandle. The Wandle was also one of the rivers highlighted in the news coverage of the Mayor's plans. Although they would mainly affect areas downstream of the Southfields sections of the Wandle I welcome them; as I do any plans to reveal as many of London's forgotten rivers where it is practicable to do so.

I hope the Mayor's ideas also help defeat the plans to over-develop the Ram Brewery site which runs alongside the Wandle near its mouth into the Thames. Although these plans do not cover-over the Wandle, the huge tower blocks - of up to 42 storeys - proposed will create a dark canyon either side of it that will hardly enhance the river.

I'd also like a duty on those who own property abutting the Wandle (and other above-ground rivers) to provide a public path along the river enshrined in London planning law, in exactly the same way policies like this helped, over thirty years, create the Thames Path many of us enjoy today.

Large expanses of the Wandle, not least alongside King George's Park, are already open - there's a Wandle nature trail that takes you as far south as Croydon - but far more could be opened up, especially where there are prime re-development sites backing onto the river. Not everywhere will be appropriate - such a policy wouldn't force residents to surrender their back gardens for instance - but a lot more could be done to make the river more accessible.

And it will ensure that never again will councils be able to build shopping centres like Southside over the Wandle. One of the great missed opportunities of the Arndale (Southside) development is that had a more sensitive plan - which made the Wandle its feature - been implemented it would today be a far more vibrant, welcoming and popular shopping centre.

Putney pothole of the week: 16th June 2008

In fact, three of them in quick succession, this time in Westleigh Avenue as it slopes down toward Solna Avenue, before climbing back up to Granard Avenue. These three craters are particularly dangerous for cyclists given they're on the downhill side of the road.

The Conservatives responsible for ignoring this particular set of potholes are Tory MP Justine Greening and the three Conservative Councillors for West Putney ward.

Please keep the photos coming: email them to stuart.king@putneylabour.org.uk or text them to 07533 384 895

Saturday in West Hill

I spent a large chunk of Saturday in West Hill ward - this panoramic photo (or rather two bolted together photos!) was taken from the top of Bisley House on Wimbledon Parkside - you can click on it for a larger, more detailed version.

The orange blocks on the left are Oakman House and Greenfield House in Tilford Gardens - the smaller blocks in Limpsfield Avenue are to their right, and behind them both St Paul's Church. Further back are some of the blocks on the Ackroydon estate; and behind them the William Willison Estate and Sudbury, Albon, Edwyn and Knowles Houses from the Arndale estate in Southfields. Further back still you may be able to spot Battersea Power Station, the London Eye and the City of London.

On the other side of the picture, in the foreground is the currently empty Jenny Lind Pub, and the parade of shops in Inner Park Road; with Chobham Gardens and Glen Albyn Road behind them. Further back you may be able to make out the lake in Wimbledon Park - the Putney constituency boundary with Wimbledon goes straight across the lake - and right in the background you may even be able to make out the Crystal Palace transmitters.

One of the things that's great about our constituency is the amount of green there is, even in relatively densely populated areas like West Hill, which I think this photo emphasises. And on the other side of Bisley House, of course, is Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath and Richmond Park, so even more greenery there!

Tell me what you think about dangerous dogs

One of the features in the new edition of The Putney Paper is about Dangerous Dogs. I know what an important issue this is all around the constituency - not just because constituents have been attacked by out of control dogs, but because the intimidation such dogs instil among residents goes far wider.

I think the Conservatives, who publicly boast that they want to introduce a £500 per pet Dog Tax, levied on all dogs they choose to define as "menacing", is utterly misguided. It seems they're trying to milk a legitimate concern for all it's worth.

I think that if registering dogs is needed - and I'm not convinced it is - microchipping, which would cost a more reasonable £25 and would also help return lost dogs to their owners quickly, is a better deal.

But the key issue here is actually not dogs: it's the tiny minority of irresponsible owners. Brutally mistreated, or deliberately trained to attack, pretty much any dog is going to become dangerous, sooner or later. It's owners who are responsible for dangerous dogs, and fortunately it's a tiny minority who behave irresponsibly. But we must crack down on that minority.

So I've set up a survey - and I'd really appreciate a few minutes of your time to give me your views. Just go to stuartking.net/dogsurvey. Thanks.

Summer's Putney Paper: out now

The latest edition of The Putney Paperhas begun hitting the streets. This edition sets out my concerns about the threat to the character of our community from plans to build high rise tower blocks all around the constituency.

I also continue exposing the Conservatives' neglect of Putney's roads and there's a major feature on tackling dangerous dogs.

I think Conservative plans to introduce a Dog Tax: a £500 license for any dog their bureaucrats consider "menacing" is just milking public fear over dangerous dogs to fleece responsible dog owners. Instead, I set out how I think the minority of irresponsible dog owners should be tackled and seek your views.

Plus, next month the NHS is 60 years old. Launched by Labour Health Secretary Aneurin Bevan in 1948 we celebrate one of Britain's greatest institutions.

There's also the usual news roundup from across the constituency, more on our Safer Neighbourhood Police teams' successes and su doku makes a comeback!

Putney continue to crack up

Cromer Villas Road



...And another from Cromer Villas Road



Melrose Road



...And another from Melrose Road

I couldn't resist posting these four photos of the shocking state of the roads in this part of Southfields - among the worst I've come across - because they happen to be the neighbourhood in which Council Leader Edward Lister lives. He must drive over some of them on his way to the Town Hall!

Thank you for all the photos of your potholed streets you've been sending in - if I posted one a day I'd have enough to keep this blog running through to the Autumn. Though that's not a bad idea, I'm inclined to post a few photos a week from across the constituency. But do keep them coming - as the common adage goes: you can never have too many photographs of potholes - especially, it seems, from around Putney, Roehampton and Southfields.

In the meantime, I'm launching a new competition to come up with the collective term for potholes. "A neglect of potholes"? "A wreck of potholes"? "A council incompetence of potholes"? Let me have your ideas - email stuart.king@putneylabour.org.uk.

The Politics of God

On Friday I attended the inaugural annual lecture organised by the Wandsworth Labour Party. The lecture, presented by Revd Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of St Mary's Putney, was entitled The Politics of God and was a stimulating, engaging and entertaining exploration of what I think could be described as the politics of God and church.

As you might imagine given the breadth of views within the audience, from atheist to confirmed believers, the debate was lively but moderate. The event was, by unanimous aclaim, a great success, attended by over 80 residents, many of whom were not members of the Labour Party.

The lecture begun with an exclusive preview showing of Giles' 20 minute documentary on The Putney Debates, focussed on footage shot last October when St Mary's Church celebrated the 360th anniversary of this historic event.

After the lecture and my presentation of a thank you gift to Giles (picture), Putney Labour Party and I hosted a drinks reception upstairs in the Cromwell Room which gave everyone a chance to continue the debate that has begun earlier in the evening. I was pleased to be able to make contact with representatives from a number of local churches, including Southfields Baptist Church in Wimbledon Park Road and Our Lady of Pity & St Simon Catholic Church in Hazlewell Road.

Summer fun in Putney

This weekend was the first real weekend of Summer and, appropriately, there were several fairs and fetes around the constituency that I had the pleasure of attending.

To kick off on Saturday I helped out at the Summer Fair of my old primary school, Allfarthing, in Wandsworth - at which I have been a governor for a few years now. It is customary for the governors to run the bar which, given the weather and strength of our Pimms, proved to be a popular stall indeed!

After staffing the bar and a quick tour of the other stalls I headed off to the RSPCA fair at their headquarters in Clarendon Drive, where I bumped into Wandsworth's Mayor, Councillor John Farebrother. Thereafter, it was off to the final visit of the day - the Friends of Queen Mary's Hospital Summer Party in Roehampton - the party was opened by actor Philip Glennister, otherwise known as DI Gene Hunt of Life on Mars' fame. Here I am pictured playing crazy golf at the Queen Mary's party!

It's important for a local MP to attend as many of these events as possible - not just to be seen out and about in the constituency, or to keep my cupboards well stocked with jams, cakes, second-hand books and other wares; but also to keep in touch with the grassroots volunteers who work so hard to make ours the community it is.

If you'd like me to let me know about your forthcoming fete, summer party or other event, do get in touch - email me at stuart.king@putneylabour.org.uk or phone my Putney HQ: 020 8788 8961.

John Mann MP, Knife-crime and Boxing...

John Mann is Labour MP for Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, but during the week when he's in parliament he happens to live in the same block of flats in Waterloo that murdered teenager Arsema Dawit lived.

Yesterday he wrote an excellent article for The Sunday Mirror which I urge you to read. In it, he calls for a major increase in amateur boxing clubs - it's something he's been working on in his own former mining constituency - in order to give young people a controlled, focussed and safe environment for channelling their aggression.

To me, this makes a lot of sense - as a teenager growing up in Wandsworth I saw the positive effect places like Earlsfield boxing club (near where I lived) had on young boys. It's also a more tangible idea than just "giving kids something to do", and it also doesn't fall into the trap the opposition parties have slid into of assuming ever tougher legislation is the only answer available.

Not everyone will want to get involved in boxing but the sport is more likely to appeal to those who either feel the need to carry a knife because they don't feel able to defend themselves without a weapon, or those who regard themselves as tough and carry knives as symbols of that toughness.

Potholes: even Putney's most exclusive address has them

Roedean Crescent usually comes out in property price league tables as the most expensive street in Putney. The Crescent, which backs on to Richmond Park near Roehampton Gate is, we must say, in a somewhat better condition than many streets elsewhere in the constituency, but even here Conservative Council neglect can be seen.



And just round the corner, here's Bank Lane, which runs up to Priory Lane alongside the Bank of England Sports Club; though to be fair to the council - as I always am - this road has seen quite a lot of development recently.

Free swimming for all in Putney by 2012

I welcome the Government's announcement today to make swimming free at all local authority swimming pools - like Putney Leisure Centre in Dryburgh Road - by the 2012 Olympics.

Just as in 1997 when Labour abolished charges to national museums, this initiative - first making swimming free for pensioners and under-16s, but eventually free for all, is a recreational milestone. Free access to pensioners and under-16s will commence next year.

Britain's swimmers are really starting to compete internationally and great things are expected of our acquatic team at this Summer's Olympic Games. I hope that Olympic success will generate even more interest in swimming because not only is it a great way to keep fit, it's also great fun and it puts your body through far less wear and tear than most other sports.

Almost £250 million has been invested in swimming since 1997 to rebuild and renew our crumbling swimming pools that were starved of cash in the Tory years. We still don't have enough Olympic sized, 50metre pools in the country, but we've now got a network of smaller, well-maintained, safe and enjoyable swimming pools around the capital and the country.

And soon we'll have free entry to these pools as well -dur to Labour's commitment to sport, to equal access and to an Olympic legacy for 2012.

Shalden House sorted

I wrote last week about the vandalism in Shalden House. I can now report that following my intervention the windows that were smashed in have been fixed. And just look at the difference a repair makes:


Then.................................................Now


Then.................................................Now


Then.................................................Now

I'm really pleased for the residents of Shalden House that we've got action - that still took too long in my book - because the conditions that they were living in were unacceptable.

There remain problems in Shalden House - the caretaking leaves much to be desired and illegal activities are regularly reported by residents who stumble across non-residents in the stairwells. These are all difficult problems to tackle, but for me politics isn't about what's easy - it's about what's right.

Putney's grand designs

This is the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability on West Hill. Because it's set back from the road a little and hidden behind landscaping and a car park it's not the easiest building to see, but for my money it's Putney's grandest design.

Putney is blessed by having a range of very impressive buildings, as well as some less impressive ones!

But what about you? Which Putney building means something special to you?

You can find out more about the work of the Royal Hospital here.

Fair and balanced?

A few days ago, I reported the public survey that ranked St George's Hospital in Tooting - along with Charing Cross in Fulham our nearest General Hospital as one of the best in London.

A couple of days later the Wandsworth Guardian ran the same story on their front page, except they chose to headline the bad news from that same survey. You had to wade through three columns of negative opinions before the Guardian reported the fact that St George's finished seventh overall out of 25 London hospitals - a pretty good showing.

St George's gets a lot of bad press - some of it deserved - but when it does well, I think there is a duty on a local paper to report the good as well as the not so good. No one disputes that there are still issues to be addressed at St George's - least of all the hospital itself. The concerns of patients identified in the survey deserve serious action by the Hospital.

What do you think? If you wish to share your experience of St Georges - or any other local hospital - get in touch. Whether positive or not, I'd like to hear your views.

Potholes, potholes everywhere...

The race to find Putney's worst pothole intensified this week following the posting of photos from The Platt last week.

Not to be outdone, residents of Abbotstone Road, Gwalior Road, Gamlen Road and Hotham Road - all streets in the ward represented by Council Leader Edward Lister - have sent me photos of potholes they have to put up with due to the Council's neglect of our roads.

The thing I notice, going around the constituency, is not just the number of potholes but the number of road surfaces that are on the verge of becoming major pothole problems - surfaces where you can see the wear and tear, that have been patched and patched and patched but never properly resurfaced.

My message to the Council is simple: either reverse the £1 million cut you've made to the Highways budget that has reduced it by a third in just two years, or gain the reputation as the borough with the worst roads in the capital - to add to the dubious accolade of being the flytip capital of London.


Abbotstone Road


Gamlen Road


Gwalior Road


Hotham Road

You can see other examples of Putney's pothole crisis here.

Rat running danger in Danebury Avenue

At the recent Roehampton Safer Neighbourhood Police meeting, residents raised with me their concerns about rat-running down Danebury Avenue. Many years ago this used to be a real problem as Danebury Avenue was used as a shortcut from congested Roehampton Lane to Priory Lane and Richmond Park - but it was sorted out when barriers - subsequently replaced by bollards - were installed just by Alton School.

Aside from making Danebury Avenue much safer, quieter and more pleasant for the thousands of residents who live there, it's also prevented traffic speeding past the Alton School and Ibstock Place School - so it's really important.

In recent months however, the padlocks have been removed and the central bollard taken out, which creates enough space for most cars to be able to squeeze through. No-one is quite sure whether the person removing the bollard has one of the padlock keys the emergency services have to gain access when needed, or is simply breaking the padlock open and removing it.

When I visited on Tuesday this week the bollards were in place and padlocked, so hopefully the problem has been sorted out. This type of problem is exactly the local issue that Roehampton's councillors should be keeping an eye on - difficult, admittedly, when one of them lives in Bournemouth and the others, it is reported, are rarely seen locally (one resident of Shalden House asked who they were as she had never seen or heard from them).

There are signs by the bollards warning people that the bollards are monitored by CCTV. If that's the case - and the CCTV's working properly - the Council and Police should be able to work out who's been vandalising this bollard; causing criminal damage and risking a road traffic accident outside two schools - all simply to save a few minutes' journey time. If not, then it's time the council did what its signs say it does: monitor and act on CCTV footage.

I'm here to make sure they do.