RBKC Direct: On the the Primary Care Trust, Belvedere plant, knife crime and chewing gum campaign

Shockwaves are still reverberating around the borough following the news that the Kensington and Chelsea Primary Care Trust (PCT) is in serious financial trouble and that widespread cuts to health services are on the table. The Council has made a number of recommendations to alleviate the problems and has written to the Secretary of State for Health, Patricia Hewitt MP, asking for her help.

The Council has warmly welcomed news that planning permission has finally been granted for the Belvedere energy-from-waste plant. The decision means that the borough’s non-recyclable waste will be put in barges, sent down river and then unloaded at the new plant. The Council believes this decision will enable the Capital to become a more sustainable city.

The Council has teamed up with the police to combat knife crime. As part of the "Operation Sabre" campaign six knife amnesty boxes have now been placed around the borough and hundreds of deadly weapons have already been handed in. Read on to see how the Council has teamed up with the police in a bid to improve the safety of residents and visitors to the borough.

It costs three pence to make a piece of chewing gum but ten pence for the Council to remove it from the borough’s pavements. The Council now has the power to fine people £75 if they spit their gum put onto the streets and has launched a campaign that aims to encourage people to put their gum into bins.

All the latest news and information on the Council’s plans to transform Sloane Square can now be found on the Council’s website.

By logging onto www.rbkc.gov.uk/sloanesquare you will be able to find out information about present day Sloane Square and the options that the Council is considering. There is also a section that responds to the various myths about the square and summary results of the 2003 and 2005 consultations can also be found. The Council is planning to hold another consultation this autumn.