Wednesday, December 08, 2004
OFFICIAL: Tooting neglected by Tory council
Anyone seen today's feature in the Wandsworth Borough News about the neglect of Tooting by the Conservative council?
The most common complaint was simply the lack of care Tooting is given by the Council, which encourages people to share their disrespect of our environment. Complaints about street-cleaning in Tooting have climbed steadily and are now at record levels. Let's face it: our streets need a good scrubbing, street corners need to be cleared of never-disappearing fly-tips, we need more litter bins and more civic respect.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani - a Republican - was elected in his overwhelmingly Democrat city because he understood that allowing a neighbourhood to be run-down encourged a vicious circle of ever more neglect and disrespect, crime and fear of crime. His zero tolerance policies were copied the world over. Tom Cox MP and I both agree that it's time Wandsworth took a leaf out of his book.
The good news is that despite the high level of dissatisfaction with the Council's care of Tooting, the thing people love most about our area is the strong community spirit. That's what makes Tooting a great place to live - despite the best efforts of the Council to keep the place grubby - but just think what it could be like if the Conservatives invested as much here as they do in the more affluent parts of our borough.
Sadiq
PS If you can't get the Wandsworth Borough News, visit http://www.wb-news.co.uk/ for the story
The most common complaint was simply the lack of care Tooting is given by the Council, which encourages people to share their disrespect of our environment. Complaints about street-cleaning in Tooting have climbed steadily and are now at record levels. Let's face it: our streets need a good scrubbing, street corners need to be cleared of never-disappearing fly-tips, we need more litter bins and more civic respect.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani - a Republican - was elected in his overwhelmingly Democrat city because he understood that allowing a neighbourhood to be run-down encourged a vicious circle of ever more neglect and disrespect, crime and fear of crime. His zero tolerance policies were copied the world over. Tom Cox MP and I both agree that it's time Wandsworth took a leaf out of his book.
The good news is that despite the high level of dissatisfaction with the Council's care of Tooting, the thing people love most about our area is the strong community spirit. That's what makes Tooting a great place to live - despite the best efforts of the Council to keep the place grubby - but just think what it could be like if the Conservatives invested as much here as they do in the more affluent parts of our borough.
Sadiq
PS If you can't get the Wandsworth Borough News, visit http://www.wb-news.co.uk/ for the story
