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Friday, 27 Jan 2012

Protest Demonstration to Save Lake Farm Country Park.

I have discovered that the Council has been considering its plans to build on Lake Farm in secret. The Council has secretly commissioned and received a feasibility study on building on Lake Farm and has kept the report of the feasibility study secret. The Councillors also decided that this issue would only be considered in the secret part of its Cabinet meeting this week (Thursday) giving no opportunity for local residents to have sight of the reports to councillors, to comment on the proposal or to attend the meeting and even listen to the debate. Councillors sitting in secret to carve up local community assets isn’t democracy it is a dictatorship. Over 150 local residents attended a public meeting I convened earlier this month to protest at the Council’s proposals to build on our country park but we have heard nothing from the Council. There has been no public consultation and no discussion with local schools or the community on alternative sites for a school to avoid destroying our local green belt land. As a community we are not going to be ridden over roughshod in this way. We pay our rates that fund these councillors and we demand that decisions are in public, the feasibility study and non commercial reports are published and that local residents have their say.
Local residents are holding a protest demonstration on Botwell Common on Saturday 25th February meeting at 11am at the Skylark Statue on the Common, Botwell Lane. Come and join us in this fight to save our country park.

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Worries About the Effect of Local Police Cuts

Local MP John McDonnell has Expressed his Worries about Police Cuts in London.

The latest Home Office figures published this week have revealed that police numbers have dropped by over 8000 nationally with 1,710 officers being cut in London.I am now really worried at what the Government is doing to our police force. The cuts to the Metropolitan Police are deeply concerning given that serious crime is rising in our area. In the London area, robbery and theft from a person are up 14.8%, rape up 8% and residential burglary up 8.4%. We are also faced with local Police Officers being called away to police the Olympics and the Royal Jubilee celebrations in central London. I fear for our community as result of these cuts. The Government needs to think again. 

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Tuesday, 17 Jan 2012

Local Elections for Youth Parliament

Watch the video!

Every year young people between the ages of 11 and 18 in Hillingdon have the chance to vote for their local representatives to the national Youth Parliament. The Youth Parliament speaks up for young people in this country and advises the Government about the concerns of young people and what issues and policies young people want the Government to address. I met Soila Apparicio, who is standing this year to be one of the three local representatives to the Youth Parliament. Soila is a student at Ruislip High School and her family lives in Hayes. She is brimming with ideas on what issues need to be tackled to improve the lives of young people in our area and clearly is committed to working hard for young people in our area if she is elected. You can tell that from this short interview with her that I filmed. Voting is between 6th and 10th February. People have three votes. Voting is online and voting slips can be obtained from your school or youth centre or by contacting the council. There are two candidates from Hewens College in Hayes and I will try and catch up with them too.

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