Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere March, 2016, Newsletter (# 82)

1. On February 2^nd, I was briefed on the plans for, what I called last month, the Tesco block on Falcon Road, though strictly speaking neither of the two planned retail units are definitely going to be Tescos – that is yet to be decided. The intention is to do a comprehensive re-development, between Khyber and Patience Roads, with retail on the ground floor and four storeys of residential units above. How many of these will be affordable (in the modern jargon definition of affordable) is up for negotiation. These indicative drawings of the development show the intention: it will have an adverse impact on 1-15 Patience Road and maybe on sunlight in 2-8 Patience Road. However, by the standards of some of the giant developments nearby this is unexceptional. OK, I hope you agree.
2. I went to the SNT Meeting, on 4^th February at the George Shearing Centre, in Este Road. SNT is police jargon for the police Special Neighbourhood Team and they have quarterly meetings with a number of local representatives of resident associations and tenant groups, where issues of ”Latchmere interest” are discussed. Unfortunately, because of clashes with other meetings, I often cannot get there. The police told us that there were 8 more crimes in January than there had been in January last year but that there had been a fall of 28 in December compared with the previous year. The good news is that on the whole the trend across the Borough has, for some years, been downwards.
3. One minor pleasure of being a councillor for many years is that occasionally someone, usually a student of politics or journalism, wants to come and write an essay based on your experiences. On 10th February, Andri, a  Roehampton student of journalism came along to quiz me on the nature and significance of local politics – so that he could write a paper on the subject. It gives one a chance to indulge in the kind of self-centred ramblings that constituents would never put up with. Fun – and it ended far too soon! I hope that Andri’s essay got a good mark!
4. On 11^th February I had the first of two Education and Children’s Services Committees. Two important items were under discussion, namely the Schools Admissions system and Pupil Place Planning. However, as the transfer between primary and secondary schools seems to have happened quite smoothly this year there was not much to say on the admissions system except “steady as she goes”. Since the Committee met, the potential shortage of secondary school places across the country has been national news. It has been said that the country may have a shortfall of one million places in 5-10 years’ time. And certainly local authorities have protested about the absurdity created by the current Government, whereby local authorities are responsible for providing a sufficient number of school places but are not actually allowed to provide them directly. The academies, it is hoped, will just expand or contract appropriately but without being part of any planning system. The Tory party’s daft reliance on the market could be the cause of much heartache. However, here in Wandsworth we were re-assured that there would be sufficient secondary places even if there might be a tight squeeze in some years. But you may remember that last month I commented that the Chestnut Grove Academy is embarking on the demolition and redevelopment of the school – one Council paper says that there will be 88 extra places and another says there will be none! How we are meant to plan on that basis beggars belief!
5. There were also a number of cuts, as seems inevitable these days. One was the effective closure of the Alton Activity Centre for youngsters – regrettable as that is, it will have no impact on Latchmere. Perhaps more relevant is the closure of the Accredited Training and Assessment Centre (ATAC), which currently operates out of Battersea Park Road Library, with the loss of half a dozen trainer jobs. But although it is very local to Latchmere I don’t know much about ATAC, which perhaps says something about its significance, or lack of, in the community.
6. On the 18^th there was the Community Services Committee, of which I am not a member, but which I will mention because there were a number of issues of importance to Latchmere, namely the possibility of extending the parking control zones (cpz) in Eltringham/Petergate Road area and Wye Street and installing a zebra crossing in Ingrave Street near to Falconbrook School – a mixed bag! The recommendation to extend the parking zone hours in the Eltringham/Petergate area was deferred until June, thanks unfortunately to the intervention, as I understand it, of Tory St. Mary Park councillor Rory O’Broin. The extension of the cpz was agreed in Wye Street and the zebra crossing refused, even though the Committee agreed to “improve” the road signs about the school.
7. On the 22^nd we had the second of the two Education and Children’s Services Committees and this was a far more dramatic occasion. You may not have heard but in December Ofsted gave Wandsworth’s Children’s Services Department a damning report on services for disturbed and vulnerable children and services for young persons, which it said were either inadequate or in need of improvement. It is many years since Wandsworth last had such a stinging rebuke from central government and the Committee discussed how we should recover from this position and make the services as good as they should be. I must make it clear that these services serve a very small minority of Wandsworth’s children, so if you have kids in the school system here in the borough it almost certainly does NOT affect you or your kids. However, if they are in the Council’s care or severely disadvantaged in some way then it is just possible that you (and yours) are affected. If you are concerned that this may affect you, then please get in touch and I will see if I can help.
8. But in terms of making generic reforms we changed the staffing structure, introduced new management and monitoring procedures and worked out a longer term plan to make sure that the Department improves its practise. You may also have heard that I, in effect, moved a vote of no confidence in the Leader and the Executive member of the Council for Children’s Services. I knew, of course, that this was not going to be accepted by the majority (Tory) party and so in a sense it was “gesture politics”. However since at least one senior officer decided to resign, I think that the politicians in charge at the time should also take the rap – but here in Wandsworth, sadly, they did NOT.
9. The Planning Applications Committee was on February 24^th and what a busy night it was! First up we had the application for Formula E in Battersea Park I can see that this is going to be an annual occasion! This time the event is scheduled for early July and, as best I could understand it, it was for more of the Park to be closed to the public for slightly less time. There is no doubt that the event is both immensely popular with many and very unpopular with many others, some of whom are pictured demonstrating outside the Town Hall. My fear is that all the commercial operations that surround Grand Prix racing will slowly but surely take a greater and greater grasp in the Park and that with time the very nature of the Park will change. It is also significant, at least to me, that the date has been put back a couple of weeks into the very heart of summer – what a time to close great swathes of the Park. You will have guessed that I was against and I know many of you will have been for – but that’s the way it goes!
10. There were many other interesting potential developments, but not particularly near to or relevant to Latchmere. One example was the plan to demolish and reconstruct Cringle Dock in Nine Elms Lane. This was imaginative! Can you imagine one of London’s largest refuse transfer stations essentially being rebuilt under a canopy, on which 500 flats are to be built, with the refuse barges appearing out from under rather like a James Bond villain’s underground attack base. Is this really going to happen? Well the completion date is in 2030! Another mega-development was planned for Nine Elms Lane and there were many others and the Committee did not end until about 2 minutes past midnight!
11. On the 25^th my fellow Councillor Simon Hogg and I had another discussion with officers on the Winstanley regeneration programme, though as you know it largely affects the York Road estate and not Winstanley. It is difficult to report anything specific about that other than that work proceeds and that the Council hopes to start work relatively soon on Penge and Inkster Houses.
12. The Finance and Corporate Services Committee met on 25^th Again I am not a member but I thought it worth mentioning that it was decided to increase Council Tax by 3.9%, the maximum allowed by law without triggering a referendum. But to compensate for that increase, the London Mayor’s budget has now been reduced as the costs of the 2012 Olympics are dropping out of his budget, and so we will all see a reduction in our own tax bills.
13. In this newsletter, I have never ever referred to an internal Labour Party meeting, largely because I don’t think that they are of public interest but last Thursday, 25^th February, our meeting was an exception. We organised radical readings from a number of famous radicals from the past, from Gerard Winstanley to Charlotte Despard, from Labour’s first leader Keir Hardie to Clem Attlee, PM from 1945-51. The readings were inspirational and led by Prunella Scales and Timothy West. Here is Tim in full flow.
14. Finally I thought I should put in a picture of the Latchmere Recreation Ground. On 23rd October the messy tarmac was ripped up and the area re-seeded and landscaped. Some of this work had to be done twice because of the wet winter but the Town Hall hopes to open up the Recreation Ground in time for Easter. It will be a welcome extension of green space in Latchmere.

My Programme for March

1. I have a meeting in Portcullis House (that’s a twentieth century annex to the House of Commons next to old Scotland Yard) on 2^nd March, when a cross-party selection of London MPs and councillors will discuss the Government’s cuts to schools’ budgets, and later the same day a SERA think tank. SERA is the Labour Party’s green lobbying organisation and we will discuss our plans for the coming years.
2. There will be the regular Labour Group meeting: that is Wandsworth’s Labour councillors, on 3^rd.
3. There is an Education and Standards Group on 7^th
4. An old friend of mine, Anita Pollock, who was also the MEP (Member of the European Parliament for Wandsworth, 1989-99), is launching a book on Europe in Westminster – that should be pleasant.
5. The Council Meeting is on 9^th
6. On 10^th March there will be the opening of the Winstanley/York Road estate office in Pennethorne House, followed not long after by the opening of a new Citizens’ Advice Bureau at the main library on Lavender Hill.
7. I hope to be able to attend a Mayoral hustings with Zak Goldsmith face to face with Sadiq Khan and candidates no doubt from the Greens, Lib/Dems and UKIP.
8. The Planning Applications Committee is on 23^rd

Did you know?

You may remember that in January I went to the Design Awards Panel and challenged readers to guess, which of the designs received a commendation and why? Well, I must confess that I was a bit surprised because of those who responded most got it right!. And the winner was this very discreet extension (it’s the bit on the top!) to a residential block in Nightingale Lane. It is extremely quiet and under-stated. It adds 5 or 6 flats to the block and just walking by most people don’t even notice it. All the councillors and laymen supported it and all the professionals hated it.

The professional architects and designers wanted a building that “made a statement” or “expressed the architect’s personality” – perhaps rather like this glass roof extension, which was another of the entries. All very interesting but I think a little bit more important than that. Doesn’t it raise the question as to whether architects are in the business for their own gratification and not really very interested in whether their creations suit the surrounding environment?

Meanwhile for next month can anyone come up with a direct link between Latchmere and George Bernard Shaw or GBS? GBS was a very famous playwright of the first half of the twentieth century with plays such as Man and Superman, Major Barbara and many, many others. For those of you for whom the first half of the twentieth century is another world, then he will be best known for Pygmalion, the play at the heart of the musical My Fair Lady.