Tag Archive | politics
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?

April 2, 2024  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea April 2024, Newsletter (# 178)

  1. 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.
  2. Much the same could be said for the Council Meeting, Picture2which 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?
  3. 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.
  4. On the 13th March, Penny and I were off to the Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) to Picture3see 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.
  5. 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.)
  6. This time of the year is dominated, Picture4for 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!
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. On the 23rd March, Penny and I went to thePicture5 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.
  10. 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 Picture6interested 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.

  11. Picture7One 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?

  1. On 1st April, we are off to see a performance of Nye (Aneurin Bevan, creator of the NHS in 1948) at the National Theatre.
  2. 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”.
  3. The Planning Applications Committee is on 24th April.
  4. 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 Picture9was 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 …?