30 November 2008

Congestion champion of west London

Tory H&F leader Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh welcomes the axeing of the extended congestion charge zone by telling the Evening Standard he has one word for it and then proceeds to use one hundred words.

All from the man who has done more to create congestion in H&F and failed to tackle the influx of cars to Westfield.

The biggest con of them all

Another week of Tories in H&F crowing about the 3% cut in council tax.

Well, 50p a week isn't worth very much if your streets are filthy, your homes aren't repaired or refurbished, you have lost your home help service or your youth club, and the list goes on and on.

And 50p a week isn't worth very much if you're faced with the 578 new and higher charges introduced by the Tory council in the last two years. From parking, garden waste recycling and childcare to meals on wheels and home care, H&F residents are paying more for local services.

So, don't fall for the con in Conservative.

Mirror mirror on the wall...

who is the blobbiest of them all?

H&F Tory leader Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh went head to head with Tory bigwig Eric Pickles this week in their latest photocall.

24 November 2008

We are going to give this 100%!

So said Cllr Paul Bristow when he was selected as Conservative candidate for Middlesbrough (see story below).

That will mean a big fat zero per cent for H&F then. So much for putting residents first!

23 November 2008

Another Tory councillor does a runner

Polo-loving Tory H&F cabinet member Paul Bristow is the latest Conservative councillor to do a runner. Paul has been chosen as the Tory candidate for the Parliamentary constituency of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

Unfortunately for H&F residents this north east constituency is a safe Labour seat, so it's probably not the last we will see of Cllr Bristow. But it will mean that he is distracted from defending his marginal council ward of Fulham Reach.

Never backwards in coming forward, Paul strangely doesn't mention his affection for Middlesbrough on the Bristow Blog. No doubt he has told Middlesbrough residents of his love for polo, which is a huge sport in that part of the world.

22 November 2008

Tory scaremongering in overdrive

Not content with having peddled the worst lies about the future of Charing Cross hospital, H&F Tories are now creating all sorts of fiction to distract attention from their own cuts in local services.

As local people can observe, Charing Cross hospital is alive and vibrant and expanding - three years after Fulham Tory MP Greg Hands warned that it would be closed.

Now the Tory council has spent thousands of pounds of council taxpayers' money to misinform residents about Thames Water's plans to develop a 'super sewer'. The council said Ravenscourt Park was under threat despite clear statements to the contrary.

Local residents can see through the Tories' latest attempts to mislead. Their 'super sewer' stories really stink.

Home sweet home?

Tens of thousands of council tenants in H&F face an uncertain future this winter as the Tory council plans to demolish housing and redevelop estates across the borough.

First to feel the impact are tenants of Watermeadow estate in Sands End where 80 homes are being bulldozed. Tenants will have no choice but to move elsewhere.

And much more is on the cards as the Tory leader Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh issued 'a cast iron pledge' to redevelop other local estates.

H&F Tories lead Cameron up cul de sac

The bizarre statement by Conservative leader David Cameron earlier this week pledging to cut public spending in the economic crisis shows he has been paying too much attention to H&F Tories.

Cuts in local services are causing misery for thousands of people in H&F. Meanwhile every household in the borough faces hundreds of new and increased charges for services.

Same old Tories...

15 November 2008

Brook Green bungle

In a shameless political move, local Conservative activist Susannah Frieze has been given a column in the council newspaper, H&F News.

Frieze and her husband Anthony, who lost out to Shaun Bailey in the contest to be Conservative parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith, are both potential Tory candidates in the 2010 council elections.

The Tories' abuse of council publicity continues...

Tories fail another schools test

H&F council has not been given a share of national funding for rebuilding primary schools - because of incompetence and poor planning.

The council has been told to get its act together before it will be allowed to receive its share of the funding so that government inspectors are assured it will be spent properly.

Following the controversy over H&F Tories' plans for secondary education, when attempts to close Hurlingham and Chelsea School and merge Henry Compton and Fulham Cross Schools met opposition from parents, teachers and pupils alike, this latest failure shows that the Tories simply cannot be trusted with education at any level.

Nine to five

For Rupert Bear's latest video about Tory H&F council sending redundancy notices to all council staff, have a laugh at:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1JpDjFqYEEM

Only fools and horses

Polo update: www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/olympics/2008/11/i_lived_and_worked_in.html

Apparently Cllr Paul Bristow wants to bring polo back to the inner cities. More like 'Only Fools and Horses'!

06 November 2008

Anyone for, er, polo?

Having backed down last year over his plans for boxing and wrestling in H&F parks, Tory cabinet member Paul Bristow has now opened up Hurlingham Park for an international polo competition.

Apart from the minority nature of this sport - not many local residents even in Fulham own the appropriate equipment! - polo requires a huge playing area, the size of approximately nine American football pitches.

Surely local residents could do better things with our parks.

What is going on in H&F?

Just a few days away and, coming back, H&F seems to be going through an intense period of Tory madness.

Reeling from the backlash by local residents against the chaos caused by the Westfield development, the Tory council is rushing through measures to deal with parking problems.

This comes just days after the council rather bizarrely described Westfield as a 'cathedral of consumer capitalism'. So in awe of the developers, the council clearly failed to anticipate the practical implications of Westfield for life in Shepherds Bush.

Elsewhere residents are up in arms about lapdancing and hotel developments and plans to sell off council estates, let alone a local park being hired out for polo matches and the council's call centre being relocated to Rochdale. What is going on?!

PS And just as his leader tries to don Obama's mantle, apparently Tory MP for Fulham Greg Hands cast his vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin! Was that a 'vote for change'?