At last, Parliament is back in session and last week we have the Queen’s Speech. Thank you again for your support and giving me the privilege of being back there to represent us all. I’m now sat on the other side of the chamber of the House of Commons and there are a lot of new faces on all sides of the House of Commons. It’s also a very different atmosphere because of the Coalition government – perhaps more about discussing common ground, rather than just picking where the differences are. Having worked with MPs from other parties on issues like Heathrow and Richmond Park hopefully its less new to me! I’m now a Treasury Minister, so there’s a fair amount of work going on to get the emergency Budget prepared. As ever, there is also a lot happening locally that I’ve been working on my weekly MP surgeries are continuing, so I hope the following update is helpful.

Heathrow Third Runway and Richmond Park
The new government has announced that it has scrapped the third runway as proposed before the election. Additionally, the Royal Parks will now have Mayoral oversight and Boris Johnson has already scrapped the introduction of the car park charges in Richmond Park. Both announcements are really fantastic news for us and protect our local quality of life. The Heathrow Third Runway campaign saw all sorts of communities come together and though it took years to win the argument and get the decision ditched, we finally made it. Similarly, with Richmond Park, we worked together to make our case successfully. If you were one of the thousands of people who got involved in our local campaigns then thank you so much – it made a massive difference.

Local Bus Services to Putney Heath
I regularly follow up residents’ concerns with TfL and following concerns I’ve raised with our local police and council about the safety around Putney Heath area, I contacted TfL to find out if we could extend the 424 bus service which is the only one that actually drops passengers off in Putney Heath, outside the Telegraph put. Currently it finishes early evening, so if we could have it run later that would really make a big difference and tackle a lot of the safety issues that we have in that area. TfL are now looking at this and I’ve contacted all residents to get their feedback to help show TfL just how valued later running hours for the 424 bus would be. I’ve had a great response and will now go back to TfL as they look at whether they can improve the service. If you live in Putney Heath and haven’t already responded to my letter, but would like to see the 424 bus time extended then do let me know at greeningj@parliament.uk.


Putney Post Office and Postal Services
Like many people I am concerned about the future of Putney Post Office as the site will be getting redeveloped next year. With Thamesfield Councillor Jim Maddan I had met with Post Office managers before the election to discuss what steps are being taken to not only find a new site, but provide better quality services than we get at the existing Post Office. My next meeting is in around 3 weeks time and if you have any general concerns about our postal service, please do let me know as I will be raising a number of issues that other residents have contacted me on.

Out and About
Last Bank Holiday Monday I went to the Big Picnic event in Roehampton on Danebury Avenue – it was great to see so many local residents out enjoying the environment having food and meeting one another. The rain just held off all afternoon which was an added bonus. I met with Southfields Grid residents at their Residents Association AGM which, the new Mayor of Wandsworth, Cllr McCausland, also came to. Last week, I also went to the LTA National Tennis Centre in Roehampton to find out about their talent spotting programme and also to see how their local schools tennis programme is working now it has been in place for a couple of years. We already have a local Merton schoolgirl doing very well in internationals and I hope that perhaps a Putney, Roehampton or Southfields child may be next.

If you need my help as MP then please do always get in touch. You can email me at greeningj@parliament.uk or write to me directly at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA. If you want to have a chat face to face then do come along to my weekly MP surgery and give me a call on 020 8946 4557 to find out where my next one will be.

Once again, thank you so much for giving me the continued privilege and wonderful opportunity to keep representing us in Parliament – I’ll do my best.

June 4, 2010