The new Mayor
We wish the new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, all success in his new job. Thanks to all in Surbiton Hill who supported him at the polls.
In doing this we think it right to pay tribute to the way in which Livingstone accepted his defeat last night. In the words of Andrew Marvell (on Charles I) ‘He nothing common did or mean/ Upon that memorable scene/ But with his keener eye/ The axe’s edge did try’. Or as another poet had it ‘Nothing became him in this life so much as the leaving of it.’
The cost of Ken
Kingston Councillors received through the post this morning the full Budget Book for 2008-9. It revealed some fascinating statistics.
The most interesting and immediately relevant are these:
in 2000-01 (Ken’s first Mayoral Year) the GLA precept on Kingston – the ‘cost of Ken’ – was £7.34million.
in 2008-09, after 8 years of Ken’s administration, it has risen to £18.97million. And this is the smallest London Borough which probably gets least out of centrally funded services. Where has all the money gone? Ken’s crony and ‘adviser, Lee Jasper (pictured with Ken) could probably tell some fascinating tales, and may shortly have to, it seems.
But isn’t it time to put a full stop to such prodigious waste?
We don’t have to tell you how to do that. We believe you already know and, to coin a phrase, ‘you can get it if you really want it’.
Welcome to School Lane
School Lane Residents’ Association has launched anew website at http://schoollane.eu. We wish it well and have included it as a permanent link on this blog (see Blogroll)
Three out of 4 crimes unpunished
This article from the Surrey Comet shows that there’s no room for complacency about crime in Kingston, though some excellent work is being done by Police to help resolve it. In particular, we in Surbiton Hill have an excellent Safer Neighbourhood Team.
Tony says ‘Save our weekly collections’
London Elections – need a proxy vote?
Here is the link to the application form to vote by Proxy – which may be submitted until 5pm 23rd April. It’s in Adobe .pdf format, so you’ll need to print it off and send it in by post to the Guildhall (address on form).
Surbiton Forum 
