Free School Meals

Labour-run Westminster council has funded primary free school meals since the start of the year. This month (September), thanks to the Mayor’s London-wide scheme, we are extending council-funded school lunches to many nursery children and 11 to 14 year old pupils. Now, 14,000 children are eligible for a free lunch at school in Westminster. The council’s investment will save families up to £570 per child, per year. Find out more here.

Notting Hill Carnival

Thank you to everyone in our diverse community who has worked hard to make this year’s carnival safe and spectacular! You can find Bayswater’s own Cllr James Small-Edwards talking about his experience here.

An event was held on the 6th September to gather feedback from residents on how the event was organised and the impact on residents. If you missed the event, please do reach out to share your feedback for next year.

Dockless E-bike Parking Bays

We want to get e-bikes off the pavement and encourage responsible cycling and parking across the city. So, we’re pleased that Labour Westminster Council has begun the roll-out of over 220 designated parking bays for dockless e-bikes and e-scooters, after striking a deal with three operators – Lime, Tier and HumanForest – to control the use of their vehicles. There will be 1 parking bay every 300m across the city. Dockless e-bike users will need to end their trips in one of the designated bays or face a fine from operators. Read more here

New Micro-Recycling Centres

As part of the food waste roll out, new neighbourhood food waste recycling bins at Cleveland Terrace micro-recycling centre site and Craven Hill Gardens micro-recycling centre will be installed within the next month. For further information about this service: Neighbourhood food waste bins | Westminster City Council and for a map of current locations: Food Waste Bins (arcgis.com)

 

Cycle Parking Programme – New Hangers!

The City Highways team is rolling out the next phase of on street cycle parking hangars to increase the overall cycle parking stock. New sites have been identified on Inverness Terrace and Chilworth Street and the proposals are out for consultation. See an interactive map of the proposed locations here: https://lbhf.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=379be7c108af43dfa26880996994964e

 

Hallfield ASB

We are aware of a number of ongoing issues on the Hallfield Estate, one of which required police attendance. Cllr Ormsby and Cllr Jude attended a special briefing with council officers and police to discuss the ongoing cases and next steps. If you’re being impacted by ASB on the Estate, please do get in touch so we can connect you with council officers who are currently gathering evidence for legal proceedings.

 

Queensborough Terrace Planters

Residents reported that the planters on Queensborough Terrace and Mews weren’t being maintained properly. We’re now reviewing the maintenance plan which has been put in place to ensure it lives up to residents’ expectations.

 

Elms Mews Lighting 

After complaints from residents about the dark and intimidating nature of the Elms Mews passage way, we can confirm that we have recently installed a new lamp column at the top of the stairs to provide additional light to the stairway and around the tree and are just awaiting confirmation that the power to the column is completed.

 

We can confirm that we have also asked the horticultural team to trim the tree back around the new column and lantern, it was also noted that lamp column 2 on Elms Mews has a tree surrounding the lantern, and we have also asked the horticultural team if this can be trimmed back as well which should also improve the lighting here.

Westbourne Terrace Break-ins

We were concerned to hear about a series of break-ins at a Council-owned property on Westbourne Terrace. After liaising with the repairs and housing team, we are relieved that the property’s door and lock has now been fixed. Moreover, we are investigating the possibility of installing CCTV in the communal hallway to deter entrants again.

Queen’s Garden Squatters 

We were disappointed to hear about residents’ struggles with squatters in a council owned property in Queen’s Garden. We were shocked to hear about the length of time it took the council to act and have encouraged residents impacted to reach out to ensure their complaints have been registered. We are relieved that Council, police and Veolia have now cleared and secured the property and surrounding area.

 

40 Eastbourne Terrace

We continue to support residents on Chilworth Mews who are being impacted by ongoing planning issues relating to 40 and 50 Eastbourne Terrace. We were pleased to see the Planning Sub-Committee (3) defer the item relating to 40 Eastbourne Terrace in August, in order to arrange a site visit for the committee members in September to witness the impact of the delivery vehicles and schedule on the local residents. We have requested that residents are also invited to this site visit, so please do contact us if you are also being impacted and would like to attend alongside other residents and SEBRA representatives.

 

Hallfield Estate: Green Flag Winner

We are proud that the Hallfield Estate has been awarded a Green Flag this year, becoming one of the only estates with Green Heritage Accreditation in the whole of the UK. The Green Flag Award scheme recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world. It has been running for over 25 years. More information can be found here: https://www.greenflagaward.org/. Options to commemorate this are being explored and we will provide updates in our next newsletter.

 

Homelessness and Social Housing Applications

We have been supporting several residents with homelessness applications and applications for social housing. We know that the application process can be difficult for some residents, so please do reach out if you need support in applying or find yourself in a situation where you could be at risk of homeless and require urgent assistance.

 

Private Renters

We’ve been supporting private renters in the ward who have been hit with shock eviction notices from their landlords. If you’re experiencing anything similar please contact us as the council has officers who are equipped to support with advice.

 

Repairs

We have several residents’ in council properties with outstanding repairs. We have been working with residents and the repairs team to get these repairs scheduled and actioned. Please get in touch if you’re a council tenant with outstanding repairs who needs assistance.

 

Resident Engagement

As well as our twice monthly surgeries, it was wonderful to receive such a warm welcome door knocking on the Hallfield Estate with our long-standing MP, Karen Buck.

 

Moreover, Cllr Ormsby was delighted to be invited to speak to the Cleveland Square Residents’ Association about local issues impacting the square and gardens. Lots of important issues were raised regarding anti-social behaviour, street cleanliness and flooding which Cllr Ormsby will investigate.