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August 2025

As local councillors for the ward where the Springfield Centre is based, we are deeply concerned about the planned closure of this vital facility in October. The centre has long been a place of care, learning and belonging for over 100 adults with learning disabilities in Kingston. Its closure would represent a devastating loss to our community. The Springfield Centre, also known as the Hft Resource Centre, offers much more than day activities. It is a space where people build relationships, gain skills, and find

Kingston Council is facing a growing industrial relations disaster – and residents will pay the price if nothing is done. It started with the ongoing dispute involving APCOA parking wardens, who are striking for fair pay and union recognition. Kingston’s parking wardens earn £13.85 an hour, far less than colleagues in Camden and Westminster (£16.50). They’re asking for £15, still below parity for doing the same job in the same city. Instead of working to resolve the dispute, the Council is accused of presiding over something

The Thames is one of Kingston’s greatest assets – a source of natural beauty, recreation, and wellbeing for our community. But a proposal from Thames Water now threatens to change it forever. What is the TDRA scheme? Thames Water wants to build the Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) scheme right on our doorstep. This would involve: Extracting huge volumes of water from the Thames at Teddington. Replacing it with treated effluent pumped back into the river further downstream. Major tunnelling works and a construction shaft near Tudor Drive in

New Malden's Fitness4Less on Blagdon Road is being acquired by PureGym, who currently operate gyms in Kingston and Sutton - as well as elsewhere in London. Fitness4Less is currently home to one of the very few swimming pools in the borough - and has become a haven for gym users who look for a quieter space to swim following the demolition of the Kingfisher Leisure Centre by the Council. However PureGym plan on closing off the pool within the New Malden gym, claiming that this means

The Lib-Dem run Council is planning to charge residents and businesses in and around California Road (and the roads off it), Georgia Road and Springfield Place up to £400 to park in those streets – despite the fact that some are private roads and despite the fact that there was little public support for the proposals. Despite Yvonne Tracey and I speaking out against this – as your Independent councillors – the Lib Dems who run the Council have decided to push ahead regardless. We

Kingston Independent Residents Group

Demanding Better for Kingston

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Kingston, KT1 1EU

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