Dear neighbour,

Happy St David's Day (Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus!), and welcome to our March newsletter. Inside, you’ll find:

1. Our electric vehicle (EV) charging point campaign – help us secure more EV charging points in Northcote ward
2. Protecting and enhancing our commons – how you can play a role, however big or small
3. Is Wandsworth Council really “freezing” Council Tax? Unfortunately not, and Council Tax bills are set to rise this year
4. Homes for Ukraine – an update on the scheme locally
5. Wandsworth Grant Fund – community groups can apply for Council funding by 3rd April
6. Fees waived for Coronation street parties and grants available for community organisations - apply for a grant for community celebrations over the coronation bank holiday weekend by 19 March.

Please help us spread the news about our local campaigns by forwarding this email to friends and family who live in Northcote ward – it really helps our work as local councillors. New subscribers can sign up to receive these emails regularly by clicking here.

And as ever, if there is anything we can be of help locally, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Best regards,



Cllr Aled Richards-Jones

Cllr Emmeline Owens 

Our electric vehicle (EV) charging point campaign

help us secure more EV charging points in Northcote

EV charging points are a crucial way of helping many people make the change to a cleaner, greener form of transport.

When Wandsworth Conservatives ran Wandsworth Council, we led the way on installing electric vehicle charging points – at one point having the highest number of charging points of any council, and having more charging points in Wandsworth than the whole of Wales!

However, since political control of the Council changed to Labour, new EV charging point installations have stalled. We want to make sure the new Administration understands that it needs to keep pace with demand locally, as more and more people and businesses make the switch to electric vehicles.

You can help us campaign for more EV charging points locally by showing that there is local demand for them. Please fill out our survey here, letting us know which street you’d like to see additional charging points on.

Protecting and enhancing our commons

how you can play a role

Wandsworth Common and Clapham Common contribute so much to what makes our area so special. Did you know that you can join local 'Friends' groups to help protect and improve our commons? The Friends groups run projects to improve the biodiversity of the commons, maintain and restore their buildings and facilities, organise talks and a range of activities such as nature walks, litter picks and tree planting. 

Becoming involved is immensely rewarding, whether you're an avid litter picker, or just enjoy the occasional social or educational event. 

More about the Friends of Wandsworth Common can be found at https://www.wandsworthcommon.org/, and the Friends of Clapham Common at https://claphamcommon.net/.  

A special mention for the Friends of Wandsworth Common’s Virtual AGM Wednesday March 15th, 6.30 - 8pm. The AGM promises the usual entertaining chairs' review of the year and future plans and election of officers, and is the perfect event to attend if you’d like to find out more about what the Friends do and get more involved. Please email the Friends at friends@wandsworthcommon.org if you’d like to attend.

Has Wandsworth Council really “frozen” Council Tax?

Unfortunately not…and bills are set to go up this year

You might have seen the recent Wandsworth Council press release which claimed that Wandsworth Council was “freezing” Council tax this coming year. However, you only had to read a few paragraphs into the same press release to discover that the Council is in fact increasing bills by 2% as part of its social care levy. This led to the independent OnLondon online newspaper observing in its headline that “Wandsworth Council to increase council tax while claiming it will freeze it.”

As well as being a thoroughly misleading claim, the decision to increase Council Tax is a straightforward broken promise. At the local elections in May, Wandsworth Labour promised to cut Council Tax if they won the election – and certainly not to increase it. As OnLondon describes it (pulling no punches):

"During the run up to last May’s council elections [Simon] Hogg [Leader of Wandsworth Council] and Labour, before taking control of the council from the Conservatives, made vague, misleading and contradictory pledges about council tax, including that a Labour-run council would “cut your council tax this year” and “cut your council tax next year” along with a looser promise to retain “the same low council tax” charged by the Conservatives. The Wandsworth Labour election manifesto is no longer available online."

Tax rises always disproportionately hit those with the least the most. As well as increasing Council Tax, the Council is also raising Council house rents by 7% (the legal maximum) and day care fees for older and vulnerable residents by 7%. What makes these decisions all the more disappointing is that Labour inherited some £200m in Council reserves in May 2022 from the outgoing Conservative Council Administration – probably the healthiest Council financial position in the country. This means that Wandsworth Council simply doesn’t need to raise additional money from hard pressed residents at this time.

And Council Tax bills will rise further still. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (a former Wandsworth Labour councillor), is also set to raise his share of the Council tax bill by 9.7%. A Conservative amendment at the Greater London Assembly to freeze his portion of Council Tax instead was voted down last week by Labour Assembly Members.

It is a far cry from decisions taken a year ago by the previous Conservative Administration. Last year, Wandsworth Council was the only London Council to actually cut Council Tax, and we also froze Council house rents and heating and hot water charges. We could do this because we managed money well when times were good, so we could help those with the least during tough times. We’re disappointed that the new Council have departed from this approach. 

Homes for Ukraine scheme

An update on the scheme locally

The Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched by the government on 14 March 2022. This scheme allows people living in the UK to sponsor a named Ukrainian national or family to come to live in the UK with them and has provided sanctuary for thousands of Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s war.

Wandsworth has shown itself to be one of the most generous areas in the UK in taking up the scheme. Since the scheme was launched, 840 Ukrainians have been housed by Wandsworth families. We’re proud to say that Northcote ward has provided homes to greatest number of any Wandsworth ward, with 70 Ukrainians being found homes in the ward.

You can find out more about how the scheme works in Wandsworth here.

Wandsworth Grant Fund

Apply by 3rd April for community grant funding

Are you a local community group looking for funding for a project?

Established in April 2015, the Wandsworth Grant Fund (WGF) supplies small grants (£500 to £10,000) for community and voluntary sector organisations in the borough to undertake activities for up to 12 months.

The fund aims to support projects under seven themes:



1.    Arts and culture

2.    Environment and attractive neighbourhoods

3.    Children and young people

4.    Citizenship and civic engagement

5.    Achieving aspirations and potential

6.    Health and wellbeing

7.    Recovering from the impact of COVID-19

As ward councillors, we have a long history of supporting and sponsoring successful local projects for funding. Earlier examples include securing grants for the Wandsworth Mediation Service, the Community Gospel Choir at St Michael’s Church, and the Sea Cadets!

Community groups can find out more about the scheme here. If you’re a local group looking for funding, and you think you may qualify under the WGF, let us know and we’ll be happy to help. 

Fees waived for Coronation street parties and grants available for community organisations 

Apply for a grant for community celebrations over the coronation bank holiday weekend by 19 March

Nowhere does a right royal celebration like Northcote ward. Remember the Jubilee Weekend Celebrations? There were 223 street parties in total in Wandsworth over that bank holiday weekend, with 20 in Northcote ward. There were some fabulous efforts – including the dog show and live music on Alfriston Road, and the incredible party of over 400 residents on Clapham Common West Side which raised over £3,000 for the Friends of Clapham Common. And Kelmscott Road’s party was so good it made it into the Washington Post!

To celebrate the Coronation, Wandsworth Council is once again waiving fees for street closures to allow residents to come together and organise coronation parties over the bank holiday weekend of 6-8 May.

Local voluntary and community organisations, including residents' associations and faith groups, can also apply to the King and Queen Consort’s Coronation Grant Fund for community celebrations. Grants of between £500 and £5000 can be for standalone events, or for those run as part of the Coronation Big Lunch on 6, 7 or 8 May or the Big Help Out on 8 May.

To find out more about applying for a street closure and a grant from the King and Queen Consort’s Coronation Grant Fund, and what's involved with the Coronation Big Lunch and Big Help Out, please visit the Council's dedicated webpage.

Published and promoted by Harry Todd on behalf of the Wandsworth Conservatives, all contactable at 1 Summerstown, SW17 0BQ.