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.

28 Bus petition sent to Boris

In the picture above I'm handing in the 100 28 Bus petitions I've collected from the small corner of my constituency alone to the London Assembly. Labour London Assembly member Val Shawcross, who chairs the assembly's transport committee will submit the petition officially at the next assembly session so that Boris Johnson has to respond.

Given that only a tiny section of Putney would be directly affected by the loss of the 28, the response has been great. The thing that's become clear to me is just how important this bus is to the area: there are so many people, a lot of them elderly, who rely on this service to get them into Fulham, Notting Hill and Kensal Green.

I'll let you know what the Mayor of London, who according to today's Evening Standard thinks he has a "divine right" to be Prime Minister, says. With such lofty ambitions it must be tiresome for him to have to respond to ordinary people about bread-and-butter issues for them like their local bus service. But respond he'll now be obliged to.

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.

Wandsworth under siege

Only yesterday I wrote about the massive new application for the Riverside Quarter which seeks to cram an extra 109 homes into what was an already overdevelopment they have permission to build.

Well here's another one - not on that scale but still a dramatic increase in size and footprint compared to what's there now. What was a four storey building would become 8 storeys - twice as high. Zero homes there now, 24 under these plans. How many affordable? None. And yet another Putney site lost to office use.

This site is right on the edge of Wandsworth Park where Northfields becomes Point Pleasant. At the moment, there's an exceedingly bland, empty, grey concrete office block - and no one, certainly not me, is going to argue that this is the best use of this site.

What I am going to argue - strongly - is that whatever building replaces it, it should be of broadly the same scale and height as what's there now. Not exactly, just broadly. Here's roughly the same view as above, but as it is now. Look at the contrast in bulk and scale!

In no way can developers claim their sticklebrick construction meets that simple criterion. It's like a building trying to explode out of itself, over the park, over the car park that provides some light and space for residents of River House and Park House in Northfields; and over Prospect Quay directly opposite it. Laughably, the developers claim that this represents a "scaling back" of bulk and height from what was originally dreamt-up.

It's getting to the quite ridiculous stage where I could almost start a separate website solely devoted to the overdevelopment tidal wave the Conservatives have unleashed on our area. This isn't progressive, trendy and clever development: it's the character assassination of Putney and Wandsworth.

The contempt developers and local Conservatives so obviously have for long term Putney residents - as though you are an irrelevance to the whims of architects obsessed with winning design prizes and utterly disinterested in the rest of us who have to live with the results of their oh-so-clever, ugly creations for decades - is sickening. If you want to stand with me on these applications please object - the planning reference for this scheme is 2010/0271

Where is Putney's Conservative MP on this, the single biggest threat to Putney? Has anyone seen the invisible woman? Is that really what we need at a time like this? Of course it isn't.

View from Sudbury House

Here's a photo my campaign team took from about half way up Sudbury House, above the Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth at twilight today.

The orange building right in the centre caught our eye. That's the sun reflecting off Trellick Tower, a well-known London landmark right in the farthest northern corner of Kensington near Paddington Station - here it is enlarged somewhat:



That chunky building in front of it is Empress Place, right next door to the Earls Court 2 Exhibition Centre. As well as looking pretty amazing I'm always surprised quite how far across London you can see from parts of our area. This, incidentally, is a view that will be lost if the twice as high towers planned for the Ram Brewery site in the foreground get the go-ahead.

And this photo is of the new Hardwick's Square development just behind Wandsworth High Street, again taken at twilight this evening:



Just posted it because it's a nice photo!

My Riverside Quarter page

I've set up a page on my website for residents of the Riverside Quarter to let me know what they think about the Conservatives' Osier's Gate towerblock and other issues in the area.

It's at www.stuartking.net/riversidequarter

Does this reassure you on the flood threat?

At last month's council meeting a Conservative councillor asked about the risk of flooding to homes in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, principally from the Wandle and Beverley Brook (rather than the Thames).

I've reproduced the answer below and you can draw your own conclusions, but the thing that strikes me is the complacency of it. It's all about what the Conservative council might do after a flood rather than what can be done to prevent or mitigate flooding in the first place. Hundreds of homes in the constituency are at risk. If you live in one of them, this reply is likely to raise far more questions than it answers.

Here's the council's reply in full (and you can check about your property on the Environment Agency's flooding pages here):

"The principal cause for concern so far as major flooding in the Borough is concerned lies with the River Wandle. Here the risk of flooding is higher and in some areas is assessed by the Environment Agency as significant (more than 1:75 in any one year. There is also a risk of flooding in the Beverley Brook catchment area.

"The River Wandle is a fast flowing river which, when subjected to heavy rain, can rise very quickly. If it were to flood in a significant way a large number of properties both residential and commercial could potentially be affected. It would also have the effect of cutting the Borough in two.

"In terms of the Borough's readiness to deal with such a flood there is a specific section in the Council's Emergency Plan dealing with flooding. In a large scale flooding emergency the response would be co-ordinated within pan-London arrangements. The main role of the Council would initially be to provide shelter for any residents displaced from their homes. In this respect the emergency plan identified a number of buildings able to be used as rest centres - the plan also notes those rest centres located above the flood plain and therefore suitable for use during a flooding incident.

"As flood water recedes the Council would have a major role to play in the recovery phase of any incident. This would include leading on clearing debris, restoring any damaged infrastructure such as keeping thoroughfares open, etc.

"Flooding is one of the risks in the Community Risk Register for South West London and regularly discussed at the Wandsworth Emergency Planning Forum attended by the three blue light emergency services, the health sector and other key responders.

"In summary, the Council is well aware of the risks from flooding and has a well developed emergency plan which has been tested via various emergency planning exercises.?

Breaking news: Osiers Tower approved

Conservative councillors voted unanimously last night to approve the 21 storey tower on the Osiers Gate site in the Riverside Quarter.

The two Labour councillors on the committee both spoke out against the plans - which breach all sorts of planning rules and are a gross overdevelopment of the area - but also voted against, too. But the Tories have a big majority on the committee and couldn't even be bothered to respond seriously to the criticisms I, in my formal objection, and my Labour colleagues on the night (and even one of the Conservative ward councillors in a letter) expressed.

This isn't just bad planning and a terrible insight into what the Conservatives want for Putney - it's abject contempt of democracy. The councillor for the area who sits on the committee wasn't present (I'm not suggesting she was absent to avoid this issue, but her voice might have carried some weight). Nor was the Leader of the Council, who also represents this area. Imagine the impact he could have made had he shown up and said no to it.

This is the second controversial issue the Tories have bludgeoned through in the very first week of January when they hope no-one is looking (the other being the sell-off of Dover House playing fields for 57p). It's what happens when one party - any party - gets hold of every single seat in an area, as the Conservatives have in Putney.

And it only changes if you change it. Because let's be clear: if you vote Conservative again, in four years' time Putney will be overwhelmed by a tide of towers like these and there will be nothing I or any other opponent of this vision of our area's future can do about it.

Council wants to approve ANOTHER Putney tower

The Conservative council is recommending giving another green light for developers to build a 21-storey tower block - this time in the Riverside Quarter development.

Read the report recommending the plan here.

21 storeys is higher than Putney Wharf Tower by Putney Bridge and it's of comparable size to the Putney Place development that we saw off in 2008. It would, however, be dwarfed by the Ram Brewery towers at 42 storeys if the Conservatives get their way from the planning inspectors.

I wrote objecting to this latest tower - the summary of my concerns in the report is below; as did the Riverside Quarter Residents Association and there is not a single letter of support for the application on the council planning site (there is one comment recorded as in support, which is actually an objection as well!).



Even one of the Conservative councillors for the area has written in "with reservations" - he's been ignored, too! So much for electing councillors from the ruling party for their influence - but nonetheless I welcome his intervention because it is thoughtful, detailed and honest.

Remarkably, the report notes that this application is in breach of several of what exist of the Conservative council's weak, weak, weak development rules - but they still say it should go ahead because the regeneration opportunities outweigh the damage this will do.

I disagree. The Conservatives get it backwards. They think a plan - any plan - will supposedly be better than what's there now, and therefore that it deserves support. That's what's led them to support the 42 storey Ram Brewery towers It's why they've backed overdevelopment after overdevelopment. And it's an approach that is blighting our borough.

They've turned the Thames into a canyon with huge developments right along from Wandsworth to Vauxhall Cross. They've created massive problems for the residents of these developments: just look at the parking debacle they caused on Whitelands Park.

And spare a thought for the existing Riverside Quarter residents who bought their homes without realising the overdevelopment nightmare they were buying into. They've created substandard affordable homes, tacked onto the poorest quality parts of each sites; and still they're unaffordable to anyone on much less than twice the national average income.

I've pressed my Labour colleagues on the Planning Committee to argue for the defeat of this application on Thursday.

But come the elections later this year, you'll have to decide: do you choose overdevelopment by voting Conservative; or do you stop it in its tracks by voting for me and electing Labour councillors who'll introduce - as a priority - a proper Plan for Putney?

Save the 28 bus

I reported in November about the threat to the 28 bus route from London Tory Mayor Boris Johnson. Not content with increasing public transport fares by the largest ever amount, the Conservatives are also slashing investment in London Transport and one of the casualties looks like it could be the 28 bus.

Not if I've got anything to do with it.

The 28 serves central Wandsworth, including Mantle Court OAP sheltered housing, the huge Arndale estate above Southside shopping centre and the new Argento Tower and Palladio Court housing in Mapleton Road. It's crazy to cut this service, which runs from Wandsworth through Fulham and on to High Street Ken and Portobello Road.

That's why today I launched my campaign to save the 28 - and I'd really appreciate you signing up, which you can do below, or by visiting www.stuartking.net/savethe28

I support Labour?s Stuart King in opposing the plans by Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson to end the 28 bus service. The 28 connects a growing part of Wandsworth with central London and should be kept, not cut.

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At the last General Election in 2005, who did you vote for

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If you'd like to get involved with Stuart's election campaign tick this box

"The biggest fare increase in Transport for London history"

It's deja vu. A year ago almost to this day I flagged up the inflation-busting fare increases Conservative London Mayor Boris Johnson imposed on commuters.

Well, this year, the Tories are doing the same thing, except on an even bigger scale:

• A single bus journey by Oyster: 18 months ago 90p; now £1.20
• A weekly oyster bus pass UP 20% to £16.60
• Six-zone peak single Tube fare by Oyster UP 10.5% to £4.20
• A five-zone off-peak single Tube fare (outside zone 1) UP 18.2% to £1.30
• Most Oyster pay-as-you-go Tube fares UP by 20p per trip
• Overall tube fares will rise 3.9% and overall bus fares up by 12.7%

The Financial Times calls it "The biggest fare increase in Transport for London history". In just 18 months since they took over from Labour in City Hall the Conservatives have increased fares by one third. And they've done so by making sure those on the lowest incomes pay most.

Why is this happening? It's nothing to do with the recession: passenger numbers continue to rise. It's because the Tories have completely lost control of Transport for London budgets - which is why they're slashing services and massively increasing fares. Anyone want to claim the Tories are the party of good financial management?

And the difference with Labour is stark.

• With Labour, fares were frozen in real terms for four years.
• We simplified fares - introducing the 70p and £1 flat-rate fares.
• We reintroduced free bus journeys for children, and extended it to teenagers.
• We were able to scrap planned fare increases because revenue from the extra people using London Transport meant there was more in the budget than we anticipated.
• And whereas Labour increased fares only to invest in renewing transport infrastructure, the Tories have cut investment while raising fares.

We've got absolutely nothing from the Conservatives except a bigger hole in our wallets and worse services.

The Tories are also planning on ending the 28 bus service, serving the Southside shopping centre, Mantle Court OAP sheltered housing, the huge Arndale estate and the new housing at Argento Tower and Palladio Court. And we know London's Conservative councils want to wriggle free from their responsibility to fund the Freedom Pass that gives pensioners free London transport.

This is callamitous Conservative mismanagement of Transport for London, and it forewarns us what life will be like under a George Osborne-run Treasury if the Tories were to win this year's general election.

The Conservatives have - literally - shown they're unfit to run a bus service; they're certainly unfit for government.

Clamping down on Wandle pollution

The Environment Agency has kicked off a week-long campaign designed to help keep the local River Wandle pollution free and healthy.

Agency officers will visit sites near Mitcham including the Felnex Trading Estate, Willow Lane Industrial Estate, Weir Road Industrial Estate, Wimbledon Train Depot, and Lombard Industrial Estate.

Urban pollution is common within a river catchment like the Wandle, but as I've covered on this blog, the Wandle has suffered more than most recently from large scale spillages.

It can be caused by lots of small pollution sources, such as little drips from an oil tank that flow into drains, watercourses and the ground.

The river is currently failing to achieve Good Ecological Potential as defined by the European Union?s Water Framework Directive. Urban diffuse pollution pressures has given rise to poor water quality and habitat diversity in the area.

This is very welcome though it's ironic that the Agency is working with Thames Water, one of the worst polluters of the Wandle in recent months.

So when Howard Brett, Thames Water's Wastewater Policy and Strategy Manager, says: "Everyone benefits if we can increase general environmental awareness by giving practical advice on how companies' procedures and infrastructure can be improved" I do hope they take their own advice to heart.

Tower Blocks excite local Tories

This is the view from the top of Sudbury House - a view that will be obliterated by the twice-as-high towers planned for the Ram Brewery in the right foreground. All Saints Church in Wandsworth High Street is in the bottom left, and in the top left you can make out the terracotta of Putney Wharf Tower.


In the latest sign that Putney and Wandsworth Conservatives are hand-in-glove with developers, one of the Tory Councillors for the area that includes the Ram Brewery site, Stuart Thom, testified at the Public Inquiry into the 42-storey towers that they could be "the most exciting thing since the Surrey Iron Railway? came to the borough.

He just doesn't get it, does he?

The prospect of the tallest building in the Putney constituency - Sudbury House that towers above the Southside shopping centre - being dwarfed by two new towers almost twice as high is not "exciting".

The prospect of the most congested part of the borough attracting thousands more car journeys and thousands more people into the middle of choc-a-bloc Wandsworth is not "exciting".

The prospect of the precedent these towers - if approved - will set for the developers queueing up to submit their skyscraper plans right through Putney is not "exciting".

The prospect of not a single one of the new homes being proposed being affordable to ordinary Wandsworth people when homelessness and waiting lists are on the rise is not "exciting".

It's why Labour councillors and the Labour MP for the Ram Brewery site Martin Linton have joined the Battersea Society, the Putney Society and the Wandsworth Society, in testifying against this grotesque overdevelopment.



Every time a local Conservative opens their mouth about these nightmare skyscraper developments they emphasise the two big criticisms I have of Putney Conservatives: they lack judgement to make the right call on defending the character of our area; and they lack the leadership to stand up both to their own council bosses and the developers who are determined to transform our patch into a blighted, high-rise hell-hole.

We need to clean house in May and replace these Conservatives with Labour councillors who'll work with me to protect Putney. That's the only way to protect Putney from councillors who seem ignorant of what our area needs.

Revealed: the Tory answer to several buses arriving at once...

...Is just to cut bus services or even abolish the route altogether. The cuts, as the Evening Standard report below shows, include the 28 bus which terminates in our constituency - at Mapleton Road.

So we've had police numbers cut by London's Conservative Mayor. We've had vital station improvements, like lifts, abandoned by London's Conservative Mayor. We're now going to see London's bus services cut - or even axed entirely by London's Conservative Mayor. And if you're elderly, I'd seriously start worrying about your Freedom Pass: because London's Conservative Mayor is already telling government he isn't going to fund it.

My objection to Osiers Gate planning application

Osiers Gate is the third stage of the Riverside Quarter development, currently being considered by Wandsworth Council planners.

A few days ago I reluctantly submitted an objection to this application.

I say reluctantly because I recognise that the Enterprise Way part of the development on which Osiers Gate will be built needs to be regenerated and because several aspects of the plan are positive.

But there is one aspect that is completely unacceptable, and that is the 21-storey tower block the developers are proposing to the north of this small site. Leave aside for one minute the questionable design of this block and just consider that there is no building remotely comparable to a 21 storey high rise block within the Riverside Quarter. There is no high rise building of 21 storeys anywhere in Putney - the tallest, Putney Wharf Tower, is 18 storeys, and tiered to reduce its impact.

This 21-storey block will be visible from much of Putney and Wandsworth but at the same time it will offer its residents very little in panoramic views of our fantastic riverside; in part because two ranks of substantial buildings will stand between it and the Thames (the already-built Eastfields Avenue blocks, and another row yet to be built in the second stage), but also because the Waste Processing plant the other side of the Wandle obscures views as the Thames curves round into Battersea.

The developers in their supporting documentation, which you can view here, showed six plans they worked up before deciding which to support. Other models provide for lower density buildings by adding a new building next to the railway track. Although the developers are right to be sensitive about the quality of life afforded those who might live alongside the railway, this is what architects exist for: to design buildings that shield residents from such challenges - there are plenty of examples of their success, including the SW15H site alongside East Putney's district line railway. By adding a building here, the developers can lower the height of what is currently their 21 storey tower, and add more innovative, sensitive and in-keeping design.

Also in my submission to the planners I raise concerns about the traffic impact of the Riverside Quarter on the Wandsworth road network and question whether a case does not now exist for a new station here given the site's equidistance between Putney and Wandsworth Town.

And while welcoming the provision of affordable housing to rent in these plans we need even more to start addressing Putney's housing crisis. It's also really important that affordable housing is integrated with shared ownership and full-market cost housing; and that parking is available to all, not just those who can pay £10,000 a year for a space.

You can read my submission here.

Wandsworth Museum Tory fiasco continues

According to the latest edition of the Friends of Wandsworth Museum newsletter there has been another twist in the debacle that has been the Conservative council's abject management of this issue.

To recap, the Conservatives decided over two years ago to close Wandsworth Museum, along with Alvering Library by Wandsworth Common and West Hill Library in Putney. They planned to sell off the West Hill Library site, convert the Wandsworth Museum site at the top of Garratt Lane into a town centre library and build a new museum on the Ram Brewery site, beneath the 42-storey towerblocks they have been supporting.

In unprecedented numbers borough residents gave this Tory plan a big thumbs down: a petition of over 13,000 names was submitted, with many of the signatories from Putney. The Conservatives however decided they knew best and pressed ahead with their plans - which, for the record, were supposed to save council taxpayers money.

Today, the situation is somewhat different. With a lengthy planning inquiry into the Ram Brewery overdevelopment looming, the Conservatives have now decided to house the museum at West Hill Library, and open a library in the Wandsworth Museum site.

In other words, after three years and at great expense to the taxpayer, the Conservative Council has managed to move a library to where a museum was, and a museum to where a library was.

Utterly pointless and utterly wasteful. Who says the Conservatives spend money wisely?

Building standards for new private blocks

For a while now there have been minimum standards when it comes to the size of public sector homes. But none exist for new private developments.

The Commission for Architecture in the Built Environment (CABE) has just published a report on the far lower standards too many private developers are now building to.

And of course, in boroughs like Wandsworth where the only so-called "affordable" housing now being built is tacked on to what is usually the fag-end of private developments, this is beginning to have an impact on public housing too.

Although the CABE report deals principally with the size of private housing being built, other corners seem to be being cut. Take the brand new Argento Tower beside King George's Park.

I wrote here about the anti-social behaviour that has been affecting residents here. One of the reasons this is having such an impact is because Argento Tower is so hot that residents are having to leave balcony doors open at night, so the noise disturbance is much worse. And the reason, I am led to believe, that the place is so hot is because under-floor hot-water pipes haven't been properly lagged.

In the age of climate change, energy efficiency should be near the top of developers' priorities.

I've also had a chance to see the refuse storage area for Argento Tower. As you can imagine with a block of over 100 apartments, a large amount of Euro bins are needed to contain the refuse created. These are stored in an enclosed corridor, with no ventilation, about three metres wide and maybe 20 metres long. You can, perhaps also imagine what that smells like; and while the corridor is lined by about 20 euro bins for rubbish, there are just three or four for recycling - again inadequate, but there's no space for more.

Don't get me wrong: I've been inside Argento Tower. It's lovely. It offers residents spectacular views. All I'm saying is that problems like the two I've highlighted would be less likely to have been missed if design standards had been similar to those for public housing.

Until 1980 we had rules called Parker Morris standards that regulated public sector housing and which the private sector generally followed. But in 1980 they were scrapped. For the public sector they were replaced and updated. But not for the private sector.

We need to close that loophole so that in one further way the gap between public and private sector housing is closed.

You can read the CABE summary report here.

Out and about in Southfields

There are plenty of opportunities to gain spectacular views of Putney, Wandsworth and much of the rest of London from around the consituency, but among the best are those the residents of the Wimbledon Park estate off Albert Drive enjoy. Here's an example of what I mean: it covers pretty much all of Southfields council ward - which runs from the edge of Wimbledon Park right the way up to the Arndale estate in central Wandsworth. You can click on it for a larger version.

The three Arndale estate tower blocks in Neville Gill Close - and to their right the new Argento Tower - are in the far left of the picture. The red block in the foreground of the picture is Wimbledon Park Court - behind it is Wimbledon Park Road and just to its left, though not visible, is Southfields tube.

Immediately behind Wimbledon Park Court is the Southfields "grid" the streets in between Replingham Road in the north and Revelstoke Road in the south. You may be able to see St Barnabas's Church on the corner of Lavenham Road and Merton Road with it's short green spire in the middle and about two thirds of the way to the right.

King George's Park anti-social behaviour and July crime stats

Earlier this month I was contacted by residents of Argento Tower, the new high-rise block on Mapleton Road in Wandsworth which overlooks King George's Park (and most of south London).

They've experienced problems with groups of youths hanging around outside the block by the entrance to the park and in the children's play area, generally being rowdy but also intimidating residents and causing vandalism.

This case has exposed a flaw with current Safer Neighbourhood Policing policy in Wandsworth, because the disruption typically occurs in the early hours: 3-5am when the SNT teams don't work except in exceptional one-offs. Similarly, the council's Parks Constabulary don't patrol that late into the night.

So without SNTs and Parks Police patrolling the area, who is there to keep residents safe? Of course, the answer to an extent is that non-SNT police will be on duty and have been asked to keep an eye on this part of the constituency, but police numbers at night are always, rightly, much lower and so tackling a long-standing problem is not so easy.

I'll keep working with the residents of Argento Tower, the Parks Constabulary and the Southfields Safer Neighbourhood team until this problem is sorted out.

July's crime stats are above: there was a very small uptick in crime in these figures, mainly due to a spike in drugs offences following a police crackdown, and in theft and handling offences in the three big problem wards for these sorts of crimes: Roehampton, Southfields and Thamesfield.

But no sign of the "big increase" in burglaries Putney's Conservative MP complained about last month. Good news.

Tory neglect of Woodhams House

Woodhams House is part of the Longstaff Estate, which is on West Hill right opposite where it meets Upper Richmond Road.

Three months ago on 9th April, I wrote to the Conservative Council on behalf of a tenant of theirs in Woodhams House; at which time I asked them to:

"Finally, please could you do something about the stairwells and communal areas of this block; aside from being dark and painted - for some reason - orange - they are filthy; something both xxxx has complained to me about, and which I have observed at every one of my frequent visits to this block in the past two years."

I received this reply from the Conservative Council on 22nd April:

"With regard to the cleaning of the communal areas, a deep clean is scheduled for this week. In addition, as evidence of youths gathering in the stairwells and possibly causing a mess and/or damage was noted, the estate services team will carry out a random observation for the next two weeks."

Well, judge for yourself whether a deep clean took place or not from the photos below which were taken there yesterday (Wednesday). The question I pose is: could these areas have got this disgusting only eight weeks after the Conservative Council promised a deep clean - or is it more likely they simply couldn't be bothered to clean the block properly in the first place?

You'll see from the last of the photos below that the residents' lives are currently being made even more pleasant by a massive flytip that's piled up opposite their block. This on top of standard repairs not being carried out, damp problems, problems with infestations and flats not being restored to a habitable condition before being re-let to new tenants.

One of the Conservative councillors for this estate even had the front to brag about how wonderful a job he and Putney's Conservative MP were doing looking after it a while back on the PutneySW15 website. If so, we can only imagine what an estate the Conservatives neglect looks like.

Wandsworth Heritage Festival

Throughout June the Council is running a programme of events celebrating the borough's diverse and rich heritage. Here are some of the remaining events focussing on Putney, Roehampton and Southfields:

Archaeology of early Wandsworth
Wednesday 17 June, 7-8.30pm
Putney Library
A talk by local archaeologist Pamela Greenwood going back as far as the Ice Age
Admission: free, but please book in advance - 8871 7090

The making of modern Southfields - from George Eliot to Queen Mary
Sunday 21 June, meet at 2pm
Andrews Estate Agents, directly opposite Southfields tube station
A 2-hour walk around Southfields with author Neil Robson
Admission: £5 to be booked in advance - 8871 6388

Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium
Tuesday 23 June, 7pm
Meet at the manin cemetery entrance off Stag Lane, behind ASDA
A walk through this 47-acre site with Wandsworth Parks Officer Clive Andrews
Admission free, but please book in advance - 8788 2113

Development of the Alton Estate exhibition
throughout June
Roehampton Library, Danebury Avenue
An exhibition celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Alton Estate

You can download the full brochure of events right across the borough.

These events are all part of a programme celebrating The Story of London, about which you can find more information here. Or you can download a pdf guide about the month of events here.

Window dressing?

Yesterday I reported on how the Conservatives were commissioning a year long study into whether there's pollution in Putney High Street (somewhat akin to a study into whether there's water in the Thames, if you ask me) with the stated purpose of funding some "environmental theatre".

Today, they've unveiled their long awaited local economic stimulus. It is - wait for it - to pay landlords of empty shop units to display pretty pictures of the borough! I kid you not - in a news release boldly headlined "Council tackling vacant shops" they say:

"In Wandsworth Town Centre the council will offer grants of up to £1000 for vacant shops to install window dressings displaying attractive images of the local environment."

They go onto highlight another radical, decisive plan:

"The council is also investigating a pilot project in Tooting where a community mural could be painted on a bricked-up shopping parade."

Note: not to get the bricked-up shopping parade unbricked and back into use growing our local economy, but to make it look a little less bricked-up. This isn't action - it's (literally) window dressing.

The third and final intervention the Conservatives are pondering is to use shop front windows as "art exhibition spaces".

At least they'll have somewhere to perform their environmental theatre.

King George's Park: close but no cigar

King George's Park has failed to win one of the Mayor for London's parks improvements grants, but came fourthd in the public vote, which I reported here.

The two parks in south west London that won are Wandle Park in Croydon - which is near the source of the Wandle and will involve unearthing the river here, which currently runs through a concrete pipe - and Crane Valley Park that borders Richmond and Hounslow.



You can read more about the winning parks - and the candidates - on the Help a London Park website.

Ram Brewery towers "called in"

Following the news earlier this week that Labour Communities Secretary Hazel Blears had "called in" - the technical term for reviewing the decision on the Ealing Broadway tower plan; she has done the same for the Ram Brewery towers.

You can read more here.

In another sign of how way out of step with Putney the Conservatives have got on this, Tory Council Leader Edward Lister is quoted as attacking the Government's decision saying: "It?s unbelievable that in the depths of a recession we have a minister that would put at risk £1bn of investment in the town centre."

Well, actually Councillor, it's unbelievable that you have railroaded this absurd overdevelopment plan that will clog the remainder of road capacity in central Wandsworth. It's unbelievable that you have forced through plans that will overwhelm local services and transport provision. And it's unbelievable that you think it's a good idea to blight our borough with skyscrapers that will make the Arndale estate towers look miniscule and be visible for miles and miles around.

It's important not to get too carried away here: the independent Government inspector could rule after his review that the plans should proceed. But it is clearly significant that Labour Ministers have stepped in where Tory Mayor Boris Johnson has failed to and looks to be of the view that "out of town" skyscrapers are inappropriate.

I'm delighted at Hazel Blears' decision. It shows beyond doubt that the choice at the next election will be between Tory towers and Labour defending our area from overdevelopment.

White elephants

Hardwick's Square was among the first of the recent massive housing developments the Conservatives approved for our area - it's the site just behind Wandsworth High Street, and it's far from complete.

Today the Wandsworth Guardian is reporting the folly of the Conservatives' housing strategy: the stack-em-up, pile-em-high mentality that is not only blighting our area with high rise blocks but is creating hundreds of empty private homes when the area is in desperate need of affordable housing to rent.

And it's not just the Guardian realising this problem. Some of the most senior council officers are admitting how wrong the Conservatives have got it. In an email to my campaign on Monday, one of them - who to spare embarrassment I won't name - wrote:

"Because of the housing/mortgage situation and recession, these are not filling as rapidly as predicted...I suspect this will now plateau out somewhat."

That being the case, why on earth are the Conservatives ramming through hundreds and hundreds more homes: 500 on the brewery in Wandsworth town; 150 in the new "Argento Tower" block beside the Arndale shopping centre; another 500 in Clapham Junction; 100+ at Tileman House and goodness knows how many more they want to cram into the remainder of the Riverside Quarter site behind Wandsworth Park.

The Conservatives are completely out of control. I can only stop them with your votes.

The planning threats just keep on coming

The Wandsworth Borough News is reporting on a reception held by the council last night to unveil yet more overdevelopment they're championing - almost all in the Putney constituency.

The schemes unveiled included:

• The next phase of the Riverside Quarter development between Wandsworth Park and the River Wandle
• South Thames College on Putney Hill
• Hardwick's Quarter, which is presumably their fancy name for the Cockpen House development
• Southside shopping centre
• The nearly finished Parkside tower block beside King George's Park, which they are misleadingly calling affordable housing

The thing I find most disturbing is the relish with which the Conservatives keep rolling out these plans (just before Christmas, when they think we'll have our minds on other things, note) as if the views of local residents are irrelevent, the character of our area immaterial and the strain these developments will place on local infrastructure inconsequential.

Bizarrely, at the very reception the Conservatives were announcing their plans alongside their developer chums, they also announced a redesign of the Wandsworth one-way system to show off the "elegant Georgian terraces, churches and pubs that characterise the area": as if all this new development won't more than offset any small improvements to traffic flow a redesign may provide.

It's bad enough that they keep giving the green light to all this overdevelopment - but now they're actually wining and dining the developers in lavish receptions funded by local taxpayers: and putting out press releases to make sure we all know it.

Tories push another Putney tower

Last week councillors met to decide the Ram Brewery planning application in central Wandsworth.
Alongside the main application (which to recap is for twin towers of 32 and 42 storeys among other buildings on the brewery and adjoining sites) was an additional application to redevelop a site opposite King George's Park known as Cockpen House.

This plan (which unlike the brewery itself is in Putney constituency) would have built a 16-storey building above the park.

The real significance here is that, at present, there are high buildings - the three Arndale estate blocks in Neville Gill Close plus the new "Parkside" block - along just one side of King George's Park. This application would have opened up a new "front" for developers along another side, enclosing the park beneath these blocks as well as adding 200 new flats - 300-odd residents - plus all the associated traffic piled into Wandsworth's already gridlocked road network.

Most attention on this massive application, understandably, has focussed on the landmark skyscrapers on the Brewery itself, leaving the Cockpen House application almost unremarked on. And just look what the Council tries to do when no one is waging a campaign against over-development: the Tories recommend approving their tower blocks.



Labour councillors have "called in" all four planning applications to be debated by all sixty councillors at the full council meeting tonight which, given the importance of this application is only right. But there are 51 Conservatives and just 9 Labour councillors in Wandsworth, so don't expect much to change after tonight's important council meeting - except that if it doesn't, they'll have established a precedent that could make tower block-style overdevelopment elsewhere in Putney that much easier.

Wentworth Court arson attack

Twelve flats in Wentworth Court on Garratt Lane, part of the Arndale estate in Wandsworth town, were badly damaged by fire in the early hours of Saturday.

Fortunately, no one was killed in the attack, which fire investigators have now said was deliberate.

Anyone with information should call Wandsworth CID in confidence on 020 8247 8734.

I will be writing to the Council Housing Department for information about the state of the twelve flats that have been affected and to make sure that there was no structural damage done to the block - one of the largest in the constituency - by the fire.

Wentworth Court is the nearer half of the long, lower-rise yellow and grey blocks in the picture above.

Vote for King George's Park

The Mayor for London is running a competition for awarding grants of up to £400,000 to improve parks throughout the capital.

King George's Park, where I won my first football medal when I was a pupil at Allfarthing School, is one of the parks in the running. As the blurb on the competition website says:

"King George's Park is a long, thin open space, but most of its facilities are at the northern end. A grant would support work with the local community to develop a masterplan for the park, a new playground at southern end, improved wildlife habitat by the river Wandle, a riverside footpath; a new community café and an all-weather games pitch."

Anyone can vote for King George's Park - it's really straightforward.

Incidentally the photo shown here is of my 6-aside football team (I'm the the one on the bottom right if it isn't obvious! My team mates are [clockwise] Ansell, Zubair, Richard, Richard & Matthew).

Don't forget about 16-storey Cockpen House!

I've written a lot about the hugely significant and damaging plans for Putney Place and Carlton Tower recently - and rightly so. But the biggest over-development plan, and the furthest advanced, is that for the Ram Brewery site in central Wandsworth.

Although I oppose this plan as wholeheartedly as I do the Putney Place and Carlton Tower tower blocks, because the Ram Brewery is not within our constituency I have left it to the local Labour MP: Battersea's Martin Linton, to make the running on this application.

That said, the plans for the brewery site will have a massive impact on Putney. Standing on Putney Bridge the four Arndale towers (plus the latest tower block imposed upon us by the Tory council - Parkside, currently under construction) are clearly visible, despite being almost two miles away. The two Ram Brewery towers will dwarf Sudbury, Albon, Edwyn and Knowles Houses - the Arndale towers.

But aside from the fact that we neighbour this site and it will have a huge impact on our local infrastructure and quality of environment there is, in fact, a legitimate constituency concern for us. Part of the Brewery site does fall within the constituency boundaries: the Cockpen House site at 20-30 Buckhold Road, right next to the Royal Military Police Building.

This specific part of Wandsworth town has already been subject to huge construction in recent years - I've already mentioned the Parkside block at the end of Neville Gill Close, but just behind Buckhold Road is Hardwick's Way which has become a huge housing development with another block on the edge of Buckhold Road nearing completion.

To add to the gross over-development of this area, the Council is currently considering plans for a 16-storey tower, a 10-storey block on Buckhold Road (where currently the buildings are no more than two storeys and are mainly small inter-war cottages) and what they call a five storey "element" to the rear.

To put a 16 storey block in context, the tallest block on Roehampton's Alton estate is eleven storeys high. And worryingly, even the artists' impressions of the buildings - pictures that are supposed to make us look more favourably on these plans - make me cringe in horror at the ugliness of the architecture.

The Council has produced a handy guide to the plans for both the Ram Brewery and the Cockpen House site which you can download here. Although the deadline for submissions in respect of these plans closed last month, it's still worthwhile to see just how seriously our community is under threat from these carbuncles.

Just the ticket? Not if SWT have their way!

South West Trains (SWT) are set to announce reduced ticket office opening times later this month. Although the plans won't affect Putney Station, they are going to hit Barnes Station and Wandsworth Town, which many constituents around the edges of our area use.

Under the SWT proposals, Barnes Station will have its ticket office closed for six and-a-half hours more on Saturdays, closed entirely on Sundays, and during the week cut back by half an hour.

Wandsworth Town is even harder hit: during the week the ticket office here will be open three and-a-half hours less and will be closed entirely on both Saturday and Sunday.

These plans are bad news. Unstaffed stations increase the potential for vandalism, graffiti and other crime making them unwelcoming for the public. That's especially true for Barnes Station which is very isolated, set in the midst of Barnes Common.

Wandsworth Town is already an unpleasant and virtually unstaffed station, with its dingy, foreboding subway - and given the huge riverside developments either side of Wandsworth Bridge, the new housing at the top of East Hill and the plans for the Ram Brewery site we should be talking about expanding capacity here, not cutting it back.

If you'd like to protest these closure plans, you can sign my online petition here. Every response I get strengthens the case against closure, so please sign up.

Transport Police now patrolling Putney

The British Transport Police have just set up a new team specialising in patrolling stations in South West London, including Putney.

The team of nine officers, based at station 9 in Clapham Junction will be focussed particularly on cutting down assaults, but will be taking on any policing concerns on the rail network in south west London, including drug dealing and knife crime.

The team was only launched this week, and they've already arrested what appears to be a gang member carrying a six-inch long kitchen knife who assaulted a police officer.

The stations covered by the team include Clapham Junction, Wimbledon, Richmond, Staines, Twickenham, Earlsfield, Mortlake, Norbiton, Putney, Strawberry Hill, Wandsworth Town, Kingston, Feltham, Hampton Wick, Raynes Park, New Malden, Teddington, St Margarets, North Sheen, Barnes, Whitton and Ashford.

PJ front page in Guardian

Further to my report yesterday on backing British Serviceman and Wandsworth resident PJ Williams get action from the Home Office so that he continue serving our country in the army, the Wandsworth Guardian have made this story their front page this week.

I'm delighted that this story - little short of a scandal, in fact - is getting the attention it deserves. If we continue the pressure on the Home Office, I'm confident that we'll get the breakthrough needed, and PJ will get the resolution to his two year nationality dispute he deserves.

Click here to read a full-size version of the front page.

How not to treat our servicemen

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my campaign session in the Arndale.

Following our work there a resident od Sudbury House, Mr Williams, got in touch to seek help with a problem he's having with the Border & Immigration Agency (BIA).

MrWilliams is a Jamaican national who serves in the British Army. He married an EU citizen and has a teenage daughter who was born in this country. He has always worked and saw active duty in Kosovo. He is entitled to permanent leave to remain in our country, which he has made his home.

Yet the BIA has so far failed to deal with his application ? despite having over two years to do so. On its own, this is a shoddy state of affairs and one wonders why exactly such a relatively straight forward matter should take so long.

However, it is compounded by the fact that in making his application Mr Williams was required to surrender his passport to the BIA. Consequently, he has been unable to travel abroad for either personal reasons or professional business. That means that he has been unable to join his unit in either Afghanisatan or Iraq, where his services as a mechanic would be of obvious use and benefit to service personnel serving in those theatres of war. Imagine for one minute how you would feel if your passport had been confiscated by the government for two years - unable to travel abroad on work or holiday.

I have written to both the Border & Immigration Agency and Liam Byrne MP, the Immigration Minister, to argue Mr Williams? case. I want his application determined as a matter of priority.

Mr Williams has served this country in Kosovo and is willing to serve it again in Afghanistan, Iraq and wherever else he may be needed. He has shown a degree of commitment to our country that deserves our gratitude, an entitlement to stay as long as he chooses, and his passport back.

The Wandsworth Guardian has now taken up this story after I got in touch with them.

Redevelopment in Putney

We're facing an increasing wave of plans to build huge tower blocks in our patch. Rising land prices and the general lack of space in London is prompting developers to build up rather than out.

A couple of years ago, the first of these applications, for the site at the top of East Hill above the Wandsworth Bridge roundabout, was rightly rejected by the Council; a slightly less tall block is now almost complete.

Today we have three "landmark" buildings proposed for the area:

• Putney Place, opposite East Putney tube in the triangle between the two railway viaducts plans for two tower blocks: one of 25 storeys and one of 19.
• On the corner of Carlton Drive and Upper Richmond Road a 20-storey building is being proposed to replace the Capsticks building - I wrote last year about loopholes in the council's planning rules that enable developers to leave office buildings derelict and then convert them into windfall residential blocks
• And in Wandsworth town on the Ram brewery site, another set of twin towers are being planned that, hard to believe, will actually dwarf the blocks on the Arndale Estate, which currently hold the record for the highest towers in the constituency

My views on these so-called "landmark" building are the subject of my latest Putney SW15 parliamentary report, which you can read here.

More from the Arndale

This is the Arndale estate - or at least most of it: the photo was taken from Sudbury House, the big block right on Wandsworth High Street. The three tower blocks are Knowles House, Edwyn House and Albon House on Neville Gill Close, and below them the long block that comprises Eliot and Wentworth Courts.

And here are some more photos we took on Saturday of the neglect of the estate by the Council. One of the things people kept mentioning was that they never get the chance to raise these problems with their councillors (all Conservative), or MP (also Conservative). The Arndale estate lies in Southfields ward, but evidently for their elected representatives, Southfields comprises just the leafy streets around the station - they don't appear to venture north of Granville Road.



When Putney had a Labour MP, Tony Colman, residents of the Arndale and the other northern parts of Southfields could pop in and see him regularly because he held an advice surgery at the Penfold Centre, right at the foot of Albon House. When I'm MP for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, I'll hold advice sessions in this area too so that local residents are properly represented.