Tax credit changes will hammer 11,200 families in Wandsworth
11,200 families in Battersea and Tooting will lose out under Conservative plans to cut tax credits, with the average working family losing £750 a year, according to the House of Commons Library.
Figures produced by the House of Commons Library show over three million low-income working families currently in receipt of tax credits will see their entitlement reduced, as part of the Government’s proposals.
Read more
8157 Wandsworth children at risk of losing school meals
8157 children across Wandsworth, of which 3136 who are in Tooting, could lose free school meals under Tory plans - Phil Ling, Tooting spokesperson
Read more
Failing to deliver on Balham Boulevard
Last week Transport for London (TfL) went live with this consultation for Balham High Road. The date for responses to be received is the 15th November.
https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/cycling/balham-high-road
Read more
Widespread 20mph limits one-step closer in Wandsworth
We are absolutely delighted with the decision taken at council committee yesterday evening. Campaigners, civic society groups and the local Lib Dems have been calling on the council to act on 20mph for years now.
Read more
Dr Johnson Avenue finally looks likely to be re-integrated into Tooting Common
Campaigners are really pleased to see Wandsworth Council finally move forward with an idea that has been mooted since the 1970's. Proposals have now been published to replace Dr Johnson Avenue with a 3m wide shared path with the rest of the surface being returned to grass.
Read more
Serious action needed to tackle air pollution in Wandsworth
'Nearly 9,500 people die each year in London because of air pollution' is the headline in the Guardian, while Time Out runs with 'Nearly every London Borough is above the legal pollution limit'.
Read more
Tooting Bec Road petition handed in at City Hall
At City Hall, on the 3rd June, a petition to make Tooting Bec Road safer was presented to the London Assembly by Lib Dem member Caroline Pidgeon. Over 500 people have signed the petition led by Jon Irwin, with the support of the local Lib Dems.
Read more
Common sense for Wandsworth
Yesterday the Liberal Democrats launched their 2015 election manifesto at an event in Battersea. The party's three candidates in Wandsworth hailed it as the common sense choice for voters in Wandsworth.
The community Wheatsheaf campaign - how the Lib Dems helped
Just before Easter a Conservative minister visited the Wheatsheaf pub at Tooting Bec. He used the occasion to announce new measures to help protect such community assets, inspired by the campaign to save this pub. Here's the report in the Wandsworth Guardian. And you can't mention the Wheatsheaf without the local Labour MP showing up.
But the campaign to save the pub has been led by community activists under no political label. These have included Lib Dems, like Jon Irwin, but people from other parties and none. These are the real heroes. Tooting needs more people like this to take issues up, as local councillors seem uninterested in taking the initiative unless an election is looming.
'Without the huge show of strength by local people, with the petition I set up, we stood a very real risk of losing the pub. I'm delighted with the outcome, a real show of people power!" says Jon.
Still, we would like to mention that the coalition minister who put in place the Community Asset legislation used by the Wheatsheaf was Liberal Democrat Andrew Stunell. Lib Dems long campaigned for such powers against an indifferent Whitehall. Only by entering government did they have an opportunity to shape something like this. It's a good illustration of the sort of thing parties can do in opposition, but would get lost in any other type of political arrangement, like "confidence and supply".
