The Bristow Blog

New Bus Route in Hammersmith & Fulham

Transport for London (TfL) has unveiled plans to introduce a new bus route, the 288, and to extend the already existing 316, both of which take in the White City area.

 

TfL says the new 228 route has been developed in partnership with local councils, to meet a long-standing request for new transport links in the area.

 

The proposed route would operate between Central Middlesex Hospital in Park Royal, and Elgin Avenue in Maida Vale, running through White City, Ladbroke and Harrow Road.

 

TfL says it is also planning to extend the 316 route, which currently operates between Cricklewood (Edgware Road) and St. Charles’ Hospital in North Kensington.  The plans involve extending the route from St. Charles’ Hospital to White City, along St. Mark’s Road and St. Ann’s Road.

 

TfL says the extension will provide a high frequency link between North Kensington and the areas around Latimer Road and White City, as well as providing links from Queen’s Park, Kilburn High Road, Brondesbury and Cricklewood.

 

It is envisaged that both routes will use single-deck buses and provide new bus links to White City and the new Westfield development in Shepherd’s Bush.

 

Leaflets with details of the proposals will be sent to around 30,000 local residents, including those living in and around the White City and Ladbroke Grove roads to be served by the proposed changes.

 

The consultation period runs from 26 May until 11 July 2008

Youngest Mayor in the UK in H&F?

Last night my fellow Fulham Reach councillor Andy Johson and long standing friend from university was made Mayor - he is thought to be the youngest Mayor in the UK.

Below is a picture of Andy, myself and Cllr Gavin Donovan, the 3 Fulham Reach councillors taken last night (they made us wear the rosettes!)

Andy took over from Cllr Minnie Scott Russell who served two terms as Mayor and did a brilliant job!

Age really is no barrier to success here in Hammersmith & Fulham and Mayor Johnson is proof of that. This council has ripped up the rule book by cutting tax year after year when the majority of other councils are raising taxes every year. We have now broken the mould again by electing a young, dynamic Mayor who is full of energy and ideas.

Andy has said he believes the role of the Mayor is to provide a sense of unity for the borough and its citizens and as such wants to focus his year as Mayor targeting groups and events who may have been overlooked in the past. He also intend to focus on seeking to highlight those individuals and organisation who do so much good work within Hammersmith & Fulham, yet do not get the recognition they deserve.

As I said, Andy and I go back years when we became friends at university.  Below is a picture of some our friends who went to university with Andy and I who came to see him made Mayor last night.

The Mayoral results ward by ward

If the recent Mayoral and GLA elections were replayed at a local election or at a general election it would a very good night indeed for the Conservatives and a disaster for Labour. 

The result of the election that took place earlier this month has been broken down ward by ward.  Some of the highlights include:

• Shaun Bailey would become the new MP for Hammersmith beating Andy Slaughter by over 1,000 on the Mayor's 1st preference vote and by over 2,000 on the Assembly Party vote.
• The Conservatives would take Hammersmith Broadway ward increasing the number Conservative councillors to 35/36 - Labour leader Cllr Cowan would lose his seat.  It will be interesting to see if he will fight his marginal seat or decide to move to less challenging seat next time.
• 10,535 extra people voted Conservative in the Assembly elections compared to 4 years before - and over 15,000 more people voted for Boris compared to Steve Norris in 2004.
• Labour were completely blown away in Fulham (polling less than 5,000 votes overall for Livingstone in the Mayoral vote and barely 3,500 for Labour) and would be wiped out in Hammersmith leaving them with only a handful of councillors in the far north of the borough.
• On a personal note, the Conservatives pulled further ahead in Fulham Reach - 500 ahead in the Mayoral vote and 600 for the Assembly.

The lessons from this election are:

• Shaun Bailey is making excellent progress against Andy Slaughter for the Hammersmith parliamentary seat and is on track to win - though it will be very close and every vote will count.
• The key battlegrounds at the next council election will be in Hammersmith Broadway, Shepherds Bush Green, and Askew wards.  This is where the two party's are running neck and neck.
• The Lib Dems have made no progress whatsoever and will not win any significant support at the general or local council elections.

Violence erupts in Fulham Broadway after Chelsea defeat

There were battles between police and Chelsea fans following the defeat in the Champions League last night.  No doubt alcohol fuelled Chelsea fans rioted after an accident with a fan and a police car.

I know fans must be bitterly disappointed, but there is never any excuse for the scenes at Fulham Broadway last night.  Reports claim many innocent bystanders were caught up in the trouble which must have seemed very frightening. 

H&F is unique in having three professional football clubs.  They are an important part of our borough.  However scenes like this give ammo to those dislike the presence of these football clubs. 

Our Parks are Safer

Parks in Hammersmith & Fulham are safer than this time last year thanks to the sterling work of the borough’s Parks Constabulary.

In the past 12 months, the constabulary, which receives £1million in funding from the council each year, has detained 12 suspects, recovered 25 stolen motorcycles, dispersed over 1,000 anti-social drinkers and responded to 97 per cent of all reported incidents within 30 minutes. 

The constabulary work 365 days a year from 6am to 1.15am during the summer and from 6am to 10.45pm in the winter. And with a state-of-the-art fleet of vehicles in use, the Parks Constables can now be easily spotted across the borough’s 54 parks, open spaces and cemeteries.

Everyone has a right to feel safe wherever they are and that is what the council's Parks Constabulary deliver in our green spaces. 

The parks constabulary provide uniformed patrols in parks and open spaces to help reduce crime. They work in close cooperation with the police and develop effective partnerships with other council departments and external agencies to combat anti-social behaviour.

During the last year, the constabulary has detained a dozen people for a range of criminal offences including robbery, assault, drug offences and theft.

I know that residents are always pleased to see the highly visible constables on their beat and that is why we invest so much money in the parks constabulary. The force is going from strength to strength and will continue to ensure that are parks can be enjoyed by everyone who visits them.

Exhibition for Tasso Road development

After a campaign led by local residents and ward councillors, the planning application for a 3 storey development at the end of Tasso Road was withdrawn.  See - http://thebristowblog.typepad.com/the_bristow_blog/fulham_reach/index.html

Developers have now promised to consult local residents and councillors on new proposals before another application is submitted - these are currently being drawn up.  There are plans to host an exhibition on Thursday 29th May from 6.15pm to 8pm. 

The intention is present ideas in the form of "early concept drawings" which can provide a platform for local feedback. 

The exhibition will take place on site at the far end of Tasso Road.  I shall be there with fellow Fulham Reach ward councillors Andy Johnson and Gavin Donovan. 

Let's hope that the new plans are more in keeping with the Victorian cul-de-sac and not as large and overbearing as the previous scheme. 

Sunday in Crewe & Nantwich

After being away on business for a few days I got back to London on Saturday to be confronted with acores of emails in my inbox urging me to Crewe for the by election.  Conservative HQ clearly believe that the first Tory by election victory since the early 1980s is possible.  So my girlfriend and I took the car up the M40 and the M6 to Cheshire.

Much has been made in the media of the nastiness of the Labour campaign - however, it really does need to be seen to be believed.  Labour activists have been handing out leaflets calling the Conservative candidate Edward Timpson a liar and a con man, portraying him as a millionnaire toff, and resorting to nagative tactics such as ringing electors at 4am pretending to be Conservative telephone canvassers and driving around council estates in 4 x 4s with blue balloons. 

The Lib Dems are not much better.  Both parties seem to think that just because Edward Timspon's family run a successful business and have money, this some how disqualifies him from being able to represent people in Crewe.  So much for one Britain!  This is class warfare pure and simple and really quite an objectionable aspect of left wing politics.  Aspiration, getting on, and doing well are all admirable qualities.  As is the Timspon family record of fostering and giving to those less fortunate than themselves. 

I hope we do not see this sort of politics in Hammersmith & Fulham.  Andrew Slaughter put out a leaflet that tried to portray Conservatives as fat cats on the White City estate a year or so ago.

My thoughts on Crewe & Nantwich:

• The Conservative campaign is extremely well organised and optimistic - we were allowed in the camapign office for all of 5 mins before we were given leaflets and sent on our way.
• Everyone wants to be part of a victory - on a Sunday afternoon I saw CF activists, parliamentary candidates, CCHQ employers and at least 3 or 4 MPs.  This was just where I was dispatched. 
• Plenty of posters up for all three parties.  Started off in tradional Labour territory where we did see Labour posters and a few Lib Dems.
• Voters are SICK TO DEATH of leaflets.  In a leafier part of Crewe quite a few Conservative voters were actually getting quite cross.
• Labour are working their socks off too - there were plenty of Labour canvassers in the council estates where I was delivering in the afternoon.    
• Despite the 10p tax issue - crime was the number one concern on the doorstep.

---------- and

James Purnell cannot take a joke.  I saw the Cabinet Minister canvassing in a council estate where an elderly woman was loudly pledging her support whilst explaining she was housebound and that she did not have a postal vote.  He offered to arrange a lift on poll day but she said she could not get to the door. 

As I walked past I commented 'bad luck' where he snapped 'she is voting for us'.  I said 'but she can't leave the house' and the reply immediately came ' she did not say that, just she can't get to the door' - I replied 'what are you going to do on Thursday?  Carry her out of the window?'  He was not amused.... 

Evening Standard Praises H&F on Post Office campaign

Following the remarkable victory in saving half the borough's Post Office under the axe - despite just 7 being saved across London - the campaign to bring back a Post Office in W14 continues.

Boris takes his lead from H&F

The new Mayor of London Boris Johnson (that sounds good doesn't it) has appointed the Leader of H&F council Stephen Greenhalgh as a member of the Forensic Audit Panel.

Boris has been impressed with how the Conservatives have identified and stripped out Labour waste at Hammersmith Town Hall and given it back to people in the form of investment in front line services or through cutting council tax.

The group has been tasked with doing the same for Boris, looking at the Greater London Assembly, the London Development Agency, and the many other cross London bodies that answer to the Mayor.  It is important that the hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer money spent in the name of Londoners is spent wisely and efficiently.

While there is a great deal of good done in the name of the Mayor of London, what's the betting they find countless examples of waste and funding diverted to dubious groups and campaigns...

Council & Residents save borough Post Offices

Three of the six post offices threatened with closure in Hammersmith and Fulham have been saved, thanks to a joint campaign by residents and the council.

The Starch Green sub-post office branch at 7 King’s Parade in Askew Road, W6, the Kenyon Street branch in Fulham and the branch at 146 Shepherds Bush Road, W6 will remain open.

Formal notification was given last week by Post Office Ltd that these three branches are among the seven across London that have been saved from closure.  It is amazing that out of the seven saved in London - nearly half are in Hammersmith & Fulham.  Our borough has seen closure after closure in recent years - pleas from local residents fell on deaf ears.  Our voice has finally been heard.  The latest closure plans appear to have been a step too far even for the Post Office!

With the help of local residents, we did our homework and presented Post Office Ltd with a dossier which they simply couldn’t argue with.  When we called them in for our public meeting on March 19, they confessed that they did not know about the fifty flats for blind and partially-sighted residents at Pocklington Lodge, near the Askew Road branch.

The plans to rip the heart out of the borough by axing six post office sub-branches were robustly challenged by the council. As well as our formal submission, we have pursued a very high profile campaign with placards and petitions.  We also hosted the public meeting in Hammersmith Town Hall.

Sadly, three branches remain on the chopping block. They are: 780 Fulham Road, 68 Askew Road and 88 Goldhawk Road.

We will continue to press Post Office Ltd to look at alternatives such as a move into our libraries. These services are essential, especially to the elderly and disabled, and we will do everything we can to save them.