Kings Cross Local Environment

Space Available for a Pop-Up Shop

Anyone out there looking to open a Pop-Up-Shop for the upcoming holiday season - this could be right up your alley!  The Community Bulletin Board just recieve this notice form one of our local residents.  The space is available for on a short or long term basis.

TO LET
Shop premises and basement
358 Caledonian Road, Islington,
London N1 1DU
Ground floor retail area space 17’ x 15’  Basement, including kitchenette area approx.measurements as above, with two additional alcove spaces 5’ x 7’ each

The shop is situated in a parade of shops serving the local community and King’s Cross. Very close to Caledonian Road & Barnsbury overground station, with Caledonian Road tube and Kings Cross, Euston and St Pancras International stations a short busride away.  Bus links also to central London and the City.

The shop is currently vacant and would suit most businesses or trades.  Previously trading in clothing and accessories it has been fitted out accordingly.  The premises offer a unique opportunity to anyone ready to take the step into business. Short-term lets (day or week) for ‘pop up’ shops, gallery space or events also negotiable.

Contact: Mrs.Vijya Patel on 07958 164725 for further details

Gloria Johnson - funeral arangements Friday 19 November 1030 St Andrews, Thornhill Square

From the Gazette Family Notices page:

Gloria Florence Johnson (née Lack) Died at home in Barnsbury, aged 74
Dearly loved and missed by her brother Raymond and family and her many friends in the community. Funeral service to be held on Friday, 19 November 2010, at St Andrew’s Church, Thornhill Square, 10.30am, and Islington Cemetery at 12 noon. All welcome.
Flowers to Leverton & Sons, 212 Eversholt St, NW1 1BD, by 4.30pm on Thursday 18.11.10

I am grateful to Diana and Lee for passing on details.  We continue to welcome memories of Gloria here.

Pre-Apprenticeships in the Rail and Construction Sectors

West Euston Partnership will soon be launching a new pre-apprenticeship pilot project targeting 18-24 year olds. The project, funded by Network Rail, aims to offer places for up to 40 young people on training programmes to improve basic skills for entry into apprenticeship programmes in the rail and construction industries.

Up to 40 young people will get the opportunity to participate. They must be:

• aged between 18 and 24;
  
  
• not in training or employment at the moment; and must
  
  
• live within one kilometre of KX Station or in the Camden wards of King’s Cross, Somers Town & St Pancras, or Caledonian Ward in Islington

Participants will get a good understanding of the broad range of careers in these sectors, engage with employers, obtain a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card and have fast tracked basic skills training.

 For more information contact Jilla Jamfar, Coordinator, Apprentice Project on 020 7383 5861

King's Cross Central Construction Newsletter - Autumn 2010

 
The title of this post says it all - download the Newsletter, and find out what's going on:
Download Newsletter - Autumn 2010

Local Author Makes Good!

‘Celebrity’ is a new play by local KX resident (Albert Dock), novelist and author of the Bryant & May mysteries, Christopher Fowler, starring Victoria Jeffrey, Neil Burgess, Mark Martin & Lucy Clements.

Nov 23 to Dec 4
Nightly 7:30pm
Matinees Sat 4:00pm
(No perfs Sun, Mon)

The Phoenix Artist Club
1 Phoenix Street
London, WC2H 0DT
(Off Charing Cross Road next to the Phoenix Theatre) Tickets: £10 (+50p CC bookings)

To book telephone 020 7836 1077 or email: [email protected]

‘Celebrity’ is part of the London Fringe Festival

Synopsis: Once there were stars. Now everyone wants to be a celebrity - how did we get from Cary Grant to Jedward?

It’s 1968. Helena runs Albion PR in London’s Wardour Street, looking after ‘difficult’ stars. She hires 19 year-old Billy to teach him the secrets of the business. Saving the reputations of her clients involves an outrageous amount of lying and cheating, but neither Helena nor Billy realize this innocent era is about to come crashing to an end…

‘Celebrity’ is based on the life of a real London PR agent. Only the names of scandal-struck celebrities will be changed to protect us from libel

UPDATE - Aflorum wins Green Giant Peoples Award, Thornhill Bridge Community Gardens takes a 2nd place

See update on original posting

A little Kings Cross in Moscow

Tony Molloy got in touch after we covered his article on the Peabody blog about the Lubetkin-designed blocks of Priory Green.  Lubetkin was a favourite architect of the Stalin era who brought modernism to Britain.  Tony sent some pictures of Lubetkin-style blocks in Moscow which we were lucky to escape here. Tony said:

I think Lubetkin did not feel overly fondly of Priory Green which could be in part why it is not listed (as I recall there was to be a doctors surgery and the estate office was to be where they built Foiliot). Was Spa Green a better example? I am unsure if its listed either but it is softer vision I felt (10 years ago).    

I spent some time in Moscow a couple of years ago and there is nothing but row upon row, and mile upon mile of Lubetkin blocks like Kendal and Reddington but 22 stories high – same colour scheme that Priory Green used to be as well!. They also had 3 lifts as opposed to 2 lifts (but always had one lift turned off so if a lift  broke down you knew you had a third lift waiting).

I love the engineering pragmatism of having a spare lift.

How the Priory Green estate has changed

There's a wonderful post over on the Peabody site talking about the transformation of the Priory Green estate over the last ten years - the estate between the Cally Road and Pentonville Road. Tony Molloy once area manager writes:

'At the time Priory Green estate was infamous for issues of vice. Between 80 and 100 used needles were found most weeks, many left spike up in the grass to ward off residents. I remember my shock at seeing hundreds of needles removed from the lift pits, and communal areas openly used by drug dealers and prostitutes.'

'Today my biggest surprise is not the physical changes but how well Priory Green estate is cared for after so many years of neglect. It is unrecognisable from the rundown estate it once was, and it is safe. The play equipment is used by children, needles are no longer an issue and the community is not plagued with crime.'

Have a read of the whole article with some great before and after pictures.  We'd love to hear in the comments any memories of Priory Green.  Also have a look at Barnsbury Living - a lovely site about the modern Priory Green that I was delighted to help out with.  Thanks to Martin O'Donnell for the tip off.

The modernist architecture by Berthold Lubetkin isn't to everyone's taste, but in another 50 years could well be as fondly regarded as Gothic revival.  It's interesting to note that the estate is not listed.

 

 

York Way consultation - have you done yours?

The York Way improvements consultation ends tonight!!!! Below is my response. I've sent it with my name, address, email, phone number, confirmation that I am a local resident and request for an acknowledgement of receipt by email to LB Camden. If you'd like to get your response in quick smart, that's the email address to use. Meanwhile, here's what I've said on behalf of myself and my partner:

We welcome the options put forward and very definitely prefer Option 2.

In particular:

1. Removal of the sheep pens at the junction of Wharfdale Road and York Way and their replacement with pedestrian crossings allowing north/south and east/west crossings will be of great benefit to all using this stretch of road. Removal of the sheep pens is likely to lessen the amount of remedial works needing to be done resulting from heavy goods and other vehicles regularly damaging the metal works and putting pedestrians and cyclists in additional danger.
2. Reduction of bus stands on the western side of York Way will lessen the dark, smelly and particulate ridden air faced by pedestrians within inches of their walking routes.
3. Recessed loading and parking on the eastern side will be welcomed by local businesses.
4. Expansion of the pavement on the western side is much needed and will start to introduce a sense of greater safety for pedestrians.
5. The move to one lane traffic is marvellous step forward. The current two lane, one-way layout encourages traffic to move at speed along York Way, including but not limited to boy racers overtaking each other at intervals along the short length between the main junction at Euston/Pentonville Roads and Wharfdale Road.
6. The zebra crossing is desperately needed and will make a tremendously positive practical impact on our daily lives. The narrowed carriageway surrounding it will lessen the potential danger there would have been had the zebra been installed without such narrowing. Its situation is appropriate as it is a key desire line for people crossing to Tesco, the hotel and the Cally Road.
7. The cycle lane markings are very welcome indeed.

There are some key critical points that it is vital to raise as part of this consultation. They are:

1. York Way is one short section of the King’s Cross Gyratory. Piecemeal improvements are far from ideal and are likely to result in very poor value for money and be of little benefit to pedestrians, cyclists or motorists. York Way needs to be viewed as part of the whole gyratory system, this is most immediately relevant for (but not limited to) the junction at Euston and Pentonville Roads. Without knowing what is proposed for this junction any comments to proposals are of extremely limited value. The most pertinent example of this is perhaps the speed of traffic moving from Gray’s Inn Road into York Way. This traffic flow dodges the lights with traffic moving at great speed from the two lanes of Gray’s Inn Road into the single lane of York Way attempting to both overtake each other and move forward as lights change from amber to red. Indeed it is common for traffic to move off from Gray’s Inn Road in the few seconds that the lights change from amber to red and after the green man has appeared on the pedestrian crossing.
2. Siting the bus stop closer to the corner of the above junction is problematic. This pavement area is currently over-stressed to the point of being very dangerous indeed. Pedestrians are forced into the road vying for space with taxi drop-offs and pick-ups at the most dangerous point of York Way. Adding the very large numbers of people standing waiting for buses to this melee may prove to be the last straw.
3. The bus stand on the western side should be removed altogether. It is inappropriate for it to be here; it adds an unacceptable level of particulate emissions into the canyon of York Way and increases the sense of being trapped in a very narrow corridor when walking along York Way on either side of the road. There are other places that the bus stand could and should be sited, places that do not have residential housing or large numbers of pedestrians using them to move to and fro work, schools or leisure facilities: Goodsway is one, Pancras Way is another.
4. It maybe worth considering the siting of the zebra crossing. Although it is broadly in the right place, shifting it slightly north to the other side of Caledonia Street maybe preferable. This would avoid pedestrians crossing to reach the hotel or Tesco having to cross two streets rather than one.
5. The cycle lane at the approach to the junction with Wharfdale Road maybe a little precarious. I find cycling at this junction a very frightening experience, so improvements are much needed. However, I’m not sure cycling in the middle of two lanes of traffic would make me feel safer, unless there were a physical barrier such as the excellent cycle lanes that exist along Tavistock and Torrington Places.
6. The consultation does not seem to take into account the myriad different uses of York Way. It is the key route to the local tube, train and main bus stops for pedestrians coming to and fro the north east of the station. It is the key route for business and leisure users of King’s Place including Guardian News Media and Network Rail. It forms part of the King’s Cross Gyratory for the very heavy traffic including a great many heavy goods vehicles and buses. It is a destination in itself for people using the restaurants, bars and other facilities along its length. It is an unavoidable section of the east/west cycle route from The Angel to Marylebone. It is a bus stand and a heavily used bus stop. It is a taxi drop off and pick up point. It is an unavoidable junction for pedestrians walking along the Euston, Gray’s Inn and Pentonville Roads.
7. The consultation does not appear to be evidence based, without openly giving the evidence on which the options are based it is very difficult indeed to comment on their efficacy. Indeed, so much research and consultation has been done on this section of road that it is surprising it hasn’t been referenced. Of particular note here are the TFL commissioned PERS and SCA 07/08 Category A Station Audit of walkability around King’s Cross St Pancras (reference UPR/T/029/08), the LB Islington public space and movement strategy for the King’s Cross area, and the current Department for Transport Manual for Streets and Manual for Streets 2.
8. Finally, the need to remove some of the uses of York Way for pedestrians is paramount. Its intense use is of itself a danger. The local community has campaigned for restoration of the bridge linking Battlebridge Road with Wharfdale Road over the tracks at the rear of King’s Cross Station. Without this bridge, which would remove a great deal of pedestrian stress on York Way by enabling pedestrians to reach the major King’s Cross St Pancras international transport hub without walking the entire length of York Way in either direction, any improvements to York Way are likely to have very limited positive impact at all.

 

UPDATE - 8 Caledonia Street - Change of Use - Restaurant A3 to Bar/Drinking Establishment A4

As one of the objectors to this licensing application, I have just been notified that this application will be approved by the Planning Department under their delagated powers.  Please read the letter that I received from the Council to understand the reasons for their approval.

 Download Council_response_to_application

Recently we've have heard about a new policy that the Council will be using to try to control drinking in the Borough based on "saturation," however it appears that this policy would not come into play regarding this particular situation.  If you wish to comment more about this, please use the comments section below as I know our Councillor Paul Convery would be interested in hearing them and he is a subscriber to our Bulletin Board.

 
The Community Bulletin Board as just received notification of Planning Application P101970 submitted for a change of use for 8 Caledonia Street, currently operating as a restaurant, the Kitchin N1.  The application states: Change of use from A3 (restaurant) to A4 (bar/drinking establishment) on semi-basement floor.

Proposed Hours of Operation for BAR/Anticipated Licensed Hours

                                      Opening         Last Orders      Premises Closes
Sunday - Wednesday        11:00 am       01:30 am          02:00 am
Thursday - Saturday         11:00 am       02:30 am          03:00 am

The Application is currently with the Case Officer David Farndon who can be contacted on 0207 527 2115 or [email protected] for more information.  Comments on this application must be made by 25-Nov-2010 and can be done via email or online, by clicking the link that takes you to the application.

Click here to see the full application

It is not clear why this Application is being filed as we would have assumed that this establishment already has the appropriate planning and licensing documents to serve alcohol, however I believe any change of use to a bar w/o a restaurant would not be in the best interest of our neighbourhood.  The size of this place could easily make it a massive drinking venue, and one must assume the change in use would allow drinking without the need to serve food!

It should be interesting to see how the Council's new "saturation policy" on the number of bars/drinking establishments in a particular area will handle this new application for an area that already has numberous late-night licenses!