LISTER
ON PUTNEY
Edward
Lister is the Leader of Wandsworth Council and a member
for Putney's Thamesfield ward.
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The
Royal Mail very rarely brings good news these days. But the
double announcement this week of plans for a new two tier
delivery service and the closure nationally of some 3,000
sub post offices will have horrified even Putney's long-suffering
residents and small businesses.
It's
not as if we are not used by now to having to wait for our
post in Putney. But these changes will confirm once and for
all the status of ordinary residents and small businesses
(in Consignia's eyes) as second class customers. Although
no figures have been released yet it is likely that those
of us receiving fewer than, say, 25 deliveries a day will
have to give way to higher volume users. These will get their
deliveries before 9am. The rest of us will have to wait until
later in the day.
That's
no good if you are a trader or businessperson waiting for
an important cheque which you might not be able to pay in
until the following day. People
in South West London already have the worst postal service
in the country - even the Hebrides gets its mail quicker.
The council together with the Putney Partnership and the consumer
group Postwatch will fight these changes while for town hall
mail we will have to look again at whether we might get a
better service by using our own staff to deliver it.
We're not having much joy either with the Royal Parks. The
half-baked plan to stop traffic entering one gate only at
Richmond Park - Robin Hood - will have catastrophic effects
for people on Roehampton's Alton estate. Up
to 700 extra vehicles an hour could be forced onto local roads
during the morning peak period if the closure goes ahead as
planned on 2nd April.
The
council is currently taking legal advice on the plan. We could
be joined by an unlikely ally in the Mayor of London. It seems
that his Transport for London organisation was not consulted
on the changes which will have far reaching effects for traffic
on the main A3 into town. Alton Road is already a dangerous
rat run for drivers trying to avoid the queues at the Roehampton
Lane junction.
The
Royal Parks agency is a public body. It is accountable to
a cabinet minister. Its motives in protecting the park are
understandable but its arrogance in ignoring the impact of
its actions on those people who live close by is unforgiveable.
The council has done much over the years to help the borough's
young people afford the cost of a home in our increasingly
high-priced borough. It
was Wandsworth after all that pioneered the range of low cost
home ownership opportunities that continue to offer a first
step on the ladder for thousands of local people.
So
this week's news that the council's sale of a former school
site in Battersea to a local housing association was bringing
the number of new sensibly priced homes in the borough up
towards the 1,000 mark was a real cause for celebration.
The
vast majority of these homes will be available to buy. They
will all go to local people on the councils' waiting lists.
We are not building vast single tenure estates as some would
advocate. We are working with a variety of agencies to provide
homes in all types of location which can be purchased by those
on average and below average incomes.
The
more property values rise the harder we have to work to make
these low cost purchase schemes stack up.
Residents
on the Wandsworth side of Dyers Lane will have been amused
by the story and picture in the Evening Standard this week
on London's council tax bills. Wandsworth
had of course just announced its new figure of £398
(Band D) which will be the lowest in the country this year.
People on the Richmond side of this road which acts as the
boundary between the two neighbouring boroughs will pay more
than £1,000.
People
want good services from their council at a price they can
afford. That's the balance we have always tried to strike
in Wandsworth throughout the last 20 years.
Edward Lister
Leader of the Council
You
can contact Edward Lister at the Town Hall on 0208 871 6041
or by email at elister@wandsworth.gov.uk
Cllr
Lister comments on the current planning furore, pigeon
mess, cctv and policing.
Cllr
Lister writes on Pensioners Freedom Passes, good news
re Hotham School, development progress at Ashlone
Wharf and aircraft noise from Heathrow
Airport.
Recent
visit to the Leisure Centre was less than enjoyable - see
forum.
Cllr
Lister writes on the new school for the area, housing development
and Heathrow.
Cllr
Lister writes on developments at the Putney School of Art
& Design, The Leisure Centre and the excellent league
results for local schools.
Tony
Colman MP for Putney speaks about current local issues
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