Congratulations to everyone who signed our petition... Together with the paper petition we have hit 1,000 signatures already and it is still growing. A special thank you for all those who spared their valuable time to make door-to-door collections so successful. They know who they are!
Currently we are setting up a meeting with the Council to hand in our latest batch of signatures. We will inform you as soon as we get the photo opportunity. We will continue to collect more - online or on the doorstep. So please continue spreading the word and the link.
Obviously this is NOT going to be enough. We are in an extremely difficult position of not knowing what is being discussed behind closed doors. In our final meeting with St George’s two representatives, they gave us the impression that they are listening and will wait and see the independent panel’s response. However, they have shown absolutely no contrition over the height and density issues, as well as a lack of transparency in terms of money exchanged between Council and the Developers (under section 106 of course. We are not suggesting anything untoward). In an ideal world, the developers would go back to the drawing board and come back with a sensible solution fit for human habitation! We will see but we are not holding our breath. The wind is blowing in their favour and they are not accountable to us but to their shareholders.
Whilst at the moment we do not have any official update on the decision of the panel reviewing the plan, rumour has it we won't like the results. In the absence of clear communication lines and given the lack of transparency towards us, the residents, we do not know if these rumours are correct or why we are hearing these. People who are responsible for these rumours know who they are! They should come out and do their job better in informing real residents in an open way.
In the process of getting to the truth we are accused of being a Trojan Horse for the Liberal Democrats as well as a naïve protest against the powers that be! Enough has been said regarding that on social media. However, a word to all those who really are in a position of influence:
We are not naïve, we are not here for elections or PR. We are Kingston upon Thames’ real residents and this is about our town’s future. What we really want to hear is a moral and factual response from the Council and the Developers. We await with interest!