William Court re-application: supporting local objections
Ward Councillors were disappointed to be again faced with another anti-social planning application from the Landlord/Developer of William Court having only recently fought a successful campaign on behalf of the residents of William Court, Hamilton Gardens and Hamilton Terrace to ensure it was rejected. The re-application (heard during the school holidays) had not incorporated substantive improvements to address our concerns and so was again rejected by the Planning Sub-Committee.
We will be campaigning in the coming months to fight for a change in the planning process to prevent exhaustive and time-consuming repeats of re-applications, where there is no material change to that application and which costs the taxpayer unfairly. We hope we may have your support as we lobby for a change to planning rules and regulations on this contentious issue.
CS11/HS2: good news and bad news
The good news is that the planned vent shaft at Alexandra Place at the junction of Boundary Road with Loudoun Road for the HS2 link has now been shelved; a source of great relief for all local residents especially as we face the bad news of additional disruption of the Mayor's CS11 (Cycle Superhighway 11) works and re-direction of arterial N-S traffic through NW8 and the threatened closure of Regents Park Gates.
Abbey Road Ward Councillors are clear in our support for safer cycling and improved air quality but don't believe CS11 or the closure of the park gates will achieve either, as traffic will be funneled onto fewer densely populated main roads - particularly Finchley/Wellington Road, Abbey Road and the A5 at Maida Vale. We continue to lobby the Mayor's Office on behalf of our local residents and local businesses who voted overwhelmingly against CS11 in its present form.
Dangerous pavement parking on Abbey Road
When a local residents raised concerns with Ward Councillors about illegal parking on the pavement outside shops on the Abbey Road we were delighted to be able to cure the problem through intensive lobbying of the police to take action supported by Westminster's Parking Enforcement Team. Mounting the pavement to park adjacent to bus stops is anti-social, dangerous and illegal but in order to prevent this from recurring, we will be installing pavement bollards to protect pedestrians - funded from our Ward Budget.
Other news...
In addition to funding these bollards on Abbey Road, we have allocated a generous sum to the St John's Wood Adventure Playground - a valuable resource for local children and working parents where the after-school and holiday child-care facilities are second-to-none. We are also supporting anti-speed signage outside our local schools; enhanced fire-instruction notices for our social housing blocks; the annual Neighbourcare Christmas lunch; the SJW Basements Planning Enforcement Officer; the SJW High Street Christmas Fayre & Christmas lights; our beautiful hanging flower baskets and are looking to provide additional leaf clearance in the coming weeks - an annual headache for many residents here in the 'Wood. If you would like additional leaf clearing in your street, please e-mail us using the contact details above.
Other campaigns we are actively involved in include our drive against cycling on pavements and the "There is no Dog Poo Fairy" campaign to encourage dog owners to be responsible and not leave nasty parcels at the foot of our trees or on the pavement.
We have also had success with our campaign against local Business Rates' hikes with the award of an additional Relief fund from Central Government and hope to be able to help and support our local businesses wherever there is hardship.
Please make contact (using the contact details above) with your feedback and ideas for how we can make life in the Abbey Road Ward even better. We enjoy clean, safe streets with the lowest Council Tax in the country and twice-weekly bin collections - but there is always room for improvement!
We look forward to hearing from you, Lindsey, Judith and Peter.
Intervention to help rough sleepers means three out of four do not spend a second night out
Action by Westminster Conservatives to tackle rough sleeping across the city means that 75% of those contacted do not spend a second night out on the street.
To find out more please click here.
Record £200,000 fine for rogue landlord who endangered tenants' lives
A rogue landlord charging £1,000 tenants a month to live in a “death trap” has been fined a record £214,000 following action by Conservative-run Westminster City Council, and is one of many recent successful prosecutions of rogue landlords.
To find out more please click here.
