Not about West Hampstead

Regular readers may notice the addition to the homepage of Northwest 6 of a button urging support for Alan Johnston, the kidnapped Gaza correspondent of the BBC.

The BBC has been asking bloggers for some time to put this badge on their blogs. It's taken me a long time to get round to it. For several reasons.

Firstly, I didn't think it was relevant to a blog about West Hampstead.

Secondly, I try to make it my practice not to use the website to take a stand on issues.

And thirdly, frankly I didn't expect the abduction of Alan Johnston to go on this long.

This morning's events have shamed me into action. I find abominable the abduction of journalists who risk their lives to promote understanding of troubled parts of the world.

On reflection, I don't consider it inappropriate to make a gesture on a website with such parochial concerns as this. If you agree, please click on the button below and sign the petition on the BBC website.

If you don't agree, I hope you'll treat this gesture with forbearance. Normal service will be resumed soon.



Update: Alan Johnston was released on 4th July 2007.

Are changes proposed for CA-P controlled parking zone?

Leaflets have been distributed to houses in Ravenshaw, Broomsleigh, Glastonbury and Dornfell Streets warning of changes to the local controlled parking zone which would severely restrict where residents of these streets could park in West Hampstead.

As far as I can tell, this is a significant misreading of the situation.

The leaflet is put out in the name of the "Support Our Play Streets Residents' Association" - an organisation of which I have never heard. It has raised the alarm apparently in response to a consultation which Camden council is currently conducting on controlled parking zones across the borough.

This consultation is seeking the public's views on issues such as the size of zones, when they operate and arrangements for motorcycles and electric vehicles. In fact, the explanatory notes on Camden's websites explicitly rule out "significant changes to the zone boundaries and hours/days operation in the short-term".

Confusion may have been caused by a map published as part of the consultation, which shows our zone - called CA-P - split into three sub-zones (click on map above). This reflects the current implementation of the CA-P - whereby parking restrictions are enforced at different times in different parts of the zone.

So while the controlled hours in Ravenshaw, Broomsleigh, Glastonbury and Dornfell Streets - part of CA-P (c) - are between 1000 and 1200 Monday to Friday, the controlled hours in West End Lane - part of CA-P (a) - are between 0830 and 1830 Monday to Friday. These hours affect when people who don't have a CA-P parking permit can park in the zone, but residents with a CA-P permit displayed on their vehicle can park anywhere in the zone at any time.

There is - at this stage - no proposal to change this arrangement. Were such a proposal to be forthcoming, Camden would be obliged to consult on it.

Camden's consultation document on controlled parking zones runs to 12 pages. You have until Friday 22 June to submit your views to the council.