Instead a motion to ‘rethink’ the fees was introduced – an outcome seen as a disappointment by campaigners such as Friends of Bushy and Home Parks.

The hour-long sitting saw Lib Dems and Conservative peers argue against the scheme to keep parks free for drivers to visit, but in the end neither party could agree on any alternative to this.

The motion to scrap the charges was finally voted down by 48 votes to 71 – viewed as a defeat by campaigners who now find it difficult to see any other outcome other than the introduction of the charges now despite promises to rethink a solution.

Friends of Bushy and Home Parks chairman Pieter Morpurgo has promised to “fight on” against the proposals regardless.

Photo: OFadero

The Twickenham constituency session will take place on Monday 15th March (6-8pm) at Teddington Baptist Church where you will be able to discuss these matters with Lib Dem Vince Cable, Labours Brian Tomlinson and Deborah Thomas for the Conservatives. Residents are encouraged to talk to their future MPs – “tell them what really matters to you and ask about their plans for your local services”.

Please register here if you wish to attend this event which opens for refreshments at 5:30pm.

Large no parking signs have been placed on lamp-posts so check where you are parking if you leave your car in any of these roads overnight – restricted areas should be coned. The work will be carried out during off-peak hours (8pm to 5am). Any cars parked within the restricted area will be towed away – call vehicle reclaim 020 7747 4747 if you can’t find your car!

These roadworks are for some of the road safety improvements at the junction of Waldegrave Road and High Street including upgrading existing street lighting, installing anti-skid surface and raising the roundabout with associated resurfacing. The original proposal to combine two approach lanes to the roundabout into one have been since dropped.

Natalie – a fan of teddingtontown went along for a hypnotherapy session just after Christmas and has kindly given us this write-up of her experience.

“I had wanted to give up smoking for ages and had tried patches, going cold turkey, gum, you name it – all with no success. So, when a friend of mine gave me a hypnotherapy session with Mike for Christmas I was happy to give it a go but at the same time I was also sceptical about the whole process.

I arrived at 11am on the dot as planned and was greeted by Mike and shown in to a welcoming room in his house. As lovely as Mike was I felt nervous and still very sceptical. Looking back I remember thinking to myself “this isn’t going to work”. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

The session started with Mike and I chatting and quickly I started feeling more relaxed. Mike then went on to give me an introduction to Hypnotism and then we started to talk about my (many) unsuccessful attempts to give up smoking previously. Why it didn’t work and what triggered the failures. All the while I still kept thinking “how is this going to help me give up!”

The really surprising part of the hour-long session was the actual hypnotherapy itself. I expected it to be like it is on TV with the old clichéd watch being waved slowly in front of my face, whilst the therapist put on a slow hypnotic voice. It was nothing like that – I didn’t feel like I was in a ‘trance’ or sleepy, nothing of the sort, in fact I felt pretty normal. At the end of the session Mike asked me how I felt and I said fine but really I was still a bit confused as to how this chat was going to help me stop smoking.

I refrained from having a cigarette for the rest of the afternoon and went to bed very early (was very tired that day). By that point I wasn’t still 100% sure the hypnotherapy had not worked, but at least I’d gone nearly a whole day of not smoking.

Morning arrived and I felt great. The best way I can describe it is that it’s like I simply forgot I had ever been a smoker. No cravings, no thoughts of cigarettes – I simply had no intention of smoking and when I saw others smoking throughout the day I really couldn’t understand why they needed to smoke because I certainly didn’t.

I smoked up to 20 a day for over 10 years. With Mike help it’s been over 6 weeks since I had a cigarette and I know I won’t ever want one again.”

Mike is also co-author of hypnotherapy books including Hypnotherapy For Dummies. In addition to being a qualified hypnotherapist Mike is also a qualified BACP-approved counsellor, which is sometimes performed in addition to and/or separately from hypnotherapy.

mikebryant-hypnotherapy.co.uk
Tel: 07717 860876

The new GP opening hours are:
Monday-Friday 8am-10pm
Saturday-Sunday & bank holidays 8am-9pm

Unregistered patients can still use the walk-in centre (same hours) or even make appointments with a doctor for services such as vaccinations. As well as pre-booked or on-the-day appointments, registered patients can also utilise the phone or email consultations with GPs at preset times throughout the day.

If you wish to register telephone 020 8714 4220 for more information.

The on-site pharmacy also has opening hours to mirror the GP practice – this treasure trove offers a full range of what you will find in your local chemist as well as stock to supply prescriptions.

The League of Friends of Teddington Memorial Hospital works with the hospital to support and raise funds to ensure the centre continues to provide the invaluable service to the community. One of the most recent fund-raising events is sponsorship of Sue Lindenberg’s Sue hopes to raise £5,000 with her London Marathon challenge.

Previous recessions seemed to hit shops hardest with many empty units blighting most high-streets. This recession seems to have hit offices harder with more To Let signs popping up every month. Severe cost-cutting has led to many businesses to merge different office locations or simply to downsize their office space after redundancies and take advantage of the current ‘buyers market’ in office space.

High profile office spaces in Teddington that fall into this category are Informer House (now merged elsewhere), Park House (pictured below) which will see all current residents merge with other locations later in the year and Somerset House which is in the pre-planning stage to be torn down and replaced with a smaller office and 51 dwellings.

Two men grabbed what they could after smashing the front window with sledgehammers and making off on foot. Members of the public made chase but were unable to catch them.

[Update] Some more details – up to £40,000 was taken from the shop after the robbers launched their raid from a grey Transit van which was later dumped in Ferry Road.

[Update 5th March 2010] A ’significant’ quantity of the haul has now been recovered as the hunt for the gang continues.

[Update 9th March 2010] A 21 year-old man has been arrested in connection with the raid.

Contractors will be draining the upper pool for investigative and repair works once the problem has been identified. Obviously until fixed, the water feature will be out action. Check back here for updates if you wish to visit the gardens in the near future.

The announcement also comes at a time where the government is making it clear that the public sector deficit needs to be cut and large cost savings will need to made in the future. Richmond Council have already considered areas to save money – £600,000 from consolidating office spaces and potentially cutting hundreds of “non front-line” jobs to save as much as £10-£13 million over the next two to three years. Country-wide there seem to be growing indicators that huge Council cuts are on the way.

According to MP Vince Cable there are also “panic job cuts“ on the cards at the NPL – adding to the general spending clamp-down planned by the Government.

To mark the big occasion, the Rugby Football Union has arranged a special pre-match and half-time show designed to celebrate the rich history of the stadium. the pre-match performance of Jerusalem and the National Anthem will be sung by local choirs including the Teddington Choral Society.

Photo: Murky

As well as celebrating it’s past, it will also be looking towards the future with the first ever 3D screening of a rugby match in the world – it will be broadcast at 3D cinemas nationwide.

As a capacity crowd of 82,000 is expected, the usual road snarl-up around Twickenham will occur and trains will be crowded around opening and closing times. See here for Richmond Council’s list of future venue dates that will affect traffic and parking in the area.