West Hampstead and Fortune Green Area Forum Monday 29 November

Some of you have been asking what's happened to the West Hampstead/Fortune Green area forums that you found so helpful. The answer is that the Council is changing the way it involves local people in decision-making by launching “area action groups” across Camden this autumn.

The good news is that one of the options under the area action groups model is essentially to continue with area forums much as before, which gave you an opportunity to discuss important local issues with your councillors and neighbours, and speakers for relevant outside organisations, and to influence decisions about the West Hampstead area’s future.

As the area forum model was very popular in our two wards, your Fortune Green and West Hampstead councillors have decided to continue with this, while also looking at other ways of involving local residents, such as the use of social media - which we're using to advertise this meeting. The first meeting will be tomorrow on Monday, 29 November, and those of you who regularly attended area forums will already have been notified about it.

Sadly, individual wards will no longer have a pot of money to spend, and the cost of meetings is to be reduced by streamlining publicity and the way meetings are organised. So there will unfortunately no longer be a budget for full refreshments, but Chez Chantal on West End Lane are providing tea and coffee. Thank you!

The agenda for the meeting on 29 November is as follows:

· 7 - 7.30pm: an opportunity to meet ward councillors informally over tea/coffee
· 7.30pm: start of meeting
- introduction to area action groups
- update on new Thameslink station on Iverson Road and associated highway improvements
- councillors’ work on West End Lane and Mill Lane shops
- impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review on council budget and our area
· 9.30pm: end of meeting

We look forward to seeing lots of you on 29 November, despite the tube strike and possible snow!

Congratulations Lord Palmer

Congratulations are in order for one of our neighbouring councillors, Monroe Palmer, is being made a Life Peer.  Monroe represents the Child's Hill ward of Barnet.

The Ham and High have the story here.

Monroe is a popular, hard working councillor who has achieved a lot for his area over the years, despite the political wind on the council rarely being behind his back.

In understand  he is looking forward to contributing to debates in the Lords, but also voting to make the second  chamber democratic under Nick Clegg's plans to bring democracy to the mother of parliaments!

Very many congratulations, Monroe! It's a boon that your friendly and warm manner will now be put to use influencing their Lordships to more liberal and democratic ways.

Car club bays

Car clubs are great things.  I'm a member of Streetcar and although I've only used them a few times, their service can be very useful.  Especially as in addition to having cars you can hire by the hour, Streetcar also have a number of vans dotted around North West London.
Nancy, Flick and myself have just been contacted by the Camden streets team who are proposing some new locations for car club bays.  These are often controversial as they appear to be a loss of residents parking.  (Its a natural concern - but when a car club bay is introduced often a number of households on the street decide to give up their car - so the number of parked cars is more likely to go down.)
Happily on this occasion the two locations proposed won't affect residents bays as they are being put on roadside that is currently single yellow lines. The proposed locations are marked in red below.
The streets team are looking for comments though, if you have any, let us know either by commenting here or by emailing FortuneGreen@HampsteadAndKilburn.org.uk

St Cuthbert's Road

Fortune Green Road

Good news from Friends of Fortune Green

Mark Stonebanks has just sent out the following message to people on the Friends of Fortune Green mailing list.  Well done all involved!

• "In the last newsletter we told you about making a funding application to the Veolia Environmental Trust.  We have just heard that we were successful in our application.  We were awarded £16,440, which isn't the full amount applied for as it is a difficult funding environment.  However, together with the £49,500 from Changing Spaces, £20,000 of Sager section 106 money and funding from Camden, 'stage 1' of our project is now fully funded.  Stage 2, which is mainly to improve the drainage was always going to be later, because of timing of work on the playcentre (more on that later)."

Spotlight 153 now available

Click to download the latest Spotlight (pdf)

West Hampstead Christmas Community Market

Flick has asked me to cross-post this item:

With support from Camden Council, we can now confirm that a Christmas Community Market will be held on Saturday 11th December from 11am - 3.30pm on West End Green, West Hampstead. The aim of the event is to provide a festive focus in the West Hampstead community as well as providing support for local shops and crafts people to sell their wares. . Local shops on West End Lane and Mill Lane will also be encouraged to support the Market, either by having a stall or by providing special festive promotions on the day.

The event is being organised by a small group of local businesses and enthusiasts who would welcome other volunteers to help with the organisation and promotion of the event. This would provide an excellent opportunity for people to gain skills in event organising and who wanted to work in marketing or public relations.

To register your interest, either as a stall holder or volunteer organiser, please email westhampsteadxmasmarket@gmail.com.

BOOK THE DATE IN YOUR DIARY NOW AND SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITY!

Remembrance at Hampstead Cemetery

Father Andrew and pupils from St Mary's Primary School, Kilburn at the Remembrance service 11th November 2010

Camden's Deputy Mayor joined a dignified crowd of people at Hampstead Cemetery's war memorial at 11:00am on 11th November.  The short ceremony has been growing over recent years and Rev Alistair Tresidder of St Lukes was again joined by Father Andrew Cain (St Mary's Kilburn) and Father Jonathan Kester (Emmanuel, West Hampstead).

Our numbers were swelled further by the presence of pupils from St Mary's school (pictured above) and representatives from University College School.

We also laid flowers at the memorial of some of the local civilian war dead - situated in the south end of the cemetery.

Rev Alistair Tresidder (back left), Deupty Mayor Abdul Quadir (Centre) and Father Jonathan Kester (right) join local people at the Hampstead Cemetery Remembrance Service, 11th November 2010.

Photos courtesy of Bradley Brown.