Help Line

If you need assistance with your bins, due to your age, Disability or sickness, contact
THE Environmental Services contact Centre on
0208 547 5560.
You can also use this number to report anything else such as fly tipping or graffiti, abandoned vehicles , dangerous pavements .

You can also contact me should you not get a speedy reply.

Tax Freeze

A Two-Year Council Tax Freeze
Today at Conference George Osborne announced a two-year council tax freeze to help millions of families with the rising cost of living.
The Shadow Chancellor stressed "Conservatives will not leave people to struggle with the credit crunch alone."
The freeze would be funded, in part, by a major reduction in Government spending on expensive private sector consultants and advertising.

Older Peoples Day

Helen with day visitors

Cllr Ken Smith with Ada Hopin who was celebrating her 100th Birthday

Helen Whately, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston and Surbiton, spent Thursday morning speaking to some of the older residents of the borough in preparation for Older Peoples' Day. Mrs Whately visited Cloyda care home and Age Concern's Raleigh Centre in New Malden. She was accompanied by Cllr Ken Smith. Wednesday 1 October is Older Peoples Day, an opportunity to celebrate the contribution older people make to families and communities.
Helen Whately commented after her visit; "I really valued the chance to speak to some of the older people in the borough. They have wonderful stories to tell and so much experience of life. It reminded me that I don't spend enough time with my own grandparents. Older Peoples' Day can help us focus on what we're doing for older members of our community. Many people work incredibly hard to care for older relatives and friends, but as a society we don't do enough."

Tory warning on Multiculturism

Tory warning on multiculturalism

Mr Grieve said Britain had failed in creating a cultural 'melting pot'
British multiculturalism has left a "terrible" legacy which has allowed extremists to flourish, shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve has warned.
A type of "cultural despair" has led "long-term inhabitants" and newer arrivals to feel alienated and unsure of UK values, he told the Guardian.
Mr Grieve, speaking on the eve of the Conservative Party conference, argued this had led to support for extremism.
He also warned against downplaying Britain's Christian heritage.
Mr Grieve told the Guardian: "We've actually done something terrible to ourselves in Britain.
"In the name of trying to prepare people for some new multicultural society we've encouraged people, particularly the sort of long-term inhabitants, to say 'well your cultural background isn't really very important'."
'Huge damage'
The vacuum created by multiculturalism has encouraged support for extremists on both sides, he argues.
The shadow home secretary went on to say multiculturalism was inspired by the "understandable" desire to make people feel comfortable.
But he added: "The idea behind it was [to] create the melting pot. But the melting pot needs the ingredients of people's confidence in themselves as they come together. And if it isn't there I think we've done ourselves huge damage."
Mr Grieve also said the part played by Christianity in Britain should not be ignored.
"The role of Christianity is really rather important. It can't just be magicked out of the script. It colours many of the fundamental viewpoints of British people, including many who've never been in a church."
'Outdated' policy
It is not the first time a Tory home secretary has spoken out against multiculturalism.
In 2005, the then shadow home secretary David Davis called on the government to scrap the "outdated" policy, saying that allowing people of different cultures to settle without integrating let the "perverted values of suicide bombers" take root.
Mr Davis said he agreed with Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the then Commission for Racial Equality, who a year earlier argued multiculturalism belonged to a different era.
Mr Phillips said all citizens should "assert a core of Britishness".

My letter to the press

Cllr Ian McDonald is being either disengenuous or deliberately economical with the truth when he states that the Conservatives can allocate money to improve the Council housing stock in Maldens & Coombe.As a former Co-Chairman of the Neighbourhood he is fully aware that under the 1988 Local Government Finance Act the Neighbourhood Committee is not allowed to financially support either maintenance or the general housing fund of our Council stock.To suggest the Conservatives continually refuse to take responsibility for the decisions we make is risible and to further allege we are 'ashamed' of our record simply puts McDonald's posturing to shame.In the open way we run our committee, Cllr McDonald has every opportunity to influence decisions and I cannot recall him ever objecting to how the money is spent. Indeed we have included items suggested by himself.On the question of pride, we are proud that the residents of Maldens & Coombe have put their trust in us to try and sort out the shambles - New Malden High St and Manor Park - bequeathed us by his own incompetence.We will continue to repay their trust by our continuing battle to save Springboard. We will continue to fight the Lib Dem Administration of this Council in their contempuous disregard for the wishes of residents to keep weekly rubbish collections and to do everything in our power to help the elderly and most vulnerable members of our society who are in danger of being left behind.

X26 good news

Route X26, Croydon – Sutton – Worcester Park – New Malden – Kingston – Heathrow Central currently runs every hour stopping only in the town centres. It is proposed that the frequency be increased to half-hourly between approximately 7am and 7pm from 22nd November.