Future of Hampstead Heath

The City of London has published a report on its consultation on how it should care for Hampstead Heath.

Around 2,000 responses were received in one form or another - which is a reasonably high figure by the standards of most public consultations and a measure of the value of the heath to local people. That said, while the responses were predominantly from people living in the postcode areas around the heath, no figure is reported for respondents from NW6 so perhaps we don't value the heath as much as our neighbours in Swiss Cottage or Golders Green

Not many surprises in the findings. People want to protect the heath from further development. But there are conflicts of view between different kinds of users - e.g. pedestrians and cyclists.

The City of London says it "will now examine people’s comments in detail, before making suggested changes to the draft management plan."

Progress can be followed on the Hampstead page at the City of London's website.

The park we'd like to love

A group is being established to take care of Fortune Green. The Friends of Fortune Green will aim to involve local people who have ideas about how the park could be improved and who want to take part in looking after it.

This is not the first time citizens have been called to action to defend the green. In 1893, the Fortune Green Preservation Society campaigned with the rallying cry "All persons who value open spaces are earnestly invited to help." The Friends of Fortune Green are renewing that appeal today.

The group was seeking some initial members at the recent Jester Festival on the green. This is from their leaflet:

The green is pleasant enough to look at but could be so much better. There is money around, but we have to have a plan. And then ask for the money.

Simple things that could make Fortune Green more enjoyable:

1. A dose of modern design for the flowerbeds.

2. Repaint the railings.

3. Create a mini-recycling centre.

4. Up-date the playground.

5. As always, remove the graffiti.

6. What is your suggestion?

More than 20 people have already signed up. They're planning to hold an open meeting in September.

If you want to get involved, you can email fortunegreen@googlemail.com or call or text 07726 185175.

Visit your doctor

The Camden New Journal reports that doctors in Camden are being told to remove from their lists patients who they have not seen for a while:

"Patients who have not visited their doctor for more than a year are falling foul of Camden Primary Care Trust’s list-cleaning, which aims to get rid of ‘ghosts’ from the books and save hundreds of thousands of pounds in the process.
But angry GPs claim the process is harming healthy patients who have not needed to see their doctor for some time as well as their most vulnerable patients."

So, if you want to keep your GP, it would seem prudent to pay him or her a visit. Otherwise, next time you need a doctor, you might find yourself having to search for a new one.

London top tips

There's a nice piece on The Times website: 10 top tips for life in London, many with an NW6 flavour. Top of the list is wondering through Hampstead Cemetery.

GPs practices to merge in the Autumn

The merger of Mill Lane Medical Centre and Solent Road Health Centre is going ahead.

Solent Road Health Centre will close on 7th September, and its patients assigned to the already over-stretched Mill Lane centre. The merged practice will eventually be located in the Solent Road premises, which are to be refurbished. The new centre is supposed to open in the new year.

The last we heard of this story, patients were going to be consulted on the proposed merger. Northwest 6 is not aware of such a consultation having taken place.

There's to be a public meeting at which you can find out more about the plan on 17th July at the Solent Road Health Centre.