Today, along with the Tooting Labour team, we wrote to Wandsworth Councillor responsible for Waste Management Jonathan Cook, welcoming a much-anticipated initiative to reduce fly-tipping in Tooting after my Tidy-Up Tooting campaign.

Tooting residents have been demanding Wandsworth Council act on this issue for some time, and it is encouraging to see action being taken. 

Nevertheless, we must ensure this initiative goes far enough: education and awareness around fly-tipping needs to be expanded, the whole of Tooting needs to be invited to help, and street cleaners need to be paid more  - we should reward them for the work they do everyday to make Tooting's streets cleaner. 

Fly-tipping in Tooting has been a problem for long enough and residents have deserved council action for too long. Tooting is a place I'm proud to call home - we have a vibrant community that supports each other and celebrates everyone. It's time we had streets to match. 

It was great to visit the Chestnut Avenue exhibition at Sprout Arts today. Wandsworth Council ignored the views of thousands of people when it cut down the trees on Chestnut Avenue, and this exhibition was a poignant reminder of how it used to be.
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I learned to ride my bike on Chestnut Avenue, so it will always be special place for me and my family. That the Council unnecessarily (and against local residents’ wishes) cut down these trees is a prime example of how little value they place on listening to local people.