On the Street where you live

Just received a comment from an anonymous reader of this blog asking whether we could put "Narcissus Road" on the heading to the blog along with all the other roads. The reason its not on the heading is -it's been carefully worked out - this "Spotlight" blog covers Fortune Green ward (with occasional cross posting with West Hampstead's Spotlight blog) but the roads at the top of this one are all in Fortune Green, whereas Narcissus Road is with all the other "West Hampstead ward" roads at the top of the West Hampstead blog?

Confused? Not surprisingly as the ward boundaries change from time to time but as far as Spotlight is concerned they are often irrelevant - for example Mill Lane is the official dividing line between the wards but matters concerned with Mill Lane are of interest to both wards. West End Lane is largely within West Hampstead ward, but anything going on there is naturally of huge interest to anyone living up the road in Fortune Green - though less so if you live near Cricklewood Broadway(in Fortune Green ward) or near the 02 Centre (in West Hampstead Ward!)

Still confused? Never mind - just remember that across West Hampstead and Fortune Green you have two teams of three Lib Dem "Spotlight" councillors all dedicated to the interests of local residents - that means YOU - whether you live in Narcissus Road or anywhere else in West Hampstead!

PS Just to prove we are the ones who keep in touch all year round - look out for next printed Spotlight coming to you sometime soon!

Exercise 24/7?

The new Gym which is part of the Sager building has applied to change the planning condition which restricts its opening hours. It wants to be allowed to be open all day AND all night!! Apparently its to cater for the early morning trade -the 5.0 or 6.0 am fitness freaks who want a work out before going to their day job. Well, fine - I'm all for healthy lifestyles (as long as no-one expects me to participate - particularly at ungodly hours) and can just about see a reason for early morning opening but all night? Would love to hear views fom others - if you want to you can post a comment here or email me at flick.rea@camden.gov.uk

West Hampstead - short-changed - again?

Just when we thought that plans were all falling into place to improve access to West Hampstead Thameslink and to make it safer for pedestrians around Iverson Road it seems that the plans, if not derailed, are most certainly being downgraded!

West Hampstead Thameslink Station Upgrade
Network Rail's planned improvements included platform lengthening to fit 12-carriage trains, a new pedestrian bridge with step free access linking to a new station building on Iverson Road and a new "public space" between West End Lane and the station building. In December 2009,the Council gave Prior Approval (a form of planning permission) toNetwork Rail for the station building and public space. The shops along from the corner were demolishd as part of this process (see blog post July 13th) but things have slowed down.

Network Rail recently decided to review the detailed design of their proposals to make “efficiency savings”. They say they don’t plan to makefundamental changes but have “identified ways to reduce cost through adapting the design and construction methods to best suit operational requirements.” In real terms that means they are still doing it but it won’t look as good!

Network Rail will resubmit a "Prior Approval application" shortly after which the public will have 3 weeks to comment before a decision is made by Camden.

Meanwhile......
West Hampstead Interchange Streetscape Project

This was designed in some detail and is due to start as soon as the current utility works are completed in West End Lane (hopefullymid-October.) But the new “raised crossing” on Iverson Road will no longer be smartly carried out in granite paving slabs but done in asphalt (its apparently quicker and cheaper!) Any money saved may go to improving some poor paving north of Sumatra Road. Or it may not.....!

West Hampstead Spotlight Blog: John Ceconi

West Hampstead Spotlight Blog: John Ceconi: "Many West Hampstead residents will have been helped by John Ceconi, an extremely likeable and helpful Camden street environment officer. I'm..."

West Hampstead Spotlight Blog: Three Camden schools get go-ahead

West Hampstead Spotlight Blog: Three Camden schools get go-ahead: "Artist's impression of the new academy Great news for Camden parents and children today, both in the north and the south of the borough. ..."
This is the story posted by Keith Moffitt on our "sister" Spotlight blog" which contains the welcome news that local children will have the opportunity of going to a great new school in Swiss Cottage from - if all goes well - September 2011. The plans have received planning permission and contractors had already been appointed just waiting for the green light from the new coalition government. So - its all systems go!
Meanwhile plans for the rebuild of Fortune Green PlayCentre to include Sington nursery are still on course with a planning application due shortly. Money is tight but..... fingers crossed! Watch this spot!

Success for Maygrove Peace Park

Great news - we have just heard that our Peace Park has become the latest park in Camden to be awarded the much coveted "Green flag" award. Camden's press release says:

"The awards, which are run by environmental charities Keep Britain Tidy, BTCV and GreenSpace, have been announced during national Love Parks Week, during which people are encouraged to enjoy the nation’s parks and green spaces. The Green Flag judges reward excellent use of green space, well-maintained facilities, community involvement and a high standard of safety and security.

Camden’s parks are getting better every year with Maygrove Peace Park this year joining the seven parks who received the prestigious award in 2009. Bloomsbury Square, Brunswick Square, Russell Square, St Georges Gardens, St Martins Gardens, Talacre Gardens and Waterlow Park all maintained their Green Flag Awards from 2009.

Tracey Shackle, Chair of Maygrove Peace Park friends group, was thrilled with the award. She said: "We are really proud of the whole community who should see this as a reward for the hard work they’ve put in. We couldn’t have transformed this park into a community-friendly space without the dedication of the parks department so I’d like to say a big thank you to them especially."

Our congratulations as well!

Great News for Fortune Green... oh wait...

Transport for London have got in touch with some 'good news' for bus users.
After a lot of promises they are finally ready to roll out the new electronic bus stop announcements.  The idea being that the new system would use sattelite technolocy to trace where the buses actually were - rather than the current system which is based on a fair amount of guesswork.More details can be found on the TfL website. It boasts that:

"From 2011, we will be introducing a new, improved Countdown that will show bus arrival predictions for every one of London's 19,000 bus stops"

However that might be a bit of hype - as later on it says:

"New Countdown signs will be installed at stops where they will provide the most benefit to the greatest number of passengers. Factors that will be taken into account when assessing stops will be:

• How many passengers use the stop
• How close is the stop to centres of population
• Distance to transport interchanges
• Distance to key local services
• Number of low frequency or night routes serving the stop"

 Which doesn't sound like "everyone of London's 19,000 stops" at all!

It gets worse - Camden is being asked where it wants its sites - and I've been sent the link to Fortune Green's allocation - shown on the map below...

As you can see, the Fortune Green ward is going to 'benefit' from this scheme by having two existing signs removed and not replaced!
Its a little better in West Hampstead - where the West End Green stop will get a new sign - with the possibility of a few extra further down West End Lane.
However, getting decent information about when the C11 is actually going to show up was one of my big hopes for the scheme - and it appears we're going to be missed out entirely.
I will respond to the consultation (although they do say that they have already made their minds up on the red sites) but if anyone else has any thoughts - do let me know in the comments below.