Ward surgery
The next advice surgery for Surbiton Hill residents will be on Saturday morning, 18th April from 10.30 to 12 noon. It will be held at the Community Centre in School Lane.
New poll on the new refuse collection service
After about 6 months of the new refuse service, we wondered how well residents 
are coping with it. Please let us know by answering the poll questions in the sidebar and/or use the Comment facility or send us an email.
After the G20: a message from the Mayor for London
At the G20, there was great use of terms like ‘trillion’, ‘stimulus’ and ‘tax-haven’. There were grand speeches and everyone seemed pretty pleased with themselves. The casual observer might have left with a vague feeling that it was a success, without really knowing why.
That is because the grand communiques have little relation to what people are facing right now. What everyone really wants to know is; how does this help us?
Well, here’s one thing I hope will. Yesterday, Londoners on Job Seeker’s Allowance and the new Employment and Support Allowance were able to start benefiting from half price travel on the buses. I introduced this policy to help people who have recently lost their jobs bounce back quickly, by being able to travel cheaply to interviews, access libraries and job centres.
Up to 150,000 Londoners will be eligible for this scheme. And unlike the policy of my predecessor, this won’t be funded by Venezuelan oil.
It’s part of a range of measures to help Londoners through the recession, such as paying our invoices quicker, providing advice to small businesses and (most important of all) freezing our share of the council tax.
Closure of Tolworth slip road (from RBK Highways)
The following information received from Transport for London
Please be advised that Southern Gas Networks are expected to start some urgent works on A3 Tolworth Rise North, near Tolworth Roundabout. This will be to repair a gas main leak in the carriageway.
Traffic Management – Eastbound off-slip to Tolworth Roundabout will be closed. (London Bound),Traffic will be diverted via New Malden Roundabout.
Works are due to start tomorrow morning, 1ST April 2009 at 10:00hrs and estimated duration of work will be 2 days.
Your clear view on Council Tax
The feeling is very clear.
A massive 80% of respondents to our poll on Council Tax levels believe that Kingston Council should have followed the example set by Mayor Boris Johnson and kept this year’s tax at last year’s level.
We know this isn’t a scientific poll but we do think this gives a very clear steer to the Administration of the expectation of its taxpayers.
In my speech to Budget Council I pointed out that the plans of the present Administration envisage at least a 3% rise each year in 2010 and 2011, on top of this year’s 3.99% RBK rise.
New phone number
Paul Johnston’s home phone number has changed to 020 8405 0244.
Surbiton Forum 