Dear neighbour,

Welcome to our January 2024 e-newsletter. Read on for:

1. Wandsworth Common keeps getting water-logged – here’s what we’re asking the Council to do about it
2. Local road and pavement resurfacing campaigns – central Government announces more funding
3. Northcote Library – our extended hours campaign, and wifi access update 
4. Take part in our Safer Streets Survey
5. A reminder about Mega Skip Days

Please help us spread the news about our local campaigns by forwarding this email to friends and family who live in the Northcote ward – it really helps our work as local councillors. 

As ever, if there is anything we can be of help locally, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at [email protected]

Best regards,

Cllr Aled Richards-Jones

Cllr Emmeline Owens 

Wandsworth Common keeps getting water-logged

– here’s what we’re asking the Council to do

If you’re an active user of Wandsworth Common like us, you’ll have noticed that the recent wet weather has resulted in severely water-logged pitches. As well as an increase in muddy dogs, this had led to the sports pitches being unusable and the disappointment of frequently cancelled sports matches.

Of course, rain is a fact of life, especially in the winter months. However, steps were previously taken by Wandsworth Council to reduce the impact on the Common and the cancellation of sports matches. Between 2018 and 2022, Wandsworth Conservatives invested on several occasions to improve the drainage on Wandsworth Common. In particular, in 2018 a new innovative vertical drainage system was trialled on three of the council’s seven winter pitches and was found to be successful. On top of this, in 2020, further holes across the common were drilled, which were filled with an absorbent product. 

The plan was to expand this drainage facility across all thirteen pitches on Wandsworth Common – however, this is yet to take place. Further, it’s also clear that that the Common should be appraised annually with drainage taking place at the start of every autumn if required. 

That’s why we’re calling on Wandsworth Council’s Labour Administration to:

1. press ahead with installing drainage facilities across all thirteen pitches on Wandsworth Common without delay; and
2. commit to an annual review of the ongoing drainage issues on Wandsworth Common. 

You can support our campaign by signing our petition here. Please do forward to any neighbours or friends who you think would be supportive. 

Our road and pavement resurfacing campaigns

– central Government announces more funding

Ensuring our roads and pavements are in good condition is a priority for us. At the last Council meeting before Christmas, we presented petitions on behalf of residents in Wroughton Road (asking for resurfacing of the pavement between Chatto Road and Broomwood Road), and on behalf of residents in Leathwaite Road (asking for the resurfacing of the carriageway between Chatto Road and Wakehurst Road). The Council will have to formally respond to the petitions sometime this year, and we will include an update on a future e-newsletter when they do.

As part of the latest round of extra central Government road resurfacing funding, Wandsworth Council has been allocated over £200,000. We will be lobbying the Council’s Administration to ensure that Northcote ward gets its fair share. Please get in touch if there is a particular road or pavement which you believe could benefit from resurfacing. 

Update on our Northcote Library hours

campaign and wifi access

Following our petition to the Council calling for opening hours at the new Northcote Library to be extended, the Labour Administration has responded to say that it will not extend library hours at this time. However, it has agreed to conduct a review of all the Borough’s libraries and to take our petition into account during that review.

Obviously, this is not our preferred outcome. As we have reported in previous e-newsletters, Labour has already extended library hours in other parts of the Borough, but Northcote Library has been left out of this program (despite user demand increasing at Northcote Library by 40%) without any credible explanation. No timelines have been given for the Borough-wide review of the library service, and no explanation has been given as to why hours at Northcote Library can’t be extended in the interim. It goes without saying that we will keep lobbying on this issue!

Some good news this month is that wifi access in now available at the new library. Residents were surprised to discover, when the new library opened 8 months ago, that there was no wifi facility. We have been asking about this for months, and the Council’s Administration have put the blame on BT. We’re pleased that this has finally been resolved – wifi access is, after all, a minimum service you would expect in a library. 

Take part in our Safer Streets Survey

We know that crime is becoming a growing concern lately, not least because of the disturbing increase in muggings of school children. This week Wandsworth Police informed residents that they have increased the number of uniformed officers patrolling on foot around Northcote Road, Clapham Junction Station and in the surrounding area. The aim is a visible deterrent given the increase in thieves targeting the public.

To help us collect data to inform our discussions with the police, we have created a Safer Streets Survey, which seeks residents’ views about crime as well as other local matters. We are interested in the top three issues you would like the police to focus on as well as measures you would support to cut crime in the area.

Please do fill out our survey here.

A reminder about monthly Mega Skip Days

The next Mega Skip Day will be held on Saturday 24 February, with the nearest skips to Northcote ward being on Acanthus Road, SW11 and Cicada Road, SW18.

Mega Skip Days are an opportunity to dispose of bulky items for free. Residents can bring up to six items with them to the mega skip for free - one bag of rubbish is one item, as is one sofa, one mattress, and so on. Some items are not accepted, such as hazardous objects, paint, or cooking oil.

The skip is available between 9 am and 12 noon and photo ID, passport, driving license or utility bill are accepted as proof of residency.

Full details can be found on the Council’s website.

Please do be aware that these skips tend to fill quite frequently, and often considerably before 12 noon (some councillors have joked that the skips aren’t really “mega”, and perhaps it’s not totally accurate to call these “days”…). We have asked the Council to extend this offering to provide larger skips (or more than one skip) so that more residents can benefit. 

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