June's local crime figures

There's not much to write about in this month's crime figures - it's fallen very slightly in three Putney council wards and risen very slightly in three. Without further ado, here are the tables:



And May's comparison:

The high rise signal from Boris that should worry Putney

Today's Evening Standard reports that London Tory Mayor Boris Johnson just can't be bothered to submit an objection to a 43-storey tower block on the South Bank, the Doon Street Tower.

This is a complete reverse of his campaign pledge to block tower blocks across the capital and should be a major concern in our neck of the woods where, of course, we are under threat from several tower block plans - some of similar height to this one.

I am someone who isn't opposed to high buildings on principle: they can be appropriate in the City of London and central London. Putney isn't such a location. But that's not Boris's position. He ran for election and, I suspect, won quite a few votes, for his blanket opposition to tower blocks.

Yet today he couldn't even muster the interest to jot down a few words of opposition and submit them to the Secretary of State for Communities, Hazel Blears, who has to rule on this application following a Public Inquiry earlier this year.

If Boris can't be bothered to object to a tower block plan that was backed by a Labour Mayor, was reviewed before he was even elected and which no one will hold him accountable for, the prospects of him standing up to his Conservative allies in Wandsworth over their planning mistakes aren't high, to say the least.

We need Boris to honour his election pledges - not sell out at the first test of them.

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.

Putney - safer than other parts of London?

Every month when I publish the ward-by-ward crime statistics I usually focus on the change over the previous month.

This month it's worth looking at how crime in Putney compares with London as a whole.

Every single ward in Putney has a lower record of drug offending, fraud or forgery, robbery and other notifiable offences than the Met Police average.

Every single ward in Putney bar one has a better record on burglary and theft & handling (Thamesfield being the exception); criminal damage and violence against the person (Roehampton); and robbery (Southfields) than the London-wide figures. Roehampton has a stastically insignificant higher rate of sexual offences, which are a very small percentage of the total anyway I'm pleased to say.

Putney also compares favourably to our borough as a whole - though the pattern is very slightly different. The overall Wandsworth figure for crimes per 1,000 of the population is 99.6; the overall Putney figure is 89.9.

So what these crime figures show, month-in, month-out is that Wandsworth is safer than other parts of London, and that Putney is safer than other parts of Wandsworth. Don't let the Tories tell you different.

Here are the year to May 2008 figures:



And the April 2008 figures for comparison:

A river runs through it

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Putney gets safer - again

The April crime figures for Putney's six council wards are out and show another decline in crime compared to April 2007.



The only ward to buck the trend substantially was Thamesfield - I'm particularly concerned about the amount of burglaries taking place in this ward and it's disheartening that the Council - especially given that the Tory Council Leader Edward Lister represents this area - isn't doing a lot more to help the police cut crime.

One of the things that would help tremendously here would be town centre patrollers: when the Labour Government funded two trials of such patrollers in Clapham Junction and Tooting town centres, street crime - by far the biggest problem in Putney town centre - fell by a third.

Town centre patrollers wouldn't directly cut the burglary figures, but what they would do is free the Thamesfield Safer Neighbourhood Police up to focus on the rest of Thamesfield ward away from Putney High Street, and that can only be helpful.

Regretably, when the Government street patroller funding stopped, the Tory Council chose to sack the wardens rather than find the money itself to continue the excellent service. And before the Tories scream "Council Tax rises" just think how much this Council spends producing Brightside, and how it finds the money to run off (and pay to be delivered) fancy leaflets whenever it wants to attack the government - campaigning on the rates, big time. Cutting back on propaganda would go a long way to funding town centre patrollers in Putney.

As usual in these reports, here's the comparison table for March 2008:

Bar charts

We all know how the Liberal Democrats love a bar chart: well here's one that shows the result in Southfields in this month's Mayoral elections.

Unlike Lib Dem bar-charts, this result doesn't need any spin or small print: it shows beyond any doubt which party is the ONLY challenger to the Tories in Southfields.

"Where do I vote?"

It's been a few weeks since the Council sent out pollcards telling us where our polling station is in the elections this coming Thursday.

We're sending out our own cards letting thousands of Labour supporters in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, know where to vote on Thursday. But if you want to check where you vote, you can do so on my website by clicking here.

There's a list of polling stations down the side, or you can check using the map - by clicking on the links you'll get a list of streets that vote at each station and a satellite image of the location on it.

Most polling stations are where they've always been, but a couple have changed since the last elections in 2006:

• The Putney Vale estate now votes at Stag House in Stroud Crescent, following the Tory council's closure of Newlands Hall;


• Residents of the Alton East estate are back voting at Roehampton Parish Hall (now called Cornerstone), on the corner of Alton Road and Roehampton Lane.

Clamping down on Coleman Court car crime

On Tuesday I was out and about in Coleman Court, off Kimber Road on the edge of King George's Park in Southfields.

I took the opportunity of my visit to Coleman Court to ask residents about problems that had been reported to my via my website.

A number of residents expressed their concern about a spate of car crime locally.

Although there is some parking within Coleman Court, most residents use Burr Road which runs parallel to the estate. It seems there has been an increase in damage to vehicles (broken windows) and some thefts.

Problems of this nature if not stamped out quickly can escalate. They are also exactly the type of crimes that Labour's Safer Neighbourhood police Teams were established to tackle: a local police response to very local problems.

I have been in touch with the Southfields SNT and was impressed with their response. Sgt David Mepham, who leads the team, has a number of ideas about how to tackle this and a number of other problems in the area and I am confident it is "on his radar". He'll be in touch with residents to outline how they can help - and I hope everyone will play their part in tackling this problem.

Crime down in Southfields

Yesterday I attended the panel meeting of the Southfields safer neighbourhoods police team. The meeting, held at Southfields Community College, was presented with some encouragingly low crime figures for the ward.

In the first three months of 2008 burglaries are down a whopping 38% compared to the same period in 2007; the number of drug offences is down by 22% and violence against the person is down 13%. Throughout Southfields there were fewer than 300 crimes during this period, a 5% fall compared to 2007 and one of the reasons why one member of the public present described Southfields as "a really safe ward to live in".

We should not allow complacency to creep up on us, but this is a encouraging set of figures and Sgt Mepham and his team and the local neighbourhood watches should be congratulated on their good work. However, I know that some people do not always report when they are a victim of crime, especially if they think it is a supposedly minor incident (e.g. damage to a vehicle). It really is important that ALL crimes get reported so the police can direct resources as necessary.

The meeting also confirmed the priorities for the Southfields SNT for the next three months, which will be:

• dangerous dogs
• problems with some school aged children
• safety in King George's park

If you wish to contact the Southfields SNT then you can do so by emailing southfields.snt@met.police.uk or call them on 020 8247 8760.

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.

Out and about in Putney

The main reason I've been posting a little less frequently in recent days is because of the London election campaigning my team and I are up to.

We've been out all over the constituency, and I've just today finished adding all the places we've been too in the past month to my constituency map page.

We've been talking to you about your concerns and priorities for London in the next four years and the clear choice between the experience, tested leadership and delivered improvements to the capital over the last eight years with Ken Livingstone; and the bluster, blunder, lack of substance, lack of vision, and lack of any credibly-costed plans of his Tory opponent.

So far this campaign we've been to the Longstaff Estate, Galveston Road, Lebanon Road, Sutherland Grove, Skeena Hill, Combemartin Road, Girdwood Road, Whitefield Close, Arcadian Place, Wimbledon Park Road, Albert Drive, Hayward Gardens, Pullman Gardens, Beaumont Road, Whitlock Drive, Kersfield Road, Lytton Grove, Littlecombe Close, Arlesey Close, Chepstow Close, Whitnell Way, Gay Street, Crown Court, Waterman Street, Kingsmere Close, Felsham Road, Glenthorpe, Hanover House, William Gardens, Minstead Gardens, Aubyn Square, Toland Square and Vanneck Square - apologies if we've visited you but aren't listed above.

We've a lot more campaign stops all around Putney, Roehampton and Southfields before polling day on Thursday 01 May so look out for us!

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.

Out and about on the Arndale Estate

For far too many residents of council estates in Putney, this picture typifies the state of the housing the Tory Council believes they deserve to live in.

This is the entrance to Knowles House (or, as the Council's vandalised lettering would have it: "Koles Hous"), one of the three high-rise blocks overlooking King George's Park above the Southside Shopping Centre in Wandsworth Town.

What a disgraceful image to present to the world of our borough, and how unfortunate that the residents have to put up with such lack of respect for their homes.

My campaign team and I spoke to over 200 residents of Knowles House, its sister blocks Albon and Edwyn Houses, Sudbury Court - the really big blue and white block on the corner of Wandsworth High Street and Garratt Lane, and Eliot and Wentworth Courts: the long blocks in the middle of the Arndale development.

We came across problems that are sadly typical of those we pick up all around the constituency: damp problems, refuse collection problems, graffiti, dangerous dogs, lack of thorough cleaning, anti-social behaviour and - in this case the Housing Department is excelling itself - a flat that floods every time it rains.

Unfortunately, the Council seems much more interested in piling up new high-rise blocks in next door Hardwick's Way and further down Neville Gill Close rather than taking decent care of the ones it already has responsibility for. We're going to be keeping Council housing officers rather busy over the coming weeks, following up on the concerns residents asked for our help with.

The risk of flooding

Yesterday the Environment Agency held an exhibition and consultation at St Mary's Church about its plans to protect riparian communities like Putney from the growing threat of flooding.

Although this is a chance for us to have a say over how the powers that be protect the Thames area from flood risk through to 2100, the exhibition was as much a chance to reassure residents that Putney and London are not at any imminent risk of severe tidal flooding.

Protecting against severe flooding also needs to be offset against, for example, the visual impact of flood barriers. Many would argue that a great concrete wall along the Putney embankment similar to the one in Barnes would not be worth the loss of our riverside vistas or accessibility to the foreshore for pedestrians and rowers alike.

The Environment Agency is also looking at protecting communities that live alongside the Thames's tributaries - in our neck of the woods that means those in Southfields and Wandsworth town living near the Wandle, and the Roehampton and Putney Common areas alongside Beverley Brook.

Given that both these areas experienced some flooding during last Summer's downpours, the Agency is looking at ways of diverting "fresh water" floodwater (as opposed to tidal floodwater) onto flood plain land and away from homes; meaning in the case of The Wandle onto King George's Park, and in respect of Beverley Brook Richmond Park and Barnes Common.

But the underlying message to come out of the consultation was that London is secure from flooding; the Thames Barrier - while it needs some strengthening - is still fit for purpose for decades to come; that we do not yet need a new barrier further towards the estuary and that communities like Putney, if we do experience flooding, will do so due to freak downpours of rain rather than tidal surges.

You can find out a whole lot more about the flood risk, what the Environment Agency is proposing to do to protect us, and have your own say, by visiting: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/te2100

Southfields' Olympic lift

One of the Conservatives' campaign pledges at the last general election was that, if they won Putney, Southfields station and the District Line in general would receive a massive overhaul: a longer platform to accommodate longer trains, air conditioned trains, more trains and a more accessible station.

Of these, the only one they have even tried to claim they have delivered on is the last: a more accessible station - because Southfields is going to get a passenger lift in the next few years. I believe in giving credit where it's due; even to Putney's Conservative MP if and when she is personally responsible for improvements to local facilities as she has claimed in respect of the Southfields Station lift.

So when I met recently with the Transport for London official responsible for District Line services I was really surprised to discover that, contrary to Tory claims, the reason Southfields is getting a lift is solely because it's an Olympic Station: the Tennis Olympics take place at the All England Club, just down the road. As I say, I'm more than happy to credit Justine Greening with winning the lift for Southfields Station - all she has to do is tell us about the decisive role she played in winning the 2012 Olympics for London!

Until then let's give credit where credit's due - to the team led by Tony Blair, Ken Livingstone and Lord Coe - without whom the Conservatives would not even be able to attempt to mislead residents they had delivered any improvements to Southfields Station.

Wandsworth Museum Obituary

The borough's amenity societies: the Balham, Battersea, Putney and Wandsworth Societies, the Wandsworth Historical Society, the Friends of Wandsworth Museum and the Wandsworth Museum Action Group have joined forces to write an obituary of the museum that the Tory Council - backed by Putney's Conservative MP - closed on New Year's Day.

You can read the obituary on the putneysw15 website here - it gives a very effective picture of the resources the borough has lost with the closure, as well as the breadth of support the Museum had throughout the community.

Sorting out Southfields' neglect

A few months ago, I wrote here about such severe neglect of council properties in Avening Terrace, Brathway Road, Longstaff Crescent and Longstaff Road, that window frames were crumbling away to nothing.

Residents, who had tried and failed to get the Council's housing department to take their concerns seriously, asked me to get onto the case - and I was happy to take up their legitimate complaints with the housing department.

The council has now accepted that the windows are in an unacceptable state and need repair which is great news. Work is scheduled to start this Summer in good time for the onset of Winter.

Life returns to the Wandle

I reported last November on Thames Water's accidental release of chemicals into the River Wandle that wiped out wildlife for hundreds of metres downstream.

I'm pleased to report that after coughing up £500,000 - the least Thames Water could do to make up for their debacle - signs of life are returning to the river. Trout have been spotted in the affected area, which is great news.

While I don't want to sound like some latter day Huckleberry Finn, I grew up alongside the Wandle and I think London's minor rivers are among the capital's greatest treasures. So many of them have either dried up or been paved over as the city expanded and grew that it's really important to cherish the rivers that run through our urban, built-up environment.

That's why the return of wildlife to the river, alongside more active efforts to return the area's indigenous creatures like water voles - which I've also blogged about - is news to be celebrated.

English Heritage Blue Plaques

A couple of years ago I wrote an article for the Wandsworth Borough News about the local dignitaries who are remembered through English Heritage blue plaques in our borough.

I really enjoy investigating local history - in part it comes from living here for 37 years, but my degree was also in history. Anyway, here's the article, which I hope you find interesting.

What links the borough of Wandsworth to a former Prime Minister, a music hall artist, the dentist to Queen Victoria and an artic explorer? The answer is that all of them (David Lloyd George, Sir Harry Lauder, Sir Edwin Saunders and Edward Wilson) lived or worked in the borough, and have an English Heritage blue plaque outside the house in which they lived.

There are twenty-two English heritage blue plaques located within the borough of Wandsworth, out of a total of 456 throughout London.

2005 marked the centenary of the erection of the first blue plaque in Wandsworth, which was located at Holly Lodge, Wimbledon Park Road, in memory of author and novelist George Eliot, who lived “in sin” at the property with her lover, G H Lewes.

This selection of a figure of literary note seems apposite given that literary figures make up the largest group of recipients within the borough. These include the poet and novelist Thomas Hardy (who lived at Trinity Road), Victorian adventure story writer G A Henty (Lavender Gardens) and poet Gerald Manley Hopkins (Manresa House, Roehampton).

Three plaques are dedicated to famous figures from the British music hall era –the comedian Gus Elen (Thurleigh Avenue), and Harry Tate and Sir Harry Lauder (both of Longley Road). During its heyday the music hall was the most popular form of entertainment for ordinary people, and its stars were the popstars of their day. Harry Tate’s funeral at the cemetery in Blackshaw Road, Tooting, was attended by over a thousand mourners.

Only two politicians have been commemorated – former Prime Minister David Lloyd George (Routh Road) and Battersea MP, and the first working class man to enter the British Cabinet, John Burns (Clapham Common North Side). Burns was elected as an independent MP in 1892 and served Battersea in Parliament until 1918.

Others who have been commemorated include the former President of Czechoslovakia, Dr Edwards Benes (Gwendolen Avenue), John Walter, founder of The Times newsapaper (Clapham Common North Side) and anti-slavery campaigner, William Wilberforce (Broomwood Road). The most recent plaque to be erected in the borough was in 2000 in honour of the celebrated sculptor Charles Jagger, who lived and died in Albert Bridge Road.

The blue plaque scheme is a national programme run by English Heritage. To be eligible for a plaque, nominees must be worthy of national recognition, recognisable to the well-informed passer-by, and have been dead for twenty years or passed the centenary of their birth, whichever is the earlier.

As it has been five [now seven - ed.] years since the last plaque was erected in the borough, readers may wish to suggest other candidates suitable for nomination. There is surely a wealth of suitable nominees in this great borough of ours. Here is a full list of the 22 blue plaques in Wandsworth, with the Putney ones highlighted in colour:

• BATEMAN, H.M. (1887-1970),Cartoonist, lived here 1910-1914. 40 Nightingale Lane, Clapham South, SW12 Wandsworth 1997
• BENES, Dr Edward (1884-1948),President of Czechoslovakia, lived here. 26 Gwendolen Avenue, Putney, SW15 Wandsworth 1978
• BURNS, John (1858-1943),Statesman, lived here. 110 North Side, Clapham Common, SW4 Wandsworth 1950
• DOUGLAS, Norman (1868-1952),Writer, lived here. 63 Albany Mansions, Albert Bridge Road, SW11 Wandsworth 1980
• ELEN, Gus (1862-1940), Music Hall Comedian, lived here. 3 Thurleigh Avenue, Balham, SW12 Wandsworth 1979
• ELIOT, George Mary Ann Cross (1819-1880), Novelist, lived here. Holly Lodge, 31 Wimbledon Park Road, SW18 Wandsworth 1905
• HARDY, Thomas (1840-1928),Poet and Novelist, lived here 1878-1881. Plaque replaced by new one on same building in 1962. 172 Trinity Road, Tooting, SW17 Wandsworth 1940
• HENTY, G.A. (George Alfred) (1832-1902), Author, lived here. 33 Lavender Gardens, SW11 Wandsworth 1953
• HOPKINS, Gerard Manley (1844-1889),Poet, lived and studied in Manresa House. Gatepost at Manresa House, Holybourne Avenue, Roehampton, SW15 Wandsworth 1979
• JAGGER, Charles Sargeant (1885-1934),Sculptor, lived and died here. 67 Albert Bridge Road, Battersea, SW11 Wandsworth 2000
• KNEE, Fred (1868-1914),London Labour Party Pioneer and Housing Reformer, lived here. 24 Sugden Road, SW11 Wandsworth 1986
• LAUDER, Sir Harry (1870-1950),Music Hall Artist, lived here 1903-1911. 46 Longley Road, Tooting, SW17 Wandsworth 1969
• LLOYD GEORGE, David, Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (1863-1945),Prime Minister, lived here Replacement for GLC plaque erected in 1967 3 Routh Road, Wandsworth Common, SW18 Wandsworth 1992
• O'CASEY, Sean (1880-1964),Playwright, lived here at flat No. 49 49 Overstrand Mansions, Prince of Wales Drive, Battesea Park, SW11 Wandsworth 1993
• SAUNDERS, Sir Edwin (1814-1901),Dentist to Queen Victoria, lived and died here. Fairlawns, 89 Wimbledon Parkside, SW19 (Plaque on gate pier) Wandsworth 1997
• SPURGEON, Charles Haddon (1834-1892),Preacher, lived here. 99 Nightingale Lane, SW12 Wandsworth 1971
• SWINBURNE, Algernon Charles (1837-1909), Poet and his friend, Theodore WATTS-DUNTON (1832-1914), Poet, Novelist, Critic, lived and died here. 11 Putney Hill, SW15 Wandsworth 1926
• TATE, Harry (Ronald MacDonald Hutchison) (1872-1940),Musical Hall Comedian, lived here. 72 Longley Road, SW17 Wandsworth 1984
• THOMAS, Edward (1878-1917),Essayist and Poet, lived here. 61 Shelgate Road, SW11 Wandsworth 1949
• WALTER, John (1739-1812),Founder of 'The Times', lived here. 113 Clapham Common North Side, SW4 Wandsworth 1977
• WILBERFORCE, William (1759-1833).On the site behind this house stood until 1904 Broomwood House - formerly Broomfield - where William Wilberforce resided during the campaign against slavery which he successfully conducted in Parliament. 111 Broomwood Road, SW11 Wandsworth 1906
• WILSON, Edward Adrian (1872-1912),Antarctic Explorer and Naturalist, lived here. Battersea Vicarage, 42 Vicarage Crescent, SW11 Wandsworth 1935

Save Southside's local shops (part 3)

I'm pleased that the Wandsworth Guardian has today put the issue of local shops being driven from the Southside shopping centre on its front page, because the shape of our town centres is an issue close to my heart.

There is plenty wrong with Southside - if it wasn't there today no-one would, I suspect, suggest building something similar - it is very much a creation of the 1960s and 70s - but driving out the shops that make it different from any other shopping centre isn't going to fix what's wrong.

Millions have been invested into Southside in recent years - absolutely rightly - but it seems that the "bigger must be better" mentality that built the Arndale Centre in the first place still persists among managers and planners. They're wrong. The future of town centres, if we want them to retain any distinctiveness and what I call "soul" is through encouraging local businesses, not just pandering to the big brand names. We need a mix. Southside and the Council just don't seem to get this self-evident truth.

Here's the Guardian frontpage story in a larger version

Save Southside's local shops (part 2)

The Wandsworth Guardian has picked up on the campaign to save the local family shops that are being booted out of Wandsworth's Southside (Arndale) Shopping Centre in the New Year because for some reason they don't fit the management's idea of proper local shops.

I'm not happy about this: while no doubt the shopping centre can make a lot more money cramming in the big brandname stores, the damage this trend does to local businesses and community links is significant.

Apparently, the council - the major influence within the Southside management - is claiming it can help the evicted businesses "find new premises". I'd like to know where, locally? Southside has already been largely responsible for eradicating small shops in Wandsworth High Street, and you need to trek quite a long way down Garratt Lane before you get to the Earlsfield local shopping area. While there are plenty of available premises in places like Roehampton High Street - where they'd be very welcome, this is hardly keeping shops local to Wandsworth town.

If you agree with me, please sign my online petition to save Southside's local shops.

And here's the Wandsworth Guardian story.

Final days of Wandsworth Museum

Wandsworth Museum will close for the final time this coming Sunday, 30th December at 5pm.

The closure, imposed by Wandsworth's Conservative Council, fully supported by Putney's Conservative MP despite the decision costing taxpayers over £1million and petitions of over 20,000 residents and users - wins my "most incompetent decision of 2007" award.

Not only will the Museum, based in the old courthouse opposite the Southside shopping centre in Garratt Lane, close but the Council is taking down two libraries with it: West Hill and Allfarthing.

My "best local campaign of 2007" award goes to the Friends of Wandsworth Museum who have fought a quite spectacular battle that has shredded the credibility of the councillor behind this wasteful idea, Malcolm Grimston, and demolished one by one every single excuse he has come up with to explain the Tory council's bizarre plans.

I remain absolutely convinced that had Putney benefitted from the leadership of its MP, the Council's plans would have collapsed - Justine Greening's complicity in this decision is an inexcusable betrayal and destroys forever any claim that she puts the interests of Putney residents ahead of supporting her pals on the council.

We need a Putney loyalist, not a party loyalist representing our patch. With her (lack of) action over the Museum, Justine proved she's not fit for purpose.

Pupils and buses

Another story that caught my eye in this week's Wandsworth Guardian was a complaint by the Deputy Head of Southfields Community College that 156 bus drivers haven't been stopping near the college at home times.

He makes the not-unreasonable point that by refusing to pick up groups of schoolkids, the group only grows even larger and more rowdy. On the other hand, being a passenger (and I'm sure a driver too) when large groups of noisy, boisterous pupils surge onto a bus, shouting, jostling and often behaving aggressively and thoughtlessly is not a pleasant experience.

What would help no end would, I suggest, be the College - and our other secondary schools too - sending a staff member out to the bus stops at home time to make sure that the pupils behave themselves while waiting for their buses. In such circumstances, other than when buses are already full to bursting, there would be no excuse whatsoever for 156s not to stop. The Guardian story is here.

The scrooge spirit spreads to Southside

I'm just getting news that shops in the Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth - including the RSPCA charity shop - have been served eviction notices by the centre's management and have to be out early in the new year.

Notices have been served on several of the small and family-run businesses in the shopping centre - some of which have been in the Arndale Centre for a generation - with no possibility of renewal or moving to different units.

As my mum worked for over thirty years in the Arndale and as I too had Summer jobs there when I was growing up, I want to see Southside improved and the variety of shops increased: but I don't believe that this needs to happen at the expense of outlets like the RSPCA charity shop. Having allowed Putney High Street to become one of the blandest "clone" shopping centres in the country* I hope the Tory Council won't let the same happen with Southside.

We should be encouraging local stores with roots in the community, and I'm fully behind the storeholders' campaign to stay put. They've already collected over 300 signatures in support in the short time since they were served notice - I urge everyone to join in this fight.

* A 2005 national shoppers survey rated Putney High Street as one of the five worst "clone" shopping centres - meaning areas with few independent retailers and with too many shops selling almost identical itemss - in the whole country.

Our Safer Neighbourhood Teams

Putney now has forty Police Safer Neighbourhood Officers - members of teams that didn't exist just four years ago, and which we wouldn't have if the Conservatives had their way - they opposed all funding of them.

Here are the details of our six local ward teams along with any details of forthcoming events they're holding:

East Putney Team

Acting Sgt Matt Snowden
PC Sandrine Tanghe
PC Russ Percy
PCSO Simoni Simoni
PCSO Alison Brownlow
PCSO Douglas Cameron
PCSO Kelly Collins
PCSO Claire Fairman
PCSO Paul Henry

Write to them at: Jubilee House, 230-232 Putney Bridge Road, London SW15 2PD
Phone:020 8721 2433
Mobile: 07920 233925
Email the East Putney team

Upcoming East Putney team meetings and events:

• 28/11/2007 - 19:30 - 21:30 - Community Event - Cadets, Lytton Grove
• 09/12/2007 - 11:30 - 13:30 - Street Briefing - West Hill Road
• 17/01/2008 - 19:00 - 20:30 - Public Meeting - Putney High School
• 28/01/2008 - 18:00 - 19:00 - Community Event - Brownies, Wandsworth Police Station
• 31/01/2008 - 19:00 - 20:30 - Public Meeting - London Mosque

Roehampton Team

Sgt Peter Salmon
PC Andrew Voong
PC Amanda Kennedy
PCSO Lisa Burke
PCSO Noel Perkins
PCSO Nicky Edwardes
PCSO Fuad Osman
PCSO Marco Serrano

Write to them at: Jubilee House, 230-232 Putney Bridge Road, LondonSW15 2PD
Phone: 020 8649 3551
Mobile: 07843 065885
Email the Roehampton team


Southfields Team

Sgt David Mepham
PC Darren Hunt
PCSO Liam McLaughlin
PCSO Jacek Zebracki
PCSO Alexandra Claridge
Write to them at: 146 Wandsworth High Street, LondonSW18 4JJ
Phone:020 8721 2429
Mobile: 07920 233931
Email the Southfields team


Thamesfield Team

Sgt Roger Chapple
PC Bosede Odelusi
PC Stuart Paton
PCSO Gerald Baffoe-Bonnie
PCSO Sophie Wood
PCSO Julie Kirk

Write to them at: Jubilee House, 230 - 232 Putney Bridge Road, LondonSW15 2PD
Phone:020 8721 2434
Mobile: 07920 233924
Email the Thamesfield team


West Hill Team

Sgt Nigel Mussett
PC Glen Cheal
PC Mark Toulson
PCSO Daniel Taylor
PCSO Lisa Tyler
PCSO Laura Smith
PCSO Kirsteen McPhee
PCSO Andrew Morgan

Write to them at: 146 Wandsworth High Street, LondonSW18 4JJ
Phone: 020 8721 243
Mobile: 007920 233930
Email the West Hill team

Upcoming West Hill team meetings and events:

• 01/12/2007 - 12:00 - 14:00 - Drop-in Surgery - 26 Montfort Place SW19
• 05/01/2008 - 12:00 - 14:00 - Drop-in Surgery - 26 Montfort Place SW19

West Putney Team

Sgt Eric Ostrowski
PC Stuart Baggaley
PCSO Sharon Ellis
PCSO Michael Yates

Write to them at: Jubilee House, 230-232 Putney Bridge Road, LondonSW15 2PD
Phone: 020 8721 2760
Mobile: 07747 757590
Email the West Putney team

Thames Water pollute the Wandle

On September 17th, Thames Water accidentally discharged industrial bleach into the River Wandle from their sewage treatment works in Beddington.

As a result, it's estimated that over 2,000 fish died between the plant and Morden - though we can take limited comfort that Thames Water believes that the bleach had so dissipated further downstream that there has been little to no effect on the Southfields stretch of the river, which is of course part of our constituency.

This is just the latest in a catalogue of mishaps and poor service from Thames Water; which includes:

• The discharge of raw sewage straight into the Thames whenever it rains heavily
• The lamentable waste of water through pipe leaks while at the same time the company charges us ever more and lectures us about saving water;
• The poor standard of water quality revealed in the Thames report (which I covered here) and
• Reducing mains water pressure which forced residents living in blocks at the top of Putney Hill to shell out for additional pumping equipment in order to maintain their service

While Thames Water have funded the cleanup and are better monitoring their Beddington sewage plant, it's becoming clear to me that the diffuse regulatory regime governing this company (with responsibility split between the Environment Agency and Ofwat principally) is allowing this company to get away with, quite literally, murder (or at least manslaughter - of Wandle wildlife).

The Longstaffs

These past two weekends I've spent part of my time in Longstaff Crescent, Longstaff Road and the Longstaff Estate.

Longstaff Road and Crescent are two streets of pleasant inter-war council cottages in Southfields just alongside King George's Park; an area I know well because I lived just the other side of the park when I was growing up.

The Longstaff estate is a completely separate development: it's the small council estate just behind the fire station in West Hill, right opposite the junction with Upper Richmond Road.

The common feature which unites these two is that both look distinctly neglected by the Council; in the case of Longstaff Crescent the windows are badly eroded and long overdue for replacement; the Longstaff estate is shabby and grim, with stained brickwork.

Working with local Labour councillors I've now taken up several specific cases of council neglect; it's time the council gave a firm date in the near future for replacing the Longstaff windows given the approach of Winter.

On both occasions the reception was mostly warm and positive - indeed, many people commented positively about the visit given there isn't to be an election for some time. No one could recall a visit by Justine Greening since she became Putney's MP over two years ago.

Voles for the Wandle

The River Wandle and Beverley Brook form, respectively, large parts of the boundary of the Putney constituency: the Wandle separating Southfields from Wandsworth, Earlsfield and Tooting; and Beverley Brook Putney from Richmond Park, East Sheen and Barnes. They are also hidden from public view - and perhaps therefore overlooked - for much of their length - either being routed under development like the Arndale or just difficult to access.

The London Wildlife Trust (LWT) has just announced plans to reintroduce Water Voles, which once were a substantial part of the Wandle's character, following a successful project in nearby Watermeads Island in Mitcham earlier this year. The Water Vole is one of Britain's fastest declining mammals, partly due to human encroachment on their habitat but also because Mink have been hunting them. Shockingly, there is now only one water vole for every 20 that existed just 80 years ago.

The last Wandle Vole was spotted in the 1960s but flood protection work in the 1970s is thought to have ensured their demise. This project, which I fully support, should also see other forms of wildlife cultivated, including dragonflies and Irises, and lead to an even more diverse, interesting and beautiful Wandle.

You can find out more about this and other London Wildlife Trust projects (as well as taking their quiz to find out what London Animal you most closely resemble!) by clicking here and you can visit the River Wandle - which exits into the Thames in Wandsworth town just past Point Pleasant - at a number of spots but especially from King George's Park in Southfields.

Wandsworth Museum

The campaign to save Wandsworth Museum has been producing a regular update on the putneysw15.com discussion forum. This is a cross-party, non-political campaign of local people trying to halt the frankly crazy, wasteful and costly plans by the Council to play musical chairs with the West Hill Library and Wandsworth Museum sites.

I have to say that the group's latest bulletin is remarkable for the clarity and logic in which its arguments are presented, and quite simply devastating to any surviving supporter of these plans. So much so, that I'm reproducing it below - and again, let me make clear that while I support this campaign wholeheartedly, they are not in any way associated with the Labour Party. Here's the bulletin


The public gallery was crowded to overflowing at the meeting of the Environment & Leisure Oversight and Scrutiny Committee (ELOSC) at the Town Hall on 2nd July. The Committee considered and approved proposals for

• The closure of the Museum at the end of 2007 and its relocation from the Courthouse in Garratt Lane to the library part of West Hill


• The closure of the library at West Hill in November 2007 and its move to the Courthouse where it would be amalgamated with Alvering Library which would also be closed

The closure of the Local History Service and its replacement with a Heritage Service

The closure & Relocation of the Museum

The consultants appointed by the Council presented their draft business plan for the relocation of the Museum to West Hill. It was evident that the plan had been prepared within a very tight timescale of just three weeks and against a limited remit. Many of the costings were qualified as rough estimates or subject to confirmation.

The draft business plan makes clear that a minimum of £600,000 from the initial £1.0m offered by the Hintze Foundation will be used up in converting West Hill Library into a museum. This sum would be required to make the library a secure and environmentally sound facility for housing the museum collection and to install and display the collection. However, the consultants emphasised that this was “a very conservative estimate” and did not, for example, include the services of a professional museum designer.

The present Museum, in contrast, was designed and laid out by a well-known museum designer.Staffing at the new museum will be almost half that of the present museum whose 10 full-time equivalent staff includes two curators, two education officers, a documentation specialist and staff with expertise in organising and mounting exhibitions.

The projected total headcount in the new museum, in contrast, is expected to comprise 6 employees:

- a curator
- an education officer
- an administrator and retail supervisor
- a professional fund-raiser
- 2 front of house staff

The draft business plan does not seek to preserve or expand the quality and range of services provided by the present Museum nor build on the excellence of its professionally designed displays. Much of the depth of expertise and breadth of local knowledge offered by the present Museum is certain to be lost. One post will be devoted exclusively to fund-raising and the reasons for this are described later on.Under the plans confirmed by ELOSC, the bulk of the present Museum staff will be made redundant at the end of September 2007. A small number of employees, including the two curators, will be retained so that the Museum can continue to open for 20 hours a week until end December 2007.

In comparison, the Museum is currently open for 34 hours a week.
The projected timescale for closing the present Museum and setting up the new is extremely short – three months from end 2007 to April 2008. There must be serious doubts over just how realistic this is.

The relocation of the Museum from Putney Library to the Courthouse in 1995 took eighteen months’ planning and over six months to complete with a much larger team and a smaller collection.

Financial Issues

The presence of a professional fundraiser in the new Museum is just one indication of how much of a financial challenge will be faced by the charitable company that will be responsible for running it. Wandsworth Council has refused to offer any ongoing revenue support for the new Museum despite the consultants’ comment that “We have not been able to discover another museum previously funded by the local authority before moving into trust status without receiving a significant annual grant from that local authority to part fund the museum’s running costs”.

A brief look at other London boroughs shows how financially committed their councils are to supporting and promoting their local museums:

• Gunnersbury Park Museum: £297,600 - 53% of these costs funded by local authority


• Brent Museum: £150,000 - 77% of these costs funded by local authority


• Croydon Museum: £476,000 - 100% of these costs funded by local authority

Wandsworth Council’s stance is all the more difficult to understand given its discovery a few weeks earlier that the actual financial out-turn for 2006/7 had added £5.7m more than expected to the Council’s General Balance.

The result is that despite the donation from the Hintze Foundation of £200,000 per year for the first five years of its operation, the draft business plan for the new Museum will require the professional fundraiser to bring in £92,000 from external sources. The draft business plan provides no information about where this £92,000 will come from. In addition, the board of the new Museum will be required to generate a further £30,000 a year. It is extremely unclear where the new Museum’s projected income of £122,000 will come from, and it is even less clear how the new Museum will survive in Year 6 when the annual payments of £200,000 from the Hintze Foundation will cease.

The new Board will have to work extremely hard to keep the new Museum afloat financially. One critical element if the new Museum is to secure funding and grants from heritage and other cultural bodies is the need for it to have Accreditation. There is serious doubt over whether the hard-won Accreditation granted to the present Museum can be retained when the collection is moved to a new building, with new staff and subject to a new charitable company.

It will be essential for the new Museum to obtain Accreditation, since otherwise the scope for the fundraiser to win funding and grants from heritage and other cultural bodies will be sharply reduced.

Draft Business Plan Assumptions

The consultants were unequivocal on one point – “A commercial level rent [for West Hill] without considerable rebate or grant aid from WBC will make the entire West Hill museum project inoperable.”

When this issue was raised during the ELOSC Meeting last week, the Council was unwilling to offer any commitment beyond a statement by a Council official that it would look “positively” on the matter. The draft business plan emphasises that anything more than a nominal rent for West Hill Library will make the plan for the Museum unworkable, but the Council has not yet been willing to commit itself even to this.

The Council was equally unclear if the lease for the new Museum at West Hill would include responsibility for repairs and maintenance or whether the Council would volunteer to cover other areas, such as insurance of the museum collection, given the Council’s decision to retain ownership of the collection.

One element of what is a complex equation lies partially in the hands of the De Morgan Foundation. At the ELOSC Meeting on 2nd July, the Council approved a proposal to serve two years’ notice on the Foundation under the terms of their present lease. If the De Morgan collection wishes to remain in the Borough, the Council confirmed a new lease would be put in place whose terms have yet to be negotiated. Should the new lease be unacceptable or should the De Morgan Foundation find a more congenial solution elsewhere, there is a real likelihood it will leave West Hill within the next two years. In such a case, it is unclear if the new Museum would be entitled to expand into the space vacated and, if it were to do so, on what terms. What is evident is that the departure of the De Morgan collection would be a real loss to the Borough and is bound to affect the number of potential visitors to West Hill.

The Council emphasised that the draft Business Plan would have to be adopted by the board of the new charitable company and it would then be for that board to negotiate the details needed to take the Plan forward. Although the Council indicated that Michael and Dorothy Hintze were content with the draft, there remains a substantial task for the board of the new charitable company which will include up to eight other members.

Until the board has finalised and approved a revised Business Plan as well as the various legal agreements that will be needed to underpin the Plan, there is no certainty that the present proposals for the new Museum will proceed as expected.The Wandsworth Museum Campaign Group (WMCG) will continue its work in representing the thousands of residents whose outspoken and continued support for the Museum has been a central factor over the last six months.

The Group wishes the board of the new charitable company every success in its task of establishing a new Museum and remains available to assist in any way it can in the critical process of agreeing and implementing a final business plan.Conversion of the CourthouseThe Council has regularly sought to separate the project for the conversion of the Courthouse into a library from plans for relocating and setting up the new Museum. However, it is beyond argument that their timing and execution are inter-dependent.

At the ELOSC Meeting, the Council disclosed that the cost of converting the Courthouse into a library had now risen from £1.2m to over £1.5m. However, as the Courthouse is a Grade II listed building, this new estimate is still subject to further discussions with and approval from English Heritage who have already rejected previous proposals as unacceptable.

A presentation of plans for the new library confirmed what has been evident since January this year – the result will not be a modern library with convenient access to all facilities on a single floor (as at West Hill and Alvering). Instead, the bulk of the £1.5m will be devoted to overcoming the limitations and eccentricities of a Victorian building whose cellular layout and multiple floors require a host of design and layout compromises.

According to the Council, the rationale for pressing on with a library in the Courthouse a few minutes’ walk from West Hill and Alvering is that it would save some staff costs, release the Alvering site for sale and would automatically attract an extra 100,000 visitors a year. The sole basis for this last statement is a rough analogy with other libraries in the Borough. No research or evidence was presented to confirm that tens of thousands of new users are ready and waiting for a library to open in the Courthouse in exchange for the closure of West Hill and Alvering. The suggestion that the creation of a central library could be deferred until the Ram Brewery site became available was rejected by the Council on the grounds that it was obliged to make savings now and could not afford to wait.

This again sits strangely with the news that the Council has just found a further £5.7m in funds this year. Residents might be forgiven for drawing the conclusion that having made the creation of a library in the Courthouse an absolute article of faith, the Council is prepared to spend a large and increasing amount of tax-payer’s money to achieve this end. And this in the face of the Council’s oft-repeated concern over “continued squeezes in government funding".

Issued on behalf of the Wandsworth Museum Campaign Group on 11th July 2007.
Email: wandsworthmuseumgroup@hotmail.co.uk