Residents First

Simpler rules for traffic signs welcomed

New guidance on traffic and parking signs is making it easier for councils to get rid of unnecessary signage and de-clutter the nation’s streets.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has responded to calls from Hammersmith & Fulham Council for more flexibility when deciding what signs or parking lines are created. As a result, the DfT has agreed to make signage ‘simpler’ and of a ‘more concise design’, and to remove unnecessary or duplicated signs.

The council called for the move last September (2010) as part of its 105 ways to slash red tape.

Cllr Nick Botterill, deputy leader of H&F Council and cabinet member for environment, said:

“This is great news for the enemies of waste and bureaucracy and is a victory for common sense. We have been saying for years that traffic sign rules and regulations are too prescriptive and this has spawned far too many street signs that lead to confusion and gridlock. Allowing councils to keep signage to a minimum will make things clearer for all road users and will reduce the need for ugly pillars or posts on our streets.”

Four scroungers given comeuppance

A blitz on benefit fraudsters in Hammersmith & Fulham has seen four scroungers given their comeuppance.

Ganiyu Anifowose, claimed more than £10,000 of housing and council tax benefit despite having enough cash to buy a house and rent it out

The fraudster, 42, of Lancaster Court, Fulham even claimed on his mortgage application that his business made a profit of more than £60,000 a year.

On Friday, November 25, at Kingston Crown Court, he was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for two years. He was also told to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

Catherine Hennessy claimed almost £15,000 housing and council tax benefit for a flat in Osram Court, Hammersmith, despite the fact that she was subletting the property and had purchased a home in Bognor Regis with the father of her children.

Enterprise Club launched

Over 100 people attend a special event to launch an 'Enterprise Club' for unemployed residents of Hammersmith & Fulham.

The H&F Enterprise Club has been developed to assist and motivate unemployed people who are interested in become self-employed or looking to start a small business in the borough.

The launch event was held on Wednesday, November 15 at The Macbeth Centre in Hammersmith. Guest of honour was Mayor of the borough, Cllr Frances Stainton.

Cllr Stainton said:

“It was my great pleasure to attend this fascinating event and it was truly inspirational to speak to so many hard working residents who have set up their own businesses or who intend to during these tough times. I am sure that their stories will prove to be an inspiration to anyone who is unemployed.”

Exhibition on sale of Fulham Town Hall

Residents will be able to learn more about exciting plans to sell Fulham Town Hall and regenerate the surrounding area at a special exhibition later this month.

The Grade Two Listed Town Hall has received enquiries from bidders all across the world and Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council has now whittled down interest to a final shortlist of three.

An exhibition will take place at Fulham Town Hall on Tuesday, December 13,  from 1pm to 9pm. Residents will be able to view the plans and complete a questionnaire that will help the council make a fully informed decision.

The council, together with commercial property consultancy, Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) has been scrutinising all of the bidders' proposals and are confident that historical character of the building and its public heritage will be respected.

New lease of life for Masbro gym

Residents visiting the Masbro Centre gym in Hammersmith can expect to get a little bit more out of their exercise routine after brand new workout equipment was unveiled last week.

The newly improved gym received the final touches to its upgrade in time for its official opening by Cllr Helen Binmore, Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council cabinet member for Children’s Services.

Cllr Binmore said:

“Compared with other councils, H&F has one of the largest voluntary sector budgets in the country and we greatly value the work these organisations do. It is no longer feasible, however, for voluntary organisations to rely on the council for all of their funding.

"With this upgrade, the gym is now a great little facility for all those who use the Masbro Centre, especially new mums and dads using the Children's Centre. It is a great example of an organisation bringing in additional funding to benefit the local community.

"The team at the Masbro Centre should be congratulated on this fantastic achievement. I’m sure that many people will enjoy using this lovely facility."

Shepherds Bush Green improvements start in January

Exciting work to redevelop Shepherds Bush Green starts in January!

To the delight of Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council, the first spade will break ground early next year and all the work will be completed in time for the London Olympics next summer.

The new improved Green will sport two new state-of the-art playgrounds, one catering for young children and one for older children and teenagers. Playgrounds will include a range of swings and slides, a sandpit with mechanical diggers, a six yard-high space net, climbing walls, roundabouts and other equipment designed to challenge, develop motor skills and keep children happy and entertained for hours.

The footpath and cycle network will be improved to better reflect the paths that cyclists and pedestrians are likely to take, with pathways widened and a tree lined avenue providing an attractive walking route around the Green.

In addition, the Grade II listed War Memorial is to be reset onto a new granite stepped plinth.

Ark Conway School expansion is great news

Letter from Cllr Harry Phibbs to the Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle:

Dear Sir,
The approval for the expansion of the ARK Conway Primary School, in Hemlock Road, Shepherd's Bush is excellent news. Hammersmith and Fulham is a pioneering borough in the free schools revolution to make parental choice a reality and to drive up standards in our schools.

This school is run by the Ark educational charity with a proven record of success - notably at Burlington Danes Academy. Ark Conway's ethos is spot on. The school's prospectus says: "We want every child at Conway Primary to fulfil his or her potential. We will do everything possible to ensure that every pupil achieves year level expectations, every year. We won’t accept excuses and we won’t make any either." Emphasis is pleased on phonics to ensure that children learn to read.

At present the school is based at the old Wormholt library which been carefully restored and renovated. The school has paid tribute to the building's heritage by incorporating the original marble floor design in the new school's logo, as well as creating plans to locate the school library in the same area as the original library. But as the school expands to 220 pupils an additional building will be needed. Expanding the site will enhance the setting for the listed building which was sadly diminished by the A40.

The school has confirmed that the expanded premises would be available for out-of-hours use by community groups and the Wormholt Tenant and Residents' Association are holding sessions at the existing building without a booking fee. It is true that nine trees will be lost to make way for the new building but there will be 18 replacement trees.

To create a borough of opportunity we need to give the chance for the children in the Wormholt and  White City Ward to achieve educational excellence. The opening of the Ark Conway free school is a fantastic contribution to that objective. For the Labour Party to seek to thwart it on spurious planning grounds is a contemptible betrayal.

Yours sincerely,
Cllr Harry Phibbs
Cabinet Member for Community Engagement
(Ravenscourt Park Ward. Conservative.)
Hammersmith Town Hall,
King Street,
W6 9JU.

Councils should retain all the proceeds from Right to Buy

Hammersmith & Fulham Council welcomes the return of Right to Buy, but says that local authorities should have the freedom to be able to retain all of the proceeds from the scheme so that they can build more affordable homes.

The Council has been actively lobbying Government for a change in Right to Buy policy after seeing a slump in sales from 245 in 2003 to 2004 to just seven last year. This slump can be attributed to the fact that the Right to Buy discount was slashed from £38,000 to £16,000 in 2004.

Currently, when a social housing tenant buys their property under Right to Buy the majority of the proceeds go to Central Government.

Tackling children's tooth decay in H&F

Cllr Marcus Ginnn writes

All of us wish to support the most vulnerable in our society and The Children’s Oral Health Task Group is an example of a cross-party effort to do so.

44.5% of 5 year old children sampled in the borough in 2007-8 had some dmft (decayed, missing, filled, teeth) experience vs a national average of 33%. This statistic suggests that H&F children have the third worst oral health in London. The negative implications of this include 300 admissions to C&W hospital per year for young children from the borough,  distress, lost schooling and a poor early pattern
of self-care.

The Education Select Committee, chaired by Cllr Johnson, set up a Task Group which I chaired and which also included Cllrs Tobias and Needham, to investigate the issue. We proposed a 4 point strategy which has now been approved by Cabinet and the PCT:

1. Getting the message across (key messages to children, families, professionals)

2. Targeting and outreach (focussing upon the most at-risk groups in our borough, and reaching out to them with targeted programmes including a Fluoride Varnish programme)

3. Increasing links between dentist and at-risk groups

4. Partnerships (between all professionals who touch children’s lives – all can promote good oral health).

The Education Select Committee will monitor the implementation of our proposals over coming months.

Council publishes quarterly spending report

Britain’s most transparent council is now publishing quarterly reports on its detailed spending for each of its services.

Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council has become the first in the country to let taxpayers view these detailed budget data, exposing its spending decisions to open public scrutiny to a degree never seen before in local government.

While it has become routine for councils to publish their spending with suppliers, that only accounts for a minority of councils’ spending. H&F’s initiative goes further. By publishing details of its own spending in each service area, H&F council has become the first to provide a transparent quarterly view of the full picture.

H&F has been leading the move to greater transparency and already publishes a wealth of information online, including:

   senior staff salaries,
   councillors’ allowances,
   planning agreements (Section 106),
   the council’s asset register,
   all payments to suppliers over £500,
   departmental structure charts,
   answers to Freedom of Information Act enquiries,
   audio recordings of all council meetings.

Up-to-date information in all these categories is published at www.lbhf.gov.uk/transparency.