News from Maida Vale Councillors Rita Begum, Geoff Barraclough and Nafsika Butler-Thalassis
And the Little Venice Labour Action Team – Iman Less, Murad Qureshi and Sue Wolff
Dear Resident
Happy New Year!
We are living in very difficult times and, along with Karen Buck MP, we are doing all we can to help the local community and individual residents and their families.
Below are some of the local issues we have been taking up recently, many as a result of residents’ responses to our regular newsletters. Let us know if we can take up a local issue in the area. You can read our latest news on http://www.westminsterlabour.org.uk
Please let us know if we can be of help or assistance on any local issues.
Please feel free to pass this report on to any of your neighbours who may be interested. If you know of anyone else who might like to receive this report, please send them this sign-up link http://bit.ly/signuplabnews
WARD NEWS AND ACTION
Carlton Tavern
According to the ‘Ham & High’:
“The final touches are being put to the much-vaunted rebuild of the Carlton Tavern — and a pair of would-be landlords are looking to have it running again as a pub as soon as possible. Five years after developer CLTX brought in the bulldozers, only to be slapped with an enforcement notice demanding the Maida Vale building be rebuilt brick-by-brick, Tom Rees and Ben Martin of Homegrown Pubs are looking to complete talks to take on the pub’s lease in the next few weeks. Applications for a premises license and for planning permission to the installation of an extractor for the pub’s kitchen have been lodged with Westminster Council.”
Councillor Geoff Barraclough said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Tom and Ben are going to re-open the Carlton Tavern. This is the first bit of good news for the hospitality trade since last February.”
You can read more here:
https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/carlton-tavern-hopeful-new-landlords-rebuild-6886220
Essendine School
We have agreed to fund Essendine School £9,999 to buy 30 laptops to ensure that all children who need a laptop are able to have one to access their lessons online. We have also written to all the other schools in Maida Vale ward to ask them what support they need from us to ensure their pupils are able to access their online lessons successfully.
Paddington Rec
A resident asked us to investigate a light in the park that was no longer working. The site team undertook a check of all pathway lighting and identified the faulty light. This will be fixed next week, as contractors are short-staffed due to illness.
Westminster Connects
Residents have raised with us the difficulties they have in picking up prescriptions from chemists while they are shielding. Westminster Connects -the service Westminster Council has put together to help residents during lockdown – can sometimes help with this, but the service seems to lack capacity. We are asking for a more consistent service to support vulnerable residents.
Carlton Dene
Westminster Council has submitted a planning application for its proposed new 65 unit extra-care facility in place of the former Carlton Dene Care Home on Carlton Vale. The development will also include a new 22-unit affordable block to replace Peebles House. You can give your views to the council via the planning portal
Lanark Road
Recent heavy rain has caused deep and wide puddles right along Lanark Road between Elgin Avenue and Carlton Vale. We’ve asked Westminster Council to clean the drains but we’ve been told the problem with the “ponding” here is not the drains being blocked, but the repositioning of the drains when FM Conway were doing the recent works. Paddington Waterways is in discussion with the Highways Team about what can be done.
Oak Tree House
We continue to support the Oak Tree House Residents Association in its ongoing efforts to get Westminster to deliver the upgrades promised when the new Beachcroft House development was proposed next door.
Formosa Street
The Council has responded to a petition to pedestrianise Formosa Street. It says:
“With regard to the petition’s call for pedestrianisation of a section(s) of Formosa Street this is something the City Council has no plans to implement. It remains the case that this is not supported by all the businesses in this stretch of Formosa Street and is also not supported by many of the residents who live immediately adjacent to this part of Formosa Street.”
Wymering Road
Following our enquiries on behalf of residents, two cycle hangars on Wymering Road have been relocated.
Cycle hangars
We are unhappy about the design of the new ‘big box’ bicycle hangars which are bulky and unattractive. We have called on the Council to replace the new hangars with the original Cyclehoop hangar which is smaller and much better designed.
Residents have also contacted us about the appearance of the recently-installed bike hangars which they say “are ruining our area – an area where conservation of buildings and our streetscape is meant to be a key consideration.” They comment:
“The original smaller and far better designed hangars were perfectly acceptable. These more recent ones are simply wrong for a number of reasons:
- There is no design ethic at all – they are cheap and look cheap and this is simply not good enough for an area as beautiful as Maida Vale
- They are far too big – their massive scale creates a visual eyesore
- They are especially wrong where two have been placed together as they have in TWO places on Sutherland Avenue in the last few weeks.
- Their massing is entirely inappropriate for the area
The council, I believe, has made a very bad decision by going for this cheaper option. There are a number of things that could be done:
- Remove them altogether
- Insist that more attractive see-through side panels are put on all of them to reduce the horrible blockiness of them as they currently stand
- Only ever have them in one and never twos where the visual impact is just too strong
- Reverse the decision not to have the far more attractive Cyclehoops version, then have these ugly ones replaced”
We are very much in favour of extra bike storage but not these cheap ugly things. We’ve made our views clear to the Council
What do you think?
Bike Hangars Sutherland Avenue
We have queried the placement of two of the new, larger bike hangars on Sutherland Avenue where they block the view people in cars heading south on Castellain Road. Residents said:
“The position of the hangars on Sutherland Avenue at the junction of Castellain Road are poorly placed and provide a road safety hazard. When driving from the Sutherland roundabout towards Castellain the bike hangars are just before the zebra crossing and block the sightline of drivers making it nearly impossible to see pedestrians until you are nearly on top of the zebra crossing. I have seen a few incidents where a driver has had to make a sudden stop not realising a pedestrian was crossing. The council should reposition the bike hangars so that pedestrians are not in danger and/or before there is a serious accident.”
The council officers replied:
“The cars that park in the westbound central island would indicatively take up space, so only one hanger may be an issue, but considering the borough wide 20mph, the zebra crossing and the wide central island offering vehicles protection to make the crossing in two moves this location is not deemed problematic.”
Consultation on Kilburn High Road public realm improvements
A two-week consultation will open on Monday on proposals to improve the public realm around Kilburn High Road. Westminster is working with colleagues in Camden and Brent to improve bus journeys, make it easier to walk and cycle locally, improve pedestrian crossings and increase the number of trees. This is the first phase of a two year programme to transform the Kilburn High Road.
Visit www.camden.gov.uk/kilburnhighroad from Monday 18 January to view the proposals and share your views. The consultation closes on 1 February 2021 and work is scheduled to take place in March 2021.
Warwick Avenue
We reported two dead foxes by the pavement on Warwick Avenue which were quickly removed.
Paddington Green Police Station site
Plans for a 39-storey tower on the site of the former Paddington Green Police Station have been revealed.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/paddington-green-police-station-once-19471551
You can give your views at https://yoursay.online/paddington-green-police-station
North Paddington Foodbank
If you can help the foodbank or are in need of emergency support please see the information here: https://www.npfoodbank.org.uk/
You can read a report of a recent North Paddington Foodbank customer survey here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J6jKmGhJB_0vDiG2jZLdZahLm7jqCSCK/view
Paddington Waterways and Maida Vale Society
If you’re interested in the local area, please join PWMV. It publishes a regular newsletter and it’s free to join. https://w9w2.co.uk
Community Contribution Fund
The fourth round of the Community Contribution Fund is open now! The Fund is made possible thanks to donations from Westminster residents and helps to support some of the most vulnerable groups in the City. Community organisations and charities can apply for up to £20,000 for projects in Westminster that:
- Provide youth support
- Help rough sleepers off the streets at night
- Help lonely and isolated people
Applications are open from now until Sunday 7 February. To find out more or to apply, visit our website.
Blood Donors
The NHS Blood and Transplant service is appealing for donations from people who have recovered from coronavirus to help save lives as London moves from “medium” to “high” alert. Donating blood plasma is a simple procedure and very similar to giving a normal blood donation but the red blood cells are returned to the patient and the process takes a little longer.
The nearest donor centre is at 26 Margaret Street, Fitzrovia, W1. Anyone who has had coronavirus, either a test result or the symptoms, can offer to donate by calling 0300 123 23 23 or visitinghttps://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk to arrange an appointment to donate.
Warm Homes Discount Scheme
You could get £140 off your electricity bill for winter 2020 to 2021 under the Warm Home Discount Scheme. The Warm Home Discount Scheme for winter 2020 to 2021 will open on 12 October 2020. The money is a one-off discount on your electricity bill, between September and March. See here for more details https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme
Jobs and Skills
Microsoft and LinkedIn have produced a free programme to help those looking for a job and learn new skills
‘Early Voting’ – Voting by post
Voting by post is an easy and convenient way of voting. Millions of people in the USA voted early by using a postal vote. You can, too!
You can use this form to apply for a postal vote
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/sites/default/files/postal-vote-application-form.pdf
You can email your completed form to electoralservices@westminster.gov.uk or post it to Electoral Services, Westminster City Council, 14th Floor City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QP.
‘Westminster Extra’
You can read the ‘Westminster Extra’ online
https://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=09649383-4dbb-4a3d-b164-9d26398578f3
Refuse collection and Recycling collection times
Recycling bags can be ordered from https://webforms.westminster.gov.uk/order-recycling-bags/
Bags will be delivered within approximately 48 hours of order.
You can check when refuse and recycling is collected from your street here http://transact.westminster.gov.uk/env/streetsearch.aspx
The doorstep recycling service concentrates on the recyclable materials most commonly produced by houses so that these can be easily separated into the different material types. The link below summarises what can be put in recycling bags
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/what-can-i-recycle-home#can-recycle
Lots of other materials can be recycled but not through the doorstep collection service. The A-Z list below gives details of what and where items can be recycled or re-used:
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/a-z-recycling
Report It
You can report dumped rubbish, broken street lights, graffiti and more using the Report It service https://www.westminster.gov.uk/report-it
You can register here https://www.fixmystreet.com/alert for alerts of everything reported in your area (just use your post code and it will offer you options).
Coronavirus (Covid-19) UPDATE
Want to help with Vaccinations?
The Westminster Employment Service is working with the NHS to recruit for temporary mass vaccination roles across two sites opening in Westminster. There are both part-time and full-time roles available.
There are approximately 200 vacancies across the following opportunities:
- Front of House – £12.18 per hour
- Administrator – £13.10 per hour
- Immuniser (full training will be provided) – £14.83 per hour
Please register your interest by completing this short form and selecting ‘NHS mass vaccination jobs’ under the section ‘What type of work are you looking for?’
Interactive Map
You can see the latest data for your area here
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map
Test and Trace Support Payments
You may be entitled to a Test and Trace Support Payment of £500 if you are self-isolating because of COVID-19 and you are either employed or self-employed. The payment is to support people on low incomes who are unable to work from home if they are told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace and lose income as a result.
Health advice
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidance
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
Westminster Council’s advice and response website:
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/coronavirus-advice-and-information
Westminster Mutual Aid Group
Westminster Mutual Aid is a group of local volunteers (Westminster Covid-19 Mutual Aid group) trying to help the local community. You can contact them at https://www.westminstermutualaid.co.uk
Beware the Coronavirus scammers
https://www.westminsterlabour.org.uk/westminster-news/2020/03/27/beware-the-coronavirus-scammers/
Rita Begum is Labour’s candidate for West Central in the GLA Elections
You can visit Rita’s website at https://www.ritabegum.com/
What you say
“Thank you for your latest report. I always read your reports carefully and find them easy to read, informative and positive in tone. With best wishes to all those involved in producing the reports”
“Why is it that you’re so quick and good at finding the solutions to these problems, and everyone else takes so long.”
Please let us know if we can be of help or assistance on any local issues.
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Keep well, take care and look after yourselves and your neighbours.
Regards
Councillors Rita Begum, Geoff Barraclough and Nafsika Butler-Thalassis
Your Maida Vale Labour Councillors
Tweet @MaidaValeLabour
https://www.facebook.com/MVLabour/
gbarraclough@westminster.gov.uk
nbutler-thalassis@westminster.gov.uk
You can read our news here
https://www.westminsterlabour.org.uk/your-ward/maida-vale/
Iman Less, Murad Qureshi and Sue Wolff
Your Little Venice Labour Action Team
Facebook @labourforlittlevenice
Tweet @labourforlv
You can read our news here https://www.westminsterlabour.org.uk/your-ward/little-venice/