Monday 25 June 2012

Towards a better Cricklewood

We have just had the latest newsletter from the Cricklewood Improvment Programme and thought it worth posting as it's full of activity. Congratulations Cricklewood!

NEWS from CRICKLEWOOD – May - June 2012
Welcome to ‘News from Cricklewood’ newsletter geared to keeping you in touch with CIP activities and inviting your suggestions and support. We hope the sun will shine for all London 2012 events.
OLF Public Realm Following CIP’s successful bid for funds to the Outer London fund Round 2. We are working with Barnet, Brent and Camden councils. Our project manager is Osita Udendon of Udenson Caldbeck Associates . We were hoping to be operational by now but contracts have yet to be signed so a bit of a delay there. Still, we aim to deliver the whole project even if we are late starting. The funding will cover work relating to public realm which for us means tidying up the streets, decluttering, make them more pedestrian friendly, minor street work, shop front improvements, supporting local  businesses, employment support for young people, cultural events and much more.
Phone boxes BT have agreed to remove 4 phone boxes from the Broadway which will reduce the number of BT boxes to eight.  We are still trying to get an agreement from Spectrum who have a number boxes on the Broadway to reduce their number of boxes.  BT have also agreed to stop incoming calls to their boxes. We are monitoring the cleanliness, advertisement content and busyness of the boxes with a view to being able to provide evidence to BT & Spectrum when we are in discussions with them.  Please provide us with any comments you have in order to flesh out our findings.
Street cleaning  On 18th April we CIP’s Greener cleaner Cricklewood undertook a street clean up of the Broadway.  The clean up was assisted by local police, council cleaning teams, the probation service, students and teachers from Hampstead School and local residents and businesses.  The day was a big success with lots of litter evidence collected.  (for more see http://www.cricklewoodcip.org/publicrealm.php and http://www.brentbasis.org.uk/information-services/news/brent-vcs-news/1417-community-clean-up-day-brightens-cricklewood-broadway)
Policing - JAG – Cricklewood Joint Action Group   In April 2012 a dedicated Joint Action Group was formed to resolve key concerns on the Broadway. CIP has now succeeded in getting agreement from police, residents and businesses to create a forum to resolve antisocial behaviour and other criminal activities and agreed to create a coherent message about what is and what is not acceptable in terms of drinking on the streets. At the moment residents and businesses report confusion regarding the legal position in relation to street drinking.
CIP reported on successes to date including a voluntary agreement by off-licenses to stop selling super strength alcohol to street drinkers. This is helping to reduce the problem. Given the reduction in resources amongst many statutory agencies such as local councils and police, CIP feels that it is imperative that all groups, work together to ensure a safer neighbourhood.
Mapesbury Community First Panel has agreed and submitted projects for the year to March 2012 to the Community Development Foundation.  The projects relate to dealing with anti social behaviour which affects the community, the environment and improving community cohesion and an interesting project that links to the culture of the population of Mapesbury. Requests for grants (between £250 to £2500) from voluntary organisations in Mapesbury Ward are expected. Grants need to be match funded by the group receiving the grant. 
The priorities of our programme are to 1)improve community cohesion linking to the strategies in schools, local businesses, residents and creative groups supporting youth and the elderly 2) understand the history and culture of the population in Mapesbury and 3)deal with antisocial behaviour affecting the community and the environment. How to apply –http://www.cricklewoodcip.org/community_first.html
Schools Angela and Shirley are continuing to work on a partnership with local primary and secondary schools with a focus on encouraging/motivating the children to take a proactive part in the development of a safe, clean and proud Cricklewood. We are delighted to have developed a very good relationship with Hampstead School
Website content has been updated. Please submit any content to be considered for website by e-mail to cipcricklewood@yahoo.co.uk                   
Feedback is important to us so please feel free to comment on the web page www.cricklewoodcip.org
CIP steering group 3rd July 2012.
Please let us know if you feel you can help CIP in any way. We would be delighted to have you on board. There is much to be done but it will be worth it when we have a Cricklewood that is safe, fun, welcoming and prosperous.

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