Surbiton Hospital Latest
takes you to a story which came out today suggesting further financial problems for the already cash-strapped PCT to have to face. Though we have in the past been given undertakings that the future of the Hospital is not under long term threat, this further burden on the PCT’s finances cannot but cause more anxiety about the future.
We will continue to campaign, as we always have, for the retention of the Hospital site by the NHS and its upgrading to a ‘state of the art’ medical facility for the people of Surbiton.
Christmas and New Year Bank Holiday Collection Dates 2006/7
Please do not leave boxes outside your house and advertise your presents from Christmas, do not let burglars know you have that new plasma TV!! Keep them until the night before disposal, or take them to the recycling centre!
Week commencing Monday 18 December
Recycling and rubbish collections as usual
| Normal Collection Day | Normal Collection Date | Revised Collection Day | Revised Collection Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 25 December | Tuesday | 26 December |
| 1 January | 2 January | ||
| Tuesday | 26 December | Wednesday | 27 December |
| 2 January | 3 January | ||
| Wednesday | 27 December | Thursday | 28 December |
| 3 January | 4 January | ||
| Thursday | 28 December | Friday | 29 December |
| 4 January | 5 January | ||
| Friday | 29 December | Saturday | 30 December |
| 5 January | 6 January |
The Berrylands Trial
The Scrutiny Panel of RBK subjected the proposed new waste collection trial in Berrylands to such scrutiny that the matter was sent to full Council and the start thereby delayed. The reasons the matter was called in to the Panel are:-
- The location and nature of the trial should have been disclosed to the Scrutiny Panel at a meeting devoted exclusively to the future of waste management on 5th September. They weren’t and, indeed, it subsequently transpired that even the Executive member didn’t learn about them until the following day.
- The trial involves changing the frequency of collections and changes in what can be collected and how. We presume the intention is to roll this out across the Borough in due course. We were not satisfied that there had been adequate consultation with the people affected by a more complex system than they are used to or that the bins intended for use were adequate for the purpose.
- It is intended that the general waste bins should be fitted with readable microchips. While these are usable, as stated, merely for counting bins to ensure none are missed, it is disingenuous of the Administration to suggest that this is their sole purpose. They can also be used for charging by weight the householders whose bins they are. This isn’t going to happen yet but it could in the future. The Liberal Democrats were VERY insistent that this proposal should not be dropped, as the Conservatives’ motion to Council proposed.
- The area selected is not typical of the cross-section of dwelings in Kingston as a whole, causing concern about the applicability of any ‘results’ which might be forthcoming from the trial.
- We were concerned that Council resources had been committed to the implementation of this trial before any elected member knew of it or even the Executive had debated or approved it. That has to be the implication of what we were told at Scrutiny, when the matter was called in, by the Executive member herself. This goes much deeper than the question of the trial itself and raises grave questions of accountability and transparency in the way the Council is being run.
- Our reference to Council gave Berrylands members an opportunity to vote on the matter in public, instead of behind closed doors in the obscurity of a Liberal Democrat party group meeting.
The Executive, on Tuesday 5th December, decided to go ahead with the trial starting, probably, in February. We note with pleasure the intention that future trials will be mounted giving adequate time for the scrutiny process to take place before implementation.
Tesco Planning Application at Tolworth
Use this link http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/environment/planning/planning_applications/tesco_planning_application.htmto read the details of the Tesco application to redevelop the former ‘Toby Jug’ and government office site at Tolworth.
What do YOU think about it? Please use the ‘Planning’ page to let us know. See the link to the page at the top of the screen.
Highway maintenance programme
This link http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/transport_and_streets/highways/planned_highway_maintenance_programme.htm will takes you to the place in the RBK website where you can follow the further link to the planned maintenance programme for 2006-07 for Surbiton Neighbourhood. Please check it out and let us know through the words ‘No Comments’ above, of any works advertised as having been done which either haven’t happened or are not of an acceptable standard.
Alternatively, please send us an email.
RBK Carers’ Rights Day (from www.kingston.gov.uk)
Kingston Council will be holding its seventh Carers’ Rights Day on Friday 8 December between 10am and 5pm at the Market House, Kingston.
The event will help people, who are looking after a friend or relative, to recognise themselves as carers. The day will provide advice about services, support and the benefits available to carers and the people they care for.
This year the day will be aiming to raise awareness among older carers of the benefits they are entitled to as well as how to access practical help.
Members of staff from Community Care, Mental Health and Children’s Services, Department of Works and Pensions and Kingston Carer’s Network will be on hand to answer questions and provide advice.
Kirstie Cochrane, Carers’ Development Officer said;
“Carers put clear and concise information at the top of their wish list which is why Carers Rights Day sets out to make carers aware of the benefits they are entitled to as well as how to access practical and emotional support.”
For further information on Carers’ Rights Day contact Kirstie Cochrane, Carers’ Development Officer on 020 8547 6124
Surbiton Forum 