1. We, Maurice, Juliana and I, your Battersea Park ward councillors, were in the Park during the cold spell in early January and took the opportunity to freshen up our picture book. We then went on a quick tour of the Ethelburga Estate, and the new block nearing completion in Randall Close.
   

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2. On 3^rd January Penny and I went to see Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at Richmond’s Orange Theatre. Like Rosalind in As You Like It, Viola in Twelfth Night is an example of the gender fluidity and cross-dressing, which make the plot so startlingly modern. Of course, in Shakespeare’s day, it was illegal for women to act in public on the stage, hence his plots had real practical production benefits as well as dramatic purpose. Appropriately, the production also had gender-, ethnic- and “appearance”-neutrality casting. But this didn’t work for me. The plot twists on Duke Orsino’s failure to discern the difference between the identical twins, Viola and Sebastian – one his would-be lover and the other her brother. I found it difficult – no impossible – to suspend disbelief when imagining confusing a six-foot, sturdy man for a five-foot slender woman – especially when seated five feet from the stage.
   

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3. But the Orange Theatre is a delight. About 2 minutes-walk from Richmond-upon-Thames station, which is only 10 minutes from Clapham Junction on the fast train. The theatre is in the round; it is very small; no one in the audience is more than, say, 5 metres from the stage and many are in touching distance from the actors – it is intimate, but highly professional with established actors and class performers, as can be seen from the programme picture of Jane Asher (Maria), Dorothea Myer-Bennett(Olivia) and Oliver Ford Davies(Malvolio). If you have not been then it is well worth the trip from CJ.
   

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4. I was pleased to see that work was at long, long last really beginning on the pavements in Howie Street. Elcho Street (pictured) and even Parkgate Road. Last month there were no accessible pavements at all, as can be seen below left looking south. But now on the right looking north, you can see that the buses have been removed and the road is prepared for construction work. There is clearly a long way to go but now, I and local residents who have been fighting for better facilities for years can at last see action!
   

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5. On 10^th January we went to Piccadilly’s Picture House Central to see Conclave, the film about a fictional election of a new Pope. The film had very little action, and what action there was all took place in the Papal Palace in Vatican City, and without any significant female role – not exactly standard fare for an exciting film. But that was what it turned out to be. Ralph Fiennes is brilliant as an honest broker, who turned out to have motes in his own eyes. The political and moral issues were complex but well posed and the final twist surprised (and amused) us all. It is well worth seeing and especially evocative for anyone who has experienced the joys and tribulations of what Labour stalwarts would know as exhaustive balloting.
   

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6. I went to a meeting of WPIC (the Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign) at the Friends House, Wandsworth High Street on the 14 There were about 20 people there, along with the new Governor of the Prison. It was dominated by mothers, who were very concerned about the welfare of family members, mainly sons, imprisoned and vulnerable to prison conditions. The Governor showed by his replies to questions that he was taking their concerns seriously and that he was well aware of the need for reforms to the prison as urgent priorities.
   

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7. The January Planning Applications Committee on the 14 featured three major applications. The largest was for a major block of student accommodation (700+ units) and some associated housing on Nine Elms Lane between the Covent Garden entrance and Sleaford Road. It was rejected for reasons of scale – too high, too many residential units on the site, and too many students, when, it was argued, the local demand is for affordable residential family accommodation. The other two large schemes were at St. George’s Hospital Tooting and in Earslfield.
   

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8. On the 21^st January, the Battersea Park Safer Neighbourhood Panel met in the Dodd & Rollo Community Association Building. The Panel is the major link between the Met Police, the community and the council. Over the years, I have been to quite a few of the panels but never felt they lived up to their very laudable objectives. But this Battersea Park ward panel is getting there! More and more resident associations are turning up; the police team is larger and clearly is taking the panel more seriously than I had previously experienced; the panel meeting itself was well organised and efficient – it was good to see.
   

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9. One of the most important matters under discussion at the Panel was the problem of drug dealing (let alone drug consumption) in parts of the ward. Following the meeting, the police conducted a raid on a particular block in the Doddington, and the Council gave the same block an in-depth clean-up of the detritus left by rough sleeping and major drug trading and consumption. It was good to see this positive and quick response; but will one-off raids solve the problem? I have already had some evidence that it has not been.
   

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10. On 28^th January I had the Conservation Area Advisory Committee (CAAC). The Committee gave its opinion on some of the potential developments due to be considered at future Planning Committees. One item of particular note was the use of the Town Hall’s listed frontage for publicity for the London Borough of Culture, on which CAAC had trenchant views. I will say more on that after the February planning meeting.
    

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11. On the morning of 30^th January, Labour’s Wandsworth Council Leader Simon Hogg launched “Listening to You”, a major step to the re-branding of the Council. The old logo with its out-dated, largely Battersea sky-line (the gasholder at the corner of Nine Elms Road and Prince of Wales Drive has long since gone and the power station is surrounded by tall developments) to be replaced by a figurative W for Wandsworth. Simon announced “Our new 7 rings, 7 days guarantee. Call us on 020 8871 6000 and we’ll pick up in 7 rings; report graffiti, a dangerous pothole or broken street sign and we’ll fix it in 7 days. Wandsworth is a listening Council that delivers the lowest Council Tax in the country”. See the video at X @wandbc.
    

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12. On 30th January I went to Carney’s Community’s Tenth Anniversary in their Petworth Street home. Within 10 minutes of the start of the celebration, one could not miss the real buzz about it. There was some serious, high-quality sparring in their full-sized ring; heavy use of punch bags on the right; bike repairs on the left; music recording upstairs; and self-confident, excited community members everywhere. Carneys call themselves a community and that is what they are, but outside observers would, I think, call themselves a youth club. Their membership comes from the large council estates in Battersea, but also from Roehampton and Vauxhall. Talking to club members is inspirational. Many of them “confess” to having been in trouble with the police before joining Carneys; many talk of the self-disciplinary qualities that they have got through boxing. The young lad in the ring, in this picture, is about 10 years younger than most of the members, but was still taking the sparring very seriously!
    

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13. I think that we are very lucky in Battersea to be served by such lively youth clubs and community centres as Carney’s, Caius House, Providence House, Devas, and the Katherine Low Settlement. And it is also good to know that they work together positively and collectively providing help and assistance to many residents.
    

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My February Programme

1. I have a councillor’s surgery on 1^st February, followed by a visit to Ploug Lane to see high-flying AFC Wimbledon fighting for promotion, against Bradford City, to the heady heights of Division 1, or what used to be called the third division in those far-off days of yore!
2. There is a full Council Meeting on 5^th February, followed on the 6^th by the Transport Committee.
3. I have the Environment Committee a week later, on 13^th.
4. Penny and I have tickets to see the gay version of The Importance of Being Ernest (I didn’t know there was a straight one) – looking forward to that one.
5. Penny has a launch at Waterstone’s in Clapham Junction on the 21^st of her book Time – Space We Are All In It Together. She has always argued that Time should not be the preserve of physicists, it is after all the setting, the metric, without which her subject of history could not exist – so this is her take on Time. If you would like to attend email her on penelopecorfield@gmail.com and get an invite!
6. On the 25^th the Council will be launching Wandsworth, the London Borough of Culture 2025, at Battersea Arts Centre.
7. The February meeting of the Planning Applications Committee is on the 26^th and then into March, lighter evenings and spring!
   

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Did you know?

Last month I simply asked, “Has anyone other than me, ever seen the 1964 British film The Guns of Batasi?” Can anyone name the book, and play, which inspired the film?

Congratulations to Gerry and Richard for correctly replying that the book was The Siege of Battersea by Robert Holles. Has anyone got it or seen it on a bookshelf? I guess that I could try Ebay or such.

And this month?

Who was Mick Carney and in what way has he left his mark on Battersea?