Bayswater and Lancaster Gate – August 2022

18th August, 2022

Helping with the Cost of Living

It’s been 100 days since Labour began leading Westminster Council for the first time, and we’ve been focused on helping residents with the cost of living. As part of our £5.6m package, we’re investing £130,000 in foodbanks, £340,000 into holiday activities and food for families, and keeping council tax frozen. Find out more about what we’ve been up to here.

Queensway Task Force

We’ve been working with Council Officers and local stakeholders, including police, residents associations and developers, to form a Queensway Task Force. This will be led by your Lancaster Gate and Bayswater councillors, sponsored by the Council leadership, and tasked with solving the key issues we have identified on our local high street. We recognise resident concerns about rough sleeping and begging, as well as concerns about empty properties, trading standards and general cleanliness. We are committed to making our local high street a vibrant, safe and clean place to enjoy.

More Regular Deep Cleaning

We are pleased to share the news that under the direction of the new Labour administration, Veolia will be deploying three additional deep cleaning units from the 1st of September. We anticipate that major footways, such as Queensway, Westbourne Grove, Porchester Road and Bayswater Road will now be able to receive a deep clean once a quarter, rather than once a year. Please get in touch if you have suggestions of specific locations which the new service should focus on.

Ward Budget, Clean Air Bayswater

We are very pleased to have agreed funding from the Lancaster Gate and Bayswater ward budgets for Clean Air Bayswater. This funding will support Clean Air Bayswater with local initiatives and events. Cllr Ryan Jude, Deputy Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Biodiversity, recently met with the head of Clean Air Bayswater to discuss how Lancaster Gate and Bayswater ward councillors can best support ongoing plans

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NEWS, CASEWORK AND ACTION

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BAYSWATER

Burnham Court Phone Mast – A planning application for a phone mast on Burnham Court (Moscow Road), which Max Sullivan objected to, was refused without going to a planning committee. The report is now available outlining the reasons for refusal:

“Notwithstanding the inaccurate drawings, because of their location, number, scale and height the proposed 6 antennas and 2 satellite dishes mounted on metal tri-pods would harm the appearance of this building and fail to maintain or improve (preserve or enhance) the character and appearance of the Bayswater Conservation Area.”

Porchester Terrace North – We have been concerned by increasing reports of ASB on Porchester Terrace North and have asked city inspectors and the local police to do increased patrols of the area as a result.

Chepstow Road – We met with representatives of the Notting Hill East Neighbourhood Forum to discuss the idea of seeking planning permission for mansard roofs on the East side of the street to match those already in place on the West side.

Gloucester Terrace Door Trial – We raised the poor condition of Gloucester Terrace front doors, which are often insecure and an eyesore, with the council’s housing team. They have now drawn up plans to install a new trial front door in Gloucester Terrace as a potential alternative to patch repairs.

Gloucester Terrace Major Works – We have received a complaint from a leaseholder about the standard of major works carried out on Gloucester Terrace, and the council’s use of funds to defend itself in court. We have asked the relevant council officials for a response.

Gloucester Terrace Window Frames – We asked officers to urgently fix rotten window frames that were letting in draughts. The resident had been trying for some time for a solution. Here’s what she said:

“Dear Maggie, I don’t know what you’ve done but yesterday afternoon Morgan Sindall called me to arrange an appointment for a carpenter to come and fix the window. Your intervention was second to none.”

Gloucester Terrace ASB – We are working with housing officers and the Anti Social Behaviour Team to resolve a difficult situation between a tenant and a leaseholder in a block on Gloucester Terrace. Your councillors are always available to help mediate difficulties between tenants and leaseholders; please contact us if you’re having problems.

Newton Road Medical Centre – We asked officers to provide an update on 14-18 Newton Road. Planning permission was originally granted for the site in June 2018, and will expire soon, in April 2023. We understand there is an intention to start works. Officers told us:

“I have just checked our records; an approval of details application was submitted at the end of June 2022 to discharge the Code of Construction Practice (CoCP) condition, but it is currently invalid …. Therefore, it would appear there is the intention to start works. Firstly, they require Environmental Services to sign off their CoCP and once issued we can formally discharge this planning condition.”

JRK Kitchen, Porchester Road – We are assisting residents of Peters Court who are suffering from noise pollution from these premises.

Bayswater/Kyiv Road – We are urging officers to facilitate the renaming of the part of Bayswater Road in front of the Russian Embassy to Kyiv Road, in solidarity with Ukraine.

Westbourne Gardens and Kildare Gardens – We are working with the neighbourhood police team to combat suspected drug dealing.

Westbourne Grove Terrace – We have helped a tenant living in temporary accommodation secure permanent housing within the borough.

Westbourne Grove – We are assisting a resident who has had no hot water for some time. Westminster has an officer who can intervene in cases where tenants in the private rented sector encounter problems with their landlord or letting agent.

Ward Budget Applications – In July we approved funding for five projects including applications from Westbourne Park Pantry and Clean Air Bayswater. We have also approved funding for a festive light programme in winter. We are excited to see these projects come to life in Bayswater over the coming months.

Youmanity Exhibition at Paddington Library – Cllr Carman was delighted to attend the launch of the Youmanity exhbition at Paddington Library for International Friendship Day. The Bayswater charity asked Londoners what friendship means to them – watch their launch video here.

LANCASTER GATE

Craven Hill Gardens – We have been working with residents for months to ensure residents can access the gardens for a fair price. We have scheduled a meeting with the managing agents to ensure miscellaneous costs have not been passed onto residents. If you are a resident on Craven Hill Gardens who is entitled to access to the gardens, then please get in touch to join our resident’s meeting.

Eastbourne Terrace – We are organising a meeting with officers, developers and residents to discuss the OMP/SMP for the Eastbourne Terrace developments. If you live in the surrounding area and would like to attend this meeting, planned for the last week of August or first week of September, please email us.

93-97 Queensway Rough Sleeping – Following a meeting with the relevant officers, leaseholders and the police to discuss solutions to the rough sleeping outside the old Barclays building, your Labour councillors suggested installing permanent planters in the forecourt to prevent tents being put up. All parties agreed to this approach and the feasibility is currently being investigated. In the interim, notices warning that belongings left here will be removed by the council and police are being installed in the windows. If you are concerned about an individual rough sleeping near you, please alert StreetLink to ensure they receive the correct support.

Inver & Riven Court – We have been pressuring the owners of the gate behind Riven Court to repair it to prevent anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.

Queensborough Terrace – We got the council to investigate persistent alarm beeping which was causing a nuisance to residents. We are pleased to say this has been resolved. We have also secured funding to ensure the flower beds on Queensborough Mews remain maintained and watered.

Craven Hill – We have been working collaboratively with our housing and MPS colleagues to resolve an anti-social behaviour issue on Craven Hill. After our intervention, the culprits have been removed from the address and reports of anti-social behaviour subsided.

Craven Hill Gardens, EDF and BT – Alongside Karen Buck MP, we have been supporting a resident to address mistakes made by EDF and BT. We are happy that the BT issue has been resolved, but are still following up with EDF on replacing the resident’s broken boiler. If you are having similar issues with service providers, please contact us.

Craven Terrace, Elysee Hotel – We have received frequent complaints from multiple residents about loitering, littering and ASB outside the Elysee Hotel. We arranged for the city inspectors to visit the Hotel and speak to management, and the Veolia team swept up outside. We are working on longer term solutions. The city inspector told us:

“I visited the hotel and spoke with the owner himself. I showed him the pavement on Brook Mews North, outside the hotel, and he agreed that it was looking very poor in regards of cigarette ends. He promised to put a sign about litter on the wall outside the hotel and to educate his guests about dropping litter in the nearby litter bins. “

Hallfield Estate – We have been supporting several residents in seeking housing transfers on medical and overcrowding grounds. We have also instructed the council to remove broken signage within the Estate.

Hallfield Estate, Speeding and ASB – The issue of vehicles speeding on the Hallfield Estate has gotten worse, as has late night anti-social behaviour. The police and housing officers are aware of this, and are starting to act against frequent offenders. Please do report any vehicles you see speeding, driving dangerously, or loitering to us or via 101.

We also requested the installation of speed bumps/sleeping policeman and additional signage to counter this problem. We recently received the below from the council, which we are following up on:
“Since 2005, the City Council no longer implements vertically deflecting road humps, tables, ‘sleeping policemen’, etc on its highway network, in response to understandable local concerns about vehicle speed and/or collision risk. This position is because when we did implement such measures, this almost always polarised our residents and other stakeholders in terms of support. For example, residents with properties that faced a proposed road hump complained about the noise of vehicles traversing them. Furthermore, the London Ambulance Service also serially objected to such measures, as these would disturb the carriage of some patients in transit and Transport for London likewise for other reasons.
However, in light of the concerns raised, it has been confirmed additional 20mph roundels will be installed along this section of Hallfield Estate, to further remind drivers of the implemented 20mph speed limit.”

Hallfield Estate, Senior Citizen Lunches – Your Labour councillors are working to bring back senior citizen lunches to the Hallfield, which were much-loved by residents. These were provided by Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES) but stopped during COVID. After following up with WAES, we received the below response. We will keep residents updated on this as it progresses.
“As you can imagine, during Covid it was difficult to resume lunches properly. We are thinking about applying again for Ward lunches but would like to offer a mixture of lunches and trips. We would like to apply in September. If we started the process again, then we would look at starting the lunches and trips in October.”

Notting Hill Genesis – We have been working with a resident housed by Notting Hill Genesis to ensure their bills and council tax payments are being managed and paid appropriately. We have also been supporting another resident in ensuring Notting Hill Genesis permits a resident to install G-Network broadband. We are also supporting residents on potential incorrect service charges.

Westbourne Crescent – After months of us pressuring the council officers and third-party provider AJM, we are pleased that a resident’s broken council-provided wheelchair has at last been repaired. It is unacceptable that this took so long, with this issue having been first picked up by your Labour councillors during the election campaign. If you are experiencing similar issues with AJM, please get in touch with us.

Lancaster Gate Tube Station – We have been unhappy with the continued last-minute closures of Lancaster Gate tube station, and have now secured a meeting with TfL to discuss the reasons and a better way to keep residents updated. This meeting will occur during September, with an update to be provided in our October newsletter.

46 Bus – Residents have flagged concern about the 46 bus route, raising inefficiencies with the route and changes made during COVID potentially leading to unnecessary noise and air pollution. TfL have sent us the below, which we are following up on:

“The 46 was withdrawn between Paddington and Lancaster Gate in January 2021. On current issues with the route, I can’t see any reported at present but the route was impacted by roadworks in Camden earlier in June. I’ll come back on the point where the bus turns around and returns to route too.”

Kensington Gardens Public Toilets – We are concerned about plans agreed under the previous administration to close the Kensington Gardens toilets. We have arranged a meeting with the relevant council officers to explore if there are still options to re-open these, as we understand the plan is to permanently remove them. We are concerned that this will reduce accessibility of the park and lead to an increase in ASB.

WHAT YOU SAY

Thank you for all your help, I feel much more optimistic about a positive outcome after your intervention… It is lucky for the borough that it has such councillors as yourself!
Hi Ryan, thank you for the update and everything you’re doing for us , on behalf of all of us we appreciate everything you’re doing for us.
I am forever grateful for your continued support and communication.
Thanks Maggie – really appreciate the quick response!
Its a major relief to be able to present our case on a fair platform.
Also, it’s great to have someone in authority sticking up for the little guy.
Thank you so very much for your consistent support on so many occasions during these past difficult days.
My wife and myself greatly appreciate your kind help
Many thanks as ever for a speedy and highly effective intervention on my behalf.
Thank you once again for unlocking a strange and seemingly intractable situation

GENERAL UPDATES

Ward Surgeries
No appointment necessary
Lancaster Gate

Every 1st Saturday of the month 11am-12:30am – Pickering House, Hallfield Estate
Every 3rd Saturday of the month 11am-12:30am – Italian Gardens Cafe, Kensington Gardens

Bayswater

1st & 3rd Saturday each month, 2pm to 3:30pm, Paddington Library, 45 Porchester Road, W2 5DU

Ward budget applications

Applications are now open to organisations and clubs to apply for project funding which benefits local residents. If you would like to apply for ward funding for a project but don’t know where to start, please get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to assist you with your application.

Notting Hill Carnival

We are hugely excited that the carnival returns to our corner of London later this month, but we also know that residents living near the route often have rubbish dumped in and around their gardens. As such, the council are offering a free garden cleaning service to any resident that lives along the route – apply for it here.

Household Support Fund

The Council has some funds to help support singles and families who are struggling. The help comes in the form of Sainsburys vouchers – typically £250 for a couple. Ask your councillor if you think you might qualify.

Handyperson Service

Westminster residents aged over 60, or in receipt of disability benefit, can request free help from a handyperson. The service covers minor works to a home such as replacing light bulbs and other small DIY jobs. It does not cover gardening, plumbing or decorating, and it is not an emergency service.

Voting by Post

It is much easier, quicker and safer to vote by post. Find out more and download a form to fill in here.
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.

Refuse and Recycling Collection

Any rubbish bags presented on the pavement on a day where the refuse collection has been removed (as a result of the new food waste service) will be collected by Veolia.
If you have any queries waste collections you can contact the Recycling Team directly on foodwaste@westminster.gov.uk

Report It

You can report dumped rubbish, graffiti, broken paving stones and street lights and more to the Report It service