Thanks

It's not often, these days, that people remember to say thank you, so its so much more gratifying when they do.

Lots of us enjoy the West Hampstead Farmers Market which seems to be going from strength to strength and so I was delighted to receive the following email which I forwarded to my Lib Dem colleague, Cllr Gillian Risso Gill who was at the forefront of getting this market off the ground:

"I wanted to tell you how much I look forward to being able to shop at the farmers market on Saturdays on Iverson Rd. I don,t know whose idea it was to initiate this, but I for one am grateful.

I especially like to buy greens etc and fresh bread, and sometimes the lovely pies and pasties etc.

 .

I am also proud of myself for being able to support farmers and country folk, listening to the accents, it seems a number hail from the Midlands, so presumably get up early to travel and set up their stalls.

I do appreciate this and would like for them to know we appreciate all they do.

It is very much an enjoyable part of Saturday.

All good wishes "

As a local councillor, I and my colleagues are fully aware that many people contribute to ideas and initiatives which help to improve our area - individuals, local groups and public bodies all play a part and all are deserving of thanks. West Hampstead is full of people who care about their environment and about developments which threaten it or sometimes improve it. They write letters, start petitions and set up new groups. We are always delighted to encourage and support them - recent examples include the new Neighbourhood Development Forum and the proposed "Sherriff Centre Post Office" and try to ensure that everyone gets the credit and any due thanks!

It is somewhat surprising therefore to read a leaflet from another political party where a claim to have "saved" West Hampstead Police station comes from a Councillor from the other side of Finchley Road!!

(A dubious claim at best as the building may be technically  "saved" but will be closed to the public! And also because its his own friend and colleague, the Mayor of London is responsible for the closure in the first place!)

On this occasion thanks - but no thanks!

Looking at issues in West Hampstead

Caroline Pidgeon,  LibDem GLA member, who is Chair of the GLA Transport Committee and a member of the Police Authority visited West Hampstead on Friday to meet the local Lib Dem Councillors and look at various issues. These included the complicated relationships around the three West Hampstead stations and the future of local policing and the police station in Fortune Green Road.



Flick Rea explaining to Caroline Pidgeon how difficult it is at West Hampstead
for parents with buggies, the elderly and disabled and those with luggage

 Starting at the tube station, Flick Rea explained that there was no lift access to the platforms. Although this had been promised several times in the past,  it kept being dropped from Transport for London's access programme. Caroline promised to investigate why this was and proposed we should all campaign for this long needed improvement. We also discussed the promised provision of level access to the Overground which TfL have undertaken to pursue with the support of the developers of the "Ballymore site". (Apparently TfL consider West Hampstead (Overground ) a "key station"! But, bizarrely, no such support for West Hampstead Tube just across the road!)


Then, passing the fire station (fortunately not currently at risk) we walked up to the police station. Here we talked about the current plan to keep the station as a north-west "cluster" base whilst closing access to the public.

The flickering out of the police blue lamp?

It seems as if it will only be possible to contact the police for a couple of one hour sessions a week down at the SNT base opposite the tube. But, if no-one goes along during those two hours even this may eventually get dropped!

However we should still have our one pc, one PCSO and half a sergeant (and we're not even sure about the sergeant!!) at least for the time being. Not much to handle crime in Fortune Green we think. Caroline agrees this is a truly dreadful situation and the Lib Dems at City Hall made strenuous efforts to get the Tory Mayor to think again before agreeing his plans. Sadly, it seems he doesn't really listen to anyone these days and just goes charging off like a bull at a gate. (Reminiscent of other past Tory politicians when power goes to their heads?)

Water , water everywhere!

It seems that West Hampstead is always under water somewhere! This week the local papers published a letter from me adorned by this rather splendid Ken Pyne cartoon.

For the umpteenth time in the last few months, last weekend West End Lane was closed, buses were diverted and traffic congestion clogged surrounding streets. And all because of a cascade of water pouring out of the pavement by Sumatra Road.

For months now, our email in-boxes and answer machines have been overflowing with complaints about mains bursts and water leaks. West End Lane, Westbere Road, Hillfield Road - there's hardly a road in West Hampstead that hasn't suffered. Water streams across roads, burst out of the tarmac, seeps from the guttering and tries to make its way down faulty drains. And all the time residents are suffering from low water pressure which Thames Water simply ignores.  Thames Water is not only the most inefficient of all the public utilities, it is also the least responsive.  They make huge profits while giving us a truly dreadful service and we are virtually helpless – it’s not even as if we could find another provider and if you refuse to pay your bill they can simply cut you off!  And in a month’s time, they’ll probably be warning us about drought restrictions! Any (legal) suggestions as to what we can do?

The very thin blue line - local policing

Well - now we know what the future of policing looks like! We also know how much or little the Mayor has listened to the people of London.

As we said previously, West Hampstead Police station will NOT be closed but will be used for "deployment."

The new public "contact point" will be at our local SNT base179- 181 West End Lane but only open a couple of hours a week.

(They say: Contact Points are open every Wed-Thur evening between 19.00 and 20.00 and every Saturday afternoon between 14.00 and 15.00)

So catching sight of a police officer will be like spotting a member of an endangered species!

These are the views of Caroline Pidgeon who is the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the London Assembly and Deputy Chair of the Police and Crime Committee:

"The Mayor published this morning his final Police and Crime Plan for London.  This follows consultation meetings in each Borough and a wide range of responses from Communities and individuals across London including the London Assembly Lib Dem Group.

Front Counters

The Plan has hardly changed from its initial draft.  63 police front counters will now close across London.  You can find the full details of the future police front counters and some of the possible new contact points for your borough through this link.

Safer Neighbourhood Teams

The Mayor is going ahead with his plans to cut our dedicated and valued Safer Neighbourhood teams to only one Police Constable and one PCSO per ward.  The other ‘neighbourhood policing’ officers will be for each Borough and will be allocated by the Borough Commander.  They will also all have a new investigative role, moving away from the traditional problem solving and intelligence gathering role that has seen confidence in the local police increase.

Our position

My concerns are that this plan is a return to the bad old days of policing.  The Mayor is planning to decimate dedicated Safer Neighbourhood Teams and return to ‘sector’ policing which failed so many communities across London. 

At the same time the closure of 63 police front counters will dramatically reduce the ability of many Londoners to access the police, especially when reporting some of the most serious forms of crime.  To add insult to injury we are still being denied the full details of how the new contact points will operate, especially the hours they will actually be open and the locations.  Some will only open for 3 hours a week which is not the like for like replacement that the Mayor has previously promised.

If you have any further questions then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

With best wishes

Caroline

Caroline Pidgeon AM Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Chair Transport Committee Deputy Chair Police and Crime Committee  

www.carolinepidgeon.org

Latest news on the wheelie bins - its a green one!

Councillors have just received the following (and some of us have also had the promised letter so, apologies if you already know all this)

Changes to recycling in Camden this summer – update

From July, suitable properties north of the Euston Road will be provided with wheelie bins so that paper, plastic and glass recycling can be put in one place. Experience from other councils that have introduced wheelie bins shows that by providing additional storage capacity the amount of recycling increases.

Letters and surveys about preferred wheelie bin size and colour were sent to suitable properties north of the Euston Road in October.

Feedback from the survey and from community groups has been used to clarify which properties are to receive wheelie bins when the new recycling service starts.

This month, another letter will be sent out to the same properties with the following updates:

• Residents who responded to the survey will receive a letter to confirm that they will receive a 140 litre bin or 240 litre bin in line with their response
• Those residents who live in flats will also get an update on the number of wheelie bins for their building
• Residents who contacted the Council to say that they do not want a wheelie bin will receive a letter to confirm that they will not receive a bin.
• If a resident who does not want a wheelie bin lives in a flat their response has been taken into account, but their building may still receive a wheelie bin based on the responses of others in the same building.
• Those who did not respond to the survey will receive a letter letting them know that they will be receiving a bin/their building will be receiving bins
• The majority of residents asked for a green wheelie bin or did not mind which colour they received. All residents will therefore receive a green wheelie bin. This also takes into account requests from community groups that all wheelie bins be the same colour. 

This letter also has information about how to contact us, so that residents can let us know if they would like a different sized or no bin or have any comments. Wheelie bins will be delivered in the summer and residents who want a wheelie bin will be contacted again with a delivery date closer to the time.

Community groups are also being contacted with an update on the changes and another opportunity to request that a Council officer attend one of their meetings to discuss these changes.

October’s survey received 8000 responses, and these have provided useful information about recycling in Camden. Responses said that the biggest single barrier to recycling is that people feel they currently did not have a big enough box or container. Residents also said that they do not have enough information about what to recycle. In order to deal with this last point the next letter will include a list of all of the items which can be recycled in Camden

Feedback and further information

You can view useful questions and answers at camden.gov.uk/recyclingchanges.

Email inbox at recyclingiseasy@camden.gov.uk is checked regularly and ensures that all emails are managed. Please use this email address if you have any questions for the service.

Council officers are still available to visit community groups to give updates and address any concerns. Groups can contact recyclingiseasy@camden.gov.uk or call 020 7974 4444 with requests or questions.

There is also a further opportunity to see what happens to Camden’s mixed recycling after it is collected by visiting the Bywaters materials recycling facility, in Bromley by Bow. The next opportunity to visit, which is open to any interested residents or community leaders, will take place at 12.20pm to 2pm on 8 April (Monday). If you or group members would like to be included on the next trip please email recyclingiseasy@camden.gov.uk or telephone 020 7974 4444 to register your interest. Information about the facility can also be seen at bywaters.co.uk/services/mrf.php

20mph zone - Council consultation

Camden is consulting on a proposal to introduce 20 mph speed limit in all those areas of the borough which are not currently so limited.

For Fortune Green this means all of Fortune Green Ward from Finchley Road to Westbere Road. (not including Finchley Road which is a Red Route and managed by Transport for London.) (Note that West of Westbere Road has already been declared a 20mph zone)

The Council says:

"The proposal is to help reduce road casualties and create more pleasant neighbourhoods for everyone.  Many roads in Camden are already 20 mph and a borough-wide 20 mph speed limit would use signage and road markings only. Speed humps or cushions would not be installed as part of this scheme.

It is expected that a 20 mph speed limit will reduce the number of people killed and injured on Camden’s roads and by making our roads safer and more pleasant to use this will encourage more walking and cycling.

They are asking people to fill in a survey on line by 25^th March which you can find by clicking on the link below.
Proposal to introduce a borough-wide 20 mph speed limit

Law and Order -NOT

Where are we heading with local policing?  It seems no-one really knows for sure.

The debate around the future of policing in Camden has been plagued by poor consultation (and a fair bit of misinformation!)

The Camden “consultation” event on Mayor Johnson’s Police and Crime Plan held at the Camden Centre at the end of January was generally regarded to have been shambolic, and an occasion when the panel seemed more interested in talking at than listening to those who took the trouble to attend.

A few days later some 50 local residents attended the West Hampstead and Fortune Green area forum on a bitterly cold night, anxious to hear about plans for the closure of the front counter at West Hampstead police station and fearful that the station would close altogether. Lib Dem local councillor John Bryant led a lively debate but sadly both the police and Camden’s community safety team had sent their apologies.

Then Camden’s Labour Cabinet Member for Community Safety set up a meeting on the same subject on Wednesday 6^th March at West Hampstead library with minimal publicity and short notice, which only attracted four local residents plus councillors.  However, Camden’s Borough Commander of police Richard Tucker was present and promised a further, better organised and more widely advertised meeting once the result of the police consultation is published. He also said he hoped to find a way to keep the front counter open at Fortune Green police station!

Meanwhile at yesterday’s Fortune Green Safer Neighbourhood Panel meeting, the “North Area” Inspector, Matt Ashmead, outlined what local police have been told of latest schemes. We will be part of the “North Area” (or cluster) which stretches from Highgate to Kilburn and will have more “neighbourhood police” than before, but they will be doing different things.

Fortune Green and West Hampstead will drop to dedicated teams of one shared sergeant, one PC each and one PCSO each plus another PCSO who will not be dedicated to the SNT. There may be other officers who can be called on to help out if they aren’t busy in, say, Highgate!  Not very reassuring and its clear no-one knows if this will work.

The Area Inspector will set overall priorities and it will be up to the local panels to find their own “priorities” (or what they are calling “promises”) to slot in under these.

Inspector Ashmead also told us the latest plan is for the North Area Team to be based at the police station in Fortune Green so the building itself  should remain whether or not it is open to the public. “Contact points” are to established across the area which will be open to the public for about 4 hours a day – one during the week and one on Saturdays. These are now NOT going to be in Costa Coffee or Sainsbury’s but maybe in the SNT bases.

It’s still all shrouded in mystery and speculation and the scene in the library where all is revealed seems some way off yet! It would take the assorted skills of Poirot, Miss Marple, and Sherlock Holmes to untangle this plot!