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I'm a councillor in the London Borough of Wandsworth; this blog mainly covers that, sometimes general politics and policy and occasionally anything else that takes my fancy.
Category Archives: Business
Half-price parking in Tooting
For a long time it felt like my job on the council was explaining the council’s parking policy to business. I should add that my job on the council has never involved any responsibility for parking whatsoever (long may that continue) but it is inevitable when talking to businesses that they will raise the impact
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Tagged parking, Tooting
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Wandsworth is a growing town centre
Once again the Local Data Company are trying to make headlines with their regular report on the state of Britain’s high streets. This time, their story has been a little overwhelmed by the Cabinet reshuffle, Paralympics and the British Retail Consortium’s sales figures. And once again I feel the need to highlight that the Local
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Tagged development, Southside, Wandsworth
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Launching the Clapham Junction app
At The Junction – the Clapham Junction iPhone app – was formally launched today. If you passed through Clapham Junction you would, hopefully, have seen the posters that adorned the doors and displays in the station. The free app contains listings of all the local businesses, so you can find what you’re looking for by
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Tagged App, Clapham Junction, iPhone
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Portas, Putney and high street cash
Wandsworth has done rather well at getting money for its town centres of late. Sometimes without even asking for it. Tooting and Balham both received cash through the Mayor’s poorly named Outer London Fund (more accurately a ‘Not Benefiting from Crossrail Fund’) and Clapham Junction got a payout from the post-riot High Street Fund. Our
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Tagged cash, Putney, town centres
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Extending Southside
Those who use Southside or Garratt Lane might have noticed that work has started on the next phase of the Southside redevelopment. I can’t help feeling a little smug satisfaction to see work commence following my annoyance at the London Data Company’s inaccurate representation of the town centre a little under a month ago. The
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Tagged development, Garratt Lane, Southside
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Why the Local Data Company is wrong on Wandsworth
The Local Data Company (LDC) have named Wandsworth as the third-worst town centre for shop vacancies. It has become a depressingly regular story from them and a matter we’ve raised with them several times before. Their argument is that shops are empty and, therefore, they are reflecting the actual position. However, this ignores the wider
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Wandsworth Business Partnership
There are over 12,000 businesses in Wandsworth, employing (if my sums are right) over 70,000 people, but for some reason business lacks a voice in Wandsworth. That’s not to say business is ignored; we do plenty to communicate with businesses, each town centre has a council employed Town Centre Manager, working with the local town
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Balham power failures (again)
The power in Balham Town Centre failed again today, affecting a number of businesses and residents. I thought it worth a quick blog post to mention a recent meeting I had with UK Power Networks to discuss the situation. The history To give a brief history this is not the first time it has happened.
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Tagged Balham, cuts, EDF, electricity, power, UK Power Networks
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Battersea Power Station
Not, at first sight, the greatest news for Nine Elms that the banks have called in the administrators at Battersea Power Station. My reaction on hearing the news yesterday was not one I would readily repeat. Could the site be cursed? In fact, the outlook for Nine Elms remains good. For a start, the Government
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Kinghan report published
Neil Kinghan’s report in the looting at Clapham Junction (and elsewhere) was published today. It is, by necessity, not an in-depth look into the riots, they causes and consequences, but instead a first look: trying to show what happened and draw out some key recommendations. And it is, by the nature of the process, a
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Also posted in Community Safety, Regeneration
Tagged Clapham Junction, disorder, Neil Kinghan, riots
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