A council tax freeze benefits every London household during these tough times.

But Ken Livingstone’s hand picked Deputy Mayoral running mate in the Assembly is leading the Labour charge against the freeze, instead promoting an increase in council tax.

It confirms that Ken Livingstone would take us back to the days when council tax went up every single year.

During these tough times, Londoners cannot afford a council tax increase on top of their household bills. It is a tax that everyone pays, so every household will suffer if Labour go back to council tax rises year after year.

That is why the Mayor needs your help to keep council tax frozen. Please visit www.borisbudget.com  now to urge your local Assembly member t o support the budget and help save Londoners money.

This election is a choice between Boris Johnson, who will keep council tax low and Ken Livingstone who will put taxes up.

This could mean that work will soon start on the site which will now be developed by Star and Garter Homes rather than Sunrise Senior Living.

Let us hope that the development will be completed with as little disruption to the area as possible. We shall watch what happens with keen interest.

The Olympic Games will be held in London between 27 July (opening ceremony) and 12 August 2012.

The Paralympic Games taking place between 29 August (opening ceremony) and 9 September 2012.

But you don’t have to wait until then to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the Olympics – the Cultural Programme provides you with a unique opportunity to be involved with special events taking place in Kingston and across the Capital in the build up to the Games.

The Cultural Programme is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people.

The culmination of the Cultural Programme will be the London 2012 Festival, bringing leading artists from all over the world together from 21 June 2012 in the UK’s biggest ever festival planned to coincide with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  All London boroughs are committed to participating in the Cultural Olympiad.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Kingston to engage in an historic event of global significance and to use the interest and excitement it generates to attract visitors and investment into the borough.

Use the navigation bar on the left hand side of this page to find out more about the borough’s involvement in the Cultural Programme and how you can get involved.

Key Dates for Kingston

Date	Event
02 – 05 June	Queens’ Diamond Jubilee Kingston Aviation Festival Launch of Kingston’s Cultural Olympiad Programme
29 June to 22 July	International Youth Arts Festival (IYAF)
7-8 July	River Kingston Regatta and River Festival
15 July	Dragon Boat Challenge
24 July	Torch Relay (Day 67) – start at Hook Centre through Kingston to Richmond Borough
27 July	Torch Relay (Day 70)  start Hampton Court up River Thames to Olympic Stadium Olympic Games Opening Ceremony
28 July	Men’sCycle Road Race
29 July	Women’s Cycle Road Race
31 July	Familiarisation for Cycle Time Trials
01 Aug	Cycle Time Trial
05 Aug	Sports Events
12 Aug	Olympic Games Closing Ceremony
29 Aug	Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony
02 Sept	Kingston Carnival
09 Sept	Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony

• Given £13 million of taxpayers’ money to the Rose Theatre
•  Spent £160K on consultants for Ancient Market Place
• Spent £8.8million on ‘failing’ One Council Programme
• Hiked parking charges  by 200%
• Lost £600k in parking revenue.
• Kept us paying the highest Council Tax in London.

CLEVER, ISN’T IT?

This Wednesday 11 January, the Surbiton Planning Sub-committee will discuss the planning application for the Surbiton Water Works – Filter Beds development.  This is a controversial proposal that has been covered in several articles in the local press.

It is an opportunity for anyone from Surbiton to express their views.

So far objections have been based on the environmental impact and the effect on river users. Members of the public will have an opportunity to express their views, without the time restriction of a formal planning item. The committee will then make comments and recommendations to be fed into the Development Control Committee meeting on 23 February, where the decision will be made.

The meeting on Wednesday will also decide upon an application for a new 4-storey block of flats on the site of the garages in South Terrace. Only registered speakers can contribute to this item.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm at Dysart School (190 Ewell Road), and details and background documents can be found on RBK’s website at:

http://www.kingston.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/committeeminutes/moderngov.htm?mgl=ieListDocuments.aspx&CId=293&MId=6424&Ver=4

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,800 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The now traditional pre-Christmas event at the cornerHOUSE. A seasonal get-together with musicians and singers from St Matthews; join in with much loved carols of the season.

Doors open at 6.30, mulled wine and mince pies provided; first come first served

Singing at 7.00pm : Song sheets available.

There is no charge for this event; there will be a retiring collection for the St Matthews Organ Fund

200 locals people gather for carols at the Ditton Road/Ellerton Road Triangle

Community seasonal spirit was brilliantly on show at the annual carol singing gathering around the willow tree at the Ellerton Road – Ditton Road junction. The event was organised by EBRRA and more details can be found on their website. using the link in the right hand column on your screen.

It would seem that, after my words of encouragement to him at the EBRRA AGM, Cllr. Self did get active and the long awaited bench may  appear before next year’s event.

Anyway, our thanks to the organisers and our very best wishes for a

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

 AND

A PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

TO EVERYONE IN SURBITON HILL

AND OUR READERS EVERYWHERE!

I don’t think I need to tell you that the proposal got through at the joint meeting this evening?

A bit of a foregone conclusion, me thinks?

All the SoTB councillors (3) were in favour, Neil Houston and Mary Heathcote abstained.

 There were 35 – 40 public there, all were against the proposal for various reasons, but few got satisfactory responses from officers, TfL or designers.

There was actually a lot of time spent on comments from the floor – perhaps 3/4′s of the meeting which started at 19:00 and ended at 21:45.

 So, we had our say – but did anyone listen?

 Alas it ended in a bit of a political spat between the Cons and LD’s and vice versa.