Residents First

Pedal power joy as Boris bikes go west

Major west London attractions, like Westfield shopping centre, will start benefiting from ‘Boris bikes’ after the Mayor of London announced that the cycle hire scheme would be rolled out westwards this morning.

The Mayor of London’s flagship Barclays Cycle hire scheme celebrates its first birthday today (28 July) and to mark the occasion the Mayor has confirmed that Barclays have agreed to provide another £25 million of sponsorship. The extra funding will help the scheme to expand throughout west and southwest London by the summer of 2013.

Transport for London (TfL) is now preparing plans for a westward expansion of the scheme throughout Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Wandsworth and also Lambeth.

Westfield Shopping Centre is to provide funding that will allow an early taster of the western expansion by extending the cycle hire to the mega-mall by spring 2012. Approximately twelve new docking stations will connect the existing cycle hire zone to Westfield White City and six docking stations will potentially be on the grounds of Westfield London itself.

Councils share director of transportation and highways

Highways, transport, traffic and parking services in the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham will be managed by one person as the two councils cement their commitment to bi and tri-borough working.

Both Councils agreed on the appointment of Mahmood Siddiqi as Director of Transportation and Highways . Mahmood was previously Head of Highways and Traffic at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. He has been at the Royal Borough for 11 years - initially as a Principal Engineer

Mr Siddiqi replaces Graeme Swinburne, who retired last month, and had worked for the Royal Borough for the past 16 years.

Cllr Nick Paget-Brown, Deputy Leader for the Royal Borough and Cabinet Member for Environment and Transportation said:

Council calls on TfL to find Olympia Line solution

Controversial proposals to withdraw trains from the Olympia branch of the District Line on weekdays were debated at a public meeting yesterday evening.

Around 300 residents attended the meeting at Olympia’s Pillar Hall last night (July 26) to discuss Transport for London’s (TfL) plans to scale back services on the District Line to Olympia.

TfL wants to increase capacity on the Wimbledon branch of the District line by withdrawing weekdays services on the Olympia spur – which it argues is ‘underused’.

However, residents around Olympia are worried about the loss of their local service – especially as the station is the only one in the area that provides easy step-free disabled access.

Councillor Joe Carlebach, Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council Cabinet Member for Community Care, represented the council at the meeting.

Olympic countdown celebration

Local Hammersmith and Fulham residents enjoyed Games themed countdown sessions at Lillie Road Fitness Centre and Phoenix Fitness Centre and Janet Adegoke Swimming Pool on 23 and 24 July to mark the "1 Year To Go" point in the run up to the 2012 London Games.

The focal point was the provision of taster sessions to encourage all participants to participate in new activities and therefore create an interest in the regular sessions we hold at our centres. With more than 80 people aged between 4 and 70 taking part and having their chance to get into the spirit of the Games.

London 2011 Open Weekend enabled everyone to share in the excitement of the Games, be inspired to get involved, unleash their creativity and try something new by accessing excellence at events across sport, art and culture taking place over the weekend.

Paul Dodds, Centre Manager of Phoenix Fitness Centre and Janet Adegoke Swimming Pool explained "The Games are just around the corner and as Londoners we are going to have the chance of a lifetime to experience this historic event. As part of GLL, a charitable Social Enterprise and London’s largest leisure operator, we are committed to supporting sport at grass roots level and hope that these celebratory events will provide real inspiration to budding sportsmen and women in the borough. "

GLL and Hammersmith and Fulham are supporting milestone events leading to the Games to maximize the opportunity for all our local communities to get involved and benefit from this once in a life time historic event.

Wormholt Park volunteering event on Friday

Gardening fans and lovers of the great outdoors should attend a Wormholt Park volunteering day at the end of the month.

The event, taking place on Friday, July 29 from 11am to 2pm, will see members of the public take part in a whole host of tasks ranging from flower beds digging to sanding and painting of the railings surrounding the park and litter picking.

The event is being organised by Hammersmith & Fulham Council and environmental charity Groundwork London and will be an excellent opportunity for users of the park, in Shepherds Bush to have their say on what improvements they would like made.

The information collected will form part of a Masterplan for the park which will inform a proposed future redevelopment.

Cllr Greg Smith, cabinet member of residents’ services, said:

“The council is looking forward to carrying out a number of improvements to Wormholt Park and I hope as many people as possible attend this event so that they can tell us what they would like us to do.”

If you would like to attend the events, please contact Amy Lee on 0208 762 0323.

Twenty seven voluntary groups awarded funding

£1.2 million of voluntary sector funding has been awarded to 27 local community services. The money is the second wave of Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s £3.9 million grants pot for the voluntary sector – one of the largest pots in London.

Last July, thirty-five services provided by voluntary organisations were awarded £2.7 million of taxpayers’ cash from the council’s voluntary sector grants pot.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s Cabinet agreed to fund 13 of the 27 services for the very first time. First time winners included:

• H&F Bike Project (£25,000) – which is establishing a cycling club in the borough, to include training and progression, competition and events.
• Urban Studies Green Service (£10,000) – a service to educate, inform and encourage young people through creative environmental projects.
• Hammersmith & Fulham Action on Disability (HAFAD) (£40,000) – Peer support project to encourage disabled people to access mainstream services.

Hammersmith Library best for mums

Hammersmith Library is the latest attraction in the borough to be named by mothers as one of the best free place to go in London.

The library, on Shepherds Bush Road, joins Bishops Park and Ravenscourt Park who have also recently won coveted Netmums awards.

There are plenty of facilities and events at the library that make the library a worthy winner of the award. The venue hosts under-fives' story and rhyme time sessions which are hugely popular with mothers and their children. Sessions take place on  Wednesdays from 10.15am to 10.45am and from 11am to 11.30am and also on Thursdays from 10.30am to 11.30am.

Six Green Flag Awards

An incredible six parks the length and breadth of the borough have been named amongst the country’s best open spaces.

Ravenscourt Park, Frank Banfield Park and Margravine Cemetery have been awarded with Green Flag status for the third year in a row. Normand Park has won the coveted honour for the second year while St Peter’s Square in Hammersmith and Little Wormwoods Scrubs have collected Green Flag Awards for the first time.

The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and is managed by Keep Britain Tidy. Hammersmith and Fulham Council has pumped more than £6 million into its many picturesque parks and open spaces and these awards recognise the council’s commitment to ensuring its parks have excellent facilities and are maintained to the highest standard possible all year round.

In addition, Loris Gardens and Godolphin Road Community Gardens have retained their Green Pennant Awards which recognise high quality green spaces that are managed by voluntary and community groups. Both of these gardens have been managed by the Hammersmith Community Gardens Association.

Cowan opposes sale of high value empty street properties

Cllr Stephen Cowan, the Labour Opposition leader on Hammersmith and Fulham Council, has stated his opposition to the sale of expensive empty street properties. He complains of them being sold "instead of re-letting them to people on the housing waiting list."

Does he think they should be retained for social housing regardless of how much money they could be sold for? A million pound house in Parsons Green? It would seem so. His support for retaining state ownership is ideological completely ignoring any practical concern for value for money.

Had he troubled to read the report he was attacking he would see that it is about providing more homes and better homes. Poor asset management does no favours to those waiting on the housing list. Where you have a two bedroom property that could be sold for over £350,000 then selling it make sense - that is the threshold that is agreed. Cllr Cowan has no suggested an alternative threshold. He seems to oppose any sale at all.

The proceeds go to the Decent Neighbourhoods pot. They help pay for the capital maintenance programme - especially to reduce crime and anti social behaviour. For items like the current works at Fulham Court (including the Children's Centre) which cost £4.5m. Would Cllr Cowan cancel these improvements?

The funds will also help "develop or acquire new affordable housing to meet identified housing needs, including where appropriate extension of current properties" - for instance the "Hidden  Homes" programme. It will also "fund tenant incentive initiatives (qualifying as capital expenditure) that
free up council housing which is in demand for those in housing need (e.g. the need for larger family accommodation)."

Tenants slam insults from The Guardian and Lib Dems

The more residents on the Gibbs Green and West Ken estate find out about the truth of the redevelopment proposals  the more support they have. Opponents of the scheme are finding it hard to adjust. Left wing activist Jonathan Rosenberg has the cheek question the credentials of residents on the two estates who back the scheme although he doesn't live there and they do.

Rather than accept their right to a different view some on the Left seem to regard the residents who back the scheme as having a "false consciousness". In some way residents campaigning to back he scheme are to be dismissed as "bogus" campaigners. Failed Lib Dem council candidate Paul Kennedy really should apologise for his insulting comments that they are "confused." Perhaps this arrogant outsider should swapping his luxury home in Barclay Road with a flat on one of the estates. Then he might understand their aspirations rather than sneer at them.