I recently received this excellent letter from a resident concerned about proposed cuts to the London Fire Brigade. This Saturday (April 20), I will join dozens of volunteers in taking its message to people in the affected neighbourhoods of Battersea.
Dear councillor
I read today a letter in the Wandsworth Guardian by
Richard Tracey AM, the letter implied that Wandsworth was would not be
affected by the planned cuts to London Fire Brigade. The area of North
Wandsworth where I live will be greatly affected by these planned
cuts.
Any fires in the north of the borough are regularly attended by
fire appliances that are due to be cut under LSP5. Battersea Fire
Station only has one firefighting appliance left since the cuts in the
early 1990s. This one fire engine depends wholly on back-up from
Chelsea, Clapham and Westminster Fire Stations. Clapham often send all
three of their appliances across into Battersea, as do Chelsea and
Westminster. Clapham and Westminster are due to close and Chelsea
downgraded to one fire engine as part of LSP5.
There have been many fires in North Wandsworth, some recently where
these fire engines have been totally relied on for quintessential back-
up, sometimes meaning the difference between life and death at certain
incidents. So I hardly think any scaremongering is baseless.
A recent fire in my street in the heart of Battersea had to have five fire
appliances attend, to deal with it speedily and safely, of those five
appliances, four are due to be cut. This type of incident in this area
is not a rare occurrence, but happens with frightening regularity.
New research shows Wandsworth sets rents at less than half the government guideline in the year before local elections and more than double the guideline in the first year after local elections.
This shocking finding came from analysis I commissioned of rent data from the past 20 years – and follows the council’s decision to increase rents by 2.7% in 2013/14. Wandsworth council already charges the highest rents in Britain and by the end of this year benefit cuts will seriously affect many families in social housing.
Data reveals that year before an election Wandsworth charges 44% of the government’s suggested guideline rent, on average; but the year after each election rents leap by 246% of the guideline.
The figures can be revealed after a political row in the most recent Town Hall Housing Committee. At the January 23 meeting, Labour councillor Tony Belton produced a list of rent increases for the past 20 years and stated that rents were clearly set to match political priorities, not financial ones. Continue reading →
This week I visited Israel and Palestine on a trip organised by Labour2Palestine. The tweets I sent give a useful flavour of this fascinating journey and are grouped below.
At Ben-Gurion airport, Tel Aviv. Ready for a few days travelling in Israel and Palestine http://t.co/NDDrCxl7— Simon Hogg (@CllrSimonHogg) February 01, 2013
Hospitable welcome at hotel in Ramallah. Looking forward to dinner with Nabil Sha'ath, Yasser Arafat's foreign minister http://t.co/ikVptd6g— Simon Hogg (@CllrSimonHogg) February 01, 2013
Homeless in Anata: Salim shows recently received demolition orders
“Get out of your house, you have 15 minutes.” Salim is describing the process of home demolition in the occupied West Bank.
He is something of an expert: his house in Anata has been demolished six times since 1998. Each time, he rebuilds it as a “political act of resistance”.
Anata is home to 25,000 Palestinians (and is the biblical home of the prophet Jeremiah); it is less than four kilometres from the Old City of Jerusalem.
As we walk around Fidhdat Square, part of a small neighbourhood separated from the rest of Anata by the Separation Barrier, Salim points out empty houses, one without a roof. Continue reading →
Simon outside one of the less fortunate shops in Beeston
It would have escaped your notice at the time, but you’ve probably been to Beeston, writes Matt Beestonia. If you’ve ever taken a train up North from St Pancras you would have – albeit briefly – stopped in Beeston before chugging down the track onto Nottingham a couple of miles away.
It’s doubtful that you noticed anything special – and from the train window, you’d be right. But if you were to alight and make your way north into the centre of town, you’d see that we were rather different than your usual suburban town. Continue reading →
Tony, Wendy and Simon are putting themselves forward to take on the Tories at the 2014 elections and continue their service on Wandsworth council.
The final decision will rest with local Labour members and with the voters of Wandsworth – and Latchmere’s Labour councillors are keen to finish the job of saving York Gardens Library, helping to guide the £100m estate regeneration and growing the number of local community gardens. Continue reading →
I gave this speech on Housing and the Government’s benefit cuts during a debate in Wandsworth Council’s December meeting. A video of the whole session is below, my speech leads the debate and begins at 35 seconds in. The text of the speech is below.
Here is what your local councillors, Tony Belton, Wendy Speck and I, have achieved in 2012 with the help of volunteers and local residents:
1 Helped to save York Gardens Library, again
Harriet Harman MP celebrates with local mums in York Gardens Library
Local Labour councillors are proud to have led the community campaign that saved York Gardens Library last year. But to keep the library open we now need to:
Raise £70,000 in room hire each year – please book a room if you have a birthday party or special occasion
Make sure local children use the computers, the free homework club and GCSE Success tutoring
I was very impressed on recent visits to the library to see dozens of children from the local estates benefit from the free Maths and English tutoring supplied by GCSE Success. One local mother I invited to the House of Commons had a chance to explain how these volunteer tutors had given her daughter the chance to following her dream of becoming a lawyer.
IN 2013 WE WILL work with parents and the council to ensure a top-class new playground for York Gardens is in place for the spring.
2 Worked hard on the £60m estate regeneration for Winstanley and York Road
Councillors Tony Belton, Wendy Speck and Simon Hogg on the Winstanley Estate
The Kinghan report into last summer’s riots concluded that the Winstanley Estate is in the worst 1 per cent of places in the country to grow up as a child. We are pleased that Wandsworth has agreed to make a huge investment to regenerate the York Road and Winstanley Estates. We stood for election in 2010 on a promise to improve our estates and we will stand again in 2014 on the same promise. Labour will ensure residents’ interests are put first in the regeneration, meaning:
Full consultation with the community
Construction jobs for local people
All social housing to be replaced, with residents guaranteed a chance to return
Estates should be given mix of housing types and tenures
No overall loss of play space or parks
IN 2013 WE WILL continue this work and link it to the £1m Big Lottery Funding that will help renew our community as well as the buildings we live in.
3 Supported Battersea’s community gardens
‘Dig for the Dodd’ at the Doddington Estate roof garden
IN 2013 WE WILL dig deep to help the brand new Kambala garden come into bloom. Contact green-fingered councillor Wendy Speck (wspeck@wandsworth.gov.uk) to get involved.
4 Led the fight to save our local police stations
Earlier this year, Battersea Labour Party used a freedom of information request to uncover the disturbing fact that Lavender Hill Police station has “in principle approval for disposal in 2012/13″. Not only did Tory councillors refuse to join the campaign to save the police station, they accused us of ‘scaremongering’ (see video above).
By December, the Evening Standard reported that almost half of London’s police stations were to close to the public. Wandsworth’s top policeman recently predicted: “The front counters at Battersea, Tooting and Putney High Street [police stations] would close”.
Tony, Wendy and I know what a crucial role Lavender Hill Police station played in finally ending the riots at Clapham Junction last year and we will do everything we can to keep it open.
IN 2013 WE WILL ask every Wandsworth councillor to choose between supporting the police station cuts and supporting community campaigns to save our police stations.
5 Backed local businesses and job-seekers
Councillor Simon Hogg (left) with local businessman Levi Roots at the Big Local consultation, which attracted 400 local residents to discuss the future of Latchmere
2012 was a very tough year to run a business in Battersea – and unemployment continued to rise. We stood up for local businesses that were flooded and facing high business rates and worked to help stallholders set up in markets and employ local youths.
We strongly supported Wandsworth’s new jobs brokerage scheme that will match local candidates to the job opportunities coming up in Nine Elms. We also backed the W.O.W Enterprise Club which helps lone parents set up their own businesses.
Local businessman Neset Sabir (left): “Councillor Simon Hogg helped me when my basement flooded and when my mopeds were stolen. I trust him.”IN 2013 WE WILL continue to boost local entrepreneurs and help job seekers get the skills they need
6 Action on parking: Made bailiffs return a car to Clark Lawrence Court that had been wrongly towed away…
…secured the release of a clamped vehicle by challenging the council’s contractor and supported a council crack-down on Blue Badge fraud that has caught 441 cheats.
IN 2013 WE WILL support a freeze in the cost of a residents’ parking permit, as we did in 2012
7 Action on housing: Got the council to repair entryphones at Pennethorne House and Culvert Road, the pavement at Ashley Crescent, the map at McDermott Close…
Councillor Wendy Speck on a visit to discuss local issues on the Kambala Estate
…a leak in Holcroft House, a broken door in Dungeness House, negotiated a payment extension for Inkster House residents who faced a 200 per cent increase in service charges. We also pushed the council to agree empty homes should from now on pay fair Council Tax and spoke out on the housing crisis facing young people facing high rents and mortgage deposits.
IN 2013 WE WILL help constituents made homeless by the housing benefit cap and prepare for the effects of the next round of housing benefit cuts.
8 Celebrated the Overground arriving at Clapham Junction
Martin Linton on Platform 2 at Clapham Junction: the long wait for an Overground train is over!
Thanks to tireless work by former Battersea MP Martin Linton, local people can now take the Overground Line from the new Platform 2 at Clapham Junction to Clapham High St (8 mins), Peckham (15 mins), Surrey Quays (24 mins), Whitechapel (33 mins).
The wonderful new line that opened in December links up to Canada Water (for Jubilee line services to Canary Wharf and Stratford), Clapham High Street (for Northern Line services to the City and the West End), Highbury & Islington (for Victoria Line and National Rail services) and Shoreditch High Street (for the City).
IN 2013 WE WILL continue to lobby for improvements to Clapham Junction, surely the worst-designed major station in Britain.
9 Opposed over-development
Model of the Nine Elms development, from Battersea Power Station up to Vauxhall
Too often Wandsworth council puts the interests of property developers over the interests of residents. Another legacy of Martin Linton’s time as Battersea MP was stopping the construction of 42-storey towers at Clapham Junction and the Ram Brewery site.
This year Tony, Wendy and I met architects, planners and members of the public to:
Discuss the public benefit of developments on the Prince’s Head pub site on Falcon Road, the Peabody Estate and the Travis Perkins site on Battersea Park Road.
Ensure the council respects its own policies: only 1,422 of the first 9,141 homes approved in Nine Elms were affordable (and full-price two-bed flats will cost £1.5m!).
Stop developers behaving antisocially during construction: we were recently appalled by reports that concrete was being laid at 3am on the Battersea Reach site, with the council’s full knowledge! This Christmas morning I was woken at 7am by construction work from another site.
And a few of the other issues we tackled in 2012…
Councillor Simon Hogg listens to ideas for improving the local area
…Arson attacks in Fairchild Close… Planned extension for Falcon Road Mosque… Council cutting lollipop ladies… Big Local Lottery funding… Bed Bugs in Penge House… New windows for Sporle Court… Gun crime in York Gardens, Falcon Road and Pennethorne Square… Need for more CCTV on Maysoule Road… Lack of teenagers’ facilities on Battersea Fields Estate… Discussion with former Health Secretary Andy Burnham about the future shape of the NHS… Public appeal for PlayStation equipment at the STORM youth club…
Local Labour volunteer Will Martindale presents PlayStation3 games and controllers to STORM youth club: The computer equipment was donated by local families
Margaret Hodge meets Senia and Una Dedic, Battersea Sure Start, 2004
The women had not seen each other for 8 years, but there was an immediate connection when they saw met at the House of Commons. Senia Dedic, a mother from the Falcon Estate, greeted Margaret Hodge MP like an old friend and pulled out a large photograph.
As I know from canvassing with Margaret Hodge during the 2010 General election, she often asks after your family. Back then, she had discussions with thousands of residents to defeat a challenge in Barking from BNP leader Nick Griffin. Asking after Senia’s family, Margaret soon uncovered a special story. Continue reading →
