Tag Archive | Christ Church Battersea

Councillor Tony Belton’s North Battersea December, 2016, Newsletter (#91)

1. On 1^st November, I went to the Battersea Society’s organised debate at York Gardens Library on Affordable Housing. The speakers were Lord Bob Kerslake of the Peabody Trust and Councillor Paul Ellis, Wandsworth’s Tory Cabinet Member. It was well attended, but frankly I was a little disappointed. Lord Kerslake told us just how awful the housing situation is for those without their own, secure roof over their heads (he added statistical detail but we all know the “truth”) and both he and Councillor Ellis talked about what Peabody and the Council were doing to resolve the “crisis”. However, as one of the audience said, their contributions are woeful, relative to the scale of the problem. Something much bigger than their worthy but small schemes is needed now!

2. Then on 2^nd November, I was off to Wembley to see my team, Spurs, give an embarrassingly lame performance (0-1) against Germany’s Bayern Leverkusen. You may well ask – Spurs and you get elected in Battersea! My explanation is that I was a kid in Tottenham and that loyalty never dies! But I must say, I don’t really like Wembley, at least for watching soccer. It is so enormous that the players are specks of colour on a green handkerchief in the distance; it’s nothing like as atmospheric as White Hart Lane. I do so much hope that the new Lane is more like the old one than it is to Wembley.

3. Last month, I said I was going to have tea with William Mitchell, the sculptor who did the concrete sculptures on the Winstanley estate and on Badric Court. I did so in his Marylebone flat on 4^th November. He was eloquent about how he wanted to create artworks, which relate to the estate, and interestingly, where and how he did the work, which was mainly on site, using the materials that the construction guys were using at the time. I think his murals do work and interestingly they are and always have been remarkably free of graffiti. The pictures show him, looking sprightly at the age of 90 and another of his sculptures, which adorns that I had forgotten also adorn Totteridge House, Yelverton Road. Oh, and his wife made a great cup of tea.

4. On 8^th November I was at the Share Community Annual Awards in the Town Hall. What an amazing organisation Share Community is! It works with and trains people with disabilities, some quite severe and others less so. But almost all their “clients” have serious problems coping with everyday activities. I admire the staff’s dedication and perhaps most of all their loving patience. I know that I would probably lose my rag with some of the clients some or most of the time. I guess that it helps that the atmosphere in the “share community” is so warm and positive. Here are Wandsworth’s Mayor Richard Field, and Share Chief Executive, Annie McDowell, appreciating one of the musical numbers performed.

5. And on 9^th November, I was at the Council’s so-called Let’s Talk meeting at Bolingbroke School. These meetings were an interesting innovation in the 1990s and were designed to give Jo & Joanna Public a chance to meet and discuss with their local elected representatives. I was at the first one in 2001, in Roehampton. But now the meetings seem to have atrophied. At this one there were more councillors and officers than members of the public and all of the public who were there were “the usual suspects”, who the councillors all knew quite well. There needs to be a “re-think”!

6. The Queenstown ward by-election did take place on 10^th November and I spent much of my time driving, usually elderly or infirm people, to the polling stations. But the significant thing is that “our man”, Aydin Dikerdem, won by 574 votes, in what, for Queenstown, was a landslide. The last time a Labour candidate had a majority this big in that ward was 1974! Well done Aydin. Here is Aydin, with his agent Battersea resident Amy Merrigan.

7. I was at the Remembrance Day Service in Battersea Park on Remembrance Day itself. As is usually the case, by some strange quirk of the weather gods, the day was beautiful and bright. It was a good experience and led me into a peaceful moment of contemplation, not least about the futility and waste of the once so-called Great War. Fellow Councillor Simon Hogg is to be seen in the middle left deep in conversation with the military.

8. The fund-raising dinner in Providence House, on the Falcon Road, on 12^th November was a fun event, which made over £4,000 for the club. “Providence” is by far Latchmere’s largest youth club and deserves to be supported. Here is a picture of the Providence House farm on Dartmoor, where many of the club members get an opportunity to stay and “muck in” around the farm.

9. I took my grand-children to London Zoo on Sunday 13^th. Here we are plus three giraffes, courtesy of a tourist, like us. I am on the left then there’s Pen, Scarlett, Melissa, Jaimie and Jez.

10. I had an uneventful Conservation Area Advisory Committee on 14th November and 2 days later the Planning Applications Committee, which was dominated by discussion of the plan to install an artificial grass pitch in the southern part of Falcon Park. Wandsworth Council planners claimed that the new pitch would only take up 22% of the park, but that really is a case of proving anything with figures as at least another 18% of the park will become such fringe areas as to be almost unusable, resulting in about 40% of the whole, effectively being lost. I, of course, voted against this proposal but I am afraid that it went through by 5 Tory councillors’ votes to 3 Labour votes. In this illustration the pitch is olive green and the “usable” area of the park is in light green and it clearly shows the difficulty of fitting a rectangular quart into a banana shaped park.

11. Did you notice that from November 18^th the 319 Bus started a Night Service. On its route between Streatham Hill and Sloane Square station it runs right through the heart of North Battersea and also stops at Tooting Bec tube station. Running every 30 minutes it will be a boon to all night-owls.

12. One worrying prediction about the future is the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (AST)’s assessment of what is going to happen to school staffing and budgets by 2020, which is after all only just over 3 years away. Across the country school budgets are going to be cut by an average of £401 per pupil per primary school budget and yet locally Falconbrook is taking a £752 hit, Christ Church £840, Highview £810 and Westbridge a jaw-dropping £960 cut. It really does look as though this Government is looking after schools in the leafy parts of the country and making us, in the inner cities, pay. The total cut for Battersea schools is just over a whopping £4 million a year.

My Programme for December

1. On 1^st December, I have a meeting of Wandsworth’s Labour councillors. We have them every couple of months, which I don’t think is often enough, but it is our chance to get together and discuss how we are going to tackle the long-term Tory dominance of the Borough. As someone, who has not been able to solve that one for 40 years, I am of course the expert. But with Brexit to the east and Trump to the west, I don’t think that Labour positioning itself as simply a more caring, moderate version of Toryism is going to appeal any more, even if it ever did.

2. On Monday, 5^th December, I am standing in for Simon as the Labour Rep on the St. Mary Park “Let’s Talk” session at St. John Bosco College in St. Mary Park ward. It will be interesting to see just what the new school is like.

3. Then on Wednesday, 6^th December, we will have a full Council Meeting. I would no doubt be in mental anguish if, I were there having to listen to the nonsense emanating from Tory mouths (we, Labour councillors, are of course all geniuses), but actually I’ll be in physical anguish getting used to my new metal left knee, fitted that morning. And to be truthful I rather suspect that is my December but if things go really well then…….?

4. I will be back in the Town Hall for the Planning Applications Committee on the 14th December. The application for the corner site of Culvert and Battersea Park Roads is likely to be the major item of discussion. If you haven’t yet recorded your views, for or against, then now is the time to do so at https://planning1.wandsworth.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/GeneralSearch.aspx and look for application 2016/4188.

Do you know?

Last month I asked you, “Who was Hilda Hewlett, commemorated by a plaque on a Battersea house and one time resident of Park Mansions, Prince of Wales Drive? Was she the first woman:

a) Licensed pilot in the UK?

b) To run 100 yards in 13 seconds?

c) To star opposite Lambeth born star Charlie Chaplin?”

A couple of you got it right straight-away but not many knew. She was, of course, the first licensed female pilot in the UK. If I remember rightly it was in 1910 and she was actually only the 10^th licensed UK pilot at all. She went on to start her own Battersea aircraft factory, with many of her planes playing an important part in the First World War. Later, she retired to a peaceful life in New Zealand.

And so for this month’s mystery question!

On 28^th November, I received this remarkable picture from my friend Christine Eccles. It shows an historic event in Battersea, which certainly was unknown to me. There is a road sign to give a clue as to where it is and the clothing gives a pretty good indication of the period, but can anyone suggest anything more specific about the date and who is standing on the traditional soap box addressing the crowd?

October 7, 2016

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere October, 2016, Newsletter (# 89)

Very sadly, my colleague, Councillor Sally-Ann Ephson died on 31^st August (born 11^th November 1966). I last saw Sally-Ann a month earlier in St. George’s Hospital; she was clearly in considerable pain. She suffered from sickle cell disease and was an important member of the Sickle Cell Society, serving on its management board.
Sally-Ann was born in Hackney but soon moved to Battersea, where she lived for many years, actually on the Latchmere estate, until moving to Broadwater Road in Tooting. Three years ago she was chosen as one of the Labour candidates for Queenstown ward in the 2014 Borough Election. When she won she became the first Labour Queenstown councillor since 1990.
Sally-Ann fought hard against considerable difficulties but always expressed great concern for her constituents, retained her sense of humour and supported her colleagues. Her death is a sad loss. Sally-Ann’s funeral took place on 29^th September and her wake was held at York Gardens Library.
Unfortunately my cousin’s funeral was held on the same day and I was unable to be there, but a friend took this picture of the magnificent hearse – not technically the greatest picture you have ever seen but not a common sight on the streets of Battersea, these days.
As you may remember from my last newsletter, on 23^rd August I went off for a holiday to Florence and then the Croatian coast. We went by train to Florence – beautiful, had a Conference in Florence – sweltering, and then on to the Croatian coast – brilliant.
I had the Planning Applications Committee on 15^th. There were a couple of applications of real interest to parts of Latchmere. First there was an application for 15-27 Falcon Road, the block between Patience and Afghan Roads, for a three to five storey block consisting of shops, offices and 25 flats. There was local opposition to the height and size of the block, but the application was agreed by a majority of the Committee – I voted against.
The second was for a basement in Atherton Street. It was not in itself a big application but it was for a basement conversion and raises questions about the level of planning controls that local authorities have over basements. The answer is, I am afraid not much. I presented the local residents’ objections to the application but it was passed overwhelmingly.
Other interesting applications were for the re-
Heliport House

construction of The Alchemist – the pub on St. John’s Hill, opposite the Health Centre, “illegally” demolished five years ago. And, as usual, there were applications for yet further large developments in Nine Elms. There was also an application for a very modern, “alternative” design 15 storey block next to the Heliport and pictured here. It looks interesting or mad, depending upon your tastes, but one thing is for sure: I certainly don’t vote against all new development, but I think this one is totally inappropriate: the skyline and nature of Battersea is changing fast, and is under pressure to change future.
On the 15^th I attended the Police’s Latchmere Safer Neighbourhood Team, in the George Shearing Centre, in Este Road. After the long summer break there was not a lot to discuss, but to note the departure of our police PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) Shirley Aitken, who will be much missed by many. She is now off, I am afraid, to pastures new. Good luck to her.
That week-end I visited someone, who has a quince tree in the garden. Have you ever come across a quince tree and quince fruit? I must confess that I hadn’t previously done so. I brought back 3lbs worth and tried my hand at making quince jelly. Not sure about how successful it is going to be – I am not sure that it has set properly – but it’s a first for me!
On the 19^th September I went to the Wandsworth Conservation Advisory Committee. I have had reservations about this committee in the past. It seemed to spend all its time worrying about rather nice houses in rather nice parts of the Borough without worrying too much about places, where the majority of us actually live. However, at this meeting the Committee came out strongly and unanimously against the current proposal for a 14-storey block at Culvert Road, which is to be considered at a future (November, I suspect) Planning Applications Committee – see picture. If you have views on this application then let me know and/or post them on the Council’s website at https://planning.wandsworth.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do?appType=planning&appNumber=2016/4188 – don’t mind the apparent closure date for consultations; the Council is legally bound to note all observations right up to the moment of decision.
The next day I went to the Community Services Committee. This deals with almost everything that is not housing, social services or education, that is everything you see when you walk out of the front door – pavements, street surfaces, trees, litter, parks, street lights, drains, air pollution, noise, etc., etc. Two interesting items were the decision to increase the number of parking spaces and associated chargers devoted to electric cars, and to introduce 50% charging for motor bike parking.
But on this occasion, the major issue that exercised the
Chestnut Avenue

Committee was the future of an avenue of chestnut trees on Tooting Common! OK, so I know most of you have never been there but take a look at this picture of the avenue: they are splendid, aren’t they?
The trouble is that many of the trees are diseased and rotting: and the problem is, do you replace a set of mature trees in one clean sweep and have a new avenue, saplings all the same age maturing together, or replace them piecemeal? We decided to take the radical option and replace them all at one swoop!
And “What about the Labour Party Conference? I hear you say, and quite rightly too. I could hardly be your local Labour representative and ignore what is happening in the Labour Party nationally. First of all, let me say that in the end I decided not to go.
However, I voted for Jeremy Corbyn, but not because I think he is, or looks like being, a great leader. Unfortunately, I did not think that the alternatives in 2015, or Owen Smith this year, had done better. In my view, Corbyn is more “right” in his opposition to Tory cuts than the other candidates (proved by the speed with which the new Chancellor is ditching Osborne’s policies at the Tory Party Conference). Corbyn is also untainted with any connection to the Iraq War. I confess that at the time I supported the Iraq War but it turns out to have been the most disastrous, and most deadly, foreign policy mistake made by the UK since 1945. (In addition, I think that this year’s attempted coup against Corbyn was desperately badly bungled and has not helped him or the party).
Incidentally, as a councillor, I have been given early warning of the major works taking place over the next couple of years at Waterloo station. The aim is to lengthen platforms 1-4 so that they can take the new, longer trains, but in the meantime the Channel Tunnel platforms (I suppose platforms 23-27?) will be used with much changing of points and signals and, no doubt, much chaos. Commuting isn’t likely to get easier just yet!

My Programme for October

Unfortunately, following Councillor Ephson’s death, we will be having a by-election in Queenstown ward. It looks like being on 10^th or 17^th November so no doubt I will be spending much of my time working on that by-election.
On 5^th October, there is the Katherine Low Settlement’s Annual Meeting, but, as it clashes with other meetings, I am not sure that I will get there.
There is a Covent Garden Market Reception at lunchtime on 6^th October, when we will learn more about the next stages of redevelopment down Nine Elms Lane. And in the evening, I have a meeting of the Labour councilors.
There is Wandsworth’s Council Meeting on 12^th October. On the 19^th I have the Planning Applications Committee and on the 20^th the Heliport Consultative Committee.

Do you know?

Winstanley Estate

Last month I asked you, Who was the sculptor of the concrete murals on the Winstanley estate? The answer is William Mitchell, who also sculpted an installation on nearby Badric Court. Mitchell was born in 1925 and is a sculptor, artist and designer. He trained in London and is

Shillington Old School

known for works at Clifton Cathedral and several London County Council developments: some of the works are listed. He now lives in Cumbria. Having drawn this to the attention of the Town Hall, I think Mitchell may figure in the next “Winstanley News”.

This month, can I ask who knows the connection between , at the end of Este Road, and the nearby Shillington Old School Building, a beacon of light – pictured here? And it isn’t simply that they are neighbours – oh and can you name one famous ex-pupil of Christ Church?

August 2, 2016

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere August, 2016, Newsletter (# 87)

I received one criticism of my last newsletter, which said that I spent too much time talking about planning applications and the elections of the last couple of months. My critic also said that I failed to cover some Council matters. I think a quick defence is due. Firstly I have always said that this blog is a diary, my diary, of being a councillor. I have never claimed to cover everything and nor could I. Perhaps not everyone realises that Wandsworth Council’s turnover is only just less than £1 billion, yes billion and not just a million a year; that its rental income alone amounts to more than £110 million; that the property assets of the Council (remember many thousands of council flats and houses, swimming pools, offices, etc.) are worth £2billions; and that, if the Council were measured in the same way as private companies, it would be about 160 in the Footsie 250.
Secondly, if an elected councillor didn’t mention elections in the two months when we had a Mayoral election, the Referendum and a Parliamentary by-election in the Borough, perhaps some would make criticisms – the other way. So to my critic, I note your comments and will try to take the spirit of them on board but I don’t totally agree!
I wrote last month of the flooding that affected Sendall Court and its neighbours Shaw and Clark Lawrence Courts. The floods messed up the lifts in the three blocks but Sendall Court’s lifts were out of action for the best part of a week and, what is worse, the staircase, which has no natural light, was in total darkness. So, I asked a Council Question (like Prime Minister’s Question Time but not quite!) at the Council Meeting on 20^th July and at last got an answer on 28^th July.
It was a bureaucratic answer, like one expects from insurance companies, https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/documents/s44848/Council%20Questions%20and%20Answers%2020th%20July%202016%20final.pdf, Question 31, page 33/60), and not at all what the residents deserve. I will be putting the case throughout the summer. I will be arguing that those living on the 5^th to 10^th floor young or old, fit or not so fit, should get at least a £50 goodwill cut from their rent or service charges.
While I am writing about very, specific local issues, I would like to announce that I won an argument for a tenant living in one of the very rare private flats in the area bounded by the railway, Falcon, Plough and York Roads, and who has zero access to parking facilities – neither a residents’ nor a tenants’ nor a leaseholders’ parking permit. The Council have agreed that he should be able to buy a council parking permit to use in one of the very much under-used council carparks, such as the ones in Grant Road. There are a few other people similarly living with this problem, for example in St. Luke’s Court, Falcon Road or the flats at 105 Meyrick Road. I would be pleased to hear from any of you if you think you need the same facility.
Meanwhile on the 1^st July, my niece and her husband took me and t’other half to the Hammersmith Apollo to see Bill Bailey, the comedian. It was a very amusing and very cleverly crafted show and he is clearly brilliant at very shaggy dog stories. One I remember was about taking his extended family into the forested depths of Finland, about dog sleds and getting snowed in, about grandmas falling off sleds, and all in order to see the Northern Lights. It had all the elements of a good shaggy dog, with endless details before the punchline, which effectively was that it was total cloud cover that night in June in the depths of the Finnish forests. Instead, the best place to see the Northern Lights that night was Dagenham!
On Monday, 4^th July, I took High View School’s Council on a visit to meet the Mayor of Wandsworth and to see the Council Chamber. The Mayor, with some of the staff and me, gave a “lesson” about what your council does. I think the picture of the School Council standing round and behind the Mayor’s chair shows that they enjoyed the visit.
On the 5^th I had the Community Services Committee, where amongst the items for discussion were the extension/rejection of CPZ (controlled parking zones or meters) schemes in the Eltringham/Petergate and Holgate/Maysoule areas. There was agreement to introduce Saturday restrictions in Eltringham and Petergate but to refuse the petition for a CPZ in Holgate/Maysoule. The reasons are given in two Committee papers, which can be seen at https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/documents/s44394/16-269%20Eltringham%20Road%20CPZ%202nd%20review.pdf and https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/documents/s44398/16-270%20Holgate-outcome%20consultation-June2016%20v2.pdf. However, I think there may be scope to resolve the problems some Holgate residents have in much the same way as I referred to in Paragraph 5 above. So if you are interested then please contact me.
On the 9^th July, I went, as I do most years, to the Triangle (Poyntz, Knowles, Shellwood roads) Street party. It was as enjoyable as ever with the Mayor and the Fire Brigade putting in guest appearances. But I am afraid that there were fewer people there than usual. Maybe this was because it was a cool, July evening, of which there have been rather too many this summer!
I was lobbied during the month by residents wanting to know what might happen in Falcon Park. There is, as many will know, a plan for a new artificial pitch, but I was asked whether there was any chance of the artificial football pitch at the neighbouring Sacred Heart school site being expanded. I made enquiries at the Town Hall and got the kind of bureaucratic, negative response that I expected. It is too long to repeat here but, if you are interested, you can access both question and answer at https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/documents/s44848/Council%20Questions%20and%20Answers%2020th%20July%202016%20final.pdf, Question 39, page 40/60.
I went to the Battersea Society’s annual summer party at St. Mary’s Church on the riverside on 14^th July and that too did not seem as well attended as usual. I wonder why? Could it be that this cool summer has dampened much enthusiasm.
I was in Battersea Park on Saturday, 16^th, and went to The Bandstand Party. I guess that a number of Latchmere residents might have been there – I certainly met a few old friends. It was, of course, centred on the old Victorian bandstand and featured jazz and country/folk music. The Park was looking great and lots of people were out there playing cricket, softball, rounders, soccer and other sports from all over the world. It’s always fun being in the Park on a nice day and, if the Bandstand Party becomes an annual event, then I recommend it.
On the 18^th I dropped in on Colette Morris, the Head of Christ Church Primary school, to learn about the school’s gardening expertise and their award for open air learning. Christ Church is the only urban school in the country to have this award. The school also has the benefit of being right next to Falcon Park, where they have a daily mile run for all. No obesity at Christ Church!
The Council Meeting on 20^th July was totally focused on the Referendum Result and the reaction to it of the Council and of councillors. We unanimously agreed a motion pledging to do our best to maintain the best possible community relations here in Wandsworth and to show solidarity with all current immigrant populations resident locally. It was generally a civilised and reasonable debate, but it still strikes me as odd that Tory councillors blamed the result, and hence the resignation of PM, Cameron, on Labour for not getting the “Remain” vote out. This despite the fact that of 19 Labour councillors probably 17 voted Remain and only 2 perhaps voted Brexit, whereas of the 41 Tory councillors at least a dozen were proud of their Brexit vote – a vote that in its Labour:Tory split seemed to be reflected across the country.
On the 21^st July I had the Planning Applications Committee (PAC), about which my critic will be delighted to hear I have nothing to say – there was nothing on the agenda, which would have much interested the neighbours let alone any casual reader!
On Saturday, 23^rd I rather sadly went to my first Hindu funeral. This, the public funeral, was on the tenth day after the death; the preferred dress for both men and women was white, although I noticed many of the younger men were wearing smart black suits; the standard food, a must I was told in Gujerat, was a comparatively mild, vegetarian curry. The private funeral, for relatives only, took place two days later on the twelfth and marks the release of the soul from the body, and the thirteenth day marks samskara (reincarnation). As I understood it, it is not fit and proper to mourn after that, since by now the soul will be re-incarnated in another form. So rest in peace, Mayuri (Mary) Kotecha, my neighbourhood friend.
Returning from the funeral, I dropped into the York Gardens Active party and the consultations in the Library about the estate regeneration. I must say that I was very disappointed about the consultation. It seemed far too vague to encourage almost any popular response. I left with a certain feeling of dis-satisfaction, which ironically was shared by the potential developers. The Council has to improve on that. My good humour was, however, restored by meeting this charming cool cat on the way out!
Finally, have you seen the story about the £65,000 funding for improvements to Latchmere Recreation Ground. I must confess that I know nothing much about this but it is announced in a July 31^st press release from Wandsworth Guardian and includes the following online address http://enablelc.org/parkssurvey. residents are encouraged to give their views in the very first week of August – and I recommend those of you, local to the Rec, to do so.

My Programme for August

1. I am helping to review Battersea Society’s suggested list of buildings of local historic and/or architectural significance on Tuesday, 2^nd August.

2. I have my Council surgery in Battersea Reference Library from 10 am on Saturday, 6^th August. Do come and see me if you have any particular concern.

3. I am at the Planning Applications Committee on the 15^th.

4. And have yet another by-election in Tooting ward on 18^th.

5. And then on 22^nd, I am off for a three-week holiday to Florence and then on to the Croatian coast.

Do you know?

Last month I asked which anniversary of Christ Church School was being celebrated at the recent Falcon Festival. It was, of course, as a few of you replied, the school’s 150^th anniversary.

At the same Festival we also celebrated a 150th anniversary at the Este Road Fire Station, but it was not the 150^th anniversary of that building so what was it that happened in 1866? And secondly the fire station is said to be a “cut-price” miniature of another fire station elsewhere. Do you know which?

August 31, 2015

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere September Newsletter (# 76)

August highlights

The Planning Applications Committee was held on the 12th August, but there really was nothing of any great significance on the agenda and no Latchmere application at all. However, did you see the fantasy proposal for a swimming pool in the sky, which got the following coverage in the Daily Telegraph?

“Glass-bottomed floating ‘sky pool’ to be unveiled in London”

The “world first” pool will be suspended 35 metres above the ground between two buildings near Battersea Power Station. Residents of London’s Embassy Gardens apartment complex will be able to swim between two high-rise blocks of flats via a “floating” glass-bottomed swimming pool 10 storeys above ground. Resembling an ‘aquarium in the sky’, it is said to be the first pool in the world to link two residential buildings.

The transparent and structure-free pool, designed by Arup Associates and developed by the Ballymore Group, will be 90 by 19 feet, encased in eight inch-thick glass, and have a water depth of around four feet. It will offer aerial views of the capital, including the Houses of Parliament. Residents of the planned luxury flats in Wandsworth will also be able to access a rooftop deck at both ends of the pool which will offer sun loungers, a spa, a bar and an orangery, while an additional bridge between the two buildings forms a dry walkway for both residents and visitors.

“The Sky Pool’s transparent structure is the result of significant advancements in technologies over the last decade. The experience of the pool will be truly unique, it will feel like floating through the air in central London,” said Ballymore Group chairman and CEO, Sean Mulryan. The floating pool is expected to be completed by 2018 and will be available for the exclusive use of residents at the 2,000 home complex where flats are priced from £600,000.”

Can this be serious? Is some developer really suggesting such vulgarity from the insanely rich at the same time as there is an acute shortage of housing in the city? If so then they really are asking for riotous responses! I should say that I have seen nothing from the Council to suggest that there really is such an application.

But I also notice that one Chinese billionaire building a hotel in Nine Elms took a $3 billion+ hit on 24^th August Black Monday in the Chinese stock exchange so just possibly the bubble is really going to burst!

Did you see that the Citizens of Battersea War Memorial in Christchurch Gardens (that’s the one in Cabul Road) has been named a Grade II listed monument. The memorial (photographed here) consists of sheltered public seating in the contemplative setting of a small neighbourhood green space where people can quietly pay their respects to civilians from Battersea whose lives were mainly lost in Second World War bombing raids. The monument was first unveiled in 1952, next to the ruins of a mid-19th century church which was itself bombed and destroyed during the war. The replacement church that now stands at this location – Christ Church and St Stephen – was built in 1959. Christchurch Gardens was the original churchyard but converted to a public open space in 1885.
I showed a picture of the 19^th century church in a recent newsletter and some time back reported that the old brass plaque had been stolen. The plaque has been replaced by the modern inscription shown on the left.
And did you also notice the local story headed “Party’s over: Late night licence breaches spell end for troubled pub: Last orders: The Princes Head in Falcon Road”
This story told of The Princes Head’s (pictured right) failure to have its licence renewed in June. The pub had announced its intention to fight the order but in August it decided to drop its appeal It will now close. A few years back I represented residents at a Licensing Committee hearing, when the pub was granted the licence but only with conditions, including conditions that the sale of alcohol at the pub should stop at 11pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30pm on a Sunday, regulations – a condition, which has been regularly ignored by the licence holder.
In evidence till rolls from the bar showed that on occasion the last drink was served at 3.05am. The landlord claimed that the event was a party for his son who had paid for all drinks before 11pm and he was merely using the till to keep track of the drinks. On another occasion, 155 entries were put through the till after 11pm to the tune of £850 and in a final visit police people drinking well after closing time.
In general, I very much regret the closure of pubs, which is continuing apace across the country but the Prince’s Head has been trying the patience of many of its neighbours for far too long. Let’s hope we get a decent replacement of affordable properties, possibly with some new shopping on the ground floor.
I said last month that I was not going to say anything about the Labour Leadership contest and I am still not going to say who I am voting for because I genuinely have not finally decided – though I am pretty certain of it. However, I do think that Burnham, Cooper and Kendall are not doing themselves any favours by making their views clear about Corbyn in the way that they are. He is expressing views on a range of subjects, and most particularly the Iraq War, which are widely held by many across the country. To reject the man expressing those views so dismissively is not what I would call good politics.
I am, however, going to support Tessa Jowell to be Labour’s candidate for London Mayor, despite her main opponent Sadiq Khan having been a fellow councillor of mine in Wandsworth for 12 years. Tessa’s track record of achievement over the years and in particular her role in both winning and delivering the Olympics for London gives her a claim, which I don’t believe any other candidate can equal. Some will claim that Tessa is too old for the job. Well she is about the same age as Hilary Clinton, who is running to be the US President, and much younger than many successful past Prime Ministers of this country. Her age is no problem for me and shouldn’t be for anyone else.
In late August I (and my partner) spent a week on a narrow boat on the Llangollen Canal, on the border between Wales and Shropshire. You may have noticed that it rained rather a lot and we were almost drowned (I joke) by a tremendous thunder storm just as we were making our last mooring – ever tried tying the ropes, and avoiding falling in, in torrential rain? However, despite that, it was great fun including crossing two aqueducts and going through three tunnels. The canal has two major engineering feats. The ‘pioneering masterpiece of engineering’ by which the early civil engineers crossed the difficult landscape between Chirk and Llangollen has resulted in the 18 kilometre length being awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2009.The aqueducts at Chirk and Pontcysyllte were built by the engineers Thomas Telford and William Jessop and were among the first to use cast iron troughs to contain the canal. At Chirk Aqueduct the trough is supported by conventional masonry arches and hidden inside the masonry, almost as if the engineers were not confident of their new material. But at the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct the trough is exposed and sits atop 120 foot high slender masonry towers. When you cross it by boat there is an exhilarating sheer drop on the non-towpath side! The picture gives just a little idea of what it is like crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – with no guard-rail!
Stop Press (as they used to say, in the old days). Have you seen the notice on Latchmere Recreation Ground promising new improvement works? The Council’s intention is to remove the large are of tarmac and restore it to parkland. I don’t know how long it has been tarmac but it is good get that bit of the recreation ground back!

My Programme for September

On September 12^th, we will find out who the Labour Leader is and who is our candidate for Mayor. No doubt, there will be much discussion about that!
On the 16^th, I have the Planning Applications Committee and the day after the Education Committee.
On either Sunday 20^th September, I am doing my “history walk” from the Latchmere pub to the Battersea Arts Centre. It takes about 2 hours and is pretty well guaranteed to show you a new side of Battersea, even if you have lived here for years and years. All-comers are welcome and so if you are interested please let me know by email – though I should make it clear I charge £10 as a fee, which goes towards my election expenses!
And, of course, there will be the Labour Party Conference, which after the mauling we suffered in the General Election and the announcement of a new Leader will, I am sure, be a fascinating week.

Did you know?

Not many people answered last month’s question: “Who or what is Poyntz of Poyntz Road and why would a Battersea road be called such?” and actually I must confess not many people seem to have been that interested! Bob replied saying, “as a Poyntz Rd resident it’s probably unfair of me to say Spencers, Manor of Battersea etc.”, which I accept as a correct but not very explicit answer. So for those, who want to know more:-

Poyntz was chosen as a Battersea street name as it was the maiden name of Margaret Georgiana Spencer (1737-1814), wife of John, 1st Earl Spencer, and the Spencers were “lords of the manor of Battersea”. They were a fabulously wealthy and fashionable couple, famous for sponsoring the artists of their day. Their eldest child was the notorious Duchess of Devonshire, the “star” of the 2008 film the Duchess, in which she is played by Keira Knightley.

Our Poyntz, Margaret, was the great-great-great-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, herself at one point a Battersea resident.

And finally, talking of the Spencers and the Manor of Battersea, just how many places and names can you think of in Battersea, which are in some way related to the Spencer family. I reckon that I can reach at least a dozen without too much thought. How many can you get and please list them for me?

March 5, 2014

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere March Newsletter (# 58)

February highlights

1. For many of you, February’s Council Tax decision will be the most important news of the month. It will not be officially confirmed until the Council Meeting on 5th March but the decision has been taken to freeze it at the current level. Actually many of you will know that this is the third year in a row that it has been frozen. Actually this is no great surprise as Government nowadays gives a grant of the equivalent of 1% of Council Tax receipts, if your Tax is frozen, whilst, if it were increased by 2%, then the Council would have to go to a referendum to levy it! I don’t think that many will do that although Brighton Borough Council is debating increasing it by 4.75% and triggering a referendum – bet they don’t! But good luck if they try it!

2. Of course freezing Council Tax comes at a price! With Government grant falling by £18.5 million this coming year and, according to the Director of Finances estimates, over £20 million next we are going to see plenty of cuts, a continuing increase in Council fees (the ones that many will be familiar with are parking fees and fines) and redundancies at the Town Hall. In February, for example, over 60 Town Hall staff have been made redundant. Clearly some services are likely to suffer and we will no doubt see by how much.

3. One thing that will not be affected, however, is progress on the so-called regeneration of the Winstanley and York Road estates. The general strategy was agreed at the Housing Committee on 25th February. In the coming months the Council’s housing people will be talking to everyone in the main blocks due for demolition, namely Pennethorne, Scholey and Holcroft about their re-housing requirements. But don’t expect immediate signs of demolition! The residents need to be re-housed in new flats designed to be built around York Gardens itself and along Grant Road, but they are not yet on the drawing board, let alone started, so it will be quite a while yet. If you are one of these residents and are concerned about your prospects then do get in touch with me and I’ll see what I can do to help.

The news is better for Penge and Inkster Houses. These two blocks all needed re-furbishment, which had been put on hold until the overall plan had been agreed. Now that can go ahead but, again, don’t expect work on site tomorrow. Specifications have to be drawn up and tenders received before that happens.

The future of Gagarin and Sheppard Houses, and of Ganley Court, along with many of the smaller blocks on the estates is still to be resolved.

4. Many of you will have seen the scaffolding up on Sporle Court, previous page After many years of campaigning and lobbying by residents the Council has at last got round to double glazing the whole block (along with some external decorations and new floor coverings) and not before time. If any of you think that is a big luxury, then let me tell you that life in the top floors of Sporle Court was very noisy and amazingly draughty before – I know I have experienced it. The work is due for completion in June, 2014.

5. On a very different but equally important scale Harling Court, opposite the Latchmere Baths, had security doors fitted some months back. Unusually this work was paid for by Barratt’s the builders of the new Rutherford on the left and Chadwick Houses, which have just been completed on the Travis Perkins site opposite Dovedale Cottages. New residents have moved in and I have written a welcome letter to them. I know some of the Harling Court residents were very unhappy about the building of these new blocks. If you were one of them, then I’d be interested to know what you think now that the work has been completed.

6. I went to the WoW (Women of Wandsworth) organised inter-generational launch and dinner marking the Chinese New Year at Haven Lodge. The point of this lunch was to encourage the meeting and being together of children, mothers and the much older generation of pensioners living in Haven Lodge sheltered accommodation. Here am I with a Chinese resident of the Winstanley.

7. Simon Hogg, Wendy Speck and I, your three Labour councillors, held a surgery in Battersea Fields residents’ hall and if you have any particular issues you would like to talk about then I am doing the regular Council surgery in Battersea Library on 22nd March. But if you are reading this then why bother to wait until then – send me an email now.

8. Moving on to other matters, some of you may have been surprised by the demolition and construction work starting to take place at the Falcon Road Mosque. You may have remembered that the mosque’s last application for extension and growth was refused but forgotten that the mosque had already an approval for a different extension. It is the scheme, as earlier approved, that is now being built.

9. The Strategic Planning & Transport Committee on 18th February was really dull and there wasn’t much on at the Planning Committee, certainly as far as Latchmere was concerned, although some of you will be able to see one scheme, which was approved and that was adding a storey to Falcon Wharf development.

10. Last month I talked about GCSE Success. Well this month I am delighted to announce that this great scheme is getting a £1,885 Big Society Grant and meanwhile the Mercy Foundation at 64 Falcon Road is receiving £2,780. Led by Ella Spencer, GCSE Success is designed to improve Maths and English results at GCSE level for students at secondary school in the Latchmere area. Victoria Rodney’s Mercy Foundation grant is aimed at increasing digital literacy (i.e. IT and internet skills) amongst the residents on the York Road and surrounding estates.

11. And finally a worrying report from London Sustainability Exchange (LSx) shows that air pollution in parts of Latchmere is at levels 5 and 6 times higher than European Union targets. The worst spots are at Battersea Park Road junctions with Albert and Battersea Bridge Roads and, worst of all, under the Falcon Road railway bridge. The levels of pollution are of course also high just outside the boundaries of the ward in, for example, Clapham Junction. I will be using this research to press for early improvements to the Bridge! LSx is, by the way, run by Samantha Heath, who many of you will remember was a Latchmere councillor 1994-98.

My Programme for March

1. There is a Council meeting on 5th March and the Planning Applications Committee on the 18th. However, Council activity is winding down in the period prior to the May 22nd Council and European Elections. The theory is that all of us councillors will be out on the doorstep pestering you residents with personal questions about your political tastes. Actually given my health situation I will be doing it mostly on the phone. Don’t be too hard on us and please don’t slam the door in our face or put the phone back on the receiver. If we do canvass you we will, of course, arrive at an inconvenient time and if we don’t, then we get accused of never talking to anyone. We canvassers can never win! Oh, and most of all don’t tell us we are all the same. To be likened to one of “them” is the biggest insult of them all. So if I call on you remember, that it is just part of the job!

Did you know about Christ Church, Battersea?

The picture on the right is of the modern church in Christ Church Gardens, which was consecrated in 1959. I wouldn’t mind betting that most of you have never noticed this modest self-effacing 1950s building in its very prominent place at the junction of Battersea Park Road and Candahar Road. Indeed given its prime setting it really is rather too modest.

Well its Victorian predecessor, which was consecrated on 27 July 1849, was very different and full of all the confidence I associate with Victorian times. According to ‘Parish Churches of London’, Basil
F L Clarke, Batsford, 1966, it was a cruciform
Middle-Pointed building with a spire.

There is actually a rather splendid photograph of it and the hustle and bustle of Battersea Park Road in the 1930s in a Wandsworth Town Hall Committee Room, which I will try to get a reproduction of for next month. But in the meantime here is an artist’s representation of it sometime in the late Victorian years.

Unfortunately, the old Christ Church was a casualty of war being obliterated on 21 November 1944 by a V2 rocket, which destroyed both it and the neighbouring vicarage. Christ Church Gardens alongside it now has a little known memorial to the dead of the Second World War and note the magnificent London Pplane tree by the Cabul Road entrance to the church, which must have had a very close escape from the bomb!

Yours sincerely
Tony Belton, Latchmere Labour Councillor
Tony Belton
99 Salcott Road | Battersea | London SW11 6DF
Home +44 20 7223 1736 | Mobile +44 7778 405235 | Skype (TBC)
Blog: https://tonybelton.wordpress.com/

Tony Belton

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere October, 2016, Newsletter (# 89)

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere August, 2016, Newsletter (# 87)

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere September Newsletter (# 76)

Councillor Tony Belton’s Latchmere March Newsletter (# 58)

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