The leader of Richmond upon Thames council Gareth Roberts said that his borough has been overlooked by Sadiq Khan.
He said: “You would think that we’re just a dormitory area for commuters into Central London but no, we have our own spark here in south London and south west London, and Richmond in particular.
“The mayor thinks that London ends at Zone three and that the only interesting part of London and the only driver of economic growth is inside Zone three, but no.”
Roberts opposed this idea by praising local economic growth, he said: “We’ve got the The South London partnership and we’ve got the most exciting science base in the entirety of London.”
Despite feeling that his borough has been overlooked, Roberts and his council work hard to improve the area. One way they have done this is looking out for the more vulnerable members of the community.
Roberts said: “We restored a 100% tax discount for people claiming full benefits after the Conservatives had reduced it to 85% as we thought it was the entirely right thing to do – that’s going to be the difference between being able to afford new school shoes for your kids.”
An additional success in the area mentioned by Roberts was one that had especially benefited the younger people in the community.
He said: “By pedestrianising Church Street (Twickenham) and setting a 20mph speed limit across the borough, Richmond is now rated as the safest borough for children.”
Despite acknowledging the borough’s successes, Roberts has a keen eye on the future.
As a trustee of the Royal Parks, Roberts has a focus on environmental developments, he said: “We need to make better use of the scarce resources we have.
“We need to make sure the houses are insulated but also being more efficient in terms of their use of energy.
“Yes, we can do more about recycling but it’s more about reduce than recycle and its more about reuse than recycle.
“We need to get more on top of food waste because that causes the biggest build-up of pollution.”
These concerns are soon to be addressed in Council papers that will be released in the autumn of 2024 to establish plans for the future.
