In the Royal Borough we tend to moan about the council but do nothing to help ourselves.
A classic example.....basements are the bane of our lives, but when we have a chance to 'shout' we retreat into our shells and leave it to someone else.
Fortunately, there are intrepid and committed residents prepared to do more than sit on the sidelines.
Karl Sternberg, a South Kensington resident, decided to do something about the basement blight.
With other residents and their associations he decided to fight back by launching this great website www.rbjc.co.uk
He needs to get a thousand signatures for their petition- and he cannot do that on his own.
So please go to this link and SIGN NOW .....It will take just seconds....
A classic example.....basements are the bane of our lives, but when we have a chance to 'shout' we retreat into our shells and leave it to someone else.
Fortunately, there are intrepid and committed residents prepared to do more than sit on the sidelines.
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| STERNBERG NOT SITTING BACK! |
Karl Sternberg, a South Kensington resident, decided to do something about the basement blight.
With other residents and their associations he decided to fight back by launching this great website www.rbjc.co.uk
He needs to get a thousand signatures for their petition- and he cannot do that on his own.
So please go to this link and SIGN NOW .....It will take just seconds....
Dear Dame
I am writing to thank you for commending the petition that we have established to improve further the basement blight in the Borough (www.rbjc.co.uk). ‘We’ are some residents in South Kensington; much of the legal background work has been done by another member of the local residents’ association, Sonia Rai, and we have worked with others in streets off the King’s Road.
Many residents associations have been doing great work for years. This petition is not intended to detract from that detailed work, but to give further impetus to the momentum for change. As the Dame knows, the Council has been asleep at the wheel for years, despite the fury and complaints of residents across the Borough. There has been little noticeable improvement over the last seven years. Quite the opposite. Our Borough has become the Wild West of development. Our streets are controlled by developers and building firms. Builders get away with any behaviour they like.
Back in August 2014 our local Councillors in Queen’s Gate took a group of us to see Tim Coleridge and Nick Paget-Brown. We went with a dossier of better procedures employed by other London councils, and a series of specific suggestions for improving construction traffic management, enforcement, and noise and nuisance. The meeting was very encouraging, and our Councillors have continued to hold the feet of the cabinet member and leader to the fire to make progress, beyond the immediate objective of banning mega-basements. There is genuine progress now becoming apparent. CTMPs are being rejected for the first time ever, and there is consultation specifically on Section 60 noise notices.
The Borough is large and there are many resident associations. We wanted to share the work that was getting some traction with as many people as possible. It’s kept as depersonalised as possible because we didn’t want to make it just about our own streets.
It would be great if the Dame’s readers would sign it and spread the word. It’s added power for our hard-working resident associations.
Yours
Karl Sternberg
Clareville Street, SW7
I worked with Sternberg in the City...a former adviser to Oxford University and one of the smartest investment directors in the City.
ReplyDeleteStupid cllrs better watch out
Not the sort of cv that has the first clue about local politics and how to bring about change in Hornton Street
DeleteI worked with Sternberg in the City...a former adviser to Oxford University and one of the smartest investment directors in the City.
ReplyDeleteStupid cllrs better watch out
Councillors need have no worries about this one
DeleteSo says a stupid cllr
DeleteMaybe great in the City but Local Government and local affairs is a different challenge and our whiz kid needs to go back to school. An excellent website and an excellent cause. But only 120 signatures on his petition. MAJOR marketing failure.
ReplyDeleteThe cause needs some vigorous co marketing. Start with the Resident Associations (a personal approach to the Chairmen) and urge them to circulate to their members. And then a personal approach to the Editors of local magazines (eg Lucy at the Kensington) urging readers to do the same. And a personal approach to the Evening Standard to give publicity etc etc.
And ask local Councillors for advice on how to get signatures. Start with those who recently submitted petitions to the Council and ask how they got signatures.
Politics is hard work.
Karl looks so comfortable in his City gear relaxing in his designer chair. Time to roll up his sleeves!
DeleteI am sure he values your little squeaks!
Deletewoof, woof
DeleteI used to know him- picture out of date since he hasn't worked in the City for ages- last i heard he went off to Oxford to do something there
Delete!6.01. It is irrelevant what Sternberg"s occupation is, he is right in what he says. We need bright people like Sternberg to take on the Council. He appears to be a million times more talented than any of the Councillors (whom I have met) elected to serve in the Borough.
DeleteAs usual Shane Carter talks total sense. I have met Sternberg. He is highly intelligent and highly motivated to smash the current corrupt system.
DeleteMore power to his elbow.
I am amazed by the crass comments implying local government requires so
sort of special set of gifts...looking at the awful Pooter proves that you don't
I chair a resident assoc and they made a personal approach to me....I don't suppose I am the only one. These things take time to get traction. It's a great idea. I need to consult my members, but having looked at it there isn't anything we disagree with, and good for them trying one more avenue to exert pressure.
ReplyDeletePull your finger out, Chairman!! Show some leadership
DeleteHis background is irrelevant. He's just as much right to try to mobilise support as anyone else. We all know that some RAs are great; but some are hopeless and tired. The magabasement change was slow to come- strike while the iron is hot to get some additional safeguards. It will get my signature.
ReplyDelete120 signatures isn't many yet. I hope that he has written to association chairs to get their support. In fact none of us can afford for this to fail or the Council will think they have carte blanche. We should help him get some more publicity.
ReplyDeleteI read the RBJC website and the petition, then signed the carefully worded petition.This campaign goes far beyond basements.
ReplyDeleteIn private we all endlessly complain to each other about our corrupt planning system. The story is always the same. Mr Small is refused a simple pair of french window while Mr Big is handed planning permission for a glass extension the size of Marble Arch. At planning committee meetings, officers routinely make the case for their favoured applicants, while providing misinformation to ensure others are refused.
Now is the time for every resident with experience or knowledge of such malpractice to join a campaign to put a stop to it. While the campaign is small at the moment, this is a typical oak tree from acorn situation. When we follow through on decades of dissatisfaction and sign up to the RBJC campaign, things can and will change.
A sizeable residential property in a conservation area nearly fell down a couple of years ago. Remarkably, RBKC's planning record for this building consists of a complete set of fake approved plans.These documents are unavailable on the public website, but can be found on the departmental intranet. The property owners were allowed to patch up the building; no questions asked. So that's all right then.
ReplyDeleteAt last residents private and social standing up for what is right. Why do residents have to go to these lengths to be heard. Its no wonder people can be bothered to vote , when all they are fed - by an impotent head of planning - is the same old daily bowl of drivel, followed by a dessert of nothingness. Are these people in politics to make a change for the better, or to ensure that there's no change, so their mates can cash in . Who do these councillors represent . Us or them
ReplyDeletePlease don't for a moment believe the "Head" of Planning is impotent. It's all very carefully choreographed and has been for decades. RBKC's reputation has sunk so low, there's even some sign that the planning committee is in open rebellion. About time. Residents can best support change by signing this petition.
ReplyDeleteAs for asking what councillors are for, many doubtless begin their careers intending to assist residents. The canny soon learn that such foolishness will fatally damage their influence and their pockets. Non-players are systematically excluded from profitable committee seats, then the inner circle of committee chairmanships and even the holy grail of cabinet membership. It's high time the cabinet clique system was thrown down the nearest sewer, where it belongs.
The Cabinet system was a Blair innovation so we are right to question its efficacy.
ReplyDeleteThe Committee system allowed a much greater degree of accountability. There is nothing to stop any council reverting to this far superior system
Well it seems the Council is scared of resident power, and RA power, as it has just started this drivelly publication 'Residents' Association Direct', which is the silliest piece of puff I've read for a long time. DON'T SEND THEM INFO. Create your own site/s or use RBJC as a forum.
ReplyDelete'This is the first Residents’ Associations Direct, so please let us know what you think because we will be making changes and adaptations in these early issues.
Please also let us know your news at any time and we’ll make sure it makes it into the next newsletter.
To find out more about the work that we do with Resident’s Associations, visit :
http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/community/communityengagement/residentsassociations.aspx'
Thank you!