Its been a really busy month for us – but I would say that for every month!
There have been some been changes across the Borough and especially the move towards merging with Richmond Borough, and changes locally with lower crime figures announced, work on Tooting Common Heritage project and a make-over announced for Stapleton Road. News on the new 20 MPH zone, Tooting Athletics Track, Tooting Common Cafe, Balham Lesuire Centre Creche, Balham Boulevard and Tooting Lodge and Battersea Sport Centre is all below.
March Dates for your diary
The second Tooting International Women’s Day coffee morning hosted by Sadiq Khan MP will be on Thursday 5th March at 11am at Mushkil Aasaan, 220 Tooting High Road. There will be cake and chat with lots of local women. It was really inspiring last year and everyone – including babies and children – is very welcome.
This Wednesday (4th March) is the next Neighbourhood Network Coffee morning from 10am – 1pm in the Scout Hut on Balham High road and free toddler Rhyme Time from 9.30 – 10am.
Next Labour Councillors surgery: 21st March from 10am – 11am at Balham Library. No appointment needed – just drop in.
The general election is less than 10 weeks away. Are you registered to vote? If not, you can register online at www.gov.uk
The 20 MPH limit zone will come into force in March – but signs won’t be put up until later, which doesn’t entirely make sense so we’ll be pushing for some signs to show the new situation as soon as possible. We’re really proud of this campaign to bring the 20MPH zone to our area, and all the hours of asking local people and collecting signatures have been really worthwhile. What’s more, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)’s February briefing published further guidance showing how effective 20 MPH zones are in encouraging road safety and especially in protecting children and young people. We’ll keep working with the council to make sure that it does work in this way for us. Make-over for Stapleton Road – and could it be your road too?
In 2013 a consultation was held on the creation of a ‘Tooting Bec village’. A list of proposals have been put together and these include the introduction of a contra-flow cycle lane, cycle parking outside Tooting Bec tube station, improving the signage for the one-way system already in place to make sure it is followed, de-cluttering the street by removing some street furniture and widening and improving the footpaths along the whole length of the road. There will be some trees built along the road too!
The council will be in touch soon to consult residents’ views of these proposals, and we would encourage everyone to make sure you have your say. If the majority of residents support the plans, we will start seeing the work begin this summer.
However there is one concern that the council’s proposals does not address. We know there are concerns that residents in the area, within the same parking zone, are parking on Stapleton Road to access the station – which means there isn’t space for residents to park on their own road. This needs to be tackled and we have called on the council to review the matter. The council have asked for evidence that this is a concern to Stapleton Road residents, before they’ll conduct any investigations. If you agree that parking on your road is a problem, please visit www.sadiqkhan.org.uk_Stapleton_Road_Parking and add your support for a review.
If you don’t live on Stapleton Road and would like similar action on your road, then do get in touch with us: fanderson@wandsworth.gov.uk, rallinkhan@wandsworth.gov.uk
Poisoning of dogs on Tooting Common? We have heard the rumours of the dog poisonings near the Triangle Area of the Common, and it was mentioned in an article in The Spectator, I had sought information from the local police and Council officers but they had not had reports about these, and we discussed this in the Management Advisory Committee of the Tooting Common meeting recently. Since then other local members of the committee have followed up with local vets and we are seeking to find out more about whether these happened and exactly where. If you have any information or have reason to be suspicious please do call 101, and everyone should be extra careful around that area but is a real concern to all users of the Common.
Tooting Common Heritage Project
I joined many other local representatives of groups at a consultation meeting last week. A 10 year management plan for the Common is being worked on, and there will be money to pay for new ideas from the Heritage Lottery Fund. There was an on-line and household survey, consultation meetings and they want to hear your views in any way they can! What would you like to see happening to improve the Common? They would really love to see any historical photos of the Common too.
Events next month are:
Tuesday 17th Mar:Visitor Surveying 12 – 2 pm The Bee Survey* 2-3 pm
Thursday 19th Mar: Visitor Surveying 12 – 2 pm Butterfly Training* Survey 2-4 pm.
Sunday 29th Mar: The Bee Survey* 1-2 pm
Butterfly Training* Survey 2-4pm. 
To receive the newsletter, for more info on these events and to send in your old pictures or views on the Common, do get in touch by email with Andrew Harby, the project facilitator, at aharby@wandsworth.gov.uk
Our area IS a Safer Neighbourhood – but watch out for postal theft on Heritage Park At the Safer Neighbourhood meeting we were pleased to hear of lower crime rates in the ward and congratulations t the local police team. There are concerns about theft from post boxes on Heritage Park. Not only theft of items delivered, but information that can be used for identity theft. Please be extra aware of this and call 101 if you see anything suspicious.
Merger with Richmond Council? There are plans to merge administrative functions of the two Councils. There would still be two elected sets of Councillors making decisions separately, and separate frontline staff that we would see in our own Town Halls and areas, but other staff and services for the two may be merged to make cost reductions. This will be discussed at the Council meeting on Wednesday March 4th and much more about the impact of these plans must be made known. You can find out more and feed into the consultations on the consultation page of the Wandsworth Council website or with the link here: https://consult.wandsworth.gov.uk/KMS/dmart.aspx?strTab=PublicDMartCurrent&NoIP=1
Tooting Athletics Track latest news Public concern did change council policy. Following the large petition received by the Council will huge concern about keeping the track affordable, the Council are still opening the lease for tender but will be keeping control of the prices. Obviously no guarantee but a far better option.
Balham Lesuire centre creche
Thanks to some fast action by local mums, we’ve been able to raise the potential issue of the creche closing after the refurbishment with the council an lesuire centre. As a result it is promised that the creche will be moved and continue to be offered. However, user numbers are far lower that they should be given demand and need for this service. I used to use this creche so know how fantastic it is to have this and how popular it used to be in when it was in a more prominent position. So we will keep working with local mums and asking that: 1. It should be reopened after the refurbishment 2. It should be better publicised so that more parents can use this, especially when the newly refurbished lesuire centre is being publicised 3. The new room should be able to have a crèche which opens for more hours if demand increases.
Tooting Lodge
The lovely little white gardeners lodge on Tooting High Road remains in a state of disrepair and building works by the owner seem to have ground to a halt. The deadline of the repairs notice from the Council is in March and we will be urging the Council to make an immediate assessment and be prepared to take the action needed to save the lodge.
Tooting Common Cafe – new lease is up for tender
The new lease is for 15 years and includes be able to improve the cafe site and add toilets (phew). There will be a rolling short-term lease to the current owner until the new leaseholder (or the current one) takes it on. In the meantime community bids and others are all very welcome. http://propertylink.estatesgazette.com/property-details/5947975-tooting-bec-common-cafe-tooting-bec-common-london-sw12-9hj
Balham Boulevard
Plans to improve the road between Balham and Tooting Bec Stations have gone quiet, but are being prepared for consultation with residents soon – early in 2015 was the plan. It is a priority for us to get this to happen and to involve the whole community so we’ll be meeting the Council officers and watch this space for the new plans for a people friendly space.
Battersea Sports Centre
This is far away from our area of Balham and Tooting, but I’m on the Committee which had to decide about the future of this fantastic sports centre in an area of Battersea which really needs this sports and community centre and doesn’t have anything like it. I was so impressed to hear about how the centre has become a centre for excellence in Basketball and many other sports, offers sports for all ages, and is really popular with young people. Building a community is more extreely valuable and once taken away can’t be replaced. The reason given was is to provide homes for the people from the neighbouring Winstanly Estate whilst it is being redeveloped – but this could have been done in other ways as was orginally planned. The true value of the Sports Centre to the community centre was just not given priority. There were excellent representations to the Committee and a packed public gallery, but Conservative members of the committee decided to close the sports centre and it was hugely disappointing. However, the campaign continues and I hope will be sucessful in changing this decision.