Well attended Swiss Cottage Community meeting

We'd around 60 people at the inaugural meeting of the Swiss Cottage Area Action Group tonight. A very diverse group across the ward, though fewer younger people. While there's obviously always a worry that such meetings can be talking shops, people seemed to find it useful and there is a great desire to get access to good relevant information on council and TfL policies.

We covered the broad outline of the financial challenges the Council faces. There were considerable concerns about cuts and a desire to protect above all services for young people and for vulnerable elderly people. Comments included using school buildings more effectively outside school hours, and having more out of school activities at reasonable cost for children over five.

It was interesting that nobody seemed concerned at the reduction in rubbish collections to once a week, but on the other hand there were a lot of specific comments and complaints about how the recycling system is now working. We'll do some digging with Environment managers on these points and get back to people.

Camden Transport officers gave an excellent presentation on both the new Camden transport strategy, which is currently out for consultation, and some of the specific transport issues around Finchley Rd. Officers are taking up a number of issues with TfL, including the phasing of lights at the end of Goldhurst, better crossing at the top of Greencroft, and timing of pedestrian lights on Finchley Rd by the library. We heard that TfL is going to look properly at options for improving pedestrian crossings at each of the three corners of the Swiss Cottage gyratory system.