Dibdin House

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch in the last couple of weeks to let us know about the progress (or lack of!) in Dibdin House.

You have told us that you are still concerned regarding:

• the safety of the site at evenings and weekends;
• the lack of any apparent progress throughout the blocks, and ;
• the continued mess and general inconvenience which residents are suffering.

A number of residents have also asked for bike racks to be installed within Dibdin House.

We have fed your comments and concerns back to Pathmeads who are currently looking into the issues. We hope to have an update mid-next week regarding the building works, which should indicate whether the 22 May completion deadline will be achieved.

We paid a site visit to the property yesterday and agree that it does still look in a very poor state. Additionally, there was very limited work going on (most of the builders seemed to be huddling in the corners hiding from the rain). We've also reported the graffiti which has appeared on some of the doors to Pathmeads - which needs to be cleaned off as soon as Pathmeads can.

Please do keep letting us know about the progress on Dibdin - with your help we can continue to put pressure on Pathmeads to finish as quickly as possible.

Jan

Paddington Rec: Open Day

Last Saturday, we asked the Parks & Leisure Department at the Council to organise an open day for local residents to discuss the future of Paddington Rec.

All local residents were sent letters inviting them to view and discuss some of the proposals put forward by Council officers. Officers have also left a number of displays within the cafe at Paddington Rec with further information for local residents who weren't able to get along.

The new proposals are:

• Tennis Courts: three new tennis courts to replace the disused bowling green and club house on the corner of Grantully and Biddulph Roads, and;
• Cafe: expanding the footprint of the cafe building to allow more facilities to be built there (including for the planned gym).

As local Councillors, we know that local residents will probably have lots to say on both of these proposals - and rightly so. We have already begun to enter into discussions on the proposals with both officers and the Cabinet Member to make sure that we understand all aspects of the proposals.

Please do get in touch and let us know your thoughts.

Jan

St. Augustine's School: Driver Jonas Business Challenge

Earlier this month, I was invited to take part in the 6th annual Driver Jonas Business Challenge, a two-day event which offers GCSE pupils from London schools a greater understanding of the urban environment and a chance to find out about careers in the property industry.

St. Augustine's had been lucky enough to be chosen to take part in this event and 25 pupils spent the first day visiting a number of London landmarks including the Tate Modern, the Tate Britain and the London Docklands. The culmination of the event was a presentation on site about the regeneration of East London and the Lea Valley in time for the Olympics.

I joined the pupils on the second day when they were divided into teams and set the challenge of redeveloping the St. Augustine's school site and a 9-acre area of Kilburn. The pupils spent a long time working out how best thise part of Maida Vale and Kilburn could be improved - and particularly enjoyed proposing to knock down some buildings!

Thanks to Driver Jonas for their continued commitment to supporting education and local schools throughout London.

Alastair

They keep a-diggin' holes in our roads: We say no, no, no

A quick note to the Chief Executive of EdF Energy

Dear Mr. de Rivaz,

Your company, EdF Energy, appears to be developing a rather worrying habit of digging holes in our neighbourhood and then forgetting about them.

Just a word of advice - as local Councillors, we've been here before. Got the T-shirt. Heard all the excuses. Bored of all the broken promises, so to speak. Type "Thames" into the search engine if you want to find out more.

So, we would be very grateful if you could kindly fill in the holes you have dug on the corner of Elgin Avenue-Biddulph Road and Elgin Avenue-Morshead Road as soon as possible. You know, the ones that have appeared from nowhere and for which no-one in your organisation has had the courteousy to contact us about.

And just to show you we are serious - we have had the council issue a default notice against the Morshead Road hole. That means you are officially mandated to fill the hole in as quickly as possible.
Please do so.

We already have one utility that has messed Maida Vale residents around for too long. Be assure you aren't going to become the second one.

Many thanks,

Lee

CityWest Homes: Maida Vale Update

CityWest have been in touch to let us know about work being undertaken around the Maida Vale estate:

• Rayne House: Works to refurbish the communal areas are due to start shortly. Additionally, CityWest also intend to spend six weeks upgrading the lift over the summer and will shortly be speaking with residents about how to minimise any inconvenience.
• Edinburgh, Falkirk and Glasgow Towers: the gas boilers are currently being renewed, causing scaffolding to be erected outside all three. All affected residents should have received a letter giving them further information.

If you are a resident and have any issues or comments on the above works, please get in touch.

Lee

The unwelcome return of Thames Water

Thames Water are back.

Last week, Thames returned - with a bang - and have descended once again on Elgin Avenue. This time they have partially closed the road as they continue their Victorian replacement programme.

As local Councillors we do genuinely despair. We were not given any prior warning that the works were to begin and were only alerted by Randolph and Elgin residents who received a letter shortly before. The closure period seems particularly foolhardy. Elgin Parade businesses are now being hit with a double whammy - TfL screwing up the immediate area around the tube and Thames screwing up all of the left hand side of Parade.

It hasn't helped that all Thames seemed to do for the first five days was chalk up the road and then disappear. We raised this with Thames immediately and were given a rather vague answer about preparing the area and digging holes at either end which, to my untrained eye, didn't seem to align with what I'd walked past earlier that day. Nothing changes it seems.

The works started on 15 April and are due to last for five weeks.

We'll be watching closely over the next few weeks and have outlined in the strongest possible terms that Thames need to put their foot down and then get Elgin Avenue back to normal as soon as they have finished.

Lee

Dibdin House Further Update

During our meeting with PCHA last week, we asked to be kept informed of the progress of works on Dibdin House.

Following a meeting with their buliding contractors, PCHA have now come back to us with further information. The new completion date is 22 May 2008 and PCHA have agreed to contact all residents to share this (and to highlight the reasons for the delay).

As a result of our meetings, PCHA have also agreed to begin twice weekly inspections to ensure that the works remain on time and complete within deadline. We are a little disappointed that this wasn't done in the first place, but hopefully the closer monitoring of the contractors will mean that Dibdin House residents get peace within the month.

PCHA have also promised to look into issues regarding drains and site security that have been raised by residents.

Jan

Meebo requests

Thanks to everyone who has left Meebo messages in the last week regarding Dibdin House, the recycling centre close to St. Augustine's School, Lanark Road and Randolph Avenue. We have asked the local cleaning team to look into each issue and take appropriate action.

If you would like to discuss further, please do e-mail me on lee@maidavaleconservatives.com

Lee

Meeting with PCHA

Last Friday, we held a two-hour meeting with Pathmeads and PCHA at their offices in Harrow Road.

We spent an hour discussion Dibdin House and the ongoing works to the property. Finally, after a couple of delays (due to additional drainage replacement), the works are apparently due to be completed within the next month or so. There does seem to be quite a bit of work left to do, so maybe this is a little optimistic - but we've asked to be kept informed.

The really good news, however, though is that Pathmeads are changing the way in which they liaise and communicate with local residents. From this week a new Estate Manager will be in place (Michelle Clapham) who will have the power to organise minor repairs without needing to gain approval from elsewhere. In addition, Pathmeads intend to re-open an office on the Estate during part of the week to deal with resident problems and queries. This is something we have argued for over a number of years - and we are very glad Pathmeads have eventually agreed to the change.

The second hour was devoted to a meeting with the Managing Director of PCHA, Pam Lockley, to discuss the concerns of Randolph Avenue residents. We held an informal surgery with residents last month where real concern was expressed about (i) a lack of communication and interest from Pathmeads, (ii) problems with getting in touch with PCHA when problems and queries were raised and (iii) the new service charges (which seemed to have just been made up on the back of a fag packet).

Ms Lockley agreed that the implementation of the new service charges had been badly handled and, at our request, currently has two PCHA employees contacting all those in Randolph who have raised queries. She also accepts that communications have been poor and has agreed to look into how this can be addressed. We told PCHA in no uncertain terms that their current lack of involvement and poor customer service is absolutely unacceptable - and PCHA, to their credit, took this on the chin (it helped that we had specific examples which we personally had experienced!). One of my worse nightmares is having to phone the PCHA offices in Willesden - and that's if it ever connects. Still, they have promised to work over the next few months to improve and we'll be working very closely with PCHA tenants to make sure they keep their promise.

If you have any issue with your housing association, please do let us know - we would be very happy to take this up.

Jan

Maida Vale: Tube Update

TfL have sent through a further update on the tube works:

• works to the Station Control Point, including installation and commissioning of communications equipment (scheduled to be brought into use in early May);
• further stair-nosing;
• additional wall, floor and staircase tiling;
• works to station canopy and ventilation system ongoing, and;
• installation of new signage and cable management systems.

Another update in a fortnight.

Lee

What is this?

Another mysterious set of barriers appears in Maida Vale ...

For the past month or so, these abandoned works have taken root on the corner of Randolph Avenue and Carlton Vale. We've called in the Streetworks team to clear as quickly as possible.

Lee

Jan's Surgery This Saturday

Jan will be holding her usual surgery in the cafe of Paddington Rec this Saturday (5 April) between 10am and 11am.

Please do come along if we can be of any help or assistance.

Jan