Archive | August 2015
August 31, 2015  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere September Newsletter (# 76)

August highlights

  1. The Planning Applications Committee was held on the 12th August, but there really was nothing of any great significance on the agenda and no Latchmere application at all. However, did you see the fantasy proposal for a swimming pool in the sky, which got the following coverage in the Daily Telegraph?1134862[1]

“Glass-bottomed floating ‘sky pool’ to be unveiled in London”

The “world first” pool will be suspended 35 metres above the ground between two buildings near Battersea Power Station. Residents of London’s Embassy Gardens apartment complex will be able to swim between two high-rise blocks of flats via a “floating” glass-bottomed swimming pool 10 storeys above ground. Resembling an ‘aquarium in the sky’, it is said to be the first pool in the world to link two residential buildings.

The transparent and structure-free pool, designed by Arup Associates and developed by the Ballymore Group, will be 90 by 19 feet, encased in eight inch-thick glass, and have a water depth of around four feet. It will offer aerial views of the capital, including the Houses of Parliament. Residents of the planned luxury flats in Wandsworth will also be able to access a rooftop deck at both ends of the pool which will offer sun loungers, a spa, a bar and an orangery, while an additional bridge between the two buildings forms a dry walkway for both residents and visitors.

“The Sky Pool’s transparent structure is the result of significant advancements in technologies over the last decade. The experience of the pool will be truly unique, it will feel like floating through the air in central London,” said Ballymore Group chairman and CEO, Sean Mulryan. The floating pool is expected to be completed by 2018 and will be available for the exclusive use of residents at the 2,000 home complex where flats are priced from £600,000.”

Can this be serious? Is some developer really suggesting such vulgarity from the insanely rich at the same time as there is an acute shortage of housing in the city? If so then they really are asking for riotous responses! I should say that I have seen nothing from the Council to suggest that there really is such an application.

But I also notice that one Chinese billionaire building a hotel in Nine Elms took a $3 billion+ hit on 24th August Black Monday in the Chinese stock exchange so just possibly the bubble is really going to burst!Christchurch2

  1. Did you see that the Citizens of Battersea War Memorial in Christchurch Gardens (that’s the one in Cabul Road) has been named a Grade II listed monument. The memorial (photographed here) consists of sheltered public seating in the contemplative setting of a small neighbourhood green space where people can quietly pay their respects to civilians from Battersea whose lives were mainly lost in Second World War bombing raids. The monument was first unveiled in 1952, next to the ruins of a mid-19th century church whichchristchurch4 was itself bombed and destroyed during the war. The replacement church that now stands at this location – Christ Church and St Stephen – was built in 1959. Christchurch Gardens was the original churchyard but converted to a public open space in 1885.
  2.  I showed a picture of the 19th century church in a recent newsletter and some time back reported that the old brass plaque had been stolen. The plaque has been replaced by the modern inscription shown on the left.
  3. And did you also notice the local story headed “Party’s over: Late night licence breaches spell end for troubled pub: Last orders: The Princes Head in Falcon Road”
  4.  This story told of The Princes Head’s (pictured right) failure to have its licence renewed in June. The pub had announced its intention to fight the order but in August it decided to drop its appeal It will now close. A few years back I represented residents at a Licensing Committee hearing, when the pub was granted the licence but only with conditions, including conditions that the sale of alcohol at the pub should stop at 11pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30pm on a Sunday, regulations  – a condition, which has been regularly ignored by the licence holder.
  5. In evidence till rolls from the bar showed that on occasionFalcon Head, Falcon Road the last drink was served at 3.05am. The landlord claimed that the event was a party for his son who had paid for all drinks before 11pm and he was merely using the till to keep track of the drinks. On another occasion, 155 entries were put through the till after 11pm to the tune of £850 and in a final visit police people drinking well after closing time.
  6. In general, I very much regret the closure of pubs, which is continuing apace across the country but the Prince’s Head has been trying the patience of many of its neighbours for far too long. Let’s hope we get a decent replacement of affordable properties, possibly with some new shopping on the ground floor.
  7. I said last month that I was not going to say anything about the Labour Leadership contest and I am still not going to say who I am voting for because I genuinely have not finally decided – though I am pretty certain of it. However, I do think that Burnham, Cooper and Kendall are not doing themselves any favours by making their views clear about Corbyn in the way that they are. He is expressing views on a range of subjects, and most particularly the Iraq War, which are widely held by many across the country. To reject the man expressing those views so dismissively is not what I would call good politics.
  8. I am, however, going to support Tessa Jowell to be Labour’s candidate for London Mayor, despite her main opponent Sadiq Khan having been a fellow councillor of mine in Wandsworth for 12 years. Tessa’s track record of achievement over the years and in particular her role in both winning and delivering the Olympics for London gives her a claim, which I don’t believe any other candidate can equal. Some will claim that Tessa is too old for the job. Well she is about the same age as Hilary Clinton, who is running to be the US President, and much younger than many successful past Prime Ministers of this country. Her age is no problem for me and shouldn’t be for anyone else.
  9. In late August I (and my partner) spent a week on a narrow boat on the Llangollen Canal, on the border between Wales and Shropshire. You may have noticed that it rained rather a lot and we were almost drowned (I joke) by a tremendous thunder storm just as we were making our last mooring – ever tried tying the ropes, and avoiding falling in, in torrential rain? However, despite that, it was great fun including crossing two aqueducts and going through three tunnels. P1000497The canal has two major engineering feats. The ‘pioneering masterpiece of engineering’ by which the early civil engineers crossed the difficult landscape between Chirk and Llangollen has resulted in the 18 kilometre length being awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2009.The aqueducts at Chirk and Pontcysyllte were built by the engineers Thomas Telford and William Jessop and were among the first to use cast iron troughs to contain the canal. At Chirk Aqueduct the trough is supported by conventional masonry arches and hidden inside the masonry, almost as if the engineers were not confident of their new material. But at the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct the trough is exposed and sits atop 120 foot high slender masonry towers. When you cross it by boat there is an exhilarating sheer drop on the non-towpath side! The picture gives just a little idea of what it is like crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – with no guard-rail!
  10. Stop Press (as they used to say, in the old days). Have you seen the notice on Latchmere Recreation Ground promising new improvement works? The Council’s intention is to remove the large are of tarmac and restore it to parkland. I don’t know how long it has been tarmac but it is good get that bit of the recreation ground back!

My Programme for September 

  1. On September 12th, we will find out who the Labour Leader is and who is our candidate for Mayor. No doubt, there will be much discussion about that!
  2. On the 16th, I have the Planning Applications Committee and the day after the Education Committee.
  3. On either Sunday 20th September, I am doing my “history walk” from the Latchmere pub to the Battersea Arts Centre. It takes about 2 hours and is pretty well guaranteed to show you a new side of Battersea, even if you have lived here for years and years. All-comers are welcome and so if you are interested please let me know by email – though I should make it clear I charge £10 as a fee, which goes towards my election expenses!
  4. And, of course, there will be the Labour Party Conference, which after the mauling we suffered in the General Election and the announcement of a new Leader will, I am sure, be a fascinating week.

Did you know?

Not many people answered last month’s question: “Who or what is Poyntz of Poyntz Road and why would a Battersea road be called such?” and actually I must confess not many people seem to have been that interested! Bob replied saying, “as a Poyntz Rd resident it’s probably unfair of me to say Spencers, Manor of Battersea etc.”, which I accept as a correct but not very explicit answer. So for those, who want to know more:-

Poyntz was chosen as a Battersea street name as it was the maiden name of Margaret Georgiana Spencer (1737-1814), wife of John, 1st Earl Spencer, and the Spencers were “lords of the manor of Battersea”. They were a fabulously wealthy and fashionable couple, famous for sponsoring the artists of their day. Their eldest child was the notorious Duchess of Devonshire, the “star” of the 2008 film the Duchess, in which she is played by Keira Knightley.

Our Poyntz, Margaret, was the great-great-great-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, herself at one point a Battersea resident.

And finally, talking of the Spencers and the Manor of Battersea, just how many places and names can you think of in Battersea, which are in some way related to the Spencer family. I reckon that I can reach at least a dozen without too much thought. How many can you get and please list them for me?

August 27, 2015  

Public accountability vs commercial confidentiality

The case for and against E-Racing in Battersea Park

Amidst all the political events of 2015, the General Election, the impending demise (or is it revival? and actually probably neither) of the Labour Party and the build-up to the London Mayoral elections, one local event stands out for displaying political and even moral issues with extraordinary clarity. That event was the final race of the inaugural season of Formula E racing.

The race took place on 28th June in Battersea Park. The winner, appropriately enough, was local Wandsworth boy Sam Bird. Look him up on Google and, until you refine the search a bit, you get nothing, nada, zilch. This tends to justify those, and there were plenty, who described the race as a trivial event for Dinky toys, with none of the speed, noise and glamour of the real thing – Formula 1.

But the top three racers, crowned in Battersea Park as 2015 World Champions, were Nelson Piquet Jnr., Sebastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi, all of whom have been involved at the very top of motor racing and must be described as top rate drivers. In addition, the location of the season’s races reads like a compendium of some of the top world destinations. They were, in sequence, Beijing, Putrejaya (a suburb of Kuala Lumpur), Punta del Este (a Uruguayan seaside resort), Buenos Aires, Miami, Long Beach, Monaco, Berlin, Moscow and London’s Battersea Park.

To state the obvious motor racing is trying to expand into a new area, perhaps merely just a new commercial opportunity but maybe just possibly the “petrolheads” recognise that they need to present a more ecological image and a more family focused, less “macho” image. It doesn’t take much imagination to see that London Mayor, Boris Johnson, and Wandsworth Tory Council might want to jump on that bandwagon.

Well, maybe, you might say but what has that got to do with using a major public park over a long week-end in high summer, more or less to the exclusion of all other park users? Indeed, it was more than the week-end, with barriers and lorries, minor road works and “offensive” security staff getting in the way of normal park users for much of June.

Local opinion is clearly divided, but, not surprisingly, the nearer you get to the Park the greater the majority against the use of it for such purposes, and the further away the less the opposition. Indeed, there was quite a large number of supporters for the race in some of the major estates a mile or so away from the Park.

However, the most interesting arguments about the race centre on the issue of what people perceive to be appropriate uses for a public park.

There is a substantial core of people, who argue that a publicly provided facility, such as a park, should never be used for private profit, even to the extent of excluding ice cream vendors or park cafés. I imagine that municipally run ice cream vans and cafés might be acceptable to this minority, but this seems to be complicating the argument rather in today’s climate (of privatisation and private provision of services)!

But once the absolute principle is breached then it becomes, as so often, a case of drawing lines. In Battersea Park, for example, there is a privately run café; ice cream vendors do ply their trade; there is a privately run Children’s Zoo; and more contentiously there is a big tent, where beer festivals, art fairs, commercial and charitable entertainments are frequent occurrences. None of this would happen, however, if these events were not fulfilling a need, or responding to a demand.

But there is no doubt that the Formula E-race, and the threat of 5 more years of such racing is more than just a step change from the other examples. Let’s assume, as is clearly the organisers intention, that the disturbance to the Park will not be on the same scale in future years – they have learnt lessons about the barriers and the staffing. Nevertheless, for at least 2 and probably 3 or 4 days in high summer, use of the Park will be severely curtailed. Should it be allowed?

My argument is that it is a matter of degree, a matter of drawing lines. Should we or should we not allow Formula E a 5 year extension in Battersea Park? As a Wandsworth councillor I will be one of 60 making that decision. But there is a problem! I know, or can easily find out, how much the café business pays for the benefit of using the café building. I know the income that the Council gets from the other operations and, more importantly, I can tell my constituents and the public at large what that income is and why I think that justifies use of the Park for those operations.

I don’t know the income from Formula E, or more honestly I am constrained from telling the public because of “commercial confidentiality”. In other words, I am (and 59 other councillors are) saying to the public it is my (our) judgement that use of the Park for 3 or 4 days is (or is not) worth, say, £1 million. Now I don’t mind making that call. I was elected, I believe, to take such decisions. But what is problematic is that the public is not really in a position to judge my (or our) decision because the public is not allowed to know whether we are talking about an income of £1million or £10million. Or to make the same point a different way, whether we are talking about £1million or £10million’s worth fewer cuts in other Council services – that being the reality of local government finance today.

It is a matter of “commercial sensitivity”, because the Council bureaucracy has said it is. Indeed, I have received the following eloquent response from the Town Hall. “The reasoning that we are using and quoting is that disclosure into the public domain would be deemed prejudicial to the commercial interests of both the Council and Formula E. If the Council decides to continue with the event, it is likely that there will be competition to provide a site for Formula E after five years, and at that point (subject to experience of the first five years) the Council may want to bid against other interested parties to continue to host the event, and so the sum agreed would be of interest to commercial competitors. Equally, Formula E would not want their other venue hosts, world-wide, to know details of the financial deal with the Council. It’s therefore our view that there is a greater public interest in maximising the Council’s ability to compete for the right to host the event beyond the current contract (if such is decided)” than [my phrasing] for councillors to be able to justify their decision to the public.

So the argument is posed: is the perceived “commercial sensitivity” of this decision more important or not than the accountability of councillors to their electorate? Should the electorate simply take their elected representatives’ judgement on trust? Or should they have all the information so that, whether or not they agree with the councillors’ judgement, they can at least see the case and the grounds for the decision.

Two recently Tory but now independent councillors, Cllrs Cousins and Grimston, have made their position clear and voted against the use of the Park for E-Racing. But actually is their position any more defensible than any others of us. Without knowing how much money they are prepared to forego for the sake of keeping the Park untouched, how can we/they argue the rights and wrongs of their case?

I suspect that there will always be conflicts between the demands for “commercial confidentiality” and democratic accountability, and once again it will be a matter of drawing lines, or of making judgements. But surely, in the last analysis, democratic accountability has to have priority over “commercial confidentiality”?

August 27, 2015  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere August Newsletter (# 75)

July highlights

  1. On the morning of July 2nd I had a meeting of the       Academies & Free School Commission. This curious organisation has immense power over our schools, is totally secretive and completely undemocratic. It is in effect a local agent for the Education Secretary of State. And it is what you get, I suppose, for trying – as the Tories clearly are – to by-pass local education authorities without actually abolishing them. Very odd! By the way, don’t ask me what it does! It is all smoke and mirrors and would take an essay to explain!Thames Christian College
  2.  In the afternoon, I went to the Grand to see a fine performance of Gershwin’s Crazy for You performed by Latchmere’s Thames Christian College. Forgive the crummy picture but here are Oscar and Jasmin, leading in the grand finale!
  3. The Council Meeting, on the 8th July, was a tepid affair, which has long since gone from the memory. Once upon a time, irate constituents would heckle from the public gallery and throw toilet rolls at the councillors but now it is quieter than a vicarage tea party. The Council Meetings need to have life breathed back into them! That was followed two days later by my councillor’s surgery at Battersea Reference Library – no one turned up. Like Council Meetings, surgeries also need to be re-thought. A few years ago constituents actually went to surgeries but nowadays people send me, or Wendy Speck and Simon Hogg (my fellow councillors), emails.
  4. Much more fun was the Triangle (Poyntz, Shellwood, IMG_1261Knowsley Roads) Street Party on the 11th July. I fear that there might have been slightly fewer in attendance than usual, which was a shame because it is always a good evening with visits from the Fire Brigade and, usually, the Mayor. Here a few of the youngsters get to inspect a fire engine.
  5. The Planning Applications Committee was held on July 14th. There were plenty of small development schemes, mostly as usual of loft extensions but three were of major significance, and one in particular to Latchmere.
  6. That was for the demolition of the Homebase site, the one opposite the end of Plough Road currently having a stock clearance sale, and the construction in its place of a mega, largely residential block. It will actually have 6, 7, 9, 11 and 21-storey elements to the development and include 254 residential units, some 10% of which will be so-called “affordable” units.The really interesting part of this development application was that the first two floors are almost totally dedicated to the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), providing 6 dance studios, a 150 seat theatre, etc., etc. (The bit that swung it for me was free instruction for pensioners – I have never mastered the foxtrot – yes the RAD promotes all forms of dance not just ballet). Currently based in Battersea Square, RAD is housed in inadequate premises and yet it attracts 2,000 foreign visitors a year. It is a leading cultural centre and, of course, fosters arts employment. But putting all that aside, the development has substantial daylight and sunlight impacts on the many vociferous and articulate neighbours Indeed there were 1160 objections from local residents. The Tory councillors were very keen to avoid any decision on this application prior to the election, but now they happily passed it. It’s a shame but let’s hope that the good elements of the scheme outweigh the problems.
  7. The second major application related to the building that isMarco Polo House replacing the Marco Polo building on Queenstown Road. The proposal was to add 4 storeys to an already approved (and currently being built) 14 storey development. The extra 4 storeys would add 35 residential units of which a huge (?) 13, i.e. 40%+ would be affordable. Personally I thought the building looked better with the 4 storeys added – just suited the shape and location better for me. But I was in a minority of one, because from one location in the Park the application adversely affected the view of the Power Station. It was rejected – and for those who have already forgotten (or never knew) it, here is the Marco Polo building as was.
  8. The third major application related to Putney High Street and was the site between Lacy and Felsham Roads. It was an OK but not distinguished application for residential and shops, which would be an improvement on what is there now, but by common consent was one storey too high to fit into the largely coherent Putney High Street townscape – hence unanimously rejected. Note that in Putney a development that is one storey too high gets refused but, if it is in Battersea, any size will do!
  9. On Wednesday 15th July, in the morning I visited CringleIMG_1266 Dock and Feathers Wharf. You might know Feathers Wharf because it is the Borough’s municipal tip, rather grandly known as a Civic Amenities Site and hence very important to us all. Between the two of them they deal with more of our rubbish than is produced by the whole of Wales. Rubbish from Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham is processed there as well as Wandsworth. The two sites are run by the Western Riverside Waste Authority or WRWA. The WRWA has a problem in that both sites are on expensive bits of river-front and live alongside expensive new blocks of flats. That is what they wanted to talk to me, and other members of the Planning Committee, about. Their very ambitious plan is to deck over Cringle Dock and build flats over it! I hope this picture of Feathers Wharf and its giant cranes gives some idea of the scale of the task!
  10. In that same afternoon, I was off to Falconbrook School, IMG_1273representing Battersea United Charities, for the school’s Passing Out parade. It was not exactly a parade but a commemorative occasion to mark the last day of term and, indeed, the last day at primary school for Year 6. It was an entertaining occasion. Here are some of Year 6 giving their impressions of school life at Falconbrook.
  11. IMG_1275On 16th July Battersea Society had its summer party at St. Mary’s Church on the riverfront. It was a delightful evening and this picture gives some idea of the riverfront at sunset.
  12. The next day I went to visit friends in South Wales and fromP1000224 there to the Black Mountains Gliding Club. It was a glorious day, and from about 3,000 feet (900 metres), there was a magnificent view from the Bristol Channel to Snowdonia – that was really splendid. Here I am strapped in for take-off. By the way, Andrew, who is strapped in behind me did all the real gliding, although I did take over the controls once we were up there!
  13. On the 22nd July I went to a Crossrail 2 briefing session in York Gardens Library. I am not sure how many people realise it but Crossrail 2 running from Tottenham Hale to Wimbledon via Clapham Junction is planned to be opened, subject to lots of contingencies, by 2030. When/If it comes, it would mean 8 minute journeys from CJ to Tottenham Court Road. To achieve this timetable, work would have to start on a massive CJ interchange station by the end of 2017. It would be located where the bus stand and the Peacock, once Meyrick Arms, pub are. Those of us who were present, including representatives of the Battersea and Wandsworth Societies, councillors from both Labour and Tory parties, York Road estate tenants and the Council’s Planning Department, look like being roped into the Crossrail CJ stakeholders group! That was obviously sensible, since Crossrail will need to consult regularly with local residents. Stop Press. The Falcons Estate (Battersea) Ltd. Committee has this evening (24/7/15) asked me to get them invited, too. (Not to be confused with the Falcon Estate, the Falcons is what some of us will remember used to be called the Livingstone Estate)
  14. I have had quite a few responses about Formula E and Battersea Park. They have been far from unanimous one way or the other, although I must say that those against, perhaps not surprisingly, tend to live nearer the Park and to be more vociferous than those in favour. One thing is clear though and that is, IF the Council agrees to further use of the Park (and I think it probably will), then steps must and will be taken to lessen the disruption to the Park and its users.
  15. The decision will, I think, be taken by the appropriate Committee and Council in September/October. Believe it, or not, I currently have an open-mind on the matter but I will be very opposed to the commercial confidentiality arguments that say we, neither the public nor the councillors, can’t be told the real financial benefits, if any. It is just not acceptable that disruption to a major London facility can happen as result of a secret deal.
  16. I can’t write a Newsletter, as a Labour councillor, without referring to the Labour Leadership contest; an event that does not seem to be enthusing anyone even with 6 weeks to go – but I am not going to bat for any one candidate. However, I will say that I think it unfortunate that Miliband resigned so quickly. I know the guy, and his wife, though not well, and I can imagine that they were both desperate to get back to a personal life; but I think that a better option for the party would have been if he had said something like, “I will step down in, say, September 2017, so that in the next two years we can have a full discussion about the 2015 result and a well-organised leadership election.” Ever since we switched to having fixed terms, just like in the USA, the logic is to move to choosing one’s leader nearer to the coming election – more like the American primary system.

My Programme for August 

On the 12th I have the Planning Applications Committee, but let’s be honest most of the rest of the time I am off, on my hols, having what I hope will be a good time – indeed I am off on 25th July and hence this very early edition of the August newsletter!

Did you know?

Last month I asked “In the generation before 1828 another Prime Minister fought a duel in Wandsworth and, what is more, two other “gentlemen” both of whom also became Prime Minister later on, also did so”. I was impressed by how many could name William Pitt, the younger, who fought a duel on Putney Heath in 1798 against George Tierney, and George Canning and Viscount Castlereagh, who fought another duel in 1809 on Putney Heath, when one was Foreign Secretary and the other Minister for War – and that was at the height of the Napoleonic War and we think modern politics can get a bit rough! But thanks also to one reader, who correctly pointed out that Castlereagh never actually did become PM – Canning did in 1827 – I owe that reader a pint and knowing him, he won’t forget!

I also asked about this lion. Not a single answer but he lives at 12 Macduff Road, off Battersea Park Road, nearly opposite Tesco.

And this month’s question? Who or what is Poyntz of Poyntz Road and why would a Battersea road be called such? Poyntz Road is part of the Triangle, see 4 above and off Latchmere Road.