Answers from Heather Downham, Conservative candidate for Fortune Green

 

Answers have started arriving to the questionnaire sent by Northwest 6 to all candidates in the Fortune Green by-election.

First up, Heather Downham - who's standing for the Conservatives.

 

 1.  What would you say is at stake in this council by-election?

West Hampstead and Fortune Green have a very particular quality. They are very comfortable and relaxing areas in which to live. The future of our area is at stake, because of the ongoing battle to stop inappropriate planning applications succeeding, and thus devastating our green open spaces, play areas, and over-populating the area, with all the ensuing consequences, i.e. lack of places at schools, no policing, and an increase in crime. We must be vigilant.

2.  What has motivated you personally to put yourself forward for election?

As I said before, I want to preserve the character of our area, and I want the necessary changes to be good for all of us. I have lived here for over 25 years, and I want to fight to keep our amenities, i.e. the post offices, to preserve dust bin and recycling collections on at least a weekly basis, and to try and improve the parking problems. I have a wide experience of life, and know how to deal with a lot of day-to-day problems, i.e. noisy neighbours and rogue freeholders and developers and I should like to help others in the neighbourhood who are finding their own problems difficult to solve.

3.  What impact would you say the change of control of Camden council has had in the two years since the last local elections?

I think the change of control at Camden council is having a very positive impact.

i) Parking problems are now much better handled. No clamping, and more realistic notices of parking suspensions.

ii) Libraries open much longer.

iii) Plans for a new secondary school in Swiss Cottage, and improvement to Hampstead School.

iv) The free removal of graffiti, an excellent idea.

It seems to work having a Liberal/Conservative partnership – different ideas and thinking.

4.  What would you say are the two or three most pressing issues for people in Fortune Green?

i) Control of inappropriate planning applications.

ii) Crime is rising again in Fortune Green, so more police patrols, and if possible dog patrols in the cemetery.

iii) Fight to make sure post offices and the police station remain open.

5.  What are your views on the following:

School provision for families who live in the ward?

Two very good primaries – Emmanuel School and Beckford school – which get very good OFSTED results. Both very high teaching standards. In terms of secondary schools, Hampstead School is about to be improved by the council with new facilities for sport, science and drama, and I am sure it will continue to improve.

The quality of play and recreational spaces for children in the ward?

There is a shortage of play areas in the ward. Fortune Green is there, but in the west and north of the ward there is no park or play area – it is much needed.

The state of Fortune Green itself (the park not the ward)?

Fortune Green has lost a lot of its appeal since the Sager Building has gone up. It needs some refurbishing with new trees and maybe flower beds. In summer there is always a problem with football players interfering with peaceful people.

The problem of dog mess in parks and on pavements - particularly the railway path between Broomsleigh Street and West End Lane?

On the pavements most people now clean up after their dogs, or the street cleaners do a wonderful job of removing dog mess. It is still in the parks, you have to be careful, but maybe a few fines could stop the nuisance. I must have walked down the path from Broomsleigh Street to West End Lane on a good day as there was no obvious mess, but I am very aware of the problem and I want the council to use the new fixed penalty powers it now has available.

The way parking controls are administered by Camden council?

The administration of parking controls has improved. Now that clamping has been banned, it stops cars being targeted. Also, clarification of ‘a day’ – now 8.30-18.30 – has saved much trouble. Attendants now seem to be more reasonable in their attitude.

 

The congestion, pollution and other difficulties caused by the installation of traffic lights at the junction of Mill Lane and Fortune Green Road?

The traffic lights at the junction of Mill Lane and Fortune Green Road are a disaster. They cause pollution in the Emmanuel School playground, and affect the pedestrians waiting to cross the road, and waiting parents. The traffic jams are extraordinary. The traffic backs up down Mill Lane, you can waste an extra five minutes, the 139 bus gets stuck, the C11 gets stuck as well, and the 139 should not even be in Mill Lane. It also has created a ‘rat run’ down Hillfield Road, where traffic is moving much too fast for the area.

The lights are a menace; they do no good, and cause havoc going south and north along Fortune Green Road and West End Lane. But we must make sure there are safe crossings, so it’s not an easy question – I would want the council to look at this afresh together with local residents and see what all the options are.

 

The impending arrival of Tesco in West Hampstead?

Tesco is a difficult question and I know there are different views locally on this – and of course the council’s powers are limited as there is no planning ‘change of use’.  Although we want to keep West End Lane unique, with diverse shops, wine bars and speciality boutiques, bakers etc, there are a lot of young people living in the area, students and more elderly folk whom I think have suffered from the lack of affordable food. We have some wonderful delicatessens and specialist bakers, but the existing supermarkets are expensive, and do not have a huge range of goods. We have a lot of charity shops in the High Street, and the site Tesco will occupy is not very convenient. It is close to the station, but people in the north of the ward will still shop at their local corner shop. The sad thing is that the existing traders have left a gap in the market, which Tesco has been able to exploit. I wish this was not so, but it is unfortunately a fact.

Take care of your valuables at Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre

There's unwelcome news if you're a user of the Swiss Cottage swimming pool. The Ham & High reports that there has been a spate of break-ins to lockers, with swimmers returning from a swim to find their valuables and even their clothes stolen. Camden Council say there have been 21 such break-ins this year.

Living in a burglary hotspot

West Hampstead is one of the burglary hotspots in the borough of Camden, according to the Ham & High.

Burglaries have gone up by 2.5 per cent in the past 12 months. Crime prevention officer, PC Dave King, tells the H&H:

"The simple closing of windows sounds so basic and it is easy but people unfortunately think burglary is not going to happen to them. In 36 per cent of burglaries the windows have not been closed.

"There are other things like putting window boxes out which makes it harder for the burglar to open the window."

Window boxes have the added advantage of making the community look well-loved.

Police are appealing to residents to work with them to cut down the number of burglaries. They're offering free crime prevention advice. Phone 020 8733 6809.

An everyday precaution in West Hampstead

Spotted in Glastonbury Street
Originally uploaded by Grievous Angel.

More crime

Further evidence that if you leave anything of value at the front of your house for any length of time, someone will help themselves to it.

The latest such theft is of a bicycle, which the owner had kept locked to the front of his house in Ravenshaw Street for the past year or so. Thieves, working in the dead of night on Tuesday, first tried to pick the lock. When that failed, they came back the next night and forcibly removed from the wall the bracket to which the bike was fixed.

Once again, this was not a casually opportunistic theft. Someone - presumably someone who passes the house regularly - had identified the item of value, and executed a plan to steal it.

Gardening thieves

The appearance of our streets is enhanced at this time of year by the number of people who maintain plants and flowers in their front yards. Feeling guilty that we weren't contributing to the communal well-being, we gave our front yard a makeover. We planted some shrubs and put out a few potted plants.

The nicest of these, a small tree, was stolen within a fortnight.

It was taken at night which suggests to me that this was a premeditated theft - perhaps by someone who regularly walks past our house, on their way to one of the West Hampstead stations.

The staff at the garden centre in Iverson Road have given me advice on how to minimise the risk of plants being stolen - use big plants, heavy pots and heavy compost. You can also get planters that you can chain to the wall. But, naturally, this makes me wonder whether it's worth the bother to make the yard look nice at the front of the house.

Those who feel they can help themselves to other people's property damage the community twice over - by encouraging the belief that you can break the law with impunity in West Hampstead, and discouraging efforts to improve the place.