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.

Answers from Nancy Jirira, Liberal Democrat candidate for Fortune Green

Northwest 6 asked all candidates in the Fortune Green by-election to answer a questionnaire. 

We've heard already from Heather Downham, the Conservatives' candidate.  Now it's the turn of the Liberal Democrats' Nancy Jirira.

   

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

One of the things I think is important is to maintain a hardworking team for Fortune Green with a strong, local community based voice.

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

I met popular former Councillor Jane Schopflin many years ago at the old Community Health Council. She enthused me with her passion for public services and fighting for the local community. I’d be really honoured to follow in her footsteps. I’ve long been involved in local community issues – but have only recently put my name next to a party label as this is the best way to get issues heard on the council.

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’ve noticed a real change since May 2006. To be honest, although Labour neglected the area, I never thought they’d be voted out across Camden after so many years. There has been a new approach to issues which were forgotten by the former Labour administration such as housing repairs, the parking regime, the streets seem cleaner and the council has generally become more responsive. Almost best of all – our West End Green toilets were reopened and they seem much cleaner and better looked after!

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

Its been clear from going around talking to people that there are big concerns about the potential closure of local post offices such as Mill Lane and Cricklewood. The response to the campaign has been overwhelming with hundreds of signatures and lots of envelopes hand-posted every day through my door.

The management of traffic and parking is also important to local people – such as the Mill Lane traffic lights; and there are ongoing concerns about large or inappropriate developments that threaten the character of the area.

5.  What are your views on the following:

School provision for families who live in the ward?

I know many families from my daughter’s primary school had to make massive changes in their life in order to secure a place at a good secondary school. The stress and worry of that time really takes its toll. From my work as a school governor I know that the problem has been just as bad in recent years. Children at the five local primary schools have no guaranteed secondary place in a Camden school. So I’m pleased the council has finally noticed that families living here need more school places. I welcome the planned new secondary school for north Camden and the major investment proposed for Hampstead School.

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

Much of our area has always suffered from a lack of open space – for example, if you live at the top of Richborough Road there is literally nowhere local to take children to play!  West End Sidings and Templar House are both provided with Sure Start (as well as play areas) and I would like to see Fortune Green itself have its own Sure Start. Meanwhile, the play area on Fortune Green will be improved later this year.

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

When the work on the Sager development is finished, work will be carried out to restore that side of the Green.   But more is needed. It is certainly better looked after than it was, say, ten years ago and looked very good at the time of last year’s Jester Festival. I was sad that the replanting with Japanese shrubs a year or so ago didn’t seem to last - many shrubs being dug up or trampled on. I welcome the newly formed 'Friends of Fortune Green' and I look forward to working with them.

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

The problem lies with dog owners – not with dogs. We need to encourage owners to become more aware of their responsibilities or the problem – with all its attendant health risks – will simply continue. With reference to the 'Black Path', the Spotlight team have asked the Council to make special efforts to keep it clean.

The way parking controls are administered by Camden council?

When I worked as a health visitor I got a huge number of parking tickets from parking wardens who missed the ‘heatlh emergency badge’ that I always carefully displayed. I paid hundreds (if not thousands!) in unfair charges.  I was particularly pleased that on-street clamping was abolished by the Lib Dem-led administration and that it’s now easier to find out about parking suspensions. I shall be keeping a watchful eye to make sure that the parking regime doesn’t slip back into its bad old ways.

 

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

I have received countless complaints about this from local residents, particularly those with children and those attending Emmanuel school. This scheme, installed by the last labour Council and paid for largely by Transport for London, has been a disaster from the outset. I know the local councillors Flick Rea and Keith Moffitt have been trying to find ways to get it changed ever since. I promise to add my voice to this to secure changes.

 

The impending arrival of Tesco in West Hampstead?

Whilst some may welcome the proposed Tesco store, I am concerned for the future of our small local shops just when West End Lane shopping seemed to be at the beginning of a renaissance. I’m worried about the prospect of identikit high street chains filling West Hampstead. A councillor’s powers in respect of this proposal are limited. Tesco does not need permission for 'change of use', as it was already a retail shop, but the council can look into conditions to deal with the likely problems of parking, loading and unloading and traffic congestion that other areas in Camden have experienced. I will certainly use whatever influence I have to make the Council do all it can.

School inspections

Ofsted, the school inspectors, have been busy evaluating schools in West Hampstead.

Closest to home, Beckford Primary School in Dornfell Street was rated good. Ofsted's report says:

Teaching is strong because lessons are well prepared, teachers' expectations of what pupils can achieve are high and relationships are very good. This helps the pupils to feel secure, raises their self-esteem and hence boosts their learning.

Beckford School

Ofcom describes the personal development of pupils at the school as outstanding.  But it says more could be done to raise the achievement of more able pupils, and has set this as an area in which the school should improve.

In another inspection, Fordwych Nursery School, on the corner of Mill Lane and Fordwych Road, has been rated as outstanding.  Fordwych is the school which makes headlines as far away as the Middle East for its annual ritual whereby local dads queue all night in the playground to be among the lucky few to get their children into the school.  Ofsted did not feel a need to recommend any improvements.  It says:

Children have a lovely time at this nursery. The play rooms are set up to promote all areas of learning and children have independent access to all of the toys, resources and materials...  Children are highly skilled communicators and frequently initiate conversations with staff, visitors and each other. The communication is supported by staff as they talk with the children throughout the day. Children express their views of their nursery which include, "I like sticking the triangles", "Riding the new tractors is great fun" and "I like staying for lunch".

Inspection reports for other local schools can be found on the Ofsted website.

West Hampstead round-up

Apologies if you've missed the lack of postings on Northwest 6 since Christmas. The nasty cold virus that's been knocking around kept me away from the computer.

As it happens, there's not been much to report from our neck of the woods. But there have been some noteworthy developments in West Hampstead more generally.

Such as the story of the woman who lives in St. Cuthbert's Road, off Fordwych Road, who was told that residents' bays are not for parking in. According to the Ham & High:

Sarah Bailey from West Hampstead went away for a weekend and left her car in a bay outside her house.

On the Monday Ms Bailey, who is eight months' pregnant, returned to her car and found the bay had been suspended the day she left and she had been ticketed.

Ms Bailey appealed against the ticket on the grounds that three days' notice was insufficient.

But heartless parking chiefs turned down the appeal and council officer Pat Egan responded: "Residents' bays are not primarily intended for long-term parking and I believe that the advance warning given in this instance was sufficient."

Down at the other end of West Hampstead, a decision by Kingsgate School to serve halal meat has prompted an ugly row. The school took the decision to meet the needs of Muslim children, who make up around three quarters of its pupils. But if you want to serve halal, it is very difficult also to provide a non-halal meat alternative. So now some non-Muslim parents feel their needs are not being met. One of the parents protesting about the decision, Jacqueline Gomm, tells the Ham & High:

"I'm absolutely furious, I feel that I cannot let this happen. I sent my kids to this school because I don't want them to be affected by religion."

While a Muslim Liberal Democrat councillor, Faruque Ansari, says:

"There should not be any issue here. We should all be flexible and try to understand each other. It's just the same meat at the end of the day."

One of the curiosities about this story is that a number of other schools in Camden have switched to halal without prompting similar furore. At Kingsgate, parents feel they weren't consulted properly. According to the Camden New Journal, while 91 per cent those who responded to a questionnaire sent to parents said they wanted halal meat or didn't object, only a third of parents actually participated in the consultation. The ripples of this story have reached the national newspapers, with The Sun among those covering it.

Today's H&H reports that West End Lane is suffering a "retail exodus" as traders flee the combination of high rents and parking restrictions which are driving away customers. This story is prompted by the closure of Nicolas, the wine merchant, whose manager is quoted as saying:

"The rent has increased quite substantially over the last seven years but business has not increased so much. It is always with great sadness that we close. West Hampstead is a nice area, exactly the sort of area with a village feel that we like."

Not exactly an area in crisis then? But wait, the H&H says the closure of Nicolas comes hot on the heels of the departure of Audio T (the hi-fi shop), that funny leather and gifts shop near the library, and the newsagent whose premises were taken over by the friendly and popular David's Deli.

We could do with a few decent food shops. But there's life in West End Lane yet.

New council

The local election results are available on the Camden website. Liberal Democrats took all six seats in our two wards: Fortune Green and West Hampstead. Your new councillors are:

Fortune Green: Flick Rea, Jane Schopflin and Russell Eagling
West Hampstead: Keith Moffitt, John Bryant and Duncan Greenland

What is more, Keith Moffitt - who leads the Liberal Democrats in Camden - looks like he will also be the new council leader. For the first time in 35 years, Labour has lost over-all control of Camden. The Liberal Democrats emerge as the biggest party and are likely to be calling the shots - unless, as is theoretically possible but hard to imagine, the Conservatives go into coalition with Labour.

The contest in our neighbourhood didn't quite turn out to be the two-way fight between Labour and the Liberal Democrats that I had predicted. While Labour came second to the Lib Dems in West Hampstead, they were pushed into third place by the Conservatives in Fortune Green. The Greens, who stood candidates but did not campaign in the area, came fourth in both wards.

So what does the change of control at the town hall mean? While media analysis this morning has portrayed Labour's loss of Camden as a function of the party's national problems, it's worth remembering that there were local issues at work too. Camden has a reputation as one of the most authoritarian enforcers of parking controls and there were at least three campaigns running in the borough critical of Labour's handling of this issue. The Liberal Democrats, in a pre-election survey, picked up that people wanted a more sensitive, more listening council. They emphasised both these themes - together with cutting local bureaucracy and care for the local environment - in their answers to questions put by Northwest 6 at the start of the campaign. Another of their themes was the need for a new secondary school west of the Finchley Road.

More resident-friendly parking controls, a more listening council and sufficient school places for families living in West Hampstead. You know what the Lib Dems have promised. Now watch to see if the new largest party on the council can deliver without over-all control.

Local schools

Interesting letter by one of our councillors, John Bryant, about the difficulties parents face in getting secondary school places for their children.

If a parent has a child with an interest in science but the nearest school does not have a science specialism, it is no use the parent opting for a specialist science school some distance away because this will result, in most cases, in rejection.

Meanwhile a place at the nearest school might also be lost for failing to make it the parental first preference.

Camden not only needs to promote a new school in the south of the borough but there is a good case for one in the north west too.

Many parents living in West Hampstead and Kilburn cannot get their children into a Hampstead school, or in Haverstock either, and are forced to consider poorer options in Westminster or Brent.