Sunday, June 28, 2009

Bowling Green - Next Steps

Maida Vale's new Bowling Club - the group of local residents set up to save the Bowling Green - will be meeting this Thursday, from 8pm at 215e Elgin Avenue.

This will be a chance to talk through how the first couple of months have gone and to talk about 'next steps'. Do go along if you want to get involved!

You can find further information out at: http://www.maidavalebowls.org.uk/.

Alastair

Labels: , , ,

Paddington Rec Meeting

Last Wednesday we attended the latest quarterly meeting of the Paddington Rec steering committee, the group of officers who run the Rec on a day-to-day basis. The meeting is a great opportunity to talk through any current issues with the Rec and also to talk through any future plans that officers want to put forward.

We received an update on the long-running upgrade works in the Rec, which have done so much to improve the park in the last few years. Work continues on the Cafe, health and fitness facility and the environmental area - all of which are on plan. On the 20th July, the Hockey pitch will be closed for approximately 6 weeks whilst the surface is replaced after many years hard use.

We also received the latest information on the use of the Bowling Green. The first full month of operation saw more people use the Green than for the whole of last year - which is a great result. Much of this is down to the local residents who have come together to form the Maida Vale Bowls Club. If the Green is to be retained going forward, however, we need to see a similar (if not higher) level of use all the way up to October - so keep booking and keep using the Green!

We also discussed a number of other issues including the continued police presence in the Rec, a proposal to name the Pavilion and the visibility of the dog warden.

Jan and Lee

Labels: , , , ,

Friday, June 26, 2009

Maida Vale Police Meeting

Last Monday the Maida Vale Safer Neighbourhoods Team held a meeting for local residents to talk through their concerns and views on our local area.

The meeting was well attended by a number of local residents, many of whom who wanted to speak with the police about issues or concerns they had. A number of issues were brought up - from the high-profile (regarding the recent success against the youths on Elgin Parade) to the ones which the police and Council are always fighting a battle against (like dog mess or people cycling on pavements).

As local Councillors, we also invited our colleague, Cllr Audrey Lewis, to the meeting. Audrey is the Chairman of one of the committees which monitors the police's response to crime and anti-social behaviour within Westminster. We're very glad that Audrey was able to hear at first hand the concerns that Maida Vale residents had.

All in all, most residents agreed that Maida Vale was, in general, a pretty safe place to live. There are always problems and concerns and it is good that the police can gather these at regular intervals by holding meetings like this.

If you have a concern about crime or anti-social behaviour in our area, please don't hesitate to get in touch. We hold weekly meetings with our local police team and will always feedback any issues you tell us about.

Jan

Labels:

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Atholl and Braemar Houses: Major Works

CityWest have been in touch to say that the next meeting to discuss the major works for Atholl and Braemar Houses will be held on Wednesday 8th July at 6pm at 8a Braemar House.
If you live in Atholl or Braemar and would like to influence the direction of the proposed major works, please do go along. Last time, most residents decided that they wanted CityWest to concentrate on water ingress rather than replacing the windows and doors. As a result, CityWest have now agreed to move the replacement works for doors/windows back by five years - showing that CityWest do listen to what residents want!

Alastair

Labels: ,

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Quality Hotel Licence Application

Back in April we wrote about a licencing application which had been submitted by the Quality Hotel on Kilburn High Road to allow 24-hour drinking on the premises.

Our last post detailed the date, time and place of the licencing hearing - originally set for 23rd April. For reasons which we can't quite fathom (not least because Brent don't have the most intuitive website in the world), the decision on the original application does not seem to have ever been made. Instead, it seems to have been delayed for several months.

We've now been informed that the objections (one of which was from us) to the licence will be determined next Thursday, 25th June. The venue is the Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley (starting at 10am). Anyone is able to attend.

We'll let you know the outcome.

Jan

Labels: ,

Monday, June 15, 2009

Randolph Avenue resurfacing

As many local residents are already aware, Westminster Council has recently begun resurfacing Randolph Avenue.

Many Randolph residents had mentioned to us in recent years that the street was looking past its best (and that it was becoming an increasingly bumpy ride!) - so we are very pleased that the Council has carried out the resurfacing. This comes hard on the heels of resurfacing on the Elgin Avenue-Shirland Road junction.

Alastair

Labels: , ,

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Westminster: Visitor Parking Experiment

One of the biggest problems that residents tell us about on the doorstep is the problems they have with parking. Most of these issues - as residents point out to us - are down to living in a busy and crowded city, which means that parking space is always at a premium.

Over the last few years, Westminster has taken strides to improve parking and reduce the dreaded parking attendents and tickets in our area. Where Westminster has got it wrong, as local Councillors, we haven't been afraid to stand up and tell them - like when we managed to get the tickets of many Wymering Road residents rescinded a couple of years ago because they were the fault of Thames Water not residents.

One of the areas where residents do, however, tend to think that the Council could go further is on visitor parking. This is obviously a very difficult area - we have a limited number of parking spaces and the Council has always taken the view that residents come first.

With residents views in mind, though, the Parking Department will launch a trial experiment next week in three wards around the City (not Maida Vale) which will see a number resident parking bays over a wide area converted into multi-use in the middle of the day. This will allow visitors to use them at this time whilst still ensuring that they are available to residents at the busiest times (the beginning and end of the day).

The experiment is due to run for an initial 6 months in Queen's Park, Abbey Road and Regent's Park wards. The Council will then have another 12 months to collect any further information it needs and then to make a final decision on the project. Although parking will never be perfect in Westminster, we are pleased to see the Council at least trying to improve things in this area. If it works, the experiment may be extended elsewhere in the City.

Lee

Labels: ,

Monday, June 08, 2009

Maida Vale Area Forum - This Wednesday

A quick reminder that the next Maida Vale Area Forum will be held this Wednesday at the Paddington Academy.

All Maida Vale residents are welcome - please do come along and let us know what you think about Westminster Council and the services it provides. We'll also be debating the following subjects:
  • Carers
  • Housing in Westminster
  • Healthy Living
  • The type of service you should expect when contacting the Council
The Forum will begin at 7pm. There will also be an open surgery for half an hour beforehand.

Lee

Monday, June 01, 2009

New Surgery for local residents

We are very pleased to announce that we will be inaugurating our fourth monthly surgery this month, allowing residents another opportunity to get in touch and discuss any problems or issues they might have.

From this month onwards, one of us will hold a one-hour surgery at the Maida Vale Children's Centre on Kilburn Park Road between 10.30am and 11.30am one Wednesday per month.

We'll be present on the following Wednesdays: 8th July, 9th September, 14th October, 11th November and 9th December. No appointment is needed - just drop by.

We'll also be continuing our usual 1st Saturday in the month surgeries in the Cafe of Paddington Rec (10am - 11am) and the Old Office, Dibdin House (1200 - 1pm). On the middle (ish) Tuesday of the month we will be in the Maida Centre, Lanark Road between 7pm and 8pm.

Full details of our next surgery can always be found on this website.

Jan

Labels: ,