Fresh data has been published on the council’s website giving residents the latest information on the town hall’s performance.

The updated information appears at the open council and allows residents to check on how the council is performing on a wide range of issues.

Residents can now see the latest A level and GCSE scores, new data on how long it takes to approve adoptions, the number of library books issued, the ratio of council tax being collected and how quickly new housing benefit claims are being processed.

This information sits alongside wider-ranging data showing how quickly local roads are repaired, the borough’s recycling rates, the progress of pupils in local schools and the time it takes to re-let an empty home.

Wandsworth’s performance is compared to London’s 32 other boroughs so that residents can see for themselves where the council is doing well – and just as importantly where performance is lagging.

In cases where the council’s performance is below average, the cabinet member responsible for that service explains why – and what he or she is doing to raise standards.

The information concentrates on the 27 key performance indicators which have been judged to be the most relevant to the public.

But to make sure these ratings continue to meet the public’s demands for transparency, the revamped website gives people the chance to vote on which indicators they want included in this top list and those they can do without.

The full list of more than 100 performance indicators is readily available on the Open Council section of the website giving residents the chance to gauge the council’s performance across all service areas. Accessing this wider list will help the public decide which indicators they want included in the key headline list.

Council leader Ravi Govindia launched the ‘Open Council’ initiative in January this year with a pledge to make Wandsworth Britain’s most transparent council.

Wandsworth was the first authority in London to give residents fully transparent information on how it was performing so that the public could hold local politicians and town hall managers to account.

As well as the performance indicators, this section of the council’s website also shows details of all town hall spending over £500. This will enable residents to see for themselves if the council is offering taxpayers the best value for money.

Cllr Govindia said: “The services we provide day in and day out directly affect the lives of nearly 300,000 residents. We want to make sure they have the information at their fingertips to hold us to account, so that we can be more responsive to their needs and better tuned in to their priorities.

“This drive for greater transparency and openness will raise standards and spur us on to become an even better council.”

For more, click here

London Railways

Wandsworth Council’s proposal for a new direct rail services between Waterloo and Heathrow has won support from more London boroughs.

Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham Councils are backing the scheme as a key measure to improve surface access to the airport and to ease congestion on the Piccadilly Line.

The service would include stops in the borough at Queenstown Road , Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Town and Putney.
Wandsworth unveiled the rail proposal in October last year which is based on BAA’s ‘Airtack’ scheme.

The new version – renamed ‘Airtrack Lite’ – would provide four trains an hour from Waterloo to Terminal 5. It avoids routing extra trains through level crossings in Mortlake and Egham which was the key problem with the original scheme and led to it being scrapped in April last year.

The proposals have now been discussed at top level meetings with the Department for Transport (DfT) and BAA.
The scheme has now been included in the tender documents for the Great Western Rail Franchise. The next franchisee will be expected to help develop the proposal further as a means of improving links to Heathrow.

An extract from the tender documents reads:
“Options for longer term enhancements of rail links to Heathrow, such as Western Access and Airtrack Lite, are being considered and the franchise operator will be expected to engage constructively with industry partners in developing these options. The franchise operator may have the opportunity to tender for the operation of such services in due course.”

Leader of Wandsworth Council Ravi Govindia said:
“We’ve made a good start with Airtrack Lite but there is still a lot of work to do behind the scenes building the case.
“What everyone can agree on is that Heathrow needs to be at centre of a genuine local rail network offering easy access to communities on all sides of the airport. Our scheme would provide an alternative to tortuous journeys on the Piccadilly Line and help get more cars off the road.

“Airtrack Lite was devised as part of ‘Wandsworth Travel Choices’ – an ambitious campaign to make our borough a better connected place with a broader range of transport services. One of the key aims is to reduce people’s reliance on cars by making alternative travel choices more appealing and convenient.”

Airtrack Lite would provide four trains an hour from Waterloo to Terminal 5. The plans avoid routing extra trains through level crossings in Mortlake and Egham. This was a key problem with the original scheme and led to it being scrapped by BAA in April last year.

Two trains an hour would run between Waterloo and Heathrow via the Hounslow loop. Two existing services on the Waterloo-Windsor line would split at Staines to provide a further direct link to Terminal Five.

Two services an hour would also come up from Weybridge to Heathrow – again without adding extra frequencies over level crossings at Egham.

The scheme would require a new station at Staines and a new stretch of track from here to Terminal 5. The rest of the route would run along existing lines.

Heathrow is one of Europe ‘s busiest airports but is served only by the Heathrow Express to Paddington and by the Piccadilly Line.

This forces Wandsworth residents to travel north through London to join a Heathrow bound service rather than travelling direct.

For more info click here

Wandsworth Arts Festival 2012

The 2012 Wandsworth Arts Festival will be officially launched at Southside Shopping Centre this Friday, May 11.
The council-led festival, which runs until May 27, will feature more than 40 events once it has been formally launched by Wandsworth’s cabinet member for culture, Councillor Jonathan Cook.

It culminates with an outdoor artistic celebration like no other – the Shimmy – which boasts more than 15 acts, exhibitions, workshops and craft and food stalls between Putney Bridge and Wandsworth Park over a 24-hour period.

Wandsworth Arts Festival has been organised to give residents and visitors from all over London the chance to discover the enormous wealth of culture and creativity Wandsworth has to offer.

Programme highlights include:

photoWANDSWORTH winners - The winning entries in this year’s photoWANDSWORTH competition – featuring photos taken within the borough that form a short story – will be exhibited at Southside for the duration of the festival.

Come and Play at Pump House – The Pump House Gallery, in Battersea Park , and Spots v Stripes has a weekend of fun and games planned on May 19 and 20. They have invited artists to explore the art within games and performances, while offering workshops and activities for visitors to compete in. It runs from 11am to 9pm on Saturday and from 11am to 4pm on Sunday.

Sweet Smell of Success – For three Saturdays running during the festival – May 12, 19 and 26 – Bio-Organism Substrate Industries (BoSI) will be on a mission to find out what success smells like. The group will take up residency at Southside Shopping Centre to research success in Wandsworth from 11am to 6pm on each of the three days.

Opera in the Yard – Visitors to the town hall at 6.30pm on May 24 will be treated to an evening of opera in the fountain courtyard courtesy of National Opera Studios.

Green Horses on the Wall – Alternatively, visit the Alton Estate in Roehampton to see installations by Bicycle Ballet and Recyculture – or to see the ‘Birdbrain’ performance by Emergency Exit Arts and The Street Arts Academy on Saturday 19 at 1.30pm.

The Shimmy – Finally, closing this year’s festival is the Shimmy. It was given the name by organisers because it shimmies between the variances of what outdoor art can be. It offers street art, dance, workshops, installation and interaction to visitors walking along the riverside on Sunday, May 27.

The 2012 Wandsworth Arts Festival is being run with support from local art organisations, schools and supporters.
It is managed by Wandsworth Council’s arts team and funded by Arts Council England with sponsorship from Southside Shopping Centre and St James.

For more info, click here

Chelsea's Battersea Bid

London’s Battersea Power Station has been receiving a lot of interest both locally and abroad. The latest bid for it comes from none other than Chelsea’s club owner – Roman Abromovich, who has plans to turn the former power station into a 60,000-seater stadium, if his bid is successful.

According to the Club, the power station which sits on the South bank of the Thames “has the potential to become one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world”.

Having a new stadium with a bigger crowd capacity would be both beneficial and ideal for the owner however, it will take a lot of coaxing to win over the fans. The current stadium, Stamford Bridge, has been their home since 1905 with the crowd capacity being just under 42,000, a modest number for a top club and far below in comparison to other clubs.

Last year, they tried to buy the freehold of Stamford Bridge but the move was rejected by the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) – a group made out of fans who purchased the freehold in 1993 in a bid to shield the grounds from developers.

If Chelsea are successful in buying over the property, that will be just one of their triumphs in a long battle to realising the dream of a new stadium built in it’s place.

According to a statement released by Chelsea, – There are many significant hurdles to address if we are to build a new stadium on the site, such as – winning the support of our fans, the CPO shareholders and local Wandsworth residents, as well as securing the approval of Wandsworth Council, the Greater London Authority and heritage authorities.

On top that, some politicians are skeptical that Chelsea’s plans would not create enough jobs and that securing planning approval for a stadium could prove too lengthy to be viable.

Chelsea, who announced the bid for the 39-acre property through property development Almacantar, was quick to point out that they had not made a final decision to leave Stamford Bridge and neither are they the only party interested in the site.

Battersea has been disused for three decades and a series of regeneration projects have all amounted to nothing more but talks and plans.

The property is currently in the hands of administrators Ernst & Young who are trying to recover debt on behalf of Lloyds Banking Group and Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency.

New Covent Garden Market

Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) has selected VINCI St Modwen as it’s private development partner to help with the regeneration of New Covent Garden Market.

This old industrial district which is located on the South bank of the Thames will be responsible for creating some 16,000 new homes and 25,000 new permanent new jobs in the years to come, making this 57 acre site the largest development opportunity in the Nine Elms area.

The procurement process to secure a development partner started in March 2010. From an initial shortlist of six bidders, two high quality tenders were selected to go forward to the final round.

VSM has now been selected to lead the delivery of modern new market facilities funded by developing land not needed for the new market. The Market will remain in CGMA’s ownership and there will be no call on the public purse to secure its long term future.

An outline planning application for the redevelopment scheme was submitted to Wandsworth Council by NCGMA earlier this year. The proposal could go before the planning committee in May.

History

New Covent Garden Market is the largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market in the UK. Located in Nine Elms between Vauxhall and Battersea, South West London, the Market covers a site of 57 acres and is home to approximately 200 fruit, vegetable and flower companies.

The Market serves 40% of the fruit and vegetables eaten outside of the home in London and provides ingredients to many of London’s top restaurants, hotels, schools, prisons, hospitals and catering businesses.

The Flower Market, which offers an extensive range of flowers, plants, foliages, sundries and interior decorations from the UK and from around the globe, is visited by 75% of florists in London, many of whom place morning orders and return to restock during the day as needed.

The Market is run by a statutory corporation,Covent Garden Market Authority, set up in 1961 and charged with modernising and overseeing the administration of the vegetable market, which was considered strategically important as a wholesale food and flower market.

The Market opened for the first time on 11 November 1974, construction having started in 1971 on the site of the former Nine Elms Locomotive Works. The Market is so called because it transferred directly from its previous location at Covent Garden in central London.

The Big Lottery Foundation

The Big Lottery Foundation, a grant-making non-departmental public body created by the government to help fund causes that will help bring about change, growth and productivity to selected areas in London has announced it’s latest winner – Wandsworth council.

The council has announced that the foundation has chosen an area dubbed as Clapham Junction/West Battersea as their pick for this time around. The residents of Battersea are to be given £1m in lottery funding as an investment to make the area a better place within the next 10 years.

The funds are to be used on projects that will benefit the greater good of the community in the area, with ideas which have been agreed upon by the residents. They can be anything from – creating new community facilities, tackling anti-social behaviour, providing more activities for young people or starting up training and employment schemes.

To get things rolling, the Foundation will bring in a Big Local representative that will bring residents and community organisations together to learn about the scheme, to create strategies to get people involved and to start the process of exploring what priorities local people have for the money.

Subsequently, a Big Local Partnership will be set up by local residents to develop a plan for the area. Through the partnership, residents can gain access to a range of support, training and networking opportunities to enable them to make best use of their funding

The first Big Local meetings with anyone interested in finding out about and taking part in the scheme are expected to take place in May, after which a Getting Started funding programme will be launched to free up £20,000 for the community to begin work.

If you are a resident, or work in the area, and would like to be involved or find out more, contact Big Local Rep -Helen Garforth,( 0118 9582233 )

For more info on the foundation, click here

Pedestrian Crossing

This weekend, the council will begin making improvements to the pedestrian crossing facilities at the junction of St John’s Hill and Lavender Hill in Clapham Junction.

The town centre is mid-way through a multi million pound investment scheme aimed at reducing traffic congestion, reducing accidents and creating a more attractive and pedestrian friendly shopping environment.

This next phase of work will see more pavements widened and a new diagonal pedestrian crossing introduced between Debenhams and the Falcon Pub.

The existing pedestrian crossing between the Falcon Pub and JD Sports will now be closed for around 2 weeks to allow engineers to remove the traffic island and widen the pavements.

During this period pedestrians will be directed to alternative crossing points nearby and are strongly advised to take extra care while passing through this busy junction.

Once the traffic island has been removed people will be able to cross this part of St John’s Hill in one safe movement rather than stopping in the middle of the road to wait for a separate crossing signal to turn green.

Unnecessary guardrails and other ‘street clutter’ will also be removed from pavements to make life easier for people travelling through the town centre on foot.

Now that the new taxi rank has opened outside Fitness First the old rank located in the middle of St John’s Road will be removed. This will make it much safer for people to get into a cab and will improve traffic flow through the junction.

The council’s town centre street improvement scheme is backed by Transport for London and the Clapham Junction Town Centre Partnership.

Aspire Estate Agent

Aspire has a network of high profile, prominently located offices throughout South West London. Our marketing campaigns are both innovative and distinctive. We advertise in many of the leading publications and all the main internet property portals together with producing a quarterly lifestyle magazine which has proven to be extremely popular.

Our website is easy to navigate and very powerful, offering many interesting features which assist the user in their search for a home for sale and to let. We have a fully mobile version of the website and also dedicated iphone app. which is available for free download.

The success of aspire is due to the passion and years of experience of our staff, all with the same collective goal. “To maintain an exceptionally high standard of integrity and service.”

aspire have proved time and time again that with our integrity, passion and professionalism we provide a better and more successful experience for all our clients. Our customer feedback repeatedly shows that we are succeeding in an area where so many others seem to fail – service.

Address - 132 Balham High Road, London, SW12 9AA

Tel: 020 8673 6111

Fax: 020 8673 5999

Atkinson McLeod

Launched in 2002, Atkinson McLeod’s aim is to provide a fresh and customer-focused approach to residential sales, lettings and property management – an aim that is transparent, built on trust, and one which places the customer before the commission.

We achieve this largely by employing only the highest quality staff–consultants who are articulate and approachable, thoroughly up-to-speed with all areas of the local and broader property markets, and fully conversant with the industry’s codes of practice.

What really sets us apart is that we’re genuinely passionate about estate agency. We’re not a big ‘corporate’ company with formal procedures and faceless, purely sales-driven staff – we’re an enthusiastic company that wants to impress and make its mark. Yes, we’re happy to provide short-term solutions, but ultimately we’re out to build long-term relationships.

We have four offices located in key areas of London – the City, Canary Wharf, Kennington and Balham. For a more detailed breakdown, click on the map on our homepage. Whichever area you’re looking to buy or let in, one thing is certain: we’re confident we can sell or let your property in the shortest time possible – and at the full market price.

Address - 31 Bedford Hill, London, SW12 9EY

Tel: 020 8772 6107

Fax: 020 8772 6130

Aspectproperties.co.uk

Aspectproperties.co.uk are a straight talking, knowledgeable and hard working Letting Agency whose main aim is to provide you with a great service, so you will keep coming back to us year after year.

Aspectproperties.co.uk focuses all of our time into advertising your properties perfectly and letting them to the right tenants.
Stephen Smith & Ryan Couldrick are the company’s directors with whom every client will deal with on a day to day basis.

Unlike any other agency you will deal with Ryan or Stephen from start to finish rather than being passed around the Merry-go-round of different people from different departments as is so common in other agencies

You will be given our office number and our direct mobile numbers so you can be in contact with us any time.

Address - 114 Tooting Bec Road London SW17 8BQ

Tel: 0208 767 0321