The Monster Munch Machine and other news

This is the monster munch machine which has been chewing up (very noisily) all our cut-down poplars and turning them into woodchip - very sad!

Hopefully it will all be over soon. And clear off the Green before the weekend in good time for the Festival - hope the weather holds! And maybe not quite as hot as last weekend. It should be a great Festival this year - there's masses of activities fo all ages and the chance for our new police "dodgeball" enthusiasts to get lots more young people involved.

Also in the next couple of weeks NW6 should be getting the long promised "roll-out" of the new improved recycling service - most of us will have received info but not yet all our new boxes. Let's hope there aren't as many teething problems as there were in NW2! For more information you can go to Camden's website.

Updates

Promised yesterday to do a "catch-up" on matters which affect us - before that just to say they are still working to cut down the poplars in the cemetery and I woke up again to the noise of heavy machinery - this time the machine that grinds up the chunks of tree which annoyed several of my neighbours!
Where to start?
- first perhaps the "West Hampstead jigsaw" : planning permission was granted thee weeks ago for the rebuild of Emmanuel School at 160 Mill Lane - not without protest from the artist next door! Not sure yet when work will begin but hopefully in the autumn. The school newsletter says:" Over the coming weeks and months we shall be continuing our dialogue with neighbours and other stakeholders regarding our demolition and construction plans, the enrichment of the open space at 160 Mill Lane and other issues that may arise. We are fully committed to our on-going engagement with all stakeholders. The project is a very exciting opportunity for the children and young people of West Hampstead and Fortune Green who will be able to attend a fully equipped, 21st century local school. "

Meanwhile the work on the Community Hall in Broomsleigh Street was finished - temporary home to Sington Nursery on the ground floor while the new Community Assocation has moved in upstairs. It all looks very bright and clean and airy and will be a very useful resource. Finally we have to wait and see whether plans for Sington to move to a rebuilt Fortune Green will proceed and ensure these tie in with projected work to Fortune Green itself. If you visit the Festival (July3/4) you can look at these revised plans at the Friends of Fortune Green stall. Also visit the Gondar and Agamemnon Residents association stall fo nws of a potential nw fight against development of the reservoir land.

Speaking of the Festival - this year it will be bigger and brighter than ever with lots more activities for young people - including our splendid new local Dodgeball players (a new Safer neighbourhood Police initiative). 12- 6.0pm Sat and Sunday for all the fun of the Fair!

Last night the 2 local Safer Neighbourhood police teams joined together for a public meeting to talk about their activities and priorities. Sadly, not that many members of the public not already engaged with the police turned up, but it was the hottest day of the year so far! Questions were asked about crime at the 02 Centre on Finchley Road, street drinking on West End Green, the problems with urban foxes and stolen handbags on West End Lane. It wasn't such a large audience as used to come to the Area Forums, and one person asked if these would continue as they had been so successful. Unfortunately it seems the new Labour Council isn't in favour of them - maybe we shall have to try and set up our own!

Roadworks in West End Lane are driving everyone mad and the pace of work sems incredibly slow - should think the stop/go lights will be there till Xmas! Meanwhile work has been delayed to the new Thameslink station and assorted works although scaffolding has gone up around the Iverson Road corner, reducing the width of the pavement still further and making things even worse for pedestrians!

New West Hampstead Councillor, Gillian Risso-Gill has been talking to all the shopkepers on West End Lane - she's got about two-thirds of the way up - and talking about ways they can get together to keep West End Lane Special. One idea which could be revived is to have a Christmas market on West End Green. Sadly, several of the shops seem to be having a difficult time and Dizar - one of my favourites - is having a closing-down sale. The cafe Walnut suggested some time ago we should start a WestHampstead "loyalty card" like they have in Hampstead - sounds like a very good idea. Meanwhile, we are grateful to those local businesses who are supporting the Jester Festival in various ways.

Good news for Lyncroft Gardens residents who persuaded Camden NOT to introduce a "Car club bay" on their already overcrowded road!

Lots more bits of news - will keep till next time!

Goodbye to the poplars

I woke up yesterday to the sound of chain saws in the cemetery behind my house and later on went out and took this picture - if you look carefully you can see a man harnessed to the trunk of what had been a 70ft poplar in full stately maturity. (I say 70ft but I'm not good at measuring by eye but it was VERY tall!) There has been a group of poplars - almost an avenue- in the cemetery probably ever since it was built - I reckon they were at last 150 years old - maybe more if they predated the cemetery. I loved the one I could see best although I did sometimes wonder if there were a really high wind, if it fell - would it fall across my house?

But it seems they were diseased near the roots and getting dangerous so they had to go. However we are assured of their historical significance and promised that they will be replaced - by 8ft youngsters! Won't be very tall in my lifetime unless they grow really fast!
It's just another little bit of our neighbourhood gone for good and it makes me very sad.
In writing this, I am conscious we haven't been posting recently and there has been lots of news in the last few weeks. Will do an update on next posting.

Local Election results

Just in case you missed it - the elections in West Hampstead have resulted in six Lib Dem Councillors - in Fortune Green these are Russell Eagling, Nancy Jirira and Flick Rea. We thank everyone for their support and look forward to working for you in the future as we have in the past. We will continue to produce our local Spotlight newsletter both on paper and email (please let us know if you would like to be added to our email list)and to provide occasional updates by posting on this blog.
Looking to the future - don't forget we have our local Festival on Fortune Green on July 3rd and 4th where we will be having our usual stall selling cakes and jams. So come and visit us!
Thanks again for placing your trust in us to represent you!

Gondar Gardens latest and other local news updates

On 16th April residents living around the Gondar Gardens Reservoir received a letter from the new owners -Linden Homes - to say that for security reasons they intended to put hoarding around the site ( or part of it). They say: "A health and safety assessment has been carried out and there are potential risks to people accessing the site without permission. As a result we have taken to decision to hoard the site..." However they are including "vision holes" along the frontage to maintain a level of natural surveillance".

They also say "We are committed to community consultation and as plans for the site start to evolve, local residents, stakeholder groups, businesses and representatives will be fully consulted on the teams redevelopment proposals". They add they are aware of the sensitivities of the site and the SNCI designation, and "will be working hard to prepare options for redevelopment that respect these considerations".
Some local residents are not reassured by these statements and we shall all be keeping a very close eye on Linden Homes and their plans.


Note they have begun to erect the hoarding as you can see from the pictures which is neatly precisely the right height so as not to require planning permission! They plan to extend the hoarding right along the northern edge (parallel to the bottoms of the gardens of Gondar residents but not - at this stage along the backs of Agamemnon Rd nor Hillfield Road).

Meanwhile on another topic - Tescos has succeeded, despite objections from some local residents in obtaining its license to sell alcohol although only from 8.00 am and on Sundays they must stop alcohol sales at 10.30 pm. They assured the panel that the sale of alcohol in their stores is closely monitored and in fact only accounts for beween 7 and 8% of all sales!! Meanwhile the traffic and parking is still a problem but we have been assured that Camden offices will shortly propose a scheme for consultation to address the issue. (However - the West End Lane situation has been exacerbated by the roadworks in West End Lane. You do wonder why they can't all leave West Hampstead alone!!)

A new issue concening the Sager building shops has just arisen - 2 of the the three remaining "A1" retail units alongside Tescos have applied for planning permission to become one unit. If this goes ahead it could make the parking and traffic even more problematic. We will be asking Camen's traffic and planning officers to look at this carefully.

Meanwhile - just down the road, there is a plan to change the position of the recycling bins/bus shelter and access onto Fortune Green itself - this is intended to improve the "entrance" as part of the proposed works to the Green - planned for later this year. The Friends group showd plans for this at last year's Festival.
Congratulations to the Friends Group for another successful seed planting day by the way and a final point - Don't forget to put the Festival in your diary - July 3rd and 4th. More details - watch this space!

Whats in a number?

Very interesting post on one of our favourite sites - completely independent and non party political which explains very clearly why Ed Fordham stands to win Hampstead and Kilburn and why the Conservatives are well behind!
visit http://www.northwest6.net/

West Hampstead Library - Good News

West Hampstead library is soon to have a facelift and a spring clean!It will close for a couple of weeks from 10 May to 24 May.

Our local library is very busy and poular. It is open six days a week with 2 regular Rhyme Time/Baby Bounce sessions a week, a once a month social club for older people and many other events.

Believe it or not, 93,000 people visited West Hampstead library in 2009 and borrowed 73,000 items! They also used 20,000 hours of computer time! These numbers continue to go up partly because since January last year the library has increased opening hours and 200 new members joined last year.

Well, now its time for a bit of sprucing up! Improvements to the library will include:
self service for you to check items in and out more quickly, which means staff will have more time to help people find what they want, answer questions etc

a freephone to contact the Council directly for council services

more space with an improved layout and signs inside and out

and thanks to the suggestions from residents at our local West Hampstead Area Forum, a community noticeboard, new pavement, bench and planters outsde the library

All in all , a new look!
PS Don't forget, the library will also be closed on Election Day 6th May for use as a polling station!