Lee's Surgery This Saturday

Lee will be holding his surgery this Saturday (1 September) between 10am and 11am in the Pavilion, Paddington Rec.

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

Lee

Randolph Avenue: nightmare over

The Good News: Thames finally vacated most of Randolph Avenue over the weekend, after weeks of disruption and difficulty caused by their works.

The Bad News: that means they are off somewhere else. Lucky you, Wymering Road (and please let us know how it goes - we would be delighted to help if there are any issues).

Lee

Maida Vale: In the News

There's been a huge amount of coverage on the story regarding the killer of Philip Lawrence: see here, here and here for some of the stories.

Lee

Maida Vale Estate Fun Day

Yesterday afternoon, Alastair, Jan and I attended the Maida Vale Estate Fun Day held at 40 Tree Green.

The event, which was organised by the Maida Vale Estate Office, was supported by all the Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs) throughout the area. We met many local residents who were enjoying the bouncy castles, football, fire engine, police and many other stalls that was present.

It was great to see so many local residents and we hope they enjoyed the day as much as we did!

Thanks to Monserrat & Pat from the Estate Office and Kay, Ivy, Anne, Rose and everyone else from the TMOs who put so much work into making sure the day was a success.

Lee

Westminster: Value for Money

Good news! The (independent, non-partisan) Audit Commission published a report earlier this week saying, in its opinion, that Westminster is delivering 'strong' value for money for local residents.

As a Council Group we have a long standing commitment to keeping Council tax as low as possible, while delivering excellent services. We think, on balance, we do a good job and it's always great when other organisations recognise this!

Alastair

Community Build Task Group

A few days ago, Jan and Alastair both sat on the Community Build Task Group, created by Westminster Council as part of our commitment to build more homes in the borough.

As part of the recently launched Housing Strategy, Westminster has committed itself to looking at opportunities for building new homes in the borough. One of the top priorities local residents speak about on the doorsteps is the need to build more homes in Westminster. One of the less good parts of our job as Councillors is to hear the terrible stories of people living in over-crowded conditions because of the shortage of properties in our local areas. A number of boroughs have had great success in finding innovative ways to build more housing for the benefit of residents and those in need, and as a Council, we're trying to learn from these examples.

The plans for 'Community Build' are still in the very early stages. We're glad to have been part of the debate which will now begin on this very important issue. We'll let you know how it goes.

Jan and Alastair

Grantully Road: Steps Removed

We've been aware for a number of months of some anti-social behaviour occurring on Grantully Road. Several residents have contacted us to discuss the matter and we've been working closely with the Safer Neighbourhoods Team and our local CivicWatch to try to tackle the issue (which hasn't been an easy problem).

We're pleased that our lobbying of the Council has now seen some disused steps within Paddington Rec, on the Ashworth Road-Grantully Road junction, removed. These steps, which were presumably used several years ago as an entrance, have acted as a quiet and secluded gathering place for youths causing trouble. Hopefully it will help to tackle and reduce the problem.

If we can help on any problem like this, please don't hesitate to get in touch (maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com).

Lee

Supporting CRY

Last month, Jan in her capacity as Lord Mayor Locum Tenens, opened the first annual CRY walk from Westminster to Tower Wharf. The event raised £40,000!

CRY is a charity dedicated to raising the profile of cardiac risk in the young. You can find more details here.

Jan

Elgin Avenue Street Surgery

On Saturday we held another one of our Down Your Street Surgeries in Elgin Avenue.

Picking the hottest day of the year so far meant that quite a few people preferred the park to having their local team knock on their doors (absolutely right!), but it was great to be able to talk with so many local residents over the course of the afternoon. It was also great to see the reception that Joanne, our new parliamentary candidate received from local residents, who were delighted to see someone who aspires to represent Maida Vale residents in parliament actually come to Maida Vale.

We were really glad to hear that most residents are happy with Westminster Council and the work Maida Vale Conservatives are doing. A number of residents had a few issues regarding over-eager parking wardens - something we sympathise with - and we've promised to feed that back to the Council.

Joanne beat Alastair (the usual winner) in being invited in the most number of times for a cup of tea!

If you live in Maida Vale and have any issues or comments regarding council services, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Joanne, Alastair, Jan and Lee

Graffiti removed

We've reported a number of instances of graffiti around Maida Vale recently. So far, the anti-graffiti unit at Westminster Council have removed graffiti from the following roads:

• the garage on Lanark Road, close the rear of Hamilton Court
• the parking meters close to Dundee House on Lanark Road
• the electricity box close to the Sutherland Avenue junction with Lanark Road
• the entrance to Paddington Sports Club in Castellain Road
• the gate to the City of Westminster College on Morshead Road
• the postbox on Morshead Road, close to Elgin Avenue
• the telephone kiosk closer to Strome House on Carlton Vale
• the electricity box on Delaware Road
• the gate to St. Augustine's School on Oxford Road

If you spot any graffiti in our area, please let us know and we'll make sure it is removed.

Lee

Widley Road: Long Time No See

It's been a long time since we've seen this - Widley Road without any Thames Water detritus. Rejoice!

(Now let's hope they come back and remove the crayoning that they have left all over the road and causeway).

Lee