7/30/2019 News Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P. #355

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In this edition:

Greg Hands M.P.s DiaryWebsite of the Week:The TroubadourCensus 2011:who we are nowPhoto news:H&F Police BoroughCommander meetingFuel duty increasescrappedPhoto news:German - British Chamberof Commerce

Met Police consult onreduced police countertimes in Fulham and theend of counter services inChelsea800 camera CCTV hubunveiled to cover bothboroughsAnother waste expert slamsthe Super SewerWorld's End and Lots Roadcelebrate 1 million Lottery

grantHow to contactGreg Hands M.P.

Issue 355 Friday 14th December 2012

Since the last edition, Greg:

Met the owner of the Troubadour, the West Brompton livemusic venue, which is currently under threat from a Councillicensing review due to complaints from a neighbour aboutnoise. The Troubadour has been at this venue since 1954. Formore, see website of the week.Was a guest reader at the community carol service at AllSaints Church, Putney Bridge Approach Road, Fulham.Met the owner of Chelsea small business the ChelseaGardening Company to see how the banking system mighthelp small businesses better. For more about the company,see www.chelseagardening.com

Attended the Christmas Carol Concert of the Fulham Society,

held in the chapel of Fulham Palace.Attended the annual London conference of German think tankthe Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.Met constituency relatives ofmurdered aid worker MargaretHassan to discuss next stages in how the Government mightassist the family further. Mrs Hassan was tragically kidnappedand murdered in Iraq in 2004.Met representatives of the local Kensington & Chelsea UAEcommunity to hear some of their concerns. The RoyalBorough is home to a number of nationals of Dubai and AbuDhabi.Held a training session for visiting staff of the MoroccanChamber of Deputies on the work of the Government Whips

Office. The UK is currently assisting Morocco and other Arabcountries through the Westminster Foundation for Democracyto encourage greater democratisation.Held a weekly surgeryfor Chelsea and Fulham residents atthe Fulham Methodist Church, Fulham Broadway. Gregssurgeries are held generally every Monday at FulhamMethodist Church, or at Peter Jones, Sloane Square. To makean appointment, email mail@greghands.com or call 020 72195448.

Website of the Week:www.troubadour.co.uk

The website of the legendary Earls Court/ West Brompton livemusic venue, the Troubadour. Greg has taken up their case withthe Council over a threat of a licensing review. Greg believes itwould be a major setback to lose the Troubadour, which hasbeen at the site since 1954. Visit the Troubadour to show yoursupport!

Census 2011: who we are nowMore information from the 2011 Census was published this week, withdata provided by local authority areas for the first time. BothHammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea have seensignificant changes in the ten years since the last census.These are some of the facts revealed about the makeup of our localboroughs:Religion% LBHF RBKC

Christian 54.1 54.2Muslim 10.0 10.0Other 3.5 5.2No Religion 23.8 20.6Not Stated 8.4 10.1

Ethnicity% LBHF RBKC

White 68.1 70.6Black 11.8 6.6

Asian 9.1 10.0Other 5.6 7.2

Mixed 5.5 5.7Immigration% LBHF RBKC

Born in UK 57.2 48.4Resident less than 5 years 14.3 18.3Resident 5-10 years 8.3 8.9Resident more than 10years

20.2 24.4

Household Tenure% LBHF RBKC

Owned 34.0 35.6Private Rent 31.7 35.8Social Rent 31.1 24.6Shared Ownership Scheme 1.6 0.9Rent Free 1.5 3.1

Marital Status% LBHF RBKC

Single 55.9 48.2Married 29.6 35.6Civil Partnership 0.5 0.7Separated 2.9 2.8Divorced 7.4 8.5

Widowed 3.7 4.1Commenting on the figures, Greg Hands M.P. said: It is fascinating tosee the changing nature of London and the local area. There arethings we knew, like the huge reliance on the London Undergroundwhen under half of households own a car, but the pace of change isastonishing.About a quarter of my constituents have moved to the UK since thelast census in 2001, which is a huge number. In the Royal Borough,less than half were born in the UK at all.

These figures help show why this Government is right to get to gripswith immigration, after 13 years of Labour's open door policy."

Photo news:

H&F Police Borough Commander meeting

Greg Hands M.P. discussing Fulham policing issues withHammersmith & Fulham Borough Commander, Lucy D'Orsi.

Fuel duty increase scrappedThis week, the cancellation of Labours fuel duty rise was put into law.It follows George Osbornes announcement that the Governmentwould cancel the rise scheduled for January 2013. This keeps fuel10p cheaper than it would have been under Labours duty escalator

and saves the typical motorist 40.Labour raised the rate of fuel duty 12 times before the last electionand had programmed a further six rises for the period after they leftoffice.Greg Hands M.P. commented: Anyone in Chelsea and Fulham whodrives will be delighted that the Chancellor has cancelled Labours risein fuel duty.There are 3 million motorists in London who will benefit in the NewYear. Coupled with the cut in income tax from raising the personalallowance, this is a welcome boost for households working hard to

make ends meet.

Photo news:

German - British Chamber of Commerce

Greg Hands M.P. with other speakers at a panel discussion onthe future of U.K. - German relations last week at the German -

British Chamber of Commerce, Dresden.

Met Police consult on reduced policecounter times in Fulham and the end ofcounter services in ChelseaThe Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) need to reduce their budget by514 million by 2015. The MPS is committed to achieving this whilstenhancing the visibility of frontline officers, reducing crime anddetecting offenders who commit crime.In order to rise to the above challenge it is important that the MPSreturns warranted police officers from support roles to frontlinepolicing to enhance the visibility of officers within communities and

continue to achieve crime reduction and detection.One of the functions that Police Officers have been deployed to, on adaily basis, is front counter service provision. This has been the casefor many years despite the fact that technology, ward surgeries, SocialMedia (Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr), Online Crime Reporting, Third-Party Reporting Sites and 101 has enhanced and altered the waycommunities and victims access policing services. Front counters arepart of the Metropolitan Police Services public access strategy butobviously they are only one part of it with the web, SaferNeighborhoods Teams and social media being some of the otherstrands.Currently, Fulham and Hammersmith Police Station front counters areopen 24hrs and Shepherds Bush front counter is open from 7am to10pm. The relative demand for front counter policing services at all ofthese locations is very low. The majority of enquiries are as follows:

43% are visitors are for appointments

14% relate to applications which can of course be accessed

online.

19% are property enquiries. Our property store is no longer

based at two sites. It is now based at Hammersmith only.

The MPS needs to consider the way it delivers its services tomodernise, become more responsive and put the public at the heart ofwhat it does. With this in mind and the above statistics the H&FBorough Commander has asked stakeholders for a view on thefollowing opening times around front counters:

Hammersmith Police Station front counter remain 24hrs.

Currently this has the highest footfall and is located within the

centre of the Borough.

Fulham Police Station front counter Reduced opening hours.

Shepherds Bush Green front counter CloseIn addition she has asked for views around the use of technology andPublic Contact Points.Public Contact Points

As part of the rationalisation of front count provision across the MPSconsideration is being given to implementing public contact points.These would enable communities to access police away from policestations. An example of this may be within supermarkets, libraries andthe Town Hall. These would be staffed by warranted Police Officers.Technology

The MPS is also considering new and innovative ways thatcommunities and victims can access and hear about policing such asweb based applications, social media etc.Greg Hands M.P. said "I have told the Borough Commander of myconcerns at this move, but local residents should have their say.Residents should also be aware of moves to close all counter servicesin Chelsea."

800 camera CCTV hub unveiled to

cover both boroughs

A new state-of-the-art closed-circuit television (CCTV) control hub with access to cameras covering virtually the whole of west London was opened today.The new CCTV hub, which can stream images from around 800cameras, will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and utilisesthe latest high definition, infra-red and LED technology.

Councillors from Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) and the RoyalBorough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) unveiled the new cuttingedge facilities, which were described as the eyes and ears of law-

abiding residents, in Hammersmith on 5th December. This is anotherexample of the groundbreaking initiative between the two boroughs toimprove services through more cooperative working; rather thanpaying for a control room in each borough the two councils willconsolidate their CCTV operations within this new state-of-the-artfacility.High definition digital surveillance cameras, surpassing many used byprofessional photographers, now cover vast swathes of west London

and the two local councils are now joining forces to create a fullyintegrated system.Using a combination of fixed and pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, nearly7million hours of footage a year, or 134,000 hours a week, will bestreamed from the councils 798 cameras into the CCTV control room

which cost 80,000 to upgrade.Some of the high definition PTZ cameras can zoom hundreds ofmetres and come equipped with infrared night vision technology andeven windscreen wipers to combat the elements.Live images can be beamed direct to command centres in Police

stations or downloaded at the touch of a button to be used in criminalinvestigations or as evidence.Inside the control room, ten 47 inch LED screens form a video wallthat beams live images from around the two boroughs to a team offive operators who work around the clock to keep the boroughs safe.Council operators are poised to instantly respond to live situations andalert the Police, or other appropriate authority, as events unfold.From high speed pursuits and violent assaults to crimes in progressand people acting suspiciously, CCTV staff can track incidents as theyare happening dramatically increasing the chances that criminalswill be caught red handed.Councillor Greg Smith, H&F Council Deputy Leader, said: CCTV is afantastic way to deter, catch and convict criminals. This new CCTVhub is the eyes and ears of law-abiding residents and we now havecameras covering every nook and cranny of our patch. Any criminalstupid enough to try something in west London needs to know wehave the capability to track them down and bring them to justice.Criminals can run but they cannot hide.

A recent probe shows the councils camera network is capturingaround 500 incidents a month.

Councillor Rock Feilding-Mellen, the Royal Borough of Kensingtonand Chelseas Cabinet Member for Civil Society said: This newsystem is boosting our ability to create safer environments andcombat crime and disorder. By combining our control room with ourneighbours in Hammersmith & Fulham we will have state of the arttools to monitor incidents and this will help us provide a moreimproved community safety."In November council CCTV operators tracked a prolific robber to asecret hideout where he was arrested. A drink driver who failed tostop after an accident was snared after CCTV cameras followed himhome and the owner of a stolen bike was reunited with their propertyafter the thief was caught red-handed on CCTV.

Another waste expert slams

the Super Sewer

Another world-renowned expert on sewage and water managementhas slammed Thames Waters plans to build a 4 billion plus SuperSewer.Bosses at the water-utility giant want to build a 20 mile-long concrete

storage tank under the Thames in an effort to prevent sewage spillinginto the river.But Dr Mark Maimone, who has helped solve the sewage problembeneath the streets of Philadelphia, USA, by introducing greensolutions, says Thames Water has not examined other alternativesbefore forging ahead with the controversial project.Dr Maimone is Vice President of CDM Smith, a company thatspecialises in green infrastructure. Under his watch, Philadelphia isundergoing a radical transformation, with permeable pavements,green roofs and infiltration trenches installed to stop fresh rain-waterflooding into sewers in the first place.

He believes that London should follow this example and consign theidea of a tunnel-based solution to the scrapheap.Speaking in London this week, he said: London is eminently suitablefor greening. There is more space here than there is in the denserareas of Philadelphia where we are doing it right now and Philadelphiahas to handle twice the number of combined sewer overflows thanLondon does.

At a meeting at the House of Lords earlier this week, Dr Maimonewarned Thames Water not to follow the example of Portland, USA

where a tunnel failed to stop sewage from flowing into their river. Thecity then embarked on a green infrastructure programme, resulting inthe city paying twice for drainage solutions.Thames Water wants to use the Carnwath Road Industrial Estate inSouth Fulham as the main construction site for the sewer, also knownas the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The water giant has admitted that thestink-pipe construction work, which involves the use of heavymachinery around the clock for seven years, could make lifeunbearable for residents triggering a massive exodus from southFulham.Thames Water stands to make a colossal 162million a year in

additional revenue from the tunnel due to a perverse incentive in theway the water industry is financed, according to Professor ColinGreen, a national expert on water economics.Dr Maimone also spoke at a meeting at St Mary's Church, Putney

Bridge on Thursday 13th December 2012.Meeting organiser and local activist, Ann Rosenberg said: TheThames Tunnel would deal with the symptom and not the problem.Over time, climate is becoming more unreliable and the tunnel is avery inflexible solution. It may be overused during times of droughtand unable to cope during excessive rainfall.

Green infrastructure is much more flexible as it can be tinkered with.It has many benefits and is much less expensive that the super sewer.It can improve air quality, is ecologically friendly and can cool theatmosphere by up to 10 degrees in the summer and of course, itmakes the areas in which we live look more attractive.Council Leader, Cllr Nicholas Botterill, said: The evidence is clear green infrastructure that prevents fresh water from overloading thesewer network, is the best way to stop sewage from flowing into theThames. The main reason that Thames Water fail to listen to what theexperts have to say is because they stand to make huge profits fromthe scheme.

Thames Water customers from Essex to Gloucestershire, includingLondoners, face paying at-least 100 more per year to pay for the 4billion sewer. A 20-year-old living to the current life expectancy of 81-years-old would pay an extra 4,000 in water rates during theirlifetime, if the cost of the super sewer does not spiral further.Lord Selbornes Thames Tunnel Commission also recommended lastyear that green infrastructure solutions should be considered insteadof the super sewer.Chris Binnie, who was chairman of the Thames Tideway Strategic

Study Group from 2000 to 2006 and the original architect of theThames Tunnel scheme, has also recently said the modest benefits ofthe tunnel no longer justify the massive cost.

World's End and Lots Road celebrate

1 million Lottery grantChelsea's World's End and Lots Road area are to receive 1million inlottery funding to strengthen community links and make theneighbourhood an even better place to live.

The Big Local programme will start in April 2013. A representativefrom the programme will work with residents, local communityorganisations and businesses and ward councillors to develop a planfor the area.Cllr Gerard Hargreaves, a local Cremorne ward councillor said: "Thiswill be a huge boost to residents and is a great opportunity tostrengthen and develop the community. The scheme will becompletely resident-led and it will be up to local people to decide howto spend the money to improve their area."Cabinet Member for Civil Society, Cllr Rock Feilding-Mellen said: "Weare very pleased that the Big Local has chosen the World's End estateand Lots Road area to receive this funding. The Council has alreadybeen promoting community led development projects through its CityLiving, Local Life wards grants which are very well received byresidents. I know that local people will be keen to work with Big Local

programme to get the best out of this award."Big Local is funded by the National Lottery with the funding spreadover ten years. It is about bringing together all the local talent,ambitions, skills and energy from individuals, groups andorganisations who want to make their area an even better place tolive.

The World's End Estate consists of seven high rise tower blocks. Thepart of Lots Road included is a community made up of mainly socialhousing. Asburnham primary school, Chelsea Theatre and ChelseaWharf (offices and design studios) are also within the vicinity.Other London boroughs which are receiving Big Local funding includeNewham, Tower Hamlets, Westminster, Waltham Forest, Camden,Islington and Brent.

5 ways to contact Greg Hands M.P.:By Phone: 020 7219 5448

By email: mail@greghands.com

By post: Greg Hands M.P.House of CommonsLondon SW1A 0AA

In person: Click here for details of howto book an appointment atGreg Hands M.P.s weeklysurgery

www.greghands.com

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