Have your say on Putney Place

The image above - which the developers themselves have submitted in support of their plan! - shows just how overbearing and imposing the two proposed Putney Place towers, opposite East Putney Station, will be.

The plans are currently out for consultation: you have until 17 October to have your say. The planning application reference is 2008/3321. You can click here for the Council's "Planning News" leaflet explaining the application.

The Putney Society has arranged a public meeting with the owners of the Putney Place site: it takes place on Thursday 7th October from 7.30pm at St Mary's Church, Putney Bridge. I'll be there.

I'm opposing these plans for five reasons:

• Gross overdevelopment
• Strain on local infrastructure - including parking
• The impact on the local economy the loss of office space will have
• Insufficient affordable housing
• The precedent such a scheme will set

I'm providing regular updates about this and the other over-development planning applications for Putney either pending or being considered by the Council. To keep up-to-date click here, or visit my website and click on issues, and then 'overdevelopment' in the drop-down menu.

The three Rs remain Labour's schools priority

I welcome the Government's plans to extend intensive catch-up programmes to help children in danger of falling behind in reading, writing and maths keep up with their peers.

Labour's priority of keeping pupils of the same year together wherever possible contrasts with the Tories' cruel alternative of failing to help them as they fall behind - and then making them repeat their last year of primary school while all their friends progress to Secondary education.

Since 1997, when Labour was first elected, the proportion of pupils failing to reach basic standards in English and Maths has halved - alongside widespread recognition that Key Stage tests are a more challenging, rigorous measure.

But, for me, if one child gets left behind that's one child too many. So the Government's priority is to continue raising standards and focus on the remaining 11 year olds who do not yet reach the expected levels in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2.

This was something I discussed with the Secretary of State for Schools (photo above) earlier this year when I met with him - because we all want pupils to succeed.

The choice is between the Tories' punitive and regressive approach of holding children back, or with Labour help before they fall so far behind they'll struggle to cope at Secondary School.

The lunacy of articulated lorries in Danebury Avenue
The photo that shows how crazy Tory plans to send supermarket traffic through the centre of Roehampton are!
Click here

Putney at dusk
The latest in an occasional series of photographs from around the constituency Click here

No to no right turns
A strange traffic scheme the Tories concocted in 2006 comes back from the dead
Click here

Razing Merton Road's raised crossing
Stuart calls for action to help Southfields Grid residents get some sleep! Click here

William Gardens: "Squatters out!"
Stuart slams MoD incompetence over abandoned forces housing Click here

Thanks for voting!
Stuart's site voted into the Top 100 political blogs, and 15th most popular Labour blogs in the country Click here

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Stuart's latest putneysw15.com report

Stuart writes a regular report on his work in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields for the local community website
www.putneysw15.com. You can read this week's update here.

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