Who says we don't need ticket offices?

This is a photo my Southfields campaign team took on Sunday morning of the queue waiting to buy tickets at Southfields station. Sundays are days the Tories think ticket offices should be closed longest, so if we get queues like this now - before their cuts bite - imagine how things will be when the office is closed 50 hours a week more than today.

Since I launched my campaign to save our ticket offices, the Liberal Democrat and Green parliamentary candidates have kindly given it their backing. The only party that has not is the Conservatives.

Given that the Conservatives were so vocal in opposing ticket office closures on Network Rail stations last year (as was I) - there are only two possible reasons for this deafening silence from the Conservatives.

Either the Tories believe rail stations deserve staffed ticket offices but tube stations don't.

Or they're simply incapable of standing up to their own party when they are in power, as in this case since the Tory Mayor of London runs Transport for London.

It's the easiest thing in the world to oppose another party. It's much tougher to tell your own side when they're wrong. I did on Network Rail ticket office closures, on Heathrow, on the 10p income tax changes and on Richmond Park parking charges. But there's no chance of that in the case of Putney's Tory candidate - she's never once criticised the Conservative council and never once voted against her party in a vote in the Commons - not once in the five years she was MP.

When it comes to election day you need to decide whether you want a local champion or a party-first politician. Vote Conservative if you want the latter - and you'll get ticket offices closed longer into the bargain.

General Election Putney Paper: out now

The new Putney Paper has just been printed and will be being delivered to over 36,000 homes in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields in the next few days by local volunteers at no cost to the taxpayer.

There are special editions for each of the six areas of Putney:

East Putney

Roehampton and Putney Vale

Southfields and central Wandsworth

Putney Riverside and town centre

Putney West Hill and Wimbledon Park

West Putney and Dover House




East Putney edition:



Roehampton edition:



Southfields edition:



Central Putney edition:


West Hill and Wimbledon Park edition:



West Putney edition:

What does it all mean?

Every month since the summer of 2007 I've been reporting the Metropolitan Police's ward-by-ward crime figures for the Putney constituency - February 2010's are above and again show decent results, especially in Roehampton where two months of small increases have been turned around.

But what do those numbers actually mean? Well, let's take burglary. In Southfields, the February burglary rate was 7.7 crimes per 1,000 of the population. Now, the population of Southfields is about 13,000 people, give or take - so multiply the 7.7 by 13 and you get 100.1 incidents over the twelve months to February; that's just over eight reported burglaries in Southfields a month.

Eight burglaries a month is eight too many of a particularly unpleasant, invasive crime, but it does put in perspective its relatively low scale locally.

And at the end of the scale, you begin to understand why I'm so appalled by the scale of crime in Putney town centre - Thamesfield ward. Let's repeat the equation above in respect of theft and handling in Thamesfield: 75.5 crimes per thousand, multiplied by 13 (the ward's population) and you get almost 982 crimes a year, 82 every month, 19 a week, week in, week out - happening in our town centre. And these are town centre crimes - and that's before you get to what might be called "residential backstreet crimes" - they relate solely to pickpocketing, stealing, shoplifting.

It's why I've made tackling town centre crime once and for all one of my five policing pledges at the general election.

Help me keep Putney's ticket offices open

Conservative-run Transport for London is planning massive reductions in ticket office opening hours at Southfields, East Putney and Putney Bridge stations, and a host of other stations the length and breadth of the tube network.

• East Putney ticket office will be open 40 hours a week less
• Putney Bridge ticket office will be open 48 hours a week less
• Southfields ticket office will be open nearly 51 hours a week less

The cuts will mean that no one using Putney Bridge or East Putney tube stations will be able to purchase a ticket from a ticket office before 7am; nor after 7pm. On Saturdays, the Southfields ticket office will shut up shop at 3.30pm (it is currently staffed until 9pm).

Ticket offices are about more than just having another option for buying a ticket or asking for travel advice. Stations that are staffed are safer stations. Like many of you, I'm a commuter myself: we know how foreboding largely deserted platform stations can feel - especially if you know there are no staff around.

In 2008 Tory Boris Johnson won the Mayoralty of London with a promise to set about "halting the proposed Tube ticket office closures and ensuring there is always a manned ticket office at every station." So there's no wriggle-room for the Conservatives here: this is a flat out breaking of their promise to London.

It comes on top of fare rises of up to a third since 2008 under the Tories; the threat of closure of popular bus routes like the 28 and shocking incompetence that has turned a trading surplus at Transport for London with Labour into a gaping £1.7 billion black hole.

I will be doing all I can to stop these reckless closures. I also want to work with anyone else who wants to do the same. I am sure that the Putney Society, Wandsworth Council, the local MP and others - including my opponents in other political parties, will want to do all we can to persuade the Mayor not to break his election promise and to protect Putney's tube stations from these cuts.

Celebrating Putney

As you'll know if you're a regular visitor to my blog, one of my main criticisms of the local Conservatives is that they take little pride in Putney: as the neglect of our town centre and Putney Bridge, the weak and damaging (lack of) planning policies, the never-ending service cuts and closures, the huge amount of fly-tipping and the woeful state of our roads and pavements exemplify.

It's time for local leadership that celebrates this wonderful area. That's why I've produced ten different sets of Oystercard wallets that exhibit the very best of Putney, Roehampton and Southfields. We have versions for Putney Bridge, St Mary's Church, the Alton Estate, Queen Mary's House, Dover House Road, Southfields tube, East Putney station, the Royal Hospital, Roehampton village and the London Mosque in Gressenhall Road.

If you'd like to show your pride in Putney by carrying one of these Oystercard wallets get in touch and I'll gladly send you one. For free. No catch. 10,000 to give away! Just tell me which version you'd like.

Bridge debacle

You have to admire Conservative chutzpah, if nothing else.

The Tory London Assembly member for our area has been sending out letters to the press complaining about the closure of so many of London's bridges at the same time: Albert Bridge and Hammersmith Bridge being two of the five in the capital that are closed currently.

That's of local concern to Putney because not only does it mean extra traffic through Putney's already congested main roads, but because it means that much-needed resurfacing work to Putney Bridge cannot begin - and a Conservative cabinet member here has admitted that much on the local community website. That, incidentally, might mean no work for another 18 months - the time Albert Bridge will be closed.

I'm delighted our London Assembly member's belief has been beggered, but he's curiously forgotten that the body in charge of deciding when roadworks to London's bridges takes place, Transport for London, is under the control of the (Conservative) Mayor of London and the London Assembly where we're represented by this same Conservative member who seems to be passing it off as "nothing to do with me guv".

Leadership's about taking responsibility. Show some.

My plan for Putney

Since December the Conservative-run council has been consulting on what is, effectively, a planning brief for key sites across the borough. Sites include those we've spent a lot of time on these past few years: Tileman House, Putney Place, the Riverside Quarter and Danebury Avenue, for example.

This the closest thing the Conservatives get to putting together a comprehensive plan for Putney - something I've been arguing for since 2003. But it is not a plan in itself. Here are the remaining steps needed to give us that plan.

1. A real plan

First, this document is informative but it is not genuine site-specific planning policy. That's because the planning policy governing these sites isn't new or site-specific: it's the same blanket planning policy that exists now. So pretty much every briefing on each specific site in Putney talks about exactly the same building heights being allowed. That's not site specific - it's general.

2. Cast-iron guarantees

Second, the plan constantly refers to buildings of more than twelve storeys only being given permission in "exceptional circumstances". But what is ?exceptional?? The Tileman House developers are appealing the refusal of their 16-storey block because they believe their building is exceptional. The design for Putney Place, rejected in 2008, could be regarded as exceptional by some. And just one exception could become the rule because of precedent: the planning rule that says that once one building of a particular type or scale has been approved that sets the benchmark for future development.

3. A comprehensive plan

Third, looking at specific sites in isolation isn't a comprehensive plan. Putney High Street, for example, is a poor quality environment that will only be radically improved if we have a planning framework that looks at it in its entirety - not just the three sites that have been identified (which are the Putney Cinema/Jubilee House block; the block on the corner of Putney Bridge Road where the Real Greek is; and the hideous block between Lacy and Felsham Roads where TK-Maxx now is, that I've already published an alternative plan for).

We need consistent design the length of the high street to improve the overall shopping environment; to tackle the pollution that makes Putney's high street the worst in London, to diversify the shops and make sure different use-types are better spread throughout the town centre and to give pedestrians more priority.

4. A clear vision of how Putney should evolve

And finally we need to have the political leadership to debate, not duck the controversial issue of capacity. One of the big problems with the Putney Place development was that East Putney station is already full to capacity. So is Putney Station. Our local schools are expanding because their capacity is being reached. Our major roads are often gridlocked because they are full beyond capacity. The only way Putney can handle an increased population of the scale the Conservatives seem to want will be for massive investment in improved infrastructure: and that's simply not on the cards.

We also cannot duck the fact that while it is Putney's character that makes developers want to build huge amounts of extra homes in the area, were we to succumb to their overdevelopment plans the very character that makes Putney a target for development would be changed significantly - perhaps beyond recognition.

Now that's not an argument for mothballing Putney; for never allowing any development here ever again; to try to freeze our area in time. But there are clearly two entirely incompatible agendas for Putney here: the Conservatives that believe skyscraper development in Putney is not only inevitable but desirable - and my Labour view that Putney's character is not high-rise but human scale and that this is the constraint any future development needs to operate within.

It's a straightforward difference of opinion between the Tory MP and her 18 Tory councillors in Putney, and me. You get to choose which side you stand on at the elections later this year. But be in no doubt: if the Conservatives win, their vision of Putney will be writ large - irreversably -by the time the next elections come around.

You can read my formal submission to the council here.

Pigeons

Don't these photos, sent in by a local resident sick of the state of Putney High Street, just epitomise what's wrong with it?

This is the healthy living shop on the corner of Disraeli Road: but there's nothing healthy about the state these pigeons are leaving the shopfront in.

I've asked the council to locate and contact the landlords of the site to get them to tackle the problem - and if they won't do anything for pest control to be carried out and recharged to them.

This is about taking pride in our town centre. How can we expect to tackle the big things wrong with the High Street when the Conservatives can't be bothered to even fix the little blights, like this?

My policing priorities for Putney

The Real Policing Pledge is a campaign by the Police Federation of England & Wales (the grassroots police officers' representative body) to ensure that our MPs after the next election are committed to strengthening the thin blue line.

As you can see above, I'm fully signed-up to the Real Policing Pledge. Putney's Conservative MP is not - odd given she talks up her concern about this critical local issue.

I've been deeply critical of the lies and scaremongering on crime the Conservatives have been guilty on with this issue. It isn't the sort of leadership I'll provide Putney with as your MP. So, as well as signing the Real Policing Pledge, I have five key priorities that I'll spend my first term of office on.

1. Cutting street crime in Putney town centre

Street crime like pickpocketing and shoplifting is the main reason why crime in Thamesfield ward is unacceptably high, and the Conservatives in Putney refuse to get to grips with the problem. I want town centre wardens introduced to Putney High Street - wardens who, when they were introduced in Clapham Junction and Tooting town centres cut street crime by a third. Town centre wardens will free up our Police Safer Neighbourhood team to tackle crime in the rest of Thamesfield ward.

2. Cutting violent crime in Roehampton

Violent crime is to Roehampton what town-centre crime is to Thamesfield, and even though the police have made huge strides to reduce crime in Roehampton, violent crime here remains at unacceptable levels. That means providing more facilities and opportunities for young people in Roehampton: youth clubs and activities that Regenerate do such excellent work on for example - and employment opportunities like the King's head Hotel plan the Conservatives want to prevent.

3. Far tougher action on criminal damage

That means Wandsworth opting in to Labour government schemes like community payback where offenders convicted of less serious offences are forced to give back to the community they've damaged. And far more high-profile use of Labour schemes like Roehampton Community Court. Criminal damage matters because the evidence from right across the developed world shows that vandalised, neglected areas are far more likely to attract other forms of crime and also engender greater fear of crime among residents. There's no excuse for this form of crime, and we can do so much more to tackle it locally.

4. Protecting our Safer Neighbourhood teams

The verdict from the community is in - and it is that our Labour-introduced Safer Neighbourhood police teams have been a big success: putting police back on the beat throughout the week, rebuilding the connection between people and their local bobby on the beat, helping cut crime by having the more visible deterrent presence in our communities, and making the police far more accountable to the public. The Conservatives have already started cutting police numbers in London and we simply cannot go back to the Tory days of more than 100 fewer officers in Wandsworth than we now have. Police are worth paying for. And I will always support the implementation in full of police pay settlements negotiated by the independent pay review body.

5. Honest crime figures you can have confidence in

I've been genuinely shocked at the way Putney's Conservative MP has consistently misreported what's really happening with crime in our area. Claiming police numbers are down when they were up; claiming crime is up when it's down and staying silent when the Mayor of London starts cutting police numbers just because he's a member of her party - all this shows a complete lack of integrity.

I've been reporting the real crime figures here on my website since the summer of 2007 - from figures figures provided by the Metropolitan Police. I will never misrepresent them. I will always source my claims. And you know you can rely on that promise because if I was solely about painting unrealistically optimistic pictures on crime I wouldn't have spent the first three of my pledges above discussing the three big crime problems we still have in Putney.

Here are the January crime stats for the six Putney wards: as usual figures in red show the crime rate has increased since the previous month; green figures show either a fall or no change from the previous figures.

Tories can't even keep their own streets pothole free

This is Weimar Street, just behind Putney High Street, and the road in which one of the area's Tory councillors - a cabinet member no less - lives.

It's not the most serious pothole I've come across (though it's getting bigger by the day) but it nonetheless needs fixing.

Surely the councillor's noticed it: it's right in front of the block of flats he lives in! So either he has reported it and the council's ignored him - in which case there's no point voting Conservative because they're ineffective; or he hasn't even bothered to report it - in which case there's no point voting Conservative because they're ineffective!

Conservatives now want to block King's Head plan

I get more and more depressed by the Conservatives' disastrous planning policies with every passing planning committee.

At their meeting next week, the Tories want to approve an increase on what is already a gross overdevelopment on the Riverside Quarter which I have written about already; and at the same time look set to reject one of the most impressive plans they're ever likely to see for the derelict King's Head pub in Roehampton village.

Just look at the two plans above. The one they like is the stack-em-up, pile-em-high towerblock plan for an area already creaking under the weight of development. The one they oppose is the modest, sensitive, in-keeping, high quality plan to regenerate a site derelict for getting on for a decade.

The King's Head plans are backed by the local residents association, the Putney Society, the Roehampton Partnership, Wandsworth NHS, Wandsworth Chamber of Commerce. Even the council's own economic development officer is for it.

But the Tories are overruling all of us on the basis that the plans take away too much of the pub garden. Open space is important. But is haggling over a few square metres, when Putney Heath is less than 50 metres away, really of greater importance than making Roehampton village look presentable again, or providing jobs and services for the most deprived part of our area?

It beggars belief that while the Conservatives were hell-bent on driving through damaging and unpopular plans to demolish Danebury Avenue a few months ago - and were only stopped because of the recession, not because they realised their mistake; they are now hell-bent on blocking a widely-supported effort to genuinely regenerate Roehampton.

My message to all the councillors on the planning committee is this: your term of office ends in twelve weeks. You have very few remaining chances to show some leadership. Please approve the King's Head redevelopment plan. Please reject the Riverside Quarter planning application.
Put Putney before party and do what's right for our area.

You can read the Tory Committee report on the King's Head pub here.

And their report approving the Riverside Quarter plan here.

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.

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.

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.