with thanks to thisisnorthkensington.wordpress.com

Comments

DAMESATHOME@GMAIL.COM
send the Dame your information, discretion assured.
Comments are welcome but do not necessarily reflect the view of the Dame.
Offensive/inappropriate comments will be deleted and the poster banned.

Thursday 31 January 2013

POLICE HUNT FOR PRIME MINISTER COCKELL

The Dame will be elaborating on tonight's meeting held to discuss future policing in the Borough.
Chelsea Old Town Hall was packed to the gunwales with residents, councillors, top coppers and Steve Greenhalgh-the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, recently accused of being unsafe in lifts....even Greg Hands took the trouble to be there and contribute.
POLICE HUNTING FOR COCKELL
One would have expected the Leader of our council would have got off his backside and turn up.... but he just could not be bothered.

Doubtless, our 'Prime Minister' felt a dinner with Mr Pickles was of far greater importance than turning up to contribute to this vital meeting. Who did he send instead? His boy.... Rock Feilding Mellen!

It is amazing that none of the Conservative councillors present found it odd that their leader had chosen to send this 'couldn't care less' message to residents. 
Even Conservative councillors complain that this self important chump is never present at Hornton St-despite taking  £1,300 a week as leader. The man is a disgrace to the Borough and the Conservative Party.

BINNING RUBBISH BINS


A ROTTEN BOROUGH STREET SCENE
According  to the Standard Rotten Borough residents should prepare for rats & rotting rubbish in our streets......
Rubbish bins





Using 'decluttering' as a pretext the intention is to remove any facility for residents, workers and tourists to get rid of their rubbish.

The comments in the Standard demonstrate what a ludicrous and impractical idea this is.

The Council is too dishonest to admit it just does not want to pay for this very basic service, even though it can splurge £27 million on the ludicrous Exhibitionist Rd now costing £250k a year to keep clean!

As one comment suggested....watch out for rats in K&C!




WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT?

When the Rotten Borough tries to be entrepreneurial you can sure residents will pick up the losses....Opera Holland Park...millions of £'s; Chelsea Care....a million and the Wedge...hundreds of thousands down the drain. So when an officer alerted the Dame to this 'investment' her antennae was on alert.....


Title: Home Connection Ownership
Decision No: 03948/13/K/A
Decision Rating: *
Detail: Report presenting the benefits of and seeking approval for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to take a share in the ownership of Home Connections Lettings Limited.
She has tried the link, but to no avail.

Key Decisions Tracking


Officer contact: Tony Heavey
Decision maker: Full Cabinet
Main consultees: No external consultation
Date to be implemented: Not before 21 February 2013
Current status: Scheduled
Report available: No
Scrutiny committee: Cabinet and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee
Decision URL:Decision

Wednesday 30 January 2013

RECYCLING EMPTY OFFICE BUILDINGS

Councils never stop moaning about lack of housing so the Dame applauds and 'celebrates' Planning Minister, Nick Boles's move to allow conversion of empty offices to residential without planning permission. 
20% of office space in urban areas remains empty so how logical to convert it to productive residential use.
The legislation will be enacted in Spring.
The only contraints will be where there is significant transport or highway impact, flood risks or land contamination or where external works are required.
Exemptions will be granted if councils prove overriding issues requiring planning control.
AN EMPTY OFFICE BLOCK
In K& C there are huge pressures on housing stocks so this must be good news.
Let's hope councillors stand up to Mr Bore and ensure that our Council doesn't  seek an exemption. Were it to do so it would be a slap in the face for those trying desperately to get on the housing ladder.
The City of London is a special case for an exemption to the legislation-K&C is not.

  


Monday 28 January 2013

GUPTA ACCUSES SOME COUNCILLORS AND OFFICERS OF BEING CROOKED!


This bizarre email has been sent far and wide by that paragon of virtue, Mr Suresh Gupta. The Dame challenges him to identify her by name......
Mr Gupta is a good friend of Pooter Cockell, our Prime Minister. The Dame hopes that Miss Gupta who runs the Rotten Borough Cabinet office will have a quiet word with Pa Gupta and suggest that emails such as these discredit him and embarrass Pooter
Mr Gupta accuses the Dame of bribing councillors saying, 'Only people like you will support an organisation like WCT.  May be you get commission from their large Grant?'
FRIEND OF OUR PM!



Subject: To the Hornets Nest - Unfair Attack on Suresh Gupta
Dear Sir/Madam

Subject: To the Hornets Nest - Unfair Attack on Suresh Gupta
Dear Sir/Madam

I acknowledge your e-mail dated 27th January, 2013 which is a very unfair attack on me.  Constructive Criticism is good and healthy in a democracy.  But you have once again attacked me without fully knowing the facts in the matter.  You ought to learn to get your facts right before you mention anything.  Perhaps it is too much to expect that you behave courteously and treat everyone with respect.  You launch unfair, anonymous and dishonest attacks on good people who are  doing their best to serve the community at large.  If you do not respect others, then no one is going to respect you.
When a Charity like Westway Community Transport (WCT), which is getting lots of grants from all sorts of sources quotes twice the commercial rate going, for a job from another charity that is not getting any Grant, then it should be clear to any right thinking person that WCT is not properly managed.  Only people like you will support an organisation like WCT.  May be you get commission from their large Grant?

I am actively involved in two Charities which do not get any grant from any source and are self sufficient.  Kensal Community Association is a unique and well run Charity which has 42 User Groups with a combined Membership of over 25000 persons, all of whom benefit from our premises.  They can sit comfortably 11 A.M. to 11 P.M. every day, read free newspapers, watch television, socialise, play indoor games and have a free drink of water.  If they want to, then they can buy the cheapest hard drinks in London.  We are keeping lots of people out of trouble, thus reducing crime in the area and help our Wonderful Police.

Royal Borough (RBKC)  whom you falsely call Rotten Borough is lead by a very good person Sir Merrick Cockell and has some very devoted, honest and sincere councillors from both Conservative and Labour Parties, who play their part to the best of their ability in serving the Community and thereby making it one of the best Local Authority in the Country.  Unfortunately RBKC has its share of some crooked Councillors and Officers who steal confidential information, twist it and use it to their advantage through you.  I understand that you have lot of illegal money from dishonest sources and use it to pay these corrupt officers and councillors.  Sooner or later, the long arm of the law will catch up with you and them and then they will face due consequences.

I am a successful International Businessman who goes about his business in legal and honest way and pays lots of tax in number of Countries, with my head held high not like you, who has to hide himself because of your illegal, dishonest and criminal activities.  You are misdirecting your energies in a wrong way.  If you were to play a constructive role, then everyone will admire you.  However you choose to play a destructive, dishonest, unfair and a criminal role.  The choice is yours.  May God give you good sense and bless you with excellent manners.

Suresh Gupta
Director & Treasurer - Kensal Community Association ( K C A )
President - India Welfare Society ( I W S )
Managing Director - India Investments PLC ( I I P )
Kensal Club
177 Kensal Road
North Kensington
London W10 5BJ

Sunday 27 January 2013

DEREK MYERS ORDERS CABINET AROUND




Derek Myers when not having 'afternoon tennis lessons' has told the K&C Cabinet to create two new posts costing, with platinum plated pensions and other perks, the equivalent of over £200k a year. One Conservative backbench councillor is fuming the appointments are just being nodded thorough by the Cabinet. So who is this rebellious councillor? The Dame would love to know and have a glimpse at the email.
This lucky duo, as Director and Head of Service will add another layer of bloated bureaucracy in Environmental Services. So what are these two jobsworths going to be doing? Well, the brief is wide ranging and quite eclectic...in between registering births, deaths and matrimonials they will also keep an eye on rubbish collections and street trading
Our Derek has come up with a clever way to pay for these salaries....he is going to nick most of the money from the K&C street traders ring fenced account.
OUR HERITAGE

The vibrant K&C street traders are having none of it. 
The Market Streets Action Group will be meeting on Tuesday 29th January at 4pm at the Isaac Newton Centre, 108a Lancaster Road, W11 1QS, near Ladbroke Road station. 

All those interested in the future of our Street Markets culture and heritage are warmly encouraged to attend.

Saturday 26 January 2013

GUPTA UPTA SCARBOROUGH



Mr Suresh Gupta is a well known character in the Rotten Borough. Not only does he have the use of Council premises at 177 Kensal Road, but his daughter, Miss Asha Gupta, is a close confidante of our revered 'Prime Minister', Sir Merrick Pooter-Cockell. Miss Gupta heads up the 'Cabinet Office' as Principal Governance Administrator. No, the Dame has damn all knowledge about what the job entails...but doubtless it is very well paid.
FRIENDS ON HIGH?
Her papa, Mr Gupta, is equally busy.... 
From these Council premises he operates the India Welfare Association and India Investments Plc, as well the very jovial Kensal Community Centre, where members can enjoy bucolic and alcoholic times from morning to night.
So why would such a busy man want the use of a mini bus for an April weekend jaunt to salubrious Scarborough? Is there a Masonic convention that weekend?

The Dame hears that Mr Gupta is furious with Westway Community Transport. These people do superb work helping the disabled with their transport needs-despite having their grant slashed by Pooter. 

When Gupta asked them to provide a mini bus for the mysterious Scarborough jaunt, at a 'charity rate', they baulked. Could it be that they had a more urgent need for their mini bus and wanted to politely turn down Mr Gupta's request: after all, Kensal Community Centre members seem hardly in need of charity.......



Friday 25 January 2013

THE DAME ANNOUNCES HER APPOINTMENT OF CLLR WILLIAMS AS MAYOR

A bit of arm twisting and the Dame is happy to report Pooter Cockell has followed her advice and will 'robe' Cllr Charles Williams as new Rotten Borough Mayor.
Pooter tells the Dame he will make an official announcement next week. Little is known about Williams, but clearly he is so anodyne and quiescent Pooter had no qualms selecting him. Why is the mayoral appointment always in the gift of the dreadful Pooter?



LANCASTER WEST SLAMS BORE & CO


A resident writes from a personal perspective....

'Bore and his henchmen from the Planning Dept have bullied and lied to Councillors and objectors alike for too long now. Wasn't Councillor Ahern meant to be getting a grip and making Planning more resident friendly? 0/10 there then!
Well done to Cllr Blakeman for pointing all this out, but not before it was too late for residents in her own Notting Barnes Ward, whose views on the Kensington Academy (KALC) have been treated with contempt and disdain by those with power in the Planning Dept at the Council. 
The Planning Dept's treatment of this community in North Kensington has caused great upset and will never be forgotten. Residents on Lancaster West Estate have been treated as poorly as the residents who faced callous Council indifference in the 70s when the Westway flyover was built and they were forced to live overlooking the motorway.
At the KALC Planning Committee one of the Councillors did not even know the basic layout of the proposed site and kept rudely interrupting an objector while they made their legitimate submission. Needless to say the application was a shoe in!
This was also despite the fact that the actual KALC Planning Application was so flawed and full of misleading facts and claims that it was not fit for purpose and would never have survived the briefest scrutiny-which, of course, it never got.
The issue of pollution by the Westway Sports Centre will come back to haunt this Planning Dept who have again bullied a number of Majority Party Councillors into covering up this shameful ill-treatment of sports users who are now forced to play football mere feet away from the slip road off a highly polluted motorway. 
Councillor Coates (Conservative) was promised a report into pollution levels but he has now been silenced and sidelined by an act of collusion between the Planning and Legal Dept. Councillors Coleridge's platitudes to local campaigners are on this subject do him or the Council no justice. What a cess-pit but this is one that will be exposed!
Seeing the Kensington Odeon Planning Committee in supposed action was truly heartbreaking. Their readiness to surrender the wonderful trees outside the cinema and sanction the disappearance of the iconic Odeon itself, into multi-million pound estate agents dream, proves that the very soul is being ripped out of this most Rotten Borough. Profit before residents is the current mantra.
Seeing a teenage resident, attending the Odeon Planning Committee, burst into tears on hearing that the magnificent and much loved trees would be butchered will stay with many present for many years. 
Not sure anyone on the Committee even noticed or stopped to consider this youngsters or the wider community's pain and dissatisfaction!' 

Thursday 24 January 2013

THE DAME TO ANNOUNCE THE NEW MAYOR AND DEPUTY!

As usual, Pooter Cockell has been bouncing ideas off the Dame. This time he has been picking the Dame's brain as to who should succeed Cllrs Buckmaster and Borwick. These two will be a tough act to follow so the Dame is cogitating on who will be 'up to the job' so she can advise Pooter.
Buckmaster's successor needs to have charm, diplomacy, integrity and class.....let's hope that Pooter's choice will embody these qualities........
According to the lunatic Cllr Palmer it's Danny 'Boys' Moylan, but it seems that the Dame has quashed that crazy idea...our Mayor needs to have a little class and though Boys has been successful with his elocution lessons he still fails to meet the Dame's 'toilet and serviette' test.
Sadly, the Dame is having to promote Cllr Williams and Mackover...hardly charismatics, but, unlike Boys, they won't let the side down....

COUNCIL MOTION CALLS FOR COUNCILLOR TRAINING


Last night, virtually the entire Council came together to back a 
Labour Motion criticising the way the Planning Application and Major Planning Development Committees operate. Cllr Blakeman, absent through illness,(Cllr Mason delivered her speech) criticised some committee members lack of understanding of process often leading to 'inappropriate comments and suggestions'.

Here is the motion....it is well drafted and to the point and it's unsurprising it gained cross party support....

.....We are becomingly increasingly concerned at the lack of discipline exhibited by applicants and the Council alike when some very important planning applications come before us – generally, but not exclusively, at the Major Planning Development Committee.
In recent times we have noted how developers and other applicants offer attractive promises to objectors that re-assure both them and the councillors making decisions on seriously important applications. Unfortunately, councillors are not advised at the time that many of these assurances cannot be conditioned and are unenforceable, since they are outside the remit of the planning system - and it is vital that this problem is addressed urgently. Recent examples include:
·      The assurance given with regard to the Kensington Academy and Leisure Centre that the air quality would be surveyed at the two five-a-side sports pitches at Westway that replace the three lost from Lancaster West
·      At the same meeting, the assurance given that works on Saturdays would not commence before 10 am so that residents can get some well-earned rest
·      The promise that a new secondary school would be built as part of the Earl’s Court development
·      And the assurance that the new pool at Holland Park School will be available out of hours for community use – a condition that is of particular importance to the early morning swimmers displaced by the closure of the Kensington Leisure Centre.
When we have followed these up we have been told:
·      That the reasons why the air quality survey information cannot be provided were discussed at the Planning Committee. Labour councillors who were present throughout that meeting and have no recollection of anyone being told that this was outside the planning system, only that agreement was given to undertake the survey
·      That officers have no recollection that any assurance to start the works at 10 am on Saturdays was agreed – again Labour councillors who were there heard it quite clearly, as did others
·      That there is no way that we can enforce the building of a new secondary school at Earl’s Court
·      And that the condition on community use of the Holland Park School swimming pool – which certainly is enforceable - has been pushed so far into the long grass that the re-assurance given to the early morning swimmers is quite meaningless.
Residents are increasingly focusing on the performance of our planning councillors and our Planning Department on these and many other issues and I am afraid that increasingly often we are found wanting.
Persistent breaches of assurances, condition and promises 
that re-assure councillors and members of the public and that encourage the grant of planning permission is bringing this Council seriously into disrepute. It must stop now.
As this motion indicates, this is not just a matter for our 
planning department and whether or not they provide timely and accurate advice – it is also a matter for planning councillors themselves to ensure that they are properly trained and are able to distinguish between assurances that can be conditioned and enforced and vague promises that sound attractive on the night but cannot be conditioned nor – more importantly – enforced later on down the line.
At best, accepting these promises this makes us look gullible, 
stupid and incompetent - at worst it makes us look as though 
we are in collusion with developers and other applicants. This is bringing us all into disrepute and is something we must address urgently.

Tuesday 22 January 2013

CHILLED CHAMPAGNE AND WARMING THE POOR


Is Fiona Bryce mad or just silly? She is planning a Champagne Reception to which she has invited our councillors. Champagne and keeping poor people warm seems peculiarly  incongruous...... the Dame hopes there will be some cake left over for the poor of the parish....
BUBBLESHEAD BRYCE
Councillors should avoid such a vulgar event....though the free Bollinger may prove difficult to resist!


Sent: Monday, 21 January 2013, 17:00
Subject: Lunchtime Champagne Reception in Dining Room A, House of Commons on the Green Deal - Wed 13th February 2013


Dear Cllr xxxxx, 
Hope all is well.  Hope you had a good weekend.
Just as a bit of background, I used to work in the Commons (for Laurence Robertson) and was a Parliamentary Candidate and Councillor (under my maiden name Bryce).  I have therefore been involved with politics for over 10 years and I now run Keystone Consulting which helps people to understand Parliament and how to get involved within the political process, an organisation that specialises in energy, sustainability and inclusion.

I am just sending an email to make you aware of a lunchtime champagne reception (12.45pm - 3pm) on Wednesday 13th February 2013 in Dining Room A at the House of Commons that "The Big Green Book" is hosting on the Green Deal, which I think may interest you.
As we all know the The Green Deal looks to help local people make energy-saving home improvements to make their home more comfortable - something that is especially important in the current environment of rising energy costs.  However, whilst there has been a lot of publicity about the scheme it is important to recognise that there are still issues in making sure people are aware as to how it can affect them - and how they can make use of it.  With this in mind, this reception is looking to bring together you, with Parliamentarians, other local council representatives and sector representatives so that, over a drink or two, more transparency regarding the whole issue occurs and the process can be improved.

Speakers at the event will include Chris Pincher MP, Member of the Energy Select Committee, as well as sector specialists on the Green Deal, and we already have a number of other Parliamentarians and Councils coming along as well.

It would be great if you could come along and I do look forward to hearing if you are free.

Best wishes
Fiona
About The Big Green Book Biggreenbook is a not-for-profit organisation that looks to help SME's to find environmental solutions and the competitive edge their bring to businesses through their one-stop directory. Thier focus is on providing resources that help the rapidly growing market of green-minded professionals and companies, to succeed and prosper.About Keystone Consulting Keystone Consulting helps clients to understand and participate in the political process.

Fiona Cuthbertson (nee Bryce) Managing Director Keystone Consulting 75, Victoria St London SW1H 0HUwww.keystone-consulting.co.uk https://twitter.com/#!/keystone_

*********************************************************** 
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
This e-mail may contain information which is confidential, 
legally privileged and/or copyright protected. This e-mail 
is intended for the addressee only. If you receive this in 
error, please contact the sender and delete the material 
from your computer.

******************************

A STUPID COUNCIL


A LUDICROUS LITTLE MAN
Just remind yourselves why basic services like Thamesbrook are under threat....
It's because a  corrupt and self serving leadership prefers to waste £27 million on Exhibition Rd-already looking a mess- despite the annual cleaning bill of close to £400,000. 
And to 'celebrate' this waste the Cabinet agrees to pay close to £1 million on a 'party'!
And so Cockell can 'play the Medici' millions of pounds are wasted on Opera Holland Park.
The Dame does not even touch upon the £100 million Holland Park School: a school which adds not one extra school place and is more than double the Government's new school guidelines.
And whilst we are all having to make sacrifices "I'm Alright Jack' Pooter Cockell scrapes by with the £130, 000 allowance we taxpayers have to fund. The man is an utter disgrace to Toryism.
And all the while we sit on a cashpile of £170 million-the result of year in, year out, over taxation.


Monday 21 January 2013

THAMESBROOK NURSING HOME UNDER THREAT


THAMESBROOK TO CLOSE
The Dame will always support those unable to fight their own battles. After the disaster that was Chelsea Care it would appear that the next casualty is Thamesbrook Nursing Home... 

A Resident writes...

Dear Dame,

I enjoy your comments and willingness to hold some of the council members to account for their gross mismanagment of the borough. The cuts in social services over the years have not been the worst while money has been wasted elsewhere however, I believe that is about to change though nothing has yet been made public.
The council owns and operates Thamesbrook, a nursing home for older people in Dovehouse Street, SW3. For many years it was the most highly regarded facility and places were much sought after by the most frail residents of the borough. Under the leadership of an excellent manager, the home had an excellent reputation which I know as my own mother was there, was totally deserved. 

For whatever reason, that manager left almost four years ago, perhaps he was fed up with the rotten politics as he was certainly no fool. Since then there has been one hopeless manager appointed after another, none of who have showed any committment or resolve and the home has lost its good reputation. Instead of tackling this properly and seeking out an appropriate manager the solution, though not yet publicised has become to close the home. A manager has been appointed now who has a track record of exactly that and she was the person who closed the only other home the council operated, Edenham in Elkstone Road some years ago. The excuse at that time was that it did not meet current standards, it did but the publicity was that it did not. There can be no similar excuse about Thamesbrook, it exceeds all current standards by a significant margin and has done for many years. Without the excuse of the building meeting standards, it seems an obvious ploy that the only other thing that could fail would be the care and the appointment of numerous people at manager level and above who are not competant to do the job would suggest that this is a ploy by the awful Stella Baillie. If she wanted the home to succeed, there must be someone out there who could manage it, after all, there are many good nursing homes around. I object to the use of consultants by the council but if they haven't, perhaps they should ask the former manager to be involved in the recruitment process, I doubt they have. The other excuse is that it costs a lot of money to run, if it does, so be it. While the councillors have money to waste on daft projects there should be no further cuts in social services particularly for the most vulnerable people. It should not happen in a civilised society. 
My point behind all this is that the frailest people the council provides a service for live at Thamesbrook, they don't have loud voices and indeed many are bed bound so they aren't going to be able to campaign in their own right. 

Would you be able to draw attention to their plight please?

Best wishes, 

xxxxxxx

COLLAR GREENHALGH ON 31 JANUARY


Reducing crime is a priority for K&C residents so ensure that you have 8.00-9.00 on the 31st January in your diary.
The meeting provides a chance to input ideas: ideas which could shape the Mayor's new Police and Crime Plan. It will take just an hour of your time.
BEND EAR OF DEPUTY MAYOR POLICING
This is a rare opportunity to ensure that we residents are not railroaded into acceptance of a mere cost cutting exercise. 
The consultation for K&C is in the Chelsea Town Hall, 8.00 – 9.00 on 31st January 2013. 
Get more detail on the parameters of the meeting click here