Saturday, 31 October 2015

SUPER CAR SPOTTER TELLS RESIDENTS TO MOVE IF THEY CAN'T TAKE THE NOISE

SAD LITTLE BOY

This sad and boring little person is called Tim Burton. 



His devotes his purposeless life to chasing around Knightsbridge excitedly filming the Gulf super car owners polluting our streets with noise and fumes. 

Tim is a sort of latter day train spotter- and as idiotic as only anyone devoted to that pursuit can be.
He loves the glare of publicity. If you can bear it listen to the bore's inarticulate ramblings on BBC HERE

Tim's latest advice to residents? 
That they should move from from Knightsbridge if they don't like the noise and danger. 
Tim, you are a real 'trou de cul'


Friday, 30 October 2015

FULHAM GAZETTE SAYS SCHOOL LOSS IS APPALLING

Do Not Click to enlarge-it's bad
enough as it is
Click to enlarge

Wednesday, 28 October 2015

RESIDENTS SAY THEY ARE UNDER BASEMENT SIEGE AS 6 BASEMENTS PLANNED

6 BASEMENT DIGS ON THE GO

When our councillors lie they claim it to be 'political rhetoric'. That's how the porcine Pooter Cockell got around his claim he never used the Mayor's Bentley.



After much lobbying residents forced the council to listen over the damage basement developments were doing to the lives of their families. 

It seems the council's promise to control basement development are just more lies posing as 'political rhetoric'.....

Two particularly selfish 'digger' types are Norman Lamont's son, Hillaire, a MD of Blackrock and a Goldman's partner, Mr de Mallman . They both plan to dig deep so they can house meditation rooms and a 'vinyl room'!
You can read more about their nonsense SEYMOUR WALK HELL

If these people need more space they should move to North London where the houses are of sufficient size to accomodate their idiotic desires

Tuesday, 27 October 2015

HOLGATE IN THE FIRING LINE


Holgate is a very decent old cove. Everyday he must rue the day he took on the poisoned chalice of clerking the rotten borough. How he must miss the refinement of Whitehall....clever colleagues etc.


But it seems our gullible Town Clerk has been duped by his underlings... yet again

In his letter to Greg Hands, he assures the MP that the Council checked no further land disposal consents were required for the Marlborough redevelopment, but that the Department for Education contacted them out of the blue, insisting they make a belated S77 application for disposal of playground.

However these two emails from the Department for Education paint a very different picture – they show that the Council was warned not once but twice in 2013, that they would need to apply for playground disposal SEPARATELY. 

Was their failure to apply a DELIBERATE act or an act of STUPIDITY? In any case the "legal advisers" ought to be given the heave-ho.

The Council was caught red-handed by the DfE, about to dump a commercial block on school playground without consent and without the 6-week public consultation that now ends on November 6th

There is still time to email your objections to the Council, condemning this murky business and insisting that the playground be preserved for the school children: write to mps@rbkc.gov.uk

To read the letters below click on each




Monday, 26 October 2015

TONIGHT..... BBC INSIDE OUT ON THE SUPERCAR MENACE...AND ON I PLAYER

Despite all the promises nothing has been done to halt the supercar menace. In fact, it seems to have got worse, despite the fact the spoilt Middle Eastern brats are supposed to have returned to their desert kingdoms.
Why don't the police use radar traps? Too busy guarding Assange....

Friday, 23 October 2015

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT CLLR PALMER.......

Penny Share dealer during debate

If in the Town Hall you spot a knot of Conservative councillors huddled together, engaged in furtive conversation, the Dame can solve the mystery.
There is growing concern over the health of  Cllr Palmer.


He has been boasting to anyone- bored enough to listen-it was he who planted the story of Cllr Lasharie with Guido Fawkes's Henry Cole: Cole then passed it on to the Sun.
This piece of troublemaking comes hot on the heels of Palmer's eccentric decision to join the Labour Party.

No wonder more staid Conservative councillors are wondering what to do with this 'screw loose' cannon

Wednesday, 21 October 2015

BILLIONAIRE BRINGS IN PLANNING GENIUS

In attempt to put off guard and ingratiate himself with neighbours, Canadian media mogul, David Graham, has enlisted the services of  'go to' planning guru, Nick de Lotinbiere.
de Lotinbiere has a formidable reputation and his opening gambit is an ingratiating letter to Graham's neighbours implying the planned works will be no more disruptive than the digging of a fish pond!
Ignore him! This vast basement  excavation will create traffic nightmares in an already congested Walton Street; disrupt the lives of neighbours and damage business. It will go on for at least two years.
Luckily, Graham has homes around the world so can escape to the tranquility of one of them: his neighbours have no such option...oh, and Nick de L is not a neighbour...why does he pretend he is?

Click to enlarge



Click to enlarge

Tuesday, 20 October 2015

THE DAME LOVES GOLBORNE ROAD

Click To Enlarge

Nothing gives the Dame greater pleasure than a trip to Golborne Road.
It's one of the last remaining areas of our city retaining a very special character: no wonder visitors from around the world visit. 

The Dame encourages anyone who cares about Golborne Rd to sign the PETITION

RESIDENTS TO FACE SEVERAL YEARS OF NOISE, DANGER AND POLLUTION

What's in store!









David Graham, the Canadian media magnate owner of the Old Court House likes his own way.

If he goes ahead with his massive basement project residents and business owners-like Toto's, Scalini's and others adjacent, had better get used to ten or twelve lorries daily tearing down Walton St for quite a few years.
It is a recipe for disaster....and all because one man wants what he wants at the expense of his neighbours.

Monday, 19 October 2015

CONSTRUCTION NOISE - HAVE YOUR SAY! YOU HAVE UNTIL WEDNESDAY


The Environmental Health department is consulting on a new code of practice for construction noise.  The consultation ends on Wednesday, 21st October 2015.
While it should be applauded, there is one major deficiency, which will render the document completely ineffectual, if it is not rectified.

At present, and the Code does not suggest otherwise, the notice will not be tailored to the site and will not set out how the building works can be carried out.
Therefore, please complete the consultation and ask that the following be done for all building works that .


"The Applicant must jointly instruct with the Council an independent expert at the Applicant's cost for all works that cause noise for an anticipated period greater than four weeks, and produce a report which shall set
a) the precise details of the construction processes ;
b) the precise details of the plant or machinery which is, or is not, to be used;
c) specify the hours during which the works may be carried out;
d) specify the level of noise which may be emitted from the premises in question at the boundary of the development;
e) ) the precise details of the schedule of works and the period that the works will be carried out in
e) ) the precise details of the mitigation measures that are to be used to minimise noise
The expert report, with the specified details will form the basis of a notice pursuant to section 60/61 Control of Pollution Act 1974
For the avoidance of doubt the methods and equipment shall be the quietest methods and equipment that are used in the construction industry.
Further, the expert shall consult with those who may be affected by the construction and take those views into account in preparing their report.
Works shall not be carried out until the expert report has been produced”

This is our chance for real change.

Please use your democratic right and reply to the consultation and ask for the report.
The consultation can be found here:


LABOUR COUNCILLOR BELIEVES ALIENS AND MOSSAD BEHIND ISIS

Two RBK&C councillors.....
On the extreme left is' mad as a cut snake ' Cllr Matthew Roundell Palmer: the right, Cllr  Beinazir Lasharie.
What do they have in common? 
Both are nutty and both have been on so called reality TV shows...Palmer on The Apprentice and Lasharie on Big Brother.
However, whilst the Conservative Group allows Palmer to bring the Party into disrepute with asinine and infantile behaviour, the Labour  Group has come down like a ton of bricks on Lasharie and suspended her.
Kinder hearts than the Dame forgive Lasharie by saying she is none too bright: that's the excuse for her view ISIS was set up by Mossad and the Jews organised 9/11.....and Matthew Palmer is an alien....

Sunday, 18 October 2015

MORE GREED FROM THE KENSINGTON FORUM HOTEL...RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOOD UNDER RENEWED ATTACK


This year RBK&C refused an application for a mega-casino at the foot of the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum Hotel in Cromwell Road. 
Despite the long list of reasons for refusal the hotel owners have now appealed the decision.

They have asked the Planning Inspectorate for an Inquiry expected to take place some time in 2016 . Simultaneously they have applied for a land swap , as the green space the hotel sits on is a protected garden square falling under the 1931 London Squares Protection Act . 

Residents contend that there is simply no extra land left to exchange for the green space the casino would swallow up , and have secured legal advice from the garden square law specialist Robert Barham .

One resident commented,  "We shall fight the destruction of our residential neighbourhood tooth and nail . They are trying to make us believe that we would get many benefits through the casino , when in truth there are none for the residents . All we would get are the fallout from a 24-hour , 365 days a year operation , and the problems associated with an extra 1,500 people a day visiting our area at all hours . 
Other casinos run by the same operator offer delights such as Monday Night Madness and tout for hen parties, office parties and similar events. Their proud boast is "no night needs to be a quiet night"!

As far as residents are concerned RIEN NE VA PLUS !

Saturday, 17 October 2015

THE ARROGANT CANADIAN BILLIONAIRE WITH NO REGARD FOR HIS NEIGHBOURS.

RECLUSIVE

A couple of years ago, Canadian  cable billionaire, David Graham, planned a massive basement complex under his Walton Street mansion, the Old Court House.

Fury on the part of residents made him back off.




Now he returns with a smaller scale plan, but no reduction in the disruption to the lives of residents. 


At least this plan does not envisage a ballroom or servants' quarters deep under London.

But here's the question....
Why would a seventy eight year old singleton, rarely visiting London, need to dig out a vast basement when his mansion already has several bedrooms?
The answer has to be about even more money.
His horrid ex wife, Barbara Amiel once said, "my extravagance knows no bounds". 
It seems Mr Graham's desire for space or money also knows no bounds.

You might think Mr Graham would consider his neighbours, but a seemingly insatiable need for money overrides concerns for the peace and safety of his neighbours.

The economics make sense for Mr Graham. 
Every sq.ft he scoops out costs £440 but the space he adds is worth at least £2,000 a sq.ft ..... when he sells.
Do you really need the money so badly Mr Graham? 
The Dame doubts it.

Friday, 16 October 2015

£40 MILLION SCHOOL BEATS £80 MILLION HOLLAND PARK SCHOOL FOR RIBA PRIZE

Burntwood, a South London school costing just £40 million to build has won the much vaunted RIBA Stirling prize for the creation of a first class educational environment.

Understated Elegance
So why no prize for Holland Park School/Academy;
after all, taxpayers splurged over £80 million on it?


Clearly, the huge overspend delivered nothing in real value terms and the appraisal committee bore that in mind in rejecting it for the prize.

Michael Gove had always said that no school needs cost more than £40 million and the prize to Burntwood proves his point. 
You can see how successful the school is HERE

There should be red faces all around at RBK&C.....

ROOFTOP PLAYGROUNDS ARE A RECIPE FOR DISASTER SAY PLANNING CHIEFS



So the planning profession don't agree with rooftop playgrounds according to this ARTICLE


Thursday, 15 October 2015

"LARGING IT" .......COURTESY OF CAPCO

The Dame is known for her passion for a tipple or two so was pleased to see Cllr Inane Aouane has the same tastes.




Click to enlarge
Well, she has seen how much the councillor's share of the dinner at the Hurlingham cost....courtesy of Capco


Surprisingly, her fellow fan of Capco, Cllr 'Fatty' Spalding didn't manage to get his snout in the trough.
Cllr Inane managed to get through £40 of grub and fine wine!
Should an officer have been present to monitor the conversation? Of course....
Was there one? Of course not....


MR INJUSTICE COBB'LERS

OXLIKE
The Dame has been always fascinated by the 'strangeness' of most Family Court judges.
This one, Justice Cobb, costs taxpayers the thick end of £200k a year!



Without suggesting Cobb came this route most family court judiciary have been eased out of the Bar for failing to be profitable, or weird, or just plain hopeless; after all, it's hardly the most demanding branch of the law so tends to attract legal 'no hopers'.

How do heads of chambers fix it?
Simple....over a claret laden lunch a bod from the Judicial Appointments Commission is told, " we have a judicial candidate"....and bang goes the overhead problem!

The case below, presided over by Cobb, is, as he says, 'extraordinary'.
An obviously mature and intelligent fourteen year old decides she wants no contact with her two 'fathers'. 
How hellish her young life must be; exacerbated by the pressures these two 'fathers' put upon her.
So what does Cobb do? 
He forces her to maintain contact with the sources of her misery! 
Now that really is 'extraordinary, milud'.

Cobb must have the sensitivity of a block of wood.....

A 14-year-old girl who was born as a result of donor fertilisation and is embroiled in an "extraordinary" High Court case has been ordered to stay in touch with her two "fathers".
The teenager, who has been at the centre of litigation between her two "fathers" and two "mothers" for half her life, was represented by a lawyer at a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court and invoked provisions of the 1989 Children Act in a bid to persuade a judge she should be left to "reach her own conclusions".
But Mr Justice Cobb has ruled against the youngster and decided that it is in her best interests to have a "limited form of relationship" with her fathers.
Mr Justice Cobb, who is based in London, has not identified the teenager in a written ruling. He said she had a 10-year-old sister, also born as a result of donor fertilisation. Both girls lived with their mothers."

NHS AND PRIVATISATION: A RESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

Here is a very well written piece by John Furse on the state of the NHS. It appeared recently in the excellent Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Today. 
The link also takes you to his other blogs on global economics. 
Please click HERE

The Dame is always happy to 'showcase' the views of readers, particularly when as informative and well written as this one.
If only we could persuade the likes of John Furse to stand for the Council. 
Last night's behaviour of those supposedly representing us was shameful. 
We can forgive Cllr Palmer for he knows not what he does.

Emma Dent Coad was the only one who made any sense.

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

ASBESTOS SCARE AT MARLBOROUGH INTERIM SCHOOL

ENTRANCE CLOSED
It now seems that asbestos has been found in the Marlborough Interim Primary School.
What the hell is going on?
Who on earth was responsible for allowing young children to be exposed to this most deadly of pollutants?

JANE SOLOMON'S ADDRESS TO COUNCIL

Cllr Coleridge,the instigator of this act of vandalism decided to lurk at home....

Here is the excellent speech....

Thanks to all who attended this evening's Council Meeting! Here is the petition speech:
WOT...NO COLERIDGE?
We believe a late reprieve is preferable to the current climate of a brewing scandal, a scandal set to run and run and run.
There is time to revert to the 1.4 Million pound upgrade that was shelved when the lucrative John Lewis deal was struck or to build an extension on the so-called “surplus land,” - the Council's controversial name for the children's playground. Almost 2000 people signed this petition showing overwhelming opposition to the demolition of this heritage building.
We are currently awaiting the Council's response to complaints we submitted via the Ombudsman. These complaints grew from concerns and suspicions of parents and residents, into a startling catalogue of gross misrepresentation and deception:
1. The Council was about to build 40,000 sq ft of offices & shops and a walkway, on playground without consent from the Secretary of State. Under such circumstances, Planning Permission should never have been granted, yet they continue works despite Department for Education warnings this is “at their risk”.
2. We do not want our children playing on the roof! But the plans for the New School dictate they will since they were designed to release land for the commercial building by incorporating rooftop play areas - already considered obsolete by the London Diocesan Board, since they are windy, cold and dangerous.
Furthermore, according to the Architects' Appraisal Panel, the commercial element “compromises the new school,” and should be “dramatically scaled back or removed altogether from the scheme”.
The design “lacks richness and quality” and they conclude, is “NOT an adequate replacement for the original board school.”
The current Public Consultation over playground disposal is both ludicrous and undemocratic since it occurs alongside demolition, too late for our objections to count.
3. The Public were fed falsehoods to prime them for the scheme: that the building had “reached the end of its useful life,” had “serious defects,” that it was not accessible to children using wheelchairs or on the autistic spectrum, when in fact it had been for years; that it would cost more to refurbish than rebuild and that demolition was the only option.
This could not have been further from the truth – that the school was only days away from a 1.4 million pound refurbishment abruptly halted when the John Lewis deal appeared and pound signs flashed up.
4. The Council & John Lewis pressured English Heritage NOT to list Marlborough – a huge Conflict of Interest since John Lewis is a Corporate Member of English Heritage and both they and the Council stood to profit millions.
5. We have been advised that the Council's tendering procedures may have been circumvented regarding the architects, by putting the planning application in John Lewis' name, despite the project being on borough-owned land.
6. Corporate Property Department identified so-called “surplus land” on the site in 2012, the inception of misinformation regarding the supposedly “derelict building” that was the nursery & playcentre and the supposedly “under-utilised land” that was playground. This deceit was repeated as recently as July in the Council's letter to the MP, which blatantly states that “the office building is not being built on any existing operational school land”. This is completely untrue and throws serious doubt on the 2013 school land disposal application.
It is quite clear from Council documents that the major refurbishment of the school was shelved because of the profitable John Lewis deal, with the new scheme misrepresented to the public as a Necessity; and that the Victorian building is only being demolished in order to hive off land for a commercial building, for which the correct consents are still not in place.
In view of this, we reiterate our demands for works to be halted, until all complaints have been resolved and the proper consents obtained.
The iconic Marlborough School has been part of our neighbourhood for 137 years. It is appalling that, having survived two world wars, the destruction of this building should finally come at the hands of a morally-corrupt Council; a Council colluding with developers and hell-bent on swelling its cash reserves at the expense of our heritage and our children's playgrounds, to the blatant disregard of tax-paying residents.
However, egos, lies and fat bank accounts aside, let us not forget the fact of the matter which is that Marlborough School, the earliest and arguably finest example of a Victorian Board School in this borough, could, and should, outlive everyone here in this room today.

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

COME ALONG TO THE EARL'S COURT FILM FESTIVAL ON NOVEMBER 20TH

CLICK TO ENLARGE

This sounds to be a lot of fun. 
The Dame applauds the organisers and hopes there will be a big turnout.









      Dear All,

EARL'S COURT FILM FESTIVAL - 20 November 2015
Come along and enjoy your magical evening of film

The Earl's Court Community Trust are delighted to invite to your first Earl's Court Film Festival, 2015. 

A collaboration with talented young film makers from London Film School in Covent Garden, we will be showing two amazing short films: Fellow Travellers and The Door, both filmed this summer in Earls Court, followed by a feature length film Hangover Square. There is magic in filming making and we made it for you.

Amazing & Wonderful Gothic Setting with full cinema screen and speakers @
St Cuthberts Church www.saintcuthbert.org/
50 Philbeach Gardens, London SW5 9EB


Doors Open at 6.30pm - FILM START's at 7.30pm - Finish 9.15pm with short  interval


Tickets Adult £10  and £5 Concessions (includes all standard and anyone under 21)

We will be providing details on the evening of Earl's Court Film Festival June 2016, which will be on a much larger scale.

Come along as we made this for you!



Saturday, 10 October 2015

JORGE SNEDDON LEAVES DEBTS EVERYWHERE AND IS BAD FOR YOUR FINANCIAL HEALTH!

Business is hard enough without idiots like Jorge Sneddon owing money to hard pressed business people.

DEBT MAKER
Landlord in the Royal Borough beware if an overweight and sweaty South American fantasist tries renting office space from you: throw him out....and fast!!
Sneddon leaves debts all over the place

The Dame has put this up as Public Interest Notice....avoid Sneddon like the plague....unless you like losing money......

Friday, 9 October 2015

COUNCIL DEBATES....DO THEY MATTER? FIND OUT ON 14.10 @6.30 THE TOWN HALL

The mark of a person of substance is the ability to admit being wrong and then right that wrong.
This Wednesday,14th of October at 6.30pm, the Council meets to debate the call by over 2000 residents to halt the illegal destruction of that much loved Victorian architectural gem, Marlborough Primary School.

Council Leader, Nick Paget-Brown took office with the promise to listen to residents. 
On Wednesday he and fellow councillors have the chance to demonstrate, not only that they listen, but are ready to step back and reconsider a bad decision

Jane Solomon, that indefatigable campaigner who has worked so hard to save the school asks that everybody fill the Public Gallery. 
It will be your chance to see local democracy in action. 
Will your representatives bother to turn up, and, if they do, will they treat the issue with the gravity it deserves?
And one other thing...certain councillors love to boost their ego's by wasting YOUR money on projects they think will define their legacy...Pooter on the new Holland Park School; Moylan on the dreadful £27 million Exhibitionist Rd and now Coleridge with this pointless vandalism.


This is your chance to be there and decide whether you have any say in the running of your BOROUGH

Remember, this is the moment to see whether your councillor deserves your future vote.

Wednesday, 7 October 2015

HOW TO CORRUPTLY BEAT THE TENDERING PROCESS....RBK&C ACCUSED OF CIRCUMVENTING TENDERING RULES

DODGY DEALINGS?
John Lewis, the holier than thou retailers, seem to have got into a cozy little ménage a trois with the Rotten Borough’s tame architects, Dixon Jones.....

Even the very dense Councillor Palmer knows there are strict rules regarding handing out jobs to mates. The rules came about after the shenanigans in the North East when architect, T Dan Smith was giving backhanders to councillors and officers to procure contracts.
So what’s happened?

Sixupman rightly corrects the old Dame. Dan Smith was leader of Newcastle. 
Smith's name is usually spoken in negative terms regarding the destruction of historic and aesthetically pleasing buildings ( like Marlborough Primary School)which were replaced with a concrete jungle, although many of these developments – such as Eldon Square Shopping Centre and John Dobson's Royal Arcade – actually took place after he left office.
While leading the redevelopment of his city, Smith formed business links with architect John Poulson which led to his trial for accepting bribes in April 1974, at which he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. 
The rules mean any contract worth over £172,514 has go to tender.
But the Rotten Borough were determined to appoint pet architects, Dixon Jones (the firm responsible for the £27 million mess that is Exhibitionist Rd)
So how did they fix it to ensure Dixon Jones get chosen to design the new Marlborough School and the flats and offices?

Looking at the planning documents it seems they neatly sidestepped the need to put the work out to tender procedures by having John Lewis appoint Dixon Jones for “design stages leading up to the Stage C+ Planning Application in May 2013”.

However, the lines blur from this point onwards, when the Council awarded the construction tender to Mace and, we are then told; “Mace were instructed to reinstate the original design team to develop the scheme through to Stage E Contractors Proposals under a Two Stage Design & Build Contract”.


If Dixon Jones were indeed handed a multi-million pound Council contract on a plate, as it very much appears, RBKC had better hope the Ombudsman isn't watching: this is a blatant attempt to breach the very rules designed to prevent corruption.

You can read the council's tender rules HERE






















Monday, 5 October 2015

COUNCIL TO SPEND BIZ RATES....TEARS BEFORE BEDTIME

George Osborne's plan to allow councils to spend 100% of business rates is akin to allowing heroin addicts an unlimited supply of their drug

Osborne thinks local councils best able to use the tax to promote business.
Sounds fine in theory....but, consider the practice....

When you look at the composition of our Cabinet there is a major deficit of business expertise: in fact, there is none!


We have a retired major from the Education Corps; an insurance broker who has just lost her job and a silly idiot who can't even manage a simple bus  contract and whose hubby took away her very hot credit card. 
Oh, and a property developing deputy leader who hasn't developed anything but a huge ego.

Imagine these hopeless deadbeats in charge of  the tens of millions generated from business rates?

We will all still be paying the same as before, whilst the council indulges itself in 'business' guaranteed to be loss making....vide Chelsea Care and Opera Holland Park.

CAN DANNY BOYS MOYLAN WIN OVER ZAC?

The Dame has just put down her newly acquired 'blinged' mobile phone on Cllr Daniel Moylan.

The Dame's New Toy.
Gravy train Moylan?
The Dame has always admired multi- jobbing Daniel his ability to 'persuade' big hearted Boris to hand him sufficient jobs to maintain the Thai and Kensington abodes. 
At the last count, Danny Boys was grossing £140k a year....all from the tax payer and as lucrative as being PM.
No wonder it made Pooter Cockell spit with envious rage.

So what did the Dame and Danny Boys discuss?

Danny Boys says young Zac Goldsmith will follow Boris and 
will bring in his own cronies. 
For Danny this means a violent reversal of financial fortunes.

Knowing the Dame circulates in mondaine circles Danny Boys asked whether she would 'infiltrate' him into one of her famous salons to meet Zac and his high society sister, Jemima,

Danny Boys thinks his infamous charm  will ensure he continues to sit on the new mayor's knee: after all, they are both members of the Bruges Group. 

Might he? Doubtful....
Goldsmith is as arrogant as Danny Boys. The chances of a love affair are remote.

Sunday, 4 October 2015

MORE POLLUTION ON OUR STREET THANKS TO EAST EUROPEAN GANGS











Dear Dame
 Kensington residents have been tackling the vile and pornographic cards in our phone boxes. These blight our streets are seen by our young children.
The gangs who put them up are a daily threat to us and place us in danger.
Tourists note the sleaze and none of it is 'A Brighter Kensington' advertisement for UK PLC. 
Residents removing the cards have been threatened with blades. Streetline employees clearing the cards have been harassed. 
Despite meetings with the council and police for 18+ months to try to stop this dangerously antisocial behaviour there has been no meaningful action. 
Why? Cllr Joanna Gardner, Cllr Mathew Palmer, the police, and BT, have all failed us. 
Whose Side Are They On? 
It can't be corruption, but could it be deafness and/or incompetence? Any ideas, anyone? 
Cllr Nick Paget-Brown suggested at a MOPAC meeting that these gangs have been linked via DNA evidence to burglaries. 
Current senior police officers speak about listening to local community concerns. 
National Police Chiefs' Council head Sara Thornton said in July, and in September, that "the police need to have a conversation with the public to determine what they want us to do". 
RBKC Council provides funds to the police in the Borough. The former has a stake in setting police priorities and objectives. That's money from our Council Tax, which should in part go towards what 'we, the people' say is a priority. 
Organised crime includes people trafficking and prostitution. Behind the cardists is a gang leadership. The Met's representatives in our Royal Borough are not on their case. 
Inspector Lestrade with or without Mr Holmes would identify gang bosses, but RBKC's blue line seems too thin and is not listening. Nor is the Council. Disgusted from Kensington is no prude, and knows the oldest profession will always be with us but would hope our elected representatives, and the police who serve us, can do better. Pick up the glove, Cllr Gardner and show some spirit!

Disgusted of Kensington

GREEDY JOHN LEWIS AND ITS MILLION POUND PLUS CHAIRMAN



Last year Mayfield took £1.5 million from the John Lewis Partnership so the question needs to be asked....
How much of his bunce was a bonus from property development. 
What on earth would the founding Lewis family think of this greed.

The Dame hears that last week certain councillors were called to a hastily convened panic meeting to discuss how to deal with the escalating Marlborough crisis.

Took £1.5 million from John Lewis





















An Open Letter to Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of John Lewis Plc

2nd October, 2015





Dear Sir Charlie Mayfield,

We call upon you, at this eleventh hour, to step in and save the Victorian Marlborough School building from demolition. Although the boundary walls have already been torn down, there is still time to stop the destruction of this historic Chelsea landmark - an act which residents believe is wrongful and driven purely by greed.

Since the planning permission is in the name of John Lewis Plc, and since it is also John Lewis that is funding the demolition and redevelopment, we hold your company directly responsible.
In addition, it has been revealed that John Lewis, in collusion with the Council, pressured English Heritage not to list Marlborough when The Victorian Society put in their application. Since John Lewis are Corporate Members of English Heritage, this represents a grave conflict of interest.

As you may be aware, the Council had failed to apply for, and obtain, the necessary S77 consent from the Secretary of State for Education, for Disposal of Playing Fields (playground) and as such the Department for Education has already warned them that they continue works “at their risk”. It appears, therefore, that a serious misrepresentation of facts was made to both John Lewis and the Planning Committee, since the Council did not have the correct written consent to dispose of the playground, without which planning consent should never have been granted.

Parents and residents are both shocked and angry that they are only now being asked to participate in a consultation over the disposal of playground; moreover, this consultation is happening alongside the demolition works, which is wholly undemocratic because it will be too late for their objections to count.

We ask you to review this matter urgently, and do all that you can to ensure the works come to an immediate halt before the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea loses one of its most cherished architectural gems.

Yours sincerely,
Save Marlborough Committee