Royal Greenwich: Let's make it mean something

Last night the Mayor of Greenwich hosted a short-notice reception at the Town Hall to raise a glass to this week's announcement of our impending Royal Borough status. It was a happy event, and everyone is understandably proud at the news. I was also, incidentally, pleased to see The Queen's portrait now proudly displayed in the Mayor's parlour, rather than in a cupboard.

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But once the initial elation has worn off, we have to answer the question I've heard many people asking about the news - what does it actually mean? Or as some sceptics would put it- so what?

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The new Royal title is a great honour, but it doesn't of itself grant us any extra powers or tangible benefits. Reaping the rewards is something we have to do ourselves. We should be looking at imaginative community projects; tourism, culture and heritage protection strategies; and a host of other ways to tap into the added excitement that will now surround an already historic year in 2012. I have my own ideas- including my 'Great Harry 2' sailing project - which I will be pushing, and I'm sure other councillor and residents will also want to contribute their thoughts.

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We must also, as David Gold has argued, ensure Eltham is not left out, as it often is where this Council is concerned. With a bit of imagination we can use this new status to provide a genuine boost to our standing and ensure residents in all parts of the Borough see the benefits.

True Grit

After battling into work and back yesterday, I had to concede defeat today with trains failing to run on the Dartford line. I had a long piece of work to do, so stayed home, logged into my work email and got on with it. Fine, until my central heating stopped working. I'm glad to say the 'Doctor Who' approach of delivering a sharp whack to the side of the boilder got it fired up again.

Anyway, I've also been in touch with Council officials to check on the gritting situation, as several people have raised concerns that the operation didn't seem as thorough as it had been earlier in the week. There have also been media stories about grit shortages, so I asked about that too. I've now had this response:

"The Council gritters have been working continuously all week ,at present the situation is as follows...There is more snow forecast for today and the following few days .We are working to the Councils Snow Plan ( this can be viewed on the Councils web site ) we will be salting priority one roads until they are clear and moving onto Priority 2 roads afterwards.The minor roads will be attended to as and when Priority one and two roads are clear of snow and ice.
The footways are being cleared and salted by Cleansweep who are also working to the Snow Plan .We have sufficient salt stocks to deal with the current weather episode and have received further stocks this week"

The snow plan mentioned is available at: http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/Strategies/TourismAndTransport/Transport/WinterServicePlan.htm

One concern I have is that pavements remain very dangerous. I mentioned on this blog my trek from Woolwich to Eltham before Christmas, and I also slipped over on the way to the station around the same time. Today I've only ventured as far as the local shop, but it was very slippery. The plan shows which roads are "priority one" and which "priority two", which may help you see if your road is supposed to have been gritted. Last night I saw a couple of residents on a road nearby sweeping snow from the pavement outside their own and their neighbours' houses, which made a big difference. They and people doing similar work deserve our sincere gratitute.

Beating the snow

Fed up with the chaos on the trains, I escaped Westminster and travelled back to Greenwich tonight on a Thames Clipper. The service was running normally, and as ever it's a great way to beat the crowds and travel in comfort. Ironically, leaving work early I will now miss the launch tonight of a report by Policy Exchange on river transport. Making better use of the Thames was a manifesto pledge by Boris, and I gather he's due to attend. He's already gone some way on the issue by extending Oyster pay-as-you-go to the boats, a move Greenwich Labour laughably claimed was a result of their phoney 'campaign'. I'll post links to the report when I get home.

Full report is here. A lot to digest - I'll return to this...

The Royal Borough of Greenwich!

The news has just been announced in the House of Lords by Lord Mandelson that Greenwich is to be made a Royal Borough by Her Majesty The Queen to mark her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. It is fantastic news, and I am overjoyed.

Although I had no advance knowledge of the announcement, I have taken a particular interest in this issue over the years since becoming a Councillor, and have suggested several times that we should be a Royal Borough. It is not of course something you can campaign for openly, but it is fair to say I and other colleagues on all sides of the Chamber have been having quiet words in various ears about it. I tabled a motion in 2008 calling on the Council to more fully celebrate our heritage and our Royal links in particular, and was delighted that this was passed unanimously. The Leader of the Council said in his response then that the door was not closed on Royal Borough status, and I am delighted that he took the issue to heart.

An historic day indeed. Absolutely fantastic.

Rotten Borough

I'm just catching up on the Christmas edition of Private Eye and spotted this in the 'Rotten Boroughs' column. It just about sums up the hypocrisy of Labour's 'Tory cuts' attack. We all know savings have to be made nationally and locally. Let's be honest about it.