As we mentioned at the tail end of last year, Lambeth council is running an e-petition as part of a lobbying process aimed at getting more money for extra primary school places in the borough.
The petition close on Wednesday, so if you havent already signed the petition please put your name on the site and forward a link onto your friends and family. Its vital we get this funding to meet the unexpected surge in demand for primary school places in Lambeth – it sounds like a cliche, but your voice really will count!
Category Education, Lambeth primary schools, Uncategorized |
Firstly, apologies for the lame headline, but it’s been a long day …
The Streatham Guardian has just put up a decent write up about the council’s gritting effort across Lambeth and has the reassuring message that we aren’t about to run out of that all important grit as the council has enough resources to see us through the cold snap. This is thankfully coming to end very soon, but if you want updates from the local area have a look at our page from the weekend.
Remember if you have any comments about how services have operated during the cold weather or suggestions on how things could be improved, please contact your Clapham Town councillors below.
Helen O’Malley – homalley@lambeth.gov.uk
Nigel Halesden – NHaselden@lambeth.gov.uk
Christopher Wellbelove – CWellbelove@lambeth.gov.uk
Category service update, snow |
A lot of you have been logging on to our snow updates, so here is a further update on how everything is looking out there in Lambeth and Clapham.
The council’s website has once again been updated with news on services across the borough – this link outlines the state of play yesterday, but is still fairly accurate. Keep monitoring the main page for further updates as well as TFL’s main site for news about the transport network across the captial – it also has a handy five day weather forecast. The BBC, as ever, is also running a pretty effective weather and news page on the big freeze, which alas is predicting some sharp icy winds and snow over the next 48 hours.
If you have any comment or views on how services are working – or any urgent issues – please contact your local Clapham Town Labour councillors:
Helen O’Malley – homalley@lambeth.gov.uk
Nigel Halesden – NHaselden@lambeth.gov.uk
Christopher Wellbelove – CWellbelove@lambeth.gov.uk
Category Uncategorized, service update, snow, transport |
As anyone pulling into Vauxhall bus station will tell you, it is a frightening sight – David Cameron staring out at you from a billboard. Doesnt anyone think about the children these days?
However, its not quite as scary as the Tory leader scrambling around yesterday trying to figure out whether the Tories were in favour of some kind of ill defined tax break for married couples or not. One moment Dave was promising it to the nation, then several spin filled melodramas later his advisors were rapidly packing him into a cupboard and pretending the whole thing had never happened. Apparently Cameron – according to one Tory source - ended up blaming his people for HIS foul up, screaming about briefing papers until the men in the white coats came to calm him down.
While all this was going on one sharp photo-shopper came up with a far more appealing version of that creepy poster. Unlike the slogan on the orignal, the words on this are true…
Category Tories, Uncategorized |
If the weathermen are to be believed more ice, cold and potentially snow is on the way tonight and tomorrow morning.
The council has updated its snow page with news about what services – buildings, schools – are up and running.
UPDATE! – READ THIS PAGE FOR LATEST NEWS
Category Uncategorized |
As many of you may have noticed on your trip into work this week, buses and tubes going through Clapham have got more expensive once again.
The mayor hiked up fares for those without season tickets – commonly people from low income backgrounds – late last year, with the hit being delivered from the start of this year.
A full run down of the prices, borrowed from a summary on Liberal Conspiracy, is below:
-A single bus journey by Oyster up 20% to £1.20
- A weekly oyster bus pass up 20% to £16.60
- Six-zone peak single Tube fare by Oyster up 10.5% to £4.20
- A five-zone off-peak single Tube fare (outside zone 1) up 18.2% to £1.30
- Most Oyster pay-as-you-go Tube fares up by 20p per trip.
- Overall tube fares will rise 3.9% and overall bus fares up by 12.7%.
This is obviously not good for anyone, especially as the mayor continues to take the approach of cutting key services, like policing, while jetting off to Europe to beg for super rich hedge fund bosses to be let off from more scrutiny. Or, as he has done today, whining about those poor old bankers and their desire to leave the country (dont suppose they need any help packing?)
Surprisingly, Clapham Tories haven’t uttered a word about these rises and their impact on residents – nothing on their Parliamentary candidate’s website for Vauxhall or on that of the Lambeth Tories.
How about helping to find out what they think by contacting them asking for their view on whether they back yet more of Boris’ far rises – you can contact their candidate here and your local Tory candidates here. Let us know your feedback by contacting your Labour councillors as well on this page.
We believe that hitting people hard, especially those on low incomes, is not what Clapham needs. These prices could have been avoided had the mayor not already mismanaged the capital’s budget. The question is, do Clapham Tories back their Mayor’s fare rises?
Category Boris Johnson, Tories, transport |
2009 was an eventful year for Clapham Town – consultations, e-petitions, music festivals, squatters and the odd firework thrown in.
Next year is likely to be just as eventful for residents – and if you have any kind of problem don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Clapham Old Town councillors. Each is there to help you with your complaints as well as represent your issues to the council. Besides regular surgeries (email us for details) you can contact them direct at the following addresses:
Helen O’Malley – homalley@lambeth.gov.uk
Nigel Halesden – NHaselden@lambeth.gov.uk
Christopher Wellbelove – CWellbelove@lambeth.gov.uk
And if you have any other news or issues you’d like us to pursue on this blog, feel free to leave a comment for us to look into. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Twitter, either through the Clapham Town Ward account or by following Christopher, the current mayor of Lambeth.
Happy New Year!
Category Uncategorized |
As reported by the Guardian yesterday, Gordon Brown’s new year podcast is now up on the Downing Street website.
The PM talks about the sort of cynicism and slash n burn public spending cuts being espoused by an incredibly gleeful Conservative party, pointing out that neither are necessary as we pull out of the global recession. When the Tories talk about austerity, they are really talking about unfairness.
Of course, the ramifications of the recession are definitely not behind us yet and as we’ve said on this blog, 2010 is going to be tough, though less difficult than the past 12 months, thanks in part to the government’s intervention in the economy – something Cameron and Georgie Osborne would not have done. Every major nation is still stabilising its economy. But what we don’t need to do is adopt the firebombing tactics of the Tories – currently being road tested by our Mayor in London in the transport and police fields. It is possible with sensible management to get things moving again, as weve shown by getting extra cash for local primary school places. And in any case, do we really want more scribbled, frothing notes calling for mass sackings as once delivered by Maggie?
Still whatever you make of Brown’s podcast, all the best for your New Year’s eve – if you’re going out then View London has a list of what is on in Clapham, while if you’re taking the probably less headache inducing course of staying in, here is a full listing of tonight’s TV treats – all the best whatever you are planning.
Category Boris Johnson, Education, Lambeth primary schools, Tories, economy |
As we enter the new year, its worth having a look at an important drive being undertaken by Lambeth council to increase the number of primary school places across the borough.
At the start of December, the council secured an extra £9 million to increase the number of school places available for the youngest kids in Lambeth by 2011. Practically, this will help kick-start a project aimed at creating the necessary 300 extra classrooms to cope with a surge in demand for primary school places.
However, despite this grant, the council still needs further funding of up to £10 million to see through the project and is continuing to lobby ministers to provide that sum. As part of this campaigning process an e-petition is now up online asking all residents to back to call for extra funding.
As we’ve said before on this blog, the global recession has put a big hole in the public finances and placed constraints on everyone. However, the grant from the government this month showed it is still possible to get funding if the project is up to scratch – but we need to make sure we make our case as powerfully as possible.
So, whatever your political loyalty, please sign up to the petition and pass it onto your friends and family.
Category Education, Lambeth primary schools, petition |
It’s pretty cold and somewhat snowy out there in Clapham Old Town at the moment – yours truly has already been doused in snow after misjudging a couple of steps on Victoria Rise …
If you do have to venture out today then the council’s website has a service update with links to London Transport and the Met Office. You can also call the council on 020 7926 1000 for further info about local services.
UPDATE! – READ THIS PAGE FOR LATEST INFORMATION
Category service update, transport |
