Graveney News March/April 2010

Andy Gibbons, Rex Osborn and Billi Randall
‘Working with you’
March/April 2010

Around Graveney
• Billi Randall and Rex Osborn visited Tooting Hub, a youth centre for local children.
• 6th March - Rex Osborn and Andy Gibbons attended the Wandsworth Tamil Welfare Association Cultural evening, at which the special guest was Sadiq Khan MP.
• 10th March Andy Gibbons spoke to the full Council meeting on the appalling state of Graveney’s roads.
• 20th March - Rex Osborn attended the Peace Symposium at the Mosque in Morden.
• During February and March we and Sadiq Khan MP have called on residents on around Graveney including the Totterdown Fields estate , St Benedicts and Sellincourt , Trevelyan, Mellison, and Charlmont Roads – to name but a few! Regular readers of our newsletter will know we call on residents right through the year as well as representing their views on the Council’s committees.
• We have also talked with elderly residents in sheltered housing.


Graveney Issues

Refuse collection
There have been difficulties last month with refuse and recycling collection on Mantilla Road due to the gas main replacement works that have been taking place.

We called to residents to ask them about the lack of refuse collections, then immediately contacted Wandsworth Council. Regular refuse collections are important, and we were unhappy that the Council would tell residents that they would have to carry their own refuse bags to neighbouring streets for collection – rather than demand the refuse collectors do this.

Peter Robinson, Assistant Director of Leisure and Amenity Services, replied to us
“Both refuse and recycling collection vehicles were able to gain access to Mantilla Road and all collections took place. I understand that the works are going to be going on for some time and at the moment I am not confident that access will always be possible, however, we are pursuing matters with the contractor and will ensure that collections take place one way or another.”

If you have a problem with your rubbish collection, let us know by e-mailing us at graveney@tootinglabour.org.uk

Potholes
We have continued to report potholes to the council and press them to make repairs. Council managers have told us they held off until the frosty weather is over as this damages the repaired surface. You may have seen that roads are now being marked up for repairs.

Last year we proposed that the Council use £200,000 of their reserves - Council taxpayers cash that is held back for unexpected circumstances – but the Tory group voted this down. Now the government has given extra cash to Wandsworth Council to start repairs straight away.

If you want to report a pothole, get in touch at our email address graveney@tootinglabour.org.uk or join Sadiq Khan’s Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=350248266499&utm_source=E-news+list&utm_campaign=e86a25d9d8-E_news_NDece1h11_4_2009&utm_medium=email

Keep in touch at our website: http://www.labourwandsworth.org.uk/comment/index.htm

Did you know?

Gassiot Road was named after John Gassiot. Born in London, he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman. In 1819 he married Elizabeth Scott and the couple had nine sons and three daughter. In 1822, he joined in business with Spaniard Sebastian Gonzalez Martinez to create the firm of Martinez Gassiot & Co. selling cigars, sherry and port.

He also became an enthusiastic amateur scientist with a particular interest in electricity. He created an amply-provided laboratory at his home on Clapham Common and opened it to his fellow scientists, including James Clerk Maxwell who performed much of his 1860s work on electrical resistance there.

Labour's Pledges to the Wandsworth Electorate

Manifesto for Wandsworth

The Council

The council should be an active force shaping the local area for the common good. It should be a progressive:
• Employer – pay a fair London wage and have the best employment and contractual practices
• Community leader – consult and listen, and encourage progressive practices, such as Fairtrade
• Innovator – especially of green technology and carbon reduction
Wandsworth Tories can NOT do that. They do NOT listen or change. They do NOT innovate.

The Objective:

Everything we do will be targeted at safeguarding our children, our senior citizens and the environment: being fair for the many - not the few.

Children and Young People:

London Labour Boroughs have introduced free care for all 2-5 year old children: Labour Wandsworth will do the same.

Labour will continue the work on improving standards in both our primary and secondary schools.

The Tories have closed a dozen state schools, selling many of them to the private sector. This has left us with a shortage of primary places in many parts of the Borough and a major problem with secondary places in the Balham/ Northcote area, where both Clapham County and Walsingham Schools have been sold in the last 20 years and where the Battersea Labour Party has been campaigning for a new school on the Bolingbroke Hospital site.

Assisted by the Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme, Labour will plan to make sure there are good schools for everyone.

Affordable housing:

Affordable housing should not be an add-on to expensive developments along the riverside, with parking spaces priced at £15,000 a time. It is desperately urgent that housing is not just a choice between very expensive houses and flats, and Council estates. We need genuinely mixed communities, where families, as well as singles and couples, live, work and play together.

Council house sales have been very successful for many but Councils should have invested the proceeds in building more new homes. We must build high quality housing with a range of size, cost and tenure, with some rented and some for sale.

There is still much work to do to raise Council estates to modern standards – double glazing, for example, should be a standard. With the help of the Government’s Decent Homes Programme, Labour will tackle the work still not done by Wandsworth Tories.

The environment:

Wandsworth is faced with pressure from developers to put up mammoth tower developments in Putney, Clapham Junction, Nine Elms and all along the river-front. There is now similar pressure on the Springfield Hospital site in Tooting. The Tories have removed all height controls from their plans and the result will be unsustainable development. All this will change under Labour with human scale development built for the many - not the few.

Care for the ecology will be at the heart of all our planning policies; we will oppose unsustainable developments; the ecological impact of any development will be a decisive factor in our judgement on planning applications, as will the continuing development of the riverside walk and Wandsworth's open spaces.

We will clean up our streets and our estates. It is a disgrace that so many people are embarrassed to bring friends home because they are ashamed of the mess and the potholes in the streets and the conditions on many of our large estates.

It is even more disgraceful that some feel scared in their own neighbourhood. We must continue to press for more police and take back control of our streets.

Rents & charges

Wandsworth has the highest Council rents in the country - more than £10 a week higher than anywhere else. It is also putting up every other charge, for swimming pools, soccer pitch rentals, hall hire, by more than inflation – indeed meals on wheels for the elderly have gone up 25% more than inflation since 2006. The Tories even boast about this policy. We will not be able to change that overnight but we will not continue with a policy of major cost increases.

Fairness for all

Wandsworth Tories do not care what the lowest paid earn – again they boast about that. But they do pay the highest salaries and bonuses in the country. The bonus culture is rife in Wandsworth with the Chief Executive paid more than the Prime Minister and 25 other officers paid over £100,000 - more than any other comparable Council in the country. This year the Council budget assumes ZERO salary inflation, and yet the highest paid Council officers are getting average bonuses of over 7.5% - that means some employees will pay by losing their jobs, residents by higher charges and ALL of us by reduced services.

We will ensure that a Living Wage for London is paid to all our staff and we will end the bonus culture at the top.

The money?

Council Tax is no longer an issue. The Government has taken control of Council Tax across the country, with only 2 Boroughs, both Tory, of London’s 33 increasing the Tax this year. Nearly all the rest, like Wandsworth, have frozen Council Tax.

Inevitably this will put a restraint on our ambitions, but with everyone in the country tightening their belts it would be unfair not to expect the same from the Council. This means we will have to pay for our plans by cutting some things – for example, £2 million on senior staff salaries – and by re-allocating resources. The Tories can NOT do that. They have been there too long and they are stagnant.

Vote for a Labour Council, which will be fair for the many - NOT the few.

Labour's Pledges to the Wandsworth Electorate

Manifesto for Council Elections

The Council

The council should be an active force shaping the local area for the common good. It should be a progressive:
• Employer – pay a fair London wage and have the best employment and contractual practices
• Community leader – consult and listen, encourage Fairtrade
• Innovator – especially green technology and carbon reduction
Wandsworth Tories can NOT do that. They do NOT listen or change. They do NOT innovate.

The Objective:

Everything we do will be targeted at safeguarding our children, our senior citizens and the environment: being fair, for the many not the few.

Children and Young People:

London Labour Boroughs have introduced free care for all 2-5 year old children: Labour Wandsworth will do the same.

Labour will continue the work on improving standards in both our primary and secondary schools.

The Tories have closed a dozen state schools and selling many of them to the private sector. This has left us with a shortage of primary places in many parts of the Borough and a major problem with secondary places in the Balham:Northcote area, where both Clapham County and Walsingham Schools have been sold in the last 20 years.

Assisted by the Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme, Labour will plan to make sure there are good schools for everyone.

Affordable housing:

Affordable housing should not be an add-on to expensive developments along the riverside, with parking spaces priced at £15,000 a time. It is desperately urgent that housing is not just a choice between the very expensive and Council estates. We need genuinely mixed communities, where families, as well as singles and couples, live, work and play together.

Council house sales have been very successful for many but Councils should have invested the proceeds in building more new homes. We must build high quality housing with a range of size, cost and tenure, with some rented and some for sale.

There is still much work to do to raise Council estates to modern standards – double glazing, for example, should be a standard. With the help of the Government’s Decent Homes Programme, Labour will tackle the work still not done by Wandsworth Tories.

The environment:

Wandsworth is faced with pressure from developers to put up mammoth tower developments in Putney, Clapham Junction, Nine Elms and all along the river-front. There is now similar pressure on the Springfield Hospital site in Tooting. The Tories have removed all height controls from their plans and the result will be unsustainable development. All this will change under Labour with human scale development built for the many and not just the few.

We will clean up our streets and our estates. It is a disgrace that so many people are embarrassed to bring friends home because they are ashamed of the mess and the potholes in the streets and the conditions on many of our large estates.

It is even more disgraceful that some feel scared in their own neighbourhood. We must continue to press for more police and take back control of our streets.

Rents & charges

Wandsworth has the highest rents in the country - more than £10 a week higher than anywhere else. It is also putting up every other charge, swimming pools, soccer pitch rentals, hall hire, by more than inflation – indeed meals on wheels for the elderly have gone up 25% more than inflation since 2006. The Tories even boast about this policy. We will not be able to change that overnight but we will not continue with a policy of major cost increases.

Fairness to all

Wandsworth Tories do not care what the lowest paid earn – again they boast about that. But they do pay the highest salaries and bonuses in the country. The bonus culture is rife in Wandsworth with the Chief Executive paid more than the Prime Minister and 25 other officers paid over £100,000 - more than any other comparable Council in the country. This year the Council budget assumes ZERO salary inflation, and yet the highest paid Council officers are getting average bonuses of over 7.5% - that means some will pay by losing their jobs, some by higher charges and ALL of us by reduced services.

We will ensure that a Living Wage for London is paid to all our staff and we will end the bonus culture at the top.

The money?

Council Tax is no longer an issue. The Government has taken control of Council Tax across the country, with only 2 Boroughs, both Tory, of London’s 33 increasing the Tax this year. Nearly all the rest, like Wandsworth, have frozen Council Tax.

Inevitably this will put a restraint on our ambitions, but with everyone in the country tightening their belts it would be unfair not to expect the same from the Council. This means we will have to pay for our plans by cutting some things – for example, £2 million on senior staff salaries – and by re-allocating resources. The Tories can not do that. They have been there too long and they are stagnant.

Vote for a Labour Council, which will be fair for the many NOT the few.

Mayor Brian Prichard dies in office

It might seem rather curious to enter an obituary about a Tory Mayor on a Labour website, but there is good reason. Brian, who died on the night of 6/7 April, 2010, was the last in a long family line of Prichards, who served as councillors on Battersea Borough Council, Wandsworth Council, the London County Council and the Greater London Council.

The first, his grandfather, became a councillor just before WW1; the most famous his father, Sir Norman Prichard, served until he died in office; his uncle was a Battersea and LCC councillor and Brian, the last in the line, was first a Labour councillor and then a Tory. In all they were councillors for over 150 years and there were less than 10 years in the whole of the 20th century when there was not a Prichard councillor in the Borough.

Brian was an up-right, God fearing, responsible member of the community; he was notorious as the first teetotaller Mayor; a man who insisted at the various Mayoral receptions in having a large notice next to the tray of wine saying “Alcohol can do serious damage to your health”.

That may sound humourless but if you knew Brian it was the absolute opposite. It was his way of humanising his rather puritanical attitudes to many elements of life including his politics.

In the 70's, Brian was pitch-forked into the turbulence of the Housing Finance Act and what he thought of as the illegality of so-called non-implementation of a Tory law. It was clear that he went through much soul searching and political re-consideration. What is more he came under a certain amount of attack from his young, leftish colleagues, one of whom publicly challenged him to go where his heart clearly was and join the Tory party.

Brian took the hint and in 1973 some few months before the 1974 Council election he resigned as a Labour councillor only to be re-elected a few months later as a Tory councillor. Unlike many politicians, who have crossed the floor and not put themselves before the electorate, Brian, to his credit, stood the democratic test and waited to be re-elected in his own right as a Conservative.

Not that he was able to cast aside all of his Labour attitudes and some of the most enjoyable occasions in recent Wandsworth history was to watch Brian with his censorious attitude to drugs of all descriptions, legal or not, in debate with some of the Tory libertarians, of whom there are many on Wandsworth Council.

Brian was ascetic, puritanical and censorious, but he was a man of nice judgement, considerable intellect, as evidenced by his professional medical career and of some honour. Wandsworth Council will miss him.

6th May 2010 - there is a Council Election as well!

Just how well have you been represented during the last 4 years? Well, of course, attendance at Council and Committee Meetings is not everything but perhaps for £10,000 a year - yes all councillors now get at least £10,000 a year - you should be able to count on a reasonable record.

After all it is the case that if you are not there then you can't do much, can you? So what does the record show for last year, 2009?

Of 60 councillors the 15 with the lowest attendance record are ALL Conservative councillors! Three Tory councillors Paul Reeve (4), Marc Hope (4) and Penny Bradford (7) have made a total of 15 appearances for their £30,000 of salaries. Yes, that is £2,000 per evening attendance! At the top end of the scale the 3 most assiduous attenders, two of whom are Labour, clocked up 93 attendances.

And as for ward teams well it is very notable that the worst represented wards in the Borough, by far, are Roehampton and Queenstown. Roehampton's Bradford and Scott Caisley are both in the lowest attending 7 of 60 councillors and all 3 of the Queenstown councillors are in the bottom half of the attendance tables. No other ward gets anywhere near the shameless record of these 6 Tory councillors.

Whatever your politics surely Roehampton and Queenstown deserve better than that? They are after all two of the three most deprived areas in the Borough - according to official Council stats.

N.B. These figures are taken from the official minutes held on the Council's website for Committee and Council meetings. They exclude party meetings, surgeries, etc. I have also excluded Cabinet members, who appear to have a low attendance record but are not officially members of committees.

Lister defends Ashcroft

Last night, Wandsworth Tory Leader Cllr Lister defended the Baron of Belize, Lord Ashcroft. Lister said that we (the residents of Wandsworth) should be eternally grateful for "Ashcroft pouring large sums of money into (Putney's) Ashcroft Academy". He went on to say that it mattered not whether Ashcroft was a non-dom or not, or indeed that he had no idea actually how much Ashcroft had put into the Academy, or indeed whether the money was tainted in any way because "his contributions were probably tax deductible".

Surely these were curious comments to make about a man, who is notoriously secretive about his tax status and who quite probably does not pay as much in taxation as his many cleaners. Just perhaps the fact that Lister was one of Ashcroft's employees had just a little to do with his comments. Not to mention, of course, that both Lister and Wandsworth Mayor Cllr Prichard sit on the Academy's board, of which Ashcroft is - naturally - the Chairman.

Meanwhile Tories voted 34 against Labour's 9 NOT to save £2 million being spent on bonuses for staff paid more than double the London average salary and using the savings to reduce charges for meals on wheels for the elderly and to allow some increase in wages for the lowest paid of Council staff.

Labour Councillors Response to Frozen Council Tax

Today, 10th March, is Wandsworth's Council Tax Debate. We all know that Council Tax will be frozen and welcome the fact that in these difficult times there will not be an increased burden on Wandsworth's Council Taxpayers. That is both Wandsworth Council's and the Labour Government's intent, with we understand in London only Tory Bromley Council imposing a 3% increase.



To do this, however, the Council is assuming Zero inflation on Town Hall pay - fair enough you might say but there is no indication of how that is to be applied. With some of the highest paid staff in local government, with all the highest paid on very generous bonuses, Labour councillors will today argue that any pay variations should be for the benefit of the lowest paid and paid for by the highest paid.



Labour councillors therefore argue for the abolition of Wandsworth Council's very expensive bonus culture and the distribution of that money between the lowest paid and those, usually the elderly, suffering the highest charges for Council services. For example Wandsworth residents needing meals on wheels have suffered a 26% increase in costs ABOVE INFLATION in the last 4 years.



The amendment put by the Labour Councillors in favour of this policy can be seen in the following file: Budget%20amendment%2010310.doc