Kings Cross Local Environment

Does this shop support the re-generation of King's Cross?

Local residents MUST have some voice in the stores that open in their neighbourhood.  In most situations they do by either supporting them, or shunning them.  Life around King's Cross Station however, becomes a bit more complicated as in some situations those who support a particular shop, may be transient to the neighbourhood and thus not care about the overall implications of a shop's presence.  The shop at 2 York Way illustrates the dilemma for local residents.

The following has been submitted by one of our local residents:

To re-cap: The unit at 2 York Way is trading as a take-away although it does *not* have take-away usage. We have also witnessed after 23:00 trading which is not permitted. We believe the signage installed is inappropriate for a regeneration and conservation area and although we have ensured the light box sign remains switched off, it is still in place.

Ultimately, this should be the responsibility of La Salle who own Regent Quarter ie: to ensure the tenant mix reflects a high quality development.

In the meantime, the case officer who is handing the planning application to 'regularise' the unit as take-away is [email protected].

Refusal of planning permission to a take-away is a possibility providing respondents to the Council's formal consultation make their objections.

If you feel the last thing we need is another late night take-away then please mail your concerns to David.

My concern will be: The improvement of the immediate area is vital to change perceptions and continue to attract investment. Adding a take-away food unit next to another take-away (McDonalds) and a sex shop is not a good planning mix. (The McDonalds, a kebab shop and sex shop are the first things visitors to Islington see ad they exit King's Cross).

Sean M.
Regent's Quarter Resident

As another local resident and campaigner for the further regeneration I agree with Sean's assessment.  I believe that local residents MUST make their views known to the Council's Planning Committee who will eventually have to decide whether this Change of Use is suitable.

The specific change of use they are requesting is as follows according to their application:

Change of use to hot food take-away (A5) use class installation of new shopfront and extract ducting. This application may affect the character and appearance of the conservation area. Town and Country Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (as amended); Section 73.

I feel that we already have sufficient fast-food establsihments in the area.  But there is more to be concerned about.  This place seems to be for sale.  So do they really need this to maintain their business or are they just looking to speculate and sell on!

So if you wish to have your say please send an email to the Planning Officer [email protected] prior to 3 June when the Consultation Period ends.  Reference Planning Application P100224.  In you email please consider the following:

a) Illuminated signs are not in keeping with the character of the building or the adjoining frontages on York Way and will have an adverse impact on the adjacent conservation area.

b) Any changes in Class of Usage, (to takeaway hot foods) will result in high incidence of litter, detritus and encourage people to eat foods in open space, outside doorways of residential accommodation on York Way thereby reducing the amenity of local residents; and will diminish the quality of public realm on York Way and by creating a poor quality of environment adjacent to the Regent’s Quarter and in the vicinity of Kings Cross station and the proposed station square.

c) The proposed hours of operation will cause disturbance late at night to nearby residential neighbours from arrival and departure of customers.

d) Inadequate venting of food cooking, particularly fried and grilled meats will cause nuisance and loss of amenity.

If you wish to comment to this Planning Application using the Council's online facility, just go to this link: click here.  Please note if you simply wish to comment about this posting use the link below entitiled Comments.

I hop you will comment to the Council as without the support of local residents, nothing will improve in our neighbourhood.

Caledonian Ward Safer Neighbourhood's Policing Panel - Upcoming Meeting 27 May at King's Place

Local crime is one of the most discussed issues facing the local community.  So, if you have something to say on this matter, the local Safer Neighbourhood's Team are the folks that should hear about it and the Safer Neighbourhood's Panel is the meeting you want to attend to express your concerns.

Approximately every eight weeks, the Panel meets with members of the local community to discuss priorities for the Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team to target. Members of the Team are present and attendance is made up of those local residents who have had or see potential problems in their local areas as well as residents who attend on a regular basis to hear what the Team is doing to make our area safer.

The Chairman of our Panel has been Councillor Paul Convery, however with recent changes to the Council, Paul has taken on a larger role in community affairs and has decided to resign.  Paul has explained his reasons in a letter to the Panel's current mailing list which you can download (Download Letter_from_Paul_Convery).  Paul has recommended another well-know local resident to succeed him - Lisa Tang.

If you've been frustrated when trying to deal with the Met, this is a good way to meet your local police - the police on our beat, rather then speaking to someone in a call centre in the Midlands.  The Team needs local feedback to focus action on where WE feel it's needed, so this is a real way to get involved in making our neighbourhood safer.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday, 27 May from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at in the Wenlock Room of King's Place, the new office/concert hall venue on York Way at the intersection with Good's Way.

The meeting room as well as tea, coffee and biscuits has been donated by King's Place as part of their ongoing efforts to build stronger ties with the local community.  For those of you who have never visited the building this is a great opportunity to take a look inside and attend an important local meeting.  Download map and directions: 

For more information about what takes place at these meeting you can download the Minutes of the last meeting: Download SNP minutes March

Your attendance is encouraged.  And, if you wish to be added to the mailing list for future meetings, please send an email to the Panel's Secretary.

For forward planning, please know that future meetings will be held on: 22 Jul, 9 Sep, and 11 Nov.

Tree Guardians

The following was forwarded to the Community Bulletin Board by Lisa Tang one of our local residents very involved with our local natural environment.

Islington Council through the Tree Service & Tree Preservation services are looking to develop a Tree Guardian scheme. This scheme is still in the consultation & development stage and we recently invited some of the interested parties along to give feed back on possible projects The Council have identified and we wanted to hear what projects the possible Tree Guardians would like to pursue. The projects discussed were as follows:

Notable Trees of Islington: this is a possible project that we would run in conjunction with the Woodland Trusts Ancient Tree Hunt. The aim of the project would be to record and photograph as many notable/veteran trees within Islington. We have been given some specifications from the Woodland Trust and have produced a list of over 500 council managed trees that could be investigated further. There are a number of private owned trees that currently have Tree Preservation Orders TPOs that we would like to be recorded along with this info. However, there are also privately owned trees that we may not be aware of. We would like the Tree Guardians to record as many of these trees as possible from the data we have as well as what we don’t have.

Dog Damage: Islington as with many other London Boroughs have seen a dramatic increase of damage to trees as a result of dog damage. We would like help in monitoring where and how regularly this damage is occurring within your local area. We have also installed protective measures to help reduce further damage, and again we would like to know how successful these methods have been.

Education & Tree Guardian Awareness: as this scheme is still in its infancy, we believe that it is necessary to develop awareness of that the group is doing and to encourage its membership to grow. One option would be for there to be an education programme to be established to engage local schools and any other educational groups within Islington; we would also like to encourage other promotional activities that could increase the awareness and membership of the scheme. This could include posters in housing estate, libraries, etc to new paper and radio ads.

Young Tree Maintenance: the first 3-5 years of a newly planted tree are the hardest, we would like help in monitoring the condition of the trees and for the Tree Guardians to help with reporting damage to the trees, guards and stakes and if possible watering and weeding their local trees

The ideas put forward during the meeting were as follows:

Tree Guardians to attached ribbons to trees with contact details for the Tree Service and advertise the Tree Guardian Scheme.

The Tree Guardians to promote fruit tree planting within the borough and the use of this fruit.

Install signs

*           Tree shaped signs advertising the benefits of trees
*           Tree tags with the name, species and other interesting details

Contact number for reporting damage; we will try and make the text number more available.

And questions were raised about Management.

How are we going to manage the work loads to the tree guardians?

Possibly with groups working within specific wards within the borough or by identify the relevant trees that would be of interest within a regularly used walking route.

Training was also raised; we would also provide a level of training depending on the activities that the Tree Guardians were interested in.

And finally the provision of child care was also raised; we will consider this issue seriously by looking at the possibilities, and whether or not the provision would be of benefit to suitable proportion of Tree Guardians.

The next step is for us to get suitable approval to fund some of these activities. If you have any further views or comments on what has been previously discussed, can you please return your comment to me before the 28th of May.

It was also raised that some of the Tree Guardians would prefer the text number for future messages. It is as follows: 80800; start your message with Greenspace, Trees and then type your message.

I will contact you shortly with details on the launch of the Tree Guardian Scheme.

Kindest regards

Grayham Tindal
Urban Forester
Greenspace, Public Realm
Environment & Regeneration Division

222 Upper Street
London
N1 1XR
Tel: 020 7527 2000

Alternatively, contact James Chambers - 020 7527 2000

Please feel free to complete the Tree Service customer satisfaction survey by clicking on the below link.

http://snaponline.snapsurveys.com/surveylogin.asp?k=125960390459

Islington Tree Service - Overall Winners of the London Tree and Woodland Award 'Excellence in Tree and Woodland work by a public body'.

Islington - Winners of the 'Gold' and 'Overall Best Entry' awards in London in Bloom 2009 and Silver-gilt in Britain in Bloom 2009. For a full list of awards received visit: http://www.islington.gov.uk/environment/outdoor/parks/in_bloom

News from Islington Police

 
Game Over: Islington Unite against Domestic Violence

This year is the first year of Islington Council and Arsenal in the Community's "Game Over: Islington United against Domestic Violence" campaign.

Partners including Islington Police will be taking part in this fun and worthy cause. Sign up and join Arsenal in the Community and Islington residents for a five-a-side football tournament to unite against domestic violence in Islington.

Kick off is 5pm on Friday 4 June, at Rosemary Gardens, N1.

Sign up deadline is 30 May, but  places are limited, so sign up as soon as you can. Team members must be over 18.

Friends and family are welcome to come along and watch, and we will have stalls and activities going on as well as the football!

Domestic Violence in Islington - We need your help

Last year there were 3,777 domestic violence reports made to the police in Islington. Research into domestic violence during the last World Cup showed an increase in violence of over 30 percent for some games. We hope our Game Over: Islington United campaign will help to tackle this problem, but we need friends and family of people committing domestic violence to report it. Domestic violence isn't a relationship; it can start with isolation and intimidation but can end up with GBH, assault, rape and sometimes murder.

We need you to report it just as you would any of those crimes.

If you have any concerns please contact the National Domestic Violence help line on 0808 200 0247.  If you are a perpetrator of domestic violence, you can get help by contacting the RESPECT helpline on 0845 122 8609.

To sign up, or to find out more information about domestic violence services in Islington go to www.islington.gov.uk/united.

For more information about Islington Police go to www.met.police.uk/islington. If you wish to receive Islington Police news alerts please email [email protected].

KX Station zero hour

Unveiled just an hour ago by newly appointed Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond, Platform Zero is a key milestone in the transformation of our local station, but its impact may not be so positive for the local area unless Network Rail is persuaded to take the needs of the community into account. (Pictured left Ian Fry Network Rail's (NR) Project Director, Robin Gisby Director of Operations & Customer Services at NR, Transport Minister Philip Hammond and representatives of East Coast Mainline. Photo by Tobias Newland)

As the longest platform at KX Station, Platform Zero increases capacity preparing it for a future where rail is to be a crucial strand in sustainable transport policy. Alastair Metcalfe, responsible for community liaison at the Station praised the teamwork that went into preparing the platform for today's successful launch.

Also present were our local representatives Jennette Arnold - newly elected Deputy Chair of the Greater London Assembly - and Cllr Paul Convery responsible for regeneration, planning and leisure at Islington Council. Both have been highly supportive of community calls for a more accessible environment in and around the station.

Interestingly local groups including this website were not invited to the event, apparently because there would not have been enough room for us. Strange given that today is likely to be the emptiest the platform will be for a long time. Two community activists did manage to attend and congratulated Ian Fry personally on achieving what is a major step forward for our vital strategic transport hub. Ian hopes to unveil the first section of the refurbished station roof in August, fans of KX Station are particularly looking forward to seeing light stream through turning our rather dark station interior into a warm and welcoming place.

There was something missing this morning. I wonder what it could have been? I walked from Wharfdale Road to Platform Zero - a mere couple of metres away, yet I had to walk down what is now an uninterrupted brick wall running the entire length of the station along York Way, the boundary between Camden and Islington boroughs, and double back on myself to walk the entire length of the station again to get to the end of the platform. The loss of the York Way entrance to the rear eastern side of the station is a price worth paying to ensure the future best management of what has always been an overcrowded amenity. This would have been totally balanced by replacement of the old Battlebridge Road, the call for a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge at the back of the station is still being ignored by those with the power and funds to build it. The picture on the right shows where the bridge used to join York Way; a bridge whose feasibility has been proven time and again: a simple way of holding our community together, improving permeability across the station, encouraging use of local walking routes and completing a cycle route from the Angel to Marylebone completely avoiding the infamous A501 ring road.

An engineering project waiting to happen and a new London destination attraction - just think what this bridge could look like and how it could be a hugely positive addition to both the station and its local community.

 

 

Is this right?

Got a strange email reading: New platform at King’s Cross station opened tomorrow by Philip Hammond Secretary of State for Transport at 10.30

Is this true?

Dispersal Zone introduced in Edward Square

In response to concern from the local community about large groups of young people congregating, causing criminal damage and being threatening to passers-by, Islington Anti Social Behaviour Team have introduced a three-month dispersal zone in Edward Square, N1 and  surrounding area including the south part of Caledonian Road.

A Dispersal Order gives police the power to move on groups of two or more youths in an area, who are involved in or are likely to become involved in crime or anti-social behaviour. Those who fail to comply with a police request to move on, in the area known as a dispersal zone, can be arrested.

The Dispersal zone will start on Monday, 17 May 2010 and will remain in place until 17 August 2010. Barnsbury and Caledonian Safer Neighbourhoods Teams, the South Islington Problem Solving Team and the Safer Neighbourhoods Taskforce will be enforcing the order with increased patrols in the evenings.

To provide long-term solutions to this issue, Islington Council including Young Peoples Service will be working together to provide outreach support and landscape changes in order to engage the young people.

Graham Burke, Islington Anti Social Behaviour Team said:” The dispersal zone is aimed at breaking up large groups of young people who seem intent on causing trouble. This will not only protect local residents and traders from the noise, nuisance and threatening behaviour they have been suffering but will allow police to deal with individuals more effectively"

The Community Bulletin Board would like to hear your views on this matter - especially from local residents in the affected areas.  Please post your comments...

Lisa – ‘A Meteor with Attitude’

Folk opera is a feast of song

The dynamic Lisa Pontecorvo is described as ‘a meteor with attitude’ in the song opening ‘Lisa – a folk opera’, to be presented in Edward Square N1 at 4pm on Tuesday 8th June, and in the Assembly Room, Islington Town Hall, at 7pm on Tuesday June 15th. 

Cezanne Tegelberg will sing and act the role of Lisa.  Rob Inglis, artistic director of Musical Flying Squad has set words to  tunes from Scotland (where Lisa was born),  Italy (from where the Pontecorvos hailed) and Switzerland (from where her mother came and Lisa enjoyed the family chalet). Lisa’s untimely death, crushed with her bicycle in Holloway Road is mourned in ‘Webside Tidings’ set to an eighteenth century arrangement of London street cries, and her achievements are celebrated in ‘As a Campaigner’ based on John Bunyan’s lyric ‘To Be a Pilgrim’.

The battle to save and enhance Edward Square for which Lisa is remembered, starts with ‘All our Green Spaces’ set to an Irish tune sung by Islington actress Cathy McMannaman portraying Sadie who alerted her community that the square was under threat of ‘development’.. The fight is taken up by Lisa in ‘Maybe it’s not the Leafy Side of Barnsbury’ and in ‘Petitions, Petitions’ backed by 150 students from Copenhagen and Blessed Sacrament Schools, who also sing ‘Edward Square – Hub o’ the World’. Sympathetic council leader Derek is portrayed by actor Kai Simmons in ‘Siege’, describing the disturbance caused by successive cross channel rail plans and contrasting this with the ‘wild and wise’ campaign for Edward Square.  Caroline Granneu as Johanna Gibbons, landscape architect, sings ‘Consultation’ about incorporating community ideas into the planning of Edward Square.

Islington actor Clive Greenwood is Lisa’s brilliant geneticist father Guido.  Laura Amy Meakin of Thornhill Square where Lisa lived, plays Lisa’s mother Leonore, and doubles as Jeannie, a conservationist who with Lisa and others campaigns successfully for the preservation of Victorian factories and dwellings in the  Regent’s Quarter, retaining its distinctive character and charm. As well as Sadie, Cathy McManaman plays a cameo role as Anna, Lisa’s aunt.

Music will be played by two violinists and a cellist from The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment who knew Lisa from their work in schools which Lisa encouraged, and by three singing ukulele players – Luke Guilford, Kate Ward (who also plays Lisa’s friend Ruth) and Caroline Granneau.

The production is supported by Friends of Edward Square and funded by Cripplegate Foundation. For information: Rob Inglis 020 7387 4942 or artsxchange@btinternbet,com

An Alternative Cycle Route

The Bulletin Board received the following message from Del Brenner of the Regents Network via Lisa Tang of Friends of Regent's Canal.

Camden is conducting a study to look at an alternative cycle route to the Regent’s Canal towpath to improve conditions for walkers on the towpath and a better route for cycling.  A very welcome idea, and it could have a good spin-off for the towpath in Islington if a trend is set for cyclists to be given alternative routes instead of being involved in all the conflict on the towpath.
 
It would also mean that the controversial ramp to the towpath at Danbury Street need not be rebuilt to suit cyclists if they can be diverted to an alternative route along Noel Road, for instance.
 
If you think it would be suitable you could circulate this to the Friends of Regents Canal.  A number are involved across the border into Camden and may want to respond, and others might find it a good example to think about for the stretch of Regents Canal in Islington.
 
Regards, 

Del Brenner
Regents Network and
a member of the London Waterways Commission
 
Tel: 020 7267 7104
[email protected]

Download the map showing the alternative routes: Download Green CRISP Alternative Routes

Download the questionaire here: Download Green CRISP Questionnaire and email it to: [email protected] when completed.

Brian Deegan
Project Development Manager
Public Realm and Sustainability
Culture and Environment
London Borough of Camden

Telephone:   020 7974 8710

WANTED... Have you seen this person?

Continuing the Bulletin Board's commitment to support our local police, we will periodically be publishing appeals for help from local residents.

Have you seen the person pictured.  Officers from the Islington Wanted Offenders Unit are appealing for information from the public to trace a man wanted for breach of his prison licence.

David Kelly is a white male aged 26 years (Dob 27/04/84).

The Probation Service has revoked his licence as he is alleged to have been involved in further offences.

Members of the public are advised not to approach him.

 If he is seen please call Detective Sergeant Chris Collinson on 020 7421 0157. If you wish to remain anonymous you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. In an emergency dial 999.