POOOTER COCKELL' S NEW COMPANY, CRATUS FORCED TO APOLOGISE & PAY DAMAGES

Accident prone Cratus is in more trouble following upon Bob Neill's failure to declare his directorship.

Cratus has had to pay SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGES for making defamatory  Twitters about green belt campaigners fighting to save Cherkley Court.

Pooter Cockell's co director,tubby Nick Kilby, has had to make abject apologies and pay out chunky damages.




What with this and the issues over Bob Neill, the Dame wonders how long it will be before Pooter and Cratus part company.....

A READER WRITES ABOUT THOMAS JONES SCHOOL

HARD WORKING THOMAS JONES PUPIL

It seems that the Council has form for using slimy ways to close schools like Parkwood Hall.

Thomas Jones School has an excellent reputation and, until thwarted by grassroots action, was facing the threat of closure and the site being sold off to some property developer.

A reader, presumably Scottish, writes....

My dear Dame 

It has to be remembered that closing schools using faulty data has a long history in this rotten borough. RBKC made concerted efforts to close
Thomas Jones School, St. Mark's Road, W11 on the grounds of falling numbers on the roll and government edict. The grubby attempt was seen off by vigorous grassroots action and it later became evident that the number of children in the catchment area was in fact rising. Thomas Jones is a particular asset to the area as it is on one level and thus highly suitable for children with special needs --- this argument cut little ice with the RBKC however -- they probably had a buyer for the site lined up... Thomas Jones School continues to be a gem, thank heavens....http://www.thomasjonesschool.org/about-us.html

PipPip!! Keep up the good work

I remain yours, a committed member of the awkward squad

Kerr M'Udgeon

 

POOTER COCKELL IN MIDST OF CRATUS STORM

It seems that the new chairman of Cratus has some firefighting to do. 
Pooter Cockell got the job through his old mate, sacked Junior Minister, Bob Neill so this is the time for Pooter to repay favours....

HAPLESS BOB

Some troublemakers are accusing Bob of not having declared his role at Cratus and FIERY WORDS are being exchanged.
It also appears that Cratus is not a member of the recognised industry standards body, APPC.
APPC has strict rules on declarations so that's alright then.


Will Pooter Cockell ride to the rescue of his old mate? 

A LYING COUNCIL....ROCK FEILDING MELLEN PLANNED TO KICK OUT VULNERABLE CHILDREN

Protecting the weak used to be an old fashioned Tory quality.

So when this council pretended it wanted to improve Parkwood Hall School what they meant was they intended to kick out the happy and settled children and convert the building into over one hundred apartments. 
And another plan involved taking a wrecking ball to this fine building and building over one hundred houses!

KICKING OUT VULNERABLE CHILDREN

If you don't believe the Dame just take a look at the plans Michael Clark and Rock Feilding -Mellen submitted to Sevenoaks District Council.
They are all HERE

Rock Feilding-Mellen needs his silly arse kicked very hard if he thought he could get away with this ruthless piece of Socially Conscious-less development.






Feilding-Mellen.....you are a disgusting piece of work. You should leave vulnerable children alone and go and play with your step father's assets. You even got beaten up by the Norfolk Bumpkins!

PARKWOOD HALL SCHOOL....CHILDREN BEFORE PROFIT, PLEASE

An insider has tipped off the Dame about what really lies behind the Council's ambition to stop Parkwood Hall School slipping from their avaricious grasp....and it makes perfect sense.


The Dame, being rather naive old lady, thought the referral of the Foundation Trust plan was driven by the Education Department's concern over the school's business plan.



The Dame was wide of the mark. 
She now hears it was Council's Property Services Dept which organised the referral!

So, if the Dame has been correctly briefed, it means that the Council can only organise a 'spoiler' by pushing through  a change to admissions criteria. 
Were they to do this it would lead to the school becoming unsustainable and face closure. 


For the Council that would be a very happy outcome.
It would mean it could flog off the land for tens of millions.

Six months ago the Family and Children's Services were told by property moguls, Rock F-M and his gofer, Michael Clark, to approach Sevenoaks Council to re-designate the land from green belt to housing; they were told to take a hike.
But then another option emerged. 
Maybe the school could be pushed into becoming an academy?
They would then lease back part of the land to the Academy and land bank the rest, pending a release of the land for building.

But whatever the council does it's clear the children of this fine school are of secondary consideration and money the prime motivation for any objections to a status change.

PARKWOOD HALL SCHOOL SAVED FROM K&C DEVELOPERS

HAPPY BOY!

The Dame is puzzled.

She has just received this press release from Parkwood Hall School.
It quotes the chairman of the Board of Governors expressing delight the school's residential provision can continue after it becomes a Foundation school.

So why is the silly old Dame puzzled? 

Maybe because the school, with no PR team, can put out a statement whilst Mr Fitzpatrick's £450,000 a year 'hot shot' PR team seem unable....

Then she remembered....maybe they were "all hands to the pump", writing a press release 'celebrating' a 'UFO landing in a car park' or one announcing a new 'frog trail' in Holland Park.

It would be very foolish if the Council attempted to overturn the decision of the Adjudicator: after all it was it not the council who originally referred the school to his office?

Mr Bob Walkington, Chair of Governors, commented: 

“Parkwood Hall Special School helps children from London and the South East who have moderate and/or severe learning difficulties and autism to achieve their full potential and to learn to be as independent as possible through its excellent day and residential learning.  We are pleased that the Adjudicator has approved our plans to become a Foundation Trust and to work with our partners for the benefit of our current and future pupils’ education.”  

Could this have been driving the Council's determination to thwart the School's ambitions to detach itself from the council

BALLS AND HIS CRUDE TAX

Watching Ed Balls, a one time FT Economics editor, facing off against George Osborne is always deeply embarrassing. 
He just seems so short on facts and blusters his way through

Apart from a brief spell on the FT, his property portfolio was built up through various taxpayer funded jobs.
Balls has never created wealth or jobs but has always leeched off the State. 
Odd, too,  for a socialist to have been so friendly with the crook, Conrad Black, that he would cadge lifts on his Gulfstream!
For all these reasons he would find it difficult to empathise with those who have struggled to buy their homes.

THUGGISH LOOK

There is something of the schoolyard bully about the man.....vividly shown during a friendly charity match when he viciously elbowed a journalist.


So no surprise his bullying property tax proposal is lazily constructed and clearly designed 'on the hoof'.

He says the proceeds of his tax will go towards funding the NHS. 
Does he not understand the root problems of the NHS are of too much third rate management and squandered money?

A prime example being the case of Joan Hanham of this parish reported HERE

Anyway, back to his property tax.....

K&C, over the last couple of decades has become a haven for 'dark & dirty money' from third world countries: countries you wouldn't want your gap year daughter sending postcards from.
Neither Labour or Conservative governments have tried to vet or stem these inflows of stolen money so the net effect has been to distort the values of quite ordinary two bedroom flats in our Borough.
Those likely to be hit badly by this tax are the eighty five year old age group who RBKC predict will grow from 2,800 to 4,100 over the next 20 years. 
Similarly, the sixty five to eighty four year old group who will grow from 16,000 to 19,000. All are mainly retired on fixed incomes.
They won't wish to rollup the tax and will be forced to sell their only asset and move from a place they love.
And who will benefit from this fire sale of homes by the income poor?
None other than more crooked off shore investors. 
They must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of this windfall.

What a balls up.

NICK PAGET-BROWN ON THE STOMP

Say what one likes about Nick Paget-Brown he does what few other council leaders do and gets out and about, at least listening to what people have to say.

Certainly, his predecessor, Pooter Cockell made clear his disdain for the views of residents.

And imagine the self opinionated Moylan bothering.

The Dame always saw Paget-Brown as the best choice of leader principally because he does listen and is a decent human being.

But, the Dame hauls him up on the iniquitous and unfair property tax proposed by bully boy Balls.
Paget-Brown should continue to campaign against this tax: he started well and needs to continue.
It will ruin the lives of many residents at the bottom end of the threshold.

Council Leader Paget-Brown has been planning the fifth of his Ask Nick Q&A events for residents, local businesses and community groups.

Having held previous Ask Nick events in St. Charles Sixth Form College, Chelsea Theatre, St. Cuthbert’s Centre and a hotel off High Street Kensington, the event is back in the north of the borough at the Dalgarno Trust’s centre.

All councillors, particularly those for the nearby wards are welcome to attend.

You may also wish to pass on information about this event to your constituents or any local businesses and groups in the area. Attached you will find a flier with the details of the event that you can use.

Alternatively, feel free to provide us with contact details of any residents or groups that you think would be interested and we will be happy to get in touch with them with information about the event.

The details for the event are as follows:

Ask Nick Five

Tuesday 21 October - 6.30pm to 8pm (tea for early birds at 6pm)

Dalgarno Community Centre, Dalgarno Way, London W10 5LE

As space is limited, we ask that all those wishing to attend book a place by visiting:

www.rbkc.gov.uk/asknick or to call 020 7598 4633.

For more information about the venue and for directions, please visit:www.dalgarnotrust.org.uk

ASSET STRIPPING

PARKWOOD HALL SCHOOL

Why has the Council been so keen to prevent the very highly regarded special needs school, Parkwood Hall, from gaining Foundation status?


The Dame poses the question in all innocence and would dearly know the truth behind the school's desire to go it alone.

Anyway, reading this REPORT it would seem the council has lost the battle and the school can now plan its own future.

One reason for the council's objection to the planned status change was that a valuable property asset, which could have been disposed of for millions(yes, it sits on lots of prime development acres), is now out of its reach.....or is the old Dame being a bit of a cynic?
After Thamesbrook anything is possible....

WHY DESTROY HOMES THAT WORK AND BEAUTIFY LIVES? PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT PLEASE

DO NOT DESTROY!

Dear Dame Hornet

What is 'progress' today in our much loved Royal Borough? It is a serious question for our Councillors, particularly when it concerns the future of 'people, their community and homes' - in our case Chesterton Square and Broadwood Terrace. 

Chesterton Square and Broadwood Terrace are above the council offices in Pembroke Road and the main depot. We have homes we love, gardens and balconies that add greatly to the quality of our lives - and perhaps most of all we feel safe and secure here. There are people who have lived here for more than 30 years.

The Square and Terrace are unique and iconic - a view shared by 20th Century Society, Kensington Society, ESSA, Earl's Court Society and a growing number of people. They are quite simply gardens in the sky.

Our homes are now, potentially, under threat of demolition and development . Consultants were appointed in 2013 to look at various ways the whole site (along Warwick Road and both sides of Pembroke Road) might be used in the future - mainly because of less use of the offices by the council and a question mark over the future of the depot. The results of that study are now out.

There are four options outlined - one of which, Option 4.1 to.4.4, suggests complete demolition and a brand new development. And, it doesn't have to be this way!

There are other options that would save our homes and protect our community. No decision have yet been made and so this is the right time to look at the project with fresh eyes and creative thoughts. 

We are not opposed to progress. But we are opposed to yet more luxury developments in Kensington and Chelsea bought by overseas owners for investment, They seldom use their properties and take no part in the community life of our neighbourhoods. 

And so Councillors, particularly members of the Cabinet, please say NO to Option 4. 
People matter and safe, strong communities are vital. 
They have an significant impact on our health and quality of life in general - and don't we all deserve that? 
People please on this one before profits!!

Kind regards
Annie Redmile 

EX RBKC OFFICER ON THAMESBROOK

Every so often" Worked at RBKC" writes a commentary on topics the Hornet's Nest has written about.

Only the likes of Matthew Palmer could ever say they were not balanced and fair. 
Sometimes WARBKC will round on the Dame if he/she think she is being unfair so this latest comment deserves to be taken as being pretty balanced......


It's a pity that Thamesbrook has been closed, it used to offer excellent care and was a very well managed home with an excellent staff team.

Not long after she was appointed to RBKC I had the misfortune to meet Stella Baillie. In conversation I said something about the portfolio of services for older people she had inherited and how good they were. She looked at me in horror and said she would be closing them all as soon as possible. I was shocked and asked why you would want to close something that was good, had an excellent reputation and performed well and her response was that councils didn't provide services, they were too much trouble for someone like her and she would be getting rid of them. 

Over some years I watched her do just that, picking them off one at a time, day centres, homes, supported housing, home care and then there was only Thamesbrook which was the jewel in the crown left. 

She let that fall in to a state of decay, failed to appoint an appropriate manager when a long standing one left and standards fell. She then brought back the manager who had closed Edenham for her with a remit to close Thamesbrook, that failed and the manager left RBKC saying there were no grounds to close an excellent home.

Finally the legionella lie as it should be known was invented. Legionella in drinking water?? Did they not do their research properly? It only occurs in stored water and any drinking supply is mains fed. Even it it is in stored water it is only a hazard in vapour in for example a shower as any hotel manager will tell you. If the shower is used regularly and the system cleaned it is not a hazard at all. 

If there was legionella in the drinking water in Dovehouse Street it was a worldwide first and surely Dovehouse Street residents and the Royal Brompton would have been affected too? Surely this new threat to well being could not have been only confined to Thamesbrook which conveniently Stella Baillie had a long term ambition to close? In any event, as before legionella does not occur in mains water supplies which are too cold for it to survive in so the 'legionella lie' is exactly what it was. 

At least one head should roll but surely too should those of the councillors stupid enough to be taken in by this, have they forgotten their responsibility to question and scrutinise? Or did they not have the intelligence to do that?

It's very sad that a public body can lie so blatently and no doubt they will continue to get away with it. I'm more glad every day that I'm not there any more.

NOT SUCH A STELLAR PERFORMANCE, STELLA!

Finding out people are liars is never a pleasant experience: finding your council is populated by liars is just as miserable an experience.

A VICTIM OF LIES

For years the elderly residents of Thamesbrook enjoyed the tranquility and security of this fine home.
Suddenly, some months ago, residents were told that legionella had been found in one water tank and they would be moved out for three months during treatment.

But one perplexed expert told the Dame, "it takes about four hours to treat legionella in a water supply in a building like Thamesbrook; there is no need to move anyone out".

The three months are up and rather than residents moving back staff are now being issued with redundancy notices. 

Nothing exposes better the cynical disregard for the truth that surrounds Thamesbrook.
There was never any intention of moving residents back to their much loved home and doubtless soon the building will be offered to some spivvy offshore property developer.

So who is Stella Baillie? 
Since her appointment Baillie has decimated services for older people by closing services that allowed people dignity and independence.
These are people with dementia, and often with continence problems, forced to endure daily bus rides in excess of two hours because services have been cut.
That is wrong especially in a borough noted for its profligate waste.

RBKC used to offer excellent services...but, no longer. 
The excuse? We have no money. 
Yet this is one of the world's richest borough's with reserves of over £100 millions, created through over taxation. It spends millions on Opera Holland Park and re-paving Exhibition Rd in Chinese marble, yet cannot be bothered to look after the frail and elderly.

The Dame is now going to be very cruel. 
Some councillors do the job because they care; others for money( are you there Pooter?) and some because they like to splash taxpayer's money around on glamour projects to show off and feel self important

What breed of councillor do you have?

AVOID THE JUDGE FROM LEXHAM GARDENS....HE'S BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH

More on the *Eejit Judge Lochrane, our Lexham Gardens neighbour. 

EEJIT LOCHRANE

This is the judge who allowed a social worker to use Facebook to show off her success with him, but sends a loving father to jail.....



The Eejit  is on the management committee of his building at 64 Lexham Gardens so be careful not to be contemptuous of him(very tempting) in case he sends you down for twenty eight days.

This is an account of how The Eejit treated an innocent man suffering from chronic heart disease.
In 2007 Garry Johnson's ex wife claimed that he was mentally unfit to look after his children.
Years later Johnson sent a Facebook birthday greetings to his now 21 year old son.

Judge Eejit ordered Johnson to attend Basildon Magistrates Court.
Conveniently, he was not told that by sending a birthday greeting he might end up in jail; nor was he told that he should have a lawyer.
Despite knowing the man was 'heart attack prone'  Eejit  in a secret 30 minute hearing, decided to send him to prison for 28 days.
This order expired when the boys reached the age of 18 but 
the gagging order, which would usually expire at the same time, has not been lifted.....and, of course, Lochrane failed to find this out.
In the cells Johnson suffered his fifth heart attack and was rushed by ambulance to the Cardiac Arrest Dept.
Presumably, under instructions from Lochrane, he was chained to his bed and a 24 hour watch kept by prison officers. 
When he sufficiently recovered he was dragged off to Chelmsford Prison.

Now this is the interesting bit....

The enormity of 'Eejit' 's   Stalinist style behaviour came to light ONLY when Johnson's sons,  Sam and Adam,18 and 21 respectively (and the objects of the gagging order) contacted the Daily Mail in disgust at Eejit's petty nastiness.

Son, Sam Johnson, a telesales manager, told the Daily Mail: "My dad is a good father and has never been in trouble with the police. He was treated like a criminal. 

"This ludicrous gagging order should not exist and must now be lifted. Both Adam and myself are adults. 

"This cruel ruling is now hanging over my father to silence him about the sons he loves for the rest of his life. 

That is a terrible thing in what is meant to be a free country."

MP for Basildon and Billericay, John Baron, told the Daily Mail: "I have helped Mr Johnson and his sons – who always wanted to live with him – over several years. 

To find he has been imprisoned for sending a birthday message to one of them is troubling."

* EEJIT, a good Irish expression for a 'fecking idiot'

JUDGE LOCHRANE OF LEXHAM GARDENS

STOP PRESS:
The Dame is going to report this jackass judge to the Lord Chancellor for not summoning his fellow Irish person for contempt of court

What is it about the Family Courts? 

The judges seem real third raters incapable of making a living at the Bar and delighting in the secrecy afforded by the Family Court system.

The Dame referred the other day to the case of the social worker who, on Facebook, boasted how she persuaded a Family Court judge to break up a family. 

She went to gloat that the judge had given the parents ‘a real bollocking’ and that destroying the family had been ‘the pinnacle of her career’.

As a result the family in question were easily identifiable.

Now one might have thought the judge in question, who had jailed a father (suffering from a critical cardiac condition) for sending a birthday card to his son, would have sent this harridan of a social worker down for contempt….but not a bit of it.

So for those who thinking this has nothing to do with K & C think again and indulge the old Dame.

A TWIT AND A POMPOUS BULLY

This pompous, bullying arse of a judge is none other than Lexham Gardens resident, Damien Lochrane.

Lochrane,doubtless no great shakes at Pump Court, must have jumped at the chance of becoming a Essex Circuit judge.

Oh yes, and he loves to boast that he founded BLAG (Bar Lesbian and Gay Group). 

So what? 

There are many highly successful gay lawyers, but they don’t go boring on about it. 

They just get on with their lives.

If ever there was there was a reason for cleaning up the Family Courts this twit is a very good one.

K&C TMO THREATENS CHELSEA RESIDENT ASSOCIATIONS

Dear Dame, 

In light of recent articles on the Sutton Estate I thought your readers might appreciate an update on the other example of attempted "social engineering" in the heart of Chelsea. 

As your readers are no doubt aware those living in the western-most corner of Chelsea were treated to an "interesting" summer thanks to Council-inspired proposals to build a Crossrail 2 station on the site of the Cremorne estate. Proposals that would have resulted in the estate's demolition and the forced relocation of its residents. The locals - residents and neighbours of the estate alike - did not take particularly kindly to the proposals, on which they had never been properly consulted by the Council. They mobilised quickly and campaigned to generate a massive and unequivocal response to the TfL consultation then underway. Sadly it appears that the Council haven't taken particularly kindly to this turn of events. 

At a recent meeting of the Kings Road Association of Chelsea Residents those who campaigned against the proposals were referred to as "trolls, troublemakers and activists" by the Leader of the Council. You would have hoped such churlish comments would be beneath both the Council and the Leader, but sadly it appears not.

News of the proposals had originally leaked from within Kensington and Chelsea TMO, the company managing the Council's housing. This would not have been appreciated by the Council and the TMO now appears intent on making amends by crippling the estate's Residents Association. The TMO have written to the Association notifying it that all future communication must be made in writing through its complaints department and that any attempts to contact individual members of staff, including the housing officers and technical staff responsible for the estate, will simply be ignored. Members of staff have confirmed an edict from above to that effect: do not communicate with the Cremorne Estate Residents Association, force them to put everything in writing, cause delay, slow everything down, wear the residents out. An interesting stance for a supposedly "resident led" housing management company whose shareholders include many of the estate's residents!

All in all not what one would have hoped from either the Council or the TMO. Some might be inclined to suggest that it would be wiser for them all to sit down, ponder what happened and attempt to re-open the lines of communication but I fear that they have already taken a leaf out of the "Housing Association's Regeneration Handbook" (currently on loan to Affinity Sutton) and consider antagonising the locals further a more appropriate strategy. 

This is not behaviour befitting the Royal Borough. We are all being let down.

Yours

Peeved and disappointed of Chelsea

THE 'GREED RULES' IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

In the harsh, unforgiving world of private enterprise the price of failure is a hard boot up the backside, but not in the weird world of Boris Johnson.....

Danny 'Boys' Moylan has screwed up every job he has ever been given. 

It took just a few months for the other member of the Olympic Legacy committee to ease him out and the word is that as Aviation Adviser he alienated most of the MP's and other influencers he attempted to lobby.

But his new appointment 'overseeing' the Second Crossrail scheme is all about income replacement and the curious hold he has over the Mayor.

MR GREEDY!

The Dame has reported that Moylan has managed to machinate his way into non exec directorships with both Crossrail and TfL grossing him close to £60,000 a year and a further £75,000 as Aviation Adviser.
Then are other scraps such as his £11,000 a year for being an absentee councillor on K&C....all in all around £150,000 a year. And we must not forget the c £30,000 he gets as non exec of the two failed property trusts.

Not bad for a man who failed in every job Boris gave him.
But now we need to know what more he is being given in this new job.
The Dame calculates that his income could now be over £190,000 a year!
Who says there is no money being a little local councillor!

BARKING MAD COUNCIL NEEDS FRAMEWORKS4CHANGE

This very unpleasant looking thing on the left is Siobhan Condon, the social worker who on Facebook bragged about her Family Court role in the removal of three children from their parents.  

This vile and spiritually ugly woman said it was the most “amazing and extraordinary moment in my career” 

So crass was Condon that her comment allowed the family to be identified.

This all happened whilst working for Essex County Council. 

Instead of the uselessly thick judge hauling her up for contempt of court he left it to Essex County Council, who after much persuasion, got rid of her

That, you might have thought, would have been the end of the story; after all, the leather clad monster had been all over the national press so one assumed her career was over.

Not a bit of it.... Barking and Dagenham decide to employ her-despite her being found guilty of professional misconduct and being in every national newspaper!

Of course, no one at Barking and Dagenham Council will get fired and this vile apology for a social worker has doubtless been sent home on full pay.

Maybe our old friend Andy'the Guru' Bradley, needs to give her some of his 'compassion training'!

What a joke these councils are....