WESTBOURNE ACTION REPORT – FEBRUARY 2023
News from your Westminster Labour Councillors
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Free School Meals
Under the new Labour administration Westminster City Council has introduced free school meals for all primary school children. Before this change only families with a household income under £7,000 were eligible for free school meals in years 3 to 6. This is a saving of £550 per child per year. The scheme will initially cost £2.7m over the next 18 months. For more see Free school lunch offer for primary school pupils | Westminster City Council.
Cost Of Living
With the national government not doing enough support people through the Cost of Living Crisis, Westminster City Council under its Labour administration is providing extra support to local people to do what we can to help. The overall investment is now more than £10m, for support including cash payments, debt advice and the opening of warm spaces and activities for people through the Winter in the City programme. For more information see Cost of living support hub and strategy | Westminster City Council
Westbourne Forum Elections
The Westbourne Forum is a group of elected community representatives working together to make improvements which seek to benefit the community in Westbourne ward. They organise events such as the Summer Festival and have an important role in the local planning process. The forum is holding elections and they would like as many local residents to apply as possible. Please see the below information and apply by 20th February. Elections March 2023 | Westbourne Forum | Your social network
Grand Junction Exhibition – Life Between Damascus and London
A new exhibition – Life Between Damascus and London – is open 10am-4pm each day until 11th February at Grand Junction (on Westbourne Green next to St Mary Magdalene’s Church). The artist Faiz Sara first became involved with Grand Junction when he attended their Language Café. Faiz, who lives locally in Westbourne, was a political prisoner in Syria, where he began to make artworks from recycled materials, and has continued this work since settling in London. For more see https://grandjunction.org.uk/events/life-between-damascus-and-london/
Save The Date – Spring Festival
The Grand Junction Spring Festival will take place from 2pm-5pm on 18th March Grand Junction Spring Festival – Paddington Development Trust (pdt.org.uk)
Brunel – Preparing for Carnival
Westbourne Ward Councillors met with representatives from the Brunel Estate, the Notting Hill Carnival Trust and the City Council’s events team to review the organisation along Great Western and Westbourne Park Roads. The Council and the Trust committed to providing better written communication to residents, better access to the grandstands for residents whose views are blocked by them, and improvements in the management of the green space next to Keyham House known as ‘Trinny Corner’ at Carnival time.
Ark Atwood and St Mary of the Angels School Street Upgrade
The council has now installed CCTV cameras to help enforce the ‘school streets’ outside ARK Atwood and St Mary of the Angels schools. School Streets have been in place at those two schools and for St Mary Magdalene’s since January 2022, which means that at school drop-off and pickup times access to the streets in front of them is only for pedestrians, cyclists and the cars belonging to residents of those streets (and in the case of Ark Atwood the section of the Amberley Estate who can only exit the estate via Amberley Road). While the initial trials have helped improve safety and air quality, in the case of Shrewsbury Road (St Mary of the Angels) considerable through traffic has continued and on Amberley Road (Ark Atwood) some parents have continued to drive down the street (causing congestion and parking on the estate), with parking marshals only able to enforce parking contraventions on the school streets themselves. CCTV will now fine cars that illegally pass through the school streets (residents of Amberley Estate and Amberley Road should be exempt but we have helped a couple of local people who needed to be added to the exemption list – let us know if you need our help). For more information please see: School Streets | Westminster City Council
Bayswater Children’s Centre
Work continues at what was the Bayswater Centre, which is actually in Westbourne, turning it into a drop-in centre for parents and children as well as a community resource (with hopefully a mini-estate office coming later in the year).
Wessex Gardens
After a well-attended public meeting last autumn, the housing department has put together a spreadsheet dealing with the wide range of issues raised by residents, and an action sheet showing what they will do to improve things, but more work is needed to meet the standards residents understandably want from the Council. We are also trying to get agreement on the appointment of an independent consultant to look at the lift work.
Great Western Road
We have picked up issues here: first with Thames Water closing the road without undertaking works and then separately a problem where the lighting contractor hadn’t turned up, leaving bays suspended without work taking place. We ensured in both cases that restrictions were removed where work wasn’t being done. We are also working with the council to improve pedestrian safety and bus movements through the junction of Great Western Road and Elkstone Road (more information will be available soon).
Westbourne Place
Residents have told us that a bin store in Dixon Butler Mews has been closed and the bins are being left out in the yard, next to residents’ flats. We have asked the council’s waste collection team if they can make sure the property managers reopen it, and also asked if Westminster’s planning enforcement powers should be used – because Redrow were required to keep the bin stores open as a condition of the planning.
Oldbury House
Over Christmas we became aware that the lifts had broken down and pushed the council to work to fix it. There is an ongoing issue with a mobility scooter currently blocking a corridor that housing officers are attempting to address.
Warwick and Brindley Estates
In the tower blocks on the estates, residents living in maisonettes on the even numbered floors have a fire escape on the landing of the odd numbered floors. Sometimes the emergency doors are being blocked by residents’ property. We have asked the housing teams to make sure they are kept clear, in case of emergency. We have also assisted residents of Langley House who were affected by noise from UK Power Networks.
We have supported Polesworth House residents affected by the recent gas outage and brief interruption to water supply in this block. The water supply issues are now resolved however all residents are now required to switch to electricity if they were still using gas for cooking.
Anti-Social Behaviour
We have raised concerns by residents of new incidents of ASB in Elmfield Way, Wessex Gardens and Wilmcote House. It is essential that all incidents are reportedly directly on Report It, to the police and if appropriate to the Housing Contact Centre to enable the appropriate action to be taken.
Housing Casework
The vast majority of local casework that your Westbourne Labour Councillors deal with on a day-to-day basis is to do with issues of housing and homelessness. While it is not always possible to talk publicly about these cases, we have included some examples below:
Westminster Housing
We have been helping more residents in the ward who are overcrowded or in unsuitable accommodation either apply for a transfer or progress their application. We have also been in contact with more residents who are being threatened with homelessness in the ward and have helped them access support and advice.
As this hard winter progresses we have also supported residents affected by problems with their heating, recurring leaks and other examples of disrepair in their homes. There have been difficulties with resolving a problem with the communal door into a block in Aldsworth Close on the Amberley Estate. We have communicated with Housing and residents about this to find a permanent solution.
Notting Hill Genesis
Ward councillors and council officers supporting them continue to raise issues affecting local tenants and leaseholders of this Housing Association at monthly meetings. If you have a problem that has not been resolved we would like to hear from you.