Disappearing Hilgrove Rd bus stand - a new one is coming soon

After the 31 bus stand at the top of Hilgrove Rd disappeared recently, we contacted TfL about this, and have now heard back.

TfL Buses management say the original shelter at the site mentioned was life expired and has been removed prior to a new shelter being installed. Around 10 shelter sites in Camden will be similarly affected before the end of this financial year. The new shelter will be installed in a matter of weeks and will offer better seating, more information and improved functionality all round.

TfL offered "our apologies to your residents for the inconvenience in the meantime."

So this is good to know, as always it might have been better to get a "heads up" in advance, so we could have told the Hilgrove TRA committee, but at least a better shelter is coming.

NW3 Traffic chaos Saturday

I am very aware of the traffic chaos yesterday, with closures that as a councillor I had had no notice of.

Finchley Road southbound was partially closed yesterday, with traffic backed up on Hendon Way, on Cricklewood Broadway, on West End Lane, and in Hampstead. The house fire I witnessed in Woodchurch Rd (fortunately all safe) can't have helped either, and in general the sheer volume of local road works in the area compounded the gridlock.

Residents are of course particularly galled by the fact that in the afternoon there didn't see to be any work taking place on Finchley Rd despite the closure.

I am asking senior council transport officers today to assess this and see what effective representations we can make - at either an officer or political level - to TfL to improve matters. This would be around better communication of closures (not just clever web stuff that most people won't look at) and more efficient working when roads are closed. There seems to be a lack of any kind of comprehensive view in assessing just how much disruption is manageable before gridlock occurs. And of course the Jubilee Line closures multiple the impact of road gridlock. Will report back once I know more.

Open evenings to view competing plans for the new UCL Academy and Swiss Cottage Special School

The public is invited to view the plans for the Adelaide Road school site development
(the school site opposite Swiss Cottage library and leisure centre).

There are two sets of rival proposals for
- the new UCL Academy
- a new building for an expanded Swiss Cottage special school


The competing plans from two companies, BAM and BPEC, will be on public display for the first time at 5.30pm-8pm (both days) in the school hall at Swiss Cottage school entrance in Avenue Road

17 March – BAM proposals
18 March – BPEC proposals

These are drop-in events. You can look round, speak to the design teams, ask questions and leave your comments.

The new school buildings are part of Camden’s ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme.

Roger, Don and I will be looking in as ward councillors for Swiss Cottage.

Roundel signs coming for Swiss Cottage 20mph zone

Some good news. Roger Freeman has secured funding from Camden in the current financial year to get roundel signs on the road to signal better the Gardens area 20mph zone.

This came up at a number of recent meetings such as the Area Forum, with people feeling that the 20mph zone - installed after resident consultation in 2006-7 - was insufficiently signed for drivers.

The Finchley Road end of Canfield and Goldhurst will the top priorities. There may also be money for intrazone ones, eg Goldhurst when cars turn in from Fairhazel, and in Goldhurst and Canfield half way between Finchley and Fairhazel.

Let's hope these roundel signs do have some real impact on reducing drivers' speeds in the Gardens area. We'll keep a close eye once they are painted.

Camden Council commissions hydrology study of the Heath to improve basements planning decisions

The basements/underground rivers issue has become an increasingly urgent concern in recent months in Camden. While the new Local Development Framework will have a much stronger policy restricting basements, I am pleased, as Executive councillor for Planning, that the Council is also actively responding to this concern by commissioning a wider study of the hydrology and geology in the area surrounding the Heath. This will provide an evidence base to inform decisions on future planning applications for basements.
The study will:
1.Identify those areas where due to the geology and hydrology further detailed studies are required before determining planning applications;
2.Explore case studies of existing basements in these areas to identify impacts, the effects of remediation etc,
3.A methodology for use by applicants in carrying out the studies referred to above
4.Details of how the council will assess these studies.

The study will mean that where there is clear evidence of ground instability or flood risk in relation to a property, there will be a greater onus on the applicant to demonstrate at application stage that the site conditions have been investigated in detail and detailed measures have been put forward to properly manage these issues. Each case will be judged on its own merits but it is likely that in such cases the Council would not approve an application until this information is provided (rather than relying on subsequent submission of details through a condition.)

Ground stability and flood risk are complex areas, and the situation in Hampstead and Highgate is made more difficult by the fact that there is no definitive document dealing with issues of ground stability across the whole of the area. The British Geological Survey exists as a nationally recognised record, and the Council would not be acting lawfully were it to ignore it when deciding applications, or to refuse applications on the basis that the data in the Survey is inherently flawed. But clearl the weight attached to damage assessment purposes by desk top studies using the British Geological Survey alone in deciding individual applications will need to be carefully considered.

No doubt basements will remain an emotive and controversial issue, but I am hopeful that the Council’s hydrology and geology study will undoubtedly the quality of information we have on which to make good planning decisions.

Snow update, again..

Update just issued by Camden Council managers:

The forecast is for snow tonight but it will not settle. Temperatures will fall below freezing so it is possible some side roads and pavements will become icy and dangerous.

Maintenance teams are gritting priority routes tonight and will continue as necessary. National salt restrictions on use still apply.

Services are not affected but we will be monitoring the situation and will update you if there is any significant change.

New bus Countdown indicators - some good news but it should be better

TfL is planning to replace the old Countdown indicators at bus stops and install new Countdown indicators at 2,500 bus stops across London. This is not going to be a like for like replacement since it is proposed in Camden that:

there will 58 Countdown signs installed in new locations
at 45 locations the Countdown signs will not be re-installed
at 47 locations the old Countdown signs will be replaced with new Countdown signs

The criteria that TfL is using to assess the suitability of locations to install the new Countdown signs are:

Number of passengers using stop
Proximity to centres of population
Proximity to transport interchanges
Proximity to key local services
Number of low frequency services
24h routes serving stop


In the Swiss Cottage area there is quite a lot of good news. Most of the stops on Finchley Road are getting Countdown, including the stops outside the library. In adddition the 31 stops on Belsize Rd by the roundabout and at the top of Hilgrove Rd are getting Countdown. On the negative side, some stops in Adelaide Rd, in Quex Rd and on Belsize Rd (Abbey and Loudoun stops) are losing Countdowns.

To me it seems a retrograde step that TfL is not replacing Countdown signs on all stops where people have got used to having them. While logical to prioritise on the basis above, it cannot be helpful to discourage people using buses by removing Countdowns that are already in place.

My colleague Cllr Keith Sedgwick is concerned that his Gospel Oak ward - with high levels of deprivation and poor public transport - is losing 7 or 8 Countdowns and not getting any new ones. He's asked our GLA member Brian Coleman to put down questions on this for Mayor's Question Time.

TfL is consulting with local councillors on the locations of these new Countdown signs. Not sure how much influence we will have, but we will be responding having collected views from residents groups and others. The consultation ends on 26th February so do let us know your views. I can email the detailed documents to anyone interested.

Consultation shows strong support for Special Conservation Measures for Belsize, Hampstead and Swiss Cottage

As expected, local residents have strongly backed the introduction of Special Conservation Measures (aka Article Four Directions) in the Belsize, Hampstead and Swiss Cottage conservation areas.

In Swiss Cottage, 226 people responded with 89% in favour, in Belsize there were 312 responses with 84% in favour, and in Hampstead 280, with 89% in favour. The response rate was 15% in Hampstead, 9% in Belsize and 6% in Swiss Cottage. This response rate reflects the different dynamics of each area, and is a pretty good response rate given the size of the areas and the large number of more transient residents.

Next week the Council's Environment Sub Committee will consider a report recommending the introduction of these measures to protect these conservation areas against harmful development. I anticipate it will be passed by the committee and then simply needs to be approved by the Secretary of State before the Special Conservation Measures come into affect, which I hope will be in the second quarter of the year.

Local groups and individuals have campaigned for these measures for many years, wanting the same level of protection the Primrose Hill conservation area has enjoyed. The measures don't of course deal with the main development pressures NW3 and NW6 suffer from, but they will play a very useful role in protecting the features that make these areas special.

Belsize roundabout safety measures - consultation on raised table on Fairfax Road entrance

We all know that the five-arm Belsize Road roundabout is quite dangerous, we are glad that some of the improvements we and others pressed for are going to happen this spring.

There have been nine recorded accidents of which one was serious involving 2 vehicles, two ofthe slight accidents involved a vehicle and a pedesrtrian, four of the slight accidents involved a cyclist and one slight involved a motocycle at the roundabout in the last 3 years. This scheme intends to reduce speeds, improve facilities for pedestrians and cyclists and renew defective signage.

The proposals at Belsize Roundabout are phase 2 of a broader cycle scheme (eg. Fairhazel Gardens improvements), and will help prevent cars from cutting across cyclists using the roundabout. The measures will also benefit pedestrians and other traffic by slowing vehicles that move through the roundabout.

Residents in the area will be consulted next month on one aspect of the scheme - the proposed raised table on Fairfax Road at the existing crossing at the bottom by the roundabout, which would be built to acceptable gradients for a bus route (we have separately got Camden officers making representations to TfL about whether in fact Fairfax Rd should continue to be a bus route. This will be quite a protracted matter, and our influence on TfL is limited, but we recognise the serious concerns about this).

The proposed measures in full are:
• to install a raised speed-table and extend the existing island in Fairfax Road. This will slow traffic entering and leaving Fairfax Road and reduce the road width on the roundabout, making traffic circulate at slower speeds;
• to extend the existing island in Belsize Road (southern arm). This will slow traffic entering Fairhazel Gardens and also reduce the road width and circulation speeds at the roundabout;
• to extend the existing island in Belsize Road (northern arm). This will reduce the road width on the roundabout making traffic circulate at slower speeds;
• to widen the corner of Fairhazel Gardens. This will slow traffic exiting Fairhazel Gardens onto Belsize roundabout;
• to install new signs with lighting units on the roundabout; and
• to install cycle logos to increase drivers awareness of cyclists.

The consultation should be going out this month, with working starting in March/April.

Anti-littering operation around Swiss Cottage tube

Camden Public Realm officers, in close partnership with the ward Safer Neighbourhood police team, spent a couple of hours around Swiss Cottage tube last week “educating and advising” members of the public about littering. Many people were spoken to about littering and were given the opportunity to pick up their litter and dispose of it properly. 11 warning notices were issued. No Fixed Penalty Notices were issued as all spoken to complied with Officers’ requests.

Resources mean this can't happen every week and everywhere, but it's good to see this happening and to see good coooperation between the council and the police.

Proposed expansion of St Paul’s CE primary school in 2013/14

Very pleased at the decision of the governing body of St Paul’s CE primary school in Elsworthy Road in Swiss Cottage ward to consider a proposal to permanently expand the school. Parents of children attending the school will be consulted on their opinions and a detailed feasibility study will take place. The proposal is subject to identification of funding and the necessary statutory consultation and planning processes.

St Paul’s currently has one form of entry and the proposal is to expand to 2 forms of entry. It is a much loved, over-subscribed school with a substantial waiting list. The school is consulting on its admission policy so that 50% of the new places created will be offered on a community /distance basis and 50% on the school’s faith criteria.

Officers have modelled the impact of providing the proposed additional places at St Paul’s. We believe that the unfulfilled and increasing demand for school places in this location will minimize any negative impact on applications for reception places at existing Camden schools.

If the feasibility study goes well, St Paul’s governors will be formally consulting on the proposed expansion. The likely date that additional school places would be ready is September 2013.

In addition to the possible expansion of St Paul’s, we are investigating sites in the north-west with the aim of building a new primary school.

A report on possible options and the funding arrangements for additional school places will be prepared for the council’s Executive at its meeting in July 2010.

This is excellent further progress on tackling the shortage of primary places in Belsize, Swiss Cottage and the broader NW3/NW6 area.

Goldhurst Terrace accident today

Roger Freeman was at the site of the accident that blocked Goldhurst Terrace for the morning and spoke to the police there.

It happened at the bend near the junction with Aberdare Gardens; we know from the dents that residents' cars have that this is a problematic stretch of road. We will be reviewing with Camden's officers ways of improving conditions there.
Good news: no personal injuries. Bad news: Not a productive use of police time.

Camden freezes heating and service charges

Last Wednesday my colleagues and I on Camden Council’s Executive agreed a raft of money saving measures for residents in our homes, recognising the need for cost control in the current difficult climate.

From 6 April 2010 Camden tenants will see their service charge frozen. That means that residents won’t pay any more for essential services including caretaking, grounds maintenance, CCTV, mobile security, estate lighting and concierge services. The freeze has been made possible through efficiency savings made by the Council, which are being passed on to residents.

It had also been predicted that an increase of 13% in tenants’ heating charges would be required next year to meet an anticipated increase in wholesale gas prices. However, as the Council has reaped the benefits of being part of a bulk buying consortium, we have managed to buy gas at a more advantageous price, enabling these charges to be frozen as well for 2010/11.

Following consultation with tenants groups, and as a result of the lower gas prices, the Executive has also agreed to refund £400,000 to tenants from the heating pool. Based on feedback from tenants, they will also put aside a further £400,000, to either refund tenants at a later date, or to reinvest in energy efficiency schemes. These could include installing new smart meters and individual heating controls in properties to give residents greater control over their heating.