See what your local Conservative Councillors have been up to in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames...

Freedom of the Borough March

Friday 17th June: Councillors and soldiers attending a reception at the Guildhall after soldiers who served in Afghanistan and took part in the royal wedding marched through Kingston for the first time in a decade. About 200 members of the 2nd Battalion Princess of Wale’s Royal Regiment exercised their Freedom of the Borough.

Conservative Concillors supporting the Territorial Army

at Pirbright Barracks.

Pictured above from left to right - Councillor Mike Burden, Andrew Day, Ken Smith and Priyen Patel.

Councillor Priyen, Shadow Finance Portfolio holder said "it was excellent to see the great work of the Territorial Army (TA) in London and learn about the crucial role they play in defending this country at home and abroad. It was a real pleasure to meet and speak with TA soldiers and understand that they are accountants, postmen and surveyors but dedicate their time to such a noble cause. The Borough should investigate all possible actions we can take to honour soldiers - those serving and those out of the forces."

Canbury Gardens Awarded Silver Medal

On Friday May 13th, in City Hall, Mayor Boris Johnson presented awards to Boroughs who had public parks that were judged to be safe.

Boris proclaimed that more and more people were living in towns and cities; villages were being deserted. So he wanted to bring the village back into the city. There are 3,000 parks in the Greater London area, more than any other European City. People will visit the parks if they are safe; the more people who use the parks, the safer they will be. The Safer Parks Awards are an encouragement to make parks safer. There were 32 winners from across the capital, 13 gold awards, 11 silver and 8 bronze.

Cllr Dennis Doe is the Chairman of the Canbury Gardens Working Party which he collected the award for the Royal Borough. Cllr Doe was accompanied by Hugh Scantlebury, Chairman of the local residents group, CARA (Canbury and Riverside Association) and Trevor Willis who is both Chairman of the Tudor Safer Neighbourhood Team committee and is a major player in the running of the Canbury Pavilion Trust.

The ex BBC Club in Motspur Park left to rot!

The former BBC Sports Club was bought by Irish millionaire Ben Dunne back in 2005.

He is reported to have paid £3million for the complex, which he hoped to turn into a leisure and fitness centre. However, strong public feeling against it meant no official application was made.

Two years later, he had new plans to convert the entire site into a graveyard. However, the application to change the former BBC Sports Ground into a cemetery was withdrawn on 3 October 2008 after it become clear planning permission was likely to be refused. Objections were lodged by many local residents, sports clubs, Sport England and the Mayor of London.

Councillors Howard Jones, Ken Smith and Priyen Patel have been campaigning hard to bring the land, which is classified as Metropolitan Open Land, back into its proper public use as a Sports Ground.

Picture of Derelict Pavilion at the old BBC Sports Ground.

August 2010

Councillors Robert-John Tasker and Priyen Patel have both this month had articles published in prominent local government publications: 'Cllr' and the 'I Propose' section of the London Councils website, respectively. Both appear below.

Budget calls for innovation

Robert-John Tasker

What has become clear to the coalition is that shrinking the size of the state is of paramount importance in tackling the country's huge deficit and social problems, leading to transition towards a private sector economy. Local government has to accept it is going to have to play a far less prominent role in people's lives and will need to develop more innovative, creative and essential methods to deliver services.

The Chancellor will cut 25% from government budgets over the coming term, which inevitably will mean large-scale redundancies. While this may seem a precarious time for public sector workers, under Labour, the size of government had reached eye-watering levels: more than seven million are receiving their income from the government, council tax levels have rocketed, and £4.8bn of child benefit goes to above-average income households. During the Blair years, government spending hovered either side of 40% of GDP. The mismanagement of public finances over the last 13 years is clear for all to see.

However, part of tackling our country's parlous economic state is to radically reform local government while maintaining its raison d'etre. The cutting of local government quangos, funding agencies, diversity and media portfolios, the streamlining of of ring-fenced budgets and reigning back on travel and entertainment are essential. The sale of council assets to private enterprise and generally shrinking the size of town hall has to be a priority for any forward thinking leader of of a local authority. The age-old attitude of increasing taxation because of the town hall's inability to make real cuts and failure to pioneer efficiency has to cease and a more entrepreneurial and corporate approach to providing services needs to prevail.

Part of the new attitude in local government has to be directed towards housing. Housing takes up £7.3bn of the overall local government budget. Cuts to social housing are estimated at £750m. Local authorities must encourage and entice people into private ownership through shared ownership schemes, building closer relationships with corporate housing partners and promoting the building of new family homes on brownfield sites.

Other important areas for consideration include libraries, leisure centres and other public amenities. Sensible realignment of those services, so important to local residents, can be used to create vast community hubs. Scaling back and allowing voluntary organisations and local people to take charge of these services is another way of ensuring the role of local government is reduced, the empowerment of the individual is increased, and service provision is maintained.

During tough and challenging times, residents and citizens need to take responsibility for their communities as well as eachother rather than leaving it to anonymous paid officials. If David Cameron's Big Society idea is to work, then reintroducing the spirit of serving one's country can form the backbone for the most phenomenal and radical shake up of how we live, work and make decisions. The question is: are people ready and prepared to carry the burden of responsibility that is sorely needed?

'I Propose'

Priyen Patel

'In these times of deficits, cuts and freezes, the allure of selling off assets to off-set these decisions must be tempting. However, school playing fields are important. A report by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology said that obesity in children aged 15 was running at 15 per cent (8.5 per cent of 6 year-olds). This is truly shocking and must be considered of national importance for two reasons:

1. A growing number of young people with obesity will lead to increases in heart problems; osteoarthritis of the hands, hip, back and knees; and increases in the risk of breast cancer in men and women. Obesity is even the most common factor in non-alcoholic steatophepatitis, a major cause of liver disease.

2. The sheer cost of this for London's NHS, taking in our GPs' and other health professionals' time and resources, will escalate. It is estimated that this will cost the NHS over £6 billion by 2015.

So, coming back to playing fields.

When I was at school, competitive and non-competitive sport was encouraged for all students. And I took advantage. Football, tennis, rugby and basketball were just a few of the sports which I took part in. This could not have happened if my school had sold its playing fields.

London has very little space for sports. It is therefore paramount that these special places, where children are encouraged to run, tackle, shoot and dunk are not lost. I want all council leaders and head teachers in London to make a pledge that playing fields are not sold to developers, and where possible, the amount of land used for children's sport is grown.'

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/ipropose/priyenpatel.htm

July 2010 Save Kingston Magistrates' Court!

Cllr's Karen George, Howard Jones, & David Cunningham at the 'Save the Magistrates' Court' rally.

Zac Goldsmith also lends his support to the campaign, whilst Opposition Leader Cllr Jones signs the petition to keep the court open.

July 2010 Electric Vehicle Launch

Leader of the Opposition Cllr Howard Jones was joined by the Shadow Executive Member for Safeguarding & Children First Cllr Robert John Tasker as they perused the array of electric vehicles on show in Kingston's Market Square.

June 2010 Armed Forces Day

Conservative Councillors attend the annual Armed Forces Day.