Virginia Quay and Blackwall Conservatives

How to contact us
Conservative Action Team 2 Blyth Close London E14 3DU Twitter.com/THConservatives www.poplarconservatives.com

things we have achieved together in 4 years

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Protecting our parks We have achieved so much togetherjust think what we can do over the coming years.
Your local Conservative Action Team has been working hard for the last four years to make sure that Tower Hamlets Council takes notice of the issues that matter in Virginia Quay and Blackwall.
From having a new pedestrian crossing installed in Virginia Quay to fighting against noisy late night Beach Parties being held on the Greenwich Peninsula, Cllr Peter Golds and his team have been busy across our local area. Our Action Teams weekly surgeries have been very popular with local residents. They have helped local people on issues as diverse as housing, crime and anti-social behaviour, funding for local community groups, school places and rubbish collections. Action Team member Geeta Kasanga says In Virginia Quay and Blackwall, we have a very strong community spirit and with major new housing developments planned locally, it is important that Tower Hamlets Council invests properly in local services and infrastructure. We must ensure that schools, doctors surgeries and public transport can keep pace with the extra demands placed upon them. We must not allow our area to become overdeveloped. With your help we can achieve much more over the next four years. Tower Hamlets Conservatives have announced their parks and local heritage plan, which puts local residents first. While the Council seeks to cash in with commercial events in Millwall Park and Victoria Park, we believe that parks should always be available to local people and sports groups. Park users should not have to be constantly on guard for rubbish and broken glass from beer festivals or concerts.

Chris Donnelly, Geeta Kasanga and Chris Chapman: Your Conservative Action Team For Virginia Quay and Blackwall.

Securing investment in our green spaces

Your local Conservatives are calling for the Council to invest properly in our parks. There are too few litter wardens, while dog wardens are scarcely seen despite rising volumes of dog mess in our parks. Chris Chapman, Chapman who questioned Mayor Rahmans parks policy at the last Council meeting, says The Councils ruling administration are unable to provide any real details on what they have done for our parks. By contrast, your local Conservatives have secured work to improve the entrance to Millwall Park and have supported the Friends of Island Gardens.

Introducing Your Local Conservative Action Team

Your Conservative Action Team is made up of local people who want to fight for our local area. Chris, Chris and Geeta all live locally and work closely with Cllrs Tim Archer, Peter Golds, Gloria Thienel. Chris Chapman is a local resident. He uses the local buses, DLR and tube every day to get to work and is passionate about improving the local transport system. He has previously served as a Councillor, when he worked closely on improving local housing and sorting out local anti-social behaviour issues. Blackwall resident Chris Donnelly is a teacher who has been heavily involved with youth service provision for many years. He is a Youth Mentor and is a trained Young Offenders Panel member. Geeta Kasanga lives in Virginia Quay with her husband and four year old son. She is actively involved in her local residents association and is a member of the Police Ward Panel. Geeta is a well known local campaigner who has represented residents in opposing unpopular planning applications in Virginia Quay.

Promoted by Poplar Conservatives of 2 Blyth Close, London. E14 3DU. Printed by Print Blue, Willersey Business Park. Willersey. WR12 7RR.

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things that we have achieved together

Better Local Infrastructure

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Faster internet connections are available in our local area as a result of the hard work done by Cllr Gloria Thienel to convince BT to improve their local infrastructure. After meetings with BT managers, they agreed to bring forward plans to roll out fibre-optic broadband. Council litter pickers will be patrolling Blackwall Way after the shocking state of the road was raised by your local Conservative Action Team.

Cllr Gloria Thienel secured repairs to the roundabout on the junction of Marsh Wall and Manchester Road. It was badly damaged after a number of car accidents but Tower Hamlets Council had been reluctant to make any repairs.

Cllr Thienel at the repaired Marsh Wall roundabout.

Fighting For The Environment

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Cllr Thienel and her team at the new pedestrian crossing. A new pedestrian crossing was installed at the main exit to Virginia Quay DLR station following pressure from your local Conservative Action team. Residents feel it is now much safer to cross the road, with cars no longer speeding. A building site next to New Providence Wharf has been forced to stop noisy out of hours work after Cllr Gloria Thienel worked with local environmental health officers to ensure that the developers were properly sanctioned. With two major planning applications having recently been submitted by London City Airport, Cllr Tim Archer is pressing Tower Hamlets Council to ensure that local residents do not suffer from increased noise pollution.

Victories On Greenwich Waterfront Noise

Cllr Peter Golds and local residents convinced a Greenwich Licensing Committee to reject plans for noisy late night parties on the Greenwich waterfront opposite Virginia Quay and Blackwall.

Improving Roads and Parking

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Cllr Tim Archer secured guarantees from One Housing Group that households on John Smith Mews would not have a costly residents parking permit scheme imposed upon their street against their wishes. Cllr Archer is monitoring the situation closely to make sure further unwelcome proposals are not implemented.

Cllr Golds and Archer with the Action Team at Virginia Quay.

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Glen Terrace, a row of Victorian houses which survived both the Blitz and post-war planner, has been added to the Coldharbour Conservation Area following pressure from Cllr Peter Golds. Since Tower Hamlets Council short-sightedly imposed a 15 charge for bulk waste collection, dumping of furniture and mattresses has soared. Your local Conservative Action Team ensures the Council picks up any dumped bulk waste.

Geeta Kasanga and Cllr Tim Archer at John Smith Mews

Geeta with bulk waste that is now reported to the Council.

Caring and campaigning for the community

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Your Councillors cleaning up our area one bag at a time!

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Following reports of increased anti-social behaviour in St Johns Park at night-time, Cllr Gloria Thienel ensured that proper CCTV coverage was installed. This has led to a reduction in reports from the area.

Fighting Over-Development

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Cllr Tim Archer and Cllr Peter Golds have taken a hands-on approach to tackling the litter in our local area. They have joined the Capital Clean-Up Action Days which have seen dozens of black bags of rubbish collected from our local parks.

Protecting Our Local Heritage

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Plans to build a mosque on the Grade II listed Island Gardens Park were dropped following a public campaign support by the local Conservative Action Team. Peter and Gloria ensured that Council officers were properly implementing planning rules. Gloria convinced Tower Hamlets Council to re-install the world famous Traffic Light Tree. She had it rescued from storage following its removal from Westferry Road and it has been installed between Billingsgate Fish Market and McDonalds. The Local Action Team at the Virginia Quay Rotunda.

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Your local Action Team supported residents, who were opposing the planning application to build a block of flat on the site of the Rotunda at Virginia Quay. Tower Hamlets Development Committee rejected the proposals after pressure from Cllr Tim Archer. With Canary Wharf Group planning to build 3,000 new properties at Wood Wharf, your local Action Team has been meeting with residents, community groups and developers to ensure local people are not inconvenienced by building works.

Cubitt Town Library Saved

Following signs that Tower Hamlets Council were preparing to close the much loved Cubitt Town Library, Cllr Golds forced the Council to guarantee its future. The library is safe for now!

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Cllr Golds and his team outside Cubitt Town library.

Cllr Peter Golds successfully led opposition to plans to cram 750 properties onto the Marsh Wall Skylines site. Local residents were worried about the impact of this overdevelopment on local schools, transport and healthcare.

Cllr Peter Golds at the Skylines site on Marsh Wall.

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Your local Conservatives oppose Tower Hamlets Councils plans to commercialise our local parks such as Millwall Park, St John's Park and Island Gardens, by letting them out for events such as parties and beer festivals. Action Team Member Chris Chapman says "Using our parks as a cash cow will mean a repeat of the problems with drunken anti-social behaviour at Victoria Park. Your Conservative Councillors have so far forced the Council to cut the number of planned events and, working with local residents, we are pushing for an end to commercial events.

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Your local Conservative Councillors stood up for residents of Virginia Quay by opposing plans to build The Cube development next to Reuters Yard. Cllr Peter Golds says "We worked with local residents to oppose these insensitive plans. We spoke at the Thames Gateway Development Corporation meeting in Stratford unfortunately these plans were voted through. Only your local Conservatives oppose over-development in our area and will continue to do so as yet more unsuitable planning applications continue to roll in across Tower Hamlets.

Find out more local campaign news at poplarconservatives.com

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If you would like to help with our campaigning locally, give us a call on 0775 172 9585

Its Time To Improve Our Local Roads

Your Conservative Action Team has been working hard to get action on the often appalling state of our local roads. Your local Action Team frequently reports potholes to the Council and ensures that the damage is swiftly repaired. However, the Council is not taking the

The Action Team at Wood Wharf, which developers plan to knock-down and replace with over 3,000 new properties in high-rise blocks.

FIGHTING OVERDEVELOPMENT
Tower Hamlets Council is planning to build a whopping 43,170 new properties in Tower Hamlets by 2025, according to its Core Strategy document. Even more incredibly, 40% of the properties they are planning to build will be located on the Isle of Dogs and Blackwall alone. The Council simply cannot allow development at this break-neck speed without investing in schools, doctors surgeries and public transport, says Action Team Member Chris Donnelly. Donnelly But Tower Hamlets Council is simply not doing enough. It is not driving a hard enough bargain with developers who charge ever higher prices for flats but deliver little in the way of benefits to the existing community. To make matters worse, Mayor Lutfur Rahman is squandering money available for investment on vanity projects. Every year he wastes 3.2 million a year on Communications, including his own newspaper, while squandering 500,000 a year on mayoral advisors, who replicate jobs done elsewhere in the council. With the Council paying so little attention to future community needs, even its own optimistic forecasters are forced to admit that over the next decade there will be 14,000 more children living in the Borough. Based on current investment plans, school places will be nearly 20% over-subscribed in a decade. Already, the Council is spending 1 million a year bussing young children across our Borough to whichever school happens to have a free place. How high will these costs rise as the council falls increasingly behind on new school places? Local campaigner Geeta Kasanga adds As the mother of a four year old boy, finding a school place is a real worry. However, it is a great relief that the Government is directly funding Free Schools when the council refuses to act. Cllr Peter Golds and his Team are determined that the Council will not destroy our area. Weve had some big wins, says Peter. The 750 unit Skylines redevelopment was rejected and plans to build on Island Gardens park have been shelved. In addition, a redevelopment of the Rotunda at Virginia Quay is currently off the agenda.

problem seriously. At the most recent Council Budget Meeting we found 120,000 which could have been used for a full audit and repair of every road within Tower Hamlets. Instead, Mayor Rahman and Labour joined forces to spend the money on a chauffeur-driven car for the Mayor and yet more Town Hall advisors.

Tackling Noise In Coldharbour

Residents have raised noise problems in Coldharbour, and your Action Team has been fighting hard for local people. Cllr Archer has been keeping up the pressure on the Council over City Airports expansion plans, while Chris Donnelly raised the issue of noisy parties at the Greenwich Riverside development at the September Council meeting. We will push Tower Hamlets to stand up for its residents to neighbouring Boroughs.

YOUR LOCAL CONSERVATIVE ACTION TEAM

CLLR TIM ARCHER
020 7364 4747 tim@tarcher.fsbusiness.co.uk

CLLR PETER GOLDS

020 7364 4747 cllrpetergolds@aol.com

CLLR GLORIA THIENEL

07771 108 314 cllrgrthienel@aol.com

CHRIS CHAPMAN
07738 246 663 c.chapman@hotmail.co.uk

CHRIS DONNELLY
07730 354 781 chris.bct@gmail.com

GEETA KASANGA
07947 704 851 geeta.kasanga@gmail.com

YOUR LOCAL CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS WEEKLY SURGERIES

Every Saturday 2.00-3.00pm at Cubitt Town Library, Strattondale Street E14 3HG The first Friday of the month 6.00-7.00pm, East End Homes Office, 137 Manchester Road

KEEPING IN TOUCH
Twitter.com/THConservatives www.poplarconservatives.com