Monthly Archives: February 2009
Elsley School security
I, and the other Shaftesbury ward councillors, recently wrote to residents whose homes back onto the Elsley School about the security arrangements in place there. The school was closed following last year’s flooding and re-located to the Nightingale School site. While this was necessary because of the flooding damage, it also made good educational sense. [...]
Wandsworth’s recession-beating package
There is a bit of a fashion for things like Recovery.gov and realhelpnow.gov.uk (although the latter apparently only includes Labour Party ‘help’) and I wonder whether I should offer recovery.jamescousins.com. While the council hasn’t developed a nifty front-end it has put together a substantial package of help and assistance for the borough’s residents and businesses [...]
Tooting’s first ‘Good Neighbours’
I had the privilege of presenting the first six ‘Good Neighbour’ awards at a short breakfast ceremony this morning. The scheme is part of the council’s ‘Tooting Together’ programme of work to improve Tooting Town Centre. Businesses are independently judged not only on meeting their statutory requirements (like safety and cleanliness) but also, and importantly, [...]
Shopkeeper prosecuted for underage knife sale
The council has successfully prosecuted a shopkeeper for selling a knife to a 15 year old. Legally, knives can only be sold to over 18s. You can read the full story in the council’s press release. While it’s worth highlighting the successful prosecution, it is also worth highlighting the fact that most shopkeepers in the [...]
Crime briefing, 12-19 February, 2009
Here’s the crime briefing for burglary and street crime reported in Wandsworth between 12 and 19 February, 2009. The map is hosted by Google, and occasionally will not load, or will not load the flags, especially if you are on a slow connection. If it does not display correctly, try refreshing the page or following [...]
Tweets for week ending 2009-02-23
Anyone fancy a stint as my PA? Unpaid, unless you count gratitude and karma as payment? # It had to happen sooner or later… Just added the first BNP cllr to CllrTweeps. We’d agreed the policy on this, but still felt a bit odd. # I’ve rejected some of these people I’ve never met on [...]
No increase in council tax
Wandsworth announced today that there would be no increase in council tax. This makes the second year in the row that Wandsworth has not increased its share of council tax. However, it’s the first time that bills have not gone up at all – since Ken Livingstone more than doubled his share in his eight [...]
Crime reduction priorities for the year
I’m currently putting the finishing touches to my presentation for tonight’s public meeting on our community safety priorities for the year. I’m told that, from the acceptances we’ve received so far, the venue is nearing capacity and we may have to open up the public gallery as an overflow! However, if you are interested in [...]
What is happening at Springfield?
The news of the past day has been another worrying episode for South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust (SWLSG) and most especially the residents living near the Springfield hospital site. In this example Paul Caesar, a convicted killer, absconded after being allowed to spend time unescorted in the hospital grounds. The escape [...]
Why I’m a terrorist…
I have tended to shy away from national politics and issues in this blog, keeping it more focused on local and council issues. However, one subject that increasingly concerns me is the erosion of civil liberties in this country. Yesterday saw another little chunk of our freedoms eroded with section 76 of the Counter Terrorism [...]
