Cleaning up after the builders

Many thanks to whichever builder has decided that the car park of Beechcroft House was a good place to dump all of their waste. What a good idea that was.

As a result, we arranged for the removal of quite a lot of waste materials that had been left in the car park last week (see above picture). Dumped building waste is an occasional problem in Maida Vale and we've asked the local estate office to keep an eye on the area.

If you spot any dumped items in Maida Vale, Westminster Council will remove them for free - and will also try to prosecute anyone who it can prove has been dumping. Builders beware. Contact the Environment Action Line on 7641 2000 to report.

Lee

Carpeted

Thanks to whoever left all of this waste carpet in Kilburn Park Road on Tuesday evening!

We've arranged for the Council to collect and dispose of the bags.

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 at the recycling centre

One of the most frequent questions that residents ask is about what happens to Westminster's recycled waste, particularly given that we collected all materials for recycling in the same box/bag. Residents are very eager to see that we are disposing on the waste in the most cost effective and environmentally-friendly manner possible. There is also the occasional sceptic who wonders if we simply nip round the corner with the recycling boxes and stick it in with the rest of the rubbish too!

So, I decided to spend an afternoon at the recycling centre where Westminster sends all of its waste for recycling. The centre is based south of the river, in Thamesmead, and has been used by Westminster since it opened. Recycled waste is collected from doorsteps and the 'big black bins' and stored at a collection point in Brent. Every few days a 20 tonne lorry takes all the waste down at once (to reduce the impact on the environment) to Thamesmead for processing.

The facility, which has only been operating for a couple of years, is actually very impressive. All kinds of machines are employed to separate all the waste that is collected (various magnets to remove the aluminium or steel / a huge tumbler to separate the newspaper from plastic etc.) There is even a machine at the end which separates plastic and glass through the medium of infra-red and high-pressure jets of air. And at the very end, a team of professional (and very quick) monitors check to make sure all of the recycled waste has been separated correctly into paper, plastic, glass and the like. Once separated, recycled waste is then sold, via a number of contracts, for use in other industrial processes, both at home and abroad.

Westminster Council is strongly committed to reducing the impact of our rubbish on the environment, but we face considerable problems, not least our city centre location and that space is precious for most of our residents living in flats. It is through facilities like Thamesmead that we are still able to deliver on our commitments to recycling resident's waste.

Westminster's recycling team are intending to run a number of visits to the Thamesmead facility in the next few months for any residents who are interested. Please do get in touch if you'd like to find out more details. You too could be wearing the same funky luminous overcoat as I am in the picture!

Lee

PS Do you have everything you need to recycle? If you need boxes or bags let us know! There are also large boxes available if residents find the smaller ones aren't sufficient for all the waste. We'd be happy to get one ordered for you.

Eighteen Ways to Improve Westminster

In last week's Council Meeting, Sir Simon Milton, the leader of Westminster Council, outlined the plans for the second year of our One City programme, which seeks to improve the lives of Westminster residents. He outlined 18 separate initiatives which the Council will work on over the next year:

• improving secondary school attainment
• a new learning and achievement strategy for Westminster's schools
• improving opportunities for older residents through the Every Older Person Matters programme
• launching a new temporary-to-permanent housing scheme to boost home ownership
• launching a Local Employment Initiative
• bidding for a new Construction Training Centre to be based at Paddington Green
• making Westminster an exemplar green authority through our Go Green initiative
• exempting all green vehicles (not just electric) from resident's permit charges
• continued spending on local high streets
• receiving and actioning the planning application from the proposed Victoria Interchange
• developing Westminster's first ever noise strategy
• supporting a Family Drug and Alcohol Court to support early intervention
• targeting crime and disorder around the Prince of Wales junction on the Harrow Road
• improving parking and the range of parking services available online
• launching a Wireless Innovation Competition
• strengthening the role of ward councillors at neighbourhood level
• recruiting 4,700 additional volunteers by March 2009
• launching further engagement programmes with local residents

Further details can be found here.

Westminster Conservatives are committed to putting forward a positive, pragmatic vision for Westminster for the next four years and beyond. We would welcome your support in achieving these aims.

Please do get in touch if you have any comments on the proposed initiatives launched last week.

Alastair, Jan and Lee

More Graffiti Cleared

In the last week or so, we've noticed a few other areas where graffiti has appeared around Maida Vale. We've reported everything to the anti-graffiti unit at Westminster Council and they have removed scribbling from:

• the garage near Dundee House adjacent to Lanark Road and Hamilton Court
• the entrance to Elgin Mews South in Lanark Road
• on the Pay & Display machine on Delaware Road

If you spot any graffiti and would like it dealt with, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Lee

Zapped

And the Maida Vale white goods award for this week goes to the residents of Lanark Road, who were provided with a microwave and various bits of white plastic/wood by an unidentified benefactor yesterday.

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

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

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

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

Graffiti: Cut it Out

In the last few months we have been very active in trying to crack down on graffiti in Maida Vale. To us, graffiti is one of the worst sorts of anti-social behaviour, immediately making a street look ugly. Back in September, we wrote about how we'd got a number of sites around the Rec cleaned up (see here and here). Since then we have regularly reported graffiti to Westminster Council's graffiti unit and our local police team, both as we have seen it and as residents have contacted us.

The Maida Vale police team have also been busy cataloguing instances of graffiti as they have appeared, ready for potential future prosecutions. However, we also need your help. If you see any instances of graffiti or - better still - can identify who is doing it, please let us know.

You can also report graffiti directly to the Council's graffiti team by clicking here. And you can get in touch with Maida Vale's police team on 7321 8305.

Lee

Going Green

Last week, Westminster Council launched the first free on-street charging points for electric cars on the streets of the West End.

The move, which is a pilot to test demand for charging, is another step in creating a viable support network for environmentally-friendly cars, and highlights how Conservative councils are actually making real progress in developing green policies.

Westminster already offers 48 free car charging points in 13 council-run car parks across the city. We were also one of the first councils to introduce a range of financial incentives for electrical vehicles, including free parking at meters and discounted residents parking.

Lee

Help Us Recycle More

We're committed to increasing the amount of rubbish that is recycled around Maida Vale.

Often we find that residents don't have enough recycling boxes and bags to allow them to recycle more of their refuse. If you need either, please don't hesitate to get in touch (maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com) and we'll make sure that the Council delivers you one.

Alastair

Bike rails, anyone?

Over the last few months we have been lobbying hard for a number of bike rails to be installed in both Lauderdale and Castellain Roads. Feasibility studies for both of these locations are currently being completed and, fingers crossed, we hope that the Council will be able to find the funds in the next few months for them to be installed.

Are there any other streets in Maida Vale which would benefit from bike rails? If there are any budding cyclists out there who think a bike rail on their road would be a good idea, please let us know and we'll get the Council to investigate. Funds are limited but if we can help, we certainly will try.

Lee

Maida Vale Autumn Clean Update

The CivicWatch team have sent us details of the Autumn Clean Day that was held last month to spruce up our local area.

The team managed to clean over 40 square metres of graffiti and flyposting around Maida Vale and Little Venice, including a number of areas in the Rec. Elsewhere in the ward, a number of dumped bulky items were shifted from Morshead Road, leaves were removed from Grantully Road and extra sweeping was undertaken along Kilburn Park Road.

Thanks to Ian Russell and the CivicWatch team for all their efforts.

Lee

Rec Recycling

We're very pleased that, following our request, six recycling bins have been placed in the Rec for visitors to use. The bins take cans, plastic and glass.

It's great that the Council is taking seriously the need for all local residents and Westminster visitors to recycle as much of their waste as possible. We are committed to continue to expand recycling facilities throughout Maida Vale.

Jan

Maida Vale Autumn Clean

Maida Vale will get an Autumn Clean this Thursday, 21 September, as CivicWatch and Westminster Council spruce up our area in time for Autumn.

Although Westminster cleans every street in Maida Vale at least twice a week, the Autumn Clean is an opportunity to tackle any problems with graffiti, persistent litter or chewing gum which have appeared in the last few weeks and months.

If residents have any suggestions regarding which streets or area need a bit of TLC, please let us know or call CivicWatch on 7641 1085.

Lee