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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: London
The Big London Energy Switch
Energy switching seems to have become something of a local government vogue recently. Perhaps because there is not as much cash around any more and local authorities and councillors have to look at less traditional ways of supporting residents. In February I sat on the judging panel for the LGIU‘s Cllr Awards and (aside from
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Tagged energy, switch
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The London local elections
When I wrote that I thought Wandsworth Labour must have been disappointed with their result I didn’t realise quite how disappointed until I looked at how their colleagues across London performed. Much as it pains me to say it, it was a good night for Labour in London. After the 2006 elections 14 London councils
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The new ten point plan for Clapham Junction
Almost five years ago the council launched its ten point plan for Clapham Junction. It was one of those things that was more aspiration than anything. The council had little control over the implementation of most of the ten points, but it did form a great basis for lobbying by creating a coherent vision of
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Oxford Circus: An apology
View Larger Map In previous posts on this blog I have made comparisons between the Oxford Circus diagonal crossing and the crossing installed some years ago at Balham. These suggested that Balham should have received more credit for installing such a crossing and being one of the first – if not the first – in
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Weekly wrap-up, 30 October
This week was a story of two regenerations – with two very different results. Recession kills off Roehampton regeneration The bad news came for Roehampton. The Roehampton Regeneration had been moving slowly for several months while the planning application was developed and everyone was aware that the economic climate meant that rapid progress was unlikely.
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Also posted in Regeneration, Weekly report
Tagged Crossrail, Nine Elms, Northern Line, Queenstown, recession, Roehampton
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Mayor freezes council tax again
Last week I touched on the Labour gimmick of freezing council tax in the eight London boroughs they control and suggested that, actually, if you wanted value and quality services you were better sticking with Conservative authorities that already had a track record. I failed to mention yesterday the Boris Johnson has again frozen the
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Also posted in Politics
Tagged Boris Johnson, budget, council tax, Ken Livingstone, Mayor
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Labour’s flexible, and political, approach to council tax
Today’s news that all the Labour councils in London are to freeze council tax next year (I say all, they only have eight) came as something of a shock. First of all, I don’t think London Labour have a particularly good track record of keeping council tax low. If you take the inner London Labour
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Also posted in Politics
Tagged council tax, Hammersmith and Fulham, Labour, value, Wandsworth
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My imminent de-selection
I live life on the edge. I’m the type of guy you see in a L’Oreal advert, perhaps running along the Thames, then doing something manly, like chopping down a tree or at least doing something wearing a tool-belt. And I use Facebook (you can even be my friend), which includes applications like ‘How Sexy
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Weekly wrap-up, 4 September
The Union Jack now flies over Wandsworth Town Hall every day. Not the greatest picture, but I’m rather pleased with the result from a phone camera. The council had previously taken a ‘high days and holidays’ approach to flag flying, but recently changed this to keeping the Union Jack flying every day and to be
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Also posted in Politics, Regeneration, Weekly report
Tagged Chamber of Commerce, Labour, Nine Elms, RCS OSC, recession, Tony Belton, Town Hall, Union Jack, US Embassy
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What would stop me voting Conservative?
Anne Robinson. Fairly simple. I very much doubt I would have been able to vote for Anne Robinson if she’d been the Conservative candidate for London Mayor last year, as she claims she was asked. Now, of course, I’ve no idea what conversation took place, but there’s being asked and being asked. There can be
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