Jan's Surgery This Saturday

Jan will be holding her usual surgery this Saturday, 3 February, between 10am and 11am at the Pavilion, Paddington Rec.

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

Lee

Committee Report: Resources

Last night, I sat on the Resources & Corporate Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee, which analyses how Westminster is spending its money.

The committee looked at the following:

(i) we welcomed the Assistant Director of a rather unnecessary quango, the Government Office for London, to outline the government's new proposals for local government. One of these is to allow Councillors to question outside bodies, such as the local NHS Trusts, on behalf of local residents. Never one to miss an opportunity, I emphasised how important it was that these powers should extend over large, disinterested utility companies who have little regard for local residents (thinking of no-one in particular!)
(ii) discussed the Council's investment strategy
(iii) looked at the Council's performance in the year to date
(iv) had further discussions on estimating Westminster's population (hard to believe I know, but upon which a huge amount of funding relies)

Lee

Full Council Meeting

Wednesday evening was the first full council meeting of 2007.

During question time, I asked the Cabinet Member for Street Environment to impress upon Thames Water the need to consider local residents during their pipe replacement works. I also stressed that Thames were failing to release roads they had finished with back into use (Randolph Avenue/Morshead Road last week). The Cabinet Member, Cllr Bradley, agreed to bring up the problems again with Thames.

In the housing debate, I also made a speech about the importance of involving local residents in decisions about their local areas. I highlighted the success of the TMOs in Maida Vale - the Scottish Towers, ABC, Thurso Dundee, Carlton Vale and Torridon - and lobbied for more powers and support to be given to these fantastically-run management organisations.

Alastair made a speech on Westminster's new planning guidance which passed unanimously on Wednesday evening.

Jan was Deputy Chair of the Council meeting for the evening.

Lee

Utility exasperation

Along with snow, the other thing to have descended on Maida Vale recently is a load of Thames Water pipe replacement work. The work has been underway for a number of months in Maida Vale and Little Venice and has been causing a fair few problems. However, it is the sheer number of roads - and the amount of parking spaces suspended - that is causing increasing problems. This is a subject which we've been working very hard on in recent weeks and which we will continue to do so. We'll be asking a question, for example, at full council tonight and are seeking a number of other meetings.

In the meantime, however, we are trying to make sure that Thames' casual disregard for local residents (and its customers) is minimised as far as possible. That's why we asked the Council's Transport Department to cancel a proposed 3-space parking suspension on Grantully Road starting today for footway work. After our lobbying, the Council has agreed to reschedule the works until after the Thames suspensions on roads such as Morshead and Grantully are lifted. It may only be 3 spaces at the moment, but every space counts.

If you are experiencing difficulties with Thames Water, please do let us know.

Lee

Paddington Rec Gate Closure

As part of the continuing works to upgrade and improve facilities in Paddington Rec, the gate on Randolph Avenue will be closed on Monday 5th/Tuesday 6th and Thursday 15th/Friday 16th February. The closure is to allow EdF access to electrical cables.

The Morshead, Grantully and Carlton Vale entrances will remain open as normal.

Lee

Grrr

And the Maida Vale white goods award for this week goes to the residents of Randolph Gardens, who were the lucky recipients of a large white washing machine at some point yesterday.

We've arranged for the Council to remove and dispose of the item.

Dumping - in all forms - is very anti-social, particularly when Westminster Council will pick up two bulky items for free! For further details, click here or phone the Environment Action Line (7 641 2000).

Lee

A day with the parking wardens

One of the biggest grumbles that we hear from local residents is regarding Westminster's parking policies. Receiving a ticket can be an intensely frustrating experience and sometimes the stories we listen to do make you question your sanity. So, I decided to spend a morning with some of our parking attendants to see how it is in on the frontline.

I picked a good morning for it - not too cold for January. I met many of the parking attendants on the 'beat' I was assigned in Bayswater and all of them were polite, hard-working and reasonable. And, for the record, none of them were hunting in packs.

Adi, the supervisor, showed me around and talked about the challenges of keeping traffic flowing in Westminster. We might not all agree with all of the rules around parking but the intention is correct - to allow all drivers to get around the City as quickly as possible and to make sure that residents and visitors can access parking spaces in an area of very high demand.

Just in case you were interested, in the entire time I was out, we only issued one parking ticket. And we let off a good number of people who knew that they were being naughty, but agreed to move when they were asked. That said, we did rather scare a perfectly innocent (and legally parked) white van man on Leinster Terrace, when Adi ran through how a parking ticket was issued for me. The man looked mortified when he thought we were about to stick a ticket on his windscreen!

Lee

PS We know that sometimes parking attendants get it wrong when issuing tickets. And we'd be delighted to help if you shouldn't have received a ticket. Please get in touch!

Paddington Rec closed

Paddington Rec has been temporarily closed this afternoon (Thursday) due to the adverse weather.

Lee

Parking: Listening to Residents in Lauderdale Road

Sometimes it's the little things that make a difference.

Parking bays in some roads in Maida Vale (like the one above in Lauderdale Road) have occasional 'dead areas' marked off by yellow lines. Most of these are historical access points requested by the fire service in case they needed to use a nearby fire hydrant.

Until recently, if a resident parked slightly outside the lines of a bay there was a fair chance they would be ticketed for blocking access - which, in reality, was not the case at all. So, when a resident contacted us about this, we didn't think it was terribly fair either and were very happy to take it up.

We're pleased to report now that the Council's parking department have accepted that the policy should be more flexible, and so will only uphold tickets issued if "absolutely necessary".

No-one is perfect. And it's great to know that when small issues like this are pointed out, the Council is willing to see sense and change its policies.

Lee

PS If you have any issues with parking, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Focusing on Paddington Rec

On Saturday morning, we welcomed our colleague, Cllr Daniel Astaire, to Paddington Rec, who is the Cabinet Member with responsibility for leisure and sport.

We asked Daniel to come along to see the recent improvements made to the Rec, and to meet with one of the many local residents who care deeply about the future of our park.

We had a very useful discussion about how the Council can continue to support the staff in the Rec and how we can continue to deliver benefits for users and Maida Vale residents. We were also able to identify a number of small issues regarding lighting and paving, which the Council is urgently looking to rectify.

Lee and Alastair

CityWest Homes: One Westminster Many Voices

CityWest Homes have announced that they will shortly been launching a new scheme to increase resident involvement in village communities in North Paddington and North Marylebone.

CityWest is keen to ensure the greatest possible community involvement amongst residents, including offering training courses for local residents who want to make a difference on the ground.

If you are interested in finding out more, please go along to one of the events CityWest are holding over the next couple of weeks:

Sat 13 Jan - Greenside Community Centre, 24 Lilestone Street, NW8 (10 - 11.30am)

Sat 13 Jan - Fisherton Street Community Hall, NW8 (12.30 - 2pm)

Sat 20 Jan - Derry House Hall, Church Street/Penfold Street, NW8 (10 - 11.30am)

Sat 20 Jan - Lydford Hall, 74 Fernhead Road, W9 (1 - 2.30pm)

Sat 3 Feb - Millennium Centre, Amberley Estate, W9 (1.30 - 3pm)

If you need further information please call 7245 2350 or e-mail involvingresidents@cwh.org.uk.

Lee

(Photo of Thurso House courtesy of CityWest Homes)

Lee's Surgery This Tuesday

Lee will be holding his monthly surgery this Tuesday, 16 January, between 7pm 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

Planning Application for Maida Vale Tube

At the end of 2006, London Underground submitted a further planning application to Westminster Council as part of the continuing refurbishment of Maida Vale tube. As your local Councillors, we requested further information on the planning application, which we have now received.

The planning application is to change and update signage, both inside and outside the station.

LU has submitted a number of background appendix papers which details how each sign will be replaced. If you would like to see a copy, please do get in touch with Westminster's planning team.

Lee

Maida Vale Area Forum - Report

We forgot to post this link at the end of last year:

The latest Maida Vale Area Forum newsletter has been uploaded onto the Westminster Council website. You can download it here.

Lee

Christmas Tree Recycling

Looking to dispose of a now forlorn piece of pine?

Westminster Council has set up two temporary recycling points for local residents to leave Christmas trees - the Grantully Road/Ashworth Road junction (next to the existing recycling bins) or within Paddington Rec.

These recycling points are open between 8am and 9pm until next Sunday (14 January).

The Council uses Christmas trees to make wood chippings to spread over local parks and open spaces, including the Rec.

Lee

Bike Rack Consultation

We have been working hard for the last year to increase the number of bike racks in Maida Vale and are pleased to report that we have been successful in being included in the latest phase of stand installations (due to begin in early 2007).

The Transportation Department of the Council is now consulting on suggested locations for the new stands, before the final report goes to the Cabinet Member for approval.

The Council is currently proposing to increase the number of bike racks:

• Castellain Road/Sutherland Avenue junction (3 more)
• Castellain Road/Lauderdale Road junction (to add at least 3 more racks to existing provision)
• Elgin Avenue/Ashworth Road junction (2 more)
• Ashworth Road/Lauderdale Road junction (3 more)
• outside Oak Tree House, Shirland Road
• Biddulph Road/Lauderdale Road junction

If you do have any comments (including suggestions for additional areas) please do let us know (e-mail maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com).

Lee

Jan's Surgery This Saturday

Jan will be holding her usual monthly surgery this Saturday, 6th January, between 10 and 11am in the Pavilion in Paddington Rec.

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

Jan

Happy New Year

Best wishes to all for 2007.

Alastair, Jan and Lee