Councillors help fund New Malden Christmas lights show

Kingston’s Mayor will ride in style when she attends the annual ceremony to switch on the Christmas lights in New Malden next week.

This year’s event has been backed by £1,400 from the council’s Maldens and Coombe Neighbourhood Committee, adding to money from fundraising and donations by local businesses and the community.

The Mayor, Councillor Penny Shelton, will join Santa Claus in his sleigh in a procession down High Street as the town centre’s lights come on next Friday, 29 November.

Organised by New Malden Rotary Club and Malden Fortnight, the festivities include Santa’s Grotto in St George’s Square where presents donated by local store Tudor Williams will be handed out to children.

The lights will be switched on at 5.30pm, and there will be music, food and a Christmas fair at New Malden Methodist Church.

Councillors Patrick Codd and Ken Smith, Maldens and Coombe Neighbourhood Committee co-chairs, said:

“We are pleased to be able to support such a worthy event that helps to promote small business in our High Street.”

Manor Park gets special Diamond Jubilee protection

Manor Park gets special Diamond Jubilee protection

More articles in the news archive

• The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames news feed

Published Friday, 8th November 2013

An award-winning New Malden park is to be given special protection under a national Olympic and Diamond Jubilee legacy scheme.

Manor Park will be dedicated as a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Field after scheme organisers extended the deadline for more applications. Now Kingston Council can apply for a £10,000 grant towards the upkeep of Manor Park from the Fields in Trust organisation.

The Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge is designed to protect 2,012 parks and playing fields across the country permanently.

Recreation grounds at Elm Road, Kingston, and Dickerage Road, New Malden, were dedicated under the scheme last year.

Manor Park has been awarded a Green Flag for the last three years by environmental campaign group Keep Britain Tidy, rating it among the country’s best-kept green spaces.

The park includes football and cricket pitches, tennis courts and a children’s playground as well as wildlife and wetland reserves.

Councillors Ken Smith and Patrick Codd, co-chairs of the Maldens and Coombe Neighbourhood Committee which approved the move, said:

“Dedicating Manor Park in this way will protect it now and for future generations to ensure that people have access to outdoor sport and recreation.

This special status will help us to improve facilities and encourage physical activity which is good for the community’s health and wellbeing.”

Protecting our children

Google and Microsoft have announced changes to their search engines that will block links to child abuse images and videos.

Back in July, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to do more to protect our children online. But when it came to stopping search returns on child abuse, the search engine companies said nothing could be done. The Prime Minister disagreed, and for the last few months we have been pressing Google and Microsoft to make sure that it happens.

That is why internet search engine providers will today set out how they will take action to stop child abuse material from being available through a simple search online. This will include the introduction of new algorithms that will block child abuse images, videos and pathways that lead to illegal content, covering 100,000 unique searches on Google worldwide.

We are committed to stopping the availability of child abuse content, in the UK and across the world. If search engine providers are unable to deliver on their commitment to prevent child abuse material being returned from search terms used by paedophiles, we will bring forward legislation that will ensure it does happen.

Underspend

The money that was underspent from the Neighbourhood Budget , some £35000 will be used to repair the Pavements that are most in need.
We are also helping local  small Businesses  in the High Street by assisting them to revamp their shop fronts and thus ensuring that our High Street do not become a run down area like so many in the Country . Residents  want to see a vibrant High Street and expect their Councillors to lead on such issues .And that's what you Conservative Councillors will do. SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS and unlike some we will continue to do so.

Christmas lights

The Christmas light will be switched on at 5.30pm on Friday the 29th November . New Malden High Street.

Remembrance Sunday 9.45 this Sunday

High Street, New Malden 10th November Closed from "The Fountain" to the War Memorial 9am - 10:30am for Remembrance Services.

Helping with the Poppy appeal in Kingston

The generosity of the Residents not only of Kingston but other areas has once again been outstanding.

It is quite noticeable that parents are letting the children place the donations into the collecting boxes and some asking their Children why they are giving and the reason.

The number of Students who ask why so many are wearing them and then themselves decide to have one it also heartening.

If you are in Kingston look me up outside outside M&S Clarence Street.

My thanks to to a certain young lady Louise from John Lewis for taking this photo  

      

Letter from Cllr Jones

Cllr Howard Jones

Leader of the Conservative Group

DATE: 29^th October 2013

Dear Liz and Bruce

Until now The Conservatives have refrained from making any statements on the charging of Derek Osbourne as we wished to maintain his right to a fair trial. The former Liberal Democrat Leader of Kingston Council, was given a prison sentence today for amongst other things possession and distribution of the most foul types of child pornography. The serious nature of the charges and his sentencing put a line under part of this affair.

We all share enormous compassion and sympathy for Derek Osbournes’s victims; we hope they have the strength to rebuild their shattered lives. Closer to home Kingston’s already tarnished reputation on child protection issues has been further damaged. Kingston’s residents need urgent independent and verifiable reassurance that their elected representatives are up to the task of child protection and must be able to publicly and openly restore public confidence in Children's Services. 

The foundations of public confidence are built on open and frank disclosure of facts. We cannot move forward without first drawing a line on the past. Consequently, I am requesting that the Chief Executive of Kingston Council and the current Lib dem leader Liz Green to commission an independent investigation into the ”Derek Osbourne” era of Council leadership. This investigation should have cross party involvement and findings should be made available to the public. 

The basis for the investigation and review are not covered by the police investigation and should include at a minimum the following:

1.      Much hard work is being undertaken to repair the immense damage and restore public confidence in Children's Safeguarding Services. However, the public have a right to know how this terrible situation arose and what was Mr Osbourne’s involvement in and influence over the management of Child Safeguarding?

2.       To what extent was Mr Osbourne involved in child-related activities in Kingston and was his involvement purely of an administrative nature?

 3. We know that under Mr Osbourne’s leadership the Council made substantial financial grants to youth groups, many in the theatrical and performing arts sector favoured by Mr Osbourne. The public, especially parents, need to know the extent to which Mr Osbourne steered public funds towards his pet projects and whether he had any involvement in these outside his formal duties as Council Leader? Was due diligence followed when the recipients of these grants chosen?  Were all those engaged in these activities properly covered by the necessary criminal records checking at the time?

As a matter of urgency, faith and confidence in Kingston Council and Councillors must be restored. Kingston’s residents need to know the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. Only after we have established this we can begin to move forward to rebuild our reputation and perform our duties in a manner which commands public respect, trust and confidence. 

Kingston’s Conservatives remain committed to cross-party support to the Council on this important issue and offer to lend our assistance in ensuring this process is open and transparent and does not become shrouded in secrecy.

The damage caused by these events and Derek Osbourne’s admission of guilt needs to be scrutinised and any wrong doing publicly purged.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Howard Jones

Group Leader

Ex lib dem leader

Ex Lib Dem Council leader Derek Osbourne has been sentenced to two years in prison for downloading and distributing indecent images of children. The court heard how Osbourne used an Internet pseudonym to distribute the images depicting children aged between three and ten being subjected to sexual abuse. The prosecutor said this was a spectacular fall from grace for an individual who was in a position of significant public trust. At the time of his offending he was the Leader of Kingston Borough Council and was responsible for the welfare of hundreds, if not thousands of children. He committed these abhorrent offences in direct contradiction to the position of trust and responsibility. Mr Zinner prosecuting, said he must have known what he was doing would significantly contribute to the cycle of harm suffered by victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Cllr Howard Jones Leader of Kingston Conservatives, wrote an open letter to the Chief Executive and current Leader of the Council calling for a review into Osbourne’s time at the Guildhall. Cllr Jones said ‘Residents will want to know he has not in any way allowed his private activities to impinge on his work ar any decision making he has made. He was obviously very devious in his pornographic activities – let’s be absolutely sure there is nothing that will leave us with mud in our eyes in six months time.’