A brief post to praise The Green Room, the new(ish) restaurant on Broadhurst Gardens. With warm service, excellent food and attractive decor, it is easily the best place to eat out in West Hampstead. Reviews are available from Time Out and the Ham & High.
More prosaically, the new West End Lane branch of Strada is attracting favourable comment. Again, the Ham & High has been hard at work sampling the culinary fare of NW6.
Last summer, there was consternation when trees and other vegetation were cleared from a strip of land running north of Mill Lane, beside the railway and behind houses on Fordwych Road. Besides representing the loss of one of the few natural habitats in the area, this seemed to presage the start of a major building development.
Now SLLB, a firm of architects, are preparing a planning application to build on the land. They are seeking the public's views on their proposal before submitting it to Camden council.
According to their consultation website, the proposal would restore a significant amount of green space, with sensitivity to biodiversity. There would be a large building to the front of the site, along Mill Lane, comprising flats and houses. The existing building, shown in the picture above, would be demolished to make way for the new structure. The architects say:
We have been working on a scheme which will result in the land being acquired from the current owner and the open space restored to a green, biodiverse state. This is something we believe strongly to be in the public interest. It is however only possible to achieve our aim through enabling development.
This artist's impression below shows what the scene above might look like following the development.
Daniel Smith of SLLB told Northwest 6 that the site owner approached them following the furore caused by his removal of the trees and vegetation from the land last year. They now have a commitment from a housing association, Genesis, to join the development and they would expect other backers to come on board if the proposal gains planning approval.
The proposed green space would not necessarily be a public space. One option is that it could be a subscription park, to which local residents would have access if they paid an annual fee. A model for this exists locally at Mapesbury Dell. Another option, is that there would be no public access and the space would be managed to promote biodiversity. This is apparently the option preferred currently by Camden council.
Daniel Smith says the purpose of the current consultation is to gain insight now into the public's concerns or other opinions so that the architects can address these in the design of the planning application. SLLB ask you to submit any opinions before 29 April.
After seeking our views last year, Camden Council is making some changes to roads around Mill Lane. These are intended to make things safer for pedestrians - particularly children going to school.
Mill Lane itself is to get two new zebra crossings. Work to install these has already begun - adding to the density of roadworks already happening in the area thanks to the Thames Water excavations.
A 20 mph speed limit is to be imposed on the roads around Beckford School - Dornfell Street, Broomsleigh Street, Glastonbury Street and Ravenshaw Street. 80 per cent of the 186 respondents to Camden's survey supported this measure. But only 48 per cent expressed support for raising the junction - bringing the road level to that of the pavement - where Dornfell Street meets Ravenshaw Street. So this proposal will not proceed.
A nasty accident last week, in which a man lost his legs, has led to calls for measures to improve pedestrian safety at West End Lane's junction with Iverson Road.
Some people feel the traffic lights do not give people enough time to cross the road.
More details from the Ham & High.
News reaches Northwest 6 of a new website to help you track what's happening in your neighbourhood:
GroupsNearYou.com is dedicated to helping you find local email lists or other online groups that cover the area you live in. Being part of such groups is an interesting way to find out what's going on in your neighbourhood or street at a more local and personal level than a newspaper, and there's research to suggest it'll help your quality of life in the long run!
Tracking what's going on at a more local and personal level than a local newspaper is very much what Northwest 6 is about too, so we're keen to see this flourish. Groups Near You relies on members of the public to populate its pages with information. So if you know of the contact details of civic and campaigning groups in West Hampstead who are on the internet, be sure to post them.
So Nancy Jirira won the Fortune Green by-election, maintaining the Liberal Democrats' long-standing dominance of West Hampstead. Camden council's website has the full results.
Many thanks to all the candidates who answered our questionnaire.
Proposals to upgrade the various West Hampstead stations into a major transport hub are again on the agenda. First Capital Connect, the operator of the Thameslink line, presented plans this week.
It seems the idea of converting the stations into a single interchange has been dropped. Instead, there would be new stations for the Thameslink and Overground lines, the pavement along West End Lane between the two would be widened and there would be commercial development around West End Lane and Iverson Road to finance the plans.
A contributor to Cityneighbours, Marcia, says the meeting was told that Mayor Ken Livingstone and Transport for London are planning a significant expansion of the capacity of the West Hampstead stations:
When someone asked about the effect this will have on the underground, we were told Jubilee Line is increasing capacity by 40 per cent and, like it or not, West Hampstead is being developed as a major transport hub - but without the single station that it requires to be a proper interchange. We also heard that Livingstone has designated West Hampstead an area for high density housing by 2025 - with lots of tower blocks - because of its excellent transport links.
So one of the issues that could be decided in the forthcoming London Mayoral election is whether West Hampstead faces a high rise future, with many more shops and offices around West End Lane and dramatic population growth.
The merger of two local GPs surgeries will be completed on Monday when the new West Hampstead Medical Centre opens for business in Solent Road.
The new practice comprises the Mill Lane Medical Centre, which closed today, and the old Solent Road Health Centre, from whose premises the practice will now operate.
The original Solent Road surgery was closed last Autumn, and its patient list moved to Mill Lane. The centre has been undergoing refurbishments since then.
Less than a week to go until the Fortune Green by-election. Tulip Siddiq, the Labour candidate, has sent in answers to the Northwest 6 questionnaire.
You can also read answers from Heather Downham and Nancy Jirira.
1. What would you say is at stake in this council by-election?
A risk of further disengagement in the community. I've been canvassing a lot recently and communication between the Fortune Green councillors and the residents who live in the ward could be a lot better. I feel so strongly about it that I even made a video on my website, explaining how I would go about fixing it. Politics should be a two-way street, not a blind alley!
2. What has motivated you personally to put yourself forward for election?
The desire to represent local residents. I want to voice the concerns of all residents, not just a selected few. I want proper consultation on topics that are important to locals, not just to the councillors. My website has had more than 2,500 visitors since the election began and constituents of all different ages and backgrounds have contacted me with their ideas. This is a clear sign that people are looking for different ways to communicate, but their voices aren't being heard.
3. What impact would you say the change of control of Camden council has had in the two years since the last local elections?
Since the last local election, there has been a real lack of direction from the Liberal Democrat/Conservative council. Although it appears that there is a Liberal Democrat majority, the Conservatives seem to be running the show, so constituents are not really being represented by the people they elected. Also I am struggling to see what changes the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have made to West Hampstead since they've been in power. Most of the local improvements have taken place because of Labour's work on issues such as developing public transport and increasing local police.
4. What would you say are the two or three most pressing issues for people in Fortune Green?
Where do I start!
1) Planning and Development - The current council's failure to control the major developments in West End Lane and the likely large scale developments in Maygrove Road and Fordwych Road make me think that local peoples' interests are not being considered. The Liberal Democrat/Conservative council needs to start listening to the residents whose lives will be directly affected by these planning and development proposals.
2) Environment - I'm concerned that recycling is taking a backseat with the present Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition. There are fears that recycling is being taken away from council estates in Camden generally. In Fortune Green we lost our garden waste collection. There is also an urgent need for a waste recycling facility in north west London. Residents have told me that they are tired of driving across the borough to recycle big items.
3) Transport - Under the Labour council, the public transport system improved dramatically in West Hampstead. More bus stops have been placed outside stations, the old Silverlink has become part of London Overground which means that I can now use my Oyster card on all railway services. I take the Jubilee line to work every day and the trains are always frequent which makes my journey very simple.
5. What are your views on the following:
School provision for families who live in the ward?
Emmanuel School and Beckford school are both very good schools for our younger residents in Fortune Green. Hampstead School, a secondary school in the ward, is being improved thanks to a Labour government initiative.
The quality of play and recreational spaces for children in the ward?
The quality is simply not good enough. I've been to look at these play areas first-hand and was shocked by their disrepair and neglect. Many of the play areas for children in the ward are either unusable, locked up or ignored. We must concentrate on improving and maintaining the areas we have before we start planning new projects.
The state of Fortune Green itself (the park not the ward)?
It's a bit dilapidated and threatened by the large development nearby. Section 106 money has been given by developers to improve local community facilities and open spaces but we have had no voice in what is being spent. I suspect that it's not being spent in this area at all.
The problem of dog mess in parks and on pavements - particularly the railway path between Broomsleigh Street and West End Lane?
This issue needs managing. The previous council used to provide more pooper bags and bins but this has been reduced in the last two years. This is probably due to the number of cuts that the council has made to public services.
The way parking controls are administered by Camden council?
You may have seen my letter in the Camden New Journal about this topic. I'm seriously concerned about how parking has gotten so much worse under the current council, and yet their income from fines has risen. You can view all my concerns here.
The congestion, pollution and other difficulties caused by the installation of traffic lights at the junction of Mill Lane and Fortune Green Road?
This is actually a dangerous problem. The Lib Dem council said they would 'sort it out' but nothing has been done about it since they took power. This is typical of a complacent administration that makes false promises before an election and then doesn't deliver afterwards.
The impending arrival of Tesco in West Hampstead?
Small businesses may suffer as a result of this, but there is clearly a demand by some local residents for this type of shop in the local area. It is the job of our local councillors to make sure that any objections from locals are acted on before developments are given the green light. It is just not good enough to act like they are powerless, they need to stand up for our rights. That is what they have been elected for.
