Camden pilots new mortgage rescue scheme for struggling homeowners

I'm delighted that Camden has been selected as a pilot authority for the Government's mortgage rescue scheme, which has £200m available nationally. The scheme allows Camden homeowners who are at risk of losing their homes to get help administered by Metropolitan Housing Association.

Anyone having difficulty paying their mortgage should contact their mortgage lender first, or the Council’s housing options and advice service (private sector team) who will offer advice and information and make referrals to Metropolitan Housing Association. Those eligible will be offered one of two options. Home owners who have had difficulties in keeping up payments but are likely to be able to afford home ownership again in the future will be given an opportunity to sell a share of their house to Metropolitan Housing Association. This would mean cheaper monthly payments with the option to buy back their share again in the future.

For those with little hope of sustaining a mortgage, the second option available is to sell their home to the housing association but remain in the home as a tenant, paying an affordable, below market level rent. In both cases of course the families remain in their homes.

The Council is already doing a great deal to help local people and businesses affected by the recession, see here, and when we publish our council budget and council tax plans on the 13th February, we will be outlining further measures.

Please support the Give and Take Day this Saturday

It's a hugely simple idea - Camden's organising another Give and Take Day this Saturday 31st January at Acland Burghley School from 1130 to 1400. Do support it if you can.

Benches - getting the balance right

A new benches policy has been agreed by the Council, so that ward councillors will be consulted before any new benches are deployed, and so that streets officers check with community safety officers whether locations are likely to cause problems.

The issue of benches is sometimes controversial - as in Fairfax Rd - and as ward members we are always alert to hear of problems benches may be causing. But we also want to hear about places where a bench may be needed. The Council has limited funds for new benches but sometimes capital monies are available connected to street schemes.

The Council and the Mayor of London rightly have ambitious plans to increase walking, and benches also make areas more accessible for older citizens. Ultimately, if a bench is causing unacceptable problems it can, in extremis, be removed.

Enhanced recycling on the way

In early January the Council’s executive agreed to extend its waste collection, recycling and street cleansing contract with Veolia for seven years from 2010. The contract includes £2.5m of negotiated cost savings. Linked to this are plans – to be finalised next month – for further enhancements in the service including:

· Weekly mixed paper/card and mixed recycling doorstep collection;
· Continuing twice-weekly residual rubbish collection;
· Weekly doorstep food/green waste collection;
· Weekly communal food waste/green waste collections from housing estates and mansion blocks;
· Individual colour glass collections from bring sites;
· More schools recycling

This is in line with Camden’s commitment to becoming a low carbon, low waste borough and to meeting challenging government recycling targets, reducing the waste going to landfill in order to avoid heavy financial sanctions. Residents here already recycle 28 per cent of their waste – Camden is in the top 10 of London boroughs for recycling performance and in the top five for dry recyclables.

Veolia has been performing well: Camden’s street cleansing standard is consistently in the top three for London boroughs, and the refuse collection service has very low missed collection rates. But of course we are not complacent on performance.

Detailed consultation with residents over coming months will be critical in making these new developments work well, in particular in relation to the new food waste collection from doorsteps and housing estates/mansion blocks.

A presentation on this will be the main item at the next Swiss Cottage Area Forum on Tuesday March 10th - 6.30pm for 7pm at the Crossfield Centre, Fairhazel Gardens.

Elsworthy Rd/St Edmunds Terrace planning focus

18/20 Elsworthy Road - Our very firm understanding is that both applications will have been refused by Camden planners by the end of the first week in February.

Barrow Hill, 40/49 St Edmunds Terrace (photo above) - Please note a planning application for 22 residential units at this important site has now been made. Consultation letters will be going out in the nearest future. For further information click here or go to http://www.camden.gov.uk/, follow the planning links and type in the application number 2009/0113/P. We know this will generate a lot of interest given its situation on Primrose Hill and feel free to contact Andrew Marshall. You may want to know that the decision making is more complex than usual. A development of this size requires the provision of affordable housing. There will be no affordable housing on this site as it is proposed this be provided at a separate site at 31/39 Camden Road. The proposed height of this development in Camden Road is such that it needs GLA approval. The approval for both Barrow Hill and 31/39 Camden Road will be heard at the same time. Camden's Development Control Committee will recommend to the GLA whether or not these applications should be approved and GLA will be the final arbiter. Clearly there are a number of concerns residents will have following the recent exhibition, and representations to Camden as the initial planning authority.

Guinness Court, St Edmunds Terrace - Don Williams has been following this and has had a meeting with Guinness Court and their architects. We know that many of you were at the January 20 meeting and are concerned that you have already missed the opportunity to comment. An application was made but not accepted as there was a need for more information. It is anticipated that this will be provided in the next three weeks; as soon as it is consultation letters will be going out. Don Williams will continue to follow development on this closely and feel free to contact him.

Article 4 Directions - good news for our Conservation Area

I'm delighted to say that the Council on Monday passed Article 4 directions for the Swiss Cottage, Belsize, and Hampstead conservation areas, and in a modified form for the Holly Lodge conservation area. Essentially this provides extra protection for the architectural heritage of the area, including boundary walls, doors, windows, porches, chimneys etc. Unfortunately of course, Swiss Cottage has already suffered substantial lose of architectural features, as the council's report makes clear, and clearly nothing can be done to turn that back. In the coming weeks, the council will be consulting with everyone in the conservation area to check people really do want this extra protection, and to explain how it will work once introduced.

The front page of the Ham and High today explains the new powers more concisely.

The development does raise again the question of whether we can get a Conservation Area Advisory Committee going in Swiss Cottage, as in most other conservation areas in the borough.

Finally, on the other side of the ward, the council will be consulting next month on a new consultation area management statement for the Elsworthy Road conservation area.

Developments in St Edmunds Terrace

Housing association the Guinness Trust are holding a public exhibition on Tuesday evening to outline their revised plans for redeveloping Guinness Court. My colleague Don Williams will be there, I have to attend the Local Strategic Partnership meeting which is discussing the local impact of the recession.

Guinness Trust say they've taken on board concerns of residents they heard at last year's exhibition. We'll see. The concerns about height in relation to nearby buildings, and about traffic flows in Broxwood Way, are very real. I went to have a look around today - the photo on the left shows the demolished residential home and demonstrates how close the plot is to Avenue Close.

There's not a planning application in as yet, maybe we will know more after Tuesday.

Meanwhile, no application in yet on the controversial redevelopment of the Barrow Hill reservoir site at the end of St Edmunds Terrace (right-hand phot0) - with a high degree of visual impact from Primrose Hill. Again, the consultation meeting recently gave the developers plenty to think about, we'll have to see what happens next and keep vigilant.

Cold weather and Thames Water pipes

Thames Water have been proactive in getting in touch with the council to explain how they are tackling the impact of the coldest weather for a decade. Freezing conditions are leading to a sharp rise in burst water mains at the moment. When cold water - four degrees Celsius or less - enters the water mains, many of which in London are more than 100 years old, it can make the ageing metal pipes snap. Any hairline cracks or structural weaknesses, which in warmer weather would not cause bursts, are at risk of breaking the pipe.


Thames Water is ensuring that all its available resources are focused on repairing bursts as quickly as possible, but clearly it must prioritise incidents in order of severity. This means it may not be able to deal with individual customers' problems as quickly as it would normally.



Council officers - for example in our Housing Directorate - will certainly be liaising closely with Thames Water to ensure we get problems sort as quickly as possible. If anyone in Swiss Cottage has a burst pipe problem that is not being resolved adequately, do contact me as we have contacts at Thames Water who are keen to hear from us if this happens.

New Year Message from Camden's Conservative Group

With apologies for a long, and unusually party-political post, here's the New Year Message issued today by Camden's Conservative Group


New Year Message – Seven Priorities for our Borough in 2009

Issued by Cllr Andrew Marshall on behalf of the Camden Conservative Group (Cllrs Martin Davies, Roger Freeman, Rebecca Hossack, Chris Knight, Andrew Mennear, Lulu Mitchell, Chris Philp, Kirsty Roberts, Keith Sedgwick, Dawn Somper, Don Williams)


Summary
It’s time to take stock on the last two years of the Partnership Administration, and to identify the key priorities for Camden in 2009.

A partnership administration is not the same as a Conservative Council, which remains our clear, realistic aim following the 2010 borough elections. Nevertheless, Conservatives have played a major role in securing Camden’s major achievements since 2006, including improvements in schools, environment, licensing, mental health, older people, and crime and anti-social behaviour. It is widely recognised that Conservative councillors punch above our weight, often providing the voice of sense and the willingness to make tough choices.

We will continue to press hard for a better Camden in 2009, and these will be our seven priorities this year:

· Progress on a possible future site for a secondary school south of Euston Rd
· Further efficiency savings to ensure a council tax increase as near to zero in 2009/10
· Maintain the second weekly rubbish collection while also increasing recycling
· Renewed urgency in tackling anti-social behaviour and local crime
· Implement a practical plan to alleviate the recession where possible
· Give residents stronger influence over their immediate street environment
· Improve council housing management more quickly, bringing a real customer service ethos


Background and next steps

Overall, good progress is being made in implementing the joint priorities of the partnership administration agreed in 2006, but more attention is still needed to value-for-money service improvements in some areas.

The inevitable compromises in a partnership administration mean that the current council should not be seen as showing people what a Conservative council in Camden would do – persistent Labour claims to the contrary are simply mischievous. After 40 years of Labour failure, Conservative voters were entitled to see some Conservative policies implemented, though we recognise the inherent difficulties of discerning our influence in a two-party mix.

The severity and speed of the economic recession has created a new situation, requiring a sharper spotlight by the council on providing value for money and improving services. We will therefore press hard this year to get agreement and action on the following seven priorities:

1. We want progress in identifying a possible future site for a secondary school south of Euston Road (once a case can be proven to Government). In addition we should develop proposals to improve confidence in Camden's secondary school admissions procedures, for further consultation with parents.

2. The Council should explore rigorously whether we can implement further efficiency savings – without affecting the front-line services residents need most – so the council tax increase can be reduced from the planned 2.5% to zero or close to zero. Camden has the highest council tax in inner London, and has not been fulfilling the partnership administration commitment to reduce council tax towards the inner London average. The recession means we must ease the pressure of the council tax on hard working residents and pensioners. Longer term, central government funding for local government will increase below inflation, and Camden must do things differently to prevent unacceptable future council tax rises. Boris Johnson’s tax freeze and that of some Conservative councils shows what is possible.

3. We must reassure residents that we will maintain the second weekly collection while also increasing our recycling facilities. Camden’s population density and range of dwellings makes this level of provision vital – it is the one service that the largest number of residents associate with the council.

4. We need renewed urgency in tackling anti-social behaviour and local crime, in particular using the new powers for introductory and demoted tenancies more widely and sooner, and learning from cases where the council has failed residents. There are achievements on tackling drugs in Camden Town, but we still need to send out a tougher message that we will take the strongest possible action against both drug dealers and buyers. We should also examine the relative cost-effectiveness of the Council’s wardens team and police PCSOs (both of which we fund), in order to assist future community safety planning.

5. We should implement a practical plan to alleviate the worst impacts of the recession – supporting local businesses, improving the skills of local people and doing what we can to ensure regeneration projects go ahead. But we should avoid gimmicks, recognise the limits on the council, and treat our residents maturely.

6. We still need to give residents a stronger sense of influence over their immediate environment. This includes better consultation to make sure small street improvements are really wanted, and that people understand how to maximise their rights under the planning system. We also need a clearer “roadmap” so residents can understand who is responsible for different pieces of the public realm and how to get action faster to sort out problems.

7. Improvements in council housing management must be driven through more quickly. Within available funding, we need a stronger customer service ethos to happen faster, with a real cultural change in our housing directorate. We must also review critically how far we have got in giving leaseholders a new and fair deal, and consider how to empower tenants to ensure good value over repairs and estate maintenance.

Beyond this, we need greater self-confidence as a council to set local priorities and avoid kow-towing to meaningless government targets. Labour has bound up local government in targets and jargon which impoverish local life. The next general election will bring that to an end, and in the meantime we should concentrate on real services not on box ticking.

One thing is certain – the Partnership Administration, whatever its achievements, will not be standing for re-election. Residents will be asked to choose between the manifestos of the local political parties. We will be highlighting the achievements of the Conservative group over the last four years – and explaining the frustrations and challenges of working in a coalition – but we will mainly be showing how a Conservative council would improve the borough we live in.

We can learn much from the effective and popular policies Conservative councils have introduced elsewhere, and from the fresh approach Boris Johnson’s administration is bringing to London – and in a sense already showing people what a Conservative council could do.

We will therefore be creating a policy group to start work on our manifesto, learning the lessons from elsewhere and listening to local organisations and residents, including those now expressing interest in standing as a Conservative councillor for the first time in 2010.

Library hours extended, free swiming for the young and old

A couple of bits of good news:

From April, under-16s and over-60s will be able to swim for free at anytime at Swiss Cottage and Oasis leisure centres. The money comes from a government scheme, which has also given the council some money for pool improvements.

Meanwhile, thanks to improved efficiency in the way we organise the service, the opening hours of Camden libraries are increasing. From 19th January, Swiss Cottage library will be open from 1000-2000 Monday to Friday, 1000-1700 on Saturday and 1100-1600 on Sunday. That's an hour or two more each weekday. And as long as I have anything to do with it, we won't be allowing mobile phones or food in the library! I am confident we are still investing properly in the book stock, and we need to avoid the temptation of chucking stock that just looks a bit out of fashion. But at the same time, our libraries now provide crucial internet access for many people and we should keep extending these facilities.

Freedom Pass extended to 24 hours!

2009 promises to be a challenging year, but one piece of pure good news is that from last Friday the Freedom Pass is now accepted on a 24 hours basis on TfL services (buses, tube, trams and DLR).

All Camden residents over 60 are entitled to a Freedom Pass, which allows free travel on the bus, tube, docklands light railway, tram and London overground networks. Current Freedom Pass users do not need to do anything, and are automatically entitled to the new concessions. However, they will still only be able to use their pass for travel during off peak hours on national rail networks in London.

Click here for the Freedom Pass website with full details.

This change is an initiative by Mayor Boris Johnson together with the London boroughs who fund the Freedom Pass.

One of the most persistent myths is that parking charges and fees are simply "profit" for the council. In fact, funding the Freedom Pass for elderly residents costs the council about £8m, and is paid for out of our parking income. If we didn't have this income, the Freedom Pass would have to be paid out of council tax, requiring roughly an 8% rise or about £80 at Band D. Our parking income also covers the Taxicard scheme for those with limited mobility, and funds road safety improvements such as safer routes to schools schemes.

It is true that administration of parking takes up about half of overall income. This reflects the complexity of parking arrangements to reflect the needs of different streets and areas, and the emphasis on making parking controls "resident friendly" (though we know there is continuing work to be done).