Tag Archive | community
December 2, 2024  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea December 2024, Newsletter (# 186)

  1. I didn’t feel too hot on 1st November, so I gave Junction Jazz at the Bread & Roses a miss (I gather the band was good), but did feel well enough on the 2nd to go to the Councillors’ Surgery at Battersea Park Library. Saturday mornings at the surgery can be a very peaceful time, simply reading the papers, but not this time. As usual, the cases were about housing issues, about wanting a transfer or the conditions in rental properties. It can be depressing listening, but I do follow them up and, from time to time, really do resolve the problems.
  2. I discovered one victory this month quite by chance. I was doing my normal monthly tour of the Picture1ward, including a walk Picture2down Anhalt Road, a quiet road near the Park. On my last visit there I came across this trip hazard on the left, created by an aggressive tree root. Now the Council has doctored the tree and re-surfaced the pavement and it is no longer the very serious hazard it was. A small triumph perhaps but mine own!
  3. On 4th November I had a Battersea United Charities (BUC) meeting at the main Battersea Library. Nothing particularly momentous happened but it is worth noting the existence of this small body, which distributes small grants to individuals and/or organisations that live, work or play in Battersea. For example, BUC gives financial assistance to other charities that organise Xmas Day Dinners; or to Providence House to help fund summer schemes for Battersea’s younger people; or to families that have hit hard times and who need carpets, furniture, ovens, fridges, etc. The Chair of BUC is Phil Beddows, once a Tory councillor, but don’t hold that against him too much. For a long time now Philip has been a passionate Battersea boy and has given hours of his time to the charity.
  4. On 5th November I did not go to a fireworks display but went Picture3instead to Wandsworth Council’s Civic Awards. At this annual event, the Council praises and appreciates people, who have contributed their time and efforts to support the community. The Labour administration has added some new features, such as video descriptions of the award winners at work rather than the previous over-long reading of their commendations. One of the stars of the evening was Gonçalo da Cal Martins, Wandsworth’s Young Musician of the Year 2024, who played a beautiful violin concerto.
  5. I went to the Armistice Day Commemoration ServicePicture4 in St. Mary’s on Sunday 10th November, and then on the 11th itself, I went to the service in Battersea Park. I always find the open-air service the more moving of the two. The late autumn weather is very appropriate and the sound of the lone bugle playing The Last Post followed by Reveille almost haunting. The only blemish, of course, is that the Park was right under the day’s flight path into Heathrow! The picture is of our MP, Marsha de Cordova, walking away from the monument having just laid a wreath.
  6. Pen was due to present a paper at a small conference in Antwerp on 14th-15th November, so I decided, more or less at the last minute, to Picture5accompany her. We stayed in the centre of the city from 13th-17th. It was magnificent. Why has everyone kept so quiet about Antwerp? It is certainly the largest city within easy reach of London that I have never been to, and it is only just over 4 hours away, from door to door, by Eurostar. The city centre is substantially traffic free, so it is a pedestrians’ delight and the trams work like a dream. It is very lively, and very cosmopolitan. Belgium’s colonial record was not good – to say the least – and Belgians are very conscious of that, but one result is that it has made Antwerp a culinary delight. It includes African, Caribbean and Indo-Malaysian food of every kind and, of course, some say that the best French cuisine is actually Belgian. Added to that, the many museums and art galleries are replete with works by the three Breughels, Reubens, Van Dyck, and countless other Flemish masters. We had a great time – Oh, and Pen said the conference wasn’t bad either (which is English for a great success). The picture shows part of the Grote Markt.
  7. The Transport Committee on 19th November was quiet and uncontentious but full of interesting matters, not least the extended hours of operation of the controlled parking zone (CPZ) around Battersea Park. The residents had campaigned for the extended hours since before the opening of the Power Station, but that had been the final straw. Other matters of interest were:-
  • The competition to design the transformation of the Falcon Road railway bridge – probably the worst environment in the Borough – which effectively cuts north Battersea off from Clapham Junction and will hopefully be completed by late 2025;
  • more new school streets; and
  • amendments to the Borough Plan designed to encourage the development of more affordable housing.
  1. I chaired the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) on 20th We approved five applications:-
  • three, which in total amounted to some 50 residential units, as part of our 1,000 homes project – odd how it is that everyone thinks that we ought to build more homes at affordable prices but no one wants them built next door – am I being cynical, or jaundiced?
  • one, which involves the total demolition of a terraced Battersea house – except the front wall – and the construction of a modern house in its place. No one on the committee liked it but one does not need permission to demolish property unless it is either listed or in a conservation area – and we could hardly refuse permission for replacing it with a modern version.
  • the fifth was a technical change to a previous planning approval.
  1. Prezza, aka John Prescott, died on 21st November, and with him, some people argue, an old-style Labour brand. I do not know about that, but I do have one very clear memory of him. I was sitting at home one Saturday afternoon watching one of the autumn rugby internationals. The year was 1997 and Labour had stormed into power on 1st May.
    Prezza determined to get between Blair and Brown

         Prezza determined to get           between Blair and Brown    

    I was the Leader of Wandsworth Labour councillors and had recently written an angry letter to John, the Deputy Prime Minister, protesting that he had recently walked around Battersea Park with Wandsworth’s Tory leadership without informing anyone in Wandsworth’s Labour Party, and that despite John making improved communications between the Government and Labour councillors a major theme. I didn’t expect anything other than a formal civil service acknowledgement.

    The phone rang, “on my way to Heathrow and the Kyoto climate change conference”, John spat out, “thought I’d give you a ring about the Battersea Park event”. I was so surprised that I do not recall the rest of the conversation, but I do remember that I could not make sense of the syntax, nor of some of his sentences. But I do remember the meaning, the apology, and the thought that Prezza made a point of ringing me, whilst he was on the way to being a prime mover at one of the world’s most important ever conferences.

    I much appreciated the thought then and have done ever more so since.

  2. Picture7The 22nd of November was the night of the Battersea Ball held in the Battersea Park British Genius site. This is always a noisy, showy, fun event, held to fund the Battersea Summer Scheme for Battersea youth. Pen and I usually go, and often get caught pretending to be training for Strictly!
  3. Picture8I have just heard of the death of Battersea Labour Party member, Timothy West, earlier in November. Timothy and Prunella have been substantial supporters of BLP for many years and have played their part in several revues that BLP staged at Battersea Arts Centre. I will say more about Tim in next month’s newsletter, meanwhile RIP Tim.
  4. And other news about Battersea and Wandsworth:
  • The Council plans to update the Latchmere Estate playspace and is asking users and residents to get involved in its design. Do get in touch if you are interested.
  • Battersea Park Rotary asked me to remind pensioners about Rotary’s Xmas Day special – contact Senia Dedic (seniadedic@hotmail.com) for details.

My December Programme

  1. I have a meeting of North-East Surrey Crematorium Board on 3rd The members are the London Boroughs of Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth, so it should more accurately be called the South-West London Crem.
  2. On 5th December, I am having Xmas Lunch with the soccer team I played with in the 60s-80s – always nostalgic, “remember that goal Prodg scored” days.
  3. On 11th December, we have the last full Council Meeting of the year.
  4. December’s meeting of the Planning Applications Committee is on the 12th and much of the rest of the month is standard stuff, Christmas Carols, eating and drinking too much. I hope that you have a great Christmas too.

Did you know?

Last month I asked who was “an Irish Protestant dramatist, clearlyPicture9 torn between both his Irish and British heritages in that he was at once an Irish Republican and a British patriot, this socialist born in North Dublin spent many of his later years in Prince of Wales Drive, Battersea. Who was he and can you name his most famous play, and even one other of his works?”

Not quite do many correct answers as about Bob Marley and Spurs, but some knew about Sean O’Casey and his most famous play Juno and the Paycock. There is a plaque on the wall of 49 Overstrand Mansions, Prince of Wales Mansions.

And this month?Picture10

Born in Cheltenham, became a Bachelor of Medicine at St. George’s Hospital, met his wife in Caius House, Battersea, where he did missionary work in the worst of Battersea slums, has a plaque in Battersea Square. He died, a peculiarly British heroic death 10,000 miles from home and he looked like this. Who was he?

January 5, 2024  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea January 2024, Newsletter (# 175)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

  1. On 5th December, I had the quarterly meeting of the North East Surrey Crematorium Board, which is half-run and owned by Wandsworth Council and half-run and owned by Merton, and Sutton Councils. It is not exactly a dream ticket for ambitious local councillors, but it is a significant municipal enterprise, which delivers less expensive cremations than our private sector rivals and is now one of the greenest crematoria in the country, thanks to our early adoption of catalytic converter technology.
  2. Later that evening I attended the Ethelburga Estate Residents Association AGM, where the main items for discussion were the potential use of PV panels on the extensive roofs of the estate and the use (or lack) of security cameras on the estate. I have taken up both issues and will report back to the Association.
  3. On a cold 6th December, I attended the Alton Estate Design Review Panel (DRP). Using public transport, it took me about an hour and a half each way to get from Clapham Junction to the Roehampton Estate. It was a day of strikes, chaos, and confusion. Was it simply a pleasure or a frustration, after a 3-hour commute, to attend a meeting of such total agreement and amity – after all spending a whole morning just to go to a meeting, where everyone agreed with each other, didn’t seem exactly pointful!
  4. That evening, I was interviewed by a member of Wandsworth Council’s Democracy Review Panel. This study really is a fascinating initiative taken by the still-new Labour Council. Forty-four years of opposition, 44 years of the frustration of opposition, 44 years of powerless protest against cuts in services, and sales of public assets have left many of the Labour councillors, and especially the Leader, Simon Hogg, jaundiced about the whole Council process. Simon’s, ambition is to modernise and democratise the process. In my view, the review needs to tackle at least two fundamental questions. First, whether the 44 years of frustration were just an inevitable part of losing years of elections or whether there was also something fundamentally undemocratic in Wandsworth’s procedures – not of course undemocratic in the rather conservative view of democracy being defined by an occasional election, but undemocratic by more vigorous measures, potentially available in today’s complex society.    Secondly, how likely is it that having won so-called first-past-the-post power, the new Labour majority will be open to real democratic reform – and how much? Or whether all the processes and procedures seem somehow more justified when we are the majority?    Not that my interview got into all the possible depths of such questions – but it was an interesting discussion, largely about the merits (or demerits) of the committee system as opposed to the strong Leader and Executive models of local government.
  5. On 7th December, I was booked into an Italian Picture1restaurant in Holborn for Christmas lunch with my ex-football team. The food wasn’t special, the company was. We were quite a good team, not brilliant, but sixty years later, we don’t look too bad. We all worked for the GLC (Greater London Council); the fact that we still enjoy each other’s company must mean something, I guess. We shared some values, some politics, and some stories about great goals, we had scored.
  6. I guess that many folk believe that being electeda councillor opens up the chance of a life of perks. I can’t Picture2think of many (any?), but we did have a splendid one on the 8th The 4 major suppliers of electric bikes and electric scooters offered members of the Transport Committee, free “goes” on their machines in a council-depot site. All I can say is that one would have to have a heart of stone not to envy the access that younger and fitter people have to such machines. The ease of movement, the smoothness of acceleration, the freedom engendered – it must have been like that in an earlier age for those rich enough to have a horse. Older people often express fear and hatred of both bikes and scooters – they will need to get used to them as they will become ever more popular. The rather unflattering picture is of me getting my final instructions before whizzing joyously around the depot!
  7. Later that same day the Mayor, Battersea Park Picture3ward Councillor Juliana Annan, hosted a Charity Xmas Party. As can be seen by the picture, it was not a very formal occasion, but it was an enjoyable one. The Katherine Low Settlement was the main beneficiary of the occasion. The Mayor is on my left, Sandra Munoz and Senia Dedic are the other two guests.
  8. On 10th December, Penny and I went toPicture4 Battersea Labour Party’s Junction Jazz night. As always, the jazz tended towards the traditional, but all the more popular for that. A guest star on this occasion was Martin Linton, Battersea’s Labour MP from 1997-2010. Martin is seen here playing the trumpet, alongside Nikki Marsh on alto-sax, the bandleader. A good time was had by one and all.
  9. On the 12th December, I was invited to join the Battersea Fields GP practice for their Christmas lunch. It was very much a working lunch, and all the more interesting for that. Given that the practice’s geographical patch includes nearly all the new developments in Nine Elms Lane, they believe that they may be the largest GP practice in the country. It was good to meet the local GPs and pharmacists – a dedicated and interesting group.
  10. That evening I chaired the Planning Applications Committee. Unsurprisingly, given the time of year, there werePicture5 not many particularly interesting applications bar one, which was (and is) the Star and Garter Hotel on the Putney river-front. This great, Victorian building has certainly seen better days, but now we have an interesting roof-top extension, including a new dome (the one on the left in this plan) and new accommodation (on the roof between the two domes). It looked – and hopefully will be – an exciting new development for Putney and the Borough, if not exactly of immediate Battersea interest.
  11. On December 13th, I attended a Design Review Panel’sPicture6 deliberations over the possible development of the Glassmills site on the east side of the Battersea Bridge approach. The potential development is “an iconic tower”, standing as high as St. Paul’s Cathedral as an entry sign into the Borough. The DRP’s rules prevent me from saying much at this stage – after all the plans did not even form the basis of a planning application and they may never see the light of day. What I can say, however, was that the contributions from panel members were of the highest quality – I was very impressed. The picture from inside the current mirror glass shows the ground floor view from the site, including the beautiful swan sculpture, who has recently lost his mate to needless vandalism. I am sure that we will hear much more on this, if and when we get a valid planning application.
  12. The Council Meeting, later that day, was interesting. The Tories decided to “attack” Labour over what they deemed to be our plans to sell-off assets, andPicture7 particularly Battersea Library. From Labour’s perspective, the absurdity of Wandsworth Tory councillors, renowned in the past for their proud boast of selling more council assets than any other authority, attacking Labour for asset selling, almost beggars belief. But it also speaks of a massive Tory ignorance of Labour attitudes, if they seriously believe that we could or would sell such an iconic feature of our history – or that the public would believe such an accusation.
  13. And then it was Christmas, with a quiet day clearing the garden, followed by family stuff in Winchester, dominated by this heroic statue of Alfred the Great. After that we had a couple of days at a favourite resort hotel and a few gentle walks.

STOP PRESS

Starting from 8th January, your Christmas tree will be collected by the Council on the same day as your rubbish and recycling, but by a different vehicle, so this may not be at the same time as other collections. So please do NOT put out before 7th January – after Twelfth Night.

Trees should be left out after 6.30 pm on the day before the collection is due, and by 6.30 am on the collection day.

If you have a front garden – put your tree out for collection next to your rubbish and recycling bags, on your usual collection day – not on the street. If you do NOT have a front garden – put your tree just outside your front door on the pavement taking care not to block where people walk.

If you live in a block of flats – leave your tree near your rubbish or recycling bin store, making sure you do not block access to the bins.

Trees are sent for composting, so the Council will not collect your tree if it is plastic, still decorated, in a pot or a stand, or is over 6ft tall (so cut into pieces).

If you see Christmas trees left abandoned, report them to the Council at: wandsworth.gov.uk/rubbish-and-recycling/christmas-tree-recycling/

My programme for January

  1. Penny and I are having a Twelfth Night Party for our local neighbours on, guess when, Twelfth Night.
  2. The Planning Applications Committee is on 18th January
  3. On 20th January, I have the Councillor Advice Session aka Surgery at Battersea Park Library.
  4. On 24th January, I have the Finance & General Purposes Committee.
  5. On 25th January, Alf Dubs is giving the inaugural, hopefully, annual Alf Dubs lecture at Battersea Arts Centre at 7 pm. Tickets are available at alfdubslabour@gmail.com.

Did you know?Picture8

Last month, I asked, whether you could tell where this plaque is? And who was John Buckmaster? Of course, many people did, including members of the Battersea Society involved in its installation. But what had he done to deserve the plaque? I will expand on that after you have answered this month’s question.

And this month?Picture9

So, where is a second plaque to John Buckmaster? Clue: it is not in Battersea. And exactly what did he do in working to keep the Commons open. Oh, and by the way, can you point to anything named after John Buckmaster and where is that?