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Below is the map of crime reported to the police between 30 January and 5 February.

Thank-you to everyone who provided feedback on the mapping after my request last time, and to repeat my request, if you have any thoughts on how the mapping should or can be developed 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 30 January and 5 February.
  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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marks-and-spencer-logoMarks and Spencer have confirmed their decision to close their Balham Simply Food store.

The store, which has been open for nearly six years, will close on 19 March.  I know this is going to be a big disappointment to many Balham residents.  And is a big disappointment to me, Balham is a Town Centre on the up and leaving it seems an odd step.

Unfortunately, the council’s arguments did not persuade M&S who will now be talking with their 25 employees about their options.

The council and Town Centre Partnership will continue to promote Balham as a destination for retailers, but unfortunately we have little control over who moves into the vacant unit.

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Finally, full blown crime mapping.

I’m publishing the whole of Wandsworth as one post. There are a few reasons for this which all revolve around the administrative boundaries the police and council use. Basically they have different definitions of Battersea, Putney and Tooting (the police put Balham in Tooting and Fairfield in Putney, the council have them both in Battersea). In real life, most people do not think about those boundaries, and criminals certainly don’t – hence a single Wandsworth map.

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 Putney, 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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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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I’ve had notification of a few more trees due for removal in the ward, so if you are near any of these trees, expect to see them disappearing soon.

Ashley Crescent – outside number 7 (prevention of damage to nearby wall)
Dunston Road – garden of 76-86 (tree growing against windows and removal needed to allow works, tree is also wild, rather than planted)

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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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  • To my Wandsworth followers: Is there anything I (as a councillor) can do for you or help you with? You won’t be the first, so don’t be shy. #
  • I’m having one of those days when I’m just rattling through my to-do list – and it’s giving me a great feeling for the week ahead. #
  • Havin’ changed me olde facebooke language t’ pirate I’m rather enjoyin’ usin’ it again. Arrrr. #
  • At Town Hall. Something about its 30s grandeur charms just enough to compensate for the lack of modern amenities. http://twitpic.com/17iin #
  • Wow, this is my first Tweet of the day. Still quality over quantity… oh, now I’ve failed on that one as well. #
  • I’m so pleased with the response to my offer of help so a repeat: Anyone want any help with Wandsworth issues, feel free to @ or DM me. #
  • Thanks to @appleblossombea I think ‘democratic gigolo’ title has to go – any suggestions for alternatives? in reply to appleblossombea #
  • Quite a few places are tipping Paul Stephenson as the new Met Commissioner – an interesting appointment, if true. #
  • It was cold, wet and miserable for a run around Battersea Park this morning, but I counted at least 8 others as masochistic as me. #
  • They are tweeting live on This Morning. I can’t help but think that is a bad thing. Not as bad as a Daily Mail endorsement, but bad. #
  • Taking the little ‘un on his first trip into central London to meet his Mum’s work colleagues. #
  • Well, a couple of hours to myself in central London. What to do? #
  • Whenever I walk past packed meeting rooms I think: 1. That looks dull, glad I’m out here & 2. That might be interesting, wish I was in it. #
  • Cheers for suggestions. Amazingly I’ve found myself in the Apple Store – totally unexpected. #
  • I admire the guys with beat up Dells in the Apple Store theatre who are shamelessly there only for the free wifi to get onto Hotmail. #
  • Such is my hypochondria that I can’t even read about the cello scrotum story (http://bit.ly/13PBl) without a tiny bit of worry. #
  • I’m doing 200 words for ‘first’ on being a Twittering cllr. That’s about 8.6 tweets worth! How will I fill it? #
  • I’m getting quite excited about this Saturday, even though I don’t know what to expect and have no idea what additional insight I can bring. #
  • Going to my policy meeting with officers. I often wonder if Yes, Minister is a good comparison, but that wouldn’t paint me in a good light. #
  • Well, that wasn’t Yes Minister at all. Now for some real work and resisting playing with the new iPhoto. #
  • Tooting-ites might be interested in this facebook group http://bit.ly/tPfI – join in and let us know how we can make Tooting even better. #
  • I try to avoid Twittering blog posts, but couldn’t resist that one. The explanation on Martin Linton’s site is here http://bit.ly/2X6pIq #
  • Community Safety Strategy Group and council group tonight. But @gill_edwards has really set me thinking about social media love in Balham. #
  • Meetings over. Now for some serious face recognition with iPhoto. #
  • Doing my 200 words on Twitter. I can’t decide it It needs less than 140 characters or more than 200 words! #
  • 200 words later (well 212, actually) you can read my efforts on my blog http://is.gd/hO2m before they are mercilessly edited. #
  • So, now people are starting to think about #ukgc09 I’m beginning to wonder what I have to offer the day. #
  • I’m wondering if I’ve been a little dismissive of facebook. Does anyone know of any good examples of facebook as an engagement tool? #
  • What’s the betting on if (when?) #ukgc09 becomes a trending topic? #
  • On bus. Going to #ukgc09. Need coffee. #
  • Stood behind @ingridk at the #ukgc09 queue. Wondering if she’ll notice me or this tweet first. #
  • Wondering if I should pay attention to the current session, or just follow the live Twitter #ukcg09 #
  • Big thanks to all the #ukgc09 organisers. Probably the best ‘conference’ I’ve ever attended. #
  • To most this will be meaningless. But to those it isn’t: Daddy is in the chair. Repeat. Daddy is in the chair. #
  • My hopes for British victory in Eurovision ’09 are sunk. That song is, well, rubbish – can’t stop thinking of Geraldine McQueen. #
  • Hmmmm. I’m seeing why these weren’t the finalists. Apart from Lulu of course, she rocks. #eurovision #
  • #uksnow SW11 0/10 – and very very unhappy about it. I want snow. #
  • I’m just not getting any work done today, I think I should admit defeat. It’s Sunday, time to relax in my chair and veg infront of the TV. #
  • #uksnow SW11 3/10 in reply to paulhenderson #
  • I’m beginning to hate my modem, why must it fight everything I do online? It’s only a Wii, I’m not trying to look for UFOs at the Pentagon. #
  • Somehow it seems wrong that @stephenfry likes darts and watches ITV4. Mind you, he’s right, a better match for Taylor being out of form. #
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After a lengthy absence crime mapping will be returning to this website over the next couple of days, and then on a weekly basis.

Mapping was halted, temporarily while the police and council improved the security of the transmission of data between each other.  As is ever the case, this introduced new problems and resulted in only part of the data being transmitted.  These have now been dealt with and the data from the police is now coming securely and intact, so mapping can resume.