East Putney Councillors' Summer Bulletin

Issues include Wandsworth Bridge and East Putney tube lift disappointment

George and Ravi together

July 28, 2023

Welcome to the Summer 2023 e-Bulletin from your East Putney Conservative Councillors, George Crivelli and Ravi Govindia

Wandsworth Bridge: Perhaps this summer’s biggest local news is the decision by the Wandsworth Council’s new Labour administration to totally close Wandsworth Bridge from 24 July for 10 weeks, at a time when Hammersmith Bridge is also closed.

East Putney Cllr Ravi Govindia said: “Clearly 83-year-old Wandsworth Bridge needs repair. But closing it when Hammersmith & Fulham Council have failed to maintain Hammersmith Bridge will cause gridlock in Putney, especially on Putney Bridge and the High Street, which is already the UK’s most congested street due to the Hammersmith Bridge fiasco.”

Wandsworth Bridge

East Putney Cllr George Crivelli said,“We’ve already had huge tailbacks on our side of Wandsworth Bridge due to a Hammersmith & Fulham ‘Clean Air Neighbourhood’ that effectively bans Wandsworth drivers from many streets. Due to pressure from us, Hammersmith & Fulham have now agreed to suspend one of the enforcement cameras. But it’s not enough.”
Ravi added: “Wandsworth’s new Labour Council should stick up for our residents and push Hammersmith & Fulham’s Labour Council to be a considerate neighbour. If Hammersmith & Fulham won’t get on with opening Hammersmith Bridge, it should at least suspend all its traffic restrictions to reduce the chaos in Putney.”

Ahead of the 10 week closure of Wandsworth Bridge we also wanted to update you on the changes Transport for London has made to local bus routes that normally cross the bridge.

• Services will either stop short or be diverted. The following buses will not cross the river: 28, C3 and 295.
• Route N28 will divert via Battersea Bridge.
• Route 728, an additional temporary bus route, will run between Fulham Broadway and Wandsworth Town Centre via Clapham Junction and Battersea Bridge every 20 minutes, 5am to midnight seven days a week.

The quickest route over the river will be to walk across the bridge and pick up onward bus routes on the other side.

The bridge closure will cause a huge amount of disruption with many other local roads suffering from traffic congestion as people try to find alternative routes such as Putney Bridge. It is already the UK's most congested road and local residents can expect to take even longer to get from A to B as long as Wandsworth Bridge is closed.

Parliamentary Spokesman Lee Roberts said: "Wandsworth Council really need to pull out all the stops and ensure that this isn’t so much as a day later than the promised 10 weeks. On 1st October the bridge must be open."

If you have any questions please do get in touch. We will keep you updated as we get more information. 

East Putney tube station

East Putney tube: We are hugely disappointed that TfL is prioritising 10 more tube stations for step-free access - but not East Putney.

Ravi said: “We have pressed for years for a step-free East Putney tube, with huge local support. But we’ve been pushed to the back of the queue. Mayor Sadiq Khan says he wants better access, but at our tube, older and disabled people and mothers with pushchairs will still struggle.”

George said: “A ll the new developments along Upper Richmond Road have put huge sums of money into Wandsworth's Community Infr astructure Levy, so why not use some of this to make life easier for passengers? We will be pressing the Council on what they’re doing to take this further.”

TfL’s announcement is here.

Electric vehicle charging: We have been campaigning for more East Putney electric vehicle charging points, and are pleased that seven of our roads are being surveyed for a roll-out of more this summer.

George said: “We hope to get about 22 more East Putney charging points this summer, which would give us about 4% of the charging points in Wandsworth’s 22 wards. We’ll be supporting residents who would like more.”

 St Michael’s new scheme

St Michael’s traffic: There has now been a second consultation on a school street scheme for St Michael’s Primary School, after residents overwhelmingly rejected the first Council proposal, which would have put a total block to traffic across Viewfield Road.

Ravi said: “The new proposal vastly improves on the first botched and heavy-handed one, which understandably met multiple objections. The new idea is simple and is supported by the school - restrict traffic only at school drop-off and pick-up times, with no permanent barrier in Viewfield Road. It’s a huge waste of taxpayers' money to hold a second consultation simply because a more common-sense approach was not taken in the first place.”

Street signs, George has been hard at work getting street signs installed that East Putney residents wanted. One is a new Keswick Road sign at the corner with Upper Richmond Road .
George also persuaded the Council to install a new sign directing worshippers to the Ahmadiyya Mosque on Gressenhall Road. Mosque members told him a sign at the junction of West Hill and West Hill Road was removed some time ago but not replaced.
George said: “This spot is maintained by TfL, but Council officers agreed to have a new sign manufactured and put up. I hope this will now help worshippers attending the Mosque.”

Don’t forget – if you have any similar concerns that Ravi or George can put right, do contact them on Cllr.G.Crivelli@wandsworth.gov.uk or cllr.r.govindia@wandsworth.gov.uk

Coliston Passage

Planning appeals thrown out: We welcome the Government Planning Inspector’s rejection of two East Putney planning appeals.

In May, the Inspector dismissed an appeal to build a flat in a two-storey extension in Coliston Passage. The Inspector agreed that it would be too large, would harm the area’s character and impact light and outlook for adjoining residents in Merton Road.

Ravi said: “We need more homes, but this building would have been overbearing and disruptive to the special appearance of the Coliston Passage neighbourhood.”

In July, Ravi also welcomed the Inspector rejecting an appeal by JCDecaux to put a communication hub outside Costa Coffee on Upper Richmond Road, containing phone and web facilities and a digital advertising panel.

Ravi said: “These hubs can offer community benefit, but this one was too big and intrusive for the site. It would have caused visual harm, loss of space and obstruction and risk to pedestrians.”

Ravi at Kersfield Estate

Kersfield Estate: We are not pleased about the further delay to building 41 new homes on the Kersfield Estate.

Ravi said, “The work has taken over two years and should have finished this spring, but it will now drag on into the winter. It’s not clear why the work is being delayed, and I have told the Council project manager that residents will be disappointed – they’ve had to put up with so much traffic disruption and chaos. I’m told the Council will do all it can to get it finished as soon as possible, and I’m keeping a close eye on it.”

 
Putney High Street

Empty High Street shops: We are well aware of residents’ concerns about the High Street, so we welcomed the Council’s meeting in July with landlords of empty High Street shops to discuss restoring them to use. The Council can’t intervene on rents, but said landlords need to strike a balance between affordable rents and a reasonable investment return. Landlords said they are being flexible on rents and asked the Council to make lettings easier through its planning and licensing powers.

This rang an alarm bell for George, who said: “The reference to licensing is rather concerning. We know many residents want a better retail offer on the High Street, not more licensed premises. I hope reviving shops will be a key focus going forward.”

Positively Putney, our Business Improvement District, posted a useful article on ‘SW15’ on why so many High Street shops are empty. You can read the article here.

Lee Roberts

Crime Survey: We are reminding residents who are worried about crime that Lee Roberts, Putney’s Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, is surveying your views on how to make our streets safer.

Ravi said: “Lee is keen to hear about anything from dark places that aren’t safe at night, to anti-social behaviour hotspots. The more he meets Putney residents, the more they tell him about crime. Sadiq Khan is responsible for London policing, and it’s pretty shocking that crime has risen right across Putney since became Mayor – up by 27% since 2017 on his watch. In East Putney it’s up by 44%, and only tiny numbers of London robberies, burglaries and car thefts were solved last year.”

Please give Lee your views and priorities to help us push for a safer Putney. You can fill up Lee’s survey here.

Local police meetings: Residents can get useful crime prevention advice at the quarterly meetings our East Putney police team hold with residents.

George said: “At the June meeting the police said they aim to step up patrols at times when residents are on holiday – important in the summer. There was also advice on shielding ‘keyless’ car keys and preventing theft of number plates. The police also said video doorbell footage of prowlers or thieves is really useful, so please do send it to them.”

To join the mailing list or attend, you can call 020 8785 8874 or email EastPutney@met.police.uk

Tree with Gator bag

Watering trees: Finally you can help to keep our street trees healthy in hot, dry summer weather. Some 15,000 trees grow Wandsworth’s streets and estates and East Putney had 28 new trees planted in the winter.

George said: “If a tree looks dry and thirsty, you can do a bit of watering. Some trees have a plastic tube beside the trunk for pouring in water, and some have ‘Gator bags’ you can top up with water. Wandsworth also has volunteer tree wardens – residents who keep an eye on the health of our trees.”

If you’d like to help with this, you can email Wandtreeward@aol.com

There’s more from Ravi and George, plus local community news, on Facebook.

Please feel free to forward this e-Bulletin to other East Putney residents who may be interested. To join our circulation list, residents can email heretohelp@wandsworthconservatives.co.uk

To contact your East Putney Conservative Councillors:

Cllr Ravi Govindia: cllr.r.govindia@wandsworth.gov.uk
Cllr George Crivelli: Cllr.G.Crivelli@wandsworth.gov.uk