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Every now and then I use Twitter to offer my help to anyone in Wandsworth who wants it, this has prompted questions and requests ranging from parks to parking.

But for some reason I’ve never done it on my blog.  It’s not something I’ve really thought about, but think I’ve assume that if you have made it this far, you know what a councillor is and does and how they may be able to help or answer questions you have.  Of course, often this isn’t the case.  As I discovered on Twitter people don’t always think to ask, and just assume that nothing can be done about their little niggles.

So here’s the question:
Is there anything Wandsworth related I can do for you, you want to know, or with which I can help?

I can’t promise to help with everything, but I’ll certainly try my best and, at the very least, give a full explanation.  You can email me at cllr@jamescousins.com and find my other contact details on this website’s contact page.

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I’m away from a computer for most of today, but couldn’t not link to this story from the Wandsworth Guardian – Recycling crew find widow’s lost letters.

Essentially, and quite by accident, a recently bereaved woman had the letters and cards of condolence she had received thrown out.  When this was discovered she phoned the council and the crew went through around 1,000 orange sacks to re-unite her with the letters and cards.

It’s not the first time a story like this has been published, in which a council employee goes above and beyond the call of duty.  Some time ago there was a similar story which resulted in the retrieval of an engagement ring and more recently the story of an street enforcement officer re-uniting a woman with her stolen purse.

The recycling team – Nathan Hearne, Lee McSweeney and Mark Hudson – all deserve congratulation.  It is actions like there’s that make such a difference to people’s lives.

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Snow in Theatre Street, SW11I can’t promise this will be a last word about the snow.  The council is continuing to get through an astounding 500 tonnes of grit a day and is starting to move its focus onto the pavements.  However, I came across one blog detailing the change in the public mood during the snow which seems to refer to the Ashley Crescent estate (a vehicular dead-end and, therefore, mainly pedestrian):

…as the buses were suspended; as well as panic-buying in the supermarket and lots of people working in the coffee shop on the corner of Queenstown Road and Lavender Hill, I thought you’d be pleased to hear reports that community was breaking out in my part of London yesterday alongside the breakdown of infrastructure.

I’ve seldom ever seen kids playing in our (dead-end, mostly pedestrian) estate, people were helping up little old ladies who slipped and buying them a cup of tea, and I spoke to three of my neighbours which was quite a shock for the system. OK, maybe it wasn’t all street parties and sharing of resources, but it just underlines the fact that in extremis, we all tend to revert somewhat to community ideals!

It certainly accords with my sense that, generally, something about the snow made people happier.

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If you have followed my crime mapping posts you will know there have been a series of problems in the transmission of data between the police and the council.  These are now resolved and this is a catch-up map.  It covers two weeks of data, but is for street crime only (although for the burglaries that took place we do not have the location data for these two weeks).  It will return for the next map.

I have been producing these maps for some time, and have some ideas for how they should develop. However, I know they are a popular feature on the site and I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. If you have any comments or ideas, please drop me a line at cllr@jamescousins.com.

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 the link directly under the map.  As usual there are some health warnings following the map.


View Larger Map

  1. Yellow flags represent burglaries and red flags represent street crime reported between 16 and 30 December, 2008.
  2. The briefing only contains details of burglaries and robberies. Other crimes are not included.
  3. You can see more detail by following the link to the Google website.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
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Snow in Theatre Street, SW11Now life in London is getting back to normal in London after the heavy snow it’s worth worth reflecting on the events.

I’ve always been a bit cynical about the way the country will grind to a halt following a bit of snow, but I have to say that the past couple of days have changed my opinion.

I trudged to the Town Hall last night (walking there and back, along Lavender Hill, St John’s Hill and East Hill).  There were a few things that stood out.  First, was how eerily quiet it was.  There were very few vehicles on the roads, very few pedestrians and the pubs, bars and restaurants along the route were almost empty.  What really surprised me when I walked back was that even places like the Slug and Lettuce and the Falcon (which has it’s own staff accommodation) next to Clapham Junction had decided to close early.

Second, was that the main roads were absolutely clear.  Not a spot of snow on them.

There was a bit of discussion about the council’s response to the snow at the meeting I attended at the Town Hall.  The response was formidable.  We’d had eight gritters out since 3pm on Sunday and staff had been diverted from other tasks to help in the operation.  On Monday morning gritting of key pavements, such as outside schools and stations started – even though many schools were closed and trains services severely disrupted.

Perhaps most importantly was that services to vulnerable people, like meals on wheels, continued.

And all this despite staff shortages because people couldn’t make it in.  Having said that, there were some stories of real endurance – one council employee made it in from Loughborough.

Did we get absolutely everything right?  Maybe not; on Twitter I picked up on a Tweet questioning why we only had 8 gritters – well, how many should we get to cover extraordinary snowfall and then stand unused for months or even years on end, I think we have the balance about right.  There was even one guy claiming there hadn’t been any gritting at all easy to disprove and I think a bit offensive to the staff who have been working so hard over the past few days – it might be he actually lives in a neighbouring borough who ran out of grit yesterday.*

It was a heavy snowfall, there is no doubt about that, but I think the council did a great job in tackling it.  Yes, they had to prioritise, so the pavement outside your house may have to wait, but all-in-all an admirable response to some extraordinary weather.  All the people involved deserve congratulations.

* UPDATE:  I think I was a bit unfair to the Twitter commentator.  I did Tweet him and he replied that although the roads were clear, there was no evidence of grit (he’s deleted the relevant Tweets, so I can’t link to the conversation).

This does cause some confusion, the grit is actually a white salt, so it doesn’t show up too well when mixed with snow.  Having said that, satisfaction is still hard to come by, he also Tweeted “Well, they might sue me for libel, but I’ve been licking the roads of Tooting, and they’re not remotely salty.”

It seems our roads are failing the taste test!

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Theatre Street in the snow

It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that we’ve had some heavy snow in London. While it is always bizarre that London grinds to a halt when there’s a bit of bad weather, one thing it does seem to have done is put a smile on a lot of people’s faces – perhaps because everyone has happy childhood memories of snow.

But remembering not everyone enjoys the cold weather, so if you have an elderly neighbour or some relatives who can’t get around as well as they used to, give them a knock on the door or a call to see if there’s anything they need or you can do.

Posted via email from jamescousins’s posterous

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Something of a retread post, but if you haven’t already there are still a few days left to register a vote for one of your local parks and help it win funding from the Mayor who is investing £6 million into popular London parks.

Forty-seven parks across London have been shortlisted and the ten with the most votes will receive some of the funding for improvements.

Two of the shortlisted parks are in Wandsworth, so please considering voting for one of them. It can be done by text or online.

The two parks are:

King George’s Park (Wandsworth)
You can vote for King George’s by:
texting PARKS SW18 3HS to 62967
using the voting form on Help a London Park.

Latchmere Recreation Ground (Battersea)
You can vote for Latchmere by:
texting PARKS SW11 5AD to 62967
using the voting form on Help a London Park.

Texts will cost 10p, in addition to any charge you pay to your network and voting ends on 30 January. You can find out more details from Wandsworth council’s parks vote page or the GLA’s Help a London Park.

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Edward Lister, the Council Lister, is launching ‘Our Wadsworth’, the council and the Local Strategic Partnership’s vision for the next 10 years.
Thinking about how the borough has changed in the past 10 years it’s exciting to think about how it can change in the next 10 years. And this vision not only sets out our vision but also targets the council and its partners will be aiming to meet to make Wandsworth safer, greener and healthier over the next 10 years.

Posted via email from jamescousins’s posterous

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It might seem a bit out of date, since students got their results last summer, but the breakdown of schools and boroughs have just been published and it’s pleasing reading for Wandsworth.

The council’s website has all the details (this press release contains the school by school results and you can get the national picture from the Department for Schools, Children and Families) so I won’t repeat them, but there is one key fact I think worth highlighting – Wandsworth’s results are now ahead of the national average.  For an inner London borough this is a significant achievement.

66.2% of Wandsworth students now get the benchmark 5 A*-C GCSE grades – this compares to 65.3% in the country as a whole.  As an indicator of the improvement Wandsworth was 8% behind the national average in 2001.

This doesn’t mean we should be complacent, there is still room for improvement in many schools, but it is a cause for celebration and congratulation of the borough’s teachers and students.

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The Mayor of London is about to invest £6 million into some of London’s parks: but which parks will be decided by a public vote.

In the best tradition of reality competitions, 47 parks across London have been shortlisted and the ten with the most votes will receive some of the funding for improvements.

Two of the shortlisted parks are in Wandsworth, so please considering voting for one of them. It can be done by text or online.

The two parks are:

King George’s Park (Wandsworth)
You can vote for King George’s by:
texting PARKS SW18 3HS to 62967
using the voting form on Help a London Park.

Latchmere Recreation Ground (Battersea)
You can vote for Latchmere by:
texting PARKS SW11 5AD to 62967
using the voting form on Help a London Park.

Texts will cost 10p, in addition to any charge you pay to your network and voting ends on 30 January. You can find out more details from Wandsworth council’s parks vote page or the GLA’s Help a London Park.