The battle of Eltham Green has been won!  I had a text message before 8am this morning to say that the Council have ordered the huge ditch dug across the ancient open space to be filled in and returned to its former glory.  My warmest congratulations to all those residents who stood with their placards and spoke to bus passengers and passers by since this stupid fiasco started.

Questions remain - why was this allowed to happen in the first place, who ordered it, why was the community not consulted (even notified) ot the plan and who was wasting money on such a project when we are told there is not the money to repair pavements across Eltham?  I shall watch with close interest to see whether or not the Green is returned to its original state and would be interested to know who will foot the bill for this complete waste of time.

After meeting so many residents on Saturday I had to make a quick dash to Cheltenham for the Conservative Spring Conference.  I was just in time for a dinner with Boris Johnson where he announced the arrival of the first new Routemaster buses will be this Summer.  Another election pledge delivered!

On Sunday I saw George Osborne and David Cameron set out some of their plans to take this country through the age of austerity what will be needed if we are ever to recover from the horrendous economic misery we are currently experiencing.  Sobering stuff, but rightly there will be an end to profligate spending by central government, ministers who spend more and deliver fewer or worse services will be sacked and the expensive ID cards system Labour have dreamt up will be abolished.  It can't come soon enough.

I have received several calls and emails from residents who were bemused, then angry, to see a huge path being built across Eltham Green.  It seems that someone, without any consultation with local residents, decided the ancient green open space needed a Tarmac path driven through it. Unsurprisingly, nobody wants to take responsibility and rumours abound that it's being done in a hurry to use up an underspend at the end of the financial year.  It begs lots of questions, but not least why any spare cash couldn't be used to repair the terrible pavements in that part of Eltham.  At least that would have been welcomed and worthwhile.  But that's probably too sensible for the people responsible for spending your money.  And this when the country is so deep in debt we're borrowing trillions.  Only in Greenwich.

"Do you know, yesterday brought on such a sadness in me. For the first time that I can remember, I started really wondering, 'is there any reason to be in this country anymore?'. I feel that angry/depressed/upset with their dogged determination to disincentivise anyone to do anything"...and there will be a genuine drain on talent in this country.  This is a direct quote from a very good friend who gets paid well for what they do but works very hard.  They may or may not be in the new 50p tax band, I don't know and would never ask, but it is a common complaint about this government.  Whether rich or poor, everyone will pay more as a result of yesterday's Budget. Perhaps if Mr Brown really believes it was such a good Budget, he should put it to the ultimate test and call an election.