Nick believes that senior officers’ pay at Kingston Council has got out of hand. Too many senior officers in Kingston Council earn over £100,000 a year and the management team is top heavy. According to the Taxpayer’s Alliance Kingston’s top officer now earns well over £220k in pay, pensions and perks. This is a bigger salary than the CEO of Richmond and Sutton and yet Kingston is the smallest Borough in London.

Nick said “Far too many of the current redundancies are in the lower paid roles. Not only does this not save enough money, but it also means that front-line services are being unnecessarily cut.

“The Lib Dems have been in control of Kingston Council for over nine years and the pay of senior officers has got out of hand. It’s no wonder local residents have to pay the highest Council Tax in London.”

To see the full list of pay of senior officers in Kingston Council then click here. Source: Taxpayer’s Alliance 

Nick Kilby has called on the Lib Dem-run Kingston Council to cut the wasted spending and concentrate on preserving important frontline services, such as Elderly and Disability Services. Nick has organised several campaigns and petitions to try and save local elderly and disability services against unnecessary cuts.

Nick explained why the cuts were unnecessary:

“The Lib Dems have already admitted that there is plenty of waste within the Council and they are starting to make changes that will save money, such as sharing services with neighbouring Councils. But they should have done this nine years ago. The amount the Council are spending on interest for the Lib Dem loans could have been used to prevent the Lib Dem care cuts.”

Kingston Council has elected Councillor Pat Codd to be the Mayor of the Royal Borough for the muncipal year 2011/12.

Councillor Codd is one of the best loved and most respect member of the Conservative Group on Kingston Council.

A passionate local activist, has been a councillor for Coombe since 1994.

He has been Chairman of Maldens and Coombe Neighbourhood Committe,  Deputy Leader of the Council, chairman of Planning and Development. Chairman of Development and Royal Park Neighbourhood Committees.

Churchwarden at St Luke’s Kingston, he has been a governor of Robin Hood Primary School since 1992.

His Deputy Mayor will be Councillor Geoff Austin. He was elected as one of Canbury Ward’s Conservative Councillors in 2006.

Geoff and his wife Sheila have lived in Clifton Road for almost twenty years, and they have one son and two grandchildren. Not surprisingly after a career working in Social Services, Geoff’s particular interests are Child Protection and the welfare of the elderly and people with disabilities.

A familiar voice on the Kingston Talking Newspaper for the Blind, and Kingston Hospital Radio, Geoff’s other passion is sport, and after a long playing career he is now an active Rugby Union referee. He also enjoys watching football, and is a Patron of our local football club Kingstonian F.C.

We all know that over 13 years the last Labour government spent huge sums of money and left us to deal with the biggest budget deficit in our peacetime history. But what we didn’t know was just how wasteful they were with our money.

From wasting £12 billion on an NHS computer system that didn’t work to kitting out regional fire offices with £6,000 luxury coffee-making machines, Labour showed complete contempt for taxpayers’ money up and down this country.

Despite this reckless spending and waste, Labour remain in complete denial about their legacy. They blame the bankers, the recession, the global downturn – everyone and anyone – except themselves.

Today, I gave a speech to begin the process of exposing Labour’s waste. This video exposes some of the most shocking examples of Labour’s legacy.

Labour’s incompetent handling of our economy will hit all of our pockets. The cuts to come are Labour’s cuts. So, it’s only fair that the people responsible should share some of the pain. That’s why today I have written to each of Labour’s leadership candidates asking them to voluntarily give up their severance pay, worth £20,000 each. Forfeiting this pay would be the first step towards rehabilitation, and the first time they had come to terms with the mistakes of the past.

In the coming weeks and months, the Coalition will be making its own contributions to exposing the truth. We are going to shine a light on every aspect of Labour’s total lack of respect for taxpayers’ money. If you feel as strongly about exposing Labour’s legacy as I do, please forward this message to five friends or family.

This is a big job, but the Coalition is determined to take the difficult and responsible decisions to get our country back on track.

Sayeeda Warsi
Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party

In our latest Party Election Broadcast, Prime Minister David Cameron explains why you musn’t let Labour do to your council what they did to our country.

If you want effective, common sense local government, then vote Conservative on May 5th.

Kingston Conservatives want you, the residents of New Malden, to have your say on the future development of the Cocks Crescent. After recent developer-led planning applications, Conservative-controlled Malden and Coombe Neighbourhood wants to bring residents into the debate on how to make the most of this important opportunity, so that together we can strengthen the very heart of New Malden and leave a positive legacy for the future.

Getting your views first, and allowing you to help create a vision for the Council and landowners to work towards, will ensure that the future regeneration of this important area will be achieved with the communities’ support, and not at their cost. The Council-owned Crescent Resource Centre and the Causeway Centre are outdated and need replacement. The Council also owns the Blagdon Road Car Park and the Malden Centre. These sites, together with those in commercial ownership, have the potential to create a new and exciting development that will strengthen and reinvigorate New Malden.

To guide and advise us we invited the New Malden-based company of Architects and Master Planners, Mountford Pigott, to look at the opportunities and produce a range of suggestions for residents to consider. The aim we set them was to provide ideas that would start a meaningful debate, and help us all see what might be achieved. These discussions would then help us compile a Development Brief that truly reflected the aspirations of our residents. It would also ensure that the Brief was firmly based on what was possible and not on impossible dreams.

Mountford Pigott has now had the opportunity to look at how the Council-owned land and neighbouring properties in Blagdon Road could be regenerated. They have created three illustrative options for the public to review and debate. A new Conservative Administration intends to begin a process of community consultation based on this work. The consultation will lead to an agreed Community Development Brief which can be used to guide and inform potential developers.

The three options have common links: each includes a new Library and a new Crescent/Causeway Centre (to replace the two outdated facilities), and retains the existing Malden Leisure Centre in its current form. Each option then explores different design solutions, such as converting the former Spillers building into apartments; providing a digital cinema; and building a new food store and other shops and offices.

Cllr Patrick Codd, Chairman of Conservative-run Malden and Coombe Neighbourhood said “This area is at the very heart of New Malden. We have already had one developer-led proposal which we considered unacceptable. We are pledged to keep services in this location, and we intend to honour that pledge, but we consider it vital to the success of any new development that residents have their say, and have it early in the design process. Mountford Pigott are wonderfully talented, and the three options they have devised for the public to debate are excellent and refreshingly innovative starting points. We will encourage potential developers to join us in this process, and work with us in creating a new and vibrant heart for our community.”

Alan Gaskell, Senior Partner of Mountford Pigott, said “Being based in New Malden, it was a revelation to us that there was a park in Blagdon Road. We think there is huge potential in redeveloping this part of New Malden for residents. We have had years of experience with major regeneration projects in other parts of the country and have found the key to success is to engage the public from the very beginning. We are delighted to have helped Councillors and we hope our work will lead to a genuine public debate which will see the beginning of something very exciting for the future of New Malden Town Centre.”

For immediate use.

The three Design Options are available on PDF on request from Nick Kilby.

Mountford Pigott was formed in the 1920′s and has through the last 20 years has established itself as a very experienced and well recognised retail Architectural practice. Based in New Malden, and with well over 5 million ft² retail space consented and constructed for a wide range of well known private and fund developers,. the firm is of sufficient size to manage without difficulty substantial complex projects, from inception to completion, using the philosophy of listening carefully to the needs of it’s clients and delivering appropriate, innovative but practical solutions meeting time and cost constraints. The Firm’s strengths ensure that a large percentage of work is derived from repeat business, and most of the remainder from recommendation.

The Practice has substantial experience in mixed use developments which incorporate retail, residential, and leisure , many on difficult town centre sites which require multi-level solutions. Of the work undertaken by Mountford Pigott mixed use schemes now predominate, often with an emphasis on community use, with recent examples of consented large scale developments incorporating the major food retailers in Ipswich, Worcester, Aldershot and Hove. A number of other major retail developments are in the pipeline, in locations including Oswestry, Oxford, and Chesterfield.

Much more information is available at www.mountfordpigott.com

A video made by local Conservative Candidates in Kingston, explaining why we believe you should vote Conservative on May 6th, this video was made for the launch event at the Odeon Cinema. Kingston, worth fighting for!

Dear Sir,

Cllr Derek Osbourne has in desperation taken to suggest that we will do precisely what he has done, cut front line services, to meet our first election pledge of freezing council tax for two years. He has conveniently failed to note that our third pledge is not to close any libraries or care homes or front line services.

The fact that he has no clue on how to bring about a Zero Council Tax Rise only goes to demonstrate that it’s time for him to go. He has even suggested that he has been briefed by officers; this at a time of purdah is worrying and typical of a master ‘Fib-Dem’ at work.

We know that Councillor Osbourne has no idea on how to keep our services open while reducing costs. His track record speaks for itself. He closed Hobkirk Day Care Centre; he cut two tiers of eligibility from the criteria by which we support the elderly and disabled in need. He has threatened Tudor and Old Malden Libraries and was thwarted by local Conservatives and residents on both occasions. He has sold off assets cheaply in an effort to pay his debts and failed to act quickly when officers pointed out they could have saved £2 Million last year. That would have funded a zero council tax rise. All these are facts and can be checked online – just Google!

The Conservative Group has worked hard to present a clear and financially responsible manifesto. The Council Tax is not Councillor Osbourne‘s own pot of money to play with as he wishes. It comes from our hard working residents who expect it to be spent prudently in return for quality services.

We know Cllr Osbourne enjoys being the Leader of the Council and he has enjoyed the salary that goes with this post, but these desperate statements will not wash. He is rapidly becoming the Gordon Brown of Kingston, saying and doing anything to cling to power.

All 48 Conservative Candidates are proud to stand firmly behind our election pledges and should the residents of this Royal Borough give us the chance to run their Council for them from the 6th May, we will be delighted to honour each and every one in full. No closures of Libraries, Care Homes or any other front line services and you will have two years with a frozen Council Tax. We knew the Lib Dems would play dirty, which is why we named our campaign ‘Kingston, worth fighting for!’ and it is!

Cllr Nick Kilby
Campaign Co-ordinator, Kingston Conservatives.

Dear Editor,

On 29th March a public meeting was held to discuss how a new Primary school might be built on the Surbiton Hospital site. It became clear that all the boxes had not been ticked. There were major concerns. Ward Councillor Paul Johnson asked, – where was Plan B in case the Hospital site doesn’t work out? Even Edward Davey MP, the main supporter of the Hospital site, concluded that we should not rule out the possibility of other sites. But what other sites were being considered?

In your paper of 2 April Cllr Bamford wrote that ’of course other sites were being considered, behind the scenes’.

A week later you published my letter asking her “where are these sites? The public has the right to know”.

Now, two weeks on and no reply! The only reasonable interpretation is that there isn’t a Plan B at all. Instead we have an email ‘round-robin’ from Mr. Davey praising his work re the Hospital and writing “local Conservatives have said they will stop this new school”. Given that you published a prominent article in March that made it clear that the Conservatives supported the Hospital site as ONE possibility, this is an outright lie. I would have expected better of Mr. Davey.

Let me again make it clear to the LibDem Councillors, whose tunnel vision is irresponsible, and to Mr. Davey: if the electorate returns a Conservative majority, -

• Surbiton Hospital site’s negotiations will continue and the pros and cons will be made much more public.
• The options will be examined urgently of using the land behind Newent House, (it has been waste land for 20 years or so) and the King Charles Centre, with the possible intent of the Infants school being built behind Newent House and the Junior school on the King Charles Centre site. The pros and cons will be made public.
• An alternative to be considered is a new state-of-the-art “Newent House”, built on the Hospital site next to the proposed Polyclinic. This would have logic, and would free up more land for an Infants School.
• We would also consider the land opposite Maple Infants and St. Andrews & St. Mark’s Juniors. It has lain idle for years and could provide further Primary places under the umbrella of those two schools.

These investigations ought to be well-advanced. But the LibDems have closed them off, relying purely on the pet scheme of Mr. Davey, – the Surbiton Hospital site. If it works out, – fine. But we shouldn’t be relying on that site alone when it is clear there are many obstacles to overcome, AND the cash-strapped Primary Health Care trust might sell all the spare land for housing.

Councillor Dennis Doe
Shadow Executive Member for Children and Youth Services.

A place to learn, to inspire, to examine, to innovate and change the way we live for the better.

In the last decade we have grown more aware of the effects we have on our own environment. This is not just about how much each household recycles but about the way we travel, the designs of our homes, the technology we use to help us achieve more in our work or entertain us when we are home.

The Quality of Life we have come to enjoy in Kingston, with the River Thames, Richmond Park and the close proximity to the countryside, is one of the main factors why people move to our Borough. Understanding our environment better and learning how to protect it for future generations is the very least we can do. If we can foster this growing awareness to reduce still further our energy use, and re-use more of what we currently waste, we will not only make the Borough a better place to live but we will also save money.

Kingston is home to some of the most innovate people in London. Through use of new technologies and services we want to create jobs in the Environmental sector that will strengthen the quality of local employment in Kingston and thus reduce the need for travel for those it employs.

The Council can do much more than it currently does. Working with Borough residents, Council employees, partner organisations and suppliers we can lead the way in adopting new working methods and innovations. What is needed is a venue where all those who have a shared interest in protecting our Environment and those who can innovate and use new skills and equipment can come together under one roof.

Kingston Conservatives know that a new centre can only work if it is supported by the all the interested organisations and individuals who care, campaign and are actively seeking to improve our environment. We also know that the Council has an important community leadership role to encourage all of us to make positive changes to how we live our lives. With the Green Budget and establishing a new Environment Centre we will demonstrate how important we believe the Environment is to us.

The first step will be for us to host a conference at the Guildhall this summer to agree with all interested parties what we want from such a new centre. We then need to establish who would be interested in taking an active involvement in its development and form a Project Steering Group to lead the development forward with Council full support.

We believe this “bottom-up” approach is the only way to create something that everyone in the community will feel reflects their own concerns on the environment. It is also key to ensuring that the final organisation created has the support it needs to be sustainable in the future.

The work of The Save the World Club, Kingston Friends of the Earth, The Community Furniture Project and the recently launched Transition Town Kingston all reflect our Borough’s growing awareness for our environment. We hope that all these organisations, and other who are working in the Borough will come together and join us in making this project a reality. We also hope that Kingston University and Kingston College will become involved in respect to developing Research and Innovation programmes. The commercial sector will not be excluded as the creation of new jobs and industry will be an important feature for us to achieve.

The Environment is not just about greenhouse gases and landfill. It is about changing the way we live and finding new ways to do things that cause less harm in the future.

Cllr. Howard Jones, Leader of Kingston Conservatives said “It’s true, my generation have enjoyed ourselves whilst often not realising the effects we have on the environment around us. The debate on climate change often clouds the issue that none of us want to do harm to the world we live in. As a Council we do need to do more and I hope all of you that care about the future of our planet will join us in creating something special that will encourage us all to do more to protect what we often take for granted, our Borough and our Environment.”

Zac Goldsmith, Parliamentary Candidate for Richmond Park said “We can be one of the greenest boroughs. We have strong local environmental organisations, and people here understand the need to protect what’s important. By showcasing the best technology, fuelling research and encouraging a rethink, this Environmental Centre will provide a major boost.”

We made Members of Parliament repay expenses even when they were within the rules because it was wrong in retrospect but why will the LIb Dems not recognise that this money is from fraud and ordinary people have suffered from the loss of this money. Why will they not give one huge Lib Dem donation back, which has been proven as stolen money?

Kingston Conservatives believe that the last eight years have been the worst in living memory for our residents who live in council-owned homes. The Kingston Federation of Residents Associations, which represents all council tenants and leaseholders in the borough, recently highlighted the Council’s own admission that nearly one in three of all its council homes are in such a poor condition that they fail the Government’s own very lowly ‘decent homes’ standard.

Conservative Councillors have campaigned for years for action to be taken. The Lib Dems have repeatedly blamed the Labour Government but have done nothing to resolve the problem. Their failure to work with our tenants and leaseholders has resulted in endless meetings without any progress being made.

Last year, the Lib Dems spent over £100,000 on consultant’s fees testing the opinion of residents before bottling any further discussion on the options that are currently available, such as transferring its properties to a benevolent housing association with the funds to carry out immediate major improvements. Yet the Council’s own tenants’ survey revealed that, when asked if they would support a transfer to a new landlord IF all their tenancy rights were protected and it led to improvements to their homes, a MAJORITY said they would!

Following next month’s election, a Conservative Administration will immediately open negotiations with the Federation to agree a timetable for them to jointly put together a business plan that will support a tenant-led stock transfer. We will also consider a funding package that will give them the resources they need to build up inclusive resident representation and support. This funding will be linked to achieving agreed milestones on a path to the ultimate transfer of housing from RBK being completed during 2012/13.

We will not exclude anyone from the process and guarantee to consult openly and fully on the issues that concern residents most, such as ensuring the maintenance of all tenancy rights including their legal security to continue living in their homes after ownership is transferred. This process will be led by tenants and fully supported by a Conservative-controlled Council.

Councillor Ian George, Shadow Housing Spokesman said: “We cannot go on like this. It’s a disgrace and heart breaking that so many of our council tenants are asked to live in such poor housing conditions. It is also disheartening for our officers who do their best to handle the ever-rising tide of requests for repairs and renovations when their budgets are so tightly constrained.”

Councillor Paul Johnston, Chair of the Housing Consultative Committee added: “We need to work with council tenants and leaseholders and listen to them more. Both we and the Federation are determined to help residents take the lead in resolving their own housing needs. The question of future ownership has to be resolved if we are to unlock the much needed investment that is available through other social landlords, before we see our council estates crumble into even further decay.”

The 2010 London Olympics will be a once in a life time opportunity to our residents and for the borough to enjoy the experience together. The Kingston Conservatives have been working on two proposals. The first proposal is to make sure every school child gets to visit either the Olympics or the Paralympics once and the second proposal is to stage “A Kingston Olympic Festival”. We will discuss and develop our final proposal with the Kingston Youth Council and other community organisations and consult with residents on which of the Borough’s Parks we would be the location for the Festival. Parks to be considered are Fairfield Park (Kingston Town), Victoria Park (Surbiton), King Georges Park (Tolworth) or Manor Park (New Malden) Recreation Ground. The London Olympic Games Organising Committee wants to work with all London Boroughs. We hope these Olympics will make Kingstonians feel good about themselves!

The Kingston Olympic Festival 2012

For the duration of the London 2012 Olympics, the chosen Park would become known as Kingston Olympic Festival Park during the Festival. Within the park we propose:

• The Kingston Olympic Festival Screen & Stage – a large mobile LED screen backing onto the central pathway. Our proposal would be to use a mobile big screen unit with stage that can drive into the Park.
• The Kingston Olympic Festival Arena – a central track/field for activities
• The Kingston Olympic Festival Quarter – a walled, temporary structure along the boundary of the park
• The Kingston Olympic Festival Activity Area – a series of Exhibition / trade stands running along the park boundaries

There will be events for residents every day of the 17 days of the London Olympics. We would hope people of all ages and abilities will take part, from nought to ninety. We will aim to ensure all events are fully inclusive and accessible, we will work with any groups of individuals or organisations who would like to submit entries or teams.’

The programme will encourage local high level sports achievers, clubs, facilities and schools to come together. We can offer an ongoing opportunity to try, inspire and engage young people who currently see neither the point nor have the opportunity to develop a passion for a particular sport’.

Personal Well Being and Health issues are a growing concern and this Olympic Festival will give the Royal Borough of Kingston a great opportunity to promote sports and other related healthy activities. Holding events throughout the day will also allow people of different ages to take part, from mums and toddlers, to the over 60’s as well as school children and adults.

Holding an event of this sort also provides other benefits such as promoting sense of community and civic pride in your local area. This event could be limited to sports alone, but the scope has been widened to include the arts as well to allow a wider community base to participate.

Cllr Howard Jones said “The Olympics are almost upon us and we felt it was an opportunity not to be missed. There are so many great things we can do together. This could also be viewed as a community cohesion project in which we can share cultures, learn new sporting interests and skills, become a little healthier and enjoy the spectacular of one of the greatest sporting events together; the Olympic Games in London! We have taken advice from professional and experienced event organisers who have reviewed the feasibilities and given us both a plan and a budget for making these proposals a reality.

The Council will have to seek approval from the London Organising Committee but we are confident that they will find our proposals acceptable. Lord Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee said “We have always been clear – we want London 2012 to be ‘everyone’s Games”.

The funding will come from sponsorship, commercial revenues and the use of specific funding for Health, Culture and Sports promotion already allocated in the Council Budgets. We are delighted that subject to our proposals being approved CNM Estates have agreed to be the principle sponsor. CNM Estates have supported the Rose Theatre in the past. CNM Estates support means we can be confident that we can stage this Festival and do so without increasing our budgeted spend on Health, Sports and Cultural funding in 2012/13. This is exactly what we mean about making the most of every opportunity for our borough!”

Wahid Samdy, Chairman of CNM Estates said “This is exactly what I have been advocating for the last two years! I was delighted to see that someone had listened to my plea for Kingston to make the most of having the Olympics in London. We have been pleased to support the Rose Theatre and delighted to announce that we will support the staging of a Kingston Olympic Festival in 2012. I have young children myself and I want them to have wonderful memories of when the Olympics Games came to London. These proposals will help everyone feel part of this great sporting event and I hope have memories to treasure for years to come. I am committed to making Kingston a better place to live and this will be a pleasure to support.”

Kingston Conservatives will create a new Cultural Quarter in Kingston Town Centre if elected on the 6th May.

The area to be designated as the Cultural Quarter will embrace the start of the High Street to the West, the River Thames to the North, St James/ Union Street to the South and Clarence Street to the East.

The Cultural Quarter will bring together the Rose Theatre, All Saints Church, The Coronation Stone, the Ancient Market. Charter Quay and The Guildhall Complex together. We will then work with landowners to develop further cultural uses. These may include specialist shopping, a new hotel, venues for Visual Arts, performance of music as well as further growth in new restaurants.
The Conservative Group will look to relocating the Central Library, Kingston Museum, and the Kingston Art Gallery in the Guildhall Complex and returning our Borough Archive back from the North Kingston Centre to central Kingston along with new facilities for the Voluntary Sector and Adult Education. We would also like to consider moving the Registry Office from Norbiton, so couples can to be married in the heart of Kingston Town. While no location has been identified, the need to bring services together will be part of the Conservative Group’s drive to reduce costs but improve the quality of facilities and services available to residents. The relocation costs would be covered by the rationalisation of the space currently used.

The Conservative Group believe that the Cultural Quarter will help further build a critical mass of cultural and night-time activity to enable the theatre to grow commercially stronger and stand artistically and commercially independent in a new and vibrant heart of all our cultural activities through out the year

Howard Jones, Leader of Kingston Conservatives said “The Cultural Quarter will help build and strengthen the cultural and night time economy around the Rose Theatre and go some way to helping the theatre increase in popularity. The Council needs to bring our cultural services together. We know that officers would welcome this investment and it will provide space to move other complimentary services together. This is a positive and Imaginative way to bring together all our cultural activities; it will increase access for our residents; and create a true Community Hub for the whole Borough.“

A permit scheme by Mayor of London Boris Johnson designed to give councils the power to turn down or refuse roadwork schemes has been shunned by the ruling Lib Dem administration in Kingston!

The London-wide scheme makes it a criminal offence to carry out road-works above a certain threshold without permission. Twenty-five London boroughs have already signed up; meaning three quarters of all roads in the capital will be covered by the permits by early next year, allowing for a reduction in the 36% of traffic delays caused by road-works in London.

However, Cllr Bob Steed, Executive Member for the Environment, has said despite the ‘current problems’ blighting the Royal Borough’s highways, he is still ‘not quite sure of the benefits’ of the scheme. He has refused to sign up to the code and said ‘we want to see how it goes.’

The Conservative Group has pledged to re-evaluate the scheme if they are elected in the forthcoming local elections. Leader Cllr Howard Jones said ‘Interminable traffic jams and hold ups caused by road-works result in increased carbon emissions, angry motorists, and damage the local economy. We see no good reason for the Administration’s refusal to sign up.’

London Assembly Member for South-West London Tony Arbour has questioned why the Lib Dems would ‘rather play party politics than join the Mayor in working to cut road-works.’