Michael Butlin, Matthew Hull and Steve Topol: working hard for South Twickenham

• At the May 2006 election, 3 Conservative Councillors were elected in South Twickenham ward. However your South Twickenham Comments Team are eager to hear from you if you have an issue or concern. Please scroll down the page for their details . .

From COMMENTS winter 2007/8: A flag ship eco-friendly River Centre, offering river- related and environmental education and leisure opportunities for all ages and abilities, will be part of new development plans for the old baths site. The Twickenham River Centre will be run by the Environment Trust (ET) and will include a café, toilets, boat hire and much more. In July 2007 the Council started a consultation exercise with local residents, businesses and community groups with a view to producing a new Development Brief for the whole site which will have the River Centre at the heart of the development, opening up the site for a range of leisure activities for young and old. As well as maximising public open space and improving the embankment, the Council is keen to promote the highest environmental standards and for the development to contribute to the economic vitality of the town centre. Once a Development Brief has been agreed, the Council intends to work in partnership with a developer to achieve a scheme that will deliver the agreed community benefits with the minimum enabling development - whether residential or restaurant/café - necessary to ensure a financially viable scheme.

• ANOTHER Green Promise Met: Richmond Borough went even greener from November with the introduction of doorstep cardboard and plastic bottle recycling. The new scheme means that all plastic bottles including milk cartons and even bottles that contained household cleaning products can be recycled. There were a few inevitable teething problems, some missed collections and the need to hire extra collection vehicles, when the scheme was introduced. However by the end of the November recycling rates had topped 40% and many more households had started recycling for the first time. For Twickenham Riverside ward, collection day is Wednesday except for a few properties on the border with South Twickenham ward which are collected on Friday. Your recycling and waste will be collected by different vehicles at different times of the day. If you live in a block of flats please contact the team about how you can participate. If you think your recycling has been missed please report it at www.richmond.gov.uk/waste_and_ recycling online or by phoning 08456 122 660 after 3pm on the day of your collection. "Recycling cardboard and plastic bottles is vitally important if we are to protect the environment. Central Government is increasing charges on landfill waste so it also makes financial sense to reduce landfill waste." said Cllr Michael Wilson " It is frustrating that there have been some teething problems with the implementation of this scheme . I am grateful for residents' patience and hopefully these problems have now been ironed out." said Cllr Denise Carr.

• CCTV for York Street: Residents who battled for CCTV in York Street to help prevent and detect late night, alcohol induced anti-social behaviour have been successful. This area, a hotspot for incidents on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, will have a camera installed. Cllr Denise Carr welcomed this investment: "CCTV can be very effective in making our town centre safer. Some 27% of British teenagers now admit to getting drunk regularly, and binge drinking admissions to local hospitals are increasing - strong policing and enforcing licensing conditions will help local residents and may encourage binge drinkers to think again."

• SERVICES for Children & Families in Richmond upon Thames are "outstanding" according to Government inspectors. The highest Grade 4 has been achieved in Ofsted's annual performance assessment, with provision for looked-after children and those with disabilities highly praised. And in the same week, CSCI (Commission for Social Care Inspection) awarded the highest 3 star rating to Adult Social Services for the first time, highlighting the successful partnership working with health, the voluntary sector and individual users and carers, and the excellent prospects for further improvement.

• PROTECTING Twickenham's Historic Waterfront: Twickenham's historic working waterfront is constantly at risk from the loss of working boatyards, lack of mooring facilities and damage to the embankment walls. Thanks to pressure from local residents, community groups and the Richmond Environment Trust, a survey of the embankment walls was carried out at the drawdown in November 2006 and an action plan has been developed. Now, the whole of the waterfront needs to be looked at as part of the plans for the old baths site and the embankment up to the Barmy Arms. Your local Councillors are very supportive of this approach and will be working with residents to develop a strategic plan covering the whole area.

Twickenham Riverside Regeneration [January 2008 latest]:

• . . THE Development Brief Consultants are now preparing a preferred option for the site that will form the basis of a public exhibition in the New Year. It will reflect the views, issues and concerns expressed at the workshops and will seek to balance the wide range of often strongly held opinions that there are for this site. The intention is to take the Development Brief to the Council's Cabinet for approval in February or March 2008. The approved Development Brief will form the backbone of a set of tender documents that will be put to the development market seeking a development partner for the preferred scheme . . in the summer of 2008. For enquiries about the Twickenham Riverside Regeneration please contact: twickenhamriverside@richmond.gov.uk ; tel: 020 8891 7922. Full details on the Council website at: http://tinyurl.com/35ocbc

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• June 2007: RIVERSIDE regeneration a step closer: Plans to regenerate Twickenham's riverside continue to move ahead - the latest step being the selection of consultants to draw up a development brief for the site.

A panel chaired by the Council Leader and including a representative from the Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames www.environmenttrust.co.uk/, who will operate the proposed River Centre on part of the site, have recommended the appointment of urban design experts, Urban Practitioners www.urbanpractitioners.co.uk/, for the task. Once their appointment is confirmed, they will hold a series of consultations with local residents and local interest groups over the coming months. These sessions will feed into their work on the brief and will include presentations, workshops and exhibitions. The final brief, which will spell out the type of development envisaged for the derelict riverside site, is expected to be completed by December. It will then be used for an exercise, to be held in early 2008, to seek a developer partner. Council Leader, Cllr Serge Lourie, said this week: "We want to ensure the greatest opportunity for a viable, sustainable scheme for the site. We were very impressed by the Urban Practitioners team, in particular their approach to tackling the range of complex issues that we face at the Twickenham Riverside site. We are confident that they are the right consultants to help us ensure a high quality development sensitive to the riverside and town centre location that is highly sustainable and incorporates an outstanding community resource that will be the River Centre. We are determined to work closely with the local community and ward councillors to ensure that the scheme is widely welcomed by local people."

• FROM COMMENTS Winter 2006/7: A flag ship eco-friendly RIVER CENTRE, offering river-related and environmental education and leisure opportunities for all ages and abilities, will be part of new development plans for the old baths site. The Twickenham River Centre will be run by the Environment Trust (ET) and will include a café, toilets, boat hire and much more. The next stage will be the production of a new Development Brief for the whole site, based on the planning requirements of a mixed use development, including public open space, homes and restaurants. Cllr Denise Carr says "I congratulate the Trust on their wonderful proposal. I look forward to working in partnership with them and with the many local residents who care passionately about this site and want to see it brought back to life. The Council is committed to environmental sustainability and we will be bringing forward proposals which demonstrate how buildings and the street scene can contribute to this."

• COMMUNITY groups, residents and businesses have welcomed the Council's decision to reverse the previous Tory administration's plans to scrap the Town Centre Manager. And at a packed meeting in York House in October, residents called for the Town Centre Management Plan to be updated and public involvement improved. Cllr David Trigg says "The Manager's post was set up by the Liberal Democrats 1997 in order to help revitalise the town and attract more shoppers and visitors. Successful initiatives like the Twickenham festival, Christmas lights, the weekly Farmers Market, summer al fresco dining in Church Street and much more have been developed - but the town centre faces new challenges, with an ever growing late night economy, too many empty shop units and few other leisure opportunities." Cllr Carr added "the turnout and enthusiasm at the meeting was fantastic. The ward councillors will now be working with the Manager, businesses and the community to agree new targets and deliver improvements."

• FOLLOWING a campaign by Twickenham Town Centre Manager Esther Worboys and your ward councillors to improve public transport for late night revellers, the 281 night service started running 6 months ago - and now it is so popular you can hardly get a seat. Cllr Trigg says "helping people disperse quickly when the pubs and clubs close means less chance of crime, noise and nuisance. This has been a great success and we need more late night bus services to take people safely home."

• CONCERNS about late night, alcohol induced anti-social behaviour in York Street have led to residents calling for better policing and CCTV cameras. Cllr Trigg says "Police figures show that the area is a borough hotspot for crime on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. CCTV can help both prevent and detect criminality and I have asked the Council to look at this."

• A MEETING of the Regulatory Committee on 6 February agreed revised arrangements for this popular summer dining experience. The season will run from 24 May to the 9 September, Thursday - Sunday, with the street closed until 10pm on Thursdays, 11pm on Fridays, 11.30pm on Saturdays and 10pm on Sundays. Cllr Carr says "The Committee has granted slightly later hours for Saturday and Sunday nights, but I hope that licensees will listen to the concerns of local residents about noise and refuse so that everyone can benefit from the season."

• LOCAL youth centre, Heatham House, is one of five across the borough which will benefit from £575,000 capital investment and £250,000 service investment over the next twelve months. Cllr Michael Wilson says "Heatham House is a great centre with lots of activities, events, advice and support for young people, but the building needs this capital investment and the revenue funding will enable a much needed expansion of the activities provided. We are committed to increasing the resources for our youth centres and to giving young people a voice in deciding how the money is used."

• JUNK mail and flyers are a nuisance, a waste of resources and add to the rubbish mountain. The borough's EcoAction Team is offering free "No Junk Mail" stickers for residents to attach to letterboxes. Call 08456 122660 or e-mail recycling@richmond.gov.uk for a sticker. You can also call the Mail Preference Service to stop 95% of unwanted mail by calling 0845-070-0707.

Michael Butlin

Tel: 8894 1338

E-mail: michaelbutlin2006@hotmail.co.uk

Michael Butlin is married with 2 sons, 4 grandchildren (3 girls, 1 boy). Both his sons were born in Richmond (at home); educated in Twickenham.

He was educated in local state schools in Surrey and Cambridge Massachusetts at Harvard University.

Michael Butlin started with IBM in 1965 covered a number of tasks programming, system design of hardware and software, and software training in the IT Industry.

His business experience widen to include Telecommunications when he spent 5 years in the US providing voice, Internet and data services to a number of small New England towns.

Not content with a busy High Tech life Michael Butlin also served with the Territorial Army for over 20years having joined the local unit of the Queen Surreys Regiment at Richmond in 1962. Subsequently served with the Parachute Regiment, SAS and the Queens Regiment.

Matthew Hull

Tel: 07791 548 161

E-mail: mehull50@hotmail.com

Born on 11th October 1974. Educated at Blundells School, Tiverton, Devon. I have a BSc Hons degree in Politics from the University of Plymouth. Joined the Liberal Democrats in 1991 and have been active ever since, first in Devon for ten years and for the last five years in Twickenham.

Have worked at the National Archives at Kew as a quality assessor of historical documents. Also worked as a visiting officer for asylum seekers in London when I worked for the Home Office. More recently have been working as an administrator in the financial industry.

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Steve Topol

Tel: 8744 3813

E-mail: stopol5@aol.com

Steve Topol's family have lived in Twickenham for over three generations. He was born in Orford Gardens in South Twickenham & has lived in Twickenham for most of his life. He attended local schools and is a graduate of Kingston University.

In business locally, he understands the importance of investing in our schools. He has served as a governor of Trafalgar School, & currently serves on the borough's Education Appeals Panel. He is a member of The Friends of Twickenham Green & The Friends of Radnor Gardens.

. . working for you, all the year round!

Election, May 2006: Electorate 7142 Seats 3 Ballot Papers 3285 % Poll 46.00

Clare Orel Head The Conservative Party Candidate 1498 Elected

David Richard Porter The Conservative Party Candidate 1462 Elected

David John Marlow The Conservative Party Candidate 1444 Elected

Matthew Edmund Richard Hull Liberal Democrat 1264

Steven Julian Topol Liberal Democrat 1260

Michael George Butlin Liberal Democrat 1246

Douglas Orchard Independent 357

John Cochrane Highet ArmstrongIndependent 321

Paul Gabor Neil Tanto The Labour Party Candidate 254

Howard Marchant The Labour Party Candidate 246