Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, March 2026, Newsletter (# 201) 

1. Penny and I were off to the Arts Centre on 5th February to hear the third Alf Dubs Lecture. The Trust had done a very good job in getting Professor Philippe Sands KC (King’s Counsel) along to give his views on the development of an International Rules Based system, particularly when the American President is so clearly threatening the very concept. The picture shows the professor speaking on the night with the Chair Baroness Amos in the background – to a packed grand hall – well done, organisers.

Professor Sands clearly demonstrated his expertise in international law (and a wry sense of humour) but perhaps the length of his lecture was a little challenging for a non-academic audience. The most optimistic feature of his lecture was, however, that the long-term power of the rules-based system will out-last and defeat the power-based system that Putin, Trump and Xi Jinping clearly favour. Let’s all hope he’s right.

2. The following day we went to the Friday late evening show at the National Gallery to see the Neo-Impressionists Exhibition. I am not clear about the difference between Impressionism and Neo-Iimpressionist – I always thought that Georges Seurat (1859-91) was an impressionist. But Wikipedia states that in his short (31 years) life, he managed to be involved in “Pointillism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, Divisionism, and Modern Art”. (It does rather seem that the art world has a classification problem!). But either way it was spectacular.

Probably the best-known ‘Seurat’ at the Expo was this painting of the Can-can. Look closely at the line, and you will see that the second in-line appears to have a male torso and very feminine legs – not sure realistic accuracy concerned him that much! But it was far from all Seurat. There were many other artists, notably we thought one Maximilian Luce, and unusually some by female artists including Anna Boch, painted here by Theo van Rysselberghe. And we finished the evening off with a nice, simple dinner in Chinatown.

3. I went to Richmond-upon-Thames Council building on 10^th February to interview candidates for the role of Director of Place – not sure I like the name as I would prefer Planning and Growth. (Richmond Council is, of course, Wandsworth’s close partner in a joint staffing arrangement.) But my point in raising this is to show York House – not to be confused with what was once Battersea’s York Palace – the spectacular home of Richmond Council. It is a Grade 2 listed building dating from the seventeenth century and stands on the north bank of the Thames, in a small park, almost opposite Ham House on the south bank.
   

   ---

4. On the 11^th February I had the Transport Committee, where we Labour councillors have done a great deal of work to improve facilities for bus travellers, cyclists and pedestrians. Most unfortunately some of that work has coincided with a couple of fatalities on either side of Battersea Bridge – resulting in the necessity for immediate improvement works; as well as the failure of some of our nineteenth-century sewerage pipes during one of the wettest of winters; and now the ‘temporary’ closure of Albert Bridge. It has seemed to be one darned set of temporary traffic lights after another for drivers, bus passengers – everyone. Hopefully the February opening of the first of the two cycle lanes in Queenstown Road, pictured here, – and spring weather will be the start of better conditions on the roads. As for Albert Bridge itself – we do not yet know how long it will be before it is re-opened to traffic. Kensington & Chelsea, whose responsibility it is, has said it could take a year – I will keep you informed as and when.
   

   ---

5. The next day, the 12^th I had the Environment Committee. Labour councillors are proud of our achievements on this front. As reported to the committee they include;-

• • Achieving A List status amongst London Boroughs for ecological work for the 3rd year in a row
  • Further reductions in organisational carbon emissions, with a 6.6% reduction in carbon emissions from the previous year
  • Securing £4.7 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to drive decarbonisation of Council buildings
  • Installation of over 1600 EV charge-points in the borough – more than any other borough
  • Installation of 346 bike-hangars in the borough = again more than any other borough
  • Continued air‑quality improvement across the borough coupled with improved air quality monitoring equipment
  • Delivery of 1500 Warm Home Packs to low-income residents to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy bills
  • The creation of a new and ambitious Biodiversity Action Plan
  • Delivery of the Cleaner Borough Plan, which has seen recycling rate increase to 29.27%, £1.3 million in waste disposal savings and expansion of food waste collection to 101,000 households
  • Successful engagement with residents on climate action with two Wandsworth Sustainability Network meetings, the Net Zero Roundtable series and Sustainable September which hosted 100 events across the borough
  • Expansion of the Climate Action Microgrants, providing support for 50 community projects on climate change and sustainability.
    

    ---

6. On the 18^th February, I attended the Finance Committee. The principal debate centred on the Government’s Fair Funding initiatives and its impact on Council Tax and, consequently whether we were in a position to freeze the ‘Council’s element’ of Council Tax for the fourth year running. The Tories are concerned – even worried – that Wandsworth under Labour will get into unmanageable debt and be forced to make substantial savings/cuts unless we take tough action now. Unsurprisingly they are trying to make things difficult for us.                                                                                                                                                        But Wandsworth has the lowest Council Tax in the country; and the Council is well managed and efficient. It also has considerable reserves, over £100 million, and it is the only Council in London without external debt – by the way, don’t get spooked by the word debt. It should be thought of as more like a mortgage than debts to the grocer or the bookie.
   

   ---

7. I chaired the Planning Applications Committee on the 19^th. None of the applications this month were of great interest, especially in Battersea. But there were a couple of enforcement orders that posed questions about whether a person’s home is their castle or not. What would you think if your neighbour put up eight feet high fences round your garden – would you expect the Council to intervene? We did.
   

   ---

8. On the 20^th I took part in the unveiling of a plaque to Shapurji Saklatvala (1874-1936) at 177 Lavender Hill, Battersea’s Labour Party office. Saklatvala was from a wealthy Indian family but came to Britain for health reasons – would you believe, he found India too hot. Saklatavala was an impressive man; he dedicated his life to working to improving the lot of the poor and disadvantaged. Part of his motivation came from the gritty working-class radicalism that he imbibed when he went to work in Manchester as a young man. And part came from his Zoroastrian belief of not just having ‘good thoughts’ but also in turning them into ‘good deeds’. A thoroughly unusual man, who worked hard for Battersea. (The picture is of Malcolm Deboo, who is the President of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe, and who spoke of Saklatvala’s religious and spiritual beliefs.)
   

   ---

9. I have long intended to spend a couple of hours at the National Gallery at the Wright of Derby Exhibition. Joseph Wright (1734-1797) is the only British artist known by his home place just like Leonardo from Vinci, El Greco, and Piero della Francesca. I managed it on Friday 27^th The exhibition clearly demonstrated that Wright was a truly great artist, well worth ranking with Constable and Turner. He used tenebrism, the contrast between light and shade, to illustrate the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. The paintings were brilliant but sadly very few. There was, of course, dominating the expo the famous painting of An Experiment on a Bird, but I have chosen the more domestic scene of a Young Girl Reading a Letter, with an Old Man – one imagines that the letter is from her lover, of whom the father rather approves, though Pen thinks he is disapproving.
   

   ---

10. We finished off the month with a visit to the Picadilly Theatre to see The Moulin Rouge. The West End smash hit was the choice of our guests, cousin and husband and young nieces. The show was all glitz, staging, lighting and production – see the picture of the theatre just before curtain rise; the kind of production designed to draw in provincial and international audiences. And using those criteria this show is spectacular, but the central love story did not convince either of us, both because of the story and the acting. The dancing – perhaps more accurately the acrobatics – was breathtaking but both the story and the message were rather dark and unpleasant – but I am not sure most of the audience noticed, swept away as they were by the vibrancy of the music and dancing.
    

    ---

11. Last month I showed some examples of the fly tipping, which I had reported to the Town Hall during my walkabouts. Here are three new examples from February, the first a bike in Warriner Gardens, then some fly tipping in Cupar Road and finally 2 abandoned bikes in Odger Road. It would be great, if readers reported similar sights to hello@wandsworth.gov.uk Together we might put an end to this scourge.
    

    ---

12. Also last month I talked about dropping into a jazz session at the Providence Theatre on Clapham Common. I, of course, meant the Omnibus Theatre – bad mistake. Talking of which, I note that London4Europe Rally is holding a meeting there on 10^th March at 6.30 designed to re-invigorate their campaign to rejoin the European Union. They are inviting people committed to ending the absurdity of Brexit to an event aimed at planning the next steps to be taken in the journey to reverse that disaster.
    

    ---

My March Programme

1. I am having dinner with our MP, Marsha de Cordova, in the House of Commons restaurant on 2^nd
2. There is a Council Meeting on 4^th This is the final, rubber-stamping, legal decision on the Council Tax – the frozen Council Tax that we all know about now.
3. I have a meeting of the North East Crematorium Board on the 10^th March and I might go to the London4Europe Rally in the evening – depending upon what’s on the Conservation Area Committee agenda that same night.
4. I am chairing the Planning Applications Committee on 12^th
5. The Planning Inspectorate Review of the Glassmills application will start at the Town Hall on 17^th
6. I have been invited to open the Harris Academy’s new Gymnasium on 19^th March and, Penny and I are running the Battersea Society Quiz that evening in the Duke of Cambridge.
7. Penny and I will be attending the Grand Finale of the London Borough of Culture year on 21^st March in the Power Station – but the form of that is an as yet unrevealed secret – so more next month.
   

   ---

 Did you know?

Last month, I asked, “Who was the distinguished architect, who designed Battersea Town Hall (now the Arts Centre) and Battersea Library, as well as the Old Bailey?” OK some of you will know that but can you also name a religious building in South Battersea, that he also designed?

Many of you knew that the architect was Edward William Mountford (1855-1908), but not quite so many knew that the religious building in South Battersea he also designed was the church at the junction of Northcote and Wakehurst Roads.

And this month?

I called on someone living in Voltaire Court on the Doddington a couple of weeks ago and they asked why their block was named after Voltaire – pictured? Do you know why? And what adjective about optimism do we have in the English language as a result of his writings?