Moving forward at Maygrove Peace Park

The AGM of the Friends of Maygrove Peace Park was held last week and reviewed progress on the park since last year - an amazing amount has happened - mew adventure play equipment, new under fives area, outdoor gym equipment, CCTV, clearing and planting and creating new sightlines - its just not the same place as it was a year ago after Thames Water had fin ished their work and left the place a shambles! The Friends group have put in lots of effort and mounted several events - notably a cream tea in the summer- much enjoyed by all.

Last weeks meeting concentrated on planting schemes for spring and summer - (see photo for the group looking at the plans) and the proposal to put the park up for a Green Flag award this year - if all goes well!

Tesco troubles - again

A quiet morning in Fortune Green Road - but for how long?

We have received dozens of emails, comments to the blog and phone calls nearly all worried about issues potentially arising from Tesco imposing itself on our neghbourhood - parking, loading and unloading, noise and nuisance. (Though, to be fair, we have had a couple saying they would welcome Tesco - but I bet they don't live next door! Possibly they even work for Tesco!!)

Problem is they don't have to have permission from ANYONE to open here - they do need permission to sell alcohol though - so - all you objectors - get writing - and don't forget to copy us in ( flick.rea@camden.gov.uk) We will do our objection at the weekend and will post it here.

In the meantime, Aidan Doyle of Walnut (corner of West End Lane by West End Green) is hosting a public meeting in his restaurant at 8.00 on Monday evening. See you there!

Tesco objections

A local resident has given permission for me to publish his letter to Camden - quite a head of steam building up here. I do hope all those who are objecting to me and to each other will also formally object to the Council's Licensing team.

"I would like to oppose the above application on the grounds that I believe that the sale of alcohol in the hours requested. The sale of alcohol by Tesco's will increase noise at unsocial hours and we expect will lead to public nuisance, antisocial and disruptive behaviour. It is also likely to encourage loitering and litter, begging and noise.

There is no need for a Tesco's to sell off-license. We are also concerned that the policy of Tesco's to sell cut price alcohol contributes to over consumption. Fortune Green is already well served by independent off-licenses who have proven themselves to take a community attitude to their customers and have handled the sale of alcohol responsibly.

The streets in this area are also not suitable for cars to park as there are bus stops outside and otherwise parking is restricted in narrow roads (Ingham, Burrard and Weech), meaning that we expect teh presence of Tesco's customers and deliveries will put pressure on existing busy roads (where there are already existing problems of access).

It is well documented in local press that Tesco's development in West End lane has already caused considerable disruption to that area and I don't understand why you would encourage more of the same.

I represent the view of numerous other residents who I hope will express their views independently to you and who also believe have received no consultation about Camden's decision to grant a lease to Tesco.

I will look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely


Will Jeffery"

Gondar gardens latest

This is a email to local residents, members of the Gondar and Agamemnon Residents Association from the Chair:
"Linden Homes, the new owners of the reservoir, have removed all the trees from the street frontage in spite of our protests.
Their explanation that this is "for maintenance reasons and to reduce the risk of branches falling onto the street" does not sound credible. GARA immediately protested and requested them to leave alone at least those trees that are set back from the street. It seems to us that they might have been deliberately removing habitat in advance of a nesting season, rather than for "maintenance". Our understanding is that the strip of land, about 10m deep, next to the road, is not part of the Site of Nature Conservation Interest and hence they are probably within their rights.
Linden Homes have also stated their intention to put up hoardings along the street frontage, which would restrict foxes and other mammals from using the site for foraging and also prevent us from seeing what is going on!
More news when we get it. You can help by being vigilant and letting us know if anything significant is going on."

Meanwhile I have been talking to planners and enforcement officers at the Council as to whether it is legal for Linden Homes to erect hoardings without permission ... watch this spot!

A new school for Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead

News just in from the Council which is good news for all parents in our area. It means the new secondary school at Swiss Cottage can go ahead!

The Government’s Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and University College London (UCL) have signed a legally binding ‘Funding Agreement’. The move means that Camden will get a new secondary school and UCL is confirmed as the academy sponsor.
The agreement between the Secretary of State and UCL sets out the legal and financial details of how the academy will be funded, both during its set up and when it is running. It makes specific reference to existing legislation to ensure that the academy will operate in a similar fashion to other state-funded schools.

Councillor Janet Grauberg, Executive Member for Children and Young People, Camden Council, said: "The academy is an important part of our wider Building Schools for the Future programme which will bring £250million pounds of investment to Camden schools. I am delighted that the plans are progressing so well and that we’ll be able to start work on the site this year."

Request from the police

Camden Police and Camden Council are working together to deal with anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in your area.
Camden police are appealing for information and witnesses following an assault in Cricklewood Broadway NW2, which took place on Friday 4th December 2009 at approximately 23.50 hours.
The 25 year old male victim was making his way home along Cricklewood Broadway when he was involved in a verbal dispute with the suspect, a friend of the victim intervened and broke up the argument and the suspect walked off.
The victim and his friends then walked to the victims home nearby, whilst they stood outside the address the suspect approached making a motion to hug the victim and stabbed him. The suspect then ran away and jumped on to a bus travelling towards Edgware, however, the bus refused to take him, he then ran off along Keys Road.
The Victim sustained two stab wounds, one to his abdomen and one to his armpit (Non attrib). London Ambulance Service attended and the victim was taken to the Royal Free Hospital for treatment.
The suspect is described as a black male about 25 years old, wearing dark clothing with a scar under one of his eyes.
No arrests. Enquiries continue.

Detective Constable Barron from the Violent Crime Unit commented: "We believe this was an unprovoked attack which left a man seriously injured, thankfully the victim has now made a full recovery. We are appealing to anyone who was in the area at the time who may have witnessed the attack."
Anyone with information is urged to call Camden police on 0300 123 1212 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Troubled by Tesco?

Thanks for various comments and emails about the proposed licensing hours for the proposed new Fortune Green Tesco. Please keep them coming and make sure to register any objections to the licensing hours with Camden. There are 2 applications - one is simply designating the premises supervisor and the second (details below) is the important one and relates to hours for sale of alcohol -its actually 6.00am-11pm . You have until 4th February to "make representations" which need to be based on one of the recognised reasons for objection - see Camden's website for these and also for the way to put in your comments/objections. Here is the link:
http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/business/business-regulations/licensing-and-permits/licensing-information-for-residents/
Don't forget to let us know if you have written to Camden. (you can email; flick.rea@camden.gov.uk)

Details of the application
Reference number
APP\PREMISES-NEW\000876
Premises name
Tesco
Premises address
37-63 FORTUNE GREEN ROAD
LONDON
NW6 1DR
Status
Application in Progress
Applicant name
Tesco Stores Ltd
Alcohol hours applied For
Mondays: 6:00am to 23:00pm
Tuesdays: 6:00am to 23:00pm
Wednesdays: 6:00am to 23:00pm
Thursdays: 6:00am to 23:00pm
Fridays: 6:00am to 23:00pm
Saturdays: 6:00am to 23:00pm
Sundays: 6:00am to 23:00pm
Activities applied for
Supply of alcohol
Type of application
Premises - New Licence (Camden)
Club or Premises
Premises
Received date
07/01/2010
Last date for representation
04/02/2010

Water, water, water everywhere!

One of the results of the recent cold weather has of course been loads of broken pipes and when these are out in the streets we all notice them At the weekend we reported what looked like water leaks or damaged mains in Broomsleigh Street and Ulysses Road . Coming home this evening, I spotted water spouting up at the bottom of Lyncroft gardens outside Emmanuel Church and running down the side of West End Green. About to go home and report it, I found a man in a Thames Water van so I stopped to speak to him. He said the one I'd seen was only popping up through a BT cable and it started somewhere else - up the hill. So I told him about Ulysses Road which he didn't seem to know about. (And so I suggested he gave me a lift up there - a suggestion he ignored!!) On my way up the hill found what looked like another small spring up Fortune Green Road and by the time I'd got as far as Ulysses Road I found my man in van again! Just where the water was pouring out (not for the first tme I think - there's always been a weakness there and a couple of patch-up jobs have been carried out there. He looked quite interested but I left him to it. He said he couldn't stop it without switching off the water - so if you lose your water supply in the Greek Roads it could be all my fault!

Weekend tree massacre

Yet again a developer has chosen to clear trees from a site at the weekend - just when it's really difficult to get hold of anyone to intervene! (We remember the total destruction of all vegetation on the Mill Lane site not that long ago!)

On Saturday morning residents on Gondar Gardens heard the sound of chain saws on the reservoir site and rushed out to investigate . The Chair of the Residents Association complained to the new owners of the site - Linden Homes - who only purchased it a week ago but who had been in contact with the Residents Association and said they wanted to work with local people and would keep them informed as to their plans. So Saturday's tree felling came as a nasty surprise!

For those who do not know - - the site is a now disused and empty reservoir - made redundant by Thames Water a few years ago. It is virtually landlocked - bordered by Gondar Gardens and Hillfield and Agamemnon Roads and its one of the hidden joys of West Hampstead. Thames wanted to put a large development on it but a sturdy defence by local groups persuaded everyone that most of the site should be classified as an Area of Scientific Interest because of its wildlife - many birds and small mammals and especially slowworms (which are an endangered species). So far so good. But a strip near the road was not included and it is here that the tree felling took place yesterday. It is private land so they were legally entitled to proceed, but the trees are now largely gone and with them the habitat for the birds and worst of all - the new owners have demonstrated they are not to be trusted!

We managed to get a Council officer around who confirmed they were within their legal rights but we intend to pursue this vigorously with Camden Planning to make sure that Linden Homes stay within their rights in future and come clean about their plans! Watch this spot!

Tesco are coming

Just heard that Tesco is, after all the months of conflicting rumours, planning to come to Fortune Green to Unit 4 of the Sager development! Before you comment - remember that they don't need PLANNING permission. When the Government Inspector overruled local residents and the Council and allowed the development to have permssion - this included a restaurant and shops - any shops. What they have applied for, however, is LICENSING permission for alcohol sales (off license) from 6.00am till 11.00 pm!
We'd love to know what you think!

Snow revisited

And again it fell slowly and stealthily this time all night - but this time it seems its no good contacting the Council to ask for our grit bins to be filled as the Goverment has asked them not to!! So don't complain to me - get in touch with Gordon Brown - or Transport Minister Andrew Adonis! It looks as if we'll all just have to slide about until it goes away - whenever that may be!
At least the cold weather will help to get rid of various garden pests and swine flu!

Grit bins

We are told there are 140 grit bins in Camden - not actually a lot! There is one round the corner on my road which I know has been filled (and emptied )several times but several seem to have gone missing including one at the junction of Sarre and Westbere Roads. However, as conscientious local Councillors we have reported this and got this immediate response:


Unfortunately it seems that the bin we had at this location was stolen. We are ordering 20 new grit bins to add to the 140+ that we currently have on the streets and as soon as they arrive, one will be put at this location.

Hooray! Although of course it may arrive after the snow has gone - if it ever does!

Meanwhile we have had two reports of people driving up with buckets and shovels and loading up with OUR grit and driving off! No wonder the bins are often empty!

And yet more snow!

Snow scenes on Fortune Green and from my back window!

Weather update - Friday 8th Jan

This morning's update from Camden...

---

The latest weather forecast for today shows snow flurries of up to 3cm are possible in London but mainly across the east and southeast of the capital. Winds will remain north to northeasterly.

Roads
Gritting of priority roads continued last night and has started this morning. All main priority routes remain open and buses are running.

We have enough grit to last today and tonight covering our main priority roads. We are expecting further deliveries of grit today.

Many side roads are covered in sheet ice and remain hazardous.

York Way and Arkwright Road NW3 are closed because of continued water leaks and Chetwynd Road NW5 is closed because of an abandoned British Gas van.

The gritting and maintenance of Red Routes and their adjoining pavements – Finchley Road, Camden Road and Euston Road – is the responsibility of Transport for London.

Pavements
Maintenance teams will continue to break up ice off main pavements but no grit will be spread today to conserve supplies. Pavements remain hazardous for pedestrians.

Pavements next to main routes will get some of the gritting overflow.

Refuse and recycling
The refuse and recycling service will remain disrupted all the time this spell of bad weather persists. We will make sure that every home gets at least one collection this week and will work over this weekend to catch up, weather permitting.

Regis Road recycling centre is expected to open this morning

Parks
All parks are open today.

Parking
We will enforce main roads only north of the Euston Road and all roads South of Euston Road. CCTV enforcement and removals will continue across the whole borough.

Transport
Transport services will not be running today and all affected clients have been contacted.

Schools
A list of schools closed will be posted on our website as we receive this information.

Housing
We are prioritising gritting on walkways on estates to ensure supplies last for as long as possible.

A number of Decent Homes sites have been closed for health and safety reasons, although work is continuing where possible; albeit on a reduced scale.

We are keeping residents informed of any site closures and are working closely with tenants over improvements currently in progress.

We will place up to date information about how services are affected on our web site so please check this regularly.

Snow in Camden

Councillors have just received this update about how the council is responding to the snow.

Do get in touch if there's any particular areas you think we can help chase up.

More updates can be found from the front page of the Camden website - http://www.camden.gov.uk/

---

Dear Councillor,
Due to freezing overnight temperatures, ice in London and the surrounding counties is the main issue today. More snow may come today.

Roads
Principle routes in Camden were gritted last night and are passable with caution. Most main roads remain open with some closed due to burst water mains which includes York Way. These have been reported to Thames Water. Arkwright Road remains closed despite the barriers being removed by the public, we continue to replace these. Side roads and pavements are icy.

Low grit levels are now a London-wide issue. We have received a delivery of 30 tonnes of grit and are expecting another 30 tonnes before 10am today with a further 100 tonnes by the end of the day.

Maintenance teams are responding to calls and will start gritting principle routes again early this afternoon.

We will be issuing messages on our website for residents to take care when using the roads and pavements and to only make car journeys that are absolutely necessary to allow our gritters to lay further grit on priority routes.

Pavements
Pavements are hazardous in many places. Street cleansing is still suspended, to allow crews to work solely on physically clearing snow from high priority pavements such as town centres, hospitals, doctors’ surgeries, schools and tube stations. This is difficult and time consuming. With the medium range forecast, supplies are being conserved.

Pavements next to main routes will get some of the gritting overflow but no other pavements in the borough will be gritted.

Gritting of roads and pavements has been carried out in line with our winter maintenance plan.

Refuse and recycling
There will be severe disruption to refuse and recycling services this week. We will make sure that every home gets at least one collection this week and will work over this weekend to catch up, weather permitting. Crews have gritted roads to Regis Road recycling centre will be opened later today.

Parks
All parks have been opened today. Paths in parks have not been gritted so could be hazardous.

Parking
Yesterday we enforced all main roads in the borough both by CCTV and on street but did not enforce side roads or carry out removals. We will enforce all main roads north of the Euston Road and carry out removals only on main roads. We will be pragmatic and fair in local circumstances where markings may be obscured. We will enforce on all roads south of Euston Road.

[Council]Transport [ie not TfL!]
Transport services will not be running today. Special educational needs children will not be transported by our services to Jack Taylor and Swiss Cottage schools who have been informed. There will be no transport to any of the day centres and resource centres who have been informed. All clients are being advised by transport services by phone. Social services are aware and are contacting effected service users. Care arrangements will be in place for any vulnerable clients.

Schools
We have provided advice to schools about opening during the bad weather. We have been told that South Camden, Maria Fidelis, St Dominics, New End, Chalcott and Gospel Oak schools are closed today. Rosary School is partially opening but the nursery is closed. We will update the web site with the most up to date information on schools.

Housing
We are prioritising gritting on walkways on estates to ensure supplies last for as long as possible.

Apollo has suspended work for health and safety reasons.

Staff
A news item will be sent to staff today saying it will be business as usual and that they are expected to travel to work as long as it is safe to do so. A message has also being left on the staff information line. If there is disruption to the transport system many staff will be able to work from home.

We will place up to date information about how services are affected on our web site so please check this regularly.

Paul Inglefield
Head of Communications

Something special

This isn't about Fortune Green - but self indulgence! In my capacity as "Culture Boss" of Camden, I am responsible for the refurbishment of Kentish Town Baths. Probably not somewhere visited very often by residents of NW2/6 but greatly loved by local people over the other side of Camden! Falling to bits and neglected by previous administrations over many years, in 2006 we took the bold decision to restore the baths to their former glory. The total cost of the project is £25million which is a huge amount of money to be responsible for and I have been determined it won't all go wrong, take twice as long or cost lots more money like Swiss Cottage did. Yesterday - before it snowed - I went on one of my regular visits and this is what the newly restored Willes Pool looks like now! Gorgeous!

New Year update and TV special

This is the view from my window of Fortune Green today - so - stuck at home- I thought it was time to update this blog!

I've been lazy over Christmas - spending time with family and friends and not worrying too much about the Council which always seems to go to sleep for a couple of weeks! Although I did get a call from someone on Xmas Eve - luckily it wasn't urgent!

Before Xmas though we were all hugely busy! The worst thing was the failure of heating on West End Sidings estate which involved many phone calls and furious emails until it all got finally sorted out and all residents got their heating back.

One piece of news that won't have made local residents happy was that planning permission for the new development on Maygrove Road was approved. I spoke up to voice the objections of local residents, and Russell Eagling who is also on the Development Control Committee voted against, but everyone else was in favour. We still think its just too big!

Before, during and after Christmas we have been bombarded with emails, texts and updates from Camden to tell us what they are doing during the bad weather. They have been doing their best - we know there have been complaints about the side streets but they have to concentrate on the main roads first! My local grit box has been filled and emptied several times! Here is the message that was issued late yesterday:

The Met Office is currently forecasting 2-5 cms of snow to fall across the borough from 9pm tonight, continuing into the early hours and throughout Wednesday.
Maintenance crews will start pre-gritting priority main roads and bus routes from 7pm this evening, after the rush hour. Pavements in high footfall areas such as town centres, hospitals, doctors’ surgeries, schools and tube stations will be gritted from 5pm this evening. All this is in line with our winter maintenance plan.
Further bad weather is predicted to last throughout the week and we have 200 staff on standby to enable us to respond with every resource at our disposal to minimise disruption.
We currently have 300 tonnes of grit salt at our Camley Street site and expect a delivery of a further 200 tonnes shortly.
We will be issuing messages on our website for residents to take care when using the roads and pavements and to only make car journeys that are absolutely necessary to allow our gritters to lay further grit on priority routes.
Parking enforcement is taking place as normal across the borough but this situation will be reviewed regularly. If the situation warrants the suspension of parking enforcement we will update you and our website as soon as we can.
Four schools across the borough, Eleanor Palmer, Jack Taylor, Carlton and Cobden were closed today due to heating problems but these have now been resolved. Should the adverse weather conditions lead to school closures tomorrow updates will be posted on our website.
Adult social care managers have implemented plans to ensure home care and other services for vulnerable people continue if there is disruption.

Our priority for housing estates is to grit pathways and walkways as most roads in estates are not priority routes. All requests for gritting pathways and walkways in estates should be made to district housing offices.

We will place up to date information about how services are affected on our web site so please check this regularly.
A news item was sent to staff today saying it will be business as usual and that they are expected to travel to work as long as it is safe to do so. A message is also being left on the staff information line. If there is disruption to the transport system many staff will be able to work from home.

Meanwhile Camden was on TV! Not Fortune Green but Grange Park. The outdoor gym was featured on the Breakfast Show on Jan 4th - encouraging residents to get out and work off all their Christmas indulgences! Local resident Grace Auguste who is a"motivator" (ie someone who encourages others to use the equipment properly) was interviewed by the BBC reporter. It was very cold - but before the snow - don't think anyone will be using it in this weather!

Anyway - Happy 2010 to everyone! Except the person who stole my daughters bag on Jan2nd!