Jan's Surgery This Saturday

Jan will be holding her usual surgery this Saturday, 7 October, between 10 and 11am in the Pavilion, Paddington Recreation Ground.

If you have any problems or issues we can help you with, please do come along.

Jan

Harrow Road resurfacing

TfL and Westminster Council have announced the programme of road closures expected during the upcoming improvement works on Harrow Road.

Between 5th and 26th November, resurfacing and pavement upgrades will be undertaken between the Kilburn Lane and Elgin Avenue junctions of Harrow Road. This will include closure of the road itself during weekdays, with traffic diverted.

The Elgin Avenue-Harrow Road junction will be closed between 7am and 7pm on Sunday 15th November for resurfacing.

Lee

Thankyou ...

... to the person who left a washing machine in the middle of the pavement on Kilburn Park Road at some point this morning.

We've asked the Council's Environmental Action Line (7 641 2000) to remove it as soon as possible.

There do seem to be a few roads in Maida Vale where, occasionally, dumping is a problem and we're working hard to stop it. Leaving waste and unwanted goods in the middle of a street is really anti-social, and Westminster Council is prepared to use the courts to stamp it out (see here).

Lee

£1 million boost for Paddington Rec

Maida Vale received a huge boost today when the Football Foundation handed over a cheque for £1 million to help improve sports facilities in Paddington Rec.

The grant will help fund the upgrading of three football pitches to '3rd generation' tiger turf, which will meet FA requirements and which can also be used for hockey training and skills practice. The changing rooms in the Rec will also double in size, with a host of new facilities added. When finished, Paddington Rec will have some of the best football facilities in London.

We are very proud to be associated with the redevelopment of Paddington Rec and very proud that Conservative Westminster Council has shown the commitment to improve such an important part of Maida Vale.

Alastair

Gordon Ramsay for Maida Vale?

According to this morning's Telegraph, Gordon Ramsay is about to buy the Warrington Hotel.

"Ever since announcing his intention to open a chain of gastropubs across London three months ago, Gordon Ramsay has been scouring the capital for suitable premises from which to launch his flagship branch.

And Spy can reveal that the Michelin-starred chef - whose empire includes Claridges, the Savoy Grill and Petrus - has just bought the Warrington Hotel in Maida Vale for £5.2 million.

'Gordon is just about to exchange contracts with the proprietors of the Warrington,' says my source. 'The pub is one of London's little gems. Built in 1859, it was completely refurbished in 1900, so the interior is still in incredibly good condition.'

Telegraph Spy, 24 October 2006

Queen's Park Tower Meeting

Brent Council held a meeting on the proposed Queen's Park Tower last Thursday evening in Brondesbury Park.

Around 100 people turned up to listen to the changes that the new Conservative-LibDem Brent Council are proposing to make, following the creation of a stakeholder group to discuss the project. 2 representatives on the group are from Westminster, to ensure that our input is heard.

The new brief is still at the consultation stage, but Brent have committed to a development of no more than 12 storeys. Although the design is yet to be determined (probably via some kind of competition), we were shown pictures of likely impact from Carlton Vale, which shows a much less imposing building that before.

The changes to the Planning Brief are to be approved by the leadership of Brent Council on 13 November, with a consultation period afterwards (20 November - 11 January). A revised plan will be then drawn up in January, with the final version submitted once again to the leadership next February.

Although we remain concerned about the likely impact upon local services and the community, we recognise that the new Council have made a very bold step in reducing the height of the tower. We'll now await to see what comes from the consultation.

Lee

Parking Restrictions Relaxed

Following requests from local residents, Westminster Council has announced that it will double the maximum amount of time cars can use parking bays across the City.

From today, maximum stay limits will be extended from 2 to 4 hours in the majority of paid-for parking spaces, meaning that tradesman and visitors will not longer have to 'space hop' every two hours to comply with the old regulations.

During the election campaign, a number of residents highlighted the difficulty of parking for tradesmen when carrying out jobs in Maida Vale. We're very glad that the Council has listened to local people and extended the maximum stay-time.

If you have any parking issues, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us and we'd be delighted to help.

Jan

Bike rails, anyone?

Over the last few months we have been lobbying hard for a number of bike rails to be installed in both Lauderdale and Castellain Roads. Feasibility studies for both of these locations are currently being completed and, fingers crossed, we hope that the Council will be able to find the funds in the next few months for them to be installed.

Are there any other streets in Maida Vale which would benefit from bike rails? If there are any budding cyclists out there who think a bike rail on their road would be a good idea, please let us know and we'll get the Council to investigate. Funds are limited but if we can help, we certainly will try.

Lee

Dibdin House Meeting - Thursday 19 October

Pathmeads are holding a meeting for Dibdin House residents tomorrow, Thursday 19 October, at 6.30pm in the Community Hall to discuss estate improvements.

Representatives from CivicWatch, the local safer neighbourhoods team and the youth offending team will also be present to discuss the continuing anti-social behaviour within Dibdin House and Andover Place. CivicWatch have confirmed that additional resources have been allocated for Dibdin to try to stamp out the low-level youth offending of recent months.

If you are a resident of Dibdin or Andover Place, please do go along and have your say.

Lee

Westminster launches Small & Ethnic Minority Business Council

In one of the first schemes of its kind in Britain, Westminster Council launched its Small & Ethnic Minority Business Council today, to support entrepreneurs in our local area and link large and small businesses today in a mentoring programme.

The scheme, which is based upon Houston's pioneering example, seeks to lay the foundations for success for local residents and businesses by encouraging larger companies in the area to network, mentor and purchase from small businesses in Westminster.

We look forward to supporting this excellent scheme - a real example of conservative principles supporting local entrepreneurship and economic development.

Lee

Maida Vale Area Forum - Wednesday 15 November

The next Maida Vale Area Forum will be held on Wednesday 15 November, from 6.30pm onwards at the Beethoven Centre, Third Avenue (next to 174k).

The agenda has now been announced. People who come along can choose two of the following workshops:

(1) Phone parking - details on the trials currently underway to allow residents and visitors to pay for parking via their mobile
(2) Details of planned street works over the coming year - including the Thames Water replacement programme
(3) improvements at the Harrow Road-Prince of Wales Road junction
(4) the proposed merger between St. Mary's, Hammersmith and Imperial College hospitals

Please do come along and have your say.

More details can be found here: http://www.westminster.gov.uk/areaforums/.

Lee

Maida Vale Autumn Clean Update

The CivicWatch team have sent us details of the Autumn Clean Day that was held last month to spruce up our local area.

The team managed to clean over 40 square metres of graffiti and flyposting around Maida Vale and Little Venice, including a number of areas in the Rec. Elsewhere in the ward, a number of dumped bulky items were shifted from Morshead Road, leaves were removed from Grantully Road and extra sweeping was undertaken along Kilburn Park Road.

Thanks to Ian Russell and the CivicWatch team for all their efforts.

Lee

CityWest Councillor Meeting

CityWest Homes held their first update meeting for Councillors on Wednesday evening, reporting on progress in the last few months and the challenges going forward.

Decent homes works remains on target to be completed by the end of the year - a massive achievement if it is met. CityWest is also placing huge emphasis upon improving energy efficiency across all villages in Westminster.

In the recent highly successful assessment by the Audit Commission, an issues was raised regarding the quality of repairs. A number of local residents have also highlighted this problem. As a result, CityWest have accepted that their repair services needs improvement, and are currently in the middle of a tendering process to bring in new providers. This process includes an evaluation panel of 6 local residents to give their views, who hopefully will hold all prospective providers to account! The emphasis is upon getting repairs 'right first time'.

All credit to CityWest for running with the suggestion made in the new Councillors' induction several months ago - we all thought it was very useful.

Lee

(Photograph of Thurso House courtesy of CityWest Homes)

Poetry Reading on Randolph Avenue now

Just walking back from a resident's meeting this evening and came across one of the more unusual sights that we've seen in Maida Vale for a while.

So, anyone who would like to read a book on poetry, entitled "The Poems of Life", might want to pop along to Randolph Avenue about now, because there seems to be several thousand of them dumped on the street (and slowly being scattered around the ward).

Happy reading!

Lee and Alastair

PS Far be it for us to stand in the way of cultural progress, but we have let our street environment managers know that someone has decided to open up a 1-book library on Randolph Avenue. Hopefully it'll be sorted relatively soon.

Queen's Park Tower Update

Earlier this year, Brent Council was gently persuaded by its residents (primarily by throwing out the Labour-run council and replacing them with a Conservative-Lib Dem one) that the proposal to build a 26-storey tower block at Queen's Park probably wasn't a good idea.

With the old proposal discarded, Brent is now consulting residents and preparing a new design brief for the Salusbury Road site, with the high-rise proposals hopefully killed off. Current plans are for a building no higher than 12 storeys at its tallest point, with the majority of the site being redeveloped at no more than 5 storeys.

Brent Council are holding a meeting to discuss the new proposals on Thursday 19 October at 7pm at Queen's Park Community School, Aylestone Avenue (see press release). Please do go along if you want to have your say.

Lee

Lee's Surgery This Tuesday

Lee will be holding his surgery this Tuesday, 17 October, between 7 and 8pm in the Maida Centre, Lanark Road.

If you have any problems or issues we can help you with, please do come along.

Lee

Stirring the Pot

Visiting residents in Glasgow House the other day there was a hint of marijuana in the stairwell - very disappointing as we thought that this kind of low-level silliness had stopped in recent months. We've let the local police team know.

If you are aware of any anti-social behaviour anywhere in Maida Vale, please do report it to Westminster Council's Anti-Social Behaviour Hotline on 7641 3000.

Lee

Rec Recycling

We're very pleased that, following our request, six recycling bins have been placed in the Rec for visitors to use. The bins take cans, plastic and glass.

It's great that the Council is taking seriously the need for all local residents and Westminster visitors to recycle as much of their waste as possible. We are committed to continue to expand recycling facilities throughout Maida Vale.

Jan

Morshead and Grantully Road Street Surgeries

Earlier today we held another one of our regular Down Your Street Surgeries in Morshead and Grantully Roads.

As usual, most people were very happy with the Council and the quality of the services they receive.

Two issues came up the most often, however. Firstly, a number of residents expressed concern with the growth in anti-social behaviour in Paddington Rec, particularly from groups of gangs which often overspill into nearby roads. We've reiterated resident's concerns to the local Maida Vale police team, who have been working hard over the last few months to tackle the problem, both inside and outside the Rec.

Secondly, residents also pointed out the continuing noise and litter issues during the week with students from Westminster College. We've already had meetings with senior members of the governing board at the College and have again highlighted the problem to our colleague, Councillor Keen, who represents Westminster Council on that body.

If you live in Maida Vale and have an issue or problem we can help you with, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Lee

Jan's Surgery This Saturday

Jan will be holding her usual surgery this Saturday, 7 October, between 10 and 11am in the Pavilion, Paddington Recreation Ground.

If you have any problems or issues we can help you with, please do come along.

Jan