A permit scheme by Mayor of London Boris Johnson designed to give councils the power to turn down or refuse roadwork schemes has been shunned by the ruling Lib Dem administration in Kingston!

The London-wide scheme makes it a criminal offence to carry out road-works above a certain threshold without permission. Twenty-fiveLondon boroughs have already signed up; meaning three quarters of all roads in the capital will be covered by the permits by early next year, allowing for a reduction in the 36% of traffic delays caused by road-works in London.

However, Cllr Bob Steed, Executive Member for the Environment, has said despite the ‘current problems’ blighting the Royal Borough’s highways, he is still ‘not quite sure of the benefits’ of the scheme. He has refused to sign up to the code and said ‘we want to see how it goes.’ 

The Conservative Group has pledged to re-evaluate the scheme if they are elected in the forthcoming local elections. Leader Cllr Howard Jones said ‘Interminable traffic jams and hold ups caused by road-works result in increased carbon emissions, angry motorists, and damage the local economy. We see no good reason for the Administration’s refusal to sign up.’

London Assembly Member for South-West London Tony Arbour has questioned why the Lib Dems would ‘rather play party politics than join the Mayor in working to cut road-works.’

The Liberal Democrats have made it clear that under their Council, Kingston Hospital is under threat

Kingston Hospital is only safe with the Conservatives. Simple

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

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Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.co

• YOU PAY THE HIGHEST COUNCIL TAX IN LONDON. DESPITE THIS, THE ROADS ARE IN POOR CONDITION!

• WHERE IS YOUR MONEY GOING? THE ROADS IN CHESSINGTON ARE COVERED IN POTHOLES!

• CHANGE! THE CONSERVATIVES WILL NOT NEGLECT CHESSINGTON LIKE THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

Considering residents of Chessington pay the highest Council tax in London under the Liberal Democrats, we should expect our roads to be maintained properly. We can only wonder where our money is being spent when basic maintenance is not being carried out!

As can be seen below, there are many examples of potholes and poor road conditions across Chessington North and Hook. Due to your Liberal Democrat council’s inability to deal with this, it results in thousands of pounds worth of damage to vehicles.

VOTE FOR CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR’S TO MAKE SURE YOUR AREA IS LOOKED AFTER PROPERLY!

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

The Conservative Group unveiled its commitment to our community on Crime Prevention and Enforcement by announcing that Cllr Ian George would become the Shadow Executive member for Crime Prevention, Licensing and Enforcement. The council has a vital role to play. By making one senior councillor responsible for all our activities we can focus our resources on dealing with key issues of Anti-social behaviour, our Night time economy and licensing, Graffiti and working closely with the Police and Voluntary groups. The Lib Dems talk about the low recorded levels of crime in our borough but fail to tackle the issues that really do exist and hide behind committees.

We will work with the Local Police and Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, to increase the number of police on our streets. We will also respond to the wishes of local people and tackle anti-social behaviour as a priority. We know we need to improve the security of our Parks and Green Spaces, with special focus on Victoria Park in Surbiton. We will show zero tolerance toward those who spoil our neighbourhoods with graffiti.

With the growing Café Culture and introduction of new Restaurants we will strictly enforce Hygiene Regulations in the Borough’s restaurants and cafés. The new powers for local authorities in respect to Licensing will also give us the opportunity to take action against landlords who take liberties on drinking hours in our town centres.

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

The Conservative Group has been a leading voice with parents over the needs for more school places. We will guarantee the expansion of our Primary and Secondary Schools to ensure that every Kingston Child is offered a place in a Kingston school. We also want the new school meals contract to provide locally sourced cooked meals from local produce and to encourage even more children to have school meals.

In Surbiton a New School will be built and quickly. There will be no delay. HOW CAN WE BE SO SURE?  Because we are not putting all our eggs in one basket.  We are not relying solely on the Surbiton Hospital site being the only one available. It would be good if the plans to build on spare land at the Hospital work out.  But the Council doesn’t own it; the Health plans of the London SW NHS Region are not expected to be agreed until at least 2012; the cash-strapped Kingston PCT could still choose the option of maximising the site’s capital return through building houses not a school.

So we need a Plan B, - just in case. That Plan could involve the King Charles Centre, which we do own and which is just below the space required Government’s Guidelines (NOTE, not “conditions” or even “recommendations”); It could involve the land behind Newent House which has lain waste for 20 years or more and, once bought, could be built on immediately; It could involve both sites, the Infants being behind Newent House and therefore next to the Children’s Centre and the Juniors on the King Charles Centre land, with Alexandra Rec providing the statutory-required playing field.  (Some our most successful Primary Schools have Infants and juniors on split sites)

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

The Kingston Youth Council has taken the time to draw up a Manifesto.  Kingston Conservatives have now had the opportunity to review the concerns and issues raised. We provide outstanding schools to educate our children and we encourage them to take part in our community through our youth services but as a Council we do not do enough to listen to them or respond to the issues that affect them directly. Kingston Conservatives wish to change this in the future.

The Kingston Youth Council has raised issues of Crime and Safety, Travel and Transport, Positive Activities and Communication with Councillors.

Crime and Safety

We agree with all their concerns and welcome all the suggested solutions. Their concerns about anti-social behaviour and the statement that they don’t feel safe in our Streets, Estates, some bus routes and in some parks supports Conservative policy on the need to do more to help our residents feel as safe as the crime figures suggest they should. We have a role to play in helping to allay the fear of crime where it is unjustified. The Police already work closely with some schools but the relationships need to be developed. We are also concerned with safety in our parks and have agreed to look at ways to improve this in our manifesto. We will support a programme of work that encourages young people to report crime and to work with the Neighbourhood Police Teams to work closer with our schools.

Travel and Transport

The Youth Council have raised concerns that need to be addressed if we are to encourage young people to use public transport. We will ask London Transport and the Police to join together with the Youth Council to form a working party to address the problems of Cleanliness, Times, Attitude of Bus Drivers, Behaviour and affordability.  Improvements can only be made by working together and once again the Youth council has set out solutions that can be achieved if we work together.

Positive Activities

We agree with the Youth Council on the need for Positive Activities and will enter into discussion with DC Leisure after the election to agree new arrangements for young people using our council owned gyms and swimming pools. We will also ask commercial operators to look at how they can encourage young people to join either with family memberships or special young people’s rates. We have already released in our manifesto that we want to transform our Youth Centres, see them used more and to develop new kinds of facilities, such as youth café’s for our young people to use and enjoy, allowing them to socialise safely.

Communication with Councillors

The youth council have raised three points that go to demonstrate that while the council has played lip service to them and does not consider it important enough to embrace the Youth Council as a formal part of the decision making process. We want to change that and have been developing new policies to make the Youth Council an active and formal part of the Council.

·         We want to enhance the Youth Council, give them the right to bring issues to the attention of the full council, to hear reports from executive members and to question decisions made. We want to hear their voice when addressing issues that relate to them are being considered by the Executive and the Council as a whole.

·         We will ensure that the Youth Council is recognised in the official structure of the council and that it is consulted on issues as we do neighbourhoods when considering the formation of Council policy.

·         Working with the Youth Council, we will look to develop further the relationship with our Youth Services and other community organisations to further strengthen the work and influence of young people in the borough.

·         We will appoint a Young People’s Champion to speak on issues within Council and to support the work of the Youth Council and the Youth Service who is not part of the Executive and can challenge the administration to address young peoples concerns.

Cllr Nick Kilby, Shadow Executive Member for Youth Services said “Our Youth service is the Cinderella of our council. It has an important role in encouraging young people to play an increasingly more active role in shaping our Borough. The Youth Council is the jewel in the crown of the services and we want to work with the young people to address the issues they have identified and then go further by involving them in the creation of future policy on all subjects. Young people are often blamed for things that have nothing to do with them. The Kingston Youth Council manifesto provides a good basis to deal with the issues that will make living in the borough better for all but especially the younger residents. After all it is their future we are dealing with and their voice should be heard”

A Conservative Administration will introduce the first Carbon Budget for the Royal Borough of Kingston.  This will give an open and transparent way to measure our efforts to respond to the growing concerns on Climate Change, and the Budget will be set annually at Budget Council and enable residents to see what measures the Council is taking to respond to the threat of climate change. And to see the returns on the investments in both financial and environmental terms on a year by year basis. 

The Council will first need to agree how it will measure its current position and Carbon Foot Print; how it will set an annual Green Budget and then how it will monitor its performance during the year. The Council already has a great deal of this data that can be accessed but it does not use it or publish it in a form suitable for setting a Carbon Budget.

We will host a Public Workshop in July 2010. From this we will establish a Working Party made up of Councillors, Officers and Environmental Groups and Specialists who will work together to first agree the methodology that the Council will need to adopt to support the creation of a Green Budget.

The Council will then produce an initial Environmental  Statement. This will then be reviewed and revisions made to the process. This initial statement will be used to produce a test Green Budget in March 2011. The Council will monitor this test budget through the next year and make improvements to the process. In September 2011, RBK will commission the first Annual Environment Statement and this will be presented to the Executive in November 2011for adoption. The Administration will then use this statement to base its first official Green Budget proposals for the Budget Council in March 2012.

Our Green Budget will be defined as much by the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the earth’s atmosphere by the activities that are under our direct control. We will also look to embrace other measurements that support other direct action on climate change. The Green Budget will be made up of a series of proposals, budgeted and included in the Annual Budget of the Council.

By introducing a Green Budget we believe we can draw together all the resources at our disposal and engage meaningfully with other organisations to make a dramatic difference. We also believe that through our efforts we will encourage Residents and Businesses in the Borough to find out what they can do to reduce further their negative impact on the Environment.

We believe the investment and costs associated with the introduction will be at least cost neutral over the first three years. We are confident that there will actually be a more optimistic outcome as regards savings and a greater effect in terms of the potential reduction of our negative impact on the Environment.

Cllr. Ken Smith, Conservative Spokesman said “We know that while people will debate what levels of threat we face from climate change, it is clear we all have to become more aware of the effects we ourselves have on our environment. Reducing the impact and the costs of energy use is something we can all agree on. Our proposal is one clear way for the Council to step up to the table and give leadership to our residents and the businesses operating in the Royal Borough of Kingston.

We will involve everyone who works at the Council and everyone we work with in delivering services to our Residents. It will bring all that we do under a spotlight and help bring the need to change in the way we work into the open. We believe this proposal will also complement the wider need for change in the corporate culture of the Council. This innovation will bring together all organisations interested in Climate Change and the Environment in Kingston and enable us to unite and work together in making a difference that will benefit our Borough and its people for generations”

Zac Goldsmith, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Richmond Park said “This is a hugely important initiative. Without proper information and real transparency, we won’t be able to tackle climate change. The right approach is one that combines saving money with saving energy. It’s a win-win situation.”

Kingston, worth fighting for!

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

David Cameron visits Kingston Hospital

KINGSTON HOSPITAL IS ONLY SAFE WITH THE CONSERVATIVES

David Cameron visits Kingston Hospital to discuss the NHS with our MP candidates, Helen Whately and Zac Goldsmith. 

“The NHS is our top priority, because it is the top priority for many families in the country including my own. That’s why we made an exception and said that while there have to be difficult decisions about Government spending, the NHS budget should grow every year. We want to end all these top down reviews and slicing up that has been taking place. So here in Kingston Hospital we can say we are going to get rid of that review and keep investing in this hospital. Let it be the decision of GPs and local people about where they are treated and which hospitals go on and thrive. I am sure that this one will, and I know that Helen Whately has been fighting that campaign extremely hard.”

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

About your Conservative candidates

Jamal Chohan

Jamal is a local resident, who has grown up and been educated in the Borough. He is now completing a Law degree which means he has an in-depth knowledge of the political structure of local government. Jamal plays cricket at a local club and is also an avid football fan. He strongly believes in local schools for local children and is desperate to change the fact that Chessington is seen as the ‘forgotten corner of the Borough’. Jamal believes that since we pay the highest council tax in the whole of London, it is vital that residents see their money spent responsibly.

Maundy Todd

Maundy has lived in the Borough for 28 years. She has three children, is married and is self employed. She has long experience of successful campaigning on both a local and national level. She would like the Council to listen, to respect and to take appropriate action when residents voice concerns or hopes. She would like to try and help make Chessington North and Hook a better place for everyone to live.

Andrew Day

Andrew was born and has lived in the Borough all his life.  He moved to Chessington in 1986.  He has a daughter aged 12 and has been married to Jane for 27 years. He has worked in the travel industry for 36 years and at present works for a local travel consolidator. He regularly  attends the Local Residents Association meetings and has a great interest in ensuring that the local area is a pleasant, safe place to live.  He wants to ensure that the Council hear the voice of the people in Chessington North and Hook to help provide an even better, safer place to be.

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

Conservatives support the Rose Theatre. But not the public money spent on it! Your Chessington North & Hook Conservative Councillors will ensure money is spent appropriately. We will make sure our corner of the Borough is not neglected!

We do not support the use of £1.8million of taxpayers money to save the theatre because of Lib Dem mistakes and mismanagement. Too much taxpayers money has been given to the theatre to dig it out of holes. The fit out of the theatre ran out of money, directors have quit and the Lib Dems earmarked £600,000 a year for the next three years to subsidise the theatre. We believe there are bigger social issues that should be prioritised such as saving care homes from being closed and council houses in desperate need of restoration and repair in the borough.

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

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Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

Waste management sites are being considered for several locations on our boundaries. Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Kingston Road/Jubilee Way Junction, Tolworth and three different sites on Chessington Industrial Estate. We don’t think there has been sufficient consultation and will keep a careful watch.

Look at www.kingston.gov.uk/wasteplan

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

The Conservatives have been active in meeting with the local police. Once elected as your councillor’s we will endeavour to make Chessington North & Hook a safer neighbourhood.

Helen Whately, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, spent a day on the beat with Chessington North Safer Neighbourhood Team, getting first hand experience of community policing. Chessington’s team introduced her to their innovative COP card scheme which is building links with the community. It has been a hit with primary school children, several of whom came up to speak to the team during the morning. The intention is for children to get to know their local police so they don’t become members of anti-social gangs as they reach their teens.

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com

Conservatives will freeze the council tax

Liberal Democrats will increase it by 2.5%

YOUR CHOICE

Email us at chessingtonnorth@kingstonconservatives.com