Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea April 2024, Newsletter (# 178)
- March began (for me, in Council terms,) with the North East Surrey Crematorium Board of which I am a board member, on 5th March. Why – North East Surrey? Because, Battersea Borough Council bought the land for a large cemetery, somewhere cheap between Raynes Park and Merton in the early twentieth century. The crematorium was built for use by Wandsworth, Sutton and Merton Councils – and hence the name – North East Surrey. Not much happened at the Board meeting.
- Much the same could be said for the Council Meeting,
which took place on 6th March. Its main purpose was formally to rubber stamp the Council Tax agreed at the February Finance Committee. However, there was some discussion of the state of our roads and pavements, which for some years have been deteriorating at a faster rate than we have been repairing them. I am pleased to say that we were able to announce a multi-million pound plan to do the necessary repairs and maintenance to tackle this problem – how is this for example in affluent Anhalt Road?
- Off to Southend-on-Sea on 10th March to have lunch with Penny’s relatives – her brother lives in a flat with a fantastic view over the Thames Estuary. I used to spend school holidays in Southend in the years immediately after WW2 – I guess it must have been 1948 and 1949 – so I have a bit of a soft spot for the town. But my, how economically depressed the town appears now – this is not affluent Brighton, much more like poverty-stricken Blackpool.
- On the 13th March, Penny and I were off to the Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) to
see The Seven Deadly Sins, but first, an Accordion Concerto – yes a concerto for an accordion – violins obviously, organs of course, but had you ever heard of an accordion concerto? It was brilliant, interesting, fun but I’m not sure that this work is sufficient to raise the reputation of the accordion. On the other hand, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s reputations are assured – they were both émigrés from Nazi Germany, Weill because he was Jewish and Brecht because he was a Marxist. Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins is described as a sung ballet with German words written by Bertolt Brecht and sung here in translation by Danielle de Niese (pictured). It is the dramatic and harrowing story of a young woman, exploited by her family and torn between money and morality.
- The Planning (PAC) Applications Committee was held on the 19th March. There were only four applications to be considered. One was a purely technical event and the second of no great consequence nor contention. However, we did approve the development of a school unit in central Tooting, and then, after a near three-hour debate, we rejected an application to develop 449 residential units on Springfield Hospital It was a close decision; in my view the wrong one; but what concerned me most was the mechanical, clearly “whipped” votes of the Tory members. PAC has a quasi-judicial function. It relies upon the individual judgements of its members. It is NOT whipped, although naturally most Tory and most Labour councillors vote the same way as their party colleagues – but on this occasion, Tory councillor votes were very suspiciously both uniform and predictable. (For the record: As the Chair of PAC, I do not discuss decisions before the meeting but the way I voted on this issue is now a matter of public record.)
- This time of the year is dominated,
for those with sporting inclinations, by two traditional events, the culmination of the Six Nations Rugby Championship and the Boat Race (the National and the finale of the soccer season come in the next two months). For Oxonians, like me, the least said about the Boat Race the better but, just, maybe the E-coli scandal surrounding the event, might force change on the water industry – and about time too! And I have little to say about the Six Nations but talking rugby gives me an excuse to show a picture of Battersea Labour Party’s new organiser pursuing her sport on a typically muddy north London pitch – she’s the one with the large white gum shield! Good rucking, Zara!
- In the third week of February, the Labour Group had its two-evening, two-part Annual General Meeting. Simon Hogg was re-elected as Group and, therefore, Council Leader. We elected Sana Jafri as the new Mayor, and Jamie Colclough as the new Chair of the Environment Committee. Unfortunately, we also had a resignation from a West Putney councillor, who decided after six years to call it a day.
- On the 21st February, I chaired the Wandsworth Planning Forum, which is a twice-yearly discussion forum between the main planning societies, the Battersea Society, the Wandsworth Society, the Putney Society, the Clapham Junction Action Group and organisations like the RIBA and the Council. It was not dramatic; I can’t think of any notable decisions; but it was a very useful exchange of views, confirming our intention to do the best for the Wandsworth environment.
- On the 23rd March, Penny and I went to the
splendid St. Ann’s Church on St. Ann’s Hill for a performance of Handel’s Messiah by the South West London Choral Society and the Otranto Chamber Orchestra. It was spectacular, even if that is a ludicrous adjective to apply to an audio event! As the choir reached the climax of the Hallelujah Chorus and perhaps even more spectacularly the final Amen Chorus, I could feel just why choral societies are so popular in today’s individualised culture – they are clearly, at their best, magnificent collective celebrations. We were totally wowed.
- On 27th February, I had the Conservation and Heritage Advisory Committee (CHAC). This may seem like a niche interest, but it does important work – for those
interested in our history. I was happy to say that work had started on St, Mark’s Vestry School in Battersea Rise – had you noticed? The school was built in the 1860s, just before the introduction of free, compulsory education in 1870, and is one of the last remaining vestry school buildings left. Not long ago, the roof was bust, the walls were cracked and the windows broken, but now it is on the way to being the home of a small, but obviously a very professional architect’s practice. -
One other thing that I learned at CHAC was that there is an original eighteenth-century cottage on Clapham Common Northside. Did you know? I hadn’t even noticed despite having lived here a mere – well many years! It is not a particularly notable building but/and it is probably the only pre-1800 building in Wandsworth that is neither protected nor listed. Should it be? Here it is – what do you think?
My programme for April?
- On 1st April, we are off to see a performance of Nye (Aneurin Bevan, creator of the NHS in 1948) at the National Theatre.
- On 4th April I have a special Finance Committee convened by the Tory councillors. Masochistically, the Tories seem to want to argue about how Labour has been handling the Council’s finances. Odd given that we have just announced successive Council Tax “freezes”.
- The Planning Applications Committee is on 24th April.
- And that seems to be that for formal Council events but I guess that there will be plenty of activity going on as we build towards the Mayoral and GLA elections on 2nd May and on the West Putney by-election also to be held on 2nd May.
Did you know?
Last month I asked, given that the International Day of Women 
was on 8th March who could name the woman (born in Huntingdon; died in Biggleswade), who founded which major Battersea institution, without ever, as far as we know, visiting the borough?
Two or three people emailed me with the answer, which was Mary Tealby (1801-1865), a “kindly woman”, who took pity on a stray dog, where she lived in Islington and ended up looking after several dogs in her scullery before founding a dogs’ home (1860), which moved to Battersea in 1871.
And this month?
In paragraph 10 above, I write about an eighteenth-century building on Clapham Common Northside, which I did not know about. So, I wonder just how many surviving pre-nineteenth century buildings or structures in Battersea you/we can name? I will be really interested in seeing the result and how many of us can name 10, 15 …?
Tony Belton
Tony Belton 