Dear Neighbour,

Welcome to our November e-newsletter. There’s lots going on locally, so please read on for:

1. Stepping up our campaign for extended opening hours at Northcote Library: with the new school year well underway, we’re stepping up our campaign for more study space hours.
2. Bring back Northcote Road summer weekend pedestrianisation: is the Labour Council finally paying attention?
3. “I’m sorry, how much!?” Labour councillors vote to increase their pay at the Town Hall by up to 172% (yes, that’s right!) – we voted against it.
4. What’s on in November: Northcote Road Christmas Lights, Battersea Ball, Northcote Road Outdoor Christmas Market, and much more!

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. 

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 

An update on our campaign for extended Northcote library opening hours

Now that the new school year is well underway, we’re stepping up our campaign to extend the opening hours at the new Northcote Library – fulfilling a key promise behind our new state-of-the-art library building.

The new Northcote library was specifically designed by the previous Conservative Council with cost saving features – such as greener, more efficient heating and insulation and more commercial space for rent to local businesses and community groups – to enable the Council to finance longer opening hours than were possible in the previous inefficient 1960s building.

However, we were disappointed when the new the Labour-controlled Council revealed that the new library would be closed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays. The decision is even more baffling when the Council has recently extended opening hours in three libraries in other parts of the borough, at Roehampton Library, Battersea Park Library and York Gardens Library. We want to see at least the same treatment for Northcote Library, particularly as it provides important study space after school. There’s also local demand – since the new building opened, visitor numbers have increased by 40%.

So we’re calling on the Council to extend the opening hours to at least 6 days a week. Thanks to all those who’ve already signed – the more signatures we have, the more pressure we can put the Council under.

If you haven’t already, please sign our petition at wandsworthconservatives.co.uk/northcotelibrary. 

Bring back regular summer weekend pedestrianisation

The recent return of the Northcote Road Summer Festival – brilliantly organised by the local businesses – is a reminder of how Northcote Road is transformed when it is pedestrianised.

Sadly, the new Labour Council has so far ignored calls to reverse its decision to scrap the regular summer weekend pedestrianisation scheme it inherited from the previous Conservative Council when it won last year’s council elections. This is despite the road’s businesses strong support for the scheme and our petition of local residents which now stands at over 7,000 signatures. Intriguingly, however, the Council has recently commissioned consultants to work with local businesses on potential options for Northcote Road in future years. We’ll be watching this process closely and arguing that a return to the summer weekend pedestrianisation should be one of those options – particularly given resident and business support. 

“I’m sorry, how much!?”

Labour councillors vote to increase their pay at the Town Hall by up to 172% (yes, that’s right!) – we voted against it.

At the end of last month, Wandsworth’s ruling Labour Administration voted through some fairly eye-popping increases to councillors’ allowances – including explained back pay that stretches into the previous municipal year. These included:

• Awarding Labour's Chief Whip a 172% pay rise - she will now receive over £40,000 a year, with a lump sum of over £8,000 in back pay.
• Handing members of their group a total of over £28,000 in back-pay bonuses.
• Creating brand-new allowances for individual Labour councillors costing close to £3,000 each, for roles which have existed for decades and never before attracted ‘special’ pay.
• Adding £102,000 to the council's pay bill this year alone.

Needless to say, we were appalled. We voted against these changes at committee stage and at Full Council, but because Labour have the majority of councillors on Wandsworth Council, they were able to push these changes through. Their changes also mean that nearly all Labour councillors (33 out of 35) are eligible for special ‘top up’ pay – something which goes against explicit HMRC guidance.

It’s important to explain what exactly councillor allowances are. They’re not salaries, and the role of a councillor is a voluntary one which most councillors do alongside their full-time jobs. Councillors’ allowances are designed to help us meet the costs of this voluntary role, and also partially to reflect the portion of our professional time we spend on the role. Councillors’ allowances are important and help people from all walks of life perform these roles – but the previous allowance rates were generous enough, and absolutely nothing justifies these huge increases.

It was also disappointing to see Labour push through these increases at the same time as increasing Council housing rents by 7%, supporting Sadiq Khan’s council tax increase of 9.7%, increasing parking charges, and adding £367m in debt to the Council’s balance sheets by 2026 (under the previous Conservative administration's plans, this figure would have been zero).

What’s on in November

Is it too early to mention Christmas events? Of course it’s not…

Don’t miss the return of the fabulous Wandsworth Friends of Royal Trinity Hospice Christmas Fair on Tuesday 14th – Wednesday 15th November at St Luke’s Church on Ramsden Road. With lots of exciting stallholders already confirmed and more to come, the Christmas Fair will be your one-stop-shop for jewellery, gadgets, decorations, fashion items, beauty products, books, food, and more

On Thursday 23rd November at 4.30pm, the Clapham Junction Christmas Lights will be switched on. Please join us at the Junction of Lavender Hill and Falcon Road, Outside The London & South Western - JD Wetherspoon.

Then on Friday 24th November at 4.30pm, the Northcote Road Christmas Lights Switch On takes place on Abyssinia Close. Local schoolchildren will be singing carols beside the tree, and we’ll be joined by special guest Ainsley Harriott! 

Later in the evening, from 6.30pm ‘til late on Friday 24th November, the legendary Battersea Ball returns to Evolution in Battersea Park. This is Battersea’s biggest charity party in aid of the Battersea Crime Prevention Panel.

On Saturday 25th November between 10am-4pm, Battersea Library is hosting a Christmas Craft Fair. Come and choose handmade Christmas gift for someone you love. There will also be activities for children.

On Sunday 26th November we welcome the return of the Northcote Road Christmas market. Join us for the 30 plus festive stalls offering a dazzling array of Christmas goodies, stocking fillers, mulled wine and tasty treats. Northcote Road will not be closed to traffic and all market stalls will be placed within the parking bays facing the pavements.

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