Lambeth Conservatives

New local base for Thurlow Park's police team

Thurlow Park ward councillors are pleased that a new base for the local police has been opened at Tulse Hill.

Although not open to the public it will mean that the Thurlow Park officers will be based in the area, instead of having to walk down from Gipsy Hill everyday. They can now spend more time where they are needed.

Cllr Irene Kimm says: "We hope this will help cut crime around the station, which has had massive problems with crime and antisocial behaviour recently, and in Thurlow Park generally."

Government scraps disabled access funding for Tulse Hill station

Lambeth's Conservative Environment spokeswoman Cllr Clare Whelan has condemned the Department for Transport for scrapping the proposed funding for disabled access to Tulse Hill Station in West Norwood.

In 2006 the government announced that Tulse Hill would be one of 47 stations where step-free access would be introduced under the government's Access for All programme, but the funding has now been quietly withdrawn because they say it's no longer possible to find a 'safe and workable access solution'.

"This is outrageous," says Clare. "Tulse Hill is a busy station where people often need to change trains but many disabled people or those with luggage and/or young children and buggies find it impossible to do so. The fact that this station was one of very few in the programme in the first place shows that the need was recognised, but the detailed reasons given for not proceeding to make improvements appear not to have been fully thought through and are just an excuse to save money at the expense of our local residents, despite the promises made.

"Once again Tulse Hill is losing out. I urge the Department for Transport to reconsider."

Waste fees 'will lead to fly-tipping'

Labour Lambeth's plan to introduce charges for bulky waste collection have been attacked by local Conservative councillors for encouraging people to litter the streets with their junk by fly-tipping.

The Council plans to charged up to £20 each time residents ask for large items to be collected from their homes. The service is currently free.

One resident in Tulse Hill has already reported 130 incidents of illegally dumped rubbish in the past year - a figure that is set to soar under Labour's money-grabbing scheme.

One resident said: "What the council is doing will encourage environmental crime. It was the view of the council in May this year that charging would cost the council extra money because it would need to collect fly-tipped items. What's changed?"

Thurlow Park ward councillor John Whelan has also spoken out. He said: "Instead of boosting recycling, the new charges for collecting bulky items are an open invitation for fly-tipping on our streets.

"Fly-tippers will target parks and open space, and even the doorsteps of those councillors responsible for this policy u-turn. Like charging in parks for tennis and cricket, it will cost more to administer than the cash it collects."

As with all Labour Lambeth 'initiatives' the big loser will be the taxpayer who will end up footing the bill to pay more for illegal dumping.

Parking costs to soar... again

The cost of parking is to leap once again for the borough's car owners - just one year after Labour Lambeth ramped up charges by as much as 230 per cent.

Under the proposals residents' parking permits will cost between £200 and £300 a year for many residents. Local Conservative councillors have describe the hike as "highway robbery".

Now it has emerged the Lambeth plans to punish drivers even more in its bid to cut pollution, with drivers in the highest two tariff bands set to be hit hardest. But Labour's definition of "gas guzzlers" is flawed and hits many average family vehicles.

Cllr John Whelan, Conservative Group Leader, said: "This is highway robbery disguised as a green initiative. The council wants us to give up our cars and ride around on bicycles like in China. While I support green initiatives, this is nothing more than a stealth tax on residents to rake in cash for the council's coffers.

"People with modest family cars will be hit without driving a yard - not just the drivers of gas guzzlers. The council does not seem to understand that it is not practical for an average family to give up their car and ferry their kids around in a rickshaw."

Recycling change falls foul

Labour-run Lambeth Council has broken its own planning condition to operate recycling collection trucks from a new depot.

The fleet moved its recycling fleet to Vale Street in West Norwood during November. But it has ignored a planning permission condition stipulating that double yellow lines should first be put down on roads close to the depot in order to improve road safety.

The borough's planning committee had set down the yellow line condition earlier this year when it granted the council permission to operate trucks from Vale Street, despite opposition from local residents.

Private individuals and businesses would face enforcement action for breaching planning conditions - even the demolition of unlawfully constructed buildings. But Lambeth can escape punishment for the breach of a condition set down by its planning committee because the law states a council cannot take enforcement action against itself.

Local Conservative councillor Andrew Gibson - who represents the ward where Vale Street is situated - has slammed the council for ignoring the planning rules it expects others to follow.

Andrew said: "It was a condition of planning permission that yellow lines were put down at the junctions of Tritton Road, Martell Road and Rosendale Road to do something to improve road safety in the neighbourhood ahead of 24-tonne trucks operating there from 6am until 10pm.
"Residents living close to the Vale Street depot are fearful someone is going to be killed or seriously injured because the site is not suitable for such large vehicles. And yet the council seems content to weasel out of adhering to the planning condition.

"The damage Lambeth is doing to its reputation by treating its own application in this way is immense; if an accident happens, it will be incalculable."

Boris: 'I will be the Mayor who listens'

Last month Londoners paid me an enormous compliment by electing me as the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. It is a huge honour to get this far and it would have been impossible to reach this stage without the backing of people across London. Thank you very much for your support.

London is a phenomenal place. It is the economic engine room of the nation, a pre-eminent cultural centre, a global city of dazzling diversity and a land of unparalleled opportunity. But for too many people, that opportunity is unrealised.

Getting around town is a daily battle, whether you live in Zone 1 or Zone 6. We need to sort out the mess of the Tube and reform the Congestion Charge to make it fairer and more flexible. We must restore civility to London's buses and confront the problem of those young people who treat them as publicly-funded getaway cars. We must loosen London’s arteries by getting more people on their bikes.

Many thousands of Londoners are struggling to find a place to call home. We need to provide new opportunities of shared ownership schemes that actually work, so that families can afford to stay in London. But these houses must be homes that future generations will want to live in, built into communities and supported by local infrastructure; doctor's surgeries, schools and green spaces. Above all, the Mayor needs to work with the boroughs in planning these developments and trusting them to make local decisions. I want an end to the steam-rollering of locally-elected politicians.

And this city cannot be fully enjoyed while some people are afraid to walk the streets. I will work tirelessly with the Metropolitan Police to reduce crime and the fear of crime, by rooting out inefficiencies, putting more police on the beat and beefing up the powers of the PCSOs.

My tour of the boroughs in September was a real eye-opener. I was fortunate to receive honest assessments about problems faced in all parts of the capital and where some of the solutions can be found. I will be embarking on more visits around the boroughs again in the coming weeks. For now the hard work is underway to develop real alternatives to the incumbent's tired approach. I am meeting with many of London's policy experts and industry bigwigs to ensure no stone is left unturned in my search for the best ideas. I already have a clear vision of what London needs and what a Johnson Mayoralty would offer, but I am also aware that the key to success on May 1st is ensuring the sums add up for any proposals put forward.

As Mayor I will promote understanding, integration and harmony amongst Londoners and ditch the old leftist approach of balkanising society into different factions. I will give you more bang for your buck by axing some of the current ludicrous expenditure at City Hall and making every taxpayer penny count. Above all, I will be the Mayor who listens to all Londoners and leads our city to greatness.

If you are not already signed up to the campaign, please remember to register your support at www.backboris.com where you will find the latest news and events and access to the team. I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail in the months ahead.

'We've had our fill of 24-hour boozing'

Labour Lambeth has been slammed after permitting almost 90 venues to sell booze around the clock.

More venues in the borough can sell booze 24 hours a day than in Westminster, where just 13 hotels have permission to serve alcohol all the time. More than 300 other premises in Lambeth have been granted licences to sell booze into the early hours.

The extended opening hours of clubs, pubs and off-licences has led to an increase in drink-related calls to the emergency services. And the problem is so bad that the London Ambulance Service introduced a special ambulance to the borough - known as the "booze bus" - to deal with intoxicated revellers and free-up other vehicles to respond to more serious emergencies.

Conservative Leader John Whelan has urged Lambeth to call time on granting more round-the-clock licences after it emerged there are more 24-hour premises in the borough than the whole of the West End.

He said: "The consequences of binge-drinking are very serious - fights, intimidation, shop windows smashed in, communities vandalised.

"Lambeth council has been content to unleash 24-hour drinking on previously quiet residential areas in Lambeth, especially Clapham and Herne Hill, which is only making this problem worse.

"While the minority have turned our town centres into no-go areas, it is the majority who has suffered. It is time to call time on 24-hour licences."

Labour's 'chainsaw massacre' of trees in Lambeth

Labour Lambeth has been hacking down almost 300 trees across the borough in just one year. During the same period the Council only planted 138 new saplings.

Labour councillors have boasted about its green credentials after the introduction of increased parking permit charges for cars with large engines, but at the same time approved plans to merge Windrush Square and Tate Gardens in Brixton in a scheme that will see the amount of green space reduced. It also hopes to push ahead with with a traffic jam-busting road scheme in Herne Hill that will see a chunk of Brockwell Park lost to speed up the journeys of passing cars, buses and lorries.

Conservative Environment spokeswoman Clare Whelan has slammed Labour's hypocrisy, saying: "This is a chainsaw massacre. Lambeth is cutting down trees quicker than it is planting them."

Labour's sport charges run at a loss

Labour Lambeth's introduction of charges for using tennis courts, after years of free facilities under the Conservatives, is making a LOSS. The Council has hired a security firm to patrol the park and make sure people pay up since July, but the income has only left a £179 weekly surplus, and that's before the costs of the leisure contractors and the Council are taken into account. Under the hare-brained scheme the Council also needs to cover the costs of:

sports booking contractors, Greenwich Leisure Ltd;
the time several Lambeth officers spend overseeing, directing and monitoring the contracts; and
buying new signs in every park to replace the ones that used to say 'tennis is free'

A few hundred pounds doesn't go far in the Town Hall, so it must be costing Lambeth Council more money that it's collecting to continue charging people. With winter approaching the number of bookings usually falls even further, running the risk of even bigger losses.

Cllr Clare Whelan says: "What a shame, that Lambeth children and adults are being deterred from enjoying sport in our park because of charges that don't cover the cost of the scheme, let alone contribute anything to improving the infrastructure of our local sporting facilities. If Lambeth wants to encourage sport in the borough this really isn't the way to go about it.

"I am calling on Lambeth to drop the introduction of charging for sport at these facilities immediately."

Conservatives respond to Lambeth's licensing policy review

From Cllr Clare Whelan, Licensing Spokesperson, on behalf of the Lambeth Conservative Group:

"Firstly we would like to comment on the review process itself. The way the consultation is being undertaken in our view represents a missed opportunity. It would have been more helpful to have reviewed the operation of the policy to date and then to outline what changes are proposed to it, rather than simply issue a new draft.

"We realise the current licensing legislation is flawed, but are concerned that Lambeth residents are not being properly protected from late night opening of some premises, which in some areas appears to have got out of hand. We are keen that the draft is reviewed with this in mind, drawing on best practice in other parts of the country where different approaches have been taken. We are still, unfortunately, despite the new guidance, restricted as ward councillors in how we can make sure our residents' views are properly represented, particularly where they are reluctant, for understandable reasons to come forward themselves. We should urge that it is made as easy as possible for legitimate representations to be made. More input from the police should be encouraged. The police rarely put in objections even where it seems likely that the police have a record of continual problems associated with individual premises. (This was a problem with the previous system as well.) We also consider that a further paragraph should be inserted about ensuring that premises have adequate arrangements for ensuring that smokers outside the building do not disturb residents by creating an additional disturbance in the street over and above the ordinary constraints of the premises.

"We are conscious that in some parts of the borough there already appears to be an intolerable concentration of licensed promises and are concerned that according to the statement there appears still to be no evidence of this. We are not sure why not. Are the police not collecting evidence? Is Lambeth not collecting evidence? St. Thomas' Hospital has, I understand, detailed evidence on the increase in alcohol related A&E admissions. Can this not be be considered? We are keen to ensure that statistics are collected in such a form that, should a decision be considered to introduce a saturation zone, the required information to back this up as required by the legislation is available. We also consider that greater consideration should be given to working with neighbouring boroughs, particular where a town centre effective straddles more than one borough, for example Herne Hill, and Crystal Palace where four boroughs come together.

"We would also urge the Council to use its political contacts to lobby at the highest level for the Licensing Act to be revised once again to iron out the flaws and ensure that residents are properly protected, including the means to capitalise on the local knowledge of councillors and demanding that the previously rejected suggestions of the Select Committee are reconsidered as part of the review and are subjected to reasoned analysis instead of being dismissed out of hand."