Kings Cross Local Environment

Kings Cross Square - sort it out

The front of Kings Cross station is a shabby, embarrassing space that lets the whole area down.

The windy concrete apron is most people's main encounter with Kings Cross. The polluted dismal expanse is haunted by drifts of litter, fag ends, smokers, the odd nutter and huddles of people waiting for things, many of them legal.

The whole place is sterilised by the pending refurbishment of Kings Cross station - nothing will happen to Kings Cross Square until 2013. The authorities seem to be prepared to let it rot in the meantime.  Committed residents like Sean Murray put huge energy into making small improvements which even then get thwarted by the council. Railway stations in third world countries are better than this. 

Responsibility is diffuse - the square is in Camden, the land is mostly owned by Network Rail. TfL has a stake with the tube and the arterial roads and odd bits of infrastructure that pop up. Closure of the East side of the station means that Islington people will have to walk across the square to get to the entrance in Camden.

Camden has been pretty dismissive of Islington resident's concerns throughout the planning process for Kings Cross.  Islington Council has to be consulted as the boundary runs along one side of the square.  The security authorities will have a big say. 

Against this background the odds of the development meeting the needs of residents and transitors is slim. Overall, this has 'car crash' written all over it.

As proof, one only has to look at how badly Network Rail and Camden have been handling an architectural competion to design a new square for 2013. Beset by delay Network Rail and others skirt around the issue whenever it comes up.  I asked Network Rail's normally helpful PR for an update a month or two ago but he didn't return my email. I suspect they are planning a giant statue of Iain Croucher with rivet hammer and a rail and bit like the Kiss in St Pancras, but a touch more Stalinist and made of gold.  The square has a budget of £6 million, whereas Network Rail have overspent by an incompetent £40million on their own platinum plated, mink lined offices in the Eastern Range that bring no benefit to the travelling public.

But whatever cockups are going on with the competition, teams of architects are beavering away on concepts without talking to the community that live next to and use the square.  The whole thing is wrong.   The magnificent backdrop of Cubitt's utilitarian station next to Gilbert Scotts high gothic folly of St Pancras requires the very best.  We could have something as wonderful as I M Pei's pyramid at the Louvre to access the tube.  But a this rate we'll get some decking, a shed and a cast concrete Venus-at-her-toilet fountain.  How can we get some concerted cross border action to shock this project out of the mire? Suggestions welcome in the comments.

Kings Cross square stubbornly scruffy

Sean Muray of Albion Buildings is making small steps to get the shabby square at the front of Kings Cross improved. He has done great job to get bins installed, only to be removed by the council.  Sean writes:

'The stubbornly scruffy part of King's Cross CAN be improved - well almost!

After many, many calls and e-mails this week we have finally got litter bins located next to the bus stops outside the front of King's Cross station. One step in helping to make this stubbornly scruffy part of our community a more pleasant place to pass through. However by Friday October 30th evening the bins had gone! We suspect this is either Network Rail and/or the British Transport police preventing bins to be located here. I am investigating, meanwhile feel free to support the bin campaign by filling in the form on the Camden website [Link updated 2 Nov] and quoting ref 5443854

'I would also welcome any thoughts on how we can encourage Network Rail - who are responsible for most of the paved area in front of the station - to manage better the smoking pollution when you approach the entrance to the tube - it's horrible!

'One final thing: a Taxi office popped up above the KFC at the top of Gray's Inn Rd some months ago. Our main concern is the external flashing amber lights they use to attract business - a real blight on an area desperately trying to regenerate.

'Camden have confirmed the Taxi office are trading from residential premises and have ignored repeated requests to take down the signs. The concern is now going to the planning committee for enforcement. Your support to prevent this blot on the landscape is appreciated by e-mailing the planning office at [email protected] and saying something like -

Patrick, re ref EN09/0535. Can I register my concern at the use of external illuminated and flashing signage at the Gray's Inn Rd Taxi office. Please ensure the planning committee are aware of my concern that planning laws have been disregarded for so long and we expect enforcement action without delay.'

Islington Farmers Market news

Popular pork producer David Wilkinson, of Downland Pork, has been selling his fresh meats (seen here in the live state and very happy looking too!) direct to the Islington populace for many years now. He has recently decided to branch out into a new range of ready meals and cooked products at Islington Farmers Market.

From this weekend onwards, take a look at David's stall to find his great new range. The range will initially be made exclusively from David's pork, but at a later date beef products from the pedigree herd of a nearby farm will also be available. The range includes:

PORK CABBERRATTA.  Our own pork cooked in coconut milk with onion, garlic, raisins, carrots and potatoes with a hint of soy sauce. (this is a hearty meal ideal for those cooler days). 

SWEET AND SOUR PORK. Downlands pork cooked together with green peppers, bamboo shoots, pineapple, soy sauce and a touch of sesame oil. (This is not like the Chinese sweet and sour dish and it is ideal with a serving of rice as a complete meal.) 

PORK IN TOMATO SAUCE. Downlands pork meat balls cooked in a homemade sauce of tomato, mixed herbs and three types of mustard. (This, with pasta, is likely to be a favourite with lovers of Italian cuisine.) 

PENANG CURRY. Downlands pork cooked in coconut milk with lemon grass, coriander and cumin. ( A flavoursome curry without the fierce heat of chilli.) 

Only two of these will be available this weekend but the Penang Curry will be available in time for National Curry week. 

We are certain these new products will be a success. With David at the helm, we know they will be good!

Thankyou to London Farmers Markets for this item.

Halloween Fright Night at Camley Street!!

Kings Cross Halloween event.  If you are looking for something local to do with the kids in Kings Cross on Halloween Alison O'Connor has sent in the following about an event at Camley Street nature park.

Saturday 31 October 5pm – 8pm

• Scary stories
• Spooky arts and crafts
• But dare you walk around the Haunted Woods?

This event is free and you do not need to book, we have lots of indoor activities if it rains.
Don’t forget to come in fancy dress and bring your torch

Hope to see you there!!!

Thornhill Bridge community gardens - your views needed

Lisa Tang has led some great community work to improve the environment where  the Caledonian Road crosses the canal - thornhill Bridge.  The area used to be badly run down and a haunt for anti social behaviour.  Lisa has worked with local volunteers and the council to overhaul the entire area in recent years with some great community gardens and now new ironwork on the bridge.

They now need views from local people on what further improvements are needed to the community gardens - there is an easy to complete form here that you can submit electronically Download Tbcg-Form-Send.

Lisa's message begins:

>Thornhill Bridge Community Gardeners (local community/voluntary group) have completed a collaborative art project with Prospex, an award winning community-based charity working to improve the lives of young people in the Caledonian Road area of North King’s Cross.  All the young people involved in the project were from disadvantaged backgrounds and were struggling with various social issues.

 The main idea of the project was to improve the look of Thornhill Bridge by installing community led public art which reflected the history and natural environment of the area to be made in conjunction with a professional artist and a local youth group, Prospex.

Thornhill Bridge (located on Caledonian Road) is based on the Regents Canal which was built in the early 1800’s and over the years has gone through many changes. 

In the past 20 years the canal environment has changed from a derelict run down locale to being designated as a Nature Conservation Area and a Site of Metropolitan Importance (SMI).  

The project has also achieved additional improvements by: 

• Improving the design of the 1960’s made Thornhill Bridge to reflect the Victorian Heritage of the canal which will tie into the amenity of the Canal Museum nearby
• Improving the aesthetic value of the canal - tourists/leisure users and the local public can appreciate and understand the history and nature of the Regents Canal

For further information contact Lisa Tang [email protected]

Bingfield Park - keeping it a green and pleasant space

Action by residents and the Council has turned Bingfield Park from an urban hellhole to a pleasant green space.  But simple lack of maintenance risks it returning to its former state. In 2002 and for years prior to that the park was regularly home to burned-out cars, stolen scooters, sex worker and drug detritus, the occasional encampment, broken glass, stone throwing children and in particular stolen moped races.  It is hard to overstate how bad the park was.  Resident led action with support from our local councillors led to over £0.5million of mainly S106 money being pumped into a complete redesign and landscaping of the park. 

Bingfield became a pleasant urban green space that people were no longer afraid to use.  But if the council doesn't keep up the maintenance the park quickly slips back into its former state.  If the park is unmaintained and becomes dangerous people won't go there, it becomes unmonitored and a home to lawlessness again.  Cllr Paul Convery has noticed that standards are slipping.  I paste in his email below and some of his photos.  Council Officers are now on the case and have redressed some of the worst points - their reply is below too.  Thanks to Paul for being vigilant.  The big question though is where were the Council's 'Park Rangers' - it's their job to wander the parks, keep and eye on things and get stuff fixed.  The dog poo problem isn't getting any better either.

Paul Convery email to Council officer:

>Parts of Bingfield Park are begining to look distinctly run-down. There is damage and detritus mainly caused by anti social behaviour which, if not corrected, will result in the park sliding towards dereliction. With a small child leading the way (you see the world very differently through a 2 year old's eyes) I walked the eastern perimeter of the park this morning and spotted many serious problems.
 
Please see the attached pictures which illustrate:
 
a) you will know that the wall blocks (I think they are called somethign like "gambions" although that sounds like one of my favourate actors) have been progressively damaged and then temporarily fixed using bits of twisted wire. That's all been undone now leaving holes once more and missing rocks (actually they are strewn around the park). These need to be thoroughly repaired.
 
b) the drainage ditch covers along the entire run of the eastern side of the park are now gone (the last were removed just in the recent days). This exposes a dangerous trench about 25cms deep and about 15 cms wide. Just about perfect dimensions for a small child to slip into and break a leg ... not least because part of the trench is now filled with leaves which give the appearance of being filled/soild. These need to be replaced.
 
c) The fencing adjacent to Crumbles Castle has two leg-up devices attached (a heavy duty motor cycle lock and a U-type bicycle lock). These are used by young men to get over the fence into Crumbles Castle in order to retrieve stashed drugs (when you sit in the Park with a small child, you would be surprised at just how brazen these lads can be). I am addressing this with the local police team but in the meantime, please could your maintenance people attend with heavy cutters and remove these leg-up devices.
 
d) There is a nasty melt-down mess of stuff stuck to the surface of the play pitch where somethign has been burnt. This needs to be scraped-off.
 
FInally, the play pitch and the eastern walkways need to be thoroughly cleaned to remove all manner of detritus. There are shards of broken glass at a density of roughly 8-9 fragments per square metre across the entire surface of the play pitch (much denser close to the eastern edge). There are rocks and stones in many places and there is a great deal of litter. Admitedly the park is cleaned periodically without which there would be a dreadful build-up mainly of cans and bottles. But it needs a much more thorough clean to make safe - especially for sports play on the pitch.

Officer's reply

>We have been experiencing anti-social behaviour issues in Bingfield for some
time now and have been working closely with our Parks Patrol and the
Caledonian SNT [police] to try and deal with the problem. The SNT have been very
supportive and we have carried out a number of joint patrols with the Park
Patrol over the last couple of months. While this focused action has had a
positive effect on the anti social behaviour levels, there are still
problems occurring and we need to continue to address these.

With regards to the specific issues you have raised, below is a summary of
the actions we are taking to ensure that park remains in a good state of
repair:

a) The wire mesh around the gabion wall has now been repaired. We are aware
that the wire mesh is easily cut and we are looking into various long term
solutions to the problem. I will keep you updated on proposed solution and
the time frame for the works.

b) The drainage covers have been removed by people who have used them for
weapons. We are meeting with a specialist drainage cover supplier on
Wednesday to find a suitable replacement that we are able to secure
effectively to ensure that they cannot be removed in the future.

c) The chains and bike locks have been removed from the fencing next to the
Crumbles Castle.

d) We have scrapped off as much of the melted material as possible and I
will have the remaining material removed when we carry out the repairs to
the damaged surface.

e) The park received a thorough clean today and all surfaces were well swept
and any glass and detritus removed. We will continue to keep a close eye on
the site and carry out regular deep cleans as required.

I will keep you both informed on any developments that take place on the
site. I hope I was able to address the points you have raised but if you
have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.

"Planning Alerts" takes on The Royal Mail - but needs our help.

Planning Alerts (www.planningalerts.com) is one of those focused internet services that really fills a great function.  You simply register your post code and they send you an email with information about any Planning Application in your immediate area.  I've been signed on for some time and it allows me to keep abreast of what's going on in my immediate area.

Unfortunately this neat service is now under threat of legal action from the Royal Mail:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7700621.stm

They have circulated a message to their users which states: We are left with the choice of paying the Royal Mail up to £4,000 a year for access to the postcode database and either running a much less accurate and useful service or shutting PlanningAlerts down altogether.

They have requested those who use their service to take one or more of the following actions.  (I have already signed the petition and hope that by circulating this to the readers of the Community Bulletin Board (Emily Thornberry-MP, Paul Convery, Rupert Perry and Lisa Spall - our Councillors, and other local notables), I can ask for your support on this issue as well.

Of course individuals can help as well and I would suggest considering the following:

-- Write to your MP --

Tom Watson MP has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling on the Royal Mail to allow non-profit organisations to use the postcode database for free. Please write to your MP asking them to sign this Early Day Motion (number EDM 2000) and protest at the actions of The Royal Mail.

You can write to your MP here: http://marples.writetothem.com/

-- Sign the petition --

Nearly 1,200 people have so far signed a petition on the Prime Minister's website, please add your name: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/nfppostcodes/

Planning Alerts is a great, and very useful service - check it out - and join yourself.

Local art exhibtion on Kings Cross in transition - 'Remember Me'

Anne Howeson a local artist has done some fascinating work on the huge transition Kings Cross is going thorugh right now.  Her show, 'Remember Me'  is on until Sunday 18th October at the Guardian Kings Place.

Anne sent the following:

'Exhibition of drawings: Remember Me - King’s Cross in Transition - At the Guardian Newspaper Kings Place from 29/09/09 to 18/10/09

For some time, I have been working on a series of drawings which document the neighbourhood of King’s Cross as it goes through transition. I’ve lived off Copenhagen Street, near King’s Cross, for years, often using it as a starting point for work. The dilapidated shop fronts of the Caledonian road were some of the earliest work, and the prostitutes - as seen in Neil Jordan’s film Mona Lisa - who used to stand in Goods Way. I love the mix of communities and cultures.

The drawings I’m making now aren’t so much a representational document, as an attempt to remember the past as it connects with the present and future. Many of the buildings have an untouched charm, evoking the early Victorian Industrial Age. You can almost feel the presence of the literary figures who used to live here: Blake, Dickens, Wollstonecraft and Godwin. However, over the next ten years this sense of the past will merge into 21st century Kings Cross/St Pancras, creating something quite different. As a resident, I feel displaced, but at the same time excited, by the implications of this architectural transformation, and want to record the blending of the old and new worlds as the metamorphosis takes place.'

Bad parking by Vaultex in Kings Cross

Parking is always tricky in Kings Cross and people who live in the area often have to come up with imaginative solutions. Most people who work here use the excellent public transport.

The large Vaultex cash handling facility on the Caledonian Road has its own substantial yard where the armoured cars come and go.  And there is no excuse for allowing its staff to park like this, even if it is within the company curtilage. 

But this isn't the first time that Vaultex has irritated residents.  At the end of last year, Lisa Tang noticed that several big stainless steel planters had appeared on the pavement.  We learned in the comments on that post from Cllr Convery that the Bank of England had designated the cash handling centre as some sort of security priority and the planters were in fact anti vehicle devices.  No one in the area had been told they were living next door to kind of target.

This is a profitable business in a trade that, these days is a bit inconguous in Kings Cross - it would be nice to see Vaultex making some sort of community contribution - perhaps to local environmental initiatives or local childrens charities like CYP and Sparkplug.  Maybe they do, but just keep it quiet.

King's Place Goes Before West Area Planning Committee for Variance

As those of you who follow the reports of the Bulletin Board will remember, King's Place (90 York Way) has filed an application for Variation of condition 6 (hours of operation) pursuant to planning permission P032145 to allow the A3/A4 uses to operate from 08.00 to midnight on any day.  For more background on what this is all about please click here for the orignal posting.

This matter mainly affects those folks who live around Battlebridge Basin and has generated concern and prompted a number of letters of objection due to potential use of the outside space surrounding the complex.  The matter will now be decided at the West Area Planning Sub-Committee due to meet 12 October, so interested parties should plan to attend.  For further information, you can download the Officer's Report, which recommends Approval of this Application, but with Conditions - Download Officers_report_to_West_Area_Planning_Committee

The meeting will take place at 7:30 at the Islington Town Hall on Upper Street on 12 Oct.