Dear Friends,

It’s been a busy few months in Northcote! Below you’ll find an update from your local Councillors and Conservative action team about some of the things we’ve been doing. As always if you’ve got any questions or other issues to raise, we are keen to hear from you. 
Improving our play spaces
Work on the ball games area at Chivalry Road start after the Easter school holidays and will last about 5 weeks. Improvements will include a new polymeric sports surface marked out for football, netball and basketball, as well as new fencing, gates and better lighting.

In response to your feedback, the council is also drawing up plans to upgrade the Chivalry Road Playground and St Mark’s Play Space on Boutflower Road. Options will be put to public consultation this summer so that work can begin soon after – watch out for further emails where we’ll let you know how you can take part in the consultations.
We’re proud that these important improvements to children’s play facilities have been supported by over £350,000 secured by your Northcote Councillors from the Wandsworth Local Fund.
Next Steps: Northcote Road Library and Community Hall

The financial review of proposals for the new Northcote Road library and community centre is expected to be considered by councillors this summer. If approved, the next step will be to put the planning application to public consultation.

In the meantime, Alphabet Nursery will continue to operate from Chatham Hall. If the proposals are approved, arrangements are being made to relocate the nursery to the current Northcote library during construction.
“Cuppa with a Copper!” 
Northcote’s Police team run regular “cuppa with a copper” sessions held at local cafes where residents can raise concerns and learn about the police’s work in the community.

Cllr Peter Dawson and local campaigner Aled Richards-Jones joined the recent session at Biscuiteers on Northcote Road, where they discussed police visibility in our area and raised some residents’ concerns including car thefts and moped related crimes, anti-social behaviour, and policing of our local night time economy. They also met Adrian, an experienced PCSO who’s joined the Northcote team, and learnt about the latest crime-busting App which will be made available to retail premises.

Future “cuppa with a copper” sessions are being held on the following dates – although these dates and times are provisional and subject to operational requirements so please check police twitter accounts @MPSWandsworth and @MPSNorthcote for up to date times.

• Thursday 29th March, 4.30pm -5.30pm at Deli Boutique, Webbs Road.
• Saturday 7th April, 10am – 11am at Café Nero, 20 St John’s Hill.
• Friday 13th April, 2pm-3pm at Tea & Coffee House, 89 St John’s Road.
• Future sessions are planned at Bertie & Boo and Gail’s Bakery.
Citizens advice Wandsworth- Support for EU Citizens
We’re pleased that the two information evenings for EU citizens have been really well attended. These meetings are run by the Council funded advisory service run by Citizens Advice Wandsworth (CAW) offering EU citizens practical advice and support with understanding their residency status. More sessions are being planned – if you’d like to know more, just email euadviceservice@cawandsworth.org .

You can also see the presentation from the meetings here: EU Nationals – understand your post-Brexit status
Do you need funding for a community project?

The next round of applications to the Wandsworth Grant Fund is open with a deadline of 23rd April for proposals. The grant fund was set up by Wandsworth Council to provide small grants (£500 - £10,000) for community and voluntary sector organisations in the borough. Full details of the Fund are available at www.wandsworth.gov.uk/wgf

Applications have to be supported by ward councillors so please do get in touch with us as soon as possible and preferably by 16th April so that we are able to help. Northcote’s Conservative Councillors have successfully sponsored applications by various local organisations including the Wandsworth Mediation Fund, Infuse Youth Club, the Residents Association at Abyssinia sheltered housing, and track, cycling and fencing activities organised by parents at the Bolingbroke Academy.

The Council runs support events to give applicants advice about applying to the Fund – a 'Meet the Funder' event which is a general open meeting, and 'Application Surgeries' which are an opportunity for a one-to-one with an assessing officer. Register your interest here
Fed up with inconsiderate builders?

Fellow Conservative Councillor Will Sweet, who chairs Wandsworth’s Planning Committee, is campaigning for the Council to have proper powers to deal with problems caused by inconsiderate builders. Read more here:

Governors at High View Primary School propose joining Ark schools

Parents at High View Primary School have been consulted about a proposal that the school should join the Ark network of Primary Schools, one of the top performing school groups in the country, in September 2018. In a statement the governors said: “We fully believe that joining a high performing academy trust such as Ark will enable us to make rapid improvements and offer transformational opportunities for our pupils – giving our children the best opportunities to succeed in life.”

High View would continue as one of the five feeder schools to the Bolingbroke Ark Academy, which is also part of the Ark group. 
That’s all for now – if you’d like to know more, or get in touch for any reason, please use the contact details below.

Best wishes,

Cllr Peter Dawson
Louise Nathanson
Aled Richards-Jones

Twitter @NorthcoteTories
Promoted by David Jones on behalf of Wandsworth Conservatives both of 3 Summerstown, London SW17 0BQ.