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25 October 2013 17:05

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In this edition:
Greg Hands M.P.s Diary Website of the Week: Royal Hospital Key Conservative achievements in Government Photo news: Hands welcomes Czech radio journalist to Westminster Parents back creation of more school places in Fulham H&F Council to build more affordable homes Recycling bags are now clear in both K&C and H&F Have your say on K&C Council's planning pages How to contact Greg Hands M.P.

Issue 382 Friday 25th October 2013

Since the last edition, Greg:

Attended and gave the Vote of Thanks at the annual dinner of the Hammersmith Conservatives, for special guest speaker Rt Hon William Hague MP, the Foreign Secretary, providing a launch pad for the key May 2014 campaign to keep a Conservative Council in Hammersmith & Fulham. Welcomed Marlborough Primary School in Chelsea to the House of Commons. Greg answered questions from the children. Attended harvest festival celebrations at St Johns Church, North End Road. Met the management of the Conservative Friends of Poland to discuss next steps. Greg is the Parliamentary president of CFofP. Carried out his duties as the Governments Deputy Chief Whip. Conducted an advice surgery for local Chelsea and Fulham residents at Fulham Methodist Church. Gregs surgeries are generally weekly, on Monday mornings, at either Fulham Methodist Church, Fulham Broadway, or Peter Jones, Sloane Square. To make an appointment, email mail@greghands.com or telephone 020 7219 5448.

Website of the Week:

www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk
The website of the Royal Hospital, the home of the Chelsea Pensioners. Many Chelsea Pensioners play key roles around the local community in the lead-up to Remembrance Day.

Key Conservative achievements in Government

Income tax cut for 25 million people The deficit cut by a third 1.4 million more private sector jobs Benefits capped Crime down Immigration down

Photo news:

Hands welcomes Czech radio journalist to Westminster

Greg Hands M.P. this week with Czech radio journalist Ji Hoek from Cesky Rozhlas.

Parents back creation of more school places in Fulham

Local opinion is divided on council plans to amalgamate two schools in south Fulham, but the majority of parents support the proposal. In response to a three-month consultation on proposals to merge Sulivan and New King's primary schools, the overall results showed a majority view against the proposal. In all, 2,226 responses disagreed with the plan, with 1,367 in favour. However, when just the responses of the 2,143 parents, (rather than staff, residents or other respondents), were analysed, the majority (1,107) supported amalgamating the schools. Read the full report and background documents here "There is clearly a large response from people associated with Sulivan school who have passionate views against the proposal," says education cabinet member, Councillor Georgie Cooney. "That is very understandable. However, we have to take a wider view and look at what is best for all families, right across the borough and we have to be able to take difficult decisions in response to the needs and wishes of all parents. The strength of the response on both sides of this issue has led us to decide to continue to the next phase of the process." Residents will now have until November 29 to submit further representation, after which the council's Cabinet will take a final decision on whether or not to proceed with the plan. "The reasons put forward for the amalgamation still stand," adds Councillor Helen Binmore, cabinet member for children's service who has jointly made the decision to proceed with the consultation in order to deliver the council's Schools of Choice agenda. "Both schools have spare places with relatively few families listing them as their top choice school. "The buildings at both sites also need major investment, and amalgamation allows us to put major resources into creating one exceptional site that the pupils of both schools can benefit from. New King's is a substantial, structurally-sound Victorian primary school, purpose built to accommodate two classes per year and has many years of life ahead of it, but for the Sulivan school building, renovation could only ever be a short-term solution." If the amalgamation goes ahead, the combined schools would cater for all children currently attending the two schools and offer 60 places per year, going forward. The amalgamated school would also benefit from working with the highly-regarded, independent Thomas' London Day Schools in order to attract new families. More than 2 million has been earmarked for improving the building and its outside space, and constructing a state-of-the-art science block, a specialism few primary schools in the country can offer. All consultation responses, including any representations received, will be made available for public viewing in December. Read the background on the full proposals here Read Greg Hands M.P.s submission on the proposals here

H&F Council to build more affordable homes

Hammersmith & Fulham is now the third most expensive borough in the country in which to buy a home, according to the latest data from Rightmove. Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) is up from fourth to third in the list of most expensive boroughs after prices surged 11.8% on average on the previous month. Residents struggling to get a foot on the housing ladder is an issue long recognised by the council, and help is at hand after the council announced plans to team up with developer Stanhope Plc to form a 15-year 50:50 joint venture. The first phase of this innovative agreement will see more than 300 homes built in total over the next five years. The council has initially identified two opportunities in Fulham Watermeadow Court Estate and Edith Summerskill House. It is expected that in the first phase of development 40 per cent of the redeveloped homes will be affordable housing sold at a discounted market rate to help local people take their first steps onto the housing ladder. More than 5,000 people have now approached the council asking for low cost homes to buy while there are only 960 on its social housing register. Existing local social tenants who are on the councils Home Buy register will get first refusal on all of the discounted new homes. The councils own new build programme is already well underway and sees the council converting underused bin stores, pramsheds and garages on council estate land into flats that are sold at a fraction of the market rate. The council has also appointed City House Projects to deliver its Rational House product using modern methods of construction, with the first homes to be built on the Spring Vale Estate in Brook Green. The homes are made of pre-made panels off-site, before being winched into position. This is the first time in the country that homes have been built in this manner in such a large quantity. Councillor Andrew Johnson, cabinet member for housing said: Hammersmith & Fulham is one of the most popular and therefore densely populated boroughs in London but unless you are wealthy it is very hard to get on the housing ladder. We are determined to create a Borough of Housing Opportunity so that hard-working people on middle incomes can afford to buy their own homes.

Recycling bags are now clear in both K&C and H&F

Recycling bags are now clear in a bid to tackle bad recycling and reduce contamination costs. The change, from orange to clear recycling bags, is to help residents to recycle responsibly and prevent people from putting the wrong items out for recycling. This includes items such as food, dirty packaging, plastic wrappers, shredded paper, polystyrene, tissues and textiles. Clear bags will encourage people to recycle correctly and allow the Councils recycling collectors to spot incorrect items in the sacks. Clear recycling bags are delivered every three months to all residents receiving collections from a private storage area or the kerbside. Residents can still continue to use orange recycling bags until they run out. Recycling There are many reasons to recycle - it stops our refuse going to landfill, and saves energy and resources. Read more about how and what to recycle, and do your bit to help to save the planet. How to recycle H&F and K&C Councils aim to make recycling as easy and as convenient as possible for all residents. There are two schemes in place for the collection of recyclable materials: Clear bag recycling for residents living in street level properties Mixed bank recycling for residents living in mansion blocks, flats and estates If you are unsure which recycling service you receive please call Streetline on 020 7361 3001 (K&C) or 020 8753 1100 (H&F). Yes please! clean and dry paper (not shredded), newspapers, magazines, junk mail, telephone directories, envelopes clean and dry cardboard clean and empty glass bottles and jars (no lids) clean and empty tins, cans and aerosols (please rinse) clean and empty plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays (no lids) clean and empty food and drink cartons (please rinse and flatten) including Tetra Pak type food and drink cartons. We only want these clean and dry items in your recycling bag. Rinse any item that has contained food or drink and flatten cardboard, cartons and plastic bottles. Please do not recycle lids. No thanks no food waste no garden waste no clothes, shoes or textiles no mixed plastics including polystyrene or cling film no wood and building or DIY materials no foil or metals (other than cans) no shredded paper no nappies including used nappies no bottles tops or jar lids no broken glass or Pyrex glass no light bulbs no batteries If in doubt, leave it out! Placing other items in your recycling bag or bank will contaminate the recycling and it will be sent for incineration. Ensure all items are empty and clean and do not put recycling in black bags as it will be incinerated with your normal rubbish. Read more about What not to recycle. Get tips on how to make the most of your recycling bags here. Download and print a copy of the recycling poster which highlights what can and can't be recycled. Garden waste collection Garden waste is collected every fortnight, all year round. All garden waste collected by the Council is sent for composting. If you would like to have your garden waste collected you must register for the service by telephoning Streetline on 020 7361 3001 (K&C) or 020 8753 1100 (H&F). Kensington and Chelsea does not operate a collection for food waste or provide subsidised composters or wormeries, although the recycling team can provide help and advice to any resident on these matters. See the Garden waste page for further information. Mini recycling centres There are 18 mini recycling centres located around the borough, each having up to five mixed recycling banks on site. You can recycle the same items as listed above. In addition, most mini recycling centres offer separate facilities to recycle textiles, shoes, and books. See the mini recycling centres page. Recycling at school The Royal Borough aims to have recycling available to all schools in the borough. They offer a comprehensive range of services to schools to encourage recycling. To find out more about please telephone Streetline on 020 7361 3001 (K&C) or 020 8753 1100 (H&F) and ask to speak to the Recycling team. Recycling and refuse amenity sites (public tips) Residents can take their unwanted household items, free of charge, to the following Recycling and Refuse Amenity Site situated in Wandsworth. Find out more at Amenity Skips and Rubbish Tips page. Western Riverside Reuse and Recycling Centre Smugglers Way, Wandsworth, SW18 1JS Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm; Saturday 8am to 6pm; Sunday 8am to 5pm Tel: 020 8871 2788 Textile Recycling We are working with Traid to make recycling textiles easier for residents. Read more...

Have your say on K&C Council's planning pages

Are you a member of a residents' association? Do you use the Planning section of the Royal Borough's website? Have you ideas about how the webpages could be improved? If so, the Council would like to invite you to an event on Wednesday 13 November, from 6pm to 8pm, in the Small Hall, Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street W8. Areas to be discussed include the content and layout of the webpages, language used and search functionality. Light refreshments will be served. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Holly Liu on 020 7361 5769 or email holly.liu@rbkc.gov.uk by Friday 8 November. Attendance will be strictly on a first-come, first-served basis.

5 ways to contact Greg Hands M.P.:

By Phone: By email: By post: In person: 020 7219 5448 mail@greghands.com Greg Hands M.P. House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Click here for details of how to book an appointment at Greg Hands M.P.s weekly surgery

www.greghands.com

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Greg Hands M.P. a strong voice for Chelsea & Fulham

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