Lauderdale Parade

Several weeks ago, local residents raised the issue of the cleanliness of Lauderdale Parade.

This is one of those difficult to crack problems, not least because it is often due to the carelessness of students at the City of Westminster College across the road. Every so often, a reminder is needed.

As a result, the area had a deep clean a few days ago and the street cleaning teams have been asked to pay special attention to the Parade. Four extra bins have also been installed to try to stop the problem at source (dependent, of course, on individuals actually using them). The local college, who to their credit have always been willing to engage and anxious to mitigate any issues caused by their students, are re-inforcing the message that littering is unacceptable.

The cleansing teams have been asked to monitor the situation over the next few weeks to ensure that the issue has been resolved.

As your local Councillors, we are keen to help with any issues on your street. If you have any problems, please do not hesitate to get in touch. And if you live near Lauderdale Parade, do let us know if you still think there are issues with the cleanliness.

Jan

Brent Council planning massive changes to Kilburn Park Road

On Thursday night we attended a hastily convened meeting, at our request, with planning and housing officers from Brent Council at Westminster City Hall on Victoria Street.

A little while ago, as local Councillors, we had got wind of new plans being promoted by Brent to regenerate South Kilburn. This is a long-standing project which Brent have been naturally keen to do for many years, with a number of false starts and unsuccessful attempts.

Another plan has now emerged and Brent Council seem to have decided that it must be all pushed through exceptionally quickly. Irrespective of the merits of the plans, this is most alarming and shows a lack of respect for those residents on our side of the border who have not yet been publicly consulted about the plans. This message was conveyed in no uncertain terms at the meeting on Thursday to Brent.

Details of the plans are still being worked through, but we can see that they have the potential to have a huge effect on local residents in Maida Vale, particularly in Kilburn Park Road and Carlton Vale.
The headlines of the first stage of the plans are:

• to block off the roundabout at the top of Kilburn Park Road: and instead create a four-way junction controlled by traffic lights;
• to build 135 flats on the roundabout site: which will mean the loss of the open space, the grass and the 40 trees;
• to narrow parts of Kilburn Park Road and Carlton Vale: which will bring existing traffic a little bit closer to the houses currently in Kilburn Park Road and may reduce traffic capacity on the part of Carlton Vale which is just outside Westminster.

This is all part of a plan to remove the large high-rise tower blocks, in stages and over a number of years, which are such an eyesore at the moment.

We asked a lot of questions for Brent and went through their plans in as much detail as we could in two hours. We have further questions and need to get more answers from Brent about just how affected local residents, particularly in Kilburn Park Road will be.

The most single disappointing thing was that Brent Council, throughout this process, have not sought to engage with local residents in Maida Vale on plans which could hugely change our area. After quite a lot of questioning, it also seems like there is about 3 - 4 weeks left now for Brent to do some consultation with Maida Vale residents before the planning application has to go in. This is absolutely unacceptable.

The officers from Brent asked our views about how to consult with local residents. Bearing in mind the limited time that is now left, we have asked Brent to get in touch with local residents as soon as they can and also to set up a meeting so that they can present their views to all interested residents. Affected residents should receive further information from Brent shortly.

In the meantime, we will today be distributing a letter to all potentially affected residents alerting them to these plans and asking for their initial feedback on it. If you are a resident in the area, please do let us know what you think. Clearly the aspiration to improve South Kilburn is a laudable one, but is the loss of the roundabout, the green space and the potential effect on traffic a price worth paying for this? We need your views, as residents, as soon as possible.

Alastair, Jan and Lee

Paddington Rec Environmental Area wins award!

Great news for Paddington Rec!

The new Environmental Area, which was officially opened by the Lord Mayor last month, won the Institute of Groundsmanship's 'National Environmental Project of the Year' award this week.

The Institute, which is the leading professional organisation for grounds maintenance, commended the Council for bringing an area previously not accessible to the public back into use and in promoting nature in the way that it does.

This is excellent news and shows just how far the Council is going in transforming Paddington Rec.

Jan

Neighbourhood Watch: Does your street want one?

Westminster City Council and the local Maida Vale police team have been working closely with groups of local residents over the last few months to set up Neighbourhood Watches in our area.

Neighbourhood Watches, as you will know, have been around for years in an official form - and help both reduce crime and foster a sense of community in an area like ours, where meeting neighbours is often more difficult than you think!

In the last couple of weeks, the police and Council have worked with residents in Wheatfield House, Kilburn Park Road and Essendine Road to discuss the possibility of setting up a neighbourhood watch.

If you are interested in doing the same for your street, do get in touch to let us know.

Lee

Maida Vale Station In Bloom

Just a quick note to say a belated congratulations to the staff of Maida Vale tube station for coming 3rd over the Summer in the 'Stations In Bloom' competition.

Thanks also to everyone in Paddington Rec who were able to help the tube station out with some planters for the competition.

Jan

Kilburn High Road: open!

Finally, after over a week of repairs, Kilburn High Road re-opened to traffic this afternoon.

Although the water main burst was technically in Camden (and the road diversion was on the other side of the Edgware Road), a number of Maida Vale residents have been in touch to say how inconvenient the road closure has been for them.

I must admit my eyebrows to have been raised last night when I had another look at progress - due to the road being still cordoned off despite all the tarmac having been replaced and the lines having already been re-painted. A quick e-mail was fired off to officers who got in touch with Camden to find out what the problem was (we had heard rumours it would be closed until Friday to allow anti-skid marks to be painted). Thankfully, Camden have been sensible and re-opened it today.

Lee

Kilburn Park Road: walkabout

Last week I met with residents from Kilburn Park Road for a walkabout to discuss issues and problems they wanted to raise.

Both as a Council and as local Councillors, we've spent a lot of time over the last few years on KPR, which has always been a road in need of a bit of TLC. We've successfully had the road resurfaced from top to bottom, spent time trying to reduce the amount of graffiti on the Brent side, installed hanging baskets, got some of the drains unblocked and cracked down on rubbish dumping. We think Kilburn Park Road is looking better than it has ever done!

From the walkabout, we've taken up a couple of issues with regards to parking and buses near the junction with Shirland Road, along with trying to sort out some wayward signs that need removing (and unblocking again the drains).

As your local Councillors, we are here to do walkabouts with any residents who would like them. Please get in touch (maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com) to arrange.

Jan

Lanark Road: water pressure

Over the last few months a number of residents have contacted us regarding the low water pressure in a number of CityWest blocks on Lanark Road. Residents have told us how, intermittently, the water coming from their taps has been insufficient - particularly at peak times of demand, such as in the morning, when lots of people are wanting showers at once.

We've been working closely with both CityWest Homes and Thames Water over the last few months to find out what the problem is - including, during August, having a water pressure monitor installed on one of the properties affected to see what the readings told us.

We are very pleased to hear that an agreement has now been come to between CityWest and Thames regarding taking this issue forward - and letters have gone out to residents to this end. CityWest has agreed to take the issue forward over the next few months and work up ways to reduce the impact on local residents. We'll keep pushing for a resolution.

Lee

Low cost home ownership event

Just a note (at short notice) for all residents who might be interested in getting on the property ladder ...

The Council is organising an open event today between 1200 and 8pm to provide more information about low cost home ownership and discounted rents within the borough. There will also be information about shared ownership and 'Rent to HomeBuy' flats which will be coming available in Westminster over the next year.

The event is at the Abbey Centre, Great Smith Street, Victoria - do pop along if you would like to find out more.

Alastair

Water Leak on Kilburn High Road

Local residents near the top of the ward will probably now be aware that a water mains burst yesterday on Kilburn High Road (between Belsize Road and Greville Road), causing the road to be shut and quite a lot of water to leak.

Although the leak occurred just outside of Westminster, there has been some impact on Maida Vale residents - not least with the road closure, but also some likely damage to the public highway and properties on our side of the border. Westminster officers have been working through the situation since yesterday, including putting in place a full diversion for Kilburn High Road traffic. For the moment, we understand that there has been no loss of pressure to properties such as Tollgate - which is good news.

Westminster officers will be inspecting damage today and will seek to sort out any problems as quickly as possible.

This is the second mains burst in this part of the world in the last year, which does seem to suggest that Thames Water needs to look more closely at its pipe network. Westminster will certainly be making the case for this.

Jan