- Jeremy Vine (or someone claiming to be him) has emailed me following my Tweets about his election graphics. Any suggestions for responses? #
- Absolutely mountain of work this afternoon. Felt compelled to start up Tweetie to tweet about it rather than actually do it. #
- Gorgeous day. Far too hot for a suit and a badly ventilated town hall. #
- Had some inspiring discussions about localism today – but there's part of me that wonders if council driven localism defeats the point. #
- Trying to unwind by telling myself I have a meeting-less day tomorrow, but still feel I should be doing something. Any tips (exc. alcohol)? #
- Ah. Twitter is back. Now I can unburden my soul of pent up dull and pointless observations and thoughts again. #
- Serious credit due to @grantshapps for responding to my (tongue-in-cheek) response about his Twitter boast. #
- Am I the only one who isn't orgasmic about TweetDeck for iPhone? It just seems slightly clunky, with a few rough edges. #
- Why do moo cards offer standard shipping that's faster than express shipping? Doesn't it rather defeat the point? #
- Why do all Nigerian spammers think that Fernando is a trustworthy name? I've got Susan's sister Doris after me now. #
- While I like Twitter's quirks, but wouldn't it be great if, just once, it would work consistently for a whole day. #
- I'm miles behind with followers. Now I've got the dull job of identifying all the SEO/Social Media experts I'm not going to follow back. #
- Christ. @Twitter. Just work. You hear me? Work. Do what you promise you will on your buttons and links. Please. Just once. For the children. #
- Now everyone has iPhone 3.0 I'm really looking forward to getting lots of MMSs. *drums fingers* #
- The etiquette snob in me is glad the local branch of Moss Bros has stopped trying to push grey top hats for Ascot. #
- The recession has hit spammers. One of my regular comment spammers is only making $300 a day now. He was on $1,000 a day not so long ago. #
- It's slightly concerning that my iPhone with 3G off is beating my home broadband. Curse you O2, curse you. #
- By the power of Twitter. I complain about O2 Broadband being very slow today and @Talk2O2 follow me, if only I lived in Ireland. #
- The link does work now: How politics are done: Lesson 2 – Taking credit http://is.gd/15iBB (though it's only really a dig at Wandsworth LDs) #
- Does anyone know what you call those off-set gate/fence things that are meant to slow down cyclists? #
- Tip for restaurants emailing me: invest money in good food photography. Making your food look like a plate of sick will not bring punters. #
- Gah. So not content with sending their magazine (unrequested) every month I'm now getting spam email from Total Politics. #
- Police face prosecution for obstructing photographers using Anti-Terror Laws. http://bit.ly/1nKmW (via @mattwardman) #
- I recognise the sentiment behind the green avatars, but I can't help but think of the Incredible Hulk. Lou Ferrigno was a childhood hero. #
- BBC News talking about how hot summers will be in the 2080s… depressingly assuming I'll be dead by then. #
- My hairdresser has texted me to say it's probably time for a haircut. Great. Now I can feel self-conscious about my hair. #
- Wow. A queue outside my local O2. http://yfrog.com/5fj0bj #
- Ooooo, the 3GS has a volume control on the headphones… No more groping in the pocket. #
- Milly is doing a stint at the Northcote Road Carnival today (@tweetchard she gets around!) http://yfrog.com/46cw4j #
- Just worked out how to turn on the compass for maps. How did I live this long without it? #
- First night out entrusting my son and heir to a baby-sitter (my mother-in-law to be precise). Worried she'll be on the wine before I am. #
- Having a bet with my wife that someone else on Twitter is at Matt & Mel's engagement. But how would we know??? #
- Turns out the first time we use a baby sitter is the night we discover we are past it. Terminal hour for us was actually earlier than baby. #
- Saturday morning. Hungover. What to do? Oh yes. Canvassing. #
- Hmmm. Think I may have found one of Wandsworth's few thousand BNP voters. #
- And the Tooting Mela tomorrow> I know it doesn't mean much to alot of you, but it's the Furzedown Festival today 🙂 (via @giloi2009) #
- Discovered first major failing of iPhone OS 3.0 – makes it far too easy for your wife to record your drunken snoring. #
- Anyone got any tips for extracting (alive) a frog who seems to have got stuck in a watering can spout? http://yfrog.com/58vq1j #
- People like @ThePickards just talk about it, but it's deeds not words that matter when it comes to #frogrescue (& #localgovcamp I suppose). in reply to ThePickards #
- Watching #localgovcamp on Twitterfall reminds me how much I miss seeing replies on Twitter, it was such a great way of finding people. #
- Councils have nothing to do with local papers failing when this is considered 'news': The art of seduction for ugly men (via @localguardian) #
- Should have included the link! Spam via the local press, it'll be penis enlargement next http://tinyurl.com/mzdg7e (via @localguardian) #
- Making a trip to Argos to pick up some cheap iTunes vouchers. I normally can't stand Argos, but will make an exception today. #
- Wasted trip to Argos. All vouchers have been reserved. #
- It's Daddy's Day. Is that justification enough for alcohol? I think it is. #
If you are in SW11 today then it’s worth popping along to Northcote Road for their first Northcote Carnival. Wandsworth seems to be doing really well for businesses organising events to celebrate and promote their areas.
I hesitate to list them for fear of missing some, but just in the SW11 area we had the Lavender Hill Street Party last week and the first St John’s Hill street party later this year.
The Northcote Carnival have permission to close part of the road to traffic for the event – making it very pedestrian friendly – and will kick off with a parade of over 1,500 children from local schools. The remainder of the day will offer dancing and music, along with food, drink and plenty of instore promotions.
You can get more information from the Northcote Business Network’s WeLoveNorthcoteRoad.com website.
I’ve been producing these weekly reports for a few weeks now, you can read why and some of my thoughts about it. As I commented in there, it’s far from complete, it misses out a lot of the ‘private’ meetings and casework but you may find it interesting…
Lavender Hill Street Party
I take no credit for the Street Party, as I posted on Monday, all the credit belongs else where – but it took up a good chuck of my Sunday and was a truly fantastic event, if you were there I know you’ll agree, if you weren’t then make sure you don’t miss it next year.
Local Strategic Partnership
I attended, as one of the council’s representatives, the Local Strategic Partnership on Wednesday. The Partnership comprises bodies like the council, police, local NHS as well as representatives from local business, the voluntary sector and community groups.
Wednesday saw us spending a lot of time discussing the services we provide for young people, which provided a great example of the importance of partnership working. The council has a target of reducing the number of young people entering the criminal justice system, but the police are meant to increase their arrests – meaning that, unless we co-operate, we are undermining each other’s work!
John Burns School
As posted earlier today I went along for the opening of John Burns School’s new playground. Which is also a new community playground! It is really well equipped, so worth popping along if you have children in the 5-12 age range. It was also great to have a look around the school. I was a school governor there up until around 2002, so it was also good to see how the school had changed and improved over the years.
Yesterday I attended the official opening of the new ‘dual-use’ playground at John Burns School.
Pleasingly the playground looks interesting, with plenty of exciting features. When I see the playground in which I spent many hours of my childhood it’s more like a graveyard of ‘dangerous’ playground equipment, tarmac scars marking each piece’s passing.
What makes the playground even better is the dual-use, not just for the school. While the school will have exclusive use during the school day, in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays the playground will be available for the local community to use. Access will be through a new gate on Wickersley Road, meaning the main school site remains secure.
The playground, funded by Wandsworth Council to the tune of £105,000, is aimed at 5 to 12 year olds features a gyro, climbing wall, turbo slide, climbing rope net, spinning dish, balancing unit and a shelter with seats.
Planning officers have recommended that the Planning Applications Committee reject the application for a 16 storey hotel at the site of the old Job Centre on Falcon Road.
Following the Clapham Junction ‘towers’ application this had been another controversial scheme, especially as it backed onto residential properties in Mossbury Road.
Local residents’ objections mainly concentrated on the height, but also included complaints ranging from the quality of the design to the perceived lack of quality of the proposed hotel!
The full report can be read on the council’s website (see pages 45-55). The conclusion is to recommend rejection because:
- The proposed building by reason of its height would be an unduly prominent and incongruous development and together with its poor detailed design would fail to preserve or enhance the character of the Clapham Junction Conservation Area and the setting of nearby listed buildings…
- The proposal does not comply with sustainable design and climate change policies in terms of renewable energy and low carbon development…
- The proposal does not ensure an accessible environment for people with disabilities and fails to include any wheelchair accessible bedrooms contrary…
You might notice a remarkable similarity with Lesson 1 – Taking credit and with good reason. It’s basically the same lesson.
This lesson comes from the Liberal Democrats via the Wandsworth Guardian. I won’t deny I’m a little mischievous posting this.
And that almost makes me a Liberal Democrat.
Many years ago they published their handbook ‘Effective Opposition’ which advised, amongst other things, that candidates should “be wicked, act shamelessly, stir endlessly”. It’s one of those things that came back to haunt them, even a few months ago it was still being quoted in the national Guardian blog (and I should point out that there are comments disowning the publication after the article). I’m being wicked and stirring by highlighting this particular shameless political trick.
The story is simple:
Residents are concerned about the noise and damage caused by lorries using roads they shouldn’t be on. They organise a petition. The council responds by increasing enforcement against the lorries and repairing damage caused.
The Liberal Democrats, acting shamelessly, put out a leaflet taking credit for it all.
And there we have our lesson, if you’re a Liberal Democrat don’t worry too much about the facts – just take credit.
Gordon Brown’s economic miracle doesn’t seem to show any sign of slowing. My observation that the rate of increase seemed to have slowed last month was shown to be idle conjecture this month as the rate grew again.
I will continue to say that Wandsworth seems to be weathering the recession better than most places. There are a lot of reasons to be confident, indeed, part of my spot at Balham last Thursday was to highlight the reasons we should be positive in Wandsworth. But that does not mean we aren’t being hit by the recession, nor does it make it any easier for those who are losing their jobs.
The Wandsworth total of Jobseekers Allowances claimaints (i.e. people who have signed on as unemployed, and excluding those who are unemployed but have chosen not to register) rose to 6,430 – a rate of 3.1%. As I say every month, this still compares favourably to the London and national rates of 4.2% and 4.1% respectively.
The total was 341 higher than last month and 2,656 higher than this time last year, increases of 5.6% and 70.4% respectively.
Anyone who was on Lavender Hill last Sunday will know how fantastic the street party was.
I don’t know how many people attended, but it seemed much busier than last year’s event and there were certainly more businesses and stalls participating.
The event is very much driven by the local traders, and a great example of what can be achieved with a little vision – few would look at Lavender Hill and think that style of event would work given the amount of traffic the road carries and the stretches of residential separating business parades. But if you were like me you had a great day wandering up and down Lavender Hill savouring the carnival atmosphere and a little too much of the food and drink on offer.
Congratulations to everyone who was involved in the organisation and management of the event on the day – but especially Anthony Laban, Emma Jane Clark and Lorinda Freint.
They’ve certainly set a high standard for next year!
The map below details crimes reported in Wandsworth between 4 and 11 June.
If you have any information on any of these crimes you can get in touch with the local police on 020 7350 1122 or via Crimestoppers (anonymously, if you wish) on 0800 555 111.
The map is hosted by Google, whose mapping service seems to go through patches of downtime (although of late it has seemed fairly stable). If the map does not load, or will not load the flags, try refreshing the page or following the link directly under the map; I assure you the map is there! As usual there are some health warnings following the map.
You can click on the individual markers for more information.
- Yellow flags represent burglaries and red flags represent street crime reported in the period.
- The briefing only contains details of burglaries and robberies. Other crimes are not included.
- You can see more detail by following the link to the Google website.
- The flags are not placed precisely (it would be irresponsible to advertise victims of burglary) but instead are spaced roughly equally on the roads they took place. The idea is to give a visual representation of the spread and range of crime in Wandsworth, rather than pinpointing crime locations.
- While I try to ensure the data is accurate it is reliant on the information I receive, and I’m only human, so it may be mistakes have crept in. Please let me know if you think you’ve spotted one.
I was really pleased to see that Jane Allen, who recently retired as the head of libraries in Wandsworth has been given Membership of the Order of the British Empire and becomes Jane Allen MBE.
Wandsworth has an excellent libraries service (and going to get better with the Tooting Library refurbishment and new Wandsworth town centre library) so it’s a well deserved honour.