Danebury Barrier victory

In a spectacular U-turn, the Conservative council has abandoned its plans to remove the traffic barrier at the end of Danebury Avenue by the Alton School.

Last year I exposed secret plans pushed by Putney's Conservative MP and councillors to turn Danebury Avenue into a rat-run by removing the barrier. Perhaps they hoped that their unpopular and damaging redevelopment plans for the area around Roehampton Library might be more popular with developers if the road was opened up.

In November last year I sent to the council the results of a ballot I'd held of residents in the Danebury Avenue area asking what they thought. 77% wanted the barrier left alone; just 4% agreed with the Conservatives that it should be taken out.

For the past six months the Conservatives have dithered between respecting residents' wishes or railroading their plans through. Common sense has, eventually, prevailed because next week at a council committee they'll be agreeing with us that the barrier should be left where it is. I'm delighted - it shows that residents can make their voice heard when they work with those of us who actually care what they think.

You can read the Conservative climb-down report here.

What Roehampton wants on Danebury Avenue

A couple of days ago I broke the news of secret Conservative plans to remove the traffic barrier at the end of Danebury Avenue that would turn the road into a cut-through for all the traffic that wants to get to Richmond Park or Priory Lane.

As I showed from correspondence with Council Officers, they're planning on presenting a "report" on their plans in December. This followed pressure from senior Conservative Councillors to take the barrier out supposedly to make their plans for the redevelopment of the other end of Danebury Avenue more attractive to buyers.

They also implied that they'd asked residents for their views on their ideas already. They have not.

That's why, today I have sent out over 1,300 ballot papers to residents in and off Danebury Avenue to ask them what they want.

There are three clear options:

• Leaving the barrier in place - no change
• Allowing buses through but not other traffic
• Taking the barrier out entirely and letting all through-traffic use Danebury Avenue

This is one decision I'm not going to allow the Conservatives to make before residents have had their say. I also suspect the two schools in the area - Alton and Ibstock Place - might have something to say on the idea.

I'll report the results of the ballot after the closing date on 3o November.

Danebury Avenue free-for-all?

I've been trying to get to the bottom of secret Council plans to remove the road barrier at the end of Danebury Avenue by Alton School and Tunworth Crescent.

There are definite plans being considered to remove the barrier - which would turn Danebury Avenue into a through road for traffic wanting to access Richmond Park and Priory Lane. How do I know this?

Well, Putney's Conservative MP boasted about her involvement in this plan back in July in her report to the Putney SW15 website. She wrote: "A review of bus services overseen by the Council has come up with some options that would see a service feed ASDA on the A3, the Alton estate and Priory Lane, then going to Barnes Station."

Prompted by that, I've been pushing the council to tell us what exactly they have in mind. This is the reply I got from them back in Septermber:

"One of the options they [TFL] propose is the consideration of the removal of the road closure on Danebury Avenue for buses only. This would enable a bus service to penetrate through that part of Danebury Avenue and Priory Lane currently without a service, and provide an alternative direct route to Barnes Station.

"Separate to work being undertaken by the consultant the Council has investigated the feasibility of removing the traffic barrier in Danebury Avenue to permit use by vehicular traffic, following a request to do so. The investigation has been completed and the report detailing the outcome is being written."

So I asked who exactly made the request to open the road to all cars. The response:

"In response to the proposals associated with the Roehampton Regeneration scheme the Director of Technical Services was asked by Leading Members [ie Conservative Councillors] to consider the feasibility of removing the traffic barrier in Danebury Avenue to permit use by vehicular traffic."

In other words, the Conservatives are considering making Danebury Avenue a through-road but without explaining to anyone - yet - why.

These plans could help residents of the Alton enter and leave the estate more easily. But there are a lot of considerable drawbacks to the plans. For example:

• Thousands of non-residents will also use Danebury Avenue to reach Richmond Park or Priory Lane. At present they need to stay on Roehampton Lane until Clarence Lane.


• There are two schools at the end of Danebury Avenue: through-traffic will increase the risk of road traffic accidents here


• Traffic is likely to significantly increase into Richmond Park, not that long after it was reduced when Robin Hood Gate was closed by the Royal Parks Agency


• The quiet character of the western end of Danebury Avenue will change


• I've written before about how the redevelopment plans at the east end of Danebury Avenue will send hundreds of extra cars and lorries into the area when the road is already congested by the library. These plans could gridlock the Alton.

The Conservatives have a track record of consulting residents only after they've decided what to do - the Roehampton redevelopment plans are just the most recent example. This issue is way too important to let the Conservatives' plans go unscrutinised.

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.

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.

Shalden shame

Vandals have been smashing up Shalden House in Tunworth Crescent, on the Alton Estate. I never quite understand why a tiny minority enjoys kicking in windows, or urinating in lifts or stairwells - not least their own - but sadly Shalden is the latest victim and the peaceful, self-respecting majority now have to put up with this:



This was one of the problems raised last week at the Roehampton Safer Neighbourhoods Police meeting and I've already taken the issue up with the Council's Housing Director, because this temporary repair isn't good enough: it's dangerous, it's unsightly, it's making the communal areas incredibly dark and residents deserve better. Here are some more other examples of the criminal damage done to Shalden House - you can click to enlarge them:





I know Roehampton's local Police team are working at finding those responsible for this vandalism; and I'll keep pushing the council to make sure that the damage is repaired as soon as possible - because no-one should have to put up with this for any longer than necessary.