Lancaster Gate Action Report -July 2023

Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival is taking place Sunday 27 and Monday 28 August 2023. Resident information booklets have begun to arrive. The same information, including details of road closures and rubbish collections is also available online here. If you live inside the carnival route and your garden, stairs or basement is directly accessible from the street you can register for a free cleaning service. Signup by Thursday 24 August for a guaranteed date by visiting this website or calling 020 7641 2000 (6am to 6pm Mon to Fri).

Win-win for residents as Council unveil UK’s largest electric waste collection fleet

Labour-led Westminster Council have invested £20m in the 45 new zero emission trucks which will benefit residents by reducing vehicle noise, cutting air pollution and drastically reducing the council’s carbon emissions. The electric vehicles will charge their batteries by drawing electric power from an energy recovery facility which uses the waste collected from homes and businesses in Westminster. Find out more here.

Tackling Badly Parked eBikes

Labour-led Westminster Council has announced proposals for a network of bays to effectively manage dockless ebikes on our streets, which the Council will begin rolling out later this summer. Badly parked ebikes can be a hazard to pedestrians. 149 proposed new ‘micro-mobility bays’ will be combined with 67 existing e-scooter rental bays for a total of 216 bays. More here.

Restoring Pride in Oxford Street

Small businesses are being offered the chance to take over a shop on Oxford Street, rent-free, as part of a new project launched today by Westminster City Council, in partnership with New West End Company.

The Council is inviting applications from innovative, cutting-edge and up-and-coming brands who will offer something exciting and new to one of the world’s most iconic shopping streets.

The small businesses will occupy units previously taken up by low quality occupiers such as American candy stores.

More on the story here.

Westminster Completes Its First Ever Citizens’ Climate Assembly

Your Lancaster Gate and Bayswater councillors were delighted to see the Citizens’ Climate Assembly, a key climate manifesto pledge from Westminster Labour, run so successfully over the summer. The feedback from the attendees was very positive, and the conclusions they have reached will be presented to the Council Cabinet later this year. Cllr Ryan Jude attended on the final day alongside other Councillors, to have the findings and overarching recommendations presented to them, and provided immediate feedback. See more from the attendees and Ryan here: Citizens’ Climate Assembly Weekend 2 Summary – YouTube

Met Police Community Conversation Event

The Metropolitan Police will be hosting a Community Conversation Event locally to discuss ‘A New Met for London’.Formerly known as the Turnaround plan and updated following feedback from over 10,000 Londoners, key partners and our people, a New Met for London aims to change and improve our service to local communities, and build confidence that the Met can and is listening and changing. See details here: New Met for London Tickets, Tue 15 Aug 2023 at 18:00 | Eventbrite

Summer Community Events

The council is offering free events to explore Westminster’s vibrant art and culture scene this summer. The events range from walking tours covering ‘Women and Power in Westminster’ to Youth Dance Festivals. Find out more about these events and the many others on offer here: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/insideout

SEBRA Garden Party

We were delighted to attend the SEBRA (South East Bayswater Residents’ Association) Garden Party in July. The association does a great job in supporting residents across the ward and highlighting planning and licensing issues. While disappointed not to win in the raffle (!), it was wonderful to catch-up with so many familiar faces.

LANCASTER GATE

Hallfield Major Works Phase 3

We are pleased that the Major Works on the Hallfield are now finally picking up pace after years of mismanagement under the previous administration. The council held two meetings with residents at Winchester, Worcester and Lynton blocks on 26 June and 3 July who will be part of the Phase 3 works. The section 20 notices are currently being prepared by our leasehold team and will be issued shortly to leaseholders.

Queensway Cyclist Pavement Parking and Riding 

Our City Inspectors have been monitoring the situation, parking marshals have begun more stringent enforcement (rather than soft actions) as they now have body worn cameras and our Police team are also proactive in issuing Section 59 warnings to any driver / cyclist witnessed going over the pavement. This, in combination with the talks we’ve been leading with the delivery companies (Uber Eats et al), has resulted in a marked improvement, but we’ll continue to monitor the situation.

Hallfield Estate Anti-Social Behaviour

We share resident concerns about anti-social behaviour on the Estate. We are aware of an incident, being investigated by police, in which a resident was injured. The council is taking this seriously and taking targeted action against disruptive tenants. In terms of other actions:

  • Housing security patrols have been visiting Hallfield estate on a nightly basis since December 2022.

  • Also on our request, the Police have increased patrols and have actioned two weekend operations based on the intelligence we have provided to them.

  • An EVA (Environmental Visual Audit) was completed by the Police on 30 May 2023 at our request and there are recommendations within the report to design out crime, there are some suggestions around structural changes which are currently being discussed with the Major Works team.

  • A CCTV camera has been requested to be put outside Exeter house, this is currently at planning approval stage as Hallfield is a listed site.

Hallfield Estate Rough Sleeping

We are also aware of persistent rough sleepers under the stairwell of Pickering House. To prevent this proposed new doors to the stairwell are with our Major Works Team who are currently liaising with residents on the design and installation schedule.

Cleveland Gardens Cycle Hanger 

Cllr Ormsby met with several residents from Cleveland Gardens who were concerned about the proposal to install a new cycle hanger outside 8 Cleveland Gardens. There were several concerns including the proximity to residential properties and concerns around losing parking spaces used by blue badge holders. Given this feedback, the council have descoped this location as a proposed one for a cycle hanger.

Craven Hill Gardens

Fair access to Craven Hill Gardens has been a long-standing issue, which has been further exacerbated given the disrepair the garden has now fallen into. The council is in direct talks with the owners to discuss a new proposal and more information will be shared with residents shortly.

Free IT Support Session

We were delighted, with the support of Paddington Partnership and volunteers from Vodafone, to host another free IT Support drop-in on the Hallfield Estate. We had several happy customers and the next session will be held on the 28th September 2-4pm in Pickering House on the Hallfield Estate.

Football Association Green Plaque 

Following Cllr Jude’s letter to CEO of The Football Association in June, asking them to support a Westminster Green Plaque at their headquarters at either 22 Lancaster Gate or 15-17 Lancaster Gate, to commemorate this history on the 160th anniversary of The FA’s founding this October, we are pleased to confirm that The FA are supporting our initiative. We have begun the process with the Council to move the application forward, and hope to have confirmation on this shortly.

Craven Road

We fixed a broken information stand on the intersection between Craven Road and Gloucester Terrace.

Resident Engagement

We were pleased to speak to dozens of our wonderful Lancaster Gate residents over the last few weeks, including a resident engagement session on Craven Terrace / Road / Hill and Lancaster Mews.

What You Say 

“Thank you so much for all the time and effort that you have put in to helping us. You really are a fabulous Councillor and I mentioned to all the neighbours, who signed the Petition, that you supported our endeavours.”  

“Thank you so much for listening and taking this on!”

 “Thanks so much for your work on this.”

“You are a legend!  Thank you so much.”

“Thank you very much for your email, clarifying my case.  I greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter and am grateful because without your intervention I would still not understand exactly how the points are allocated.”

“Hi James, Thank you that’s great news.”

General Updates 

Previous reports

To view previous versions of this enewsletter please visit the following pages:

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 remain open to organisations and clubs to apply for project funding which benefits local residents:

https://www.westminster.gov.uk/about-council/democracy/apply-ward-budget-funding

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.

Whiteley’s Community Foundation 

The developers behind the Whiteley’s are offering funding for organisations and individuals who want to make a difference in the area, with a focus on projects that benefit young people. For more information and an application form please contact Luke Tatton ltatton@conciliocomms.com
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