Neighbourhood Walkabout with NW2 4th June
This week NorthWestTwo organised a neighbourhood walkabout with local Councillors Matthews and Hashmi, officer(s) from Brent Council Street Care, John Rymer and Vikash Mistry from the Neighbourhood WorkingTeam along with the officers from the Mapesbury ward Safer Neighbourhood Team.
I also made a map - click on Read the rest of this entry
You can get a larger version of that map, and edit it, adding your own points, by going to google maps.
Environment
Many residents spoke about the local environment in a number of different ways. For some the frequency of street cleaning was an issue, highlighting to John Ryman from Brent Council the sporadic nature and poor quality of the work. For others the lack of care and maintenance of front gardens was of concern, particularly hedges that are obstructing the pathways. Some areas of our neighbourhood are blighted by frequent fly tipping of building materials, business waste and house clearances. Residents of Dawson Road a banding together to monitor and report on flytipping using webcams.
These issues need to be reported to Brent Council as they are witnessed. By reporting flytipping, infrequent street cleaning and overflowing waste bins as we see them, Brent Council and our Councillors build up a portfolio of evidence of how services are actually being provided, or not as the case may be. Mobile CCTV was mentioned as a tool to be used in the fight against flytipping and our Councillors and neighbouring wards are clubbing together to invest in such equipment.
Special Projects
Our Councillors have some money to spend on local projects for the neighbourhood. A children’s area is planned for the library with pupils from Mora Primary School involved in the design and planning. What else would you suggest? Perhaps the Councillors/Council could work with Thames Water to open up the green space by St. Michaels Church for public access?
June 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I would be reluctant to see the green space adjacent to the church open for public access unless the Council can ensure that it is maintained and also monitored so that it does not become a place for kids or vagrants to loiter….if it is not owned by the Council there is a danger that this could happen.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Re Thames Water open space, I agree with Mary Langford’s comments about being reluctant to opening this space for public access unless it is monitored by the Council as have seen the problems with the car park and grassed areas of Matalan.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
This area, perhaps with some other of the Thames Water Land could be used for a small number of allotments. Many people living in flats would appreciate the opportunity for this.
Or perhaps an ecology park like the Mapesbury Dell would be possible.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Mapesbury Dell is an excellent example of local community action to reclaim and open up spaces for a neighbourhood. The space is ‘people’s park’ run by Mapesbury Dell Trust in partnership with Brent Parks Service. The vision and the commitment to drive this project came from a handful of people who, in partnership with the residents association, worked for a couple of years on getting the project takeup by Brent Council and others. Funding for the project came from a number of sources: Lottery, donations and matched funding.
View Larger Map
The concern about management is legitimate - we don’t want another muddy bit of ground to attract fly-tipping.
June 11th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Thank you Rob. Most interesting. I have begun a DIRECT ACTION Campaign against MOT’s DIRECT in Wotton Road. This is a BLIGHT on our environment. This company has been dumping rubbish around the perimeter fence affecting all properties from 16 Langon Rd thrgh 26 Langton Rd and all the houses which are opposite Rainbow Park travelling oward Mora Rd Primary. My wish is that MOTs DIRECT are closed down, the building emoished and the Council make a public park in the block bounded by Temple Road, Langton road, Wotton Rd, and Newton Rd.
The company also use SPRAY PAINTING chemicals which are VOCs in direct contravention of 2005 laws.
We have had EPOXY RESIN dumped against our fenceline which has ruined our weekend and made the rear garden unusable during these sunny days. I hope I can get your interest in supporting the community in getting Council to reclassify the use instead of hiding behind a discretionary use permit granted in 1974.The campaign will build over time. Many thanks.
Royce Timms
June 12th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Great turnout for our walkabout. It’s nice to see people do care about Cricklewood and their neighbourhood. Would it be possible to get StreetWatchers started in our area? We are all so fed up seeing the graffiti and fly-tipping . Or, it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye on the hot spots. (Whenever I go by the Cricklewood Library, I always look to see if anyone is fly-tipping, ready to quietly pull over and discreetly write down the plate number of the offending car and description of the person.) We need to take care of our neighbourhood so it doesn’t look like some suburban ghetto! Good idea on using the green space as an allotment as we don’t have one in our area, in close proximity. Could Thames Water be persuaded?
Lastly, residents living around MOT’s Direct have been having problems for the past 5 years or so. Complaints of noise, smells, offensive language with small children in their gardens, cars getting dropped off at 3 am, rubbish getting emptied at midnight etc, you would think the council would sit up and take notice after a few years of this. One by one, either residents stop calling because they firmly believe the council doesn’t care or they just move away. We often wonder how the council has let this company operate this poisonous business so close to our homes and in the middle of a residential neighbourhood. It seems all Environmental Health can do is offer to tell the business to shut their door to prevent the toxic fumes from wafting out to the houses. Are there no links with Planning Enforcement, as they are clearly in violation! One resident complaining of strong paint odor had Env. Health go look at the facilities only to come back and report that there was no paint over there. Was she expecting to find large tins of Dulux Flat emulsion as she walked past the 3 temporary paint tents scattered throughout the facility? (I have been inside that facility and it is wall to wall mini cabs in various states of fender benderness, all waiting to have body work and be spray painted. The place is filled to the rafters with cars needing body work and not an oil change.) It is not healthy to breathe that air that comes from that building - those thinners strip the lining of lungs, not to mention the headaches and nausea. How is it possible to enjoy playing in the garden or having a meal with those fumes pervading the air we breathe? Residents are floundering under the minutiae of paperwork designated by the council to rectify problems, supposedly. Surely after the walk about the council is now aware of our concerns regarding MOT’s Direct. I urge residents to voice their objections. We should not work on training MOT’s Direct to shut a door but to help them leave so they can relocate to an area suitable for their needs.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:26 am
In response to comments about Thames Water land which backs on to the gardens of Ivy Road. I am a resident there and wanted to note that when the gates were opened for CBC Computers ‘car park’ we lost both of our mountain bikes from the garden. I don’t want to put a dampner on this but I am concerned about security for all gardens which back onto this site. On a lighter note however, allotments would be a great idea and I am more than happy to get involved in this if another site can be found.
A few of the residents in Ivy Road are also concerned about the amount of rubbish left in the road after the recycling has been taken away - broken glass etc. We have a collection tomorrow morning which I will monitor and feedback on. Does anyone else have the same problem?
June 18th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I’m in agreement with Rosie in that my garden backs on to the plot of land owned by Thames Water. Firstly there is the issue of security and how if there is access to this land they will be a greater likelihood of other unwanted people obtaining an easy route to the gardens and therefore the backs of the houses.
Secondly I currently do not have a fence other than a railing at the back of the garden as there is no-one to look in. I and my other neighbours would have to reassess this from a privacy and security issue and put up more fencing where currently there is none.
I have made a complaint to the council today on the state of the roads after the recycling collection has been made and am awaiting to hear back from them.
The level of complaints about bins and rubbish on the roads has a direct impact on the Service Level Agreements which the council has with the private company who have won this contract. The more complaints the better as this will force them to clean up their act!
June 19th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Hello Again,
I have noticed also that the streets are in much worse condition AFTER the rubbish has been collected. Its as if the bin men just want to litter rather than collect. No ‘duty of care’ again.
SACK the CONTRACTOR!! Retrain the binmen. Do it right for once.
Royce Timms