Northcote Safer Neighbourhood Police Team (SNT) – March 23rd The next Northcote Safer Neighbourhood Police Team meeting will be held at Peabody Hall, entrance Strath Terrace / Boutflower Road, on Wednesday 23rd March at 7pm. Do come along to meet the team, raise matters that concern you and hear the latest from the Police about their activities in the ward. Superintendent David Chinchen from Wandsworth Police will be attending this meeting as well as our ward SNT officers.

Tuesday March 22nd “Make a Difference Day” – Northcote SNT is holding a street briefing in St John’s Road (next to Jamie Oliver’s Recipease) between 10am and 12 noon. Drop by and talk to the team.

Also many congratulations to the Northcote team for winning Wandsworth’s 2010 “Safer Neighbourhood Team of the Year Award”.

“Street Surgery” Saturday 16th April Jane Ellison, MP for Battersea, and Northcote councillors will be at one of Jane’s “Street Surgeries” on Saturday 16th April (10am and 11am) at a stall outside the Bolingbroke Bookshop, 147 Northcote Road. This is an opportunity to call by and mention any concerns, local or national, of a non-confidential nature, which you want to raise with us including the AV Referendum campaign. No to AV campaign page No charge for Royal Wedding Street Parties The Council has announced that there will be no charge for street closures for Royal Wedding street parties. If you want to organise such a street party on April 29th please contact the Council’s Technical Services Department before the end of March. See the Council’s step-by-step guide with lots of useful advice and information or visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/streetparties. The cost for other street parties, such as the Big Lunch on June 5, has been reduced to just £50. To help promote such events celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has agreed to be Wandsworth’s Street Party Champion Top chef is street party champion The Junction Health Centre (Arches 5-8, Clapham Junction Station, Grant Road, SW11) Jane Ellison, Battersea’s MP, officially opened The Junction Health Centre last week. See www.janeellison.net .. The centre is open every day from 8am to 8pm (last patient accepted at 7.30pm) including weekends and bank holidays with no appointments necessary for walk-in patients. The centre also provides a full GP service and is accepting new patient registrations. Since starting in nearby temporary facilities the centre has been a great success in providing services, particularly for busy professional people as well as local families. Jane and local Conservative councillors welcome the success of the centre having campaigned for a walk-in health facility in this area for several years. Find out more at www.junctionhealthcentre.co.uk .

New entrance at Clapham Junction station Passengers have been given sight of how Clapham Junction's new entrance at Brighton Yard (formerly known as High Level) will look following a multi-million pound makeover which will improve accessibility and reduce congestion at the station. See First glimpse of new station entrance Opening scheduled for summer 2011.

Library Services Following the extensive consultation about Library Services that we reported in the December and January Northcote e-bulletins the Council has decided to proceed with reducing the opening hours at most libraries rather than close any.

This means that Northcote Road library will be closed on a Wednesday as well as on Tuesday and Sunday. Saturday opening hours will reduce to 10am to 2.30pm.

At York Gardens Library an exciting, community based option has been developed with support from Children’s Services, Thames Christian College and Thomas’ Schools Foundation. Big Society plan to save library As we explained in the January e-bulletin we are very interested in hearing directly from people who would like to discuss further the idea of setting up a “Friends of Northcote Library” to promote volunteering in the library service.

Email us at Heretohelp@wandsworthconservatives.com Bolingbroke Academy - hospital site acquired for school As reported in our January e-bulletin the Council has acquired the Bolingbroke Hospital site from St George’s NHS Trust and the purchase was completed on March 10th. A fuller report on progress towards the establishment of the Bolingbroke Academy (www.arkbolingbrokeacademy.org ), and possible GP health facilities, is given in the Northcote In Touch being delivered throughout the ward this month.

Planning Application – 119 Chatham Road SW11 A planning application has been received for the redevelopment of the Gardener’s Arms site in Chatham Road with a 5 storey building to provide 9 flats and commercial / office space including the possibility of a nursery school on the ground floor and offices on the top floor. We have been in contact with several residents, particularly in Chatham Road and Bramfield Road, who are concerned about the scale and height of the proposals, the nature of the front elevation and the traffic implications. Details at the Planning website Search the applications database ref 2011/ 0024.

Mayor of London – Boris Johnson Follow Boris’ campaign for re-election in 2012 at www.backboris2012.com Funds for Cultural events & “Big Society” projects in Wandsworth Voluntary and community groups in the borough are being urged to apply for funding to boost local projects that promote arts, sport, heritage or festivals. Next deadline is March 28th Apply now for cultural funding Community groups, resident’s associations and other grassroots organisations will be able to bid for grants from a new fund being set up by the council to support ‘Big Society’ projects in Wandsworth - Big Society Fund supports local groups Groups interested in accessing funds in either the Wandsworth Big Society Fund or the Wandsworth Discretionary Fund should email cblyth@wandsworth.gov.uk.

Urban Foxes We have been asked to repeat this advice from last year about urban foxes and to encourage everyone to secure their rubbish bins and not to leave food out for the foxes. Advice on urban foxes Census Day March 27th 2011 Census forms are now being distributed and should be returned as soon as possible. The forms can be completed on, before or after the Census Day, March 27th 2011. If Census officials call at your home they will have official ID and should show it automatically. Details at www.wandsworth.gov.uk/census or www.census.gov.uk