St James Ward RBK

New Malden Centre

2012-01-31T07:33:00.000Z

Get Involved and Have Your Say!

Wednesday 1 February 2012

7pm-8.30pm

Venue Malden Centre

You are warmly invited to attend the next meeting of the Neighbourhood

Community Panel. This is your opportunity to influence local decision-making

and give your views on topics being discussed by the Neighbourhood

Committee.

If you are unable to attend the meeting or would prefer to give your views

electronically, please see the topics being discussed via this link, and send your

Neighbourhood Manager an email with your ideas and opinions

(hannah.rees@rbk.kingston.gov.uk). Please note the

Neighbourhood Committee reports will be available to view online from Tuesday

31 January 2012. A few hard copies will also be available at the meeting.

www.kingston.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/committeeminutes/moderngov.ht

m?mgl=ieListMeetings.aspx&CommitteeId=178

For more information, please contact Hannah Rees, Neighbourhood Manager

Police Meeting

2012-01-26T19:37:00.002Z

Your Local Councilors Howard Jones and Myself attended a Police meeting the afternoon. all ward were represented on behalf of the Police and a contingent of shopkeepers from Burlington Road were also in attendance.

There was some really good news about how the Police are dealing with any problems and the shopkeepers reported that there efforts had paid off.

next meeting at the end of March.

Council Tax Freeze

2012-01-26T19:35:00.000Z

Councils could be financially protected in the future if they freeze council tax this year, communities secretary Eric Pickles has hinted.

Addressing a New Local Government Network conference in London today, Mr Pickles said extra grant support for councils which sign up to a further freeze extending to 2012/13 would be ‘a key consideration in funding for local government at the next spending review’.

Mr Pickles praised councils already agreeing to a freeze - particularly West Oxfordshire and Hammersmith and Fulham which are preparing for a council tax cut.

But the move will leave councils which have announced plans increase council tax by a small amount – including Surrey County Council - out in the cold, as it will negate the argument that they face a ‘cliff edge’ to their funding when the incentive cash dries up.

Many councils have expressed their fears that the Government’s cash incentive to freeze the levy will disappear, and they will face a huge hike in taxes later to claw back their tax base.

Mr Pickles accused councils that have put forward an increase as giving ‘an almighty kick in the teeth’ to working families who are struggling to pay their bills. He suggested that low increases are being levied in a bid to avoid local referendums.

Mr Pickles told delegates: ‘Councils who take our offer and freeze tax are protecting their residents, and cutting some slack to hard-working families. Those who don’t are piling up the bills and the stress and the pressure at a time when people could really do without it. They’re giving their residents an almighty kick in the teeth.

‘Councils who go for the biggest rise they can, without triggering a local vote, deserve everything they get next time residents do get a chance to have a say where it really counts: the ballot box.’

New Nuring Home Coombe Lane West

2012-01-26T03:59:00.003Z

I attended the Development Control Committee last night and apart from my best efforts was unable to stop this matter going through, I give it my best shot, but lost the vote 5 to 3.

Once more local residents have seen there wishes dashed, local Councillors who spoke so passionately against this application on the grounds of a to massive development and traffic issues at the MCPC see their objections turn to nothing.

A named vote was called for, most unusual at DCC but at least the local public cab see who voted for and against.

Full Council

2012-01-25T08:51:00.002Z

Attended full Council meeting last night. good maiden speech by Cllr Julie Pickering and a good question from Cllr Lynne Finnerty.

Group

2012-01-24T09:05:00.002Z

Attended a Group meeting last night, topics of interests were talked about so that members have a better understanding of each others local problems and how best to resolve them.

The old saying Two heads are better than one comes to mind.

George Road

2012-01-23T14:59:00.001Z

I will be in George Road today delivering letters to residents re work in the area to Roads and Crossovers.

Mayors Charity Night at the Rose

2012-01-22T21:02:00.003Z

We attended the Mayors Charity night at a near full Rose Theatre, A great night and for two very worthy Charities, The Born to Soon and the Shooting Star.

Well done the St James players, you did Kingston proud. (and St James Ward New Malden)

The photo shows the Mayor Cllr Codd thanking everyone who attended , with a special well done to the cast.

AGM today Home Zone

2012-01-21T15:02:00.004Z

I attended the AGM of the Home zone today, some 50 residents were in attendance this was up on last year, the RA now number around 120 and growing.

I was given the opportunity to update the Residents on the action both the committee and Councillors are taking, I read out a list of things that we were working on and explained quite a lot of it would be down to funding or the lack of it.

I answered Questions from the floor and at the end was thanked by the Chairman for attending.

At the end of the Meeting I give out a card with the Call Centre number, but added that if there was any issue to contact on of the Councillors.

It was nice to see so many familiar faces and to be able to chat to many after the meeting .

I look forward to attending the General Meeting shortly along with officer to answer more question in Depth , then to have the follow up meeting with the Committee to look at action that needs to be taken.

Next week

2012-01-21T07:48:00.003Z

Monday I will be attending a licensing Committee at the Guildhall or other venue 10.00 am until around 1.30 pm,

Then I will be in the Office at the Guildhall meeting with officers.

Tuesday I will be at the Full Council meeting at the Guildhall 7.30 till late

Wednesday Again at the Guildhall for a Development Control Meeting 6.30 pm until late

Thursday Pre Agenda meeting at the Guildhall 10.00 until midday. then at 4.30 Community meeting at the Fountain PH

Friday New Malden Business forum at 8.am until 9,00am

PM meeting with officers

Home Zone update

2012-01-19T19:04:00.003Z

Working with the Home zone to ensure its residents maintain the promises given when it was first developed takes up quite a bit of time, trying to ensure that contractors carry out the work according to schedule, and that repairs are done in good time.

We Councillors are fortunate to have an RA Group called CAHZCA who keep us updated on whats happening, But I do have friends who live there so most weeks I cycle around the area seeing for myself what needs to be done.

That said along with Officer we meet up with committee members of CAHZCA and work out what needs to be done to maintain the home zone, Action plans are drawn up and the contractor or officer responsible give updates, if any work needs to be done.

Like all council areas we are in need of funds, and where they cannot be provided by the Authority officers will seek outside funding.

Some of the action taken are as follows.

Football pitch goals to be removed summer 2011 to carry out renovation work, this will go ahead in spring 2012.

Investigate ways of Deterring foxes, CAHZCA told residents not to feed foxes.

Fencing required for play area, hogging path, costing supplied by officers indicating around 19k and tarmac around 28k funding may not be available until 2013 and that would be outside funding. CAHZCA to draw up business case for funding.

Find out who owns Fence , officer to investigate.

This report goes on in some detail, but shows that Councillors and Residents are working together to resolve issues effecting the home Zone.

The report will be looked at again when we have our next meeting, we are just waiting for the date from CAHZCA that more than lightly be after the CAHZCA AGM this Saturday.

I will be in attendance and looking forward to meeting the residents once again.

London and the EU

2012-01-19T07:36:00.000Z

European Social Fund (ESF) 2007-2013
The European Social Fund (ESF) was set up to improve employment opportunities in the EU, and it aims to help people fulfill their potential by giving them better skills and better jobs prospects.

London has been awarded an allocation of £420 million as part of the England and Gibraltar ESF 2007–2013 Programme. The ESF programme will contribute to sustainable economic growth and social inclusion by extending employment opportunities and by developing a skilled and adaptable workforce

Government Support for adult care

2012-01-19T03:44:00.001Z

Dear CLLR Ken Smith,

To help support the vital work of adult care services across the UK, the government has just allocated an additional £2 billion to the care budget with a reformed focus on local priorities and requirements, bringing the total annual spending on adult social care to £14.5 billion by 2014.

In order to distribute the additional funding, the government has launched ‘Caring for our Future: Shared Ambitions for Care and Support.’ This engagement exercise with local councils and designated adult care providers has been designed to establish key priorities for improving adult care services, and in doing so giving a voice to local services to raise the issues that they feel are important to the future of adult social care.

With this in mind, Inside Government is inviting you to attend ‘The Future Outlook for Adult Social Care Services,’

Mayor helps with Apprenticeships

2012-01-18T17:51:00.001Z

The Mayor agrees to the investment totals £300,000 for the financial years 2011/12 – 2013/14, on activity to support the delivery of the Mayor’s target of 100,000 apprenticeships starts in London by December 2012, and to increase the number of apprenticeships in London between 2011/12 and 2013/14.

Mayor awards Kingston funds

2012-01-18T13:45:00.002Z

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson have awarded Kingston just over two million pounds from his outer london fund to help with the asprations of Kingston residents .
This was announced at a meeting I attended this morning , so once more Boris have come up trumps for Kingston, the money will be put to good use and is on top of other funding already giving by the Mayor to Kingston

London mayor gains powers over the Metropolitan Police

2012-01-16T09:25:00.001Z

London's mayor is now responsible for the Metropolitan Police's priorities and performance, as part of government plans for elected commissioners.
The Metropolitan Police Authority was disbanded at midnight and replaced by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC).
MOPC will be monitored by the London Assembly's Police and Crime Panel.
Operational matters will still be the responsibility of Metropolitan Police commissioner.
The mayor will also set the annual force budget for the Metropolitan Police in consultation with the commissioner.
But the mayor does not have the power to appoint or dismiss the commissioner, or the deputy commissioner.
Safe city
Mayor Boris Johnson said his priorities will include serious youth violence, knife crime, getting more officers on the streets, tackling gangs, robbery, burglary and cutting reoffending rates.
He said: "Londoners rightly expect to live in a safe city and I'll now be keeping an even closer eye on every aspect of policing, ensuring more than ever that the crimes that most concern Londoners are addressed."
The change is part of the police reform and social responsibility bill which aims to give people a say in how they are policed.
London is the first police body to launch as it already has a directly elected mayor. The rest of the country will follow in November 2012 after local elections are held.

New Malden News

2012-01-15T07:00:00.002Z

One of our Residents was honoured by being awarded the Secretaries Cup, this is the cup given annually to the best Secretary in the County of Surrey. Mary Gillett was surprised by the award that's only announced at the Delegates conference on the day that was held at the Worcester Park RBL and presented by The Lord- Lieutenant of Surrey Dame Sara Goad J.P. a big well done from all in MCN

New Malden Royal British Legion

2012-01-14T07:43:00.003Z

I have been asked to express the thanks of the New Malden Royal British Legion to members of the public, this year saw a record amount of money given by you to help the veterans of so many conflicts, of course this includes the Family's, Mothers, Children, Etc who have also needed the support. so a big thank you to all, including the Managers of the Royal Oak, and Woodies and all those other businesses who give support.

To day I have been invited to attend the Surrey County Conference, Hopefully I will be able to say how much the residents of New Malden have contributed to the poppy appeal, so a big thank you on behalf of the RBL

Site Visits

2012-01-14T07:29:00.002Z

Two areas I visited yesterday, George Road and Hatton Close, both have complained ether about Parking or the state of the Road, Hatton Close was resolved , and I received the following E-mail

Ken - you are brilliant!! Had 3 men from Veolia this morning - all rubbish cleared. I did thank them but full credit goes to you. godbless ys&f

The George road issue will be resolved by repairing the road by Hot Boxing, that will be followed by a deep clean of the whole road, every resident will get a letter from RBK officers explaining how this will be done.

It was nice to meet up with residents and for them to know I am available to help them.

Remember if you have a problem please contact me, and whilst I cannot guarantee due mainly to funding that I can fully resolve every issue I will do my best.

Planning Application Comments

2012-01-13T03:54:00.000Z

Planning Application Comments

If you submitted comments on a planning application using the online form between 12 and 21 December 2011, we might need you to resend your comments.

We experienced some technical difficulties with the online planning comments form for planning applications, however, your views are important to us and so the consultation period has been extended by a further 21 days for those applications affected.

If you submitted comments about a planning application using the online form:

between 12 and 21 December 2011
and you were still within the initial 21 day consultation period as set out in your letter or on the relevant site or press notice

then you are invited to resubmit your comments by the 24 January 2012. Please re-send these comments to the following e-mail address:

development.management@rbk.kingston.gov.uk
or alternatively call 0208 547 5002 for more information

We are working hard to ensure that these technical difficulties do not happen again and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Please see our Planning Applications page for further information on the application process.

Update

2012-01-12T04:44:00.002Z

Yesterday I had attended the award ceremony of some of our local hero's who helped raise fund during the poppy appeal run by the New Malden Branch of the RBL, the photo shows the Manager of the Royal Oak receiving his award from the Mayor of Kingston.

In the morning I visited George road with officers, and agreed a program of maintenance, letters will shortly be delivered to residents giving details of the work to be done.

Last night I chaired the Planning committee of MCNC minutes can be found on RBK website.

Today I will be attending meetings at the Guildhall and tomorrow visiting residents who have approached me with issues of concern .

Site Visits

2012-01-11T10:01:00.002Z

I have been making site visits to areas within the ward where I have had complaints about, the matters have been passed on the officers and I will be following them up to ensure that they are correctly dealt with.

Today at 11.00am I will be visiting George, Albert , and Queens Road, potholes and Fly tipping signage being the issues

This afternoon at 2.30pm I will be attending a ceremony of thanks to local resident's for work they did during the poppy appeal. The Mayor Cllr Codd will present certificates.

At 7.30 pm this evening I will be chairing the MCNC Planning sub Committee

Help for Sports Clubs

2012-01-10T04:26:00.001Z

10 January 2012

London 2012: Funds for school-site sport clubs

Funding for a community sports club at every secondary school in England has been announced by the government.

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was part of a £1bn strategy to encourage young people to take up sport - as pledged in the 2012 Games bid.

Mr Hunt said despite huge investment of public funds since winning the right to host the Games, participation by young people in sport has been falling.

He said a "radical change" in policy was needed to address the problem.

Under the five-year, youth and community sport strategy, Sport England will help set up some 4,000 clubs where expert coaches will run sessions to create ties between schools and existing local sports clubs.

Already, 2,000 football clubs have pledged to be linked to secondary schools by 2017, in rugby union 1,300 clubs, cricket, 1,250 clubs and rugby league and tennis 1,000 clubs each, according to the government.

Payments-by-results

In an attempt to give greater public access to school sports facilities - three-quarters of sports halls and artificial pitches and a third of swimming pools in England are located on school sites - £10m of funding will be available.

A further £100m will be invested in creating the clubs and tackling the decline in sports participation when people leave school.

Of this, £50m will be invested to boost sport provision at further education colleges and universities with funding for a full-time sports professional at at least 150 further education colleges.

Between 2013 and 2017 around £450m will go to sports governing bodies to help develop their sport plans but their funding will be allocated on a "payments-by-results" basis.

Mr Hunt said: "Our bold approach will see money going to organisations that deliver on youth participation, but also withdrawn quickly from those which fail to meet agreed objectives."

Sport England Chief Executive Jennie Price said: "Changing the sporting behaviour of a generation is a major challenge, which has not been achieved by any other Olympic host nation.

"With a new focus on young people and an even tougher, Government-backed regime of payment by results, Sport England and its partners are determined to deliver."

The money comes from the Lottery and government funding through Sport England - £200m of which was from the current Spending Review settlement.

Help

2012-01-04T15:47:00.005Z

Well the New Year has started out really cold, and I do hope that we all remember to ensure that our elderly are being checked on to ensure that they can cope with the extremes of the weather.

A good why would to call and see if they need any shopping, or if it snows to see that he can get access safely from their homes. most of you will have my number 07752152829. If you think someone needs assistance and you are unable to help, please let me know.

I would also like to wish you all healthy and happy New Year.

Support from businesses,

2011-12-24T06:50:00.001Z

Mr Cameron received more support from business leaders yesterday, with 20 executives signing a public letter backing his European stance.

The signatories included Sir Anthony Bamford of JCB and Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, head of Next.. Other backers included Tim Martin of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain.

Their letter praised the Prime Minister for standing up for “an outward-looking and competitive Britain” by rejecting a new treaty.

Bus service alterations during the 2012 Games

2011-12-22T15:48:00.000Z

Bus service alterations during the 2012 Games

Games Local Engagement Team

11th Floor - Green Zone Palestra 197 Blackfriars Road London

SE1 8NJ

I am writing to provide details of proposed bus service changes relating to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Transport will be integral to the success of the 2012 Games. As well as ensuring athletes, key officials and thousands of spectators get to their events on time, we also need to keep London moving.

The comprehensive London Bus network will be maintained and enhanced next summer to cater for the anticipated demand. There will also be some diversions and bus stop changes, in response to temporary road changes that are needed to help make the Games a success.

These traffic management changes, including those on the Olympic Route Network/Paralympic Route Network (ORN/PRN), will involve some side road closures and turning restrictions. The changes will be in place for the minimum time possible but, where diversions are needed as a result, we have worked hard to minimise disruption to passengers and local communities. Nevertheless, there will be changes for passengers and some stops that are not able to be served.

Full details of planned changes across London are available from tfl.gov.uk/gamestravel. Background information is also included. Please note that these are subject to change as Games delivery partners finalise operational plans, such as local traffic management plans around venues.

A number of events, such as the marathons and cycle road races, take place on London's roads themselves. On these occasions, further temporary bus diversions will be needed. These are still being developed and we anticipate being able to provide you with details in the new year, with all changes confirmed by April 2012.

Commenting on the plansWe have already received comments on the plans from London borough officers, the Metropolitan Police and London TravelWatch, and are now engaging with political representatives and local stakeholder groups across the Capital.

If you have any comments on the plans, please write to the above address or email

ORNandPRNengagement@tfl.gov.uk by 27 January 2012. You can find out more about transport plans for the 2012 Games from tfl.gov.uk/2012. Yours sincerely

Leon Daniels Managing Director – Surface Transport

Conservatives giving the young a chance

2011-12-22T05:10:00.001Z

On 16th November 2011, the Government announced a new incentive to encourage thousands of small firms that don’t currently employ apprentices to take on a young apprentice aged 16 to 24. This will support up to 40,000 new Apprenticeships.

The incentive is for employers with up to 50 (and in some cases up to 250) employees and comprises a payment of £1,500 payable in two stages. It will be available to small firms in all industries and for Apprenticeships at all levels from April 2012.

Details of how the new incentive will be administered and when employers will be able to express formal interest in it are currently being developed and will be announced as soon as possible. Updates on this development will appear on this website.

The incentive is part of a wider £1 billion package of support to encourage small businesses to employ young people.

Conservatives Freeze Council Tax

2011-12-21T15:54:00.000Z

Residents of Kingston will be £83 better off thanks to proposals put forward by the Conservatives. The Conservative led Coalition Government announced further funding to local authorities to freeze their Council Tax for a second year, saving residents across the borough £2.14m.

However, the Lib Dem Executive Member for Finance Cllr Rolson Davies suggested at the October Full Council that“accepting the money would fall well short of being a good deal for residents.”

Your local Conservatives moved swiftly to put forward a motion at the December Full Council which would call on the LibDem controlled council to accept the money and spare our residents anymore financial hardship in the coming year.

Conservative Shadow Finance Member Cllr Priyen Patel said “residents of Kingston already pay the highest Council Tax in London and second highest in the country. This was an opportunity for the Lib Dems to grant residents a bit of breathing space and some much needed help in keeping more of their hard earned money in their pockets.”

Conservative Shadow Member for Safeguarding Children Cllr Mike Burden went onto say that “the Lib Dem administration have a real opportunity to accept £2.14m from the Government. This would make a real difference to families across the borough who are experiencing rising food and energy costs – on the back of hiked parking charges in excess of 200% - levied by the Lib Dems.”

After much deliberation and reluctance on the Lib Dem benches the Conservative motion was unanimously passed. Conservative Shadow Member for Healthy Living Cllr Eric Humphrey said “£2.14m is a substantial amount of money that would make a real difference to residents. Let’s hope the Lib Dems actually keep their word and are not looking gift horses in the mouth.”

Potholes - local government bread and butter

2011-12-21T06:55:00.003Z

No local councillor would be worth his, or her, salt if potholes did not fill up significant volumes of the inbox. We know very cold weather such as from last year makes potholes worse and creates new ones. Last winter was terrible for many reasons - trains, airports, shopping - and this winter could be bad again. However, as a result from last years pothole misery, Eric Pickles PM (the Conservative Local Government Sec of State) gave councils money to repair potholes.As a result of this extra funding, New Malden neighbourhood committee received £71,000 which was put work straight away. Conservative councillors fed into the local neighbourhood committee and all potholes which residents reported were filled and/or repaired. Not every single pothole can be fixed straight away but we prioritised the most dangerous or troublesome ones to fix first. This may happen once again this year and we need residents to let councillors know straight away so we can put them into our works programme. Please drop us a line or E-Mail us,You can also report it directly to the Council on the call centre number,but remember to ask for a complaint number so that you can check what action is being taken or we can do that for you. call centre number 02085475002

Marry Christmas

2011-12-19T19:33:00.002Z

May we on behalf of all our Party Members in St James Ward, wish you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy New Year for 2012

Ken, Howard, Priyen.

Omission by the Lib Dems

2011-12-19T08:00:00.006Z

This is what the Conservative Minister Grant Shapps MP and Minister of State for Housing & Local Government says about the New Home Bonus.

New Homes Bonus ensures that for the first time communities start to see significant benefits from housing development and growth in their area.

For too long, a top-down, centralised system of housing targets pitted communities against developers. It left local people, who best know their neighbourhoods and the pressures they face, without a voice and unable to offer their views on where homes should be built, and how many their area could accommodate. Housebuilding fell to its lowest levels for any peacetime year since 1924 and house prices doubled in the decade from 1997 - leaving increasing numbers of people unable to get a foothold on the property ladder.

But the changes we're making to the planning system will give residents a much greater say over the future development of their local area, including protecting local green spaces and the Green Belt. And where homes are built, it is right that local people share in the prosperity and growth that this will bring to their community.

New Homes Bonus funding can be used however communities see fit to improve their local area - and I would urge all councils expecting to receive funding to speak to their residents about how they would like to see it spent locally.

Grant Shapps MP

This is what the LIB Dems would have you believe

Just as the largest ever investment programme into council housing in Kingston has been launched, the Liberal Democrat Administration has more good news for Council tenants with an announcement that over £500,000 New Homes Bonus Grant will be used this year to bring ten long-term empty three bedroom properties in the Norbiton/Mount Pleasant area back into family use.

WERE YOU ASKED ?????

George Road Parking issue

2011-12-19T06:00:00.002Z

George Road

Residents have contacted their Councillors about the problems of inconsiderate parking of vehicles which are blocking access to crossovers. This matter has been passed on to our traffic council staff who will work with the enforcement team to ensure that this matter is dealt with. Your Councillors will monitor the situation and ensure a satisfactory outcome. If this is somthing you have experianced please let us know.

December 11

2011-12-19T05:57:00.000Z

Free car parking in New Malden

We all know how hard the current economic climate is for small businesses and have heard a lot about high streets recently. That is why the New Malden neighbourhood committee - chaired by Conservative Cllr Ken Smith has made it possible for free car parking for people who want to shop in New Malden. Below is the council press release about this...

A Christmas gift for local residents!

Free car parking in New Malden and discounts in local shops

Shoppers in New Malden are set to benefit from free Saturday parking in a bid to boost trade in the run-up to Christmas and to remind residents of the variety available on their doorsteps. As well as the free parking, shoppers will be able to show part of their parking tickets for discounts and offers at participating local businesses in the town centre.

This scheme is possible thanks to the Maldens & Coombe Neighbourhood Committee, who have organised the free car parking initiative at Blagdon Road multi-storey car park. Parking is free for up to four hours on the selected days. Keep an eye out for posters in the local shops for those offering discounts.

The scheme will run from Friday 25 November when the Christmas lights will be switched on, then every Saturday until Christmas Eve. The big switch on itself will take place at 5:30pm on 25th, with a festive parade along New Malden High Street, organised by the Malden Fortnight Committee.

Cllr Ken Smith, Chair of Maldens & Coombe Neighbourhood said, “It is important that we as a Council support our local shopping areas and maintain these as facilities for the local community. They especially need our support in the current economic environment and I am particularly pleased as Chair of the Neighbourhood that we have been able to put this scheme in place here.”

UK AND EU

2011-12-14T09:03:00.002Z

Conservatives will back British interests before Europe. Lib Dems backs European Interests before that of the UK

Who's right?

LIB DEMS insults

2011-12-12T07:00:00.007Z

LIB DEMS insults Britain in the eyes of the world my calling us a a ‘pygmy nation ;

We Conservatives stand by the rights of our Country, it is now quite obvious to all that the Lib Dems are out of touch with the wishes of the majority of the people, it is little wander that they lost nearly all their local council seats throughout the country, Now they insult our Nation.

Is there no end to this parties odiousness .

On top of that they of course insult Pygmies, suggesting that they are inferier.

How much lower can they get ?

Out with the team

2011-12-10T13:58:00.003Z

It was a great pleasure to be out with a great team of Conservatives today, from members of the public MEPs MPs Councillors Uni Students all, showing there support for two exultant candidates.

A pity the Lib Dems did not turn up at the Public Meeting to answer Questions from the Public.

But the two Conservatives both answered the questions put forward with confidence and clarity. and at the end were given raptures applause Well done Julie and Lynne.

This is what can happen if you tell Lies

2011-12-09T19:21:00.001Z

December 2011 Last updated at 17:24

Nigel Waterson 'expenses scandal' leaflet defamatory

An election campaign leaflet which featured a claim about a former East Sussex MP's expenses was defamatory, a High Court judge has ruled.

The pamphlet was produced by Liberal Democrat Stephen Lloyd and used during the 2010 election campaign.

It described Conservative Nigel Waterson as an "expenses scandal MP".

Mr Waterson, who was Eastbourne MP until 2010 and lost his seat to Mr Lloyd, was cleared of any wrongdoing over his expenses claims.

Defamation proceedings were issued in December 2010 following the use by the Stephen Lloyd campaign of news reports in Liberal Democrat election newspapers that alleged Mr Waterson was an "expenses scandal MP" who had abused the system.

Mr Waterson's legal team said such news reports were used despite the fact that his expenses claims for a second home in outer London "were clearly proper and within the rules".

The High Court ruled on Thursday that damages and costs would be decided at a later date.

Following the summary judgement, Mr Lloyd said he had made an application for leave to appeal and would continue to "assess his options in the coming days and months".

"This is a highly technical ruling on the word 'scandal' and how people understand it," he said.

Mr Waterson said he was pleased with the court ruling "that I was the victim of damaging and baseless accusations by Mr Lloyd and his agent. It was a clearcut decision".

He said: "I have not sought to challenge the result of the election. We have achieved my specific aims today.

"The world and the people of Eastbourne now know that the Liberal Democrats campaign misled voters.

"Mr Lloyd should now consider his own position. The relationship between an MP and his constituents is one based on trust."

Bye Election

2011-12-09T17:26:00.003Z

We are once more nearing a bye election, its a pity therefore that the LIB DEMS did not attend the public meeting although invited, of course the usual questions from the residents and it was refreshing to see both Conservative councillors having an in depth understanding of local issues.

Question was put also about the leaflet on councillor EXPENSES that have been published by the lib Dems, who of course were not there to answer the accusations.

Recent court cases have shown that misleading lies can have serious consequences even after an election .

I await to see where this election will take us.

Fly Tipping

2011-12-09T17:23:00.000Z

Spotlight on Fly Tipping

What is fly tipping?

Fly-tipping is the ‘illegal deposit of any waste onto land or a highway that has no licence to accept it.’ Illegal dumps of waste can vary in scale and the type of waste involved.

Tipping a mattress, electrical items or a bin bag full of rubbish in the street causes a local nuisance, and tipping household items and small-scale building or garden waste in open spaces reduces their amenity value to the community. At the other end of the scale there is a growing trend for large-scale fly-tipping which involves several truckloads of construction and demolition waste being tipped on a range of different types of land.

Why do people fly tip?

Most people fly-tip to avoid paying the disposal fee called the landfill tax. Household rubbish is already paid for through council tax, but other waste is not, and a charge is generally made to have this waste collected or to drop the waste off at a licensed site yourself.

What are the punishments?

There are several pieces of legislation relating to fly-tipping. In England, Wales and Scotland, the main legislation is the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990), Sections 33, 34 and 59. However, the recent Clean Neighbourhoods Act 2005 also makes some extra provision for tackling fly tipping.

The following punishments can apply:

Fly-tipping fines are up to £50,000 and/or 12 months' imprisonment in a Magistrates Court. If the case goes to the Crown Court fines are unlimited and a sentence of up to 5 years in prison can be awarded if hazardous waste is dumped. A fly tipper will be disqualified from driving.

The person found guilty of fly tipping is now liable for the costs incurred by the Council in investigating and clearing up the incident. It is an offence to permit or authorise fly-tipping on land where a Waste Management License is not held. Where fly-tipping involves the use of a vehicle, the driver can be prosecuted, as can the owner of the vehicle. The police and courts have powers to seize vehicles used for fly-tipping and either sell or dispose of them.

MCNC

2011-11-28T05:30:00.002Z

Maldens and Coombe Meeting on Wednesday, 30th November at Christchurch, starts at 7.30 to late, Agenda can be seen on the RBK website.

AGM Tonight

2011-11-22T09:19:00.000Z

Tonight I have been asked to Chair the AGM of the Arthritic Society in New Malden, I will look forward to meeting the same people as last year Tina , John ,Joslin and of course the members.

The voluntary work they all do in one more testament to the goodness of people that surround us, they are not the ones who pass on the other-side of the road.

I am sure I talk for everyone in New Malden when I say a big thank you to all concerned.

Meeting

2011-11-14T21:21:00.002Z

Today I had a very interesting meeting at the Guildhall with the Manager of MCNC Hannah Rees,

the Conservative initiative to have free car parking in the Muli Story car park in Cocks Crescent was on the agenda, this would help both small businesses in New Malden and also shoppers by cutting out Parking costs on Saturdays starting from the 25th November, a max stay of 4 hours will be allowed , see leaflets for detail of the free parking.

No shame

2011-11-13T06:37:00.003Z

Cllr David Fraser and myself were called to see the vandalism of the War Memorial in Old Malden the day after it happened, words cannot express our anger at the wanten crime.

Our thanks go out to all those who sent money to the appeal for fund to restore the Memorial.

This type of crime is happening all over the Country, so it was nice to read that the Government is to act, working with the Police a system will be put in place, hopefully scrap metal dealers will have to keep a register have CCTV installed and other more discreet checking.

11 11 11

2011-11-12T05:38:00.002Z

Members of the MCNC attended along with a large number of New Malden Residents

the Memorial Service at the War memorial in the High Street

TheDeputy Mayor Cllr Geoff Austin and Chairman of the Malden and Coombe RBL Cllr Ken Smith

Placed crosses on the garden of Remembrance

WE WILL REMEMBER

Poppys

2011-11-08T22:36:00.002Z

11 11 11 is getting closer, and most think that there is a thing called Poppy Day, well the truth is that Poppy collections carry on throughout the year. And it really need to.

The RBL last year collected nationwide some 38 million, but spent 43 Million on ex service men women and their families. your generosity have helped so many in need, we will never know who received our help. but we know that the RBL are always on hand to assist those who have given so much to keep our country safe.

Stephen Hammond MP

2011-10-28T20:42:00.004+01:00

Tonight attended a meeting along with other Cllrs and activists with

Stephen Hammond MP he give a nice presention

we will hear a lot more about Stephen in the Years to come.

SSAFA

2011-10-28T17:22:00.008+01:00

Today I had the privilege of being asked to attend a presentation meeting held at Manor Park Hall

The first speaker was Mark Ormeron Author of the book "Man Down" who give a very graphic picture of the events leading up to his loss his limbs in Afghanistan and what happened directly after, he went on to talk about how he challenged himself to do more to recover and how he sometimes stopped and cursed himself for not archiving his goals, I urge you all to buy and read this book of one of the finest young men I have ever encountered .

He went on to say that promises made that they would continue to get the same treatment when they left the forces was not met, and he felt angry about that, but knowing this young brave man he will not let it rest there.

That was followed by Lt Col Nigel Cooke, RA , who give an account about how the Royal Artillery

sets about helping ex and serving Personnel,

Then followed the presentation to members of SSAFA for long service, this was made by

Maj General RIchard Peck, all really well deserved.

Other speakers followed and I felt really proud to have witnessed such caring people who live in not only Kingston but surrounding areas, even more so because they had chosen St James Ward to hold this event, but I'm sure that I speak for all the residents when I offer a big thank you for all that SSAFA do.

Boris and Tony Working for Kingston

2011-10-27T13:55:00.003+01:00

Beating the Recession

Kingston High Street has received a £636,000 economic boost as part of the Mayor’s £50m Outer London Fund to support the capital’s high streets helping Business to beat the Down turn and correct the last labour Government massive folly.
WE CUT RED TAPE to HELP SMALL BUSINESS
WE HOLD RATES . NO INCREASE FOR THREE YEARS
The Lib Dems have no chance in the Mayor of London elections so the choice is Labour or Conservative, Red Ken Or Boris Spend Spend Spend under Labour or a steady hand on the helm with Boris.

Boris and Tony Working for Kingston

2011-10-27T13:50:00.003+01:00

Driving down Crime

Tony, and Boris working to make Kingston Safer

36 more police officers and 57 more Specials Constables and introduced single patrolling leading to 2,416 more patrols annually
16% fall in crime, including a 16.5% fall in robberies and an 17.9% fall in youth crime
15% fall in bus-related crime with 100% fewer incidences of robberies on London’s red buses and 3% fall in attacks on commuters in the borough

Getting the numbers right

2011-10-26T21:20:00.001+01:00

Supporter Briefing: Liam burns Ken

Today Ken Livingstone’s attack dog Liam Byrne, whose record as Chief Secretary to the Treasury shows that he's not very good with numbers, launched an attack on Boris Johnson's record as Mayor that has blown up in his face.

Mr Byrne attacked Boris over his commitment to the job using the number of meetings he has held as Mayor as the measure.

However, he failed to do his sums properly.

What the official records show is that as Mayor, Boris Johnson has held more than twice as many meetings per month as his predecessor.

If meetings matter so much, then Boris Johnson is twice the Mayor Ken Livingstone was.

On top of more meetings, Boris has visited more boroughs, more often, in just three and a half years as Mayor than Ken Livingstone did in his entire eight year term.

If Mr Byrne wants to talk numbers how about these?

Boris Johnson has cut crime by 9%
He has frozen his share of council tax while Ken Livingstone increased his by 153%
And there will be, at the end of Boris's first term, over 1,000 more police on the beat than he inherited from Ken Livingstone

These are the numbers that matter to Londoners.

Road works

2011-10-24T15:47:00.000+01:00

WORKS IN PROGRESS (24-10-11)

KINGSTON

EDEN STREET/UNION STREET: Traffic between the junction with Ashdown Road and the United Reformed Church will be one way (Westbound) to enable Southern Gas Networks to replace their mains. Works due to start on 10/10/11 until 10/11/2011.

RICHMOND ROAD: Council contractors undertaking carriageway patching at various locations using traffic signals boards between 21-10-11 and 26-10-11. Off-peak works only.

NEW MALDEN

KINGSTON ROAD: Thames Water will be burying a temporary sewer to enable them to by-pass the damaged sewer between Montem Road and Penrith Road and repair it. Two-way traffic lights until the 15-11-11.

COOMBE LANE WEST: at junction with Gold Club Drive, Coombe Hill Road and Traps Lane. Traps Lane is closed at the junction and traffic is controlled by four way lights during the repairs to leaking gas pipes undertaken by Southern Gas Networks. Estimated end date is 28-10-11.

SOUTH LANE: from the junction with Kingston-by-pass (A3) to the junction with Malden Road. Closure of the Kingston-by-pass (A3) exit to South Lane. Diversion via A3 and Malden Road. Improvement to pedestrian subway and other pedestrian facilities and to the cycle lane. The pedestrian subway is closed for the duration of the school holidays ONLY. Signed pedestrian diversion.

Mayor helps London keep moving

2011-10-22T20:22:00.000+01:00

Mayor tightens grip on disruptive roadworks in London

21 SEPTEMBER 2011

New pledge clearly outlines the standards that Londoners should expect from roadworks sites
New online reporting tool allows Londoners to help spot, report and prevent unruly roadworks
CCTV operators and traffic community police will use reports to take immediate action
Boroughs urged to introduce similar innovative measures and work with TfL to help reduce disruptive and unnecessary works in London
Comes after Mayor secures UK’s first roadworks permit scheme for the capital

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today announced a new onslaught on disruptive roadworks on London's streets.

Announcing the measures at Transport for London's (TfL's) traffic nerve centre, the Mayor said that is was time for Londoners to "name and shame" those who blight London with disruptive or neglected roadworks, causing hours of unnecessary frustration to journeys every day. He is urging Londoners to now use a new reporting system launched today to tell TfL when roadworks are not up to scratch so they can take action with the relevant organisations and get things moving again.

The Mayor and TfL are clearly outlining to Londoners what standards they should expect to see from roadworks sites and are calling on borough highway authorities to do the same and hold those who dig up roads on their streets fully to account.

These initiatives are part of the Mayor’s longer-term strategy for improving the management of roadworks to free up London from unnecessary snarl ups. The Mayor has been working with the Government to put in place laws by next year that allow TfL to properly charge for working on their roads, incentivising companies to work more efficiently and at less disruptive times. If approved, TfL hopes to introduce this from Spring 2012.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: "Roadworks are a massive headache for Londoners, also levying a heavy toll on our economy. I have already taken action to introduce the UK's first permit scheme which will impose fines on those companies digging up the road that fall short of the high standards this city deserves.

"But like any great battle you have to plan for the next big push. We are now putting in place better ways to empower Londoners to name and shame those who blight our city with disruptive or badly managed roadworks. These reports will followed-up with swift action by the relevant authority to help unclog roads suffering from unnecessary delays."

The new roadworks pledge:

All roadworks should:

Be tidy and safe with a clutter-free site so it is safe for pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.
Always explain what's happening through detailed, clear and consistent signage.
Always have activity on site or, if not, explain why (for example if concrete is drying).
Take up as little road / pavement space as possible with a compact working area and eliminating the unnecessary use of cones, safety barriers and storage of materials.
Help keep London moving by working outside peak hours, re-opening the road to traffic at peak times and, where this is not possible, working 24/7 or extended hours to complete works as quickly as possible. Diversion routes should be clearly signed.

To help Londoners report disruptive or badly managed roadworks that don't meet this criteria, the Mayor and TfL have updated and improved the 'Reportit' system on the TfL website, to allow people to identify and report issues quicker. By visitingwww.tfl.gov.uk/roadworks, or by tweeting @report_it with the hashtag #roadworks, complaints can be sent directly to the highway authority responsible, ensuring that direct and swift action can be taken.

TfL is also reducing the roadworks 'cap' - the maximum number of roadworks it allows on its roads at any one time - by a further ten per cent. The cap, which applies to all works on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN), was first introduced by TfL last year and reduced the maximum number of roadworks allowed to take place at any one time on its roads by 20 per cent. TfL will also continue to review the cap, with a view to making further reductions in the future.

Through the London Permit Scheme and the Mayor's Code of Conduct for Roadworks, TfL has helped to reduce the amount of disruption on London's roads caused by road works. TfL recorded a 32 per cent reduction in the level of serious and severe disruption due to roadworks occurring on the Transport for London network across London in 2010/11 compared to 2009/10, and has managed to save more than 1,300 days of disruption by better coordination of roadworks on the capital's busiest roads. So far this financial year, TfL has refused more than 7,000 permits, helping to ensure works are carried on the TLRN at times where they will cause minimal disruption.

Deputy Mayor for Transport, Isabel Dedring, is holding weekly meetings with top TfL experts to scrutinise this and other data about problem roadworks and to identify ways to mitigate their effects. This includes unannounced site visits and contacting top council and utility company bosses to ensure that all possible measures to lessen disruption are being taken.

A huge range of activity is now underway to tackle the problem. Metropolitan Police Service Traffic-trained Police Community Support Officers are now patrolling the TLRN, clamping down on disruptive roadworks. Using hand-held devices they report directly to TfL, who can take immediate action. CCTV will also be used to monitor activity and spot bad practice.

In addition TfL has established a new standard in roadworks signage - giving Londoners clearer information about the roadworks affecting them, including what works are taking place and when activity should be taking place on site. This signage will be rolled out to all major TfL works by the end of the year and will be calling upon all highway authorities and utility companies to bring their signage up to this standard.

Since the Mayor was elected in May 2008, a number of measures and initiatives have been delivered across London to help tackle the problem in London, including:

The London Roadworks Permitting Scheme: In addition to TfL itself, 25 boroughs are now signed up to the Permit scheme, with a further two introducing the scheme in November 2011. This has led to an increase of 147 per cent in the number of recorded days of disruption saved through joint working and collaboration from 726 in 2009 to 1793 in 2010.
19 London boroughs, TfL and six major utility companies are now also signed up to the Mayor's voluntary Code of Conduct for Roadworks, which looks to promote good practice and encourage more coordinated working between utilities and highway authorities. In June 2010, the National Joint Utilities Group adopted the Mayor's Code of Conduct as a template for a national Code, which is evidence of London's leadership in this area. TfL is currently reviewing the existing Code of Conduct and will be discussing with all signatories to identify possible amendments which will improve and enhance roadworks across the capital.
TfL and the DfT's consultation on a targeted and avoidable 'Lane Rental' scheme are currently underway. This will enable TfL to charge companies according to the time they take up road space for works. The charges would apply to key areas of the major road network and would incentivise companies to work more efficiently and at less disruptive times.
In addition, road users can check out what roadworks may affect their journey by visiting the TfL website, where there are a number of travel tools giving live information on disruption across the capital.
Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said "TfL stands shoulder to shoulder with the Mayor in working to reduce the amount of roadworks on London's busiest roads and the disruption they cause. The permit scheme has been a very effective tool in getting both utilities and our own works promoters to reduce roadwork numbers and increase the level of joint working between different companies on work sites across London.

"Despite the progress made, more needs to be done. That is why TfL and the Mayor continue to press the remaining six boroughs who have not applied to implement a permit scheme for roadworks on their road network to do so as quickly as possible, but also for all London boroughs to introduce a roadworks cap, helping to encourage better coordination and shared works on all roads across the capital."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

TfL and all of its internal contractors have agreed to the Mayor's new roadworks pledge. This will cover all TfL works on the TLRN as well as any works TfL carry out on borough roads, including, for example, works by Serco as part of Phase Two of Barclays Cycle Hire, and Serco, Siemens and PEEK when maintaining traffic signals across London.
The Mayor of London and TfL are committed to reducing congestion in London. Roadworks account for a third of the capital's most serious and severe traffic delay and can cost the economy almost £1 billion a year. Therefore it is essential that adequate and innovative steps are taken to help reduce the levels of congestion.
TfL has full operational responsibility for the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) - the capital's 'Red Routes', which makes up around 5 per cent (580km) of London's total road length but carries over 30 per cent of London's traffic and accounts for up to 40 per cent of the total economic value of traffic movement across the city.
London has around 20 per cent of the UK's traffic congestion, which analysis by TfL shows can cost the UK economy at least £2bn a year. Three quarters of this congestion is on either the TLRN or the Borough Principal Road Network (BPRN). No less than 15 per cent of the UK's traffic congestion is therefore concentrated on less than 0.5 per cent of the country's 400,000km of roads.
Following the success of the London Permit Scheme, a further two London boroughs have now agreed to sign up to introduce a permitting scheme , bringing the total up to 27, which, together with TfL's network, would cover around 80 per cent of all roads in the capital.
TfL continues to discuss introducing a permitting scheme with the remaining six London boroughs, with a look to have all of the capital's roads signed up as soon as possible.

Fly tipping

2011-10-22T16:42:00.000+01:00

Once more we are being plagued by the Fly Tippers, Albert George and Queens Road have all been used for this, Blakes Lane and other areas also have been left with rubbish thrown away by idiots who think they are being clever.the low lives who do this one day will be cought and will find that not only will they get a substantial fine, but also the cost to the council in removing it.

Plus they will be banned from driving for using a car or van whilst committing a crime.

Poppy day

2011-10-22T16:30:00.000+01:00

Once more it's time to remember those who made the supreme sacrifice, please give as much as you can afford to help those who enabled us all to live in a free and democratic sociaty.

Poppy day starts on the 24 th Oct and runs throught the year.

There will be a Service on Fri 11 11 at the New Malden high street and also at 9.45 on Sunday 13th November

Planning

2011-07-01T18:36:00.000+01:00

I will be site visiting tomorrow starting at 9.30 am in
Kingston Road in order that I am completely updated on application due on the 13th July

The rest of this week

2011-06-28T09:00:00.000+01:00

Thursday at 9.00 am attending the last sitting of Kingston Magistrates Ct,a very sad day for localism and one I totally disagree with.
At 7.30 in the evening a meeting with local policy makers.Saturday a local fund raising BBQ,Sunday. Army reunion
Day at Southsea, so a busy week.

Armed forces Day

2011-06-25T20:55:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we collected for the Airbourne Forces Charity at London Bridge Stn,early start 7.30 am collection finished at 7.00 PM.
Today the Maldens and Coombe Branch of the RBL held a remembrance day at the Grafton Club,it was nice to see so many turn up and enjoy a buffet and good company.

Fly Tipping

2011-06-23T06:24:00.000+01:00

Once again BLakes Lane as been targated by fly tippers,residents are rightly upset by this continuing problem that is difficult to stop and costs us the ratepayers large amounts of money.
This time they were nealy cought red handed ,please if you see anyone in the process of fly tipping,note the reg number and time, if found guilty not only can they be fined and made to pay the costs of removal to the Council,they can also lose their Driving Licence.

London City Hall

2011-06-21T07:07:00.000+01:00

Took part in the ceremony of raising the Forces flag at City Hall, could not understand why if the Armed forces day is on the 25th June
It was done on the 20th,not that it makes any difference,it should be flown throughout the year.

To all Dads

2011-06-18T12:54:00.000+01:00

It that time of year when our youngsters honour us with a card and sometimes a dinner or just maybe a telephone call.
It matters not how they say we love you, we thank them all the same.

Freedom Parade,

2011-06-18T08:43:00.000+01:00

Photo of Cllr Codd Mayor Of the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames and Cllr Geoff Austin Deputy Mayor at the March Pass of the Prencess of Wales Royal Regiment

Freedom Parade

2011-06-17T06:58:00.000+01:00

Today I will be attending the Freedom Parade in Kingston and at the same time observing the raising of the Armed forces day Flag outside the Guildhall, the flag will also be hoisted in New Malden High Street.
Tonight I will be supporting the Kingston Sea Cadets at one of their fund raising events
Monday I will be attending the raising of the Flag in London at Cty Hall, but sad news is that in the afternoon I will be attending the Funeral of an EX Para Arnhem Veteran Joseph Newman MBE from the second world War at Putney Vale

Kingston Uni Civic Reception

2011-06-16T20:23:00.000+01:00

Attended the above this evening on behalf of the St James Ward, the new Chancellor said all the right things, He said that he wants the uni to be part of the community and not just in the community.
So lets give him all the support to achieve his gaol

MCNC

2011-06-15T13:18:00.000+01:00

Neighbourhood meeting tonight 7.30 pm At Christ Church Hall 91 Coombe Road New Malden.
ITEMS
Neighbourhood Managers Report
Housing Policy Review
Review of Licensing Policy Act 2003
Consideration conditions for Pet shops
Consideration of sex establishment policy
Review of planning obligation
Electric vehicle charging point traffic order
Neighbourhood Ranger appointment and replacement van
Short front Parking applications
Coombe Estate -Review of road maintenance
MCN Grants
Information item on the multi story car park in Blagdon Road
Urgent Business

Crime

2011-06-15T11:55:00.000+01:00

The police are very concerned about crime in St James Ward and have asked me to remind everyone about being safety minded, please ensure that all windows and doors are locked when leaving your homes, remember to cancel the papers and milk when going away , ask a neighbour to keep an eye open for any junk mail that may be sticking out of the letter box, better still get a sign saying no junk mail.
If you should suspect anything call the police, don't open your door to strangers, don't let anyone in without an appointment, check by phone if necessary before you let them in, and if you live along ask a friend or neighbour to be there.
Remember the Police are there to protect you, but you can do a lot to protect yourself .

Fulham Training Ground

2011-06-15T11:46:00.000+01:00

I have today delivered letters to some of the residents of Blakes Lane regarding the obnoxious smell emanating from the training ground,
I have made contact with the club and have been assured that the offending grass cuttings that were dumped near the boundary fence with Blakes Lane will be removed today. The environmental officer has also been made aware and have visited the club.
Hopefully this will not happen again.

Maldens and Coombe

2011-06-06T08:29:00.000+01:00

There can be little doubt that services for the venerable and disabled are being shifted away from the area to other parts of the Borough, this would seem a deliberate policy of the Lib Dems in order to sell off the crescent centres to some building company, indeed there is already a process going on at committee stage, and I would ask all Maldens and Coombe residents to be on their guard against this policy.

Deputy Mayor

2011-06-02T20:12:00.000+01:00

Having spent the past year as Deputy Mayor of RBK , I would like to thank everyone for their support.
I take away from my year very fond memories of all those unsung heroes who work so hard to help those less fortunate than themselves.
Kingston is well blessed with so many good hard working volanteers, God bless each and everyone of you from all political and religous backgrounds .

The Mayors charity made around £23 k so thank you all for that.

Having attended around 340 functions as well as my normal council work, I look forward to having a couple of weeks holiday.

History teaches us to vote ‘No to AV,From the Times

2011-03-21T12:23:00.000Z

History teaches us to vote ‘No to AV’

March 11 2011 12:01AM

For the first time in centuries, we face the unfair idea that one citizen’s vote might be worth six times that of another

Sir, Our nation’s history is deeply rooted in our parliamentary democracy, a democracy in which, over centuries, men and women have fought for the right to vote. That long fight for suffrage established the principle of one man or woman, one vote. The principle that each person’s vote is equal, regardless of wealth, gender, race or creed, is a principle to which generations of reformers have dedicated their lives. It is a principle upon which reform of our parliamentary democracy still stands.

The referendum on May 5 that threatens to introduce a system of “Alternative Voting” — a voting system that will allow MPs to be elected to Parliament even if they do not win the majority of constituents’ first preference votes — also threatens to break this principle.

For the first time since 1928 and the granting of universal suffrage, we face the possibility that one person’s casting ballot will be given greater weight than another. For the first time in centuries, we face the unfair idea that one citizen’s vote might be worth six times that of another. It will be a tragic consequence if those votes belong to supporters of extremist and non-serious parties.

Twice in our past the nation has rejected any threat to the principle of one citizen, one vote. The last time, in 1931, Winston Churchill stood against the introduction of an alternative vote (AV) system. As he argued, AV would mean that elections would be determined by “the most worthless votes given for the most worthless candidates”. He understood that it was simply too great a risk to take.

The cause of reform, so long fought for, cannot afford to have the fundamentally fair and historic principle of majority voting cast aside; nor should we sacrifice the principle that generations of men and women have sought: that each being equal, every member of our society should cast an equal vote.

For these reasons, we urge the British people to vote “No” on May 5.

Professor David Abulafia, Dr John Adamson, Professor Antony Beevor, Professor Jeremy Black, Professor Michael Burleigh, Professor John Charmley, Professor Jonathan Clark, Dr Robert Crowcroft, Professor Richard J. Evans, David Faber, David Starkey, Professor Niall Ferguson, Dr Amanda Foreman, Dr John Guy, Robert Lacey, Dr Sheila Lawlor, Lord Lexden, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Dr Richard Rex, Dr Andrew Roberts, Professor Richard Shannon, Chris Skidmore, MP, D. R. Thorpe, Alison Weir, Philip Ziegler, Professor Lord Norton

Home Zone

2011-03-17T19:48:00.000Z

Both Howard and myself attended meetings with members of the Home Zone RA and along with officers walked around the Home zone pointing out work that was needed to be done, we are pleased to report that most of the items listed have been completed, but we as councillors are not best pleased to have to point out to our Partners (contractors) the work they should have done, had not been.

Funding

2011-03-17T14:36:00.000Z

Like all councils we have had to redistribute our limited funds, I do not agree with some of the ways this has been done, but I await your reactions.

What will always stick in my mine is the note left for the incoming new Chancellor of the exchequer by the out going Labour Chancellor, NO MONEY LEFT.

What he did not add was we have put you your children and their children in hock for years to come.

Now we are all left to pick up the pieces. Thanks to the two Bs Blair and Brown, and who was Mr Browns financial adviser chairman, no other than the new Leader of the Labour Party ED Balls

59 Kingston Road

2011-03-17T14:33:00.000Z

On the 18th of March at the Library in New Malden, an exhibition will be on display by Barretts, starts at 12.00 Midday, worth a look

Road works

2011-03-17T14:27:00.000Z

Kingston Road still creating problems for us all, this is outside of council control, Thames Water is responsible for all repairs to sewer and water supply, and now on top of that SW Gas are repairing in Burlington Road, have you noticed it always seem to happen during March, once again this is outside Council control

Big Society

2010-09-28T05:06:00.000+01:00

Building the Big Society

Our Conservative - Liberal Democrat Government has come together with a driving ambition: to put more power and opportunity into people’s hands.

We want to give citizens, communities and local government the power and information they need to come together, solve the problems they face and build the Britain they want. We want society – the families, networks, neighbourhoods and communities that form the fabric of so much of our everyday lives – to be bigger and stronger than ever before. Only when people and communities are given more power and take more responsibility can we achieve fairness and opportunity for all.

Building this Big Society isn’t just the responsibility of just one or two departments. It is the responsibility of every department of Government, and the responsibility of every citizen too. Government on its own cannot fix every problem. We are all in this together. We need to draw on the skills and expertise of people across the country as we respond to the social, political and economic challenges Britain faces.

This document outlines the already agreed policies that we believe will help make that possible. It is the first strand of a comprehensive Programme for Government to be published in the coming days, which will deliver the reform, renewal, fairness and change Britain needs.

1. Givecommunitiesmorepowers

␣ We will radically reform the planning system to give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape of the places in which their inhabitants live.

␣ We will introduce new powers to help communities save local facilities and services threatened with closure, and give communities the right to bid to take over local state-run services.␣ We will train a new generation of community organisers and support the creation of neighbourhood groups across the UK, especially in the most deprived areas.

2. Encourage people to take an active role in their communities

␣ We will take a range of measures to encourage volunteering and involvement in social action, including launching a national ‘Big Society Day’ and making regular community involvement a key element of civil service staff appraisals.

␣ We will take a range of measures to encourage charitable giving and philanthropy.

␣ We will introduce a National Citizen Service. The initial flagship project will provide a programme for 16 year olds to give them a chance to develop the skills needed to be active and responsible citizens, mix with people from different backgrounds, and start getting involved in their communities.

3. Transferpowerfromcentraltolocalgovernment

␣ We will promote the radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government, including a full review of local government finance.

␣ We will give councils a general power of competence. ␣ We will abolish Regional Spatial Strategies and return decision-making

powers on housing and planning to local councils.

4. Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises

␣ We will support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises, and support these groups to have much greater involvement in the running of public services.

␣ We will give public sector workers a new right to form employee-owned co- operatives and bid to take over the services they deliver. This will empower millions of public sector workers to become their own boss and help them to deliver better services.

␣ We will use funds from dormant bank accounts to establish a Big Society Bank, which will provide new finance for neighbourhood groups, charities, social enterprises and other nongovernmental bodies.

5. Publishgovernmentdata

␣ We will create a new ‘right to data’ so that government-held datasets can be requested and used by the public, and then published on a regular basis.

␣ We will oblige the police to publish detailed local crime data statistics every month, so the public can get proper information about crime in their neighbourhoods and hold the police to account for their performance.

2010-07-15T12:16:00.000+01:00

Deputy Mayor, Councillor Ken Smith JP

On the evening of Wednesday 19th May 2010, Councillor Chrissie Hitchcock, Mayor for the 2010/2011 municipal year, chose Councillor Ken Smith JP to be her Deputy Mayor and his wife, Mrs Madeleine Smith, is the Deputy Mayoress.

Councillor Ken Smith JP, is no stranger to public service, being a former magistrate and JP. He also has a proud background in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, having been a regular soldier in the Airborne Regiment spending most of his service overseas, and is currently Chairman of the Parachute Regiment Association of the Croydon Branch covering SW London, Kent, and Surrey. He is also a member of the New Malden Royal British Legion and a member of the Surbiton PROBUS Club. A local activist for twenty years, he finally decided to enter elected politics four years ago.

Born in Bath Somerset and evacuated to Wales during the War, he was employed for 31years in the field of metallurgy . Before retirement, he worked in management at a multi national company

The Deputy Mayor has pledged his support to the Mayor’s charities, Cairns House, (part of the Kaleidoscope Project) and Fircroft, supported by Mind. He vowed to represent the people of the Royal Borough with pride and dignity, adding ‘I feel honoured to find myself in this privileged position and look forward to representing the residents of the Royal Borough. I’m also eager, along with members of the Conservative Group, to support the Mayor’s charities, all of which do excellent work in our community.’

New Year

2009-12-31T08:53:00.000Z

Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year

Supporting local Business

2009-11-17T15:26:00.000Z

NEW MALDEN BUSINESS FORUM HAILED ‘A SUCCESS’

Planning the way ahead...Councillors from the Conservative-led Maldens & Coombe Neighbourhood Committee met with representatives of the New Malden business community, and Council officers, to help boost local businesses in the current financial climate.

Local Councillor Ken Smith said ‘as a Committee, we intend to work closely with the community to advance businesses on New Malden High Street and we’ve already ensured funds will be directed that way.’

Maldens & Coombe Neighbourhood Committee Chairman, Cllr Patrick Codd added ‘we aim to provide a major new boost which will put New Malden firmly back on the map and highlight the variety of shops and services available in the area.

The area already has a wide selection of shops, including a department store and the large Korean community give it a special appeal with their shops and restaurants. Our aim is to emphasise why New Malden is a destination people will want to visit.’

The Committee has already allocated £3,500 to promote businesses in the High Street, and several schemes are being worked on by Council Officers to raise the profile of the Town Centre.

Committee Chairman Cllr Codd, on far left, Leader of the Opposition Cllr Howard Jones, head of table on left, & Cllr Ken Smith, taking photograph

Freedom Pass Info

2009-10-23T11:27:00.000+01:00

Renewing

At the moment, you should carry on using your current Freedom Pass but you will need to renew your pass some time between January and early March 2010. All current Freedom Passes will cease to work on 31 March.

The pass is normally renewed every two years to help prevent fraud but your new pass will be different in a number of ways:

your new style pass will be valid for five years
for additional security, your new pass will include a photograph of you on the card itself rather than on a separate photocard
your new card will take up to 10 working days to arrive and will be sent to you in the post

For holders of the older persons pass:

We’re starting to renew Freedom Passes from 4 January 2010. To avoid a big rush we’ve allocated dates alphabetically by surname for you to apply for your new Freedom Pass. From January 2010, you'll be able to download the new style application form from this website which you can then take to any London Post Office branch, or pick up a printed version from the local Post Office. Use the list below to work out when you should go to the Post Office to apply.

A/B/C/D/E surnames: 4-16 January 2010
F/G/H/I/J surnames: 18-23 January
K/L/M/N/O surnames: 25-30 January
P/Q/R/S/T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z surnames: 1-6 February
If you miss your week, please apply 8-13 February

Take a look at what the renewal advertising campaign will look like

Don't panic! You will have plenty of time to apply for a new pass and you will still be able to use the old one until your new one arrives in the post. If you miss your alphabetical slot, you will still be able to apply for your new card.

Holders of disabled persons passes will be contacted by their borough individually and advised what to do.

From One of my Ward Residents, please give support

2009-10-12T18:16:00.000+01:00

Dear Colleague,
PLEASE DO NOT BIN THIS E-MAIL,

IT COULD BENEFIT ALL OF YOUR
STAFF.
WOULD YOU LIKE A GREENER SCHOOL?
Cycle to Work Schemes encourage people to cycle to work and
become healthier and offer the purchase of a bike and
accessories at up to 50% discount.
Unlike many other authorities, RBK are not signed up to a
scheme and are stopping us all from taking advantage of this
great offer. Buying a bike and cycling to school sets a
brilliant example to our pupils, keeps us healthy and should
be encouraged by a borough that considers itself
“green”. I intend to file a petition at the next council meeting on
24th November to persuade the council to join a scheme and
give us the benefits that other employers offer.

If you think a Cycle to Work Scheme should be implemented
please sign my petition by cutting and pasting the following
statement to jsmith17@rbksch.org

RBK should implement a Cycle to Work Scheme allowing all
employees to purchase a bike at a reduced cost to enable
them to cycle to work.
Please state your name, position and place of work.

Thank you taking the time to read this email. Please forward
it to any other RBK employees you know.

Julie Smith,
Deputy Head Teacher,
Robin Hood Primary School, Bowness Crescent, Kingston Vale,
London SW15 3QL. 020 8546 7388

Could you run your household on the hope of a tax Return ?

2009-10-04T09:33:00.000+01:00

What a mess, the following is a copy of a report in the Comet, if true it shows that not only are we the highest paying rates payers in London and the third highest in the country, but that the lib/dems could not manage a chip shop let along a multimillion pound Athority

Kingston Council has been forced to commit an entire £5m reserve fund to plug holes in this year’s budget - and could still end up £700,000 in the red.

The council has taken a string of blows to its planned budget because of the recession, while the desperate need to build a new secondary school in north Kingston means it has to find up to £9m in three years, to fund the bid for Government money.

More than £2m of grants designed for “14 to 19 projects” has already been used to fund the council’s bid for £280m of Building Schools for the Future funds, while another £2m has been taken from the strategic investment reserve.

Low interest rates meant £700,000 was wiped from the council’s predicted income for the year, while its “worst case” scenarios for providing home and residential care for adults would see the budget outstripped by more than £1.6m.

The council also had to stump up hundreds of thousands of pounds to retrain staff in the wake of the Baby P tragedy, replace vandalised ticket machines in car parks and help Coombe Boys’ and Holy Cross secondary schools manage their own financial recoveries.

Another £370,000 has been drained from the coffers since the council evicted squatters from Raven’s Ait island in May, through the clean-up operation, security and marketing to sell off the island.

Council leader Councillor Derek Osbourne said there had been some “slippage” in the budget, but added the financial pressures the council was feeling were “entirely predictable” given the recession.

He said: “It absolutely highlights the pressures we are under across the whole range of budgets. There’s nothing new there.”

The council plans to claw back much of the deficit thanks to a recent court judgement, which has allowed it to pursue VAT refund claims from as far back as 1973.

More than £1.7m has already been recouped following the judgement, with two further cases in line to net the council another £584,000 if successful.

The authority’s One Council programme to permanently reduce its base expenditure was supposed to save more than £1.6m this year, although actual savings now look to be less than a quarter of that sum.

Kingston Council hopes the project will slash £8.5m in costs in three years, by reducing IT costs, grouping local services in “community hubs” and working better with partner organisations.

The council still needs to slash £12m from its budget in three years though, to avoid further increases in what is already the highest council tax in London.

ken smith

How did Ed Vote on a referendum that most of want?

2009-10-04T07:31:00.000+01:00

Edward Davey MP

Your Member of Parliament is Edward Davey (Liberal Democrat), representing the constituency of Kingston & Surbiton. Their majority at the last election was 8,966.

This MP is against having a referendum.

Meesage on the EU from DC

2009-10-03T12:41:00.000+01:00

This weekend we will hear the results of the referendum in Ireland on the re-named EU Constitution.

I want to make one thing clear: there will be no change in our policy on Europe and no new announcements at the Conference. There will be no change in Conservative policy as long as the Lisbon Treaty is still not in force. The Treaty has still not been ratified by the Czechs and the Poles. The Czech Prime Minister has said that the constitutional challenge before the Czech Constitutional Court could take 3-6 months to resolve.

I have said repeatedly that I want us to have a referendum. If the Treaty is not ratified in all Member States and not in force when the election is held, and if we are elected, then we will hold a referendum on it, we will name the date of the referendum in the election campaign, we will lead the campaign for a 'No' vote.

If the Treaty is ratified and in force in all Member States, we have repeatedly said we would not let matters rest there. But we have one policy at a time, and we will set out how we would proceed in those circumstances if, and only if, they happen.

Tories launch care home guarantee

2009-10-03T10:45:00.000+01:00

The Tories say the scheme will not cost any public money

A "home protection scheme" to prevent older people having to sell their properties to fund long-term care has been unveiled by the Conservatives.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) broadly welcomed the Conservative scheme and said the details would need to be examined carefully.

A spokesman said: "The ABI has long advocated a partnership between the public and private sectors to deal with the crucial, and costly, issue of providing long-term care for the elderly.

"This proposal has many merits and we support its aims in principle - we're pleased that the Conservatives are addressing this issue in a serious way."

Welcome to the new Patrol Police Base

2009-09-15T11:17:00.000+01:00

Old Malden and St James Councillors were invited to the opening of the new base, it will enable officers to spend more time in the area now that they do not have to travel from the base at Surbiton.

Cllr David Fraser Cllr Ken Smith Cllr Mick Amson Cllr Howard Jones

New Malden Stn, KSCA working for the community

2009-08-11T05:27:00.000+01:00

Conservatives in positive action outside New Malden Station

Protesting about the closer of the south entrance

SWT Cancelled the work for a fuller consolation after this demonstration of support on behalf of local residents

NOT A LIB/DEM IN SIGHT.

BUT ONCE MORE THEY CLAIM THE CREDIT

AGAIN

Tony Arbour Question to Boris

Will the Mayor support the campaign against South West Trains' plans to close the south entrance to New Malden Station, which would cause enormous inconvenience particularly since all the bus stops are near the south entrance?

The Mayor answered: I am fully suportive of the plight of commuters regarding the closure of the South entrance to New Malden Station. I would be happy to lend my support to the campaign by writing to the Managing Director of South West Trains.

RBK Transport info

2009-08-09T07:16:00.001+01:00

Taxicard and Taxivoucher
The London Taxicard Scheme allows people with serious and permanent walking difficulties, to travel in licensed black cabs at heavily subsidised rates. The Taxivoucher scheme allows people with serious and permanent walking difficulties, travel in local minicabs at no cost.
To be eligible for Taxicard or Taxivoucher, you must be registered blind or receive one of the following:
the higher rate of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance
War pension·Mobility Supplement
OR:
Be unable to use buses/ trains because of blindness/permanent or long term disability/ illness, which makes walking difficult for you.
(To qualify for a taxicard, you must also be able to use ordinary black taxis and have access to a telephone).
How to apply for the schemes:
Information and Application forms for both taxicards and vouchers can be obtained from:
Community Care Services
Hollyfield House
22 Hollyfield Road
Surbiton
Surrey KT5 9AL
020 8547 6085

Veteran mental care 'inadequate'

2009-07-22T06:03:00.000+01:00

The charity treats ex-service personnel who served in Iraq or Afghanistan
Care offered by the NHS to military veterans with post traumatic stress disorder is "a spit in the ocean", the head of the charity Combat Stress says.
Outgoing chief executive Commodore Toby Elliott says his charity has 9,000 registered patients but the government provides for less than half of them.

My comment on the above is WHY should they have to go to a CHARITY IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Is it British??

2009-02-16T18:39:00.000Z

Join our Honest Food campaignWhen you buy a 'British pork pie', you probably assume that the pork comes from Britain.But meat from abroad can be imported into Britain, turned into bacon, sausages or pies and then labelled as 'British'.We think this is dishonest and must be stopped. People have a right to know exactly where their food comes from. Meat labelled 'British' should be born and bred in Britain.Nick Herbert today unveiled our Honest Food campaign and demanded compulsory 'country of origin' labelling in order to put an end to misleading packaging.Show your support for our campaign by signing our petition and sending our viral launch video to your friends and family.Read Nick's launch speech in fullFind out more at www.honestfoodcampaign.com

Bin Tax warning by Eric Pickles

2009-01-06T03:39:00.000Z

GORDON BROWN’S PLANS FOR BIN TAXESFurther to my email in June, I just wanted to write to update you on the Labour Government’s plans to levy new bin taxes on family homes.At the end of November, laws which allow the Government to impose new charges for household rubbish collections received Royal Assent. Ministers have confirmed that the Office of National Statistics will classify these new charges as a tax. Although bin taxes will be trialled in a series of so-called pilots, the small print of the legislation allows the Secretary of State to roll out and impose the taxes on all local authorities by Order, without any vote in Parliament.The Government’s own impact assessment has predicted that, in due course, two out of three homes will face the new taxes. It is clear that if Labour were to win the general election, families across the country will be hit with these stealth taxes, on top of council tax.Official technical documents reveal that the bin taxes will take one of four forms:• Bin bag tax: Households must pay for special bin bags. Rubbish not placed in a paid-for bag will not be collected.• Bin size tax: Households will be charged for the size of their bin; with families requiring a bigger bin paying the most.• Weekly collection tax: Households needing a weekly rubbish collection will pay an extra charge.• Bin chip tax: Households will receive a bill based on the weight of the contents of their bin, with microchips in the bin feeding through to a central billing database.These taxes will increase taxes on families (who already tend to pay higher council taxes); will raise the overall tax burden due to the costs of levying and enforcing a new tax; and will harm the environment by fuelling fly-tipping and backyard burning.Indeed, the Government has stated that civic amenity sites will remain free for household waste. This will lead to the bizarre situation of families being encouraged to drive to their local dump, adding to congestion and carbon emissions, to avoid higher taxes.As the recent Manchester congestion charge referendum showed, voters do not want to pay new stealth taxes at a time when millions face losing their jobs. This is just another cynical Labour attempt to tax families more by stealth, but with a thick coat of greenwash. The Government should be working instead with councils to help extend recycling collections, and make it easier for all households to go green. There is certainly a role for incentives, but not for new taxes or new charges. Councils should also be properly compensated for the new burdens imposed on them by Whitehall and from EU directives.A survey by the Press Association last week of one hundred councils indicated that not one council has so far volunteered to participate in the pilots for the new taxes.However, I am sure that Labour Ministers will now desperately be trying to entice your chief executive into signing up to the bin tax pilot scheme. They will attempt to lure Conservative councils into supporting the Government’s deeply unpopular tax plans. I hope you would agree that every Conservative councillor has a key role to play in defending families from these taxes, and you will fight to stop your council officers dragging you into the political suicide of backing new taxes during a recession.

Cllr Howard Jones Speech on Rose Funding

2009-01-05T14:41:00.000Z

Speech by Cllr Howard Jones, Leader of the Conservative Opposition Party at Full Council on Tuesday 23rd December 2008 –

Mr Mayor

The reason we are here this evening is to discuss the Scrutiny Panel’s
recommendation with regard to the Executive decision on 9th December 2008 to make a donation to or give a subsidy to the Kingston Theatre Trust to the tune of £600,000 per year for three years - a total of £1.8 Million.

This donation or subsidy is thinly disguised as a support package in
exchange for services.

We on this side are not against the theatre as such- but we are against the expenditure of council tax money on the running of the Theatre.

So was the leader of the Council until recently. We have always been
consistent in our approach to this matter.

He has changed his mind and gone back on promises that he made in the past not to spend Council tax money on the running of the theatre.

There are so many competing demands for money in this Borough that
we cannot find any good reasons in the Executives decision to support this change of mind against the needs of elderly people in need of day care services and users of support services such as Springboard who are now looking for alternatives.

The provisions for the needy at Springboard could have continued for a further four years or more with this level of funding

We realise that the executive – seven members - is the decision making body in this Council but we believe it right that in such an important matter the whole Council – forty eight members - should have the right to comment and make its views known on such an important matter even though an executive meeting has been timed for later this evening which will no doubt rubber stamp its decision in spite of the recommendation of the Scrutiny Panel and whatever this Council meeting may recommend.

We understand that that is the Constitution and that’s the way democracy works in this Borough.

We shall ask for a vote to support the recommendation from the
Scrutiny Panel that “we do not endorse the executive decisions having
regards to the funding stream of £600,00 per annum” Our objections to the payments totalling £1.8 million of Council tax payers money are listed in the document that was produced at the end of scrutiny last week and forms part of the papers for tonight’s meeting.

How can the Council seriously make a pledge of £1.8 million to a
Trust, which is, to all intents and purposes bankrupt. The Chairman of the Trust has told us that without £900,000 before the end of this month the Trust will be insolvent and legally have to cease trading.

This Council is going to give this money to the Theatre Trust without
having completed its due diligence. I find that unbelievably naïve and
bordering on careless and even negligent to give this sizeable sum of money without having completed the due diligence.

It is inconceivable in any business venture that you would give this sum of money to an entity that cannot pay its way and that this Executive and Administration would do it without carrying out a very thorough due diligence first.

Secondly if you were truly prudent you would not give £1.8 million without there being a business plan in place in support the way in which the money will be spent by the Trust. In this case can you believe that there is no business plan to review? There is no three year plan which could help convince anyone that the business is viable and that the Council is supporting a going concern or at least a business with reasonable prospects of surviving with the £1.8million infusion of public cash.

The fact is that everyone now seems to accept that without a very serious form of funding that running a theatre of this type is not sustainable without substantial public subsidy. This certainly denotes a dependency culture and not one as we were told in 2006, when the original business plan was put before the Council, was sustainable and robust. We have serious issues about this when taking into account the amount of money the Trust was short in its budget provisions on that occasion. Was this Council conned into making those loans to the Trust – was someone economical with the truth? I leave you to decide.

In order to rush this through, the Executive made arrangements to
suspend Contract Standing Orders – in other words all the protections
of the Council’s own procurement rules have been set aside. The protection that residents have for rigorous scrutiny of contracts, value for money and good practice have been ignored.

I find this situation nothing short of scandalous and believe that the
Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive have fallen down in their
duty to Council tax payers and to this Council by allowing or using this suspension of Standing Orders to avoid proper procurement to
take place.

We are now faced with a situation where we have no contract to review
and no listing of services supposedly to be provided – actually we have
a shopping list but no contract but nothing firm to base any contract
on .We were given to understand at Scrutiny that the services would
include among other things the use of space and some concessionary
tickets for youngsters –but were these not already offered in
the support arguments for the 2006 failed business plan?

How much will be spent on space and how much on concession – we
do not know - there is no contract to view, no contract to review. You have to rent a lot of space to spend £600,000 in a year!!!

No this is not about services to be provided by the theatre this is just a
trick to justify the subsidy – why not just call it a subsidy and be done
with it?

You may ask why this Executive has approved the repayment of two
loans of £900,000 each totalling £1.8 million in the package, two loans which have been provided for in the books of the Council or should we say written off – it amounts to the same thing

Shall I tell you why?

It’s because the Executive could never justify giving another £1.8
million to the same entity that had defaulted on a loan of the same
amount only a couple of years ago - what would the auditors have
said about that?

They would have been as unhappy as I am. The farce of a loan agreement with repayment of £1.8 million over 100 years is only so that this incompetent Executive can say – there is no outstanding debt – there is a loan but it is in the process of being paid off.

The whole of this story is unsatisfactory – the way it has been dealt with – the slowness of the decision making – the ineptitude of the Executive and I therefore ask you to support the Scrutiny Panel’s recommendation.

What would we have done?

We would have reacted much more quickly to the knowledge that the theatre was in trouble – the timing of these proceedings throughout has been dictated by the Executive – forget stories that we have been trying to wreck this decision – we know it is up to the Executive to decide – if this Council Meeting is a talking shop as some Lib Dems have said then so is Scrutiny – so are all the other Committees – because it is the Executive that has the final say – it has taken them at least since mid November officially to get this issue moving. Although there is evidence that they knew about the financial problems back last summer.

A hysterical member of the Administration or two of them at the Scrutiny Meeting accused us of wrecking the theatre.

Not so - it’s the Executive in their incompetence that is wrecking the theatre if that is indeed what is happening. They are the decision making body – we actually decided to bring forward the Scrutiny to enable the matter to be dealt with in a timely way. We could have waited the five days after the Executive decision to have called the matter in for Scrutiny. That would have been wrecking and had we wanted to we could have done that. We actually recognise the democratic process unlike the members opposite – some of whom spent the whole of their allocated speech time to follow this illogical argument – with no time spent at all on the actual issue being debated by Council – so much for their take on Democracy in action.

It is hard to believe that in the time available – from the moment they knew that the theatre was in financial trouble that there was no time to do the due diligence – no time to demand a business plan –no time to examine other options - what has this Executive been doing?

We were told by the Chief Executive and others at various meetings that all was fine with the theatre when in reality we now know that there have been severe financial problems since the summer.

If we had been in power we would have reviewed the finances of the theatre much sooner and looked at services which the theatre might give to the wider community much like this Executive but at a properly agreed fee in a more timely manner with competitive tenders and proper business plans

We may have considered an option whereby we would have taken a share in the theatre trust as an investment and so we would have had some actual control on how the money – our tax payers money is spent.

We would certainly have required membership of the failed Trustee Board to have been overhauled with many of the members being sacked for incompetence and a more business like membership being appointed.

We may have looked at a plan where we would have invested some money but would have expected to see a return on our investment and a share of any profits made in the future

We would have looked seriously for other companies to rent the theatre – other theatre companies, orchestras choirs and other prospective users to take over the lease. Why is this executive so wedded to the present Theatre Trust – is it because of old associations – are we paying back some sort of old debts in kind?

I don’t know

but hey

what they are doing now is getting us into a real mess – its of the Executive’s own making and it will come back to haunt them year after year. The closing down of this Theatre Trust would have been a final option which we would not have been happy about – but we do not subscribe to the view that this Trust is the only body able and capable of running the theatre.

As far as the issue of closing costs is concerned – this is another
Mirage spread by the Executive. The figures are spurious – questionable at the very least. They take no account of the probability that if we were in power we would find other tenants. Thus the figures are totally misleading – only put forward as a blind – although actually it is hard to see this Administration ever being able to find any one else to run the theatre they are so wedded to this current tenant of the premises. .

To say that the university would not still have its meetings and degree giving ceremonies at the theatre with some other theatre company as a tenant is not sustainable point – because for all the reasons given by Professor Jones at Scrutiny they loved having their ceremonies at the Rose in the heart of Kingston and surely they would deal with whoever had control of the lease to continue their successful ceremonies.

Big Brother

2009-01-05T07:23:00.000Z

UK government to outsource internet trackingPrivate firm will monitor all emails, calls and internet use , 03 Jan 2009The government is planning to get a private company to run its proposed database of every call, text, email and web site visit.In a proposal from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith the task of collecting and maintaining the records would be given to a private firm in order to reduce costs. The proposal also suggests to In a proposal from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith the task of collecting and maintaining the records would be given to a private firm in order to reduce costs. The proposal also suggests tough legal penalties if the data is misused according to a report in The Guardianugh legal penalties if the data is misused according to a report in The Guardian.However, the proposals have come in from strong criticism, not least from Sir Ken Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions."This database would be an unimaginable hell-house of personal private information," he said."It would be a complete readout of every citizen's life in the most intimate and demeaning detail. No government of any colour is to be trusted with such a roadmap to our souls."The government is planning to build the database to help in criminal investigations. Currently service providers hold the details of their customers but the government has deemed this too inefficient and plans to spend £12bn on a new combined database."The tendency of the state to seek ever more powers of surveillance over its citizens may be driven by protective zeal. But the notion of total security is a paranoid fantasy which would destroy everything that makes living worthwhile," Macdonald said."We must avoid surrendering our freedom as autonomous human beings to such an ugly future. We should make judgments that are compatible with our status as free people

Goodbye to your Money

2008-12-28T05:10:00.000Z

The one good thing that come out of the Council meeting on the Rose, was that the names of all the lib/Dems who voted for the use of out council tax to be spent this way, were recorded.
That means that when the next election comes they will have to explain why they closed down Hobkirk House, why there was no money to bring up-to-date
Cocks Crescent, why they cut £50.000 from local budgets for things like road and pavement repairs.
And many other questions, but one thing Cllr Osbourne got wrong, that is when he said it would take up a small piece on our leaflet, just wait and see if that’s correct.
The residents of Kingston (not just the Town centre) will have their say, and the lib/Dems will pay for not consulting fully with those who work hard to find the money to pay for the largest Council tax in London, and one of the largest in the country.
The Mayor of London have said that he will Freeze city taxes, when asked by the conservatives to do the same Cllr Osbourne said NO.
One thing for certain, things do not look all that rosy for him and his followers, one hardened supporter of the Lib/Dems have told me that they have gone to far, well we all now that.
The Kingston Guardian website reported that late last August Council leader Cllr Osbourne pledged to close the public purse after handing an extra £250,000 to the Rose fit out. But in May, the company set up by the Council to fit out the theatre was forced to ask for an extra £350,000 to pay for the cost of overruns on doors, wiring and footwells, taking the final price tag to £7.15m – more than £638,000 over the original budget.

Thats New Labour

2008-12-28T04:49:00.000Z

Teachers have been told that they should no longer make their corrections to school homework in red ink, in case it both “demoralises” the pupils and stands out too much, in an oppressive manner, on the page. They should use a pencil, instead, so that the corrections can be rubbed out. Do you suppose there is any connection between the way children are treated while in school these days and the way some behave when they have left?

Getting Ready to take over

2008-12-20T05:45:00.001Z

Gordon Brown yesterday finally gave his approval for David Cameron and the shadow cabinet to hold meetings with Britain's most senior civil servants to brief them on Tory plans for government

Cost of the Rose around £800.000 per year

2008-12-19T07:11:00.000Z

Are you happy for this amount of your Council Tax to be devoted to this use for each of the next three years when we are short of money to pay for other services that cannot be funded any other way?

Support from on high

2008-12-19T07:01:00.000Z

The Archbishop of Canterbury joined the Tories' criticism of Mr Brown's economic measures yesterday, saying a greed-filled consumer boom had caused the crisis while cutting the VAT risked repeating past mistakes. "It seems a little bit like the addict returning to the drug," Dr Rowan Williams said. People should not "spend to save the economy", but spend on things that provided for their needs.

UK Traders Win, thanks to conservatives MEPs

2008-12-17T05:00:00.000Z

Under the measure, agreed without a vote at a second reading in the Strasbourg chamber, traders will also be able to display imperial and metric measurements side by side in shops and elsewhere.
"The Government may be eager to scrap the pound as our currency, but at least we can say we have saved it indefinitely - as a measurement at any rate," said Giles Chichester, a Conservative MEP.
"Under this law, shoppers will be able to continue using the measurement they prefer."
EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen called the parliamentary decision "good news for the people in the UK and Ireland who prefer to use pints and miles as current practices will remain in place."
"Today's agreement will also ensure that imperial measurements can be indicated alongside metric - a measure that will lower costs for industry by allowing them the same labelling for their exports, whether in the EU or elsewhere in the world."
The United States is the major imperial trading partner for Europe.
Under the previous scheme, by the end of 2009 Britain and Ireland would have had to give firm dates for scrapping the imperial measures.
The parliamentary vote assures that milk bottles and draught beer may be sold as pints and road signs marked in miles, under a special deal for Britain and Ireland.
For other goods "supplementary indications" may be retained by all EU nations, eurospeak for allowing imperial measurements - pounds, ounces, pints etc. - to be used alongside metric ones.
One imperial casualty, though, is the acre. The European Commission had said that this imperial measure is no longer used for land registration in either Britain or Ireland and would be "repealed".
Also, Ireland has already switched its road signs to kilometres and metres, leaving Britain as the only EU nation using miles for speed limits and distances.

Savers

2008-12-05T20:05:00.000Z

It is the fable of the ant and the grasshopper reversed...the grasshopper gets rewarded, the diligent ant suffers.

All ones life one saves and sometimes goes without, in order to put a bit by for retirement or to enjoy the golden years, but Labours new policies makes you think of the above.
and the LIB/DEMS think you have a bottomless purse.

Success

2008-12-02T11:57:00.000Z

SUCCESS AT LAST: NORTH KINGSTON PARENTS WIN CAMPAIGN FOR NEW SCHOOL
For more than two years, North Kingston Parents and local Conservatives have lobbied Kingston’s Lib Dem Council to provide a new secondary school. On November 17th, in a last ditch effort to be heard, a hundred and fifty parents gathered at the Hawker Centre for a public meeting organised by Conservative Parliamentary candidate, Zac Goldsmith. Now, finally, the Lib Dem council has announced plans to provide for a new 6 form entry secondary school and to expand neighbouring Greycourt school in Ham. Local parent, Angela Norton-Bilsby, who was responsible with local Conservatives for collecting 3,000 signatures calling for a new school welcomed the announcement. She said: "I am thrilled that at long last the council has acknowledged the need for a new school. I am also delighted that Grey Court is included in the BSF strategy. With the option of both of these schools, parents in the north of the borough will at last have a choice of secondary school. However, we won't be celebrating yet. We now need to work to ensure that the school is built as soon as possible.” In her speech to parents at the Hawker Centre on the 17th, Mrs Norton-Bilsby told residents; “The conservatives have helped to steer us through the processes, helped us to garner information and generally keep us informed where the current administration would have left us in the dark.” In November last year, Susan Kramer described the Conservative campaign for a new school as “deeply irresponsible”. Kingston’s Conservative Education spokesman, Cllr Nick Kilby, said “What a difference a year makes. Susan Kramer and Derek Osborne are both on the record for saying that the parents and Conservatives were wrong! We will now push the Council to agree a suitable location for this new school and to get it open as soon as possible. In the meantime we welcome the inclusion of Grey Court into the BSF programme. Without its expansion we cannot deal with the short term problem, and parental choice can only be achieved with both Grey Court and the new school. Well done to the parents of North Kingston! It has been a pleasure to support them.” Zac Goldsmith said, “Because of the recession, more and more people are going to have to think again about whether or not they can afford to send their children to private schools, and the pressure on existing state schools can only escalate. This is welcome news.”

2008-12-01T07:25:00.000Z

Older Peoples Day
Helen with day visitors
Cllr Ken Smith with Ada Hopin who was celebrating her 100th BirthdayHelen 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."