WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A WAY

 

Well done, Cllr Emma Will and her Parks Team! 

The transformation of the St Luke's Play area in Chelsea is complete.....a credit to Cllr Will and her excellent Parks Team. 

The area surrounding St Luke's is densely populated with housing lacking outside play space.....that is why St Luke's is such a vital community asset.

Cllr Will and the team are now addressing how the courts/pitches can be used in such a way as to maximise football play space at key times. 

A good start has been made.

Getting children and teens off their screens and into the open air is a must. 

Football is a sport that maximises the space and teaches young people teamwork

Good work, Cllr Will and her very dedicated Parks Team.

THAMES WATER: THE THIEVING AND UNACCEPTABLE FACE OF CAPITALISM

Year in, year out, shareholders led by Chinese, Middle Eastern and Canadian investors, sucked the life out of Thames Water all done through a tax dodging Cayman Isle company creating a zero liability for corporation tax.

Not just shareholders feasted off a captive customer audience: the grossly incompetent TW board joined in snouts firmly in the trough.

The banks and brokers advising TW knew exactly what was going on. 

They created the structure that allowed this legalised corporate rape. No monopoly utility should ever have been allowed to go private.

We are all victims, especially the residents inundated by raw sewage just a few years ago.

The big bloodsucking foreign funds now want customers to pay 40% more in bills. They need to be told to bugger off. 

The government should put the company into administration now. The banks and brokers who floated TW need to be named and shamed.

Crucial Stats

£1.16bn Dividends paid by the utility from 2006 to 2015

 £10.2bn Borrowings by March 2016. 

In 2007 they were £3.6bn £260m Pensions deficit by March 2016

A POMPOUS COUCILLOR MOVES ON

There are hard-working Conservative councillors who take their role very seriously...Cllrs Will, McVeigh, Addenbrooke, Thallasites, Kemahli, Taylor-Smith and Lindsay spring to mind but there are many others.

A LOCAL VIEW ON LOCAL MANAGING AGENTS

Sometimes a Hornet comments so succinctly about a topic the Dame is forced to elevate it.

Here is on such....

Grist to their greed money making mill!

Dear Dame,

Congratulations on all the hits that your blog is now getting. 

This increase in your website's traffic should put the wind-up all the parliamentary hopefuls in Kensington.

Felicity Buchan MP has a circle to square that will prove impossible.

The Tory Party is in reality, and has always been, on the side of the wealthy, greedy Freeholder (known in Law as the Lessor) and their Managing Agents. 

The last vestiges of feudalism resides in the psyche of every Tory politician. These Tories pay lip service to their constituents about the morality of greedy Freeholders, and their even greedier Managing Agents, fleecing Leaseholders with onerous service charge bills and extortionately high percentage management and supervision fees on top.

There is nothing that a Managing Agent loves more than a building being neglected by its Freeholder. When major works can be put off no longer, these Managing Agents can recover from Leaseholders the costs of the works which need to be done which, in the case of neglected buildings is always expensive. Managing Agents then make their money by levying Management Fees, Surveyors' Fees and Works' Supervision Fees as a percentage of the total major works' bill. The more that a building is neglected the greater the cost to the Leaseholder to put things right and the greater the profit for the Managing Agent. The hypocrisy of property mismanagement.

These Managing Agents are Past Masters at keeping a close on eye on Tribunal decisions about the "reasonableness" of management fees. They rub their grasping hands with glee if they find a Tribunal decision declares a higher than usual percentage management fee as "reasonable." Accordingly, Managing Agents increase the Leaseholders' Management Fee contribution for major works and point out to any Leaseholder who complains that the Tribunal has held that percentage uplift to be a "reasonable" one. These Managing Agents know that most Leaseholders do not want to go anywhere near a Court or a Tribunal and impose these charges in a morally corrupt way.

Joe Powell's Labour Party does not escape unscathed. Between 1997 and 2010, the Labour Party paid lip service to this situation and introduced "Commonhold." This was not a decent solution to the plight of Leaseholders. It was more about protecting the Freeholders' interests. By the time Labour was shafted in 2010, only one or two blocks of flats had taken advantage of the so called Commonhold reforms. Why did Labour shaft Leaseholders at the expense of Freeholders? Many Freeholders in Kensington are landed gentry.

In Scotland, the Tenement (Scotland) Act 2004 created a framework for each leaseholder to own their flat freehold with a share of the common parts of the building being collectively owned (including a share of the airspace on any tenement's roof.) Any landlord wishing to be compensated for loss of the freehold interest was entitled to twenty times the yearly ground rent and had a limited amount of time to make that claim from flat owners. Most landlords were untraceable and very few Leaseholders in Scotland had to pay anything. As a result of these reforms the owners of many flats in Scotland have carried out major works and have had some control over costs, programming of works and outcomes.

Respectfully, My Dear Dame,

A victim

THE DAME MARCHES ON: MARCH=140,000 VIEWS AND HITS OUT AT MANAGING AGENTS

 

 click to enlarge

Every reader has a story to tell about a K&C managing agent. 

Some are lazy....some work hard and are honest... many are downright corrupt.

'we hear but we don't listen'!

The Dame wants to hear your story about your Kensington & Chelsea managing agent. 

When she has all the evidence she will be submitting it to Felicity Buchan MP and Joe Powell, the Labour challenger.

It's tough enough being a leaseholder without having a low-quality managing agent ruining your life and your bank balance.

For too long leaseholders have been prey for the greedy and dishonest.

Labour says they will overhaul the system...let's see....

COUNCIL SPONSORED VANDALISM OF A PIECE OF HISTORIC LONDON

 

This magnificent example of Art Deco style and architecture made the Odeon in High St Ken outstanding and quite unique.

Below is what happened when New Delhi based Lodha got its greedy hands on the building.

So much for the redevelopment respecting and retaining the facade of the original building. 

What we have actually ended up with is a half-hearted pastiche.

The Council has a Conservation team. 

The Dame's experience with the team is a tedious obsession with the minute internal details of a development. 

Yet it allowed developers to tear down wonderful internal features like this.

It would have been more honest had the Council agreed demolition of the building rather than pretending to residents it would be preserved....what an insult to us all.

THE GREATEST QUESTION OF ALL

As we move towards Easter the Dame thought she would address a question of greater import to our lives than Cllr Isse’s switch from Corbynism to Toryism in a New York Minute.

Tom Vaughan is a Kensington resident and co-founder of Juliana’s. 

He is also a descendant of Cardinal Vaughan, founder of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School.

It is unusual for a businessman to write a book that makes you stop and think: Tom has done so in Hope and the Hedgehog.

It’s a small book packing a big punch and it certainly got the Dame thinking.

Is Hope and the Hedgehog about religion? 

Tom says it’s not…”First, there is a fundamental question, a primary choice facing all of humanity  -  without exception  -  before religion of any persuasion comes into the frame. 

This choice is a binary one separating faith from religion. Put simply it is this: either there is a creator (for some, God by another name) which would arguably give life a purpose, or there is not, and our existence is nothing more than a random cosmic accident with no discernible purpose. 

It is one or other of these two choices, there is nowhere else to go.’

 

The Dame really recommends Hope and the Hedgehog to readers. It is rare for the Dame to stray away from mundane matters of local life but this book by a local resident is worth buying.

It is stocked by Amazon LINK TO BUY and Blackwells and Waterstones

IN DEFENCE OF LAMMY

 

Corbyn's people soon savaged David Lammy for his sane and sensible assessment of Thatcher. She had something else lacking in today's leaders.....courage.

As a 'young thing' many years ago the Dame was ordered to go to Birmingham New St and collect Mrs Thatcher. She was then 12 years away from becoming PM.

Arriving in  Coventry Mrs T was greeted by a horde of  Socialist Workers Group 'activists'.

They swore and cursed at her.  The Dame tried to commiserate saying how awful the experience was. 

Her reply and look are forever etched on the Dame's mind. "My dear, when they shout and scream at me it means they are frightened of me."

Leaders of today want to be loved by all: it just doesn't work.

WHY COUNCILS ARE GOING BUST

 

laughing all the way to the bank

The Dame has been looking at Judge Khan's WEIRD JUDGMENT which has enriched Mrs Wright-Turner to the tune of £4.6 million...tax free

The press has been guided to believe she suffered PTSD as a result of working on the post-impact of Grenfell: but that is not the case.

This man below will have suffered. 

Mrs Wright-Turner was clearly a nightmare employee who should never have been given the £125,000 a year job in the first place. So, Human Resources has two questions to answer. 

*Why Wright-Turner ever got appointed

*Why so they buggered up the dismissal process. 

The result is that every H&F resident will have to chip in £25 so Mrs Wright-Turner can lead a life of luxury. 

No doubt she retains a platinum plated pension.

COMMUNICATIONS DEPT 'FORGETS' ANOTHER MEETING!

 

Click on image 

This is North Kensington always has a humorous touch which the Dame appreciates. 

Here's another important meeting that got 'overlooked'!

Read THINK  HERE

LEAVE PORTOBELLO MARKET ALONE! CRITICAL MEETING TONIGHT

 

IT''S TONIGHT

Dame,

This tale is long. The Dame’s readers will remember that, despite strong public support for it, RBKC has repeatedly tried to destroy Portobello Market, 

Shortly before COVID-19, an RBKC Culture officer appeared. Efforts were made to advise her on local culture. A draft Culture Report duly appeared. It lacked an explanation of culture. No more was heard of it. The officer remains in post.

Consultants appeared and consulted; discovering that almost everyone loves Portobello Market. It must be supported and otherwise left alone. The consultants disappeared.

Meanwhile; one summer Saturday, a self-professed estate agent emerged from the market Gin Palace to tell a market trader: that he’d soon be gone. There was an agreement with RBKC to put restaurant and pub tables & chairs on the street. The trader said it wouldn’t happen because he was a legally protected, licensed, Street Trader. (See the London Local Authorities Act 1990 etc.). The estate agent fled and the trader advised his colleagues.

No one was surprised. For years, local commercial property owners have met to plot higher rental incomes from ridding Portobello of street trading. A 1.5km long string of restaurants & bars is the answer. Like the Highland Clearances, the poor will be evicted; so the already wealthy will become richer. This appeals to RBKC.

In the summer of 2022, FTHN reported that: under the auspices of Cllr Faulks, a rash of table & chairs licence applications appeared; each on a market pitch. Each met strong objections; each was ultimately rejected. Cllr Faulks disappeared.

Then for a year, Cllr Kemahli trooped around Portobello trying to find ways of improving the Market into oblivion. He gave up.

In late January 2023, a resident spotted notices of 3 Market public meetings in a single day - on RBKC’s website. RBKC had forgotten to inform the public of the meetings. FTHN reported the details. Within days, 300+ people appeared. At the morning meeting an officer declared the ‘improvements were imminent. After lunch, the traders rejected the plan. By the evening, Cllr Rendell rambled. Then Cllr Kemahli rowed back at speed. Nothing would happen without public consultation.

Meanwhile, a few more applications for tables & chairs licences in the market appeared. One was even granted.

Hence a far more extensive & expensive public consultation. Guess what? Residents; business owners and market traders all agree that the Market must stay! Just renew the fabric and support it. A citizens' Oversight Panel was created - worth £200 per attendee. In practice, members were excluded from all but a a couple of hours from each group meeting. Consequently there was no oversight!

Recently, Cllr Kim Taylor Smith -Deputy RBKC Leader and ‘fixer,' took over. He was reminded that RBKC cannot legally, unilaterally double traders’ rent. Having failed to price the traders out, an alternative is being considered. The consultation findings will be ‘reviewed' by RBKC till May. During that period, the so-called Oversight Panel will not see them! So is it possible that the consultation results will be amended to suit RBKC’s agenda? At a traders’ meeting last week, KTS announced RBKC's intention to ‘investigate' one of the primary results of the unpublished consultation. The road design is the issue. Significant change is likely to benefit restaurants & bars. That’s RBKC public consultation. That’s the plan and it won’t work!

This final point will sound familiar. On Friday, the Market Office invited locals to the Market Streets Action Group, on Tues. 19th March. Attendees will have had just 1 working day’s notice of the last RBKC meeting before election ‘purdah’. Purdah will prevent any discussion of the future of the Market till 2nd May; allowing RBKC 6 weeks to manipulate the public consultation results. As ever, the aim is the destruction of the Market for private profit!

Further updates to follow. In the meantime, perhaps the Dame’s many readers will be kind enough to pass on their views on the above to their respective Councillors. 

Yours faithfully
A. Witness

AN INSIDER SHARES ON ISSE

 

Colville had 3 excellent Labour councillors: Henderson; Nail and Press. The then EDC wing of the Labour group took exception to the 3 working with Tories to help Grenfell survivors. The councillors were forced out at the last local elections. Their replacements are:
*The rarely seen Bahktiar;
*The speaking only into his moustache: Benton and
*The silent and invisible to most residents: Isse.

This is the THINK GOOD VIEW

Perhaps Cllr Isse was busy advising and assisting Somali residents. 

Now it seems she is "leaving" Labour to join the
Conservatives. This raises several issues; e.g. was she ever a Labour member? 

How will residents know what she thinks since she's neither seen nor heard? 

Does she even exist? Perhaps the true answer is that the Conservatives would welcome any councillor who is simultaneously silent and will vote with them. 

On the other hand, how will her Somali residents know what she is or isn't doing? 

Finally, how does anyone go from EDC to E. Campbell in a single leap? 

Even by N. Kensington standards; this whole thing is weird.....

a further insightful comment...

Somali Dahabo Isse is a careerist who has been trying to make a name for herself in politics since the early 1990s. 

When the free-flowing humanitarian aid cash dried up for her in Mogadishu, she turned her attention to the unassuming voters of Colville (in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, mind you), who have unfortunately now paid a heavy price for voting for her. 

Nabbed herself a taxpayer funded social rented property in Kensington, a seat on the council, and a British passport as the glacé cherry on top of her very large, very sour, freeloading cake.

There seems to be a pattern at RBKC of Somalis trying to make a name for themselves and getting involved in British politics as a way to impress their mates and gain special access to the housing waiting list. 

Cllr Kasim Ali has been doing the same thing for 5 years now. Dahabo Isse has her fingers in many pies at RBKC and sure enough is looking to get her CV as big as possible, as soon as possible.
Dahabo Isse publicly admits on social media that she is “Willing to become an MP in the UK in the near future”. 

That tells you everything you need to know. 

We had Kasim Ali vs Mete Coban in 2022 which was a real low point for the innocent voters of Kensington but Kasim Ali vs Dahabo Isse at the general election after next will be HILARIOUS!

Someone ought to look into why Somalis see fit to meddle in UK politics - and why the problem is so rife at RBKC. No doubt the local Tory hypocrites will be lapping this up as a victory. Too bad Isse isn’t permitted to drink the FREE champagne they’ll be sharing at the next full council to toast her betrayal to the local, indigenous Colville population. Lord have mercy

CLLR ISSE ON THE MOVE

 

The Dame has poked fun at Cllr Isse's CV  LINK and her jobs in Africa whilst being on the council.

Now Cllr Isse has decided that she is really a deep down Conservative and joined the several other Labour cllrs who have left KLP since Ian Henderson was pushed out.

The odd thing about this defection is that Cllr Isse was a protegee of Corbyn firebrand, Emma Dent Coad.

The Dame hopes that Cllr Issie is not a 'sleeper'....

In her blurb, she says she looks forward to looking after the Somali community and residents. 

No, councillor, your job is to look after ALL residents.

It would be a bit like Ex Cllr Henderson who you stabbed in the back saying he would look after all the Jocks.... and residents.

KHAN, CRIME AND BARE FACED LIES: A MUST WATCH

Khan and his bullet proof Range Rover

Since Khan became Mayor London's reputation as a dangerous city has gone global.

If we thought that Starmer's Labour was going to be honest with us Khan proves politicians are inveterate liars.

Under cross-examination Khan lies through his back teeth. Every Londoner should watch this appalling display of dishonesty. 

Watch the LIAR 

WELL DONE COUNCIL

 

The bane of our lives used to be the scream of high-powered cars tearing through our streets.

The acoustic cameras seem to be doing the job of deterring these selfish people. The Council should be congratulated for installing the cameras. Hopefully, with all the fines collected they have become self financing.

The increase in Council tax just announced is modest: good work.... but the search needs to continue to find savings.

The communications department is one obvious example. It spews out tedious unread rubbish ad nauseum. 

HESTER NEEDS TO HESITATE BEFORE OPENING HIS BIG MOUTH

a stupid intelligent man!

Dear Dame, 

Diane Abbott MP has reported the Tory Party's biggest donor, Frank Hester, to the police for his loathsome racist comments. I could not believe that Hester said that Diane Abbott made him want to "hate all Black women." He ended his racist rant by saying that Diane "should be shot." Hester clearly has no respect for Diane's feelings or for Black women more generally. Diane has my sympathy. and support and I hope the police prosecute Hester. 

Shortly after Emma Dent Coad was elected to Parliament, the Black Tory politician, Shaun Bailey AM, complained that Emma had drawn a pin man picture of him being hanged and put it up on the internet when the pair of them had a spat. Two Black Tory MP's wrote to Jeremy Corbyn MP, the most highly principled anti-racist ever to have sat in parliament, complaining about Emma Dent Coad's racism. 

Corbyn did not discipline Emma Dent Coad or suspend the whip. 

Vanessa Feltz asked Corbyn on her BBC Radio Programme what he was going to about Emma's racism and he said, 

"Have a word with her about her use of language." 

Emma dodged Corbyn's bullet over language by saying that she was merely repeating what a Black Grandma had said to her. The circle that Corbyn never squared to my satisfaction is that the Black Grandma never drew the picture of Shaun Bailey AM being hanged, Emma Dent Coad did that all on her own.

To my surprise, Diane Abbott MP  and Emma Dent Coad became bosom pals and have, presumably, remained so when most people would shun a racist who wanted something so violent to happen to a Black guy.  

Does racism only matter to Diane if the insult comes from a Tory?   

Sunak should expel Hester and decline to accept the £10 million to show he is better than Corbyn. He will probably want to hang on to Hester's money.

name and address supplied.

PRIVATE EYE HITS OUT AT BRITISH 'SPECIAL LEGAL OPERATION'

you three should feel great shame

Stop Press

A comment has been made that because Lord Faulks's wife is Cllr Catherine Faulks the Dame was coerced into dropping a blog of a month ago criticising Lord Faulks. This is quite untrue. The Dame is never for turning...

And the Dame had nothing to do with the Eye story; part of an overview of how the British legal establishment was making up the rules as it went along. It is outrageous that any service provider should be working with Putin's friends, especially at a time when Putin is employing the murderous methodology of Joseph Stalin.

Private Eye has given a right old bollocking to pompous lawyers acting for nasty Russian oligarchs. 

With eyes cast heavenwards, these bewigged fellows, in hushed tones, insist they are obliged to represent even the most devilish of clients. 

That old saw pertains to British clients but not active enemies of our country.

Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia(Belgravia....the vulgarity, dear!) led the charge on behalf of Putin's friend, Potanin. 

Many of these lawyers reside in our fair Royal Borough: they should feel utter shame and give 80% of their fees to Ukranian charities looking after wounded victims of Putin's barbarism.

Shackleton was supported by Hicks Payne Beach who like to pretend they are purveyors of law to the landed gentry.

By the way, how did Shackleton come by her peerage? 

It cannot just have been operating in divorce courts otherwise every Tom, Dick and Fiona would get one.

THE DAME'S SCARY NIGHTMARE

 

Charlatan

The Dame had a terrifying nightmare. Boris Johnson is back... Russia had declared war on us and Shapps is still in charge of our  defence. 

She had to suspend belief...it was just a nightmare.

WHY HAVE THE TORIES NOT SCRAPPED POLICE& CRIME COMMISSIONERS?

 

This is PCC Dwyer from Cheshire....just one of the useless 41 Police and Crime Commissioners Lib Dems claim have cost the country the thick end of £100 million since 2019. 

He gets £85,000 a year!

The Lib Dems £100 million is rubbish....more like half a billion!

Most of these PCCs are ex cllrs: it's a sort of sinecure. 

Senior serving police officers treat these ungifted amateurs as interfering pains in the arses.

Just think how many schools, hospitals and front-line police could be provided by scrapping these dimwits.

The Lib Dems are calling for their abolition. They conveniently forget they forced the idea on Cameron" it was a price of  coalition.

But we have a government complaining there's no money but still allowing the farce to continue.

LEAVE OUR RESIDENT BAYS ALONE!

NOT IN RESIDENT PARKING BAYS!

This 'consultation' is doing the rounds. Like most, they are just a sop to residents. The results will be manipulated....

What is unclear is whether residents will lose spaces. 

If that is the intention Hornet readers should vociferously object.

Bays for bikes need to be created from Pay and Display spaces. 

No mention is made whether RBK&C will generate revenue from e-bike rental firms. Most are foreign owned and loaded. 

They need to be made to pay.

Dear Residents’ Association

New Rental e-Bike Parking Bay Proposals

Rental e-bikes have become a regular sight on borough streets and can be a convenient alternative to public transport or driving. The number of trips made by rental e-bikes has increased greatly in Kensington and Chelsea over the last few years. We recognise that parking of rental e-bikes on narrow footways can cause a nuisance to residents, particularly where the footway is obstructed for those using wheelchairs or buggies. In September 2023, we implemented a number of designated e-bike parking bays to help prevent bikes left inconsiderately.

 

The Council is now proposing to create additional dedicated parking bays for use by e-bike hire operators and their customers, in existing parking bays across the borough. The new bays aim to help fill gaps in our current e-bike parking network, and to help address the problem of overspilling in popular existing rental e-bike bays.  We are not proposing to permit more e-bikes to be deployed in the borough, rather this will allow us to bring more control to where bikes are parked.

 

For more detailed information on the proposed locations, and to respond to the consultation, please visit:

 

https://consult.rbkc.gov.uk/communities/e-bike-parking-2024/

 

The consultation closes on 17 April 2024. 

 

Kind Regards

 

 

 

Sustainable Travel Team

ebikes@rbkc.gov.uk

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MR & MRS MOFFATT

The likes of Mr and Mrs Moffatt should find somewhere else to live....they are not Chelsea people: in fact, they would be much more at home in Totteridge....if that doesn't offend Totteridge folk.

The Dame wishes to applaud Cllr Husband his colleagues for seeing off Moffatt, a property developer and his plans to install 'apartment style' mega boats and drive out the long-term 'normal' Chelsea dwellers.

It is high time this priceless piece of river became a community asset to protect it once and for all from Moffatt and his money-making schemes.

THE DAME GOES INTERNATIONAL WITH 70,000 VIEWS IN FEBRUARY

 

click to enlarge

The Dame is not one to crow.... but last month there were over 70,000 views! This is a record.

The Dame's nephew, Ludo. tells her that many were international. 

Some nasty, envious types say that members of the Dame's Holland Park Women's Institute have been tapping away or that she had changed one of her many farms into a 'bot farm'. 

So typical of this country to denigrate success.

One day the Dame may even X