Ten holes in Camden Labour's manifesto

Having read through Camden Labour's election manifesto today, here are ten topics that are, somewhat surprisingly, entirely missing from the document:

Recycling and waste management
Planning and planning enforcement
Parks and Hampstead Heath
Road and pavement maintenance
Older people's homes
Primary places
Bus services
Child protection
Dispersal zones
The Internet and e-services

Talk about a slapdash opposition uninterested in many of the things most people expect their local council to provide.

I also wonder just how closely this sentence has been proof read:
"We will work closely with Camden's voluntary sector to defend any cuts in services".

Watch out for the Camden Conservative manifesto, committed to working with a Conservative Government to bring real change in Camden!

Carriageway resurfacing of Aberdare Gardens next month

We highlighted the extremely poor state of Aberdare to council officers last year, and we’re delighted that the Council will be resurfacing the Aberdare carriageway in early April. Residents should very shortly receive a detailed letter from the Council’s engineering service – please let us know if you don’t get one.

The work will be carried out by the Council’s contractor, VolkerHighways. The construction process will be carried out in two separate stages, which will be the removal of the existing road surface, following which a new road surface will be laid and the road markings added.

It is intended that work will commence from the 7th April 2010 and weather permitting the works will be completed on 12th April 2010. The road will be subject to a temporary traffic order during the period of work and will be closed to traffic. Residents will be advised to observe all notices fixed to posts and lamp columns. Any vehicles left in a suspended area or illegally parked, are liable to be removed by the Council’s parking enforcement contractor or the police - so Please check the parking restrictions daily. Anyone who is registered disabled, or would require any special arrangements while this work is undertaken, should contact the Highways Engineering department once they receive the formal letter.

We have stressed to the Council the need to avoid anything that makes the knock-on parking effect worse in any way, ie taking account of this closure in terms of any bay suspensions. We will also monitor this closely to ensure the work does not slip.

The Aberdare resurfacing had been planned for a little while, but obviously there are other roads with poor surfaces, and the snow of course adversely affected carriageways. As a result this has required the Council to reassess the condition of all our carriageways in the borough using more recent information from our Maintenance Engineers and Contractors’ Inspection Reports, rather than through the yearly inspection which was last carried out in February 2009. Officers are looking at this now and will provide a list of roads for carriageway resurfacing in 2010/11 financial year by the beginning of April. The intention is to carry out the planned resurfacing works starting in August.

Reactive maintenance on any unsafe road surfaces is ongoing, as always. Do get in touch with us if there are problems that aren’t sorted, but the best way to report it is either:
• Go to www.camden.gov.uk website - go to environment and the quick link on the right hand side to ‘report a street problem’
• If urgent and dangerous via telephone on 020 7974 2015 (during normal working hours) or 020 7974 4444 (out of hours)

Lighting challenge on Camden housing land

In a sensible new initiative, residents are being asked to become switched on about the environment and tell the Council about lights they want switched off on Camden housing land.

The ‘Camden lighting challenge’ is designed to reduce energy bills and help the environment, by identifying communal lights on housing land which are left on at times of the day when they don’t need to be.

Residents can report lights they think should be switched off by calling 020 7974 6490, and leaving their name and contact details. The Council will then report back to tell them if anything can be done and if so what action is being taken.

Many lights on Camden property are controlled by timers so only come on when it gets dark, and some lights need to be left on all day in internal stairways and hallways. However, there are some lights that are left on all the time that should be turned off. This initiative should not only help the environment, but will also help the Council to save money on energy bills for the benefit of all residents.

New roundels secured for Gardens area 20mph zone

We're delighted that in the last ten days around 15 20mph roundels have now been painted on the streets of the Swiss Cottage Gardens area 20mph zone. At the last local area forum, residents were strongly of the view that inadequate signage meant that many drivers weren't aware of the 20mph zone, as the signs at the boundaries are quite easy to miss. Cllr Roger Freeman took the issue up with council transport officers and secured funding for this financial year, and it's fantastic that the work has now been done.

What is particularly good is that we don't just have roundels at the boundaries of the zone (eg entering Compayne from West End Lane, or Goldhurst from Finchley Rd), but also "reminder" roundels throughout the zone (eg turning into Aberdare from Fairhazel or from Priory into Cleve). The 20mph zone was introduced in 2007 after good consultation, but we know there is still quite a lot of dangerous speeding.

We and no doubt many residents will be keen to see how these roundels on the road contribute to slower speeds and enforcement of the 20mph zone. All feedback most welcome.

Finchley Rd cashpoint thieves update

The Swiss Cottage Safer Neighbourhoods police team has sent this very useful update on this problem which seems widespread:

Over the last month we've had a number of thefts when people have been using ATM's on Finchley Rd and at the O2 centre.

As your money is due to be dispensed someone tends to tap you on the shoulder or points to the grounds and asks if you've dropped that £5 note.

As you turn to look where they're pointing someone else takes your cash from the ATM and makes off.

So far this has happened at Barclays Bank, Lloyds, Santander (Abbey National) and the Halifax.

Before you take cash out of any of these machines can you just have a look around and see if anyone's standing to close to you.

Don't look round or look away until you've taken your cash from the machine. The descriptions of the suspects involved are fairly basic, possibly Eastern European, 20-35yrs old, varying in height from 5'6"-5'11".

These offences aren't just taking place on Finchley Rd, but all over London.

Camden Give & Take event in West Hampstead this Saturday

Details below of this eco-friendly event continuing the Council's work on "Small Steps, Big Difference" in sustainability:

Give & Take event
Saturday March 20th

Emmanuel Church of England School
101 Mill Lane
West Hampstead
London NW6 1NA

10:30am -11:30pm Bring items
12:00pm - 2:00pm Take away Items for free

Have you any household clutter gathering dust? Bring items along to our
next event and make a pledge to recycle or reuse an electrical appliance.

Re-use is great for the environment because it uses less energy and resources and less waste is sent to landfill.

We usually redistribute at least 2-3 tonnes of household items at each event and our events are growing in popularity. And it means that Camden residents can find some treasure right at their front door.

take away for free:
 household items including bric-a-brac, toys, tools, sports equipment and books
 Small items of furniture* (easily carried by one person),
we accept:
 electrical items (Pat tested at the event)
 household items that are clean, in good condition and ready to
use
we do not accept:
 broken items in need of repair
 knives and sharp or dangerous objects
 toiletries
 food
 upholstery that does not have fire safety tag

Free trees a success at Swiss Cottage last Sunday

We're glad to hear that that the initiative to give any free trees to local people worked well on Sunday - hopefully some of these will be planted in the South Hampstead/Swiss Cottage conservation area, where the trees, especially in the five hidden open spaces between the roads, give much beauty to the townscape.

Over 300 saplings were given to visitors at Camden Council’s Tree Giveaway Day, in Oriel Place, Hampstead and Swiss Cottage Open Space. People chose from four species of tree - Hazel, Rowan, Cherry and Crab Apple. Each tree was around four-years-old and 60cm to 80cm in length.

Visitors were given advice on how to care for their plant and to fully enjoy their colour, fruits, seasonal qualities and their suitability for supporting wildlife.

In addition, the day included:
* an active storytelling event, where more than 70 families took part in reading stories about animals
* Zoofari – a mobile zoo – which included a selection of animals to show to the audience and tell them facts about animals - including a meercat, tarantula, lizard, snakes and a skunk
* Children making a book about the animals they had seen to take home.

Camden Council plants around 400 trees every year between November and March. The Council also look after around 29,000 trees across the borough

Cashpoint robberies on Finchley Road

Over the last few weeks there have been robberies when people are taking money out of the cash points in Finchley Road near Swiss Cottage Station. We urge everyone to be careful, and we know the Police are on the case.

Family Storytelling at Swiss Cottage Open Space this Saturday

A good initiative from the Council's parks and libraries service:

Camden Parks and Libraries Services will be hosting a Family Storytelling event in Swiss Cottage Open Space which is part of a wider Storytelling project taking place in Camden parks in February and March.

The Swiss Cottage session will be on the theme of wildlife and will begin with 30mins of storytelling followed by a make a story book workshop and a chance to view some small mammals and reptiles with Zoofari .This is a great opportunity for families to come together to find out about the library service, reading and how this can be translated into action through an appreciation of wildlife.

In addition the Camden Parks Tree Team will also be holding a free tree giveaway

Date: Saturday 14th March 2010

Times: 11.00hrs - 12.30hrs . Session repeated 13.30hrs - 15.00hrs
Tree giveaway will take place 12.00hrs - 14.00hrs

Venue: Swiss Cottage Open Space

For further information please contact Karen Hall, Senior Parks Engagement Officer tel: 020 7974 8815 (this number will divert to a mobile on Saturday)

Marlborough Hill schools project - new consultation meetings on designs

Westminster City Council is running three consultation sessions to show residents indicative designs/masterplan for the rebuilding of the schools on this site. This will have some quite significant effects for residents in our ward so we are taking a close interest. Reading between the lines of the letter to local people from Westminster pasted below, Westminster has been responding, at least to some extent, to the concerns being expressed.

Westminster consultation letter below:


Marlborough Hill Campus Project

Since the St John’s Wood Area Forum on 17th November 2009 and the consultation event held on 2nd December 2009, we have been considering how best to move forward with the Marlborough Hill Campus project in the light of the comments received from local residents, the Local Planning Authority and the schools.

Approach to seeking planning permission

A number of concerns were stated about the approach being taken to apply for planning permission. There were calls for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and requests that we revisit the intention to submit separate planning applications for the north and south of the site.

Following a screening request to the Local Planning Authority (LPA), an EIA for the whole site is being carried out and a letter requesting confirmation of the necessary scope of this EIA has recently been submitted to the LPA for consideration (reference: 10/00642/EIAOP). It should be noted that the updated masterplan included within this letter is an indicative plan only to set the parameters of the EIA studies. It will be developed in far greater detail as the designs of Quintin Kynaston School progress over the coming weeks.

A co-ordinated approach to seeking planning permission for the project is now intended. This envisages a suite of applications, submitted at the same time, comprising a full application for the George Eliot Schools and Alternative Provision Centre, an outline application for the Quintin Kynaston School proposals (including the main community use facilities), and a full application for any temporary teaching accommodation which may be required on site during the project. The applications will be accompanied by an Environmental Statement that addresses the impact of the proposals for the whole MHC site. It is intended that these applications will be submitted together towards the end of May 2010.

Facilities

At previous consultations, comments were received about the types of facilities to be provided. Following a review of the demand and business cases for various parts of the scheme, it has now been decided not to include a swimming pool within the campus proposals. This provides greater flexibility as we look to achieve the optimum site layout and sports facilities.

Future opportunities to view and comment on the proposals

We would like to invite you to two consultation sessions prior to the submission of the proposed planning applications:

25th March 2010, between 3.30pm-8.00pm atGeorge Eliot Junior School
29th March 2010, 3.30pm-8.00pm, George Eliot Junior School
22nd April 2010, 3.30pm-8.00pm [venue to be confirmed].

At these events we will show you how the George Eliot Infants’ and Junior School and Alternative Provision Centre designs have been refined and developed since the December 2009 consultation. We are also in the process of developing the Quintin Kynaston School masterplan options and indicative designs. These will be available for you to view and comment on at these events so your comments can then be used to inform the final planning applications.

Company fined maximum £20,000 for breaking planning rules

We recognise the concerns about planning enforcement around our area, so wanted to highlight this story of very firm action taken by Camden.

A property company was fined more than £20,000 for the second time after failing to comply with a planning enforcement notice issued by Camden Council four years ago.

The notice was served on Bigger and Better Properties in 2006, and ordered them to make changes to the windows and some walls around their King’s Cross property.

The company had nine months to comply with the notice, but had still not done the work by the end of 2007, so the Council prosecuted and the company was fined £20,000, plus £600 costs.

Since the prosecution in 2007, the Council has worked with the company to try to get them to complete the works, but most still have not been done.

The company was prosecuted again for failing to comply with the enforcement notice and on 25 February was fined £20,000 plus £2,765 costs, and a £15 victim surcharge.

This shows the Council will not hesitate to take action against people who don’t comply with planning enforcement notices. This company has refused to comply with a notice served several years ago. The Council will continue to press for the works to be carried out, and will take further action if the company does not carry out the works they have been ordered to do.

Bigger and Better Properties converted an office in King’s Cross Road into eight flats. Planning permission was granted with conditions, which included ensuring the flats were in keeping with the conservation area and that windows did not overlook nearby properties.

However, the company installed uPVC windows on the flats, which is contrary to the conservation area policy. They also installed windows where they were not allowed, and clear windows when they should have been obscured, which means occupants of the flats could overlook other properties.

A terrace was also created on a flat roof, which meant flats could potentially be overlooked, and a former garage had been rebuilt half a metre higher than the plans allowed whilst being converted into another flat.

February car accidents in Goldhurst Terrace

Roger Freeman writes:

We three councillors are concerned that in the month of February the police have had to be called out twice for car accidents in the stretch of Goldhurst Terrace between Priory and Fairhazel.

At least the Feb 1 accident at the bend near Aberdare did not cause any human injuries, but the two car collision did mean that the Police (who have other things to do) did have to stop the traffic with consequent traffic disruption.

This Sunday night's accident, involving as it did a cyclist colliding with a car, was more serious with both a police and ambulance presence.

We are obviously in touch about this with the traffic engineers in Camden. We need to be clear there is no silver bullet ; making Goldhurst one way will have knock on effects in other streets and would be unpopular we suspect with many Goldhurst residents, not to mention those on other streets. Reducing car parking so that there are more passing spaces will also not be popular with many who rely on cars.
We have to recognize the budgetary restraints. That having been said, there does need to be a debate with people in these streets, out of which perhaps a consensus can emerge. We look forward to hearing views.