Kings Cross Local Environment

Thornhill Bridge Community Gardens drunks, dogs etc

Lisa and the Thornhill Bridge Community Gardens [corrected 5/10/10] volunteers have worked so hard over the years to make these lovely gardens alongside the canal next to Caledonian Road. 

But increasingly the childrens garden is colonised by drunks, six of them today and related dogs .  I am sure they are nice doggies - a rotweiler, a husky and a staff - but their owners don't inspire confidence when taking the kids to play.  Park Patrol was summoned i understand.

It's really tough to design somewhere like this and keep it amenable to parents with children - Bingfield Park has a lot of crime designed out, but is a bit sterile with few places to sit and little cover.

Kings Cross sex shop closed down by council and faces £34,000 bill

Good to see the council taking some enforcement action and tackling the long standing unlicensed Pirate Books at 4 York Way.  The shop was an eyesore for people arriving in Kings Cross and redolent of the Kings Cross of the 1980-90s. 

On the Cally Road resident led action led to the licensed Soho Books sex shop having an attractive shop front - for some time the best on that stretch of road.  So its good to see this one being sorted out by the council.  Also on that bit of the Cally the Paradise Island brothel is now an estate agent, though it's debatable how much progress that represents...

Paul Convery reports over on the Cally Councillors blog:

'Islington Council has successfully prosecuted the owners and operators of an unlicensed sex shop at Kings Cross. Today, September 29th, Highbury Magistrates ordered fines and costs totalling £35,360.

Cally Councillors have welcomed the prosecution of “Pirate Bookshop” at 4 York Way.

The defendants were Maria O’Sullivan and her company Ballaction London Ltd. The company was fined £17,500 plus £2,830 costs and £15 victim support surcharge.

Mrs O’Sullivan is the sole director of the company and was personally fined £15,000 plus £15 victim support surcharge. The case was brought under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.

Maria O’Sullivan is the mother of snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan. She has attempted to run several sex-related businesses in north London over recent years and was jailed for a year in 1996 for tax evasion.

Caledonian Ward Councillor Paul Convery said “I am very pleased that the Council’s case has been successful. For nearly 5 years, we have repeatedly called for legal action against unlicensed sex shops in Kings Cross. The first step in ridding the area of its vice reputation is to get rid of every vice-related business, particularly the ones that refuse to be licensed by the local authority. Our policy is simple – zero tolerance against all types of sleazy and illegal sex related activities.”

Street works in Islington 2009 - 13,000 sets of works 81,000 days ?

The Council has sent me a spreadsheet of street works in Islington in 2009 in response to an FOI request.  There are over 13,000 entries or about 50 every working day. Street works encompasses a range of activites - not all is digging up the road, but a fair bit is. Such works are mainly about the utility companies' and the council's own works to repair or improve the road. You can find out more about street works here.  They are mainly 'excavation works' but many are 'non excavation works', 'pavement works', 'works for road purposes', manhole replacements etc.

Analysis of the data is tentative at this stage.  The data set is so large I had to ask our neighbours at the Guardian for help - I am most grateful to Simon Rogers for his help.  Neither of us are experts on street works terminology.  But I thought it best to share the working so far and see if anyone can help correct it.  There are no doubt some street works anoraks out there who can help make sense of this - please drop me a line or comment below.

Taking the council data at face value, the grand totals are 13,000 individual sets of street works going on between them for 81,000 days.   Some 2,500 works are recorded as 'abandoned' - it isn't clear what this means.

People go on about road works a fair bit and as a cyclist I have frequently been endangered by them.  But it is salutary to see these large numbers spelled out in black and white.

Here's the top 20 roads for number of street works for the 2009 calendar year.  Inevitably the longest, busiest roads and those in commercial areas score highly.

HOLLOWAY ROAD		531
CALEDONIAN ROAD		337
SEVEN SISTERS ROAD		280
HORNSEY ROAD		231
ST JOHN STREET		213
CITY ROAD		207
GOSWELL ROAD		199
BLACKSTOCK ROAD		162
LIVERPOOL ROAD		162
PENTONVILLE ROAD		150
ESSEX ROAD		139
FARRINGDON ROAD		133
STROUD GREEN ROAD		132
ROSEBERY AVENUE		126
DRAYTON PARK		116
JUNCTION ROAD		108
ST PAUL'S ROAD		105
OFFORD ROAD		98
HIGHBURY NEW PARK		96
TUFNELL PARK ROAD		96

And here is a list of the roads with the highest number of street work days, you can see some local Kings Cross roads top the list.  The higher numbers tend to arise where several sets of works are recorded as in place for a whole year. There are quite a few instances of works finishing before they have begun - these have been omitted, possibly a data entry error or an early start.

OFFORD ROAD	1832
CALEDONIAN ROAD	1487
GOSWELL ROAD	1364
CITY ROAD	1304
ST JOHN STREET	1251
HOLLOWAY ROAD	1129
GROSVENOR AVENUE	1127
BARING STREET	1087
NORTH ROAD	1073
AMWELL STREET	994
YORK WAY	931
OFFORD STREET	900
HIGHGATE HILL	892
SEVEN SISTERS ROAD	834
ROSEBERY AVENUE	800
SIX ACRES ESTATE	784
HIGHBURY NEW PARK	769
ESSEX ROAD	732
STOCK ORCHARD CRESCENT	690

 

Choudury Mansions, Pembroke Street - old Marquis of Salisbury pub

There is a revolting mess of rubbish in the bin yard of Choudury Mansions on Pembroke Street which I am reporting to the council as a health hazard.  I then found out from this Islington Tribune article and discussion with Cllr Convery that this ugly building is scheduled for demolition in a rare example of planning enforcement action by Islington Council.

Choudhury Mansions at 70 Pembroke street, is on the site of the old Marquis of Salisbury pub - (used to be at 64 Freeling Street on the old grid pattern).  The old pub was an isolated survivor of the slum clearances, hard by  the Bemerton Estate and it was a shame to see it replaced by such an ugly oversized building crammed into the space. But it turns out that the developer was in breach of his planning permission.  According to the Tribune, the planning inspector said:

“The overall difference is so marked that I am in no doubt that what has been built is not the approved building.”

So the council is embroiled in a long process while the devleoper tries to wriggle through loop holes.  The latest papers are online.  It's nice to see some firm action being taken against am awful building - let's hope a more apropriate community use can be found for the site or it can be adapted to improve the gateway to the Bemerton Estate.

Floating garden on Regents Canal breaks mooring

This island garden and nesting area for birds broke its mooring and formed an odd barrier across the canal this weekend.

 

Copenhagen Street road closure over-running - will contractors be fined?

Copenhagen Street is closed at the junction with York Way - on the one hand this makes a hectic road calmer but causes inconvenience.  The works by BAM Nuttall for Argent and the Kings Cross railway lands development were due to be complete by 23rd September, but the barricade now says vaguely 'Early October'.  This is pretty poor. 

Why not ring Jonathan Barnes of Nuttall on 0207 014 9409 and ask him when it's due to finish, or the Argent construction help line 0800 328 8840.  While you have the on the phone make sure they promise to reinstate the Zebra until the traffic lights are operational.  Can contractors be fined for over-running major highway works like this?

 

Sewage problem, Carnoustie Drive

There was an unpleasant sewage problem on Carnoustie Drive on Sunday morning.  This manhole cover is overflowing with smelly drain water which flows around the corner onto Bingfield Street and then into a drain near the junction with Caledonian Road.  I rang Thames Water but they rang back to say that they had already been out and the drain belonged to the council (hence the rather obvious labelling) they would tell Islington to send an engineer.  So I rang Contact Islington and waited for the out of hours contact centre number, which eventually rang out without being answered or me being asked to leave a message.  Guess somone will sort it out on Monday.  I wonder how much the Council pays for the out of hours service? was a bit surprised i couldn't leave a message.

Another Kings Cross street closure - Caledonia Street 25 Sept- 2Oct

This closure for water main works from 25 September to 2 October or completion, whichever is the sooner.  This will mean a lot more taxis down Wharfdale Road.

These streets aren't made for walking...

The seemingly unending saga of the complete and utter mess that is the King's Cross gyratory continues. Following on from Ian Macpherson's excellent letter in our local paper, journalist Peter Gruner followed up last week with the article above (click the image for the full piece). The word from Living Streets, producer of the excellent report into walkability here, is that Camden and Islington - our two boroughs - need to use their new joined-up cross-borough working arrangements to make a real, practical difference to KX.

The out of date and frankly dangerous KX gyratory system

Watch this space, we'll continue to press for the complete removal of the KX gyratory to improve this area for all road users - yes it'd even be better for the thousands of  cars, buses and heavy goods vehicles that pass through each day.

How to Get My Voice Heard in Planning?

The following meeting was brought to the attend of the Bulletin Board by Diana Shelley and looks to be and interesting session.

Planning affects us all.  This Event aims to inform you of :
·        How the Planning Process Works & the Duty to Consult; and
·        Judicial Review and When Can You Use it
There will also be Q & A sessions after each presentation, your chance to ask questions of the barristers and solicitor.

Speakers :

Keynote Speaker – Cllr Antonia Mallett, Cabinet Member for Planning & Regeneration, Haringey Council

Kevin Leigh & Philip Williams – Barristers, No 5 Chambers

Gareth Mitchell – Solicitor, Pierce Glynne Solicitors

THIS IS A FREE NON-POLITICAL EVENT !!!

Date:  Wednesday 29 September 2010

Time:  7.00 pm – 9.00 pm

Venue: St Marks Church Hall, Ashley Crescent, London N22 6LJ

Contact: Peter Wiggins  020 7404 1030 or [email protected]

* Places are limited and are on a first come, first served basis, so please register early.

This event is part of ELF’s sustainable communities’ project to aid public participation in planning. If you have an environmental concern and would like an event or workshop to help your group, please let us know.

Supported by Noel Park Conservation Area Advisory Committee & Haringey Federation of Residents Associations

This event is brought to you by the Sustainable Communities Project funded by the Communities & Local Government through the Empowerment Fund and the Equality & Human Rights Commission