"WE HAVE LOADS OF MONEY LEFT"

Ironic that Cllr Lightweight, authors 'We Have No Money Left' yet languidly allow the ludicrous Tot Brill and her gang to waste hundreds of thousands of pounds on her folie de grandeur projects. Typical economist!

Tot, in salary and pension etc, costs the taxpayer over £150,000 a year.....not bad for someone who started out making puppets!
Below, are examples of what she commissioned to 'celebrate' Exhibitionist Rd (odd how this Council is always-with our money-celebrating some useless thing or other)

The Dame's finance man is now calculating the overall costs of the Exhibitionist Rd fiasco, but to give an example of just one idiocy:the lavishly and expensively produced book, 'Road Stories' is now a 'collectible'-the thousands of others...pulped!

As for the little radio seen here...well, it was never used. Appropriately enough, like the road, it was 'Made in China.'

CONSIGNED TO THE LANDFILL

FEAR STALKS THE TOWN HALL CORRIDORS

A psephologist from The Dame's political Think Tank has considered the Rotherham results..........

Here's what he thinks...

.....Nigel Farage is all pumped up by a set of by election results that can't be written off as the 'mid term blues' effect. 
Thanks to the splendid splenetic rhetoric of the formidable Dame, RBK&C Tories are beginning wake from decades long slumber and ponder whether the Majority Party are fit for purpose. 
At local elections UKIP traditionally fare badly.... principally because they put up god awful candidates. 
But, with the UKIP bandwagon rolling, better quality candidates will emerge-candidates that might resonate with tired Tories.
The Dame has met Mr Farage a couple of times. She was surprised to hear him boasting he intended to target some flagship Tory councils mentioning the Rotten Borough as a prime target.
Was this just the claret speaking? Whether it was or not-it should strike fear into some of our lazy, unfit for purpose, Tory councillors. It should militate them to get rid of Pooter asap and replace him with someone carrying less Virgin Upper Class baggage.

FARAGE

........versus......

LORD 'POOTER' COCKELL

RBK&C MYSTERY MAN

The Dame is very interested in Mr Clarke....who is this man? What are his qualifications, how much is he paid and what was his 'previous'? 
He certainly seems a self important chappie, judging from the comment made by The Dame's friend, Tired Tory Councillor.

RBKC PROPERTY TYCOON

Tired Tory Councillor30 November 2012 07:24

Don't be silly 06.08, all the Council wants 

is PERMISSION to 

build another supersuperprime development, so that they can 

bump up the price when Thames Water/whoever comes 

knocking.

This is the work of Property Director Clark, who would gladly 

sell his granny with one hand while playing 'Find the Lady' 

with the other. He appears to work hand in glove with property 

developers, is empire-building and very sharp indeed - while 

treating Councillors with utter contempt as the dupes and 

idiots many of them are.


Clark arrives at external meetings with an entourage of up to 

eight officers who have no idea why they are there. They just 

sit there feigning interest, while bolstering his ego and 

authority.

POOTER BARKS 'WHARF, WHARF' AT BORIS

According to one of the Dame's many Hornton Street sources Pooter Cockell boasts that when he tells Mayor Boris to jump Boris asks, "How high?" 
"Lord in Waiting" Pooter Cockell has commanded the Mayor to 'wait upon him' when the mayor  returns from his fun trip to India. 
Pooter is under increasing attack for taking £1300 a week from RBK&C taxpayers for doing nothing.
So to prove how busy he is Pooter phones City Hall and orders Boris to drop his safeguarding of Cremorne Wharf Pier. If successful Pooter can then flog the land off to one of his Hong Kong friends. 

CREMORNE WHARF PIER

Boris has always seen Pooter as the Captain Mainwaring of local government, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to Pooter's threat....hopefully Boris will tell the jumped up little chap to jump in the Thames.

NEW HOLLAND PARK SCHOOL...A PARENT WRITES...

This £100 million White Elephant has led one parent to make this interesting observation....


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "AN ACADEMIC QUESTION?": 

Interesting comments about "bonaparte" Hall. 

"I along with several hundred other Holland Park parents were forced to put on plastic overshoes before we were 
allowed to tour the hallowed building on Monday evening. The building, though pristine gives the impression that you are a small cog in a massive machine. Unfortunately, there are still no lockers or anywhere for the pupils to leave books or coats during the day. The lunch hall is a massive failure, the 30 minute lunch-break means that there is not enough time to serve or seat everyone, including packed lunchers so my child goes hungry. The pupils have seating plans for each classroom and even the assembly hall, in case anyone damages one of the famous chairs or tables. A crisp littering incident last week in an RE classroom led to a major crisis, with Hall called and his PAs summoned to gather evidence and track down possible suspects from the seating plans!" 

ALL DRESSED UP BUT NOWHERE TO GO?

1. When the Dame reads a comment from 'Person Familiar 
   
   with The Situation' she drops everything and rushes to 
   
   find her tortoiseshell lorgnette. 
   
   Who is this secret admirer of the Dame? He/she seems  
   
   bien branche( the Dame has an English language 
   
   typewriter) with the affairs of our very Rotten Borough?  
   
   Anyway, rarely is PFWTS wrong so we had better be 
   
   fearful......
   
   Here is an artist's impression of Br'um Boy with The 
   
   Queen.... 
   
   His great friend, Buffy Buckmaster, is tutoring him in
   
   matters of etiquette....
   

   
   

   
   

   

   Queen

   
   

   
   

   Person Familiar with The Situation28 November 2012 05:49

   
   

   
   
   
   "The ball is in play and the situation is very 
   
   unstable. Cllr Cockell wants to hang on to his SRA as Leader of K&C 
   
   but is finding that he has less and less time (and diary clashes) 
   
   because of his main job at the Local Government Association. He is 
   
   hoping for a second chance at the House of Lords and is using his 
   
   friends to lobby David Cameron - elevation would ease a loss of 
   
   earnings from K&C and provide the status and pomp that he yearns 
   
   for. For the time being he needs to keep his options open and does 
   
   not want the boat to rock before May 2013 when he needs to commit 
   
   for another year in Hornton Street. Cockell realises that Cllr Moylan is 
   
   the wild card. Unhappy and marginalised at the GLA, Moylan is 
   
   starting to feel that he needs to find new pastures. And he is quite 
   
   capable of a unilateral challenge to Cockell for the Leadership of K&C, 
   
   something that he did before losing by only a single vote. And that was 
   
   the Chairman's casting vote. Cockell understands the threat and has 
   
   offered Moylan the position of Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea in 
   
   2013. This would remove the threat for one more year. It is not known 
   
   if Cllr Moylan has accepted the offer"

   
   
2. 
   Owl28 November 2012 05:55

   Once again democracy and the interests of voters is subordinated to the personal machinations of K&C politicians. This blatant horse trading should be stopped. It is time for an intervention by ex MP and Ward Chairman, Mathew Carrington, Chairman of Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives. Mathew is a person of integrity and this kind of thing should not be happening on his watch

B'RUM BOYO NOT INTERESTED IN COUNTRYSIDE

Speaking at some obscure journalistic awards dinner, Danny Br'um Boyo Moylan, was reported as saying, in a warlike vein,...'Bring it on. Let’s have all those proposals on the table for an airport in east London."

COUNTRYSIDE HATER?

Br'um Boyo then underscored his Birmingham roots by sneering at lovers of the countryside saying, "I am not the least bit interested in the countryside."

Moylan has a tendency to alienate those he has to work with, but to tell a nation of countryside lovers he has no interest in it-and by implication, prefers to concrete it over is damned silly.

Could this be the reason he was 'moved on' from the Olympic Legacy chair? Sources close to the Dame understand that Boris was getting fed up with complaints from colleagues who found B'rum Boyo a pill.

The tendency to piss everybody off was nowhere more clearly demonstrated than in a recent survey of MPs.

The majority scorned Norman Foster’s £50 billion Thames Estuary Hub proposal, the floating airport and Ken Shuttleworth’s plan to create a new four-runway Stansted mega-hub. 

Instead, the majority went for the Heathrow expansion option. Br'um Boyo was in charge of this failed lobbying exercise..... the results speak for themselves. 
Winning hearts and minds is not a Moylan specialism:without that gift you become a 'has been' politician.

But telling the world that he has no interest in the countryside is bizarre. 
Time for the Dame to make an appointment with Doc 'The Fracker' Tannock?(BTW Doc...still no promised 'noise' from your brief over the Sunday Times story)

EX HEDGE FUNDER PROPOSES TO SUPERTAX THOSE ON LOW INCOMES!

Big mouth Kwasi Kwarteng is atypical of much of the new MP intake...he just can't resist any opportunity, however poorly judged, to get into the press.

NEEDS A PROPER JOB

Apart from working as a financial analyst for 'Committed Christian' hedgie, Crispin Odey, (who built the fabled £130,000 henhouse-very Christian!) Kwasi has never had a proper job-unless you count shorting stocks.

Kwarteng knows nothing of the travails of ordinary working people, thus no surprise he is an avid supporter of the Cable plan. The plan would force the elderly-often income poor, but asset comfortable, to sell their homes: it is a form of social cleansing unknown previously in this country.

But, in his pursuit of this daft property tax our brainbox overlooks a sequential effect..... landlords will pass the tax onto their tenants!

If Kwarteng reads the papers he will know London rental values are rocketing and will continue to do so.

Taxing £1 million/ £2 million homeowners will create a ripple effect: it will force up rental values throughout London. 

Everybody will suffer...... Kwasi Kwarteng should have thought about that before throwing his ample weight behind a crass idea.

LORD POOTER COCKELL COMING VERY SOON!

It seems as if David Cameron might have his uses....
He is to increase the number of Lords and we will see another bunch of political 'has beens' getting their hands on £42,000 a year for 'turning up'. Pooter has persuaded Cameron that he deserves a peerage-just like his mate, Lord Hanningfield of Troughing.

LORD POOTER COCKELL AT DRESS REHEARSAL

So what has this to do with the Rotten Borough? Well, the Conservative group are so enfeebled that they dare not launch a coup to rid themselves of a man who lives so luxuriously off the taxpayer.
Pooter has nowhere to go if he steps down as leader, but the situation changes if Cameron persuades the other political parties to go with his plan to make up another hundred peers....there will then be a place for Pooter

The Lords is one fantastic waste of money. It is ironic Cameron can lecture the Eurocrats on waste, yet inflict one hundred more wastrels on us.

Still, if he grants Pooter his obsessional desire for a peerage it might mean we could, at last, be free of Cockell.

But.....a warning. Pooter will try to persuade the gang that the PM is determined that he, Pooter, should also stay on as Leader in order to..."manage the Tri-Borough merger". Do not be taken in . Show Pooter the door and take his £70k/year off him!

ROCKING THE BOAT

ALL ABOUT ROCK..CLICK ON IT TO ENLARGE

There is nothing a social climbing surburbanite like Pooter loves than mixing with 'The Quality'......he just loves a Lord!
Maybe he is expecting Rock's stepfather, Lord Wemyss, to invite him for a week or two of stalking?  
In pursuit of his lofty social ambitions Pooter takes huge risks. 
One such was placing 16 year old  Rock on the Major Planning Committee!
The Dame already reported how Boy Rock leapt up demanding a Section 106 school in the midst of the the discussions on the Exhibition Centre. Lucky Capco boss, 'Fats' Gordon was not present....he doesn't take that sort of lip from juniors!
Fortunately, lazy old Paul Warrick was sufficiently on the ball to put the young whippersnapper back in his box.

The Dame decided to take a look at some of Rock's non council activities. 
Rock works for a company going under the name of Socially Conscious Capital....(no... they don't give money away)

In his personal blurb Rock stresses the value his councillor work  brings to Socially Conscious Capital....

The Dame thinks Rock is not dishonest: but cynics might wonder what the hell a member of the Cabinet and the Major Planning Committee is doing being involved in property development and advisory. Interesting to note see that his partner is ex Montague Evans. Many of their partners went on to form DP9- now advising Capco....yes, it does get a bit incestuous!

Too much potential conflict...not just her opinion, but that of many of his fellow councillors on all political sides...deal with it Pooter!

RBKC PUMPS IN £45,000 TO SUPPORT ARAB CULTURE

Leaving aside the £27 million or so it cost to build Exhibition Rd,  local taxpayers will be paying a £1 million plus, this year, for the weekly cleaning costs and Tot Brill's extravagantly unsuccessful attempts to promote it during the Olympics.
The Dame's Head of Research will be providing her with details of just how Tot managed to burn a million quid(a little vulgar, Dame? Ed) on her clowns and mechanical elephants.

Not content with that total waste of our money the Rotten Borough has casually handed over £45,000 to support Middle Eastern culture in the UK. 
This is not the Council's role:there is a superfluity of London based organisations doing just that. 
Getting involved in this sort of activity might amuse under-employed councillors, but it is a misuse of money when cuts are savaging basic and essential services. We need to take a sharp look at how much Cultural Services are costing.

The Middle East is flush with oil money: we are not. These sorts of events should be underwritten by the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia.

£45, 000 HIT

Nick Paget Brown attempts to rationalise the spending by saying....." it fosters closer ties and understanding with this part of the world and our Arabic speaking communities in the area"

Pursuing Nick's logic we should be funding an understanding of French culture....after all, the French population in RBK&C is greater than that of Lille and probably substantially greater than the Arab speakers. 
Or how about the Nordic and Slavic populations? How soon will they be demanding handouts for their cultural celebrations?

GET A GRIP NICK! When you are telling residents there is no more money, yet spend it on niche activities people wonder what the hell is going on.

TOP MARKS FOR BUXTON

WELL DONE CLLR BUXTON

Top marks to Cllr Terence Buxton for standing up for residents.....

......and a severe whipping for young Rock Feilding Mellen. 





Desperate to make a name for himself, yet bereft of any knowledge of planning matters, Rock took it upon himself to interject with a 'Stream of Consciousness' idea.

          ROCK F M: THE YOUNG PRETENDER

Rock suddenly demanded that under a Section 106  'Fat Donny' Gordon build the Council a new school.
The cognoscenti know introducing such off the cuff proposals are not acceptable and the lazy Cllr Warrick, chair of the meeting, was forced to sternly reprimand Pooter's bright young hope. 

The Dame hears that Rock will be called to Pooter's vast penthouse  office suite for a severe thrashing.....

TOO MATEY BY HALF!

This is a hard hitting comment from an observer at the planning meeting.

RBKC PLANNERS AND DP9 GROUP HUGGING

Anonymous 11:56 writes





"Were the people mentioned in these allegations Capco associates 

or grateful residents? 

It is important to establish their identity. After the decision had 

been announced, what I witnessed - as did another 

observer known to me who expressed outrage - was a visibly 

delighted Miss Flight giving the thumbs-up sign (why? and to 

whom?) and being kissed and hugged by numerous well-wishers; 

unlikely, I would have thought, to be any of the hundreds of 

objectors agog at the curious proceedings they had just witnessed - 

where slides shown of buildings proposed for (Demolished) 

Exhibition Square were explained away as not a realistic 

representation of what would ultimately be built there. Utterly 

pertinent points from objector and some councillors were glossed 

over without what I consider to be proper and meaningful debate/ 

scrutiny. That, inter alia, the developers should be asked on the 

spot, and after quick discussion, could breezily agree a school be 

built on grounds previously earmarked for other development was 

astonishing. That is is the sort of scenario one expects when 

haggling on a garage forecourt for a discount on a £500 old 

banger.Many residents have expressed their unease to me about the 

neutrality of various key players in these matters. Would it be 

helpful if Mr Bore were invited to go on record stating that he and 

his entire staff have at all times remained totally impartial and 

have not acted in any way that might prejudice the outcome of this 

application or give any unfair advantage to any interested party? 

At the very least, I would suggest Miss Flight's reaction - a giddy 

Oscar winner springs to mind - was ill-judged and utterly 

inappropriate in such sensitive circumstances.

Also Cllr.Warrick expressed surprise to see so many people present' as if knocking down the Exhibition Centre were a small matter of little concern. Some 300 letters of objection had been sent in and yet Cllr. Warrick only allowed 3 minutes to each dissenting speaker. Many gabbled their words.
Doubtless, Cllr Warrick was surprised...he has built up the reputation for being a lazy and thoroughly disinterested councillor, rarely responding to residents. Considering his practice claims to specialise in planning issues one have thought he would have known of the huge interest in this 'issue'....silly fella'!

RBK&C PLANNER MAKES A FLIGHTY OLD EXHIBITION OF HERSELF

FAT DONNY GORDON
CAPCO BOSS

The Dame is an old fashioned thing: some say she stands on ceremony: not true ....but she just likes a bit of old fashioned decorum when it comes to public servants and ‘quick’ Jo'burg property boys…..

The other night Capco got permission from the Rotten Borough to destroy the iconic Earls Court Exhibition Centre (Dame, did not Pooter once commandeer the Mayoral Bentley to pay homage to the boss of Capco?)

According to residents present an odd scene took place. 

When the result was announced a member of the RBK&C Planning Team was treated to a show of affection/admiration by DP9-a planning consultancy retained by Capco. 

The residents present were not just upset a decision had been  taken which would disrupt their lives, but also at the seeming closeness between the RBKC planning officer and what was, in effect, the Capco team.

Now the Dame is even handed so she reports two sides of the story.

Mr Bore, the Director of Planning denies that nothing more happened than.....

"A number of people, including (council?) members, some people in the audience and someone from DP9, came up to her to thank her for her presentation and hard work, but absolutely no one from CAPCO did so".

This is denied by furious residents who have written to their councillors complaining that...

"Planning officer, Alison Flight was seen hugging and kissing members of the Capco team, showing her unreserved delight at their victory”

Who is correct in their perception of events….Mr Bore or the two residents who made the complaint?

Mr Bore admits that a member of the DP9 team did come up to Miss Flight-but no one from Capco. 
Slightly misleading.... DP9  ARE the Capco team. It was insensitive of DP9 to behave as they did and inappropriate for Miss Flight to be so seemingly friendly.

In front of a group of very upset residents DP9 should have understood that approaching a senior planning officer in this way was bound to be controversial.

This is a matter for the Local Government Ombudsman to look into......