Archive | August 2022
August 27, 2022  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea September 2022, Newsletter (# 159)

  1. August was, of course, a holiday month for the Council and so, it was also quiet for this councillor. But on 6th August I borrowed a friend’s Spurs season ticket and saw “my team” romp home to a convincing 4-1 win over Southampton. Some of my constituents are surprised that I support Tottenham, when I represent a ward, for whom Chelsea is virtually a home team (at its closest Battersea Park ward is less than 2km from Stamford Bridge). But when I explain that, when I was 6-9 years old, I lived 500 metres from White Hart Lane, most understand! 4-1 was a good win but what lives in the memory is the simply stupendous stadiumKane & Son and the 60,000 crowd, bathed in sunlight. And the facilities! A free programme on arrival, a free lunch, a free drink at half-time and a free chocolate chippie post-match. Ok, so there is no such thing as a free lunch and the season ticket price needs justification, but it’s not a bad justification! It’s all a bit of a stretch from the old Lane, with its terraces and its heaving 60,000 crowds, and Tottenham’s then main men, Alf Ramsey and Bill Nicholson – later respectively Managers of England’s World Cup winners of 1966 and Spurs’ Double-winning team of 1961. For those who do not follow soccer, the picture is of today’s main men, Kane & Son.
  2. I got home that evening just in time to get to Carol and David’s for a great summer garden party, with lots of neighbours and friends. Exactly a week later, Penny and I went to Islington to a friend’s eightieth birthday. (Today’s 80 really is yesterday’s 50!). Penny had, years earlier, supervised the friend’s PhD on the “Spanish Main”. He became an Spanish Galleonexpert on discovering the wrecks of Spanish galleons, sank in storms or after piracy, carrying gold and silver from the New World to the Old. He hardly needed to tell me that he was lucky, in his choice of subjects, which, ever since, has earned him a living helping salvage companies – what a life! But. as is so often said, someone has to do it.
  3. Meanwhile, the Tory Party has been entertaining (?) us all with its leadership campaign. The final debates between Sunak and Truss must be amongst the most depressing and trivial imaginable. Any stranger listening to the debate (?) would find it difficult to imagine that we are on the verge of a climate crisis, a fuel crisis, a food crisis, a war crisis, a poverty crisis, a labour shortage and surely a political crisis. And to think that most of us know that one simple tragic but reversible mistake is the cause and part of the solution for some of this chaos. Yes, Brexit has been part of this disaster and surely it is about time more of us said so. No serious commentator disagrees with the argument that Brexit has hit the British economy badly. And who can doubt that the loss of foreign labour has caused farmers problems with harvest gathering, and construction firms with building skills, and the hospitality industries with lack of bar-staff, hotel and restaurant staff.
  4. In my view, Labour made a bad mistake in not distancing itself from the Referendum and its result. Of course, friends said to me that a democratic vote had to be respected and, of course, it did have to be. But democracies do make mistakes. Indeed, after every election, a high proportion of the population thinks that the electorate had just made a mistake (regardless of who won) and immediately commits to reversing the decision. Re-joining the EU will not be easy. Frankly, we will not be quickly forgiven by all, even if we will be very much welcomed by the Irish, the Dutch and some others. We almost certainly will not be able to re-join on such good terms as we had. But, apart from any other gain, a positive attitude to the European Union would, at the very least, help the Union of the four nations of the UK.
  5. Keir Starmer is not currently getting a good press, even if he is ahead in the polls. But a positive attitude to the EU would do much to re-vitalise the Labour Party, especially here in inner south-west London. It was no accident that the three Wandsworth constituencies of Battersea, Putney and Tooting all had large Remain majorities, that the three constituencies all had healthy Labour gains in the disastrous 2019 General Election and that Putney was the only Labour gain in the UK. Can I suggest that you write to your MP, and press her (or him) to lobby Keir and start a campaign for the country to re-join the EU as soon as possible? If nothing else, it would give the Labour Party a real cause with which to fight the Tories. Otherwise, we will lose out to the Lib Dems and the Greens.
  6. On 22nd August, enabling works started on the new Surrey Lane development at Randall Close. The enabling works involve re-arranging car parking facilities in several places on the estate in order to free-up the car park in Randall Close and make it available for the new development. Work on the development itself will start at the end of September or early October and will take a couple of years to complete. Wandsworth Council will then have 106 new council homes available to rent. Making all of these properties available to those in the greatest need, as opposed to some being on the open market, was, you may recall amongst the first decisions made by the new Labour Council in May, this year.
  7. On 23rd August I had the Planning Applications Committee. I was concerned by public comments that developers, whether the neighbour creating an extension or a major company building 1,000 new homes, often took little notice of the rules and conditions imposed on them, when permissions were granted. So, I decided to place enforcement noticesPicture3 higher on the agenda. I wanted to publicise that Wandsworth Council does enforce its own rules. It was a success as on this occasion, there were three good examples on the agenda. One was enforcing BT, or their agents, to remove this piece of equipment they had installed without permission on and clearly – see picture – blocking the pavement in Old York Road; another was to remove a semi-permanent bar extension built out on the pavement in Balham High Road and the third was to remove an over-large, un-neighbourly front garden shed.
  8. The main item on the agenda, however, was an application to build a 24-storey block on the corner of York and Lombard Roads, largely for more than 500 single units of what is called shared accommodation. “Shared accommodation” is a new concept in the UK, Lombard Greystar1although such schemes are well known in the USA. They are aimed at single-person family units and could be seen as like student halls. The rents are high, but they are all-inclusive and so tenants do not have to pay for the utilities, or Council Tax, or for the use of the communal kitchens, the sports facilities, the cinema, the karaoke bar. Interestingly the fastest growing “family” unit in London is single-person households. As well as well-paid youngish professionals, the tenants could include people who want a London-pad for some days a week, divorcees, bereaved partners – the list is endless. However, the application was refused by 7:1 because of the lack of “affordable” housing and because of its overall size.

My programme for September

  1. Penny and I are off to Croatia on 30th We are going by train, hover-ferry, bus and ferry, staying overnight in Munich and Zagreb; coming back through Graz in Austria, where Penny has a history conference. We get back on 23rd September.
  2. The Planning Applications Committee is on September 28th.

Did you Know?

Last month, I said, “The Duke was in London and got involved in a car chase up and down Elsley Road, on the Shaftesbury Estate, then under the bridge on Latchmere Road, down York Road and up Trinity Road, finishing on Tower Bridge. Who is the Duke? What is he doing here in Battersea? And when? And I don’t think I have ever had such a flood of correct answers!

Yes, the Duke was indeed, Hollywood star John Wayne, who was in a car chase, which started in the Shaftesbury Estate and finished on Tower Bridge. He was featured in a film called, Branigan (1975; dir. Douglas Hickox), as a Chicago cop of that name, bringing a slightly American style of policing to the streets of London.

And if you have the time let me recommend 20 minutes watching at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pArxm5sfsrk. This Youtube tube video has Steve Brazil narrating the story of how this chase film was shot in London in 1975. He claims that the chase was done through real traffic, which beggars belief as you see one of the cars hurtling past traffic on Latchmere Road and turning hard right into Sheepcote Lane. There are other entertaining chase sequences on top of a multi-storey carpark and finally on Tower Bridge and also of a pub brawl, with distinctly Western references. The Youtube sequence is part of a series produced by Reelstreets, a site which shows films and locations.

And this month?

Pete and Polly have an affair; Polly is a rich girl slumming it; you might be forgiven for thinking that you were in Clapham but no, this is all set in Battersea (and Chelsea and Worthing). What is the film? Easy for those of a certain age but how many people aged under 50 know this one?

August 9, 2022  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea August 2022, Newsletter (# 158)

  1. July started well with an interesting trip around Arding & Hobbs. Every one must have noticed the scaffolding Picture4around the famous old building, and I was keen to tour it when invited by the new owner. He expects to provide retail units at ground floor level with high-class office facilities above. Although not known as a location for offices, he believes that the Junction, with its connections to the City and the West End, to Gatwick and Heathrow, is well-placed to become one. He has certainly invested a great deal of time and effort into the project. This view is from inside the famous old cupola atop the building. By the way, have you noticed the new top floor of the building? It is designed to stand back from the bulk of the building to reduce its impact on the building’s profile. I think it will work rather well.
  2. I had the first meeting of the Labour-controlled Finance Committee on the 7th July. This often rather bland and technical committee was very important in that it outlined many of the ambitions of the newly elected Labour leadership of the Council. Amongst the core themes was the Council’s commitment to pay all its workforce the London Living Wage as a bare minimum. I still remember to this day my shock when ex-councillor, now Lord, Lister declared in the 1980s that Tory Wandsworth did not care about the staff wage levels. When introducing the Tory policy of Compulsory Competitive Testing or CCT, he and his colleagues broke with nationally agreed wage levels and started the low wage culture that has left us with the UK’s failing “gig economy”. I am delighted to have been a party to bringing that to an end, at least as far as Wandsworth Council as an employer is concerned.
  3. Another crucial commitment made on that day was to increase the supply of council housing available to those in greatest need. The specific target of 1,000 new homes will be difficult to achieve but we have made a start by re-allocating some 50 new-builds on the Surrey Lane estate from market to council housing. There was also a decision to make £100,000 extra available for our hard-pressed voluntary sector, a resource that has been crucial for many during the Covid crisis. And another commitment was to convene a Citizen’s Assembly to focus on climate change and air quality issues.
  4. On the 8th July, I took part in the selection process for Wandsworth’s new Chief Executive. It is a very different process from the one I first took part in some 50 years ago. For a start, Wandsworth’s Chief Executive is now “shared” with Richmond, so the final selection is made by three councillors from each authority. I was part of a “Wandsworth team” of councillors, chosen as a selection of “stakeholders”, who had the task of interviewing the final short-list of candidates about their approach to managing the two authorities. I was very impressed by the final, very diverse, three candidates and look forward to the imminent arrival of Mike Jackson as the new Chief Executive after the summer break.
  5. Incidentally, this was the same day that Battersea Labour Party decided that Marsha de Cordova will continue to be our candidate for Parliament at the next General Election. Then, of course, many of us thought that would be in opposition to Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. Now less than a month later it appears likely that the PM will be Liz Truss. Just how many people would have guessed that as an outcome? After centuries as a successful campaigning party, the Tory Party seems to be having a collective Death Wish! I suspect that, unfortunately, it will recover with time but not before suffering some humiliating defeats.
  6. June and July are of course the months of garden parties Picture3and socials so on the 9th I went to Putney for a delightful garden party to mark my old friend, Annie Trevelyan’s, birthday. And on 14th to St. Mary’s for the Battersea Society’s ever-splendid annual summer party, where we were entertained by Junction Jazz. Unfortunately, the party was winding down by the time I took this picture!
  7. July 14th was the day of the Tooting Picture2Graveney by-election caused by Councillor Andy Gibbons’ untimely death. Rex Osborn was elected in Andy’s place. Coincidentally and most dramatically Rex played the major role in leading the “celebration of Andy’s life” the very next day, July 15th, at Putney Vale Crematorium The very large turn-out of old friends and colleagues was testament to the love and respect Andy got from so many of us. RIP, old comrade.
  8. Unfortunately, the ceremony and wake turned out to be a super-spreader event, with many of us, including me, going down with Covid 19 in the next few days. I should say that I was very lucky. So many people, of my age, have had really bad experiences but I had virtually zero symptoms though I did get a bit of what some people have described as brain fog – I don’t need the old joke about how could I tell? However, it took me twice as long, as usual, to do my Guardian Sudoku puzzle for a couple of weeks.
  9. The sad thing was that I missed our planned trip up to Alnwick for a wedding – a trip, which I was really looking forward to. I also had to miss the Battersea Chess Club Annual General Meeting; the first real full Council Meeting since Labour’s victory in May; and the Wandsworth Society’s summer dinner at Le Gothique.
  10. On the 26th I chaired my second Planning Applications Committee, though not to my satisfaction. I think that perhaps I was suffering from Covid-induced brain fog! It was a little chaotic. I mis-placed notes and lost my way round the agenda. It was not a great performance, though I hope that no lasting damage was done!

My programme for August

  1. On August 6th, I had the pleasure of going to Spurs’ opening match of the season, of which more next month, followed by a great party given by close friends and neighbours Carol and David.
  2. I also have several internal “planning” meetings at the Town Hall – though in practice they are all on MS Teams (like Zoom).
  3. The Planning Applications Committee is on August 23rd.
  4. And then on 30th, we are off on our three-week trip to Croatia – I am not complaining as I get around a fair bit but it will be our first holiday since 2019 – and it feels like it!

    Did you Know?

    Last month, I asked, “Who was St. John Bosco? Did he come from Battersea and if not why does the relatively new Battersea school bear his name?”

    That so many of you knew the answer just shows how ignorant I am about the history of Roman Catholicism and how ignorant I am about the strength of Roman Catholicism today. It certainly wasn’t like that when I was much younger! The steady march of organised, usually right-wing, religion, especially in the USA, worries me. One would hardly believe that the American constitution deliberately separates state and church!

    But enough of me pontificating (note the irony of me even using a word with papal connections!) and back to Bosco. John Bosco was born in 1815 in Castelnuovo d’Asti, (now ludicrously renamed Castelnuovo don Bosco – it’s just like Petersburg becoming Leningrad and now St. Petersburg) a few kilometres east of Turin.

    Bosco spent much of his life teaching and developing education and schools for the under-privileged boys of the Turin area and founded the Society of Saint Francis de Sales, later the Salesians of St John Bosco. Bosco was beatified in 1924, and unsurprisingly when a Catholic school was established in Battersea it was called Salesian College. St. John Bosco School is the latest manifestation of this history.

    And this month?Picture1

    The Duke was in London and got involved in a car chase up and down Elsley Road, on the Shaftesbury Estate, then under the bridge on Latchmere Road, down York Road and up Trinity Road, finishing on Tower Bridge. Who is the Duke? What is he doing here in Battersea? And when?