Thamesfield Councillors' Summer Bulletin

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An update from your local ward Councillors

Welcome to the Summer edition of our ebulletin which we hope you find informative. Please feel free to forward this to neighbours and local residents.

Ride London – Sunday 4 August
Two major cycling events will be passing through Putney High Street and along Upper Richmond Road on 4 August. This will include 20,000 amateur cyclists taking part in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, a 100 mile route in which riders are expected to pass through Putney between 0950am outward bound and around 1635pm on their return. Later in the day 150 of the world’s best professional cyclists will complete in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic on a route similar to the London 2012 Olympic Cycle Road Race. Elite cyclists are expected to pass through Putney between 1745 and 1815.
www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk

Some roads in Putney will be closed to traffic from 0730 onwards on 4 August. Local access will be maintained for as long as possible and access for emergency vehicles will be maintained throughout. In particular, the estimated re-opening time for Tibbet’s Ride, Putney Hill, Putney High Street and Putney Bridge is 1915 on 4 August. Details of affected local roads are available at www.tfl.gov.uk/prudentialridelondon

Wandsworth road closures at www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/prudential-ridelondon-road-closure-leaflet-wandsworth-2013.pdf

There will be marshals manning pedestrian crossings on Putney High Street. Bus serving the High Street will not be operating so residents may find it easier to travel by tube, train or bike.

Parking is suspended along the cyclists’ route. Access to the Exchange car park is from Hotham Road and Lacy Road or Lower Richmond Road to Lacy Road on that day during which the Lacy Road barrier will be open
tinyurl.com/me5e9gw

Local businesses have organised events on both sides of the High Street. There is a carousel and steam fair in Church Square and a barbeque and steel band at Putney Pantry. On the other side of the High Street, Eddie Catz is providing a bouncy castle and face painting in the Lacy Road area. Several outlets have screens where the whole race can be watched.

The great sewage saga
Residents’ journeys may have been disrupted by the tanker which has been parked regularly outside Wahoo in the High Street. It has been pumping out sewage from a collapsed sewer under Wahoo. Thames Water under some pressure from Cllr Maddan and the Leader gained entry to Wahoo earlier this week on a warrant. TW have isolated the sewage pipes to a collapsed sewer.

Cllr Maddan has been in touch with Gordon Hailwood of Thames Water who confirmed there is a massive tank under the archway between 16-18 PHS and 20 PHS serving the premises between 2 PHS and 26 PHS. It flows into the main sewer in PHS. The majority of these premises are food outlets putting vast amounts of commercial oil/fat into the drains to congeal, expand and cause the sewer to collapse.

TW need to create a new system that feeds straight into the main sewer which will entail digging down 7m (23 ft) under the road opposite the archway (as above) to create a new connection, work that is likely to take about a month and will involve propping during the excavation. The start date for the excavation has not been fixed because of the Cycle Road Race. As local councilors we will be pressing for as speedy a solution as possible.

Public exhibition by Linden Homes of their proposals for the former Linton Oil Depot in Osiers Road
Linden Homes’ exhibition takes place this Friday 19 July from 1600-1900 and on Saturday 20 July from 1000 to 1400 at 16 Point Pleasant (3rd door). All residents are welcome to view the plans and discuss the proposals with Linden Homes. The Linton Oil depot backs onto the railway line next to the Wandle, behind Osiers Gate.

London Heathrow, operational freedoms
Over the past year regular meetings have been held with the Civil Aviation Authority, the body charged with overseeing the Operational Freedoms trials and reporting to DfT on recommendations for implementation.

The trials ended on 30 April and we have been waiting since then for the report to DfT with recommendations from the CAA as to which operational freedoms should be taken forward to a public consultation.

Despite the lack of report and publication of any corroborating evidence, Heathrow have made several references to the use of operational freedoms in their “Proposals for making the best use of existing capacity in the short and medium terms” submission to the Airports Commission. The main concern is the proposal to take forward “freedoms” without regard for local impacts, eg encroaching in periods of respite and increased early morning flights.

The Heathrow submission says that the operational freedoms trials, and their findings, have been agreed with the local authorities. This is incorrect. Wandsworth has therefore written to Howard Davies setting the record straight.

The Davies Commission’s interim report is due in December 2013 and will be making recommendations in regard to short and medium term measures at airports plus a shortlist of long term options to be looked at in more depth.

Residents concerned by the above can comment directly to the Davies Airports Commission at airports.enquiries@airports.gsi.gov.uk.
The website is www.gov.uk/government/organisations/airports-commission

Howard Davies Commission in Airport expansion
This week submissions have been made by Boris Johnson and Heathrow to the Davies Commission on Airport expansion.
Heathrow is ultimately proposing four runways to accommodate a hub airport with increased flights from the current level of 480,000 pa to 740,000 pa. We have grave concerns about the impact this will have on residents living beneath the flight paths in terms of noise, sleep deprivation, security and pollution. tinyurl.com/pougm7k

Boris Johnson is proposing several options including a new hub airport to the east of London where planes would approach over the sea rather than a densely populated city. These proposals offer scope for a competitive hub airport which could operate all the time. www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/27598.aspx

Cafe and mini-golf in Wandsworth Park
The café in the Park has re-opened. We have been informed by Mr Beamish, the operator, that the mini-golf, which he is also running, should be open in the near future. A the planned course appears below.

We would like to mention that this is not “crazy golf” ie windmills, gnomes, and other obstructions, nor is it a putting green (ie grass with a few holes in it); and it’s not a “pitch & putt” course - ie a very dwarf golf course. The best description is “mini-golf”, involving a few (12 in this case) pistes laid out, shaped and contoured to present a different putting challenge for each hole – slopes, curves, hollows etc.

Summer holiday activities
The Council has organised a number of holiday activities for children and families including beach volleyball, mini tennis, the Battersea Summer scheme and Barn Elms Summer holiday programme. Further details available at wandsworth.childrensservicedirectory.org.uk/kb5/wandsworth/fsd/whats_on.page
This link will also take you the list of play centres available across the borough for children. The nearest one is the super camp at Putney High School.

Lobbying for increased District Line trains
At a recent meeting of the Passenger Transport Liaision Group, chaired by Cllr Torrington, it was reported that TfL London Underground are proposing to increase the numbers of trains running per hour on the Wimbledon branch. However, the chart handed out showed an increase of only 1 from 15 to 16 trains per hour. This has been queried because the Wimbledon branch of the District Line – serving East Putney and Putney Bridge tubes - experiences very heavy ridership indeed at peak hours, more so than the Ealing and Richmond branches where considerably greater increases in trains per hour are proposed. Cllr Torrington and Dick Tracey, the London Assembly member will be pursuing this point.

River Transport (www.thamesclippers.com)
Following the operation of the river service by Thames Clippers since April, the number of passengers using the service has increased significantly. This week, an extra boat/service has been introduced to aid capacity issues on the home route to Putney departing from Blackfriars at 18.43 (this service will stop at Embankment at 18.50 and will also stop at Millbank pier and St George Wharf pier, as well as all piers on the Putney to Blackfriars route).

The 19.15 Putney service from Blackfriars will now depart at 19.23 (and will call in at all stops on the Tate to Tate and Putney to Blackfriars routes). These are trials to help alleviate congestion due to increasing demand. If the trials are successful Thames Clippers will continue to operate this way until they introduce a revised and more frequent peak time service in October on the Putney to Blackfriars route. They are also considering the introduction of a morning fast boat directly to Canary Wharf without the need to change at Blackfriars.

Second entrance for Putney Station
Following lobbying by local councillors S106 funding was secured to carry out a feasibility study for a second entrance at Putney station to relieve congestion, facilitate access for residents living east of the High Street, facilitate interchange with E Putney tube and support regeneration on Upper Richmond Road. The feasibility study has been published and was reported to the relevant committee recently (paras 8-12). tinyurl.com/ng79988

As local councillors we are keen to progress the scheme. The report has been sent to Network Rail for consideration. An earlier meeting on the subject with Network Rail was positive. The contractors working at Putney station currently access the station from this area to complete the new lifts.

Ten car trains are scheduled to be operating at Putney station by December 2013 to relieve congestion for commuters and others travelling into London. The station improvements including lift access to all platforms and an enlarged station entrance are in progress and due for completion in Spring 2014.

New primary academy in Putney – DfT approval
The Department for Education has confirmed that that the establishment of a new primary academy operated Oasis Community Learning has been given ministerial approval to proceed to the next stage. The Department for Education has approved a payment of £25,000 to cover the legal costs associated with establishing a new academy. The outcome of the judicial review is awaited.

Landford Road parking
Following a petition a consultation was carried out recently with Landford residents Controlled parking will be introduced from 0930 to 1600, Monday to Saturday in Landford Road. Currently, parking is only controlled from 0930 to 1030 Monday to Friday. tinyurl.com/o759w8r

A powerful result
Residents in the Deodar Road/Florian Road/Merivale Road area, and parts of Putney Bridge Road, received £30 compensation from UK Power Networks after intervention by Cllr Mike Ryder. He also persuaded UK Power Networks to upgrade the electricity sub-station in Putney Bridge Road, near Wandsworth Park. This followed a long-running series of power cuts in the area (one of them lasting for six hours) mainly due to faults in the sub-station. Cllr Ryder contacted senior executives at the Ipswich HQ of UK Power Networks, which is responsible for the power cables under our streets, and persuaded them to extend compensation to everyone who had been affected.

New local restaurants to try
Putney Canteen has opened on Putney Bridge Road combining an all day restaurant and butcher’s shop.
Alquimia, a Spanish tapas bar in Putney Wharf
Bills, on the High Street.
The Glass Dome, is an Argentinian restaurant with a piano bar
Tom Aitken is due to open Kitchette in the former Fish and Grill premises in September

Help us help vulnerable people in hot weather
The Met Office has issued a Level 3 heatwave warning. This means elderly people, those with long-term illnesses and other vulnerable people could be in danger.

The heatwave is expected to last for at least another week. The Council’s public health department is urging local people to check up on neighbours, relatives and friends who may be less able to look after themselves (for example, if they have mobility problem). Keep an eye on them to ensure they are keeping cool by keeping their body temperature down.

• Read the advice issued by Public Health England, which can be found online here
www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Summerhealth/Pages/Heatwave.aspx
• Take them water and/or a fan if necessary
• Ensure they are drinking water or fruit juice regularly, but avoid alcohol and caffeine (tea, coffee, colas).
• Recommend cold food, particularly salads and fruit with a high water content.
• Ensure that they reduce their levels of physical exertion.
• Suggest they take regular cool showers or baths, or at least an overall body wash.
• Advise them to wear light, loose cotton clothes to absorb sweat and prevent skin irritation.
• Ensure their heating is off and their home is ventilated.

Best wishes
Cllrs Jim Maddan, Mike Ryder and Rosemary Torrington
Thamesfield ward

July 19, 2013