Answers from Tulip Siddiq, Labour candidate for Fortune Green

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.

Are our recycling collections any good?

Trash One
Originally uploaded by blech.

One of the earliest posts on Northwest 6 concerned the way all material collected for recycling is mashed up together in a traditional dustcart.

Camden justified this practice by saying that although it was more costly to sort out materials after collection, it encouraged more people to recycle things.

Now a new national campaign is trying to call time on this approach.   According to the Campaign for Real Recycling:

Collection systems that gather a range of different materials in one bag or bin and then compact them could permanently undermine the environmental and financial benefits of recycling.

The Observer investigated the issue and reported that mixing and mashing materials for recycling reduces the environmental benefits significantly:

If you happen to participate in a co-mingled scheme, it is thought that somewhere between one tenth and one fifth of your waste could end up in a landfill, forming part of a noxious stew belching methane into the atmosphere. By contrast, less than 1 per cent of all materials collected through source-separated systems is wasted.

The waste contractor Veolia is quoted in the article as contesting the amount wasted through co-mingling - putting it at between five and eight per cent.  Veolia says part of this is caused by people putting household waste in their recycling bins.

If you are concerned about this issue, the Campaign for Real Recycling suggests you should lobby your local council.  To do this locally, depending on where you live, you should contact either Fortune Green councillors or West Hampstead councillors.

Alternatively, you could make sure that your recycling waste is clean before you put it out for collection.

New civic amenity tip

The new local rubbish dump
Originally uploaded by Grievous Angel.

Tired of trekking over to Kentish Town to dump your rubbish? No need to bother. Now there's a tip right here on your doorstep. You can find it on the corner of Ravenshaw Street and Glastonbury Street. It's just the kind of facility we need to make life easier in this area.

But hurry if you want to enjoy this new attraction. Camden Council say it will be removed within 24 hours.

What do you think of Camden's recycling service?

Camden Friends of the Earth are seeking your views on the council's recycling service. You can leave comments on their blog.

One of the issues of concern is why different types of materials - like metals, plastic and paper - are all mixed up together by collectors, and not sorted at source. Northwest 6 looked into this some time ago, so if you want you can remind yourself of the council's thinking on this before responding to Friends of the Earth.

Charity begins with the dustbin

Charity shops on West End Lane are complaining about the volume of rubbish among the goods that people donate to the shops to sell.

Volunteers at West Hampstead's Oxfam shop have told the Ham & High (not online) that they get CD cases with no CDs inside, books with pages torn out and clothes which go straight into the recycling bins.

Staff at the Cancer Research shop tell a similar story, saying it takes volunteers a lot of time to sort the saleable stuff from the rubbish. They urge donators to do this sorting themselves.

You can see their point, and this would explain why they might occasionally look a little askance when you walk in with a pile of clothes - not a reaction you'd ever encounter at the West Hampstead Community Association shop at the top of Broomsleigh Street.

Recycling

The weekly recycling collection for our corner of NW6 has moved from Fridays to Wednesdays. You can now include cardboard and plastic among the items to be recycled - along with cans, paper and glass. But second-hand clothing is no longer being collected. If you want to dispose of clothing, they are always pleased to receive it in the Community Shop at the top of Broomsleigh Street.

More information on the local recycling service is available on the Camden website.

Put out your garden waste

Did you know Camden will pick up and dispose of your gardening waste? They'll take weeds, clippings of shrubs, that kind of thing.

The collection is fortnightly on Tuesdays throughout the year. Next collection 7th June. You're advised to put out your bags of waste the night before, as the truck can sometimes arrive early.

Why are they using dustcarts to collect the recycling?

Have you noticed that the recycling collections no longer use the caged vehicles that separate paper, glass and tins? Instead everything is dumped into a conventional dustcart which mashes all the recycled materials together.

Two concerns about this spring to mind: firstly, that clothes collected this way can't be recycled because they will be damaged; and secondly, that this must add costs which may outweigh the benefits of putting out material for recycling.

Camden council describes what I call dustcarts as "co-mingle" vehicles. It says it uses them because it allows for faster collection - and the materials are indeed sorted at a later stage. The council confirms that this is more costly. But the recycling people believe the extra costs are justified in the interests of encouraging more people to put out materials for recycling. An email from the department says:

"We are constantly aiming to get a higher participation rate for our kerbside service. We find if residents don't have to separate their waste, it encourages more recycling. As we service more properties, separating the items at a later stage means at an operational level we can also service more properties, whilst keeping the vehicles on the road for as short a time as possible."

The council does make special provision if you want to recycle good quality clothes. They'll provide you with special bags. If you put clothes out for collection in these, they won't be thrown into the back of the dustcart but kept separate. To ask for these, email street.environment@camden.gov.uk.