Your Councillors call for cohesion following the EU referendum
At a time when some foreign nationals are feeling uncertain about their residency and employment rights following the referendum, the City Council is offering reassurance.
Westminster is one of the most diverse places in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people from different backgrounds living side by side, as we see every day for ourselves in Hyde Park ward. We have been very fortunate that over the past decades we have seen very little tension between communities who mostly live peacefully together. Following reports of increased hate crime following the referendum, we are working with the police and other partners to ensure each and every one of our communities feel safe and secure.
The recently launched Community Cohesion Commission is a cross party group which has been set up to better understand cohesion in Westminster, to ensure our city continues to be a place where everyone feels that they belong, whatever their religion or none, their background, their sexual orientation. It will also be considering how we can address any problems of isolation or individuals or communities and how to address the possible root causes of radicalisation and other related issues. Further information on the Commission can be found at www.westminster.gov.uk
At the same time the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime is offering practical help for anyone needing to report hate crime:
By phone: call 999 in an emergency, or 101 in a non-emergency.
In person: At any police station with a front counter
Through an app: the MOPAC Hate Crime reporting app can be downloaded for Android or Apple at MOPAC Hate Crime App
Online: at www.report-it.org.uk/your_police_force
Community monitoring groups: you should report all hate crimes to the police, but you can also use community reporting methods such as Tell MAMA for Islamophobic incidents or the Community Security Trust for anti-Semitic offences.
A lower tower and better public space is coming to Marble Arch
Roadworks are under way at Marble Arch to enable the rebuilding of the tower to a new design which will be lower in height than the existing building. The work will create some temporary delays around the area, which WCC and TfL have tried to keep to a minimum.
On the positive side, the longer term benefits will include the reopening of the cinema and a new public pedestrian area, which is expected to include cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating. The new lower tower, a mixture of residential and office space, is expected to fit in better with this unique setting by Hyde Park, and encourage improvements in the look and feel of Edgware Road. Although one tree is being lost, it will be replaced. The developer, Almacantar, is contributing to affordable housing provision further up Edgware Road.
Abandoned car - gone at last
We know residents were upset that it took so long to get rid of this eyesore on Radnor Place. Many of you reported it to us and were understandably annoyed at how the vehicle attracted anti-social behaviour.
It turns out that the car was marked in a way which created confusion as to whether it was a police or council responsibility. We have reviewed what went wrong in the processes involved and have learned the lessons. We hope that in future, any abandoned cars will be removed much more promptly.
