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.

Patching rather than fixing: typical Tories

I've long since given up highlighting the disgusting state of Putney's potholed roads - made that way not because of the winter weather but simply through years of the Tories starving the highways budget of cash.

Their policy is simple: never resurface a road if they think they can get away with patching it - and never patch a road they think they can get away with neglecting entirely.

Well, this is Tildesley Road, which runs from Putney Heath through the Ashburton Estate. It exemplifies the absurdity of the Tory patching policy: just count the patches they've put down here - all to no avail.

Patching, as I've written before, is a false economy - one instance of patching will obviously not cost as much as properly, professionally resurfacing a road; but the problem with patching is that - outside Wandsworth - it's never intended as a permanent fix: it's just a stop-gap before more serious attention can be given to the road.

The consequence is that patches are shortlived - as you can see with Tildesley Road. They rapidly erode, and they erode quickly the more intensively the road is used. So the council has to return again, and again, and again to make right the erosion as well as fill in new potholes that emerge in the same areas. And that costs you - it doesn't cost the council: you're paying through it via your council tax - far more in the long run than the Tories properly funding and managing their road maintenance programme.

This isn't rocket science - it's basic housekeeping. The Conservatives, for all their talk of being value for money, show with their dereliction of duty to the basic services we should all be able to expect from our council, that they simply have no idea how to manage a budget.

Reward this Tory incompetence at the council elections in May. A vote for any party other than Labour helps the Tories win again. And you'll get more of the same if they win again.

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.

More action: Durford Crescent

There are hundreds of potholes still unattended in Roehampton: my team counted almost 50 in Holybourne Avenue alone yesterday, but one of the most neglected roads in the area was Durford Crescent, which runs between Bessborough Road and Wanborough Drive.

I asked for this area to be given top priority and it has been. And we were there on Sunday to check that the holes had all been filled-in.

--------------------------
From: Jolley, Steve
Sent: 25 February 2010 10:30
Cc: Bhatia, Mena
Subject: DTS559344 - State of Durford Crescent
?
I refer to your e-mail dated 11th of February concerning the above, which has been passed to me for reply.

The reported areas were subsequently inspected, and all of the potholes that met the criteria for urgent repair were programmed accordingly.

Orders were then raised for the potholes to be repaired, and I am advised that the repairs have now been completed.

Yours sincerely

Steve Jolley
Assistant On Street Services Manager
London Borough of Wandsworth

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.

Tories' final blow to Whitelands parking need

The Conservative council is to press ahead with plans to deny any parking to residents of the Whitelands Park estate off Sutherland Grove, disregarding the views of hundreds of local people who asked them for help.

Imagine if you were told you weren't allowed to park on the public highway anywhere near your home. Imagine you had no off-street parking space. Imagine living about a mile from your nearest tube station. Imagine - you may not need to - that your car isn't just a luxury but a necessity because you work shifts that mean leaving for or returning from work when public transport isn't running. You'd justifiably feel betrayed and angry about a Conservative council that has done just that:

• It was the Conservatives that allowed over 100 apartments on Whitelands Park to be built without any parking, despite not being in an area of high public transport accessibility
• It was the Conservatives that failed to impose a condition on the developer of Whitelands Park to allow these residents to park on the private road (Scott Avenue) through the estate
• It was the Conservatives that then tried to sneak in a parking zone without even consulting the residents
• It was the Conservatives who have been going round blaming everyone else for their mistakes, trying to play an unseemly divide-and-rule, turf war politics that cause anger and bitterness that won't easily be resolved
• And it's now the Conservatives banning them from parking anywhere near their homes on the public highway.

Incompetence and vindictiveness rarely deliver good public policy-making, and while I support the introduction of the Sutherland Grove area controlled parking zone, there is so much more the council could have done to help residents of Whitelands without harming the CPZ.

One of the simplest was the idea to exclude the stretch of Sutherland Grove immediately opposite Whitelands Park, where there are no other homes, from the parking zone so that at least there would be 20 or so unrestricted parking bays for anyone - including Whitelands residents - to use.

That would give the residents of Sutherland Grove the controlled parking zone they want and deserve; it would not mean Whitelands residents getting parking permits within the zone itself (something the Sutherland Grove residents strongly oppose); and it would at least give Whitelands residents some chance of parking somewhere close to their homes in a stretch of road with no other residents around it.

This isn't a perfect solution: Conservative mistake after mistake has made sure we'll never get that now, but it is the fairest and most just outcome for both Sutherland Grove and Whitelands Park. The essence of public service is reaching such compromises and getting the best deal for all our constituents. The Conservatives have shown they're simply not up to it with this litany of wrong decisions and divide-and-rule politics that has - entirely unnecessarily - set residents against residents.

What a pathetic lack of leadership.

The potholes of Westleigh Avenue

Westleigh Avenue has featured in my "pothole of the week" competition before and look: it's back again!

This is the junction with Carslake Road, near Elliott School:



A close-up of the state of the Carslake Road junction:



In front of Haverstock House on the corner of Carslake Road:



And now on the steep slope from Carslake Road down to Solna Avenue:



Another:



And a third:



At the junction of Solna Avenue:



And another - this one's about 7 inches deep and will do serious damage to car suspensions, not to mention seriously injure any cyclist thrown off their bike because of it:



I find it absolutely astonishing that the Conservatives can find the money to resurface from end to end Hazlewell Road...



...but allow Westleigh Avenue - about 30 metres away from it - to deteriorate to the shocking and dangerous extent that it is in now. Bad judgement, wrong priorities, no leadership. As usual.

I've just reported dozens of potholes throughout the Alton etstate to the council for urgent repair - the worst being Durford Crescent - which runs between Bessborough Road and Wanborough Drive; Swanwick Close, Ibsley Gardens and Danebury Avenue, which can be added to the Harbridge Avenue potholes I reported a few days ago.

The Conservatives are in meltdown over their neglect of Putney's streets. They simply cannot cope with this most basic of competences that I'd expect any council asking to be re-elected in elections in twelve weeks' time to be able to manage.

But remember, the only way to punish the Tories in Putney is to vote Labour: only the Conservatives and Labour have any councillors in Wandsworth and we're the only ones that can beat them in any of the council races in our area.

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

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

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

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

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

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

That's a 40% cut in the budget.

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

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

The Tories and Business Rates

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

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

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

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

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

Dover House survey results

In the Autumn I spent a week talking to residents of the Dover House estate in West Putney about their issues and concerns.

As part of that week I sent a survey round - the results of which I've now published, here.

The big concerns, as I've written about before, were the lack of children's play facilities for such a large area with so many families. A thumping 84% of respondents support my campaign to get the council to provide a toddlers play area on Roehampton Fields at the top of Dover House Road.

Even more people - 90% didn't think there were enough activities on the Dover House to occupy teenagers, which isn't really surprising given that there are none at the moment.

A majority of residents - 53% rated traffic problems on the estate in the top two quintiles - that figure becomes 88% if you include the third quintile too. While this is a really difficult issue to tackle, it deserves being taken seriously. I feel that the Conservative council hasn't done that: instead fobbing off the estate with crazy and doomed-to-fail ideas like the unpopular ban on right-turns from Roehampton Lane that a huge majority rejected.

A separate majority share my cocnern about the overdevelopment threat to Putney which the Conservatives are responsible for encouraging. 64% said they were either worried or very worried about it - and that rises to 84% if those "quite worried" about it.

The week spent on the Dover House estate produced a raft of casework which I've spent the Autumn taking up; parking problems, dog fouling problems, problems with broken pavements, cycling problems, refuse problems, planning problems and many more. I'm happy to take these issues up because the Dover House estate is a lovely area and deserves better than it's currently getting.

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 2010 General Election, which party do you intend to vote for?

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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.

Improving Roehampton Vale

In the Autumn, following a Sunday afternoon talking to residents of Roehampton Vale and Friar's Avenue, I surveyed the area.

Roehampton Vale - the A3 as it roars past ASDA - in particular is a challenging environment for residents. But as with anywhere at any time, there are little things that can be done by a good local MP, working with residents, that make a disproportionate improvement to quality of life.

I had a great response - not just in numbers of surveys returned, but the quality of the returns: residents really put a lot of time and thought into their replies about how the area could be improved. Here are some of the results.

Changes to Nos.33 and N10 buses coming soon

I've received the following letter from Transport for London regarding the proposed changes to three bus routes that include the N10, which currently runs up Putney High Street and Upper Richmond Road.

The N10 will cease to operate and instead the 33 bus, which runs down Castlenau, Rocks Lane and then into Upper Richmond Road by the Rosslyn Park Rugby Club, which will become a 24-hour service.

The changes will come in on Saturday 30 January.



Click here to read the full letter.

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.

Breathtaking arrogance

I wrote a few days ago about the plight of Putney constituent Christine Walker's mum, who more than qualifies for a disabled blue badge but who is being denied one by the Conservative council.

Yesterday we got this latest reply from them:

"senior council management staff have previously written in response to many contacts received from your constituent's MP, various borough councillors, the Local Government Ombudsman, General Practitioners and Mrs Self's own family members...I have also more recently replied separately to the Director of the 'Transport for All' organisation...

"...I am afraid that we will not acknowledge or respond to further communications in this matter and any such documentation received from [Mrs Walker's mum] or her representatives will be filed for information only"

It takes a special kind of arrogance to claim that MPs, councillors, the Ombudsman, GPs and transport and disability action groups are wrong and that the Conservatives - alone - are right. And it stems from having absolute power without break for over 30 years. Power may corrupt but it also makes those who have it contemptuous of all other opinion.

A democracy thrives because of checks and balances - one party vigorously held to account by its opponents. In Wandsworth those checks and balances are failing. There are currently 51 Tory councillors in Wandsworth and just 9 Labour; no other party has any seats or a chance of winning any.

And before you say it doesn't affect or concern you, then until they needed help from the Conservatives it didn't directly affect Mrs Walker's family either. My point is this: ignore our democratic deficit only if you are 100% certain that you'll never, ever need to turn to these out-of-touch, power-gone-to-their-head Conservatives for help.

The Conservatives have forgotten that they are the servants, not the masters. I can provide the evidence but only you, by voting Labour - the only alternative to the Conservatives locally - can change it.

Path to nowhere

You may have heard of the Bridge To Nowhere - a highway project in one of the most remote parts of Alaska that connected a road no-one travelled on to an island no-one visited, at vast expense to US taxpayers.

On a somewhat smaller scale, Wandsworth Conservatives have created a path to nowhere on the Lower Ashburton estate.

The picture above shows a pathway pounded out of the estate by weight of numbers who use it - it's the one right at the top of Gwendolen Avenue, across Chartfield Avenue. The path's come about because it is the direct route into and out of the estate, and a bit like water always finding it's level, paths will always appear on routes people find most convenient to travel.

I contacted the council because I thought it was slippery and dangerous with a kerb at the top that could trip people right into the path of oncoming cars. Unfortunately for pedestrians on the estate, the Conservative council has only recently spent thousands of pounds of your money laying a tarmac pathway a few yards further down Chartfield Avenue, away from Gwendolen Avenue - a direction people don't so much want to go.

The result? A posh path to nowhere, and a muddy cut-through which is more of a risk to users. I'd have thought the commonsense solution would be for the council to have looked at the natural routes through the estate and built pathways where they were needed. Instead, they now intend to fence off the path, relandscape it and force pedestrians to travel the long way.

I suspect this is just throwing good money after bad: the fencing will be torn out sooner or later and the cut-through returned to use. But as usual, the Conservatives think they know best and regard the rest of us as impertinent to even voice an alternative, commonsense alternative.

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.

Who's really in denial on climate change?

A poll in Saturday's Times found that only 41% of voters believe that climate change has been caused by the human race.

This poll is already causing huge shock among the political classes who arrogantly assume that because they accept the science of climate change, automatically everyone else must follow suit. But I've warned about this arrogance consistently: about over-claiming and exaggerating the risks; about claiming summits are the be-all and end-all when everyone knows that another summit is just around the corner; about championing supposedly green products that actually cause more environmental damage, and about exploiting green taxes for other political ends.

It is this arrogance that goes to the heart of the political failure on climate change. No wonder the overwhelming evidence of global warming is ignored or disbelieved by huge swathes of the public.

Here's one local example. When I led the Labour Opposition in Wandsworth in 2006, I proposed that residential parking charges in the borough be abolished - paid for, principally, through higher charges on second and subsequent vehicles in each household.

For what reason do controlled parking zones exist? They are introduced because parking stress: the number of cars fighting for each parking space on a street - is a particular problem in certain areas. By giving residents permits, and charging visitors significant amounts to "pay and display", parking space is freed up and local people can usually park close to their homes. In other words, controlled parking charges are a tax on commodity: parking space.

They were not set up as a crusade for the environment: their point was never to banish cars from our roads, punish gas guzzlers, encourage energy efficient vehicles or incentivise motorbikes or cycling. Their purpose was simply to free up parking space. And they've been remarkably effective at doing that.

My policy was criticised by green groups, who see parking as a way to moralise on the environment: parking space, should be warped into some sort of green tax to punish anyone who drives. Since then, we've seen wrong-headed, cynical councillors in next-door Richmond start charging more for parking permits for polluting vehicles.

Do I believe that polluting vehicles are a bigger threat to our environment than cleaner ones? Yes - and if someone was to put forward and argue for a local pollution tax (something the Labour government has already introduced by raising Vehicle Excise Duty on older, more polluting vehicles anyway) in exchange for lower council tax, I might well support that idea.

The public aren't stupid - they know full well when stealth taxes are being piled on them - they knew it when Tories here ratcheted up parking charges by 27% a year ago too.

So when politicians can't be honest about something as straightforward as parking charges, why on earth should anyone believe them when they talk about climate change and the consequential need for more taxes, or ever higher energy bills? Especially when we then see these ever-higher taxes just being hoovered up by the Treasury or the energy companies' shareholders rather than being used to persuade people to try greener, cleaner, more sustainable products.

Yet there is plenty of evidence that the public is receptive to genuine green initiatives. Labour's car scrappage scheme has been the massive success it has because it provided a typical £2,000 incentive to trade up to a cleaner model. People still have to pay for the majority of their new car themselves but they have done so - in huge numbers. Had the Government brought this scheme in when revising Vehicle Excise Duty months ago then an unpopular move seen by many as just another money grab would have gone down far better.

Politicians keep digging these massive holes, then burying their heads in them. Whether it's their outrageous expenses greed, or their misapplication of taxes, or an over-reach on issues like climate change: these are all symptoms of the same hubris that results in the sort of views the Times found at the weekend.

And that's a real problem for those of us who recognise the urgency of the problem. We need to stop trying to drag a public kicking and screaming behind us as we impose ridiculously punitive measures upon them. Instead, we need to bring them with us: yes by charging more for pollution and carbon-generation; but by cutting energy bills for those using green fuels; minimising their carbon footprint, recycling more and reducing their household waste.

This isn't rocket science. It certainly isn't climate science. It's just good old common sense. The Times poll wasn't a denial of climate change. It was just another denial of trust in politicians.

Putney Bridge breakup: my action

UPDATE: 9.56pm

We've had a very prompt reply from the council:

Once again, thank you for passing these defects to me.

I had been assured that all carriageway defects had been repaired previously, a more thorough inspection and repair process will be carried out next week and I shall endeavour to have the worse ones temporarily filled tomorrow.

The continuing problems with the bridge are of great concern. An engineer inspected the bridge for water egress at carriageway level last week during dry weather. None was witnessed, although water was escaping underneath. The report to me was quite positive in that respect, that the carriageway surface may be less prone to deterioration in future.

Whilst I am very keen to resolve this matter fully, I am loathe to arrange for large scale carriageway resurfacing works if it is to suffer in the same way that it is now.

I shall consider our options and keep you informed.

Putney Bridge breakup latest

In politics, timing is everything. Just two days after I received a reply from the council telling me that "works have been successful in reducing water egress, and therefore the problem of potholes should reduce", anyone who has been across Putney Bridge today will see how wide of the mark those claims are:







Two of the potholes above are, again, recently repaired: and yet again I question how cost-effective repeatedly calling out contractors to tackle (not very successfully) one-off potholes when it's clear the bridge needs increasingly urgent, serious repair.

And just look at this photo too - a steel plate put down three or four months ago, again as a stopgap instead of a proper, satisfactory repair - already coming loose:



And these photos, also taken earlier today, show an array of fissures about to open up, including one crack that now runs right across the apex of the bridge:







This Conservative neglect of Putney Bridge can't go on. The bridge is in an appalling state - it's really dangerous for cyclists, it doesn't do car suspensions any good, it looks like no-one cares a jot about Putney and it is emblematic of the complete lack of local leadership we have from the Tories here.

They've been in power for over thirty years: anyone would become complacent after that long - but it's not good for Putney.

I've reported - again - these problems with Putney Bridge. Here's the reply I received two days ago from the council:


Thank you for the email to Mr Myers informing him of the carriageway defects on Putney Bridge which has been passed to me to reply to. The defects you mentioned were repaired on the 6th November.

Works have been carried out to the structure of the bridge to improve 'weep hole' drainage from within internal galleries. The aim is to ensure that water cannot build up and then exit via the road surface causing the carriageway surface to break up. Whilst early indications are that these works have been successful in reducing water egress, and therefore the problem of potholes should reduce, it is still too early to be sure that this is an effective solution.

Concerns remain about the water mains being defective, although Thames Water are adamant that they have cured the leaks. There still is evidence of water within the bridge structure, but it is not possible to identify precisely where it is coming from.

At the current time we are in a period of monitoring. The success of the recent works is being evaluated and further checks on water ingress will be carried out. The carriageway surface is being regularly checked as there is some evidence of de-lamination taking place between the layers of road surface and underlying base courses. It is likely that further large scale works to the carriageway surface will be required in future although it is hoped that the existing surface will last over the winter period. Minor carriageway defects will continue to be repaired quickly.

Please do not hesitate to contact me again if you require any further information.

Yours sincerely

Assistant Head of Operational Services

Debate on the Gate

Stuart by one of the potential locations for an Alton Gate - at the end of Ibsley Gardens

One of the campaigns that Putney's former Labour MP Tony Colman began, and which I've been happy to continue, is that of a new pedestrian and cyclist gate into Richmond Park from the Alton estate.

After years of paralysis, as the Conservative council squabbled with the Royal Parks Agency over whether they had it in them to make a fairly simple idea a reality, we at last have some progress.

A new Alton Gate has been proposed and consulted on. Unfortunately, there's a real question over whether it should be located where the council proposes to put it.

They want the gate from Tunworth Crescent, which for anyone who knows the estate is just about the closest point to the existing Roehampton Gate at the end of Priory Lane. To be honest, anyone who can walk or cycle to Tunworth Crescent can walk or cycle the fifty metres or so to Roehampton Gate.

It would be far better, in my view, for a new Alton Gate to be more centrally located. I understand the desire of the council for the gate to be as close to Danebury Avenue as possible - this isn't entirely unreasonable, but they do seem to forget that Danebury Avenue serves only half the Alton estate. The Alton East wouldn't get any benefit from it, even though parts of this end of the estate aren't too far from Chohole Gate off Norstead Place.

If the main concern is centrality, then Ibsley Gardens or Fontley Way would be more direct - indeed, there is some derelict council land in Fontley Way alongside the park (between Crondall and Runnymede Houses) and it wouldn't appear to be too hard to upgrade the path from Holybourne Avenue through Fontley Way and between the high rise blocks to Richmond Park.

It's likely that wherever the gate is proposed, some residents are going to be unhappy with it being near them: fearing the extra people passing by will cause noise and anti-social behaviour.

That's certainly the case with Tunworth Crescent - where 61% of the residents opposed the gate being located near them. That compares to an overall 69% for the gate across the whole Alton estate. With such a clear cut majority, the council is planning to forge ahead with the plan.

But I have to ask: given that a gate in this location will add little value to the estate, and the campaign for a gate to serve the Alton East will probably continue regardless of whether a Tunworth Gate gets opened, wouldn't it be better to get this right and find the right spot to give residents long overdue access to the park on their doorstep?

You can read the report on the Alton Gate here - it also includes news on some other Roehampton issues including improved paths through the Alton, better bus information and more.

Tackling Tibbets Traffic

In no small part because of the number of road traffic accidents on the Tibbets Corner roundabout, the council is going to make some improvements to the area, of particular benefit to cyclists.

A new access to the cycle network through the roundabout - which is sandwiched beneath the roundabout but above the A3 - will be provided for southbound cyclists approaching Tibbets Corner from Tibbets Ride at the top of Putney Hill. At present, cyclists have no choice but to use the roundabout because the only entrance and exit at Tibbets Ride is on the other side of the dual carriageway. There will also be some improvements to the cycle paths through the roundabout.

The council also found that traffic travels faster around Tibbets Corner than it should, in part because it apparently is so designed that it feels safer for motorists to speed. So some works are going to be done to try to design out this problem.

Along with the promised north-bound cycle lane over Putney Bridge, I think we're finally on the verge of making some major (literally) joined-up improvements for cyclists through Putney. Coming so long after it became the norm for most councils to provide decent cycle lanes, that's very much long overdue.

You can read the report here.

The perils of Putney Bridge (latest installment)

Here are three photos my campaign team took yesterday of the ongoing and shameful deterioration of Putney Bridge.


Southbound bus lane into Putney by St Mary's Church


Northbound bus lane towards Fulham right by bus stop



Southbound traffic lanes in the middle of the bridge


What's particularly disgraceful - aside, that is, from the fact that any cyclist encountering any of these potholes would be thrown off their bike into oncoming traffic - is that you can see from each that these aren't new potholes - they're potholes in previously repaired sections of the road.

It just goes to show how pointless and ineffective the Conservative Council's current botch is: by now they must have spent so much calling contractors out to all these short-term patches that it's cost them more than dealing with the fundamental problem would.

And these are just the three worst examples: there are plenty of others right across the bridge. All because the Conservatives seem to be incapable of sitting down with Thames Water, acknowledging the problem and reaching an agreement on how the repair costs shall be apportioned. It is another sign of incompetence.

Safety on Putney Bridge, and the conservation of this important local landmark, are too important to be held hostage to this lack of leadership from the Conservatives.

Castlecombe Drive paving

This photo of a cave-in pavement in Castlecombe Drive was taken on Saturday. Castlecombe Drive has a number of sheltered homes for pensioners - there are a set of bungalows just to the left of this picture; and across the road is Ronald Ross primary school. In other words, such poor quality pavements are especially dangerous given the number of pensioners and young children who use this road.

Remarkably, a Conservative Councillor lives less than fifty metres from this potholed pavement: yet it's clearly either beyond or beneath her to bother to get this fixed. I have to wonder what it is that the Conservatives do for their £10,000 a year allowances - because clearly looking after the area - even one they live in - isn't it.

I've reported this and will let you know when it's fixed.

Conservatives claim they've fixed the potholes!

When my campaign team were out on the Alton estate yesterday they came across a Conservative newsletter which makes the amazingly impressive claim that "a large area was repaired on the Putney Vale estate at the junction of Stroud Crescent and Frensham Drive".

The reason this is so amazing is that also yesterday, I got a reply from the Housing Department about the pothole above, reported a few days ago by me, which just so happens to be at the junction of - yes, you've guessed it - Stroud Crescent and Frensham Drive (you know, the area the Conservatives claim they got repaired already!)

The thing is, the Conservative newsletter would have gone to print before I got this incredibly dangerous pothole on Frensham Drive fixed. And while we're on the subject, does the road in the background of the photo - that's Stroud Crescent - look like it's been "repaired"?

So what to make of the Tory claims?

Well, they claim they're also responsible for getting "some 200 potholes resurfaced." Again, I leave it to you to decide whether that's a believable claim - but at least they're finally recognising the scale of their neglect of our roads.

But why is it, then, that Danebury Avenue is still in an atrocious state and why only on Monday was the massive pothole in Tangley Grove at the junction with Danebury Avenue repaired after I asked for it to be fixed? Or Holybourne Avenue? Or Harbridge Avenue? Or Bessborough Road?

There's something just a little sad about claiming credit for something when you're actually responsible for causing the problem in the first place; and when what you're claiming is evidently untrue, and actually the result of hard work by someone else. I'm relaxed about this because I know local residents are aware of my long track-record on this issue, and it demonstrates perfectly that the Tories have no local achievements of their own to boast of!

Whitelands to get consulted on parking in November

I've just been informed by the council that the Traffic Order implementing the Sutherland Grove controlled parking zone will be published in November - and that Whitelands residents who were excluded from the original consultation will therefore have a chance to comment formally at long last.

The decision gives the residents of Whitelands three weeks to make their case to the council from November.

While I'm delighted we've won even this small concession from the council, I remain concerned that the QC's view was that the results of the consultation may not be binding upon it. I am worried about how committed the Conservatives are to genuinely listening - and responding practically - to the needs of Whitelands residents.

There are any number of ways the council could assist the residents of Whitelands Park who have no parking spaces on-site, and are now faced with losing their parking spaces off-site too. The question is simply whether they are prepared to.

Car scrappage scheme continuing

We've just announced at our Conference that we're going to extend the car scrappage scheme, where you can trade an old, polluting car in and get at least £2,000 on a newer, less polluting, more fuel efficient model.

When we first announced the scheme, the government set aside £300 million to fund it: expecting that to be enough to last until February next year. But the initiative has proved so popular that £227 million has been spent. So we've added another £100 million to the pot to guarantee that all who want to participate in the scheme can do so.

I've written before about the massive impact this Labour initiative has had: the car industry itself said that it's been responsible for growing our car market over the summer. Had the Conservatives been in power, they've said they wouldn't have tried the scheme: and without it the car industry would have shrunk. So with Labour we've kept the car industry going; kept car workers in jobss and improved the environment by getting thousands of more polluting cars off the roads. With the Tories, more unemployment.

Eight weeks of disruption on Upper Richmond Road from tomorrow

Work to replace a major Victorian gas main that runs along Upper Richmond Road begin on Monday. This stage of the work affects that part of Upper Richmond Road between Putney Hill/Putney High Street and Keswick Road, just past East Putney tube station.

The work will mean major disruption to Putney's road network: in the area concerned a temporary one-way system will be introduced running west to east (ie from the High Street to East Putney tube).

The works was due to start last week but Transport for London delayed it because the road-bridge over the railway track at Rocks Lane partially collapsed. Two major infrastructure work projects affecting Upper Richmond Road traffic were judged to be too disruptive for such an important road and so work was delayed while the Rocks Lane problems were addressed.

The work on this section of Upper Richmond Road will be completed some time in December. Other sections of the project yet to begin include Putney Bridge Road and the section of Upper Richmond Road from East Putney station to West Hill which will happen next year.

Transport for London proposes axing the N10

Transport for London intends to make some changes to night bus provision that will affect Putney. They want to make the route 33, which runs from Hammersmith down Castlenau and Rocks Lane and then goes on to Richmond and Twickenham via Upper Richmond Road a 24-hour service. But as a consequence, they're proposing to abolish the N10 nightbus, which currently travels up Putney High Street, and then down Upper Richmond Road to Richmond.

This clearly means a worse service for Putney residents: the route 33 only touches the very edge of our area whereas the N10 runs right through it. Reducing night-time services - which despite the introduction under Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone of 24-hour routes still aren't very frequent - isn't something I support.

If you want to make your views known on the axing of the N10 service you have until 30 October: email STengagement@tfl.gov.uk.

My support for AirTrack - but with conditions

I've just sent the letter below to the Department of Transport, which has been consulting on BAA's application to begin work to create the Heathrow AirTrack shuttle rail service.

AirTrack is planned to run from Waterloo to Heathrow, creating a south of the river direct link to our main airport for the first time. AirTrack is not connected in any way with the deeply unpopular and misguided plans for a third runway at Heathrow: it should proceed when, as I am working towards, these plans finally bite the dust.

But my support for AirTrack is provisional on two crucial factors. First, the service must serve Putney - at present the nearest stations it will stop at are Clapham Junction and Richmond. Putney Station serves a much larger area, and is far easier to reach for a larger number of people, than Richmond. So AirTrack must stop here.

And second, BAA must contribute towards the costs of station expansion that are currently stalling somewhat because South West Trains, who manage the station as part of their contract to run rail services, are struggling to find the investment needed.

The beauty of AirTrack is that 90% of the track needed to operate the system is already laid: the only new track needed is a spur between Staines and Heathrow. In times of financial restraint, projects like this that need relatively little investment but which dramatically improve public transport are exactly what the government should be looking to invest in.

If you agree with my ideas, you can help by signing my Putney4AirTrack petition online here.

Here's my letter to the Secretary of State:

Why won't the Tories promise to freeze parking permit costs?

Wandsworth Conservatives like to talk a lot about the toll the global recession is taking in Wandsworth and I don't seek for one minute to diminish the seriousness of the economic problems the Labour government is tackling.

But there's a rhetoric-reality gap between how concerned the Conservatives say they are about Wandsworth residents struggling to make ends meet, and what they actually do to help.

Last November, for example, just as the world was sinking into recession the Conservatives increased parking permit charges not by inflation; not by a few points above inflation but by an eye-watering 27%.

Local residents were, understandably, pretty cross about this inflation-busting Tory stealth tax and some of them petitioned the Conservatives to freeze parking permit costs for the next two years to go some way to making up for this massive increase. That's hardly unreasonable given that even across a three year period, inflation isn't going to come close to the 30% increase the Tories imposed last year. In other words the council will still be massively in profit from such a modest agreement.

But if you're a Conservative elected representative in Wandsworth you evidently feel differently, because on Thursday the Tories are going to say "no way" to this perfectly reasonable suggestion.

The only thing they're willing to promise is that there won't be any further rises later on this year! I should think not, given that the charges only came into effect at the very end of 2008. But what about come the end of 2009? I leave that to the Conservative Council's Director of Finance. In his report on the petition he says:

"It is not possible to give assurances about permit charges beyond then."

In other words: expect more stealth tax increases from the Tories to add to our financial challenges during this difficult time come December.

You can read the paper for yourself here.

Putney Bridge cycle lane

In my post on the problems with Putney Bridge a few days ago, I mentioned the plans to provide a north-bound (ie from Putney to Fulham) cycle lane across the bridge. This plan is going to committee on Thursday for agreement.

Well over 2,000 cycle journeys take place across Putney Bridge everyday, but for a number of reasons:

• The poor state of the road surface
• The lack of any delineated cycle path northbound
• The fact that while south-bound cyclists can use the bus lane but it's not wide enough for a bus to overtake cyclists safely

...it's not a pleasant or safe experience. The plans, which will also widen the southbound bus lane should transform things. And let's hope that while this work is going on the council will do some more substantive repairs to the road surface too! You can read the report on the cycle lane here.

Success for Hanford residents on noisy crossing

One of the several petitions I campaigned for last year was to help residents of Hanford Close in Southfields get some respite from the noise of heavy goods vehicles slamming over the pedestrian crossing outside their houses in the early hours, when there is much less background noise.

Well, despite taking nine months to respond to the petition (which I submitted in December 2008 and which is finally coming up for action this Thursday, Sept 2009), the Conservative Council has accepted that the crossing isn't especially effective as it is, and will soften the bumps so that vehicles make less noise going across it.

Hanford Close is a small estate on the corner of Merton Road and Brookwood Road - the edge of the Southfields "Grid". The crossing across Merton Road is a busy one because it serves Southfields Community College. A couple of years ago the council spent thousands raising this and a couple of other Merton Road crossings on the pretext that they would make them more visible features for motorists and make pedestrians more visible, after three road traffic accidents (RTAs) there.

Unfortunately, the work hasn't changed those statistics: the number of RTAs since the crossing was raised is the same as when it was flat to the road surface; in fact the severity of those accidents has worsened - but to be fair that's not to do with the crossing itself. However, it does raise questions of the council's use of highways resources when Putney, Roehampton and Southfields roads are in such a dreadful condition, and when plans like this have unintended consequences for surrounding residents - like this noise nuisance.

I'm delighted that the council's taking action: it again shows what residents can do when they work with me to get things sorted in our area. And I hope the work gives residents, once again, a peaceful night's sleep.

You can read the report on the crossing here.

Putney Bridge: some answers

The state of Putney Bridge has been something I've been concerned about for a while - and I've written about some of the problems here, here and here - especially the regularly recurring potholes and unfit-for-purpose road surface the council keeps laying. Recently local residents have also been commenting and asking questions on the putneysw15 website about the bridge's lights not working.

I've been in touch with the council several times about these problems, and we've just had the reply below, which you can also download as a pdf (the council has recently insisted upon new rules that all casework and correspondence from me has to be channelled through a councillor, which is why the response is to Councillor Belton).

It's really unfortunate that Putney Bridge has been left, effectively, to rot while Wandsworth Council squabbles with Thames Water over which of them is responsible for leaks that are damaging it. And while it is difficult to reach the damaged lights, the council should have had the foresight to realise that the lighting it installed would need to be repaired from time to time and should have planned for it.

However, if we have now got to the stage where responsibility for the problems is finally going to be apportioned, the lights are to be fixed and the new north-bound cycle lane installed, this is progress, of sorts.