RECENT WHAT CAMPAIGNS
At the meeting held on 7th July, WHAT invited 2 cabinet members of the newly-elected Labour Council - Heather Johnson (Children, Schools) and Sarah Hayward (Communities, Regeneration, Equality) to talk about their responsibilities and answer questions from the audience.
Heather Johnson spoke about the Government's revised plans for Building Schools for the Future. Until the Autumn Spending Review, it is difficult to predict which schemes will survive. Plans for the UCL Academy, the new special school and South Camden are all currently being examined.
It has since become clear that plans for the rebuilding of Emmanuel School may also be affected.
Her remit also includes children's services including child protection and children in care.
Sarah Hayward's remit does not include any statutory services - thus funding for regeneration, job creation and equality issues is liable to be cut. Again, details cannot be finalised until after the Autumn Spending Review.
Questions from the audience included:
- provision of benches in the streets - these are often removed to prevent
rough sleepers using them
- extending the opening hours of libraries
- whether Area Fora will survive - they have been more successful in some
wards than others, and if not, how the Council propose to consult with
local communities
- a suggestion that the Community Association building at 60/62 Mill Lane
should not be sold as a visible street presence is desirable for a thriving
Community Association
- how decisions on cuts to various departments will be made so that the
local community has a voice
- whether the expansion of the Fortune Green Play Centre will be affected,
as other plans are contingent on this
- what impact the "free schools" initiative could have
- the future of the publications Your Camden and the Golden Gazette
- keeping developers' inappropriate plans in check.
One possibility for improved efficiency would be joint procurements of some services with adjacent councils.
The Cabinet members pledged that the budget plans will be published for consultation after the Government's Autumn Spending Review has been announced.
WHAT Public Meeting
The WHAT AGM on 26th January was followed by a public meeting on recycling.The speaker was Claire Howard, Senior Recycling Officer, Camden Council.
The present system of co-mingled doorstep recycled waste is taken to a Material Recovery Centre. Comingling has some environmental advantages as fewer and smaller vehicles can be used. The disadvantage is that the energy efficiency at the recovery centre is low. However, there are now plans - soon to be implemented - for residents to separate paper and card as this can be recycled into high quality paper.
There have been 2 trials of recycling food and garden waste. In 2007 residents were asked their opinion. In the 2008 trial - which was more successful - households were leafleted. Plans are in place for this to go borough-wide within the next few months - with containers for food waste and sacks for garden rubbish.
The Council has also been promoting "Give and Take Days" several times a year to encourage reuse. Unwanted household items are brought to the location in the morning and are swapped in the afternoon.
Questions and comments from the floor included:
- What can be done about commercial waste - there are no government targets for
commercial recycling. The vast majority of London waste is commercial
- There can be problems on Estates with waste for recycling going into the general waste
trucks when the collections are on the same day
- There is general confusion about which plastics can be recycled. Claire confirmed that
plastic bags can be recycled
- Concerns about vermin with food recycling.New bags will be issued for paper recycling
and these can act as lids for the food waste containers
- New waste boxes can be requested from the Council
WHAT demands better coordination of tube and train closures and that the Met line stops at West Hampstead
WHAT members, like most other West Hampstead residents, are in despair at the continuing tube and rail closures at weekends.
At a meeting held in West Hampstead synagogue on 1st February, WHAT Chair Virginia Berridge urged:
- That Tube Lines and the Mayor stop shifting the blame to each other. The Mayor is
in charge and must sort this mess out.
- That TfL, which the Mayor is also responsible for, coordinates the closures of tubes,
and London Overground so that West Hampstead is not cut off at weekends with
every line closed down.
- That the Met line stops at West Hampstead when the Jubilee line is not running.
- That better information is given at stations.
- That the replacement bus services use the best available routes and that local people
are consulted on these.
- That TfL engages in genuine involvement with the public, rather than PR.
- That the Mayor meets with FCC management to express concern about the problems
on the Thameslink line and the added disruption this has caused inner London
commuters.
Improving the Interchange at West Hampstead
WHAT is a member of WHIG (the West Hampstead Interchange Group), convened by Camden Council. We suggested to Camden:
Better crossings outside the new Thameslink Staion entrance on Iverson Road
Improvement of the dangerous junction between West End Lane and Iverson Road
We have recently responded to Camden's consultation on this. Network Rail may be demolishing the shops at the Iverson Road/West End Lane junction, but we would like Camden to move soon on street improvements. We do not support the proposed removal of the bus stop outside the Post Office.
West Hampstead Community Association
WHAT is represented on the CAWH steering committee (Community Association for West Hampstead). New officers - Laurence Higgens and Julie Humphreys have been appointed and have now started work at the Community Association in Mill Lane.
Emmanuel School and Sington Nursery
WHAT has commented on the plans to rebuild Emmanuel School and resite Sington Nursery at Fortune Green with a temporary location in the Community Hall in Broomsleigh Street. We are uneasy about the use of 160 Mill Lane for the new school and the continued location of the school on 2 sites on either side of a busy road. We suggested rebuilding Emmanuel on Fortune Green playcentre which is a big site with plenty of space. The old school building would then make a great community centre. Now a Mill Lane Action Group of residents in that area is opposing the school's plans.
Buses and tube
WHAT keeps a watching brief on local bus matters and how well our services are doing. You can fill in and return one of our bus cards (available in West Hampstead library). We have just commented on the proposal to stop the 113 at Selfridges and we are writing to Railway News about the effect the closure of the Jubilee line at weekends is having on West Hampstead.
SHOPP
WHAT has recently carried out a survey of disabled and pushchair access to shops and businesses in Mill Lane. Shops compliant with full access were awarded a 'kite mark' to show this. The Mayor of Camden, Councillor Nural Islam, came to launch our project.
