Wednesday 28 November 2012

School stories

We know lots of local people complained about the grey bricks used for the new Emmanuel School Building, but the inside is magnificent. They have their school fair there this coming Saturday - so go along and take a peek! It is light and airy and a wonderful place for local children to get their education. The playground is pretty spectacular too! Now all that remains is to tidy up and regenerate the rest of the site including the wildlife area. The side road is to be relaid over the next 2 or 3 weeks so it will be difficult (or impossible) to access the garden centre. If you want to get your Christmas tree you will have talk to them at the Christmas Market on West End Green where they will have a stall.

We know there are shortages of school places in the area (and indeed all over Camden) but rather doubt if the latest wannabee local school is the one to supply them. There is likely to be an application shortly from an independent school which already exists in Westminster and requires an extension, to move into the empty units in the "Sager Building" on Fortune Green - likely to cause some apprehension about traffic and parking if for no other reason in residents around the Green. There is already huge pressure on parking spaces from people using the gym at all hours of day and night, not to speak of more usual traffic from local restaurantas and Tesco.
We understand the school plans an exhibition some time soon - presumably in the vacant unit so interested and concerned local residents will be able to assess this plan for themselves.

A two tree story

First - on Monday 19th November, I helped plant a new tree on West End Green to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (actually the second tree in our area planted for the Jubilee - the other is in Hampstead Cemetery in Fortune Green Road). The tree on the Green was sponsored by local estate agents Chelsea Square (with grateful thanks) and this picture (courtesy of Jonathan from West Hampstead Life) shows Ray Jacobs of Chelsea Square and me at the very informal ceremony. It is a tree of a moderate size whose leaves will turn a spectacular red in the autumn contrasting with the existing trees.


Secondly - as I was posting the story above a sad story came in via twitter that another young tree was missing! See this picture retweeted.  Just the tree support is left!

When did it go missing? And who is the phantom tree thief of West Hampstead? Hopefully the tree above is a bit too big to vanish but our young street trees are always vulnerable to attack and theft - at least at present they won't die of thirst!

Christmas Market in West Hampstead

SUPPORT LOCAL TRADERS THIS CHRISTMAS!   
When:   Saturday 8th December 2012

Where:  West End Green, West End Lane and Emmanuel Church NW6 1LU.
Time: From 10-4pm
A seasonal mix of offerings from local people for local people – mulled wine, food, chocolate, jewellery, arts and crafts.
An excellent chance to buy your Christmas presents and find out what’s available in your local area.
·    Entertaining and exciting range of activities for young and old! In the Church there will be holly wreath making, zumba demonstrations, yoga, magician, face painting, balloon artist and fairies. 
    Thanks to all those involved with the third local Christmas Market, especially local estate agents Alexanders and the West Hampstead Community Centre. Stalls are sold out but offers of help on the day are welcome. Email: westhampsteadxmasmarket@gmail.com

Under threat?

One of my neighbours at the top end of Fortune Green always talks about “going to the village” when she is going down the hill to West End Lane. This always strikes me as charming, if a little odd, coming as I do from a proper village in the country, but I know when people talk about West Hampstead they often refer to the “villagey feel” as one of the things that make it special. And, in fact, there are those who say London is actually just a collection of villages!
So West Hampstead is different from Hampstead or St John’s Wood or Highgate and does have its own identity – but what gives it that identity? Like our posher neighbour up in NW3 we have a tube station, a bus terminus and a “village green” with public lavatories; a police station and a library , a post office and a “parish church”. Additionally here we have a synagogue and a fire station which are both listed buildings while we probably both have an equal number of estate agents, charity shops, cafes and hairdressers and a handful of independent shops.
Hampstead’s police station has been under notice for many years and its library has now become a “community library” and not part of Camden’s public library service, while its independent shops are struggling to survive. The community there feels threatened.
What of West Hampstead – how much of our “village” is likely to leach away in coming months and years? Our police station too is under threat (and this time it’s genuine) from the Conservative Mayor’s cuts and our fire station is trembling on the reserve list of his cuts. The Council offices have closed and our West End Lane Post Office is likely to move, we only have one bank left, and there are rumours of changes to the library while many of our shops are having a hard time. What will be left of our local services?
Our police station on Fortune Green Road is closed to the public much of the time – and not the most beautiful building in the area – so would people really miss it? Who drops in there these days? For many years now, if you report, say, a burglary, the response is most likely to come from Kentish Town!  If you have a problem with people causing a regular disturbance, most of us would contact our Safer Neighbourhood Teams who do have a visible presence in the area.
So what would the effect be if the front counter at the police station is closed all the time? Well, many of our residents are telling us that it matters to them and the local community, and that the police station is a reassuring presence in our midst. Closing the front counter feels like the thin edge of the wedge, leading to total closure before long.
However, it is the drastic cuts in the overall police budget by the Tory Mayor which present the biggest threat to Londoners, with a big reduction in police numbers as well as the closing of front counters and replacing them with “access points” which would only be available a few days a week.
Locally, it looks as if we will keep our two Safer Neighbourhood Teams, but possibly with reduced numbers. Compared to the rest of Camden our crime figures are low but losing highly visible officers could affect us all.
This is why we have created an online petition to object to Boris’s cuts.  If you agree with us, please sign!   http://tinyurl.com/camdenpolice  (going live as of Thursday 29 Nov)

Saturday 3 November 2012

Notice anything new?

The new community noticeboard that's been installed outside West Hampstead library is the final touch in the popular improvements to the outside of the library first planned a couple of years ago when the Liberal Democrats were running Camden Council.

Regular "area forum" attenders will remember that in those days area forums had a small budget to spend on local projects. One of the ideas the West Hampstead and Fortune Green area forum came up with was to improve the outside of the library, including the new entrance, the benches and a new community notice board.

The steps and benches were done earlier this year, and after we reminded Camden about the noticeboard, it's finally turned up. We're sure that that local groups including West Hampstead Community Centre will welcome the board to advertise their activities, and we will certainly be advertising our councillors' advice surgeries there.