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Simon Hughes MP joins Jill and Matt to celebrate a decade of Liberal Democrat councillors in Haverstock.
Jill Fraser has clocked up an incredible ten years serving local people as Haverstock’s Liberal Democrat councillor.
Local residents first elected Jill in a sensational by-election in 2003. Back then Haverstock was solid Labour territory but, once people saw the difference a hardworking Liberal Democrat councillor can make, they elected two more of us!
Working with Jill has been a real honour. You would be hard pressed to find a local councillor who has a better understanding of the patch and people she represents. Jill is someone who sticks to what she thinks is right, never takes no for an answer, and always remembers whose side she is on. It is these principles that have led us to some terrific wins for local people over the years – from saving Bassett Street Garden; putting Steele’s Village on the map; securing proper investment for local homes after years of neglect by Labour; and, of course, Jill’s constant crusade to secure the future of Queen’s Crescent.
Last night we hosted a big party in Steele’s Village to celebrate Jill’s achievements, and were delighted that Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Simon Hughes MP was able to join us. But the real testament to Jill’s work was probably the large number of local residents, many of them not political, who also came along because they wanted to thank Jill for her decade of service.
So, big thanks to everyone who joined us, and here’s to the next ten years!
The Neighbourhood Forum is developing grand plans for Kentish Town, including this suggestion for a Kentish Town Square
As anyone who has found themselves fighting unpopular development plans will tell you, too often the planning system feels remote and out of touch with local communities.
This is particularly true in an inner city London borough like Camden, where we will always have large amounts of development, often radical and high profile.
The coalition government’s new approach to planning aims to give residents and communities more of a say in the decisions that effect their lives, by introducing Neighbourhood Planning Forums. These allow residents to come together to define an area and draw up a Neighbourhood Plan. Planning applications in the area are then assessed against the Neighbourhood Plan as well as the council’s planning policies.
We have a number of groups coming together in Camden to draw up Neighbourhood Plans, including the Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum which is currently considering where to set it’s boundaries. Some have suggested that West Kentish Town, the area in Haverstock bordered by Prince of Wales Road, Malden Road and Queen’s Crescent, should be included. But we need to know what local people think before setting the boundary.
Caroline Hill, Chair of the Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum, has written about this issue on the excellent Kentishtowner blog. If you live in West Kentish Town, you can read her contribution and have your say here, or drop me a line.
Haverstock's local Liberal Democrat councillors Rahel Bokth, Jill Fraser and Matt Sanders at Queen's Crescent
A big thank you to everyone who has read this blog over the last year. I’ve been looking over our stats and am pleased to say we’ve had heaps more people reading this year than last – and using the blog to get in touch or comment on local issues.
We set this blog up to make it easy for residents to see what their local councillors are up to, and to be a community resource for local news and views. Hopefully you’ve found our posts useful – but we’re always keen to hear feedback so do get in touch if there’s anything you’d like to see more/less of, or that we can do better.
Meanwhile, (drum roll please), here’s our top 5 most read stories of 2011:
(1) Major police operation in Queen’s Crescent – police flocking onto the Crescent back in July prompted lots of debate in the community about the tactics they used and wider crime issues.
(2) Camden comes together after riots - there was huge distress and a hunger for updates and information after Chalk Farm Road found itself at the centre of riots in Camden.
(3) More than a Pizza Express – the campaign to save the old North London Polytechnic assembly hall brought together residents from across Kentish Town. We learnt we had been successful just before the Christmas break.
(4) Voting to save Camden’s libraries – Labour’s threats to the borough’s libraries has been a long running political battle this year, with lots of public support for the Liberal Democrat motion to reject closures. Queen’s Crescent Library may have been saved, but not all libraries are yet in the clear.
(5) How Chalk Farm survived the riots – after the immediate shock, lots of people tried to make sense and draw lessons from the riots. I penned a piece for the Spectator website reflecting the experience in Chalk Farm.
Schools and children’s services look set to be hardest hit by the strike action tomorrow, while many other services in Camden will remain open or partically open.
In Haverstock the notable exceptions are Talacre Sports Centre and Queen’s Crescent Library, which both look likely to remain closed for the day.
I’ve reproduced the council’s full summary below, but it’s worth keeping an eye on Camden’s website for further updates. For more information on the background to the strikes and the government’s most recent offer on pensions, the Guardian has a pretty balanced report, here.
Children, schools and families services
- Schools – most schools in Camden will be closed. Parents will have been informed by their child’s school.
- Integrated early years– parents will have been informed by their Children’s Centres. Most will be closed.
- Family services and social work– we will deal with cases on an emergency priority basis.
- Integrated youth support service–YOS Highbury court and essential services will be open.
- Children, schools and families customer service and complaints– will offer a reduced but open service.
- Welfare, inclusion and support in education– will offer a reduced but open service.
- Children’s social work and QA – an emergency service will operate.
Housing and adult social care services
Most of our housing and adult social care services are expected to remain open or partially open, including some of our frontline adult social care services. We are not expecting any of these services to fully close.
Please see a summary below, which will be updated on Wednesday morning:
- Assessment and care management service (this team assesses people’s social care needs and arranges services accordingly) – will be open.
- Careline telecare (our 24 hour telephone support service for vulnerable people) – will be running
- Temporary accommodation (hostels) – will be open
- Residential care homes – will be open
- Supported living services (support services provided to vulnerable tenants) – will be open
- Housing repairs and improvements – will be partially open. We are rescheduling planned work so that we will be able to respond to emergencies and urgent repairs
- Passenger and accessible transport service – is expected to run as usual but will be assessed on Wednesday.
Culture and environment services
- Libraries– we expect to open Swiss Cottage, Holborn and St Pancras libraries, however activities planned for 30 November will not be taking place. All library activities and services will run as usual from Thursday 1 December 2011.
- Camden transport services – there is likely to be considerable disruption. Demand for services will be assessed on the day.
- Environment services – there may be slight delays but most activities will not be affected.
- Leisure centres – Talacre Sports Centre as well as Cantelowes and Camden Town sports pitches will be closed.
- Registrars will be open for the registration of deaths.
Local councillor Jill Fraser with ward colleagues Rahel Bokth and Matt Sanders
As anyone who’s ever tried to walk down Queen’s Crescent with Jill Fraser will tell you (it can be quite difficult getting past all the people who want to chat), she is probably one of the best known local councillors in Camden. Jill works hard, knows the patch inside out, and is a genuine local champion.
So it’s great to see Jill recognised by the Liberal Democrat blogger Mark Pack, who has written about her story in his “local liberal heroes” series focussing on excellent local councillors. In the piece, Jill says: “I won because people knew me and I had won lots of battles for them… I don’t believe in giving up.” As Jill’s colleague, I can say that is definitely still true today!
Residents in the Queen’s Crescent area are probably a bit bleary eyed like me this morning, having been kept awake by numerous helicopters in the area until gone midnight.
Those in Bassett Street will also have noticed a large number of police vans on the street.
I’ve been in touch with the police this morning and am pleased to say that, contrary to rumours last night, the activity was not linked to rioting and was not another planned raid of the style we saw last month. Although the police haven’t released a huge amount of detail, it’s clear that this was an attempted arrest of someone who then decided to go on the roof. Officers and helicopters were then called in to surround the building.
So, pretty disruptive, but no cause for panic. Sometimes, that is the nature of life in Central London. Hopefully we can all catch up on sleep tonight…
Many Camden businesses are boarded up as a precaution.
Everyone in Chalk Farm has really pulled together over the last twelve hours. Many people have offered help with the clean up, which is just great. Thanks for all your kind messages.
As I write, things are very quiet here in Chalk Farm, and I’m really hoping they will stay that way.
The council have been working extremely closely with the police and, as a result, we’re assured there is a much stronger police presence in Camden tonight. Although the police have found it hard to predict exact locations where there may be trouble, they have been using feedback from the community to allocate resources. Hopefully it won’t surprise you to know that we have been arguing that Haverstock needs to be properly covered.
The council also agreed to our request to make sure that local building sites (which were the source of various “weapons” last night) have been secured, with scaffolding and other equipment removed where possible.
As you may well have seen, many local businesses are boarded up, and Queen’s Crescent Library closed early. Although it’s a bit eerie seeing Chalk Farm Road and Queen’s Crescent so quiet, the police tell us these are precautionary measures only.
The council have updated their website with more help and advice for Camden residents and businesses (including numbers to call if there’s a problem).
Do keep safe this evening and, as ever, drop us a line if you need a hand.
Cllr Matt Sanders
There appears to have been a major operation to tackle the illegal drugs trade in Gospel Oak tonight. Details are still extremely sketchy, but the short briefing I’ve had from the council states that:
- Camden Police mounted an intelligence-led operation in the Queen’s Crescent area to tackle and disrupt criminal and anti-social group activity including youth violence;
- Over 200 officers were involved in the operation to ensure adequate containment and effective policing;
- The Police have gathered substantial intelligence of various criminal activity in the area, including the supply of Class A drugs.
A number of local people have been in touch with me asking what’s going on. While we all understand that the police had to keep the operation confidential until the last moment, I hope they will now make a huge effort to get information out to the local community as quickly as possible.
I think all of us will be hoping that tonight will be a turning point in the battle to root out the illegal drugs trade, which causes so much misery.
There will be a public meeting tomorrow night; I will post details as soon as I have them.
UPDATE (9:10pm, Wednesday): I’ve just been told the public meeting will take place between 7pm and 9pm tomorrow, Thursday 21st July, at the Chalk Farm Salvation Army Centre. All welcome. Drop me a line if there are specific things you would like me to raise.
Land across Camden is to be sold off under Labour plans
What did we learn at the Haverstock Area Action Group tonight? Quite a lot! The main points of our community discussion were:
- Lots of people on Ferdinand Street are extremely angry about council plans to sell off the garages next to Broomfield estate. Incredibly, the residents who actually lease (and pay for) the garages haven’t even been told what’s happening or when they will be turfed out. We passed a resolution calling for the council to make alternative local provision for the garage tenants, and to ensure any subsequent development on the land doesn’t adversely affect existing residents or businesses.
- The council also plan to sell land at 159-167 Prince of Wales Road, but while they are waiting they will lease it to Findon, the developer of the Dalby Street project, to use as storage and temporary offices. This is outrageous behaviour by the council: when we repeatedly asked if we could use the land for temporary allotments we were told No, but an unpopular and controversial developer has been welcomed with open arms. It’s no wonder people often feel the council aren’t on their side.
- If you needed proof that ALMO scars still run deep with Camden tenants, the land sell off prompted a bit of a history lesson about why Camden needs to raise this money for housing anyway. It’s not a story that does the Labour party much credit, and people are still pretty angry about the way they were treated.
- My colleague, Jill Fraser, updated everyone on the plans for Queen’s Crescent Market and, modest as ever, played down her own role. Fortunately, we all know the truth! The idea of training local young people to manage their own stalls was particularly popular.
- Finally, we had a presentation from the Dalby Street developer and the council officer charged with enforcing the chaos at the site. Rahel Bokth challenged both on the need for a full, independent road safety audit; while everyone had something to say about the way construction has been carried out. We will go on watching developments closely and putting strong pressure on the council to act where appropriate.
A big thank you to all the residents who came along, and as soon as the next date is set we’ll post it up here.
