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Saturday,
July 24th,
Barefoot
Consultation
The last three days have seen the "Barefoot
Consultation" at the council offices. Resident are invited
to visit the foyer of the York Street building to see the various
schemes and ideas that local residents have for their vision of
the future of Twickenham. The Riverside is of course a major topic
within the consultation but other parts of Twickenham are represented
as well.
Of concern to Twickenham residents are the plans
for Twickenham station and Regal House as well as the Post Office
site. (The Arcadian Times has been a bit remise over reporting
the concerns and opposition to the plans for the area around around
the station). All visitors are invited to fill in a
questionaire which can also be accessed online, and also to
put forward ideas which are pinned to an "ideas wall"
for all to see in the foyer. When the Arcadian Times visited it
was fairly busy.
Whilst some might be a bit cynical about the barefoot
consultation, the Arcadian Times welcomes the initiative and whilst
some ideas may be a little ambitious and difficult to fund, nonetheless
it does show the new council are prepared to listen to the council
tax payers. With the trials and tribulations over the Riverside,
it is a step in the right direction and these initiatives do build
a sense of community. That can only be a good thing.
Wednesday,
July 21st,
Electoral
Commision to look into spending
The Electoral Commision have stated they will be
investigating the claims by Channel 4 on the spending of Zac Goldsmith
during the run up to the 2010 election.
In a statement the Electoral Commission said: "The
assessment of the information indicated that there was the possibility
of a failure to comply with the Representation of the People Act
1983 and that further enquiries should be made in order to establish
the facts of the matter."
Monday,
July 19th,
Zac
to go to Ofcom
Zac Goldsmith has written on
his blog that he intends to take the matter of the interview
with Channel 4 last week to Ofcom.
Saturday,
July 17th,
Last night's
stormy Channel 4 interview with Zac Goldsmith can be seen here.
The bone of contention is whether the spending in the 23 days
leading up to the local and national elections of May 6th, complied
with the spirit and the letter of the law. The signs that were
displayed it is alledged should have been included as part of
the candidates spending, rather than be declared as a generic
sign owned by the Conservative party. The rain jackets for the
campaign team also were scrutinised, again being claimed as generic,
in as much as they can be re-used by the party as a whole for
any future campaigns, with the removable "I back Zac"
stickers being the item declared as part of the Goldsmith campaign
spending. Certainly in Twickenham
the same sign was used for Deborah Thomas's campaign and within
the borough, The Arcadian Times was never aware of a dedicated
local council Conservative electoral sign on either side of the
river.
Friday,
July 16th,
Zac
- a sign of the times ahead?
Last night on Channel 4 there was an item on the
spending of Zac Goldsmith (MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston
constituency) during the run up to the General Election of May
6th and whether he complied with the spirit and the letter of
the law. The
full details of the Channel 4 item can be found here. Zac
Goldsmith has challenged the Channel 4 news team on their claims
and
has written on his blog that he refutes the allegations.
The personal circumstances of Zac Goldsmith have
been brought up from time to time for political point scoring.
This story transgresses the local spats that have appeared from
time to time, as it makes the national news. Certainly there are
some good ingredients that make it a newsworthy story, but whether
it is a silly season article or whether there are serious questions
to be answered remains to be seen. Certainly if there was one
parliamentary candidate who one would think would be particularly
meticulous in their spending, it would be Zac Goldsmith.
As the country gets to know the new coalition government,
it is highly likely that Zac will get more publicity and more
focus. The British media as we know love a good story and Zac's
circumstances and personality make for good copy. Whilst it is
not the point, a few extra signs and "I back Zac" t-shirts
(if indeed this is the case) did not swing the election for the
Richmond Park constituency. What did was solid campaigning and
a high local profile.
The
Channel 4 website have confirmed that Zac will be on the Channel
4 news tonight to answer the journalistic allegations.
Thursday,
July 15th,
The
Twickenham Riverside - update
The new Tory led council have opened a small part
of the Twickenham riverside for public usage.
More>>>
Friday,
July 9th,
HMS
Richmond parade in the borough
On a hot and sunny morning the crew of HMS Richmond
paraded through Twickenham town centre this morning. Approximately
100 crew members of the Type 23 frigate marched from York House
to Cross Deep and back after an inspection by the Mayor of Richmond
at York House.
In 2005 HMS Richmond was given the freedom of the
borough. The parade which was led by the band stopped the traffic
and saw many people line the streets as they marched with colours
flying, swords drawn and bayonets fixed.
Tuesday,
July 6th,
Richmond
Park charges - scrapped
After discussions with Vince Cable and Zac Goldsmith,
John Penrose the Tourism and Heritage Minister has announced the
Government will abandon plans for charges in Richmond and Bushy
Park.
Mr Penrose said: “Plans to introduce car parking charges
in these parks were the subject of fierce public opposition from
the moment they were first proposed, some 18 months ago, and the
local MPs have been lobbying me hard so, after discussing it with
them and with the Mayor’s office, I’ve decided to
scrap the idea immediately".
This is the news that campaigners have been waiting
for and people will be able to continue using the parks free of
charge, which in a civilised society surely is the right decision.
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