I've contributed to an e-book on blogging, which has just been published by LibDem Voice today.

You can read it below or click the download link.

Many of us now shred confidential documents at home in order to protect ourselves from identity theft. But why can't we put the shredded paper in the recycling box?

That was a question asked at the last Neighbourhood Committee.

It seems that shredding breaks down the fibres in the paper in a way that means it cannot be used in the manufacture of new paper. So paper mills that accept normal paper for recycling refuse to take shredded paper.

If you have rabbits or other small pets then the paper can be used as bedding. Not helpful if you don't.

I put all our shredded paper in the compost bin. It layers up beautifully with the garden waste. I know it can't be put into the food waste bucket, because that goes through a different process from garden compost bins.

One other suggestion is to reduce the amount of shredded paper by only shredding the parts of documents that really are confidential and putting the rest into the recycling bins. I've stopped shredding documents simply because they have my name and address on them - after all, both are readily available on the Internet. But I do shred anything with bank or other personal details on them.

The refuse collectors have been out again today in Chessington and Hook, trying to complete the missed collections from Wednesday.

They have managed most roads but some side roads are still inaccessible. They hope to finish them all tomorrow, so if that applies to you do leave the bins out for one more day. If the roads are worse tomorrow then they can use Sunday instead.

There are real problems in Barwell Lane and Five Acre Farm, and they are simply going to try to access them if they can.

Apparently the refuse collectors managed to get to most of the homes in the area that were due for collection yesterday, but the conditions defeated them in the end. The Council has issued this statement:

"We are sorry that all collections were not completed as scheduled yesterday due to the weather conditions. Please leave your waste out and it will be collected as soon as is possible. That may be later today, or later in the week. The collection could be as late as Sunday. If your garden waste collection was missed it will not be collected again until the next scheduled collection day.

If you have any queries please call the Customer Care number 8547 5929."

You can see the latest weather related news on the Council website - it covers school closures, gritting and refuse collections.

I've just had an email from the Council to say that, unlike some, Kingston has not run out of grit for the roads. With heavy snow expected overnight this is good news.

The gritters will be out at 7pm this evening, and then again during the night. Priority is given to major roads, and also to approaches to schools and hospitals.

Also, the Council does want to make sure that refuse and recycling are picked up on the right day - which for Chessington and Hook is tomorrow (given the special arrangements over Christmas and the New Year). So this does means that many more roads will be gritted here tonight to allow the refuse lorries can get through.

Yesterday, someone pointed out to me that Devon Way and the lane to Lovelace School and the Devon Way Centre were not gritted in the last snowfall, even though they are on a school route. So I mentioned this in a meeting with our Neighbourhood officers today, and hopefully that will be put right this time.

No, not the British hostage in Iraq who was mercifully released today, but a colourful character by the same name, who sadly died just before Christmas.

Peter was best known as a Town Crier; he served the Mayor of London, the City of Westminster and many London boroughs in that role. I took this photo at the annual Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival. He led the parade from Guildhall to St Mary-le-Bow.

Tomorrow, according to the BBC, he was to have been awarded a lifetime award at the New Year's Day Parade.

Also on the BBC site is a video newsclip about his disgust at being pictured, without his permission, on a BNP leaflet. In his characteristic robust style he says he despises the BNP.

In Kingston he was appointed as the Honorary Tipstaff, whose main job seemed to be to organise formal civic processions. The second photo below was taken on St George's Day. (My goodness, that's two photos of me in my mayoral rig in the same day!)

I met Peter many times, and I know he read my blog. In fact, we had a number of discussions about what he could include on his own website.

He was a larger-than-life character, with, not surprisingly, a booming voice, who became an icon of England in many feature films and documentaries. I remember him telling me enthusiastically about how he had appeared in a Bollywood movie set in London. We will miss him.

Just heard the great news today that my fellow Lib Dem councillor, Yogan Yoganathan, has been awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours.

Many people probably don't realise just how much Yogan does for the community. He has been co-Chair of Surbiton Neighbourhood for some years, but he was active long before being elected as a Councillor for St Marks ward in 2002.

Yogan first became involved in community things when he founded the Kingston Tamil School. That led to several other responsibilities including acting as Chair of the very effective Kingston Racial Equality Council.

He currently chairs the Special Olympics Surrey (which I have blogged about several times), and is a trustee of Victim Support Kingston.

All this and Mayor too! In fact, I took over as Mayor from him in 2006, hence the photo.

I've been rather caught up with shopping and avoiding the ice, so haven't written much lately.

But we've just had some really good news about a long-running campaign.

Back in May, on my old blog I wrote about the need for a bus to take Chessington pupils to Hinchley Wood School. About 140 children from Chessington and Hook travel out of the borough (as they have every right to do) to attend this school.

They used to be served by a special school-time bus that also ran through Claygate, but Surrey decided to withdraw it because it was underused by Surrey pupils - ignoring totally the needs of RBK pupils. Since then it has been a battle with Transport for London to get them to acknowledge the problem and find a solution.

In fact, we had to get Edward Davey MP, and Carolin Pigeon (who chairs the London Assembly's Transport Committee) on the case.

And now, at last, we hear that Transport for London is going to extend the 467 route via Hinchley Wood School at school times.

A result! At last!