- Last month I said that I was mad to go to Rome for
 the first week of July – too right; it was hot at the beginning of my week, brutal by the end. The week marked the end of Penny’s four-year term as President of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. The evenings were convivial and fun, but the days were intolerably hot. But, I did manage to take in some of the sites of Rome – not least the extraordinary 2,000 year-old Pantheon, surely Europe’s oldest intact building.
- On 10th July I went to former Councillor Mike Williams’ funeral. Mike was elected as a councillor for Southfields ward in May 1971,
 in the same year as Martin Linton (Battersea MP, 1997-2010), Penny and me. In 1974, Mike and I became two of the last Aldermen ever (the post was abolished in the 1970s, though aldermen still exist in the USA and as an honorary title in the UK) and then in ’78 he was elected for Roehampton ward, which he represented until 1990. He was a Labour stalwart – an aggressive and passionate debater; a loud and very funny heckler. He hated humbug, but, under the tough exterior, he had a big warm, soft-hearted personality. RIP Mike was a fine friend and a dedicated councillor.
- Two days later, 12th July, I visited Providence
 House for the launch of Robert Musgrave’s book One Year is Not Enough: fifty years a Battersea youth worker. Robert started at Providence House Youth Club at the same time as I became a councillor. The book is his and the youth club’s story, and says much about what the youth of Battersea owe him and how much they love him. Well done, Robert.
- I chaired the Planning Applications Committee on 18th
 July (as pictured). There were a few items of interest to Battersea, some of very local importance and one of major significance:-
- the largest was on the Halford’s site on the corner of Lombard Road. It consists of 3 large blocks – one of 24 storeys, and the other two of 15 and 7 storeys respectively. These will hold 294 residential units, of which 90 or 35% will be ‘affordable’, meaning the rent will be similar to housing association rents. There will be local retail shop units on the ground floor. I reckon that many/most people reading this newsletter will think that this building, as agreed, is far high. I am inclined to agree, but we are still hog-tied by some of the decisions made by the last Tory Council, which had already given similar consents.
- another minor application was for industrial plant
 on the top of the Arding & Hobbs building, which is pictured here, from Falcon Road. There have been some complaints about the roof extension on the old building. Personally, I think the Borough has done rather well to get this iconic building modernised and adapted for the twenty-first century. I look forward to all the scaffolding being finally removed.
- Finally, on a ward level I was pleased that the Committee put a halt on an extraordinarily inappropriate extension, being built in Maskelyne Close, Battersea Park ward. The enforcement order we issued should mean that the extension will be removed soon – to the delight of many neighbours.
- On the 20th July, Labour won a record-breaking by-election in Selby and Ainsty, and the Libs won another massive victory in Somerton and Frome. Yet the main talking point was Labour’s near miss in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, a seat which even Tony Blair in his pomp failed to win. The Tories are back-pedalling on whatever ‘green’ policies they may have had and, worryingly, there seems to be a danger that Labour might do so as well. With half the Mediterranean on fire,
 and the Canadian – the Canadian! – forests ablaze, with people across the country changing their holiday plans, and people across the world being burnt out of their homes, their livelihoods and indeed their lives, can there be any serious doubt that we face an existential crisis? The picture is of a lady, who has tragically lost her home in this Greek inferno.
- Do you know about the Wimbledon Foundation’s Community Fund? This Fund is a contribution to the Borough from the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, which awards up to £10,000 for one-year projects to eligible organisations and community groups in Wandsworth. In the Fund’s own words, ‘this fund is one of the cornerstones in the Foundation’s support of charities and community groups across the borough …, and in the last round 16 Wandsworth-based organisations received funding of a total of £140,000’. If you are in the fund-raising business and want to know more, then please do get in touch with me and I’ll put you in touch.
My programme for August
- Fantastically, I have nothing except purely delightful social engagements in August until 22nd August, when I have the Planning Applications Committee.
- And then off to Croatia on 24th August for a welcome holiday. Please note, however, that we are going by train and ferry. Isn’t it outrageous that the eco-way is so expensive and that all countries, not just the UK, subsidise flying so massively? Unbelievably, as a species, we are subsidising our own mass destruction.
Did you Know?
Last month I asked, about a plaque to a single event that  occurred in Battersea in the nineteenth century, and which is of international significance in the history of sport. Do you know what the event was, and where it took place?”
I was interested to see that far more people knew the answer to this one than knew much about Battersea’s role in the anti-slavery movement! It was, of course, the plaque to the first (1864) match of association football, played under the 13 rules compiled by the newly formed FA.
And this month?
Everyone, of course, knows about Battersea Power Station. But who knows or even remembers the other Battersea power station? Who built it, who ran it, what was it called? And why did it have an interesting role in political history? |
Tony Belton
Tony Belton 