Inspector 'Clouseau' Palmer's 'tache

Palmer's Role Model

We all know Palmer is tasked by Pooter with sleuthing to identify the Dame and her friends. To get him into his new role he has gone mad and grown a 'tache! It also appears that in the line of duty he got a good thump and his new, rather feeble, upper lip growth is designed to hide the damage. Can someone please provide a high res image of the silly fella's facial hair
 

RBKC SPENDS MONEY LIKE WATER

There are all sorts of madcap schemes for spending our money like water and the Rotten Borough is a master of them all. However, this one...as reported in this week's Private Eye is a winner. Well done Cllr Nick Paget-Brown!

THE BROMPTON RESULT EXPLORED

Labour claim Conservatives have lost nearly 10% of the vote in just a year. They say it resulted from life long Conservatives swinging to Labour for the first time. They also claim it represents a near 5% swing from Conservative to Labour since the June 2011 by election.

The unthinking will say, “Well, we still won it”....and they would be right. 

But what a terrible result from a bastion of UK Conservatism?

Most votes are postal from residents living abroad unaware of the controversies raging around this profligate, under siege council. It is a dire result...it should trigger some deep thinking about the message voters are sending to Pooter Cockell.

But more concerning should be this. The Labour candidate ran an effective, highly localised campaign. He got out and about and focused on high tension local concerns.

If Labour continue to run these intensely resident facing campaigns it bodes badly for other wards where voter loyalty is becoming increasingly tenuous.

The Dame says there needs to be a break with the past. A new leader with an understanding of how to reconnect with voters is vital. That leader in waiting is Cllr Coleridge: he should not wait too long...this Council needs him now!

A LEADER IN WAITING

Coleridge takes the trouble to reach out to parts of the Borough his colleagues ignore. He is remembered as the man who stood up to be counted during the Sloane Square affair.

He is a man of integrity and decency....someone who represents old fashioned values...so come on Coleridge. Your name is being bandied about everywhere as someone to mend fences and build bridges.

WE HEAR: WE DON"T LISTEN 'Cllr Weale'

This excellent feedback from a dear friend of the Dame says it all. It iterates the warning that the Resident Associations should not put their faith in this council and their Gold Standard award baubles.

First Class Officers let down by lazy, incompetent dolts! 

Good evening Dear Dame

I thought you might like a little feedback from this evening's event at the Town Hall. A presentation organised by the excellent Community Engagement Team, led by Stephen Morgan, with Caeli Christen and Monsur Khan for the benefit of councillors. We are lucky we have officers of that calibre, in my humble opinion!! 

Those of us, with a very notable exception of course of your honourable self, who have set up web sites for the benefit of our local residents and businesses were on display to our Councillors. So interesting that the only councillors who had the courtesy to at least 'say hello', were the predictable 'decent' individuals - and I hope that I include all of them: Nick Paget-Brown, Warwick Lightfoot, Joanna Gardner, Julie Mills, Charles Williams, Timothy Coleridge and, sorry I am having a senior moment, a decent female labour councillor, Victoria Borwick was courteous as ever, as was the Mayor's Chaplain - a good choice of chaplain. 

The rest of them passed through with not even an attempt to say 'good evening, thank you for coming'. Call me old fashioned, but I do think many Councillors need to be reminded that they work for us, not the other way round. 

The aim of course was to let them know how they might communicate better with their residents!!!!!

I thought you might like the comment made by one of our great community activists, who had similar views to my own, "the best thing that has happened for a very long time is the Hornet'!!

Good night, rest well

ANOTHER COMMENT....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "MORE TRIBOROUGH TRIBULATIONS AND A SENSE OF DECAY":

Before the meeting, "City Living - Local Life" arranged for councillors to meet some residents groups in the lobby of the Chamber. With a few notable exceptions, including Cllrs Caruana, Hargreaves and Paget Brown, the councillors failed to appear. Cllrs Faulkes & Lightfoot argued with a resident, while on seeing real people, Cllr Ahern fled the room. Outside, councillors formed up and marched straight through the lobby - eyes front. So while residents stood for 90 minutes, only to be ignored by their councillors, the main topic of conversation was The Hornet.

ANOTHER SALIENT COMMENT

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WE HEAR: WE DON"T LISTEN 'Cllr Weale'":

This is a cross party issue, not about individual councillors or residents' groups. The Council supposedly exists to serve residents. The officers were charming, but last night the disrespect shown to residents by the majority of councillors, was a disgrace. In the Chamber, Cllr Cockell spared only half an hour and twenty councillors, including Cllr Moylan, failed to attend Full Council. The Tri-Borough ship is fast heading for the rocks. Dismantling it will doubtless cost tens of millions. Yet instead of openly debating the matter, many elected members were elsewhere. Among those who bothered to attend, the level of debate was risible. There is a palpable malaise in the Town Hall. Understandably, officers keep their heads down. Many councillors lack the skills to engage with the public. Nor are they equipped to respond to open criticism on The Hornet. The new technology is also closed to them. Last night in Kensington Town Hall, The Hornet was debated at length by senior representatives of several thousand residents. Councillors were also discussed. Residents representatives exchanged personal details. This may sound a bit like a Council! There is change. The Old Guard has no answer, except pathetic attempts to shore up the regime. Each day more people become aware that RBKC's four star status is a sham; thanks in good part to The Hornet.

THE VERY STRANGE WORLD OF CLLR COCKELL

  The Dame gets very concerned about Pooter Cockell's mental state. We know he would lose a debate with a doorknob, but clearly two jobbing is taking it's toll.

Pooter wondering where the money has gone

In the Telegraph  merrick cockell  today, Pooter, wearing his £54,000 a year LGA hat, warns that Councils will have no money left for essential services by 2020.

One has to make allowances for the fact that Pooter is not financially fluent. He forgets, in his tenure as £70,000 a year leader of the Rotten Borough, it has become a byword for profligate and wasteful spending.

How can Pooter pontificate in this way? He has been responsible for such extravagant follies as.....

• £100 million Holland Park School now £75 million over Government cost guidelines and with not one extra place added
• £30 million on Exhibitionist Rd with annual running costs of nearly £500,000 a year
• £1.5 million blown on Chelsea Care
• £1million on Tot Brill's Exhibitionist Rd comic turns
• £1.5 million on Councillor and Special Irresponsibility Allowances
• £1million wasted on PR and the ludicrous Royal Borer

Doubtless readers will come up with more ways he blows our money. How he has the gall to lecture government about running out of money when he is addicted to blowing ours is one of life's great mysteries.

 

MORE TRIBOROUGH TRIBULATIONS AND A SENSE OF DECAY

THE DAME BRINGS YOU THE LATEST FROM HORNTON STREET.....

The Storm Clouds Are Gathering...

At the Main Council meeting tonight 20 councillors did not bother turn up and Pooter arrived late and testy from his LGA meeting in Moylan's hometown, Brum. 

There was a sort of debate about the Tri Borough project which was introduced by Cllr Lindsay (Conservative). With the ruling Party these days one needs to read between the lines. Lindsay made some extraordinary obfuscations. "The situation is fast moving and our report is out of date" he said. "But we will continue to monitor". Small crumb of comfort there. Lindsay went on to say that "the complexity of  IT means there is significant risk in the project and the protocol for Adult Social Services needs to be reviewed because there is a weak mandate and Sovereignty needs to be strengthened". 

This is code for the fact that the programme is a shambles and K&C is about to be shafted by Hammersmith and Fulham. 

Lindsay went on to say that "changes in Social Services are taking place alongside parallel and major change in the NHS". More code that the programme is about to implode. Finally Lindsay admitted that "it is important for the Scrutiny Committee to be kept informed". Could it be that they are being kept in the dark? What a thought......

There was a more straightforward intervention by Cllr Foreman whose stature grows every day. He made three clear contributions to the debate. First, "A major programme like Tri Borough should be put to the electorate first and it was not". Second, "Experts in corporate restructuring have not been consulted". And third, "There is huge employee risk with different salaries being paid for the same jobs in the three Boroughs with knock on risk for industrial relations". No code there. There is no mandate, no one knows what they are doing and it is a shambles.

And then the code started again. The barely intelligible Cllr Campion (Conservative) seemed to be communicating that IT "is a quagmire" and "Sovereignty is threatened". He was followed by the slightly less coded Cllr Gardner who stressed that "we must focus on delivery of quality before deterioration sets in". What could she be talking about? But then in a flash of insight Cllr Gardner announced that her 10 years of experience in IT (I thought she was a solicitor! Editor) she ventured to advise that "it is essential to draw up a specification and determine a budget before IT contracts are signed with contractors". What is going on here one wonders? She then followed with the wisdom. "Changes must appear seamless to the outside world" she advised. So we are clear about the cock up that is about to be created.

Cllr Lindsay was obviously deeply shaken by these contributions and closed the debate by saying that "residents are confident that we will deliver" and Cllr Foreman should understand that the Tri Borough was "invented after the election" so there was no possibility of seeking a mandate. What a silly boy Cllr Foreman was to challenge the Conservatives.

CALLING ALL RESIDENT ASSOCIATIONS AND AMENITY GROUPS

The Hornet's value to residents is proven by her ever expanding readership. Today, over 100,000 unique visitors have discovered more about a council thriving on secrecy. In the absence of any of other information source the Dame is there with all the news: all the news 'they don't want you to hear'.

Breaking through the wall of secrecy

But more needs doing to inform residents. This is where the Dame begs for help from the chairmen and officers of the 190 or so Borough resident associations and amenity groups. 

Please let your members know about the Hornet... maybe by mailing the website link to members or, perhaps, including it in your literature.

If you could also pass this message to neighbouring associations you will be doing much to keep this council on it's toes. So the message is 'spread the message'!
The Dame is very impressed with this excellent site...well worth bookmarking grenfellactiongroup This is a residents group fighting it's corner with skill and dynamism. Well done and good luck!

The Dame's influence depends on you...please help her help you.

Owl has left a new comment on your post "TOT BRILL GIVEN £1 MILLION TO PLAY WITH!":

One thing that has become clear from the Dame's fearless campaigning is that the vast majority of residents do not have the first clue about what is going on and how their money is being spent.

The first line of defense, the Ward Councillors, has failed the Borough. They are not a conduit of information and opinion. They merely toe the line. It is time for the second line of defense to be activated: the Resident Associations and their members.

There are about 190 Associations in the Borough. Each with a Chairman, Committee, paid up members and mailing lists. These Chairman could do democracy a huge favour by urging their members to read and blog on the Hornet. A quiet word with the Dame would no doubt convince her to include membership lists in her growing distribution. 

VERY BORING CONDITIONS

MR BORE AND CONSULTATION

Dear Dame

In today's email from J Bore to P Harris, Mr Bore invites residents to comment online via: "Involving People in Planning."

Your Ladyship may wish to see the extraordinary list of "Conditions" (below) that the public has to accept before being permitted to comment. The website should be entitled "Excluding People from Planning."  However, it serves RBKC Planning's purposes. Boxes are ticked, while the level of response is minimal.   
Your Most Ardent Admirer
Sincerely




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THEY ARE ALL AT IT TOGETHER!

Pooter's enemy Parsons!

 
The Dame brings you this. How ironic...Parsons stood against Pooter for LGA chairmanship and lost. Yet they both share a similar passion for luxury limos and the high life 'on the tax'...Pooter has more high falutin' taste: he bought a Bentley. 

 The leader of Leicestershire County Council stands to be given the boot by his Tory colleagues next month after clocking up bills of more than £200,000 on chauffeur-driven travel. The last straw for came for David Parsons when it emerged he had been driven to his daughter’s wedding in the authority’s luxury Daimler — and refused to pay the council.
Parsons has been widely criticised for his office expenses, which have cost taxpayers a staggering total of £1 million over the past five years. He is particularly enamoured of the local authority’s Daimler — spending a whopping £210,000 of taxpayers’ money on travel. Over the past six years he has taken 202 trips to London in the chauffeur-driven vehicle, costing £280 each time. Officials have calculated that more than £24,000 could have been saved had he taken the train.
Apparently of the view that the council was a surrogate bank account, at one point he had racked up an unofficial taxpayer-funded overdraft of £5,400. He still owes the voters of Leicestershire over £1,800 for flights taken six years ago.
Last Tuesday, the county’s Standards Committee backed independent report saying that David Parsons breached the councillor’s code of conduct four times. He will face a motion of no confidence in a secret ballot next month brought by Tory councillors axed from the cabinet last month.
Astonishingly, Parsons is labouring under the delusion that he can cling on:

“I believe that these attacks against me have been politically motivated. Due process has been satisfied and I now intend to draw a line under the matter.”

TOT BRILL GIVEN £1 MILLION TO PLAY WITH!

"Tired Tory Councillor said...   I hear Tot Brill has been given the go-ahead to spend £1m of Council taxpayers' hard-earned cash on 'performance pieces' for tourists at Exhibition Road this summer. How much is the Council spending on Olympic themed sports events for children in the rest of the borough over the summer? 
Oh yes, nothing.
No wonder so many of the residents don't give a damn about the Olympics. It's seen as a nuisance."

Tot's Spending Plans

The Dame loves a bit of light entertainment so she was intrigued to read the comment from Tired Tory Councillor. What could Tot be planning? With the aid of Google the Dame explored Tot's career background and qualifications: after all she must be hugely well qualified for Mr Myers to have appointed her his Deputy Chief Executive on a wedge not far short of his own £270k a year, plus perks and huge pension.

£170k pa Tot; our Dep Chief Exec. Time she got on her bike

So the Dame looked and was most disappointed. It seems Tot has scant, or nil qualifications for the job. As she herself says, “After attending art school in London I worked in the private and voluntary sectors as an artist, performer, designer and puppet maker. In 1992 I joined York City Council's leisure services department as operations manager, responsible for arts, sports, children's services, grants and community development as well as the department's operational transition through reorganisation”

So now with the £1 million of our money Tot is going to be bring more mechanical elephants and clowns to Exhibitionist Road.

Tot and Mr Myers

Well, she has certainly made clowns of Mr Myers, Pooter and all us hard pressed residents. Just think how many services could be preserved with this huge sum of money. Someone needs to get a grip!

As the Dame's man, disgraced ex mayor Phelps would say, " Dame, you could not make it up"

THE SCANDAL OF ST QUINTINS CENTRE

 

The Council has been skilled at hiding the scandalous waste of taxpayers' money relating to works at this children's centre. Frittering our money away is one thing: risking the health of the young of this Borough is quite another.

Expect the Dame, over the next week or so, to disclose the details of this stupendous cock up. She will not tolerate feeble attempts to hide facts from us, which OUR council has a duty to disclose to us.

Fortunately, certain officers do not wish to be part of these ill conceived cover ups.

Watch this space for more on this dangerous and expensive mess

THE BEAUTY OF EXHIBITIONIST RD...

A wise resident answers the question....WHAT'S WRONG WITH EXHIBITION RD' below.

A LOAD OF RUBBISH

And the pictures remind us how this £30 million folly looks-even after it's £7,000 a week clean.

"I’ll tell you what is wrong with Exhibition Road. In short, an enormous amount of money has been spent on a bland, boring, ugly road surface. With equally bland, boring ugly grey lampposts.

The same scheme could have been executed at a tenth of the cost. Probably using the far superior York Stone.

Who was in charge of this money pit?"

PH

PUBLIC REALM 'ART' CURATED BY Cllr "BOYS" MOYLAN

SHOCKED LOCAL PIGEONS

WHAT’S WRONG WITH EXHIBITIONIST ROAD?

Cllr Nick Paget-Brown

Dear Nick,

What’s Wrong With Exhibition Rd ?

A party of blind and partially sighted from the London Branch of the National Federation of the Blind visited Exhibition Rd on June 22nd 2012 to determine if they could navigate safely along and across the road. Some members of the  West London Residents Association attended as helpers. David Cowdrey Campaigns Manager for Guide Dogs for the Blind was also present.

Exhibition Rd between Cromwell Rd and Prince Consort Rd.

Provided a blind or partially sighted person kept to the east and west pavements ie between the wall and ribbed delineator navigating was relatively straightforward.

The transition zone with its high level of clutter was a no-go area.

Several attempts were made to cross the road from the east pavement to the west by a blind person on their own. None were successful as the traffic would not stop.

It was difficult even when a blind person was escorted as the traffic was reluctant to allow this.

No attempts were made to cross the road from the west pavement. This would have meant trying to negotiate through the transition zone on to the road where there is no delineator marking where the transition zone ends and the 8M road begins. An impossible task for the blind.

We have pointed out before that the lack of a visible continuous delineator  marking the west side of the 8M road causes difficulties for all road users including drivers.

The present situation is that the blind and partially sighted are effectively restricted to the east and west pavements with no safe means of crossing the road.

One or two light controlled crossings are required in this section to give them proper access which was one of the slogans before the road was rebuilt ie Access for All.  This has yet to be realised.

Whilst the blind and partially sighted comprise some 2M another 8M people have a disability which requires them to have access to a controlled crossing to safely cross a road.

Additionally research shows that the elderly much prefer a controlled crossing as a means to safely cross the road.

Exhibition Rd between Cromwell Rd and Thurlow Place

This short section posed no real problems. It is noted that painted road markings are on this section but on no other.

Exhibition Rd between Thurlow Place and Thurlow Street

This caused some problems as tables and chairs are in the middle of the road and on leaving the shelter of the side pavements it is easy for the blind to get lost.

This still appears to be a 30mph zone which is too high a speed when people are walking in the road encouraged by the tables and chairs. Safer to pedestrianise the area here and the section of Thurlow St leading to S Kensington Station.

In Summary   For the Blind and others install one or two light controlled crossings in the main part of Exhibition Rd

Properly delineate the west side of the 8M roadway, preferably with continuous studs and road paint . The east side of the road should also be preferably painted to help all road users.

Pedestrianise the road south of Thurlow Place and to S Kensington Station.

Adding the elderly to the 10M who require a controlled crossing ,the lack of such a crossing  is a severe disadvantage to about one third of the population.

Subsidiary Points.

Coaches carrying children for the Science Museum often park on the east side of the roadway. The children are then escorted across the road. A controlled crossing would make this task easier.

There appears to be no room for coaches to discharge their passengers in the transition zone near the museum which I thought was one of the reasons for its existence.

A café owner at the southern end of Exhibition Rd below Thurlow Place said that they had continuing problems with vehicles performing fast three point turns outside their café often endangering patrons sitting at their pavement tables.

A serious accident had occurred recently on Exhibition Rd by Prince Consort Rd between a cyclist and a motorcyclist.

It was anecdotally reported that the cross hatched pattern of Exhibition Rd is causing problems for some drivers in gauging their speed.

As Guide Dogs have pointed out before the cross hatching also causes problems for some partially sighted as they tend to follow a light colored diagonal strip to cross the road rather than go straight across.

Below is the leaflet produced by NFBUK for the visit

WHAT’S WRONG WITH EXHIBITION ROAD?

NFBUK supports the interests of blind and partially sighted people.  The layout of streets and provision of safe crossings are important to us and, for similar reasons, are also important to many other pedestrians.  We ask: “is Exhibition Road reasonably meeting everyone’s needs?”

Unusual Layout

Exhibition Road has a transition zone where cars may park, trees can grow and, at the southern end, café tables may safely be laid out.  People may walk there but take care not to stray into the traffic – you have to take great care and watch out for the cars and buses".

Streets For People Too?

Exhibition Road has pavements exclusively for people that should be free of clutter. Look out for a public phone box here, a tree or two there, and some rows of café tables.

Cross Anywhere Along Exhibition Road?

If you are elderly or for any reason a slow or cautious walker, you may not find it easy to step across this road.  The traffic may be slow but would you, as a driver, want to stop?  Exhibition Road needs at least two press-button crossings so that pedestrians with a pram or a stick or a guide dog can know when to cross in safety.  Crossings are essential for independent blind people – otherwise, Exhibition Road is a pedestrian barrier between two pavements!

Produced by London Branch of NFBUK, June 2012 (Tel: 020 7275 7650)

Kind regards

Gordon Taylor  PhD BSc CEng MICE MIMechE MIET

West London Residents Association

 

Planning Boss Bore Replies on BT Superfast Broadband Hiatus

 

The letter below was sent to Merrick Cockell by Doctor Gordon Taylor. There has been much controversy and mystery about The Borough, Super Fast Broadband and the negotiations with BT

Much of the controversy raged around the lack of consultation with residents and local business. In an information vacuum rumours swirl.....

There is a lesson for the Council here. If an elected member, like Cockell, is incapable of providing a response to a resident then for goodness sake ask a senior officer to do so.

Mr Bore's background briefing is welcome-if overdue. Not his fault-it's the fault of the Leader.

Peter Harris, a resident,  makes the sensible point about the Council explaining and consulting:it is a well made point and can be found at the conclusion of this piece.

The Royal Borough paper, instead of wasting paper and ink massaging Pooter's delicate ego, could have been used to explain why we were having difficulties with BT.

Leader of the Council

Superfast Broadband
Dear Merrick,
City Am reports that the Council has turned down BT’s proposals for the rolling out of superfast broadand across the borough. As you are well aware superfast broadband connection is as important to future business development as  some of the other utilities ie electricity, water, gas and telephone. The lack of this high speed broadband will seriously hamper business development. The Council apparently turned down the BT proposals on the basis that you want to reduce street clutter and preserve the streetscape. As there are already hundreds of discreet telephone cabinets in the borough  the further 108 cabinets of the BT proposal could surely be accommodated. The Council itself has vandalized our historic streetscape by removing the perfectly sound Victorian type black street lamp standards along our main thoroughfares replacing them with modern silver standards more appropriate to Basildon New Town. Stainless steel bike stands have mushroomed on main roads. Much of the new hugely expensive Exhibition Rd is badly cluttered with residents parked cars, bicycle racks and benches.  Some 31 of the 33 London boroughs are reportedly well on the way to being  connected by BT to superfast broadband. As these other boroughs  are apparently happy with the location and design of the BT cabinets it would be helpful of you would revisit this problem and either accommodate BT or urgently bring in another supplier so that that borough is not left technologically marooned in the 20^th century.

Kind regards

Gordon Taylor 

Dear All

I thought it would be useful to set the facts straight about this issue.

The decision making procedure for these cabinets is not the same as for an ordinary planning application. The cabinets are subject to a ‘prior approval’ procedure: BT gives the Council details of the siting and design and if we do not respond within 56 days the cabinets receive deemed approval.

BT did not engage meaningfully with us on any of the sites before submitting the applications, and their approach did not include any prior public discussion on the merits of these cabinets. We simply haven’t had the luxury of the meaningful discussion referred by others in this trail. We found ourselves having to deal from cold with over 80 cabinet proposals and had to come to a conclusion on the acceptability of their siting and design within 56 days. We dealt with them all within the deadline.

When we received the prior approval applications, we put up site notices at all the sites and put the drawings and applications on to our website. They are still there for anyone to view.

We have therefore acted speedily (we had to!) and have kept residents and businesses informed as much as possible within the constraints of the prior approval process and BT’s unhelpful approach.

Since the initial round of refusals we have sought to engage with BT and have indicated about 40 locations where, subject to suitable siting, the cabinets would be acceptable but BT refuse to move one inch from the proposals they have presented us with.

We are not the only local authority in this position. Westminster are experiencing similar problems. BT have refused to engage in any pre-application discussion with them to try to find solutions and as a consequence Westminster have turned down a significant number of cabinets, albeit not as many as us.

I hope this helps to put the matter in perspective.

Kind regards

Jonathan Bore

Executive Director

Planning and Borough Development

Thank you Mr Bore,

This makes things clear at last.

However what we really need in the future for something as important as this, are emails/letters to all the residents associations. You cannot expect us to troll though your website looking for such.

We should be consulted, something this council is not good at.

Kind regards

Peter Harris

BROMPTON BY ELECTION: LIB DEM CANDIDATE MOYA DENMAN

 The Dame had just returned from a corset fitting at Rigby and Peller when she was handed the Lib Dem's Focus.

It's so enormous the Dame's technical skills don't allow her to upload it.

One could be forgiven for thinking....being enormous....it would be full of the issues the Dame alludes to her in her 'questions to candidates'.

Not a bit! A quarter of a page is take up with a tribute to Shireen Ritchie and the rest of the front page on how Cllrs Jones and Caruana single-handedly saved Portobello.... nothing about Exhibition Road or South Kensington Station: nothing about rickshaws/supercars and nothing about the degradation of Beauchamp Place. She could have mentioned the need for a crossing on Exhibitionist Rd for the elderly-being a gerontologist-but she does not.

In fact, nothing remotely relevant to the Ward.

She does talk about basement control, but this is an issue all councillors are focused upon being a pan borough nightmare.

The Dame hears that Moya is a good person; someone who does great work with the elderly. But..... whoever put this important communication together seems not to understand Brompton Ward. 

The Ward needs a fighter....sadly Moya does not come across as a fighter, but as a fine lady.

Does Jonathan Frazer-Howells/The Candidate work at JP Morgan? We should be told

The Dame is angry....
In good faith she provided numbers of both candidates. Through slipshod proofing Mr Frazer-Howells allowed this leaflet to be printed using a JP Morgan number.
Voters have been inconvenienced struggling to get through......and the candidate is not covered in glory either....
The Dame has been even handed. If the candidate and his agent supply incorrect information she is hardly to blame.
Come on you two...buck your ideas up!
Here is the leaflet with incorrect no.

THE BROMPTON QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES

PUT THEM TO THE QUESTION

Before the by election on Thursday residents of Brompton Ward will have a rare chance to put questions to candidates. Not all questions relate to local issues: some go to the very heart of how this Council is run.

The Dame has always felt national politics intrude too much into the local street scene.

Residents want fighters.....those who will stand up for them and their interests, rather than follow the Leader...sheeplike.

Two rare examples on our council are Cllrs Coleridge and Borwick. When Cllr Moylan determined-against the wishes of residents-to destroy much loved Sloane Square they stood side by side with residents making themselves hugely unpopular in the process. It was a rare revolt.

So the point of this exercise is to see how putative councillors respond to these questions.

The Dame hopes against hope both candidates will use her little forum to tell us where they stand so we can use our votes judiciously. Please send the Hornet link to all your friends/contacts: we all need to know the answers.

The questions.....

1. Vital services are being slashed. Was it right to spend nearly £30 million buying Chinese granite rather than supporting our own quarrying industry: was it ever right to spend this vast sum of money in the first place?
2. Keeping Exhibition Road clean is costing £7,000 a week. Is this well spent money?
3. Foreign number plated Ferraris, Lamborghini and Porsches still, after 3 years, hurtle noisily and dangerously around our streets. Have our councillors done enough to stop this nuisance?
4. Rickshaws are back with a vengeance, yet we have been told they have been driven away? Why the lie?
5. Josiah, the newsagent, is a vital resource for residents. Why try to double the owner's rent?
6. Beauchamp Place has become a clone of Edgware Road. Why has it not been protected?
7. Cllr Moylan is a board member of Tfl and a member of RBK&C. What guarantee have we that he does not pressure/bully local councillors into falling into step with his 'step free' redevelopment plans for South Ken Station?
8. Why is the Council fighting the proposal to put a pedestrian crossing on Exhibition Ed?
9. Abbas Barkhordar does not tell us whether he lives in the Ward or anything about his professional/ personal background.How long has he been a party member and how many elections has he been involved with?
10. The Council Leader is being paid close to £70,000 a year when he is mostly absent on his other job as the £53,000 a year boss of the Local Government Association. Why should we subsidise his other job?
11. Bearing in mind Cllr Cockell has been leader for 14 years do candidates feel he should have stepped aside years ago?
12. Councillor and Special Responsibility Allowances are some of the highest in the land. Should the Council not have offered to reduce allowances to show, “ we are all in it together.”?
13. Holland Park School is being rebuilt at a cost of £100 million-3 times the rebuild cost suggested by Government and without one extra place being created. Is this a sensible use of our money?
14. The Council holds in reserve nearly £180 million of our money, created through over taxation. Can we have it back please in a council tax rebate? 
    There are many other questions. 
    This is the place to ask them.......or why not contact them?
    
    
    Abbas Barkhordar :0207 325 0102     This number was given on his leaflet: it is clearly incorrect as it goes to his friends at JP Morgan! Come on do some proof reading Abbas. Correct no is 0207 352 0102
    brompton@kckc.org.uk
    
    Mark Sautter:0207 727 0038              marksautter@btinternet.com

Conservative Brompton Ward

Labour Brompton

The Dame only cares who will best serve Brompton residents. She will be publicising both candidates appeals. But where is the Lib Dem appeal....come on Lib Dems!

EARLS COURT RESIDENTS versus SOUTH AFRICAN DEVELOPERS AND COUNCILS

Earls Court residents launch legal proceedings against development. The West Kensington and Gibbs Green Tenants and Residents Associations have launched legal proceedings against the planning policy underpinning the Earl’s Court scheme.


They claim the adoption of the Earl’s Court/West Kensington Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) and by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) was unlawful.

The claim was served on EC Properties, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Capital and Counties Properties (Capco); Transport for London; and the Mayor of London’s Office/Greater London Authority.

“The defendants have failed to follow the correct procedures in adopting their regeneration plans despite receiving several warnings from residents and others that their actions were unlawful,” said Michael Webster, a Partner in the City firm representing the residents, Webster Dixon.

“There is an overwhelming objection by the residents to the demolition of their homes for the sake of a private development. The protection of family homes and the welfare of individuals, many of whom are vulnerable, should not be sacrificed for the profits of a billion pound developer.”
The majority of estate residents rejected the plans in a resident survey earlier this year.
Sally Taylor, Chair of West Kensington Tenants and Residents Association, said residents won’t accept demolition.
“This is a close-knit community; there’s nothing wrong with our homes,” she said. “The council’s planning policy is not only immoral, now we have asked the High Court of Justice to declare it unlawful.”

A Hammersmith and Fulham Council Spokesman said: "We have just received notification of this claim and the matter is currently being considered by our lawyers."
In a statement Capco said: “An application for a judicial review of the local authorities’ Supplementary Planning Document for the Earls Court Opportunity Area has been made by certain residents of the Gibbs Green and West Kensington Estates who are opposed to the council’s plans.

"Capco has been notified as an interested party but this is a matter for RBKC and LBHF to consider. We believe the SPD and our respective planning applications made in June of last year will deliver huge benefits and command considerable public support. The applications are in line with the adopted Core Strategies and planning policies of the local authorities. We look forward to their consideration in due course.”

POOTER SLEUTHING

Anonymous said......

 

"Senior social work managers from K and C (who under the tri-Borough agreement are now responsible for supervising cases of social workers from H and F) are unable to access the files of vulnerable children.
K and C and H and F use incompatible computer frameworks to store information.
A utter shambles that is placing service users at increased risk. Why was this fundamental flaw not considered by those with authority previously?"

11 June 2012 09:23

It could not last....

Just when the Dame felt Pooter was turning a corner- supporting brave initiatives, such as 'Buffy' Buckmaster's civic award scheme, she finds him up to his old Stasi style tricks....

This comment about the inability of social workers to cross-access vulnerable childrens' files should have driven Pooter to take the whip to the K&C IT Dept.

But what are they forced to do instead? From on high the IT Department has been told to divert precious resources to discover who might be in contact the Dame.

K&C IT DEPT HUNTING DOWN LEAKS

If the Dame did not know this puffed up man so well she might think him suffering from paranoia. 
For goodness sake....let them get on with their work....not waste time looking for 'reds under the bed'. Councillors and officers all contact the Dame. It is known as their democratic right......

PRAISE WHERE PRAISE IS DUE...The Dame praises Pooter

There are those of you who delight in mischief making between The Dame and the Leader. Well, this time The Dame will surprise you: she is about to praise him for wholeheartedly getting behind a brilliant community building idea. It is exactly the sort of idea that Rock Feilding-Mellen should have come up. She is hoping that she will be put back on the Mayor Making Invitation List she was so cruelly excluded from!

Good Thinking Leader!

The Mayor of our Borough plays a politically neutral role in his Mayoral Year...an age old tradition allowing him to come up with ideas that benefit the entire community- without politics rearing it's ugly head.

Cllr Buckmaster and his Deputy Mayor, Cllr Borwick have come up with a cracking good idea:one which got immediate support from all councillors-Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem.

The Mayor's idea was an award to thank the many in our Borough who had worked hard for their community in this Jubilee/Olympic Year-and to tie into the City Living, Local Life philosophy.

Well done, Mr Mayor and Deputy....a brilliant concept.

It's just the sort of initiative that binds councillors of all political persuasions together. For once, The Dame congratulates Cllr Cockell for giving his unwavering support to the idea.

But let's not just leave this brainwave to our councillors....let us all think of someone we know deserving of recognition and send his/her name to the Mayor's Office. mayor@rbkc.gov.uk

Blinged Up Mayor

THE DAME GETS DEEP DOWN AND DIRTY AT ST QUINTIN

The Dame sometimes has to get 'deep down and dirty' in 'digging' for the truth in our Rotten Borough. She has had  some interesting titbits about contaminated soil at the St Quintin Centre. She needs to know much more please....


Come on officers....we know that you can spill the beans. You could comment here, or you could drop The Dame a discreet email at her 'drop box' dameathome@yahoo.co.uk.

TRI BOROUGH TRIBULATIONS AND A 3.5% TAX REDUCTION FROM H&F

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

GREENHALGH IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW!

The Dame is cross with Stephen...
He is quoted in the Standard thus...  "I didn’t expect that there was an expectation that the Commissioner attended every police and crime committee"

Maybe not EVERY meeting, but surely your FIRST!

Incidentally, The Dame wants to know whether Stephen, Eric Pickles and Lord Strathclyde, the philandering boss of the Lords, are related...They are all VAST! 
One could be forgiven for thinking that they have been entertained too much by Dear Leader Pooter Cockell..... 
The Dame is planning a 'Guess Their Weight Competition'...
Lord Salisbury has offered one of his Prize pigs to the winner.......

 
"The first meeting by London’s new Deputy Mayor for Policing descended into chaos today after he admitted he had told Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe not to attend.

London Assembly members were given just eight minutes’ warning that the Commissioner would not be available to answer questions at Stephen Greenhalgh’s first police and crime committee meeting.
Former Hammersmith council leader Mr Greenhalgh, who was appointed by Boris Johnson three weeks ago, said he had instructed Mr Hogan-Howe not to attend the meeting because he thought he was too busy.
He said: “I’m very new to the job… I didn’t expect that there was an expectation that the Commissioner attended every police and crime committee… I think his primary role is to keep London safe.”

Greenhalgh

Pickles

Strathclyde