Let there be lights – and a bench……
…….and bins by the bench, and, we hope, more street trees.
Well done Ellerton and Bond Road Residents’ Association for getting together to work out ideas for improving the quality of life for all their residents. Like other such associations in the ward, they’re working closely with us and Neighbourhood officers to get things done. The initiatives are coming from them.
Nick and I are very proud to have been associated with this RA since its birth. Our services as ‘midwife’ to any other group who’d like to do something similar in another part of the ward are available on request.
We should see the bench and bins in the next few months. We hope to see the lights at Christmas. Trees may take a little more time, but we understand some may be on offer from Boris…….
Raven’s Ait
There is a decision on the future of Raven’s Ait coming before the Executive tomorrow night (11th February). In the light of this I thought it might be helpful to publish the written answer I received to a question I put at Council on 25th. January. The answer is from the Leader of the Council, Cllr. Derek Osbourne (Lib Dem)
Question
‘What is the current status of the disposal of Raven’s Ait?’
Reply
Following the Executive’s decision in November of last year to lease Ravens Ait Island to Antoinette Hotels, the company was sent Heads of Terms for the transaction. Regrettably, it soon became apparent that the company was having second thoughts on the matter and, as a result, Antoinette Hotels submitted a revised offer which was significantly below the figure reported to Executive. The Borough Valuer therefore met with the Managing Director in an attempt to negotiate revised terms, but this did not prove fruitful and the company withdrew its offer.
As a consequence, the other parties who expressed an interest in the island on a leasehold basis have been approached again, to see if there is a prospect of reaching a settlement that might be acceptable to the Council. Negotiations are continuing and it is hoped that a further report on the matter will shortly come before the Executive again for a decision.
Kingston Hospital: Minister speaks
The Health and Hospitals page has been updated to include sections from the recent House of Commons debate featuring the Kingston Hospital scare. The section follows Helen Whately’s letter. The source is Hansard.
The debate concluded:
Mike O’Brien: The hon. Gentleman (Mr. Davey) can wait, because I spent a lot of time listening to him make a lot of allegations, and I have been left with a very short time to respond to him. He deserves a response, because a lot of people in his area have been frightened by what he says. They are now worried that there is some sort of plan to close these NHS facilities, which there is not, and that there is more going on than just some discussion between clinicians. I accept that that is happening, and it is part of the Darzi process of involving clinicians in discussing how to improve the quality of services, but he and the hon. Member for Richmond Park are playing politics with the matter. I care about the NHS, and I actually think that behind it all they do too. What they are doing, however, is trying to frighten people into believing that services are definitely closing, when all that is going on is some discussions between clinicians. What the eventual proposals will be I do not know, and nor does he. We should not at this stage use scare stories like this for election purposes, in a cynical way-
House adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 9(7)).
New pavement works for Lovelace Gardens and St. Matthew’s Avenue
All three of us put up a good case for extensive repairs to both Lovelace Gardens and St. Matthew’s Avenue at last night’s Neighbourhood Committee meeting.
Funds may not suffice to replace the pavements in their entirety, but the point that they had suffered from neglect for years was well made. Replying to a suggestion that the Committee should spread its resources more widely over cheaper schemes than Lovelace Gardens, Janet Bowen-Hitchings said, ” it was thinking of that sort that has got the pavements into such an expensive mess in the first place.” Her argument won the day.
Voice of Despair II
The Liberal Democrats are delivering a ‘newspaper’ in the ward, whose front page repeats the story about Kingston Hospital services, which has been refuted by NHS SW London and Kingston Hospital. This ‘newspaper’ must have taken several weeks to prepare and write, yet the Health Overview Panel was told on Wednesday that the matter had become urgent only over the last weekend. The urgency seems to have stemmed from the imminent arrival of this ‘newspaper’ from the printers.
I know Mr. Davey sent emails to many of you asking for your support for his petition. This is a matter of grave community concern, not something to play party politics with, so I am at a loss to understand why he did not seek our support. He knows the email addresses of all of us councillors well enough.
I urge readers to see the letter from NHS SW London on the Health and Hospitals page before signing the petition form on the back of the ‘newspaper’.
If you do sign the form, think carefully before filling in your email address. The object of the exercise is to build up a database of private email addresses for future use. It says this in very small print which is very hard to read without a powerful glass, just conforming with the letter of the Data Protection Act.
Finally, the headline of the article says Labour has a plan to close the services. The logic of this statement is that the right thing to do is to vote Labour out of office nationally. You will not achieve that by voting Lib Dem at the next election, any more than it was achieved by voting Lib Dem in 1997, 2001 or 2005.
Please remember to recycle the paper.
Kingston Hospital services
Extracts of letters from NHS SW London and from Helen Whately:-
Local Liberal Democrats Edward Davey MP and Susan Kramer MP have made claims that NHS organisations in south west London are considering an option to close the maternity and A&E at Kingston Hospital.
Healthcare for South West London strongly refutes any claims that there are secret plans to close A&E or maternity units at Kingston Hospital or any hospital.
The hospital’s management and the NHS in South West London have refuted the Lib Dem claim stating that “there are no secret plans to close A&E or maternity units at Kingston Hospital”. I attended the hospital’s board meeting on Wednesday 27th January, and heard the Chief Executive and Chairman both criticise this campaign, describing it as ‘irresponsible’. They are concerned that it is being stirred up for political purposes, without thinking of the impact on staff, recruitment (just when the hospital needs more midwives) and patients.
It is vital that hospital staff are able to continue delivering the best possible care for local people without the turmoil of a campaign to save the hospital if this is not a real threat. What the hospital needs at this time is an end to rumours, a focus on the facts, and support from the local community. I had my son George there 18 months ago, and I will be supporting the hospital, whatever happens.
Read the full text of the letter from NHS SW London and Helen’s letter on this issue on our new HEALTH AND HOSPITALS page.
Click on the link at the head of this page.
Surbiton Forum 