600 say street drinking must stop

The photo above was taken yesterday evening when I handed in petitions signed by over 600 Roehampton and Putney people demanding an Alcohol Exclusion Zone in Roehampton.

Councillors Rex Osborn (left) and Billi Randall will have the job of pushing the Conservative majority on the council to get serious about this issue. Our petition now has to be acknowledged and responded to by the Conservatives - and either they accept the will of Roehampton or they stand in opposition to it.

This is a huge response and the idea clearly commands widespread support, as witenssed by the fact that the majority of signatures came not from the campaign cards I sent out but from those who signed the petitions in local shops including the Right Plaice chip shop and the post office in Danebury Avenue.

The other thing I know Roehampton residents want to tell the council is: get on with it - this has been a problem for years and the Conservative council has done nothing whatsoever about it.

Even now, instead of doing what residents want, Conservative councillors in Roehampton are talking about getting the street drinkers to sign pieces of paper promising to turn over a new leaf.

This isn't good enough: it won't solve the problem and it doesn't give the police the powers they need to improve Roehampton for good. Nothing less than a complete ban on street drinking in the Danebury Avenue area - which includes the village, the Petersfield Rise parade and the Portswood Place parade will do.

Roehampton residents have done their bit. Now it's time for the Conservative council - for once - to do right by Roehampton.

Our duty to the developing world

The public meeting I hosted recently with International Development Minister Gareth Thomas MP was a big success. Despite the blustery weather dozens of Putney residents ventured out to listen and contribute on this issue which means a lot to me.

A cross section of the Putney community turned up to hear Gareth field a series of questions spanning the globe - from the piracy problems in Somalia; the Israel/Palestine conflict; Kosovo; resolving the Doha trade round in order to bring greater prosperity to developing nations - and, as Gareth freely admitted, the first ever question he has been asked about the Turks & Caicos islands!

In closing the meeting, I thanked Gareth for attending, Revd. Jim McKinney - the vicar of Holy Trinity Church Roehampton - for chairing and Mo Smith and Regenerate RISE for the kind use of their premises at The Platt Christian Centre in Felsham Road.

It was also nice to see some of our Liberal Democrat friends in the audience - this was a public meeting open to all; they were most welcome, and they contributed to the discussion.

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Published and promoted by Adam Gray on behalf of Stuart King, both of 35 Felsham Road, Putney, London SW15 1AY