Quiz the Councillors & Candidates - Local Election Q&A

[LocalEditorWandsworth]

The local elections are coming up on 22 May and we know from our talk boards that you all have thoughts and concerns about local services.

With this in mind, we've asked a panel of local councillors and candidates, including the Council's Education and Children's Services supremo (we figured there might be a lot of questions on those particular topics ) to pop in for a Q&A.

Taking part will be:

• Councillor Kathy Tracey, Conservative councillor for Wandsworth
Common and Council cabinet member for Education and Children's
Services
• Councillor Wendy Speck, Labour councillor for Latchmere Ward
• Councillor Antonia Dunn, Conservative councillor for Bedford Ward
• Sophia Parker, Labour candidate for Bedford Ward
• Fleur Anderson, Labour candidate for Bedford Ward
• Jon Irwin, Lib Dem candidate for Tooting Ward

[We asked representatives from both the Green party & UKIP to join us but they haven't replied yet.]

All you need to do, is POST YOUR QUESTIONS ON THIS THREAD over the next week and our 'panel' will be along to answer them on Friday 16th May.

Brief bios of all the politicians taking part follow, in case you want to ask specific questions of any of them.

Councillor Kathy Tracey, Wandsworth Common, Conservative Cabinet Member for Education and Children's Services
Kathy is responsible for Education and Children's Services throughout the Borough. She has lived in Wandsworth for 40 years and been a leading member of the Council for over 20 years. She has four children and is passionate about education and making sure all the local schools are as good as the best.

Councillor Wendy Speck, Latchmere Ward, Labour
Wendy has been active in local politics for many years, in Battersea and elsewhere. A former Head teacher and current school governor, she is passionate about education and giving all children the best possible start in life. She believes in fairness and treating people as we want to be treated. She works hard for her residents and like to get around to talk to and with them.

Councillor Antonia Dunn, Bedford Ward, Conservative
Antonia has lived in Wandsworth for over 20 years and has three children at schools in the Borough. She has been a councillor for 12 years and has also served as a school governor at three different schools. In addition she is a member of the Balham Town Centre Partnership and Bedford ward's Neighbourhood Watch.

Sophia Parker, Labour candidate, Bedford Ward
Sophia lives in Tooting Bec. She's got a 22 month old and a 5 month old so between looking after them and trying to get elected as a Labour councillor things are pretty busy! Before the children arrived, Sophia worked at the NSPCC where she campaigned to end child cruelty.

Fleur Anderson, Labour Candidate, Bedford Ward
Fleur has lived in Balham since 1998 and has four children aged between 8 and 16. She works for international aid agency WaterAid. Fleur has been involved in lots of local campaigns, including stopping cuts to Wandsworth One O'Clock Clubs for pre-schoolers.

Jon Irwin, Lib Dem candidate for Tooting
Jon has lived in Wandsworth since 2009 and is involved with various local groups campaigning to improve the area. He is currently leading a Safer Streets campaign in Tooting and is keen to crack down on fly-tipping and see the boarded up shops on our high streets put to better use. He says that if he is elected he will "make sure that local residents have a real voice that speaks up for them at the council".

Thanks for reminder LocalEditorWandsworth, to add Jaykwa my team have been campaigning to get support to use ideas which work elsewhere locally.

Changing local streets can often cause a lot of concern. Ideas that work somewhere can't always be translated to a different location. This is why a lot of our petitions have been for trials to take place using temporary measures.

Just down the road in Merton they have recently upgraded their older solution for fixing rat-runs, you can see some pictures here: traffikintooting.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/elegant-simple-effective-merton-safe.html

The benefits of improving our streets like this are huge. If you have 6mins to spare, I'd highly recommend watching this little clip:
www.streetfilms.org/revisiting-donald-appleyards-livable-streets/

The council certainly does need to look into road safety Jaykwa. The latest figures show road injuries up by 10% since 2010. 20mph speed limits are the best way to make our streets safer but unlike most councils they have said that they will not do a borough wide consultation on this unless there is evidence of support. Trouble is they are not looking for it. Slower traffic also reduces the level of emissions and with Wandsworth registering some of the highest levels of pollution in London we need action now.

As we've reached 11am that's the end of the live webchat

I'll leave the thread open as we've had a lot of questions and keeping track of them real time isn't easy. So if any of the panel want to add answers to any questions they haven't answered yet please feel free to do so at your leisure over the course of the day.

A big thank you to all of the Councillors and candidates for taking the time out to chat to us and to you lovely MNetters for your questions!

I'm off for a cup of

Jaykwa I hear you loud and clear. I now allow my year 6 daughter to walk to school and back on her own so absolutely share your concerns. I have been running a 20 mph/petition in my own ward Bedford (Balham/Upper Tooting) with colleagues Alex Jacob and John Locker as a way of getting motorists to slow down in residential areas.

Like 'tiredofwetsheets' I patently did not go to an 'outstanding' school either. I meant to say 'Throw them out!'

Thank you Alex quite difficult to keep up but fun! I will answer any questions that are triggered by the debate after I also have enjoyed a cup of tea. Thanks for organising the chat.

Tea all round!!!!

localeditorwandsworth
Alex, thank you for setting up the live webchat. As a local Councillor I have found it very useful and informative. I hope mumsnetters have found it productive! Happy for anyone to email me on [email protected] about matters in Balham Tooting - especially the History Project. Antonia signing out!

Jaykwa we couldn't agree more about road safety. as candidates in Bedford ward, Fleur and I have campaigned for a year now to introduce a 20mph limit given the council's reluctance to take a borough-wide perspective. we've co-ordinated petitions from the most affected roads, and listened to residents concerns. If elected Fleur and I would continue to campaign hard for the introduction of a 20mph limit - it's so important, especially given the aggressive driving that seems to be encouraged by our congested roads here.

finally managed to do a bold name just as the live chat finishes. typical!

Thanks to all on Mumsnet for the web chat - really good to see people sharing ideas on community issues in Wandsworth. Lois signing out - enjoy that cuppa everyone!

Dear SirWingeAlot, I am very happy to be able to reassure Earlsfield parents that the Council will be adding an extra class at Smallwood School, a good school with an 'outstanding' Head.
The Mosaic School is, at the moment, a one-form entry school with half the 30 places on offer being offered to those of other faiths than the Jewish faith or none. And only 15 places available for those of the Jewish faith. Much more generous provision for those of no faith or a different faith than most of our Voluntary-Aided faith schools.

Hello AlkyID, sorry I missed your post earlier. This is a very difficult one, Belleville School has converted to an academy school and now responsible for their own admissions. Honeywell School is a Foundation school and also responsible for their own admission criteria. Confusing I know, we have been talking to both schools for sometime now about catering as much as possible for local children. At Beatrix Potter they also have a criteria that says casual vacancies, those children that enter the school at a time other than reception class, do not have the right of sibling entry. This means that parents must decide whether moving their child to the school without a guarantee that a sibling would gain entry is something they want to do. It means local children have application rights over those that might live out of the area. I have tried unsuccessfully so far to persuade both Belleville School and Honeywell that adopting this criteria would free up a few places for local children. I will continue to try and persuade them as I know has Peter Dawson your local councillor.

SW12 the Triangle is certainly going to reopen in time for the summer sometime in June. I am very sorry the works have taken so long to complete. The Council was determined to cure the flooding problem once and for all as the site has had to be closed on numerous occasions due to heavy rain flooding the site. We thought the work was complete when the heavy storms earlier this year caused flooding yet again. Luckily before the internal works to refurbish the Triangle had started. The Council had to wait for the whole area to dry out and extra funds had to be allocated. Most of the work is now successfully complete and I know many Mums are eagerly waiting its reopening. This is a very popular One O'clock centre and I am sure parents will be happy with the refurbishment when it is open again, let's hope for a lovely sunny summer.

Speckwendy. Thank you for your answer. My point is that collection once a week in the morning with rubbish having been for 12 hours at least is NOT good. Why not have 2/3 weekly collections from collective bins instead?