Welcome To The First East Putney Councillors' Bulletin
An update from your local ward Councillors
Sarah Binder
In the Council elections next May, two East Putney Councillors will stand again: Cllr Ravi Govindia, Leader of the Council, and Cllr George Crivelli. Cllr Les McDonnell will retire after more than 20 years’ service and new candidate Sarah Binder will stand in his place. Sarah lives in Putney with her young family. She has served on her local residents association, is a legal aid volunteer and helps at her local church. Her day-job is head of internet and privacy law at the UK’s largest mobile phone company.
Policing and crime - fighting against police cuts
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is proposing to close dozens of police stations and front counters in Wandsworth. He wants to close the borough’s last remaining 24-hour police station in Lavender Hill, remove the daytime counter at Wandsworth police station where people can report crimes or seek help, and end informal police contact sessions at several community locations, including Asda in Roehampton and St Mary’s Church café in Putney. The Mayor’s policing and crime office appears to think Londoners could contact the Met Police by phone, the web or social media.
East Putney Councillor and Council Leader Ravi Govindia recently joined an action day to save our policing. He strongly believes officers should be able to talk to local people face-to-face.
Ravi said: “The internet idea would be off-putting for older or more vulnerable people, and all the proposals could risk our police becoming remote from our communities. The Mayor talks of funding pressures, but other efficiencies should be explored before police stations are lost or cut down.”
The Mayor has also announced a 51% cut to crime prevention funding in Wandsworth from next April, and plans to cut the number of borough police commanders. In Wandsworth, as in all London boroughs, this is a chief superintendent in charge of local policing who can respond quickly to community concerns. But the Mayor’s idea would split this officer four ways, with Wandsworth sharing one commander with Merton, Kingston and Richmond.
Ravi said: “No other London boroughs would be put into a cluster of four. We question why Wandsworth and its neighbours are being treated differently. We have an enviable record as the safest inner London borough - but much of that is due to our crime prevention work and close dialogue with our borough commander. Wandsworth has already lost some 36 police officers and cutting crime prevention funding by 51% could risk undoing years of good work. We will stand up for residents to get the police resources we need.”
To save our police stations and public counters and ask the Mayor to reverse cuts to our crime prevention budget, you can sign our online petition.
EU citizens’ rights
East Putney Cllr and Council Leader Ravi Govindia has written to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, urging him to focus on securing the rights of EU nationals living and working in Britain “without unnecessary delay”. This follows a letter Ravi sent in July to Theresa May, urging her to treat this issue as a top priority in the negotiations.
Ravi co-signed the letter to M. Barnier with the leaders of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea Councils. The three leaders said they were “surprised and disappointed” that a deal on EU nationals had not yet been reached, and urged for the 80,000 people from other EU countries living in the three boroughs “to be treated fairly”, adding: “They should not have to wait for so long to have their residential status confirmed”.
The letter said the UK Government had made an “open and generous” offer in June on securing these citizens’ rights, and said: “We believe that you should be seeking to reassure EU citizens - as they would wish - by reaching agreement with the UK on their status, and we would be grateful if you could act swiftly to allay their concerns and provide them with the certainty that they seek.”
Ravi and the other leaders wrote: “We consider EU nationals living in our boroughs as our citizens. Most come here to work and, through their work, they create important economic ties between businesses in London and other parts of the EU. Many of them are raising their children and contribute a great deal to our communities here. We are proud to serve them and it is our job to represent their interests.”
“While we very much see them as ‘our’ citizens, they are legally yours. Having their rights confirmed as quickly as possible during the negotiations is their priority, not who wins or loses the finer points of the argument in negotiations.”
For more about the letter, click here.
Wandsworth is also setting up residency and passport advisory services for EU nationals in the borough.
Exam results back up OFSTED’s high ratings for our schools
Wandsworth’s school exam results this summer testified to our high ratings from education watchdog OFSTED, which has scored 97% of our secondary and primary schools as Good or Outstanding.
In A-Levels, all Wandsworth schools and colleges had improved results. 26.2% of grades were A* or A, up by 4.4% on last year. East Putney’s nearby Ark Putney Academy (formerly Elliott School) was amongst those with the highest increases, up 16 percentage points.
Across all our schools, 78.2% of grades were A* to C, up by 4.2% on last year, ahead of the national average. Students also did well in Level 3 BTEC, a vocational alternative to A-Levels; each school had at least 50% of grades at Distinction or Distinction*.
East Putney Cllr George Crivelli co-chairs the Council’s education scrutiny committee. He said: “These results are brilliant and highlight our outstanding education record. It’s a real achievement for an inner London borough to be so consistently ahead of the national average, and we’re working very ‘hands-on’ with all our schools to keep it that way.”
Can you help to enforce the new 20mph speed limit?
A new initiative, Community Road Watch, is coming to East Putney on 31 October, 3pm-5pm. It trains residents to use handheld speed cameras themselves, working with our local police officers to report speeding. This session focuses on Westleigh Ave and Chartfield Ave, where residents say some drivers have been breaking the limit.
Cllr George Crivelli will join this session. Residents who would like to take part can phone George just before it on 07968 893202 for the meeting point.
The new 20mph limit followed months of consultation with residents, who expressed broad support. It covers all our quieter residential streets, though not our busier main roads. Vehicle accidents involving pedestrians are three times less likely to be fatal at 20mph than at 30mph. The £725,000 cost for signage and road markings was funded by a Transport for London grant.
You can email requests for sessions to: CommunityRoadwatch-.Wandsworth@met.pnn.police.uk
Our local stations
Hot East Putney topics for some time have been getting a facelift for East Putney tube station, and a much-needed second entrance in Oxford Road to Putney mainline station. Your Councillors have been pressing for these upgrades, and the Council has earmarked £2 million over the next two years to help pay for improvements along Upper Richmond Road, including these projects. But the work must be done and the cost shared by the site owners: Transport for London (TfL) for the tube station, and Network Rail for the mainline station.
The Council money comes from new developments of big blocks of flats, including several on Upper Richmond Road. Wandsworth Council charges a tax on large-scale housing developers called the Community Infrastructure Levy. This money is set aside for local improvements, ensuring that developers pay something back to the community.
Cllr George Crivelli has now pressed for TfL to develop clear costs and proposals for the tube station, trying to get things moving. On the second entrance to the mainline station, the Council has done a feasibility study on where it could go, what it could cost and how it could be funded. Your Councillors now want Network Rail and the rail companies to stop dragging their feet!
East Putney gets electric vehicle charging points
East Putney now has 3 electric vehicle charging points in St John’s Ave, and 3 in nearby Sutherland Ave off West Hill. Your Council installed another 35 charging points at 11 sites across Wandsworth this summer, and plans 50 more at 20 sites by end 2017, subject to local consultation, including Keswick Rd in East Putney. The Council then plans to extend them even further.
East Putney Cllr and Council Leader Ravi Govindia said: “We aim to make electric cars much more attractive and viable for our residents, making it easier for people to switch to more environmentally friendly motoring.”
Each charging point has a parking space that can only be used by electric vehicles while charging. Non-electric vehicles can’t use them, and face a parking ticket if they do!
The Council has worked with Source London to install the latest points. To use them, you must register with Source London. Their site also explains details on fees and reserving a space.
Some other companies have also provided charging points across London, including in Putney. You can find these at www.zap-map.com
Click for more about electric vehicle ownership in Wandsworth.
PLANNING
Putney High School
East Putney residents in Lytton Grove have raised a number of concerns about planning applications by Putney High School for refurbishment and building, as it expands its number of pupils. These include concerns about parking, congestion and noise, particularly about cars dropping off and picking up pupils. The applications (enter Application Nos. 2017/4616 and 2017/5058) are here.
Cllr Les McDonnell has offered to chair a new neighbourhood forum where residents, the school, parents of pupils and other stakeholders could discuss concerns and seek solutions.
Railway pub
The Railway pub - a landmark near East Putney on the corner of Putney High St and Upper Richmond Rd - has closed. Revolution Bars have acquired it from JD Wetherspoon and have applied to make some changes. They seek to add a roof terrace before re-opening it as a different style of bar. The application suggests they propose no change to the historic facade. The application (enter Application No. 2017/2697) is here.
Former Top Shop on the High Street
Some local residents have asked what’s happening with the construction at the former Top Shop building on Putney High Street. It is now being converted into a Metro bank with 15 flats above it. Our Councillors found that local residents supported the development.
HOUSING
Affordable Housing Day: 19 October
Last year your Council completed the second-highest number of low cost homes out of all London’s 33 boroughs, and over the next three years is set to complete almost 1,700 homes for shared ownership or low cost rent. And unlike many Councils, Wandsworth makes sure that local residents are first in line for these homes.
The Council runs a range of innovative schemes to help people onto the housing ladder. At the annual Affordable Housing Day you can find out more about options such as shared ownership, right-to-buy, right-to-part-buy and house purchase grants. It’s on 19 October, 2-8pm in the Town Hall Civic Suite. To find out more, call 020 8871 6161 or click here.
Crackdown on tenancy fraud
In the past year your Council recovered 48 council and housing association homes from tenancy fraudsters, and let them to people in genuine need, saving about £2.8million in temporary accommodation costs.
It ran 268 investigations in the year to Sept. 2017, with a further 82 continuing. Tenancy fraud includes unlawful sub-letting, keeping a council home while living elsewhere, or falsifying a claim for succession.
East Putney Cllr and Council Leader Ravi Govindia said: “Law abiding tenants and taxpayers can be assured that we take firm action against fraudsters who not only cheat them, but deprive homeless or overcrowded households of a home.”
Wandsworth rents out some 17,000 homes and works with South West London Fraud Partnership on thousands of spot checks a year to ensure that these are occupied by their legitimate tenants.
Do you know of any council homes being sub-let or misused? You can report this to the South West London Fraud Partnership on (020) 8871 8383 or email here.
ENVIRONMENT
£5 million upgrade for roads and pavements
East Putney’s Keswick Road got a brand new surface in July - one of almost 40 roads being resurfaced in a £3 million Council road improvement programme in the year to April 2018. The Council will also spend £2 million in the year to re-lay pavements in over 30 residential roads, double the £1 million spent last year.
East Putney Cllr and Council Leader Ravi Govindia said: “We’re also spending £1.5 million on repairing potholes this year. Since April 2012, we have fixed 35,000 potholes and kept over 230 miles of road surface in good repair. Careful management of taxpayers’ money enables us to invest these big sums in our streets and pavements.”
East Putney residents can report potholes or broken pavements to your Councillors, or to the Council online, or by emailing onstreetservices@wandsworth.gov.uk
Flytippers and litterers brought to book
East Putney has not escaped fly-tippers and litterers messing up our streets. Kersfield Estate and pavements near Rusholme Rd and Clockhouse Place are amongst spots where residents have seen flytipping and littering.
In August alone, Council enforcement officers tracked down and fined 20 flytippers across our borough. They also issued almost 250 littering fines and 92 penalty charges to businesses who don’t manage their waste properly.
The Council spends over £4m a year on street cleaning, including the cost of picking up illegally dumped waste. Enforcement officers are out daily, searching for evidence in flytips to catch those responsible.
You can report flytips to your Councillors, or to the Council online. And if you think you can help to catch a fly-tipper, you can email here in strict confidence.
Wimbledon & Putney Commons: can you help to restore a key pathway?
Wimbledon & Putney Commons Conservators are fundraising to restore Inner Windmill Road, the main path past the windmill, near us in East Putney. They need to make access easier for us all, including wheelchairs and pushchairs. Inner Windmill Road is 1200 metre long and costs £45 per metre to rebuild. Its popularity means restoration is now urgent. About £29,000 of the £55,000 target was raised by late September. To help, you can donate online here.
DIARY DATES:
Artists’ Open House: 7-8 and 14-15 October
Several East Putney artists will show their work at the annual Artists’ Open House in October, when 150 Wandsworth artists invite you into their homes and studios. Venues are free to visit and there’s no pressure to buy, though painting, textiles, sculpture, cards, bags or jewellery are on sale at less than gallery prices. Click for the Putney venues or for all the Wandsworth venues.
Wandsworth Grant Fund: new round starting on 23 October
Your East Putney Councillors would greatly welcome more East Putney bids from community and voluntary groups for funding from the Wandsworth Grant Fund. This year’s latest round will open on 23 October, when groups can bid for grants of £500 to £10,000 for projects to benefit local people by supporting the arts, improving neighbourhoods, helping young people, achieving potential, improving health and wellbeing or encouraging citizenship and civic engagement.
Your Councillors can advise and help you, and applicants can book for sessions offering information and advice before applying. Find out more here.
Battersea Park Fireworks: 4 November
Tickets are now on sale for the Council’s spectacular annual Battersea Park fireworks display. Gates open at 6pm for pre-show entertainment and food and drink stalls; the bonfire is lit at 7.30pm and the display is at 8pm. Tickets sell out in advance and you can’t pay on the door, so book ahead here!
Cllrs Ravi Govindia CBE, George Crivelli & Cllr Les McDonnell
October 5, 2017