The public meeting of the Shaftesbury Safer Neighbourhood Team meeting is tonight at 7pm at Asda on Lavender Hill.  Asda kindly lend their meeting room for this, and there will be someone from the police to point you in the right direction.

This meeting is open to any resident of Shaftesbury Ward (if you aren’t sure which ward you live in the council has a postcode checker) and gives you the chance to meet your local SNT, hear what they have been doing and raise any issues you want.  Unfortunately it’s like all three councillors will be unable to attend because of other commitments, but we work closely with the SNT to deal with any issues members of the public raise.

It you can make it along then it’s well worth attending – the meetings are well run and usually last no longer than an hour.

My attempt at crime mapping Tooting (which includes Earlsfield and Furzedown) is below. It is worth mentioning that this contains two weeks worth of data, so there is more than usual.
The map is hosted by Google, and occasionally will not load, or will not load the flags. If it does not display correctly, try refreshing the page or following the link directly under 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 Tooting, rather than pinpointing crime locations.
  5. This map is only for the Tooting parliamentary consitutuency – which is different to the police’s Putney sector.
  6. 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.

While this blog may be disappointing for all sorts of reasons I was surprised that it was because of lack of Coronation Street content. However, I’ve found out that that I’m the fourth hit for a Google search on ‘Dignity by Dev Alahan’; coming above national newspapers, Coronation Street fansites and ITV’s own website.  And all because of an idle Tweet while watching Corrie.  I’ll be joining Adsense if the fragrance ever gets released.

Google results for 'Dignity by Dev Alahan'
Google.co.uk results for 'Dignity by Dev Alahan'

Update

I’m number one!  Does this make me a search engine optimisation expert?

Dignity by Dev Alahan, I'm now number 1 in Google!
Dignity by Dev Alahan, I'm now number 1 in Google!

  • Working, but finding it hard to find the ‘it’s the Christmas and New Year holidays’ off-switch. #
  • As a rule I am not a fan of regulation – but there must be something that can stop so many channels showing Carry On films simultaneously. #
  • @dominiccampbell Isn’t the problem not trolling, but the online world just being another forum for local politics? I know I’m guilty. in reply to dominiccampbell #
  • @dominiccampbell I won’t take it personally! The problem lies in the troll:population ratio active online, and the trolls stop it improving. in reply to dominiccampbell #
  • Karate Kid III really was a sequel too far. Weak story, Ralph Macchio looking old and chunky, bad editing – thank God for Pat Morita. #
  • Wandsworth council is now officially twittering @wandbc #
  • Should I follow @andyburnhammp? If only the Internet had some sort of ratings system rather than forcing me to take personal responsibility. #
  • Just passed an empty, and sorry-looking, Woolies. It’s going to leave some big holes in a lot of high streets. http://twitpic.com/xze9 #
  • @ingridk @davebriggs Thanks for follows and tweets. I am working on my colleagues, but the benefits of Twitter are hard to explain! in reply to ingridk #
  • I’m flattered by the mini-flurry of follows, but, God, now the pressure to write something interesting is just too much. #
  • An egotistical RT: Market focus for Northcote plan http://tinyurl.com/8f8o9x (via @wandbc) in reply to wandbc #
  • @liz_azyan Reading your article on twittering councils @wandbc is the official Wandsworth Twitter, don’t know who @wwcouncil is! in reply to liz_azyan #
  • @liz_azyan On a related note, have you tried linking in cllrs that Twitter with the councils? I’ll comment on your blog about it tomorrow. in reply to liz_azyan #
  • I’m struggling to get back into work, which is annoying since I was working over most of Christmas. #
  • Billing for work is strangely tedious – shouldn’t the prospect of payment excite me? #
  • I should stop auto-tweeting blog posts, a bad habit, especially as I don’t think any of my residents are among my followers. #
  • Isn’t it strange that Thomas Cook aren’t advertising their holidays, but that ‘your money is safe’ with them? Recession advertising starts. #
  • A depressingly large thud from my council mail delivery. Christmas is definitely over… #
  • Coronation Street is the best comedy on TV: “if I made an aftershave it would be called ‘Dignity by Dev Alahan'” #
  • I just can’t take anymore PowerPoint! #
  • I’m using Lakeside World Darts to distract from the pain of Windows applications. #
  • My latest attempt at mapping Battersea’s crime is at http://tinyurl.com/89whrj Putney & Tooting will follow in coming days. #
  • Donna Margherita on Lavender Hill in Battersea… Always fantastic pizza. #
  • @liz_azyan Will send an email containing a list of Twittering cllrs that might help with 2. Not many, but may help. in reply to liz_azyan #
  • 100,000 new jobs in “new technologies and green projects”. That’s going to be a lot of public sector web 2.0! http://is.gd/evEi #
  • Putney, Roehampton and Southfields crime maps now online – http://tinyurl.com/7v5qdu #

A map of the Putney crime briefing (covering Putney, Southfields and Roehampton) is below. Like Putney, this represents 2 weeks data, so there is – obviously – more than usual on there.
The map is hosted by Google, and occasionally will not load, or will not load the flags. If it does not display correctly, try refreshing the page or following the link directly under 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. This map is only for the Putney parliamentary consitutuency – which is different to the police’s Putney sector.
  6. 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.

Following the Christmas break the Community Safety Division are, again, publishing their crime briefings and I am, again, trying to map it.

The usual small print follows the map, but it is worth mentioning that this is two weeks worth of data, so the map is ‘busier’ than usual.  However, there does seem to be a bit more burglary.  I can only speculate why this might be, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the presence of lots of new presents or homes vacated during the holidays didn’t play a part.
The map is hosted by Google, and occasionally will not load, or will not load the flags. If it does not display correctly, try refreshing the page or following the link directly under 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 Battersea, rather than pinpointing crime locations.
  5. This map is only for the Battersea parliamentary consitutuency – which is different to the police’s Battersea sector.
  6. 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.

sb-park-estate-1873Just a reminder for local residents that work will be beginning on Monday next week on the Shaftesbury Park Estate’s local safety scheme.

The council consulted on the scheme last year, and the response was overwhelmingly in favour – the least popular option had 77% support!

The works will involve raising the junctions of some of the main roads on the estate to slow traffic in general, and make those specific junctions much safer. It will take a few weeks until they are all finished and diversions will be in place, so you might want to give yourself a couple of minutes on your journeys until they are done.

For information, the five junctions to be raised (with the level of support for each) are:

  1. Sabine Road / Eland Road (80%)
  2. Sabine Road / Grayshott Road (80%)
  3. Sabine Road / Tyneham Road (78%)
  4. Elsley Road / Eland Road (77%)
  5. Elsley Road / Grayshott Road (77%)

twitter logoTwittering is a form of microblogging which, along with this blog, I started as a bit of an experiment.  I will freely admit that it hasn’t taken the course I expected – but there are some fascinating conversations taking place on there, especially around subjects of democratic and social engagement, so it is something I will definitely be continuing.

Wandsworth Council is now twittering, so if you are already on twitter (if you aren’t, you can get an account for free at twitter.com) you can follow the council – @wandbc.

My tweets are featured on this blog, although over Christmas I’ve spent too much time on the sofa and doing my ‘real’ job, so they have been a bit light of late.  Feel free to follow me, @jamescousins, if you want to find out what I’m up to or, like today, my thoughts on Karate Kid III!