Councillor Lister writes to Putney
Queen Mary's Hospital, graffiti, recycling and more...
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Councillors fought side by side with local people during 1997 and 1998 in a passionate campaign to save the old Queen Mary’s Hospital.
It was a much-loved hospital where generations of Putney and Roehampton mums went to have their babies.
The battle for a new hospital on the site has taken even longer – almost eight years from the day health minister Alan Milburn ordered the closure of acute services and downgraded its accident and emergency unit.
It has been a long struggle but today we have a modern new building with a good mix of services.
There are modern care facilities for older people and mental health patients as well as a minor injuries treatment centre and outpatient rapid diagnostic and treatment facilities.
At long last the Government appears to be recognising the value of community hospitals. Over in Battersea the fate of another hospital – Bolingbroke – is concerning local people. A
major refurbishment has been promised – let’s just hope it does not take another eight years.
Putney residents have been breaking all recycling records since the council launched its orange sack scheme almost three years ago. Now flat-dwellers are to get their own version of the kerbside sack – a large storage bag which doubles up as a carrier for taking the waste to the orange recycling bank.Trials suggest that the scheme should help to boost recycling levels by about a fifth.
Keeping on top of graffiti is a never-ending task but the £650,000 a year the council invests in its removal is money well spent.You only have to look around other parts of London to see how run-down an area or estate can became when the tagger’s work is allowed to stay on display too long.
Our new graffiti slogan says it all: one call and it’s off the wall. Call the removal team on 020 8871 7049 – they will get the mess cleared away within three days.
Finally March 8 will be a red letter day for anyone whose sleep is disrupted by the sound of planes landing overhead in the early hours.
Campaigners are hoping that a vote in the House of Lords will force the Government to back down on its plans for scrapping the current cap on the number of night flights.
Peers on all sides are concerned about the ease with which the Governments’ preferred system of controls - a complicated noise quota – can be used to mask an increase in the number of aircraft landing.
If we can win the vote it will be a huge boost for our efforts to prevent any further deterioration in the noise climate for people in Putney.
Edward Lister
February 20, 2006
Edward Lister is the Leader of Wandsworth Council and a member for Putney's Thamesfield ward.