Want to meet the local police team?

Would you like to meet the local Maida Vale police team?

The team are holding a series of 'street surgeries' across the ward over the next few weeks for local residents to come along and discuss any issues, problems or concerns.

If you would like to go along, here are the dates:

7th June 7pm - 9pm: at the Elgin Avenue/Lanark Road junction

12th June 2pm - 4pm: in Paddington Recreation Ground

3rd July 2pm - 4pm: in Paddington Recreation Ground

24th July 2pm - 4pm: in Paddington Recreation Ground

The team will be bringing along the mobile police station - so you should be able to find them!

Lee

Lanark Road: Water Pressure update

An update on the water pressure issue in Lanark Road which we wrote about last month ....

We're pleased to say that CityWest Homes have made some progress on this issue. On 30th October they replaced the main pipe between Atholl House and Maida Vale, which they hope will improve the supply to residents in that block. Pressure logs have also been installed to check and, if the results prove that supply has improved, works will then be carried out elsewhere in the street.

We'll let you know when we find out.

Alastair

Maida Vale Police Team: Latest Update

The Maida Vale local police team have sent us their latest update:

• Priorities: Police priorities in oura rea remain tackling anti-social behaviour in Elgin Avenue and the Rec, along with a continuing campaign to reduce residential burglary;
• Elgin Parade: groups of youngsters have continued to gather at this area in the evening, with some anti-social behaviour occurring as a result. The mobile police station has been deployed as a visible deterrent and have spent time trying to work with some of these young people to find them alternative thigns to do (including a number who have been introduced to the Army Cadet scheme). Further work continues.
• Paddignton Rec: The Rec remains, on the whole, quiet. The mobile police station has been deployed on a regular basis to both deter any anti-social behaviour and to provide a point of contact for the public. A total of 13 people have been banned in the last 12 months from the Rec for poor behaviour.

As local Councillors, we know that the top priority of many residents around Elgin Avenue, Lanark Road and Hamilton Court is tackling the youth congregation issue. Further work has been undertaken since this update was provided to us and we will continue to press for a resolution. As part of our determination to solve this problem, we have allocated monies from the Maida Vale Community Fund to support two additional uniformed City Guardians in the area until March 2010.

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

Tesco Express: Result

Monday was the decision day for Tesco's application to vary some of the conditions to its 2008 alcohol licence (previous story here).

We are very pleased to report that the two judges hearing the appeal threw out Tesco's request. That means they will still have to have staff on the forecourt at certain times and will also not be allowed to offer cut price drink offers in the store.

Jan

Thames: Just checking ...

Following the re-appear of a Thames hole in Randolph Avenue a few weeks ago, we've spent some time trying to confirm that there are no further plans to complete more Victorian mains replacement in our area ....

.... and we are very pleased to confirm it! A few end of project 'snagging' activities are being undertaken (such as Randolph Avenue - and also the one on Maida Vale). After that, they are going to bother other parts of London.

A warm and happy wave goodbye!

Lee

Tesco Express

Last year, you may remember the campaign to stop Tesco Express on the corner of Sutherland Avenue and Maida Vale from obtaining a licence to sell alcohol. Despite Westminster Council refusing them a licence, it was eventually granted upon appeal by a court with a number of conditions attached (see here).

At the end of last year, Tesco applied once again for a variation to that licence, which watered down the conditions that were placed on it by the licensing court. This was rejected by Westminster Council's Licensing Committee back in January, who also noted (thanks to local residents) that Tesco appeared to be ignoring the conditions anyway.

Any sensible organisation would have gone away and started to adhere to the terms of the original licence that it had been issued. Not Tesco. Instead, it has now appealed against the Council's decision not to vary the licence. Consequently, an appeal is scheduled to be heard on 7 September at the City of London Magistrates' Court.

If you are a local resident and want to make representations, please do get in touch (maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com). We will certainly be doing so.

Jan, Lee and Alastair

St. George's: Problems with Lorries

A number of residents have alerted us to some serious concerns regarding the redevelopment works at St. George’s school which started two months ago.

Prior to the works beginning, we spent a significant amount of time negotiating with the building contractor to ensure the impact on local residents would be minimised as much as possible. We managed to get agreement on three important things to do this:

• a reduction in the size of the site compound;
• that the compound will be moved in mid-2010 away from Glasgow House upon completion of the major part of the works on the new sports hall;
• that the number of lorry movements would be limited to an average of 5 per day and would not occur before 9.15am without prior permission of the Estate Office.

Lanark and Glasgow residents have been in touch over the last couple of weeks to say that the builders have not adhered to the agreement on lorry movements. We immediately took this issue up with the builders and with the Council department coordinating the activity and raised again raised it at two meetings (last week and this).

The builders do appear to have allowed much larger number of lorries on to the site on numerous occasions since the end of May, apparently because of “unforeseen soil conditions” (whatever that is).

We have been very clear with the contractors that this is completely at odds with the agreements that they voluntarily signed up to only a few months ago. Furthermore, having publicly committed to being a considerate neighbour, to break those commitments within a few weeks is not an auspicious start for a project which will take several years to complete.

As a result, an unequivocal apology letter will shortly be distributed by the contractor to all affected residents.

The contractor has also committed in the letter to the following:

• that from 13th July, the number of lorries visiting the site will be limited to 6 per day (unless the Estate Office have been notified in advance);
• that they will write to their suppliers outlining that lorries should not arrive at the site before 9.15am not after 6pm (and should not all arrive at once causing traffic). In addition, a traffic marshall will be deployed outside of these times to try to stop lorries entering Lanark Road ;
• that no works will be carried out before 8am or after 6pm;
  that extra checks will be made on the generator to ensure it is switched off at night (and so not causing noise for nearby residents), and;
  that a new “Resident’s Hotline” (0800 083 5575) will be set up so residents can inform the contractor of any problems or issues they have.

As local Councillors, we are extremely disappointed by the contractors early failure to adhere to the agreements that we put in place – and we have told them, in no uncertain terms, our thoughts. The letter will not make up for the inconvenience that local residents have experienced over the last few weeks but we hope that the message has now got through to the contractor that they will have to consider local residents during the build.

Going forward, we’ll keep watching the contractor to ensure they are keeping their end of the bargain. Thanks to those residents who got in touch with us to report the problems with the lorries. We hope there won’t be but, if there are any further issues going forward, please do get in touch again – and we will take it up again.

Alastair, Jan and Lee

£100,000 Your Way: Greening Maida Vale

An update on Maida Vale's Community budget:

One of the priorities identified by local residents a few months ago was a desire to further green Maida Vale and to improve our local environment. We are pleased to report that the first part of the budget has now been allocated and will be supporting this aim.

From the end of July, hanging baskets will be appearing throughout Maida Vale to improve the look and feel of our streets and to improve biodiversity in our area. There will two plantings on a significant number of streets within Maida Vale. We've tried to space them out across the ward so all residents will be able to benefit.

The streets are: Carlton Vale (6 baskets), Elgin Avenue (33), Essendine Road (9), Kilburn Park Road, 27), Lanark Road (17), Randolph Avenue (20), Randolph Gardens (5) and Shirland Road (12).

Alastair, Jan and Lee

New Chief Executive of CityWest visit

Last Monday, we were pleased to welcome Mark Hoyland, the new Chief Executive of CityWest Homes, to Maida Vale.

We invited Mark because we wanted to show him all of the estates within Maida Vale and talk through all the current issues faced by local residents and the Estate Office. We spent a couple of hours showing Mark around Tollgate, Carlton Vale, Thurso, Torridon, the Scottish Towers, Oak Tree House and some of the street-based properties around the ward.

Mark was particularly complimentary about all of our estates - saying that they were some of the best looking and well run within Westminster - a testament to the TMOs and others who administer them so well. We spent a good deal of time talking through issues around customer service, maintenance, leaseholder charges and general responsiveness - all of which local residents have discussed with us and which we, as local Councillors, have noted over the last few months. Our primary message - serve residents first!

Mark has agreed to take our comments and issues back to CityWest HQ and to come back to us with responses on a number of issues.

Alastair, Jan and Lee

St. George's Update

Another success on St. George's!

One of the main issues we were concerned about for Lanark Road, Carlton Vale and other nearby residents, was the movement of lorries to service the St. George's redevelopment once it got underway. Lanark Road, in particular, is a relatively narrow road and we needed to be sure that deliveries to the site had been thought through so as not to really inconvenience local residents.

After a lot of negotiations, we are pleased to say that the building contractor has agreed to a number of conditions that will hopefully reduce the impact of the St. George's works for local residents. These conditions are:

• that lorries can only access the site from 9.15am unless they have informed the Estate Office in advance. The building contractor had asked to be able to access from 8am - which we thought was too early and was likely to coincide with the busy time of day for Lanark Road.
• that no more than 5 lorries should access the site on a daily basis - which will ensure that local residents aren't affected by continuous lorry movements all day, every day.

We know that the next year or so is going to be challenging - large scale building works so close to a residential area always are. We hope, though, that the conditions we have negotiated - on lorry movements, on the location of the compound and also on its size may help reduce the impact on local residents as much as is possible. We want to thank local residents near St. George's in advance for their patience and support for this important project.

And, of course, as your local Councillors we are here to help. We've delivered a letter containing all the conditions to nearby residents, so that they can check the contractor is fulfilling his side of the bargain. If local residents have any comments at all, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Jan, Alastair and Lee

St.George's Update

Success! Good news for Glasgow House residents.

Further to our last update on the St. George's redevelopment works, we're very pleased to report that the school have now agreed to our request to re-locate the building compound after the construction of the new sports hall.

The compound, which is to be sited between Glasgow House and the school, was initially due to be in place from now and last until the end of the works in mid-2011. At our request - and following lengthy discussions with the school - it has now been agreed that the compound will be moved in the middle of 2010 (there are two options regarding where to place it - both on school land).

We are very grateful to the Diocese and the Governing body for being so helpful on this matter and being a good neighbour to Glasgow House.

The main outstanding issue with St. George's is now lorry movements on Lanark Road. We're continuing to discuss this issue and will come back with an update shortly.

Lee

The little things ...

Over the last couple of months, a few bits and bobs which we’ve done to keep Maida Vale clean and tidy:

• Lanark Road: we’ve had one of the partially-blocked gulleys close to the Boy’s Club and Glasgow House checked, cleaned and unblocked.
• Elgin Parade: we reported a failure to reinstate paving by EdF very close to the tube station and, after some bureaucratic wrangling, this has been sorted. We also have reported some graffiti on the sign across from Boomerang deli.
• Kilburn Park Road: we’re arranging for a paint spillage reported at the Area Forum to be cleaned in the first week of April.
• Elgin Avenue: we’ve asked for the now-unused plinths which used to hold the parking ticket machines to be removed in the next couple of months.
• Shirland Road: we’ve reported graffiti on the side of 123 Shirland Road and asked for it be removed.
• Kilburn High Road: additionally, we’ve reported graffiti on the side of a shop on Kilburn High Road and had removed some flyposting on the side of Dibdin House.
• Tollgate Gardens: we’ve had the Estate Office remove over 3 tonnes of fly-tipped concrete down near the garages, removed graffiti on the garages themselves, remove a dead tree stump near Godwin House and a load of dead branches at the back of Wingfield House.
• Forty Tree Green: we asked that the litter which had built up over the winter was removed (completed mid-February).
• Randolph Avenue: we’ve reported some graffiti close to Elgin Mews South.

If you have any issue which you would like us to tackle on your street, get in touch (maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com).

Lee

St. George's Update

An update on the issues associated with the redevelopment plans for St. George’s, which we’ve been working through over the past few weeks:

As you’ll remember St. George’s was granted permission for the building of a new block, close to Glasgow House, which would allow the school to expand to take more pupils from our local community. This redevelopment is expected to take two years to complete and, when concluded, will see an almost totally refurbished school able to support the great work that the new headmaster, Martin Tissot is doing.

As local Councillors, it is our job to make sure that these works do not cause unnecessary inconvenience and problems for the local community. Residents of Glasgow House, Lanark Road, parts of Dibdin House, Andover Place and Carlton Vale are all going to have to live next to a building site for some/all of the next two years and it is crucial that their interests are considered.

At our last meeting with residents, three major issues were identified – (i) the position of the building site compound, (ii) the encroachment of that compound into Lanark Road and (iii) the lorry movements that will be associated with the building works.

Here’s the progress on each:

• Position of the building site compound: We asked the team coordinating the redevelopment to look at alternatives to the compound being next to Glasgow House for the entirety of the building programme. Glasgow House residents (and those close by on Lanark Road) will endure a disproportionate amount of inconvenience and hassle due to these works and, by the middle of 2010, the majority of the work being undertaken close to Glasgow will have been concluded (the project then moves to the refurbishment of the existing school buildings near Carlton Vale). We’ve asked the school if they might consider moving some/all of the compound onto the land they use over the road to give Glasgow House residents a respite (and to say thankyou for putting up with the works). We’re currently in discussions and will let you know the outcome.
• Encroachment of building compound into Lanark Road: We’re very pleased to say that we’ve had some success with this, following discussions with the builders. The original plans were for the compound wall to extend out several feet into the road – which we thought was unacceptable and could affect driving down the road. Now the builders have agreed to pull the compound back off the road – it will now only go up to the edge of the pavement. Every little helps!
• Lorry movements on Lanark Road: We were very concerned to see that the builders wished to operate lorry movements from quite early in the morning and all the way through the period when kids were coming and going to school. In addition, Lanark is a busy road with many people wanting to access the Maida Centre and the Boy’s Club. We’re continuing discussions with the builders about regulating and reducing lorry movements when Lanark is likely to be busy.

The builders have indicated that the works are likely to start in the next few weeks, so we’ll continue to work on these issues and let you know the outcome. We have a meeting in the next couple of days, so we’ll report back then.

Lee

Further meeting on BSF

On Tuesday evening, we held a second meeting with the Building Schools for the Future team at City Hall to talk through the plans for St. George's and St. Augustine's.

Following the granting of planning permission for the works to go ahead last Tuesday, it is now crucial that the team take into account the impact on local residents around both schools. We all know that major building works will inevitably affect the local community and residents living particularly closely to the sites will be affected. The important thing is to ensure that Maida Vale and those residents are affected as little as is humanely possible.

The majority of our meeting on Tuesday was taken up discussing St. George's, where the local community on Carlton Vale, in Dibdin House and particularly on Lanark Road will be quite severely affected during the works. We spent a long time going through all of the works plans in detail and challenging many of the assumptions that had been made to ensure they were water-tight.

The plans envisage a site being constructed to the south of St. George's, close to Glasgow House. Thankfully, officers at the Council have already reduced the proposed size of the building site and tried to mitigate the effects on Glasgow House residents by moving the temporary office block out of sight from their balconies.

We remain concerned about the size of the office block and the length of time the site compound will be close to Glasgow House (March 2009 - early 2011). We have asked the BSF team to look again and they have agreed to do so. In particular, we are very concerned about the proposed traffic movements and want confirmation that the planning has been done on this. Around 10 parking spaces will have to be temporarily suspended for the duration of the works to allow the delivery lorries to turn into the site. We want confidence that the lorries can fit down Lanark Road (so no more parking spaces are taken off) and also that they are limited in the times when they can deliver (to avoid gridlock and lots of children being about).

The BSF team have agreed to come back to us on each of these points.

Jan

St. George's Redevelopment Plans Approved

Last Tuesday, Westminster Council's Planning Committee gave its approval to the redevelopment proposals for St. George's School on Maida Vale.

Starting later in the Spring, St. George's will be comprehensively redeveloped to add space for one more form (with numbers increased from 600 to 750 pupils). A new three storey extension will be added to the school comprising a new sports hall, changing facilities and teaching areas. There will also be a roof-based outdoor play area.

As Councillors, we have always recognised the importance of improving the facilities of schools against the needs of local residents. For St. George's this was very important, given its close proximity to properties in Lanark Road, Dibdin House and Glasgow House. In particular, the plans included the increasing of the St. George's boundaries by several metres to incorporate some of the new facilities, using some of the park area to the north of Glasgow House and the current school caretaker's house. We have made sure that local residents in Glasgow House have been kept fully up-to-date by the redevelopment team and residents seem content that the changes are for good reason. There were no letters of objections to the planning committee last Tuesday.

We did provide written comments to the committee on the redevelopment plans. We emphasised the need for the redevelopment team to continue to work closely with Glasgow House residents to improve their facilities as a condition for the loss of some of their gardens and, in the short-term, because some of the temporary works facilities will be situated in their car park. In addition, we highlighted that we thought the design left something to be desired, particularly on the Carlton Vale side. We are pleased that the committee agreed with us on this and the design of the building facing Dibdin House will be looked at again.

We'll keep a close eye on the plans and works and keep you informed as they progress.

Congratulations to Martin, the head, and all the pupils and staff of St. George's. We look forward to an even better school once the redevelopment has been completed.

If you are a resident affected by any of these changes and would like to discuss them, please don't hesitate to get in touch (maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com).

Lee

Maida Vale Police Team: News Update

The Maida Vale Police Team have provided their latest quarterly update of what they have been working on:

Elgin Parade

All members of the group responsible for low-level anti-social behaviour in/around Elgin Parade have now been identified. Four of the group have been made to sign Acceptable Behaviour Contracts with strict conditions (the precursors to Anti-Social Behaviour Orders). Two arrests have been made in relation to incidents that occurred during the Autumn on Elgin Parade and one individual has been taken to court.

The police report that anti-social behaviour decreased significantly since November. ASBOs and other measures will be held in reserve if there is any uptick in problems.

Paddington Rec

Officers are continuing to monitor Paddington Rec and are pleased to report no incidents in the last few months. Known troublemakers remain banned and have not been spotted in recent months and there continues to be attempts to engage other youngsters in diversionary activities (sport or other physical activity).

City of Westminster College

Officers report an incident before Christmas where 7 students from Westminster College were caught smoking cannabis in the doorway of a nearby mansion block. All have been given written warnings by the College, with one youth having been arrested and permanently excluded from the college.

New Team Member

We welcome Sargeant McGregor who joined the team in the late Autumn.

Lee

Lanark Road: Letter Mix-Up

Last week, a number of residents on Lanark Road contacted us having received a letter from the Council about a pavement repair programme that was about to begin.

Many residents were concerned about the breadth of the programme and the suggestion that the road might be closed for weeks on end as the works were undertaken.

We got straight on to the Transportation Department at the Council to find out the story and - thankfully - the letter had been distributed with the wrong text! A repair programme will begin on 20 January, for three months, but the works will be staggered to try to minimise inconvenience to local residents and users of the road. The road is not intended to be closed for weeks on end. Sometimes mix-ups happen! We asked for a follow-up letter to be sent around all properties in Lanark to correct the mistake and that should have been completed yesterday (Friday).

If you are a resident of Lanark Road and have any issues or comments when the works start, please don't hesitate to get in touch (maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com).

Lee

Lanark Road: Peace

In the police team update we posted earlier this month, we talked about an eviction of a problem household in Lanark Road. We've now been informed that the household left of their own accord a few days ago and the property is now being prepared to be re-let by CityWest Homes.

It never gives us any pleasure at all as local councillors to see CityWest being forced to take action in this way against local households. The difficulties that have been caused, however, for several years at the end of Lanark Road were unacceptable and near neighbours had been very badly affected for several years - something we saw several times at first hand.

At least local residents can now enjoy their days and nights in peace - finally.

Alastair, Jan and Lee

Grimebusters: November 2008

In the last month, we've reported and had reported a few bits of graffiti in the ward:

• on the wooden fence in front of Oak Tree House, Shirland Road;
• on the side of 'Wine Rack' on the corner of Elgin Avenue and Randolph Avenue;
• on the telephone box on the corner of Elgin Avenue and Randolph Avenue, and;
• on the side of Hamilton Court, close to 'Sales and Lettings' on the Elgin Avenue-Lanark Road junction.

Let us know if you spot any graffiti and we'll arrange to have it cleaned off - maidavale@maidavaleconservatives.com

Alastair