Queensway Christmas Light Switch-on – 28th November
The Bayswater and Lancaster Gate councillors have once again approved funding for Christmas lights this year. They will be turned on by the Lord Mayor on November 28th on the northern end of Queensway. We’ll start gathering for carols being sung by the choir from St James and St John CE Primary School, led by Fr Owen Dobson, at 5:45pm, and there will be mulled wine. It would be great to see as many local residents there as possible!
Hallfield Estate Green Flag Raising Ceremony – 30th November
As mentioned in our last newsletter, the team that looks after the Hallfield Estate green areas have been awarded a prestigious Green Flag accreditation to recognise their hard work. This is alongside a Heritage Award for the site. Some residents may have noticed the flag is now on site, and we have organised a formal flag raising ceremony that will take place on Thursday 30th November at 2pm, where the flag will be officially raised outside of Newbury House. Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Liza Begum, and others will be in attendance. There will be light refreshments in Pickering Hall afterwards for any residents that wish to join.
Deep Clean Schedule
The council will be continuing its deep clean programme throughout winter. Throughout November, December and January expect to see streets across Bayswater and Lancaster Gate deep cleaning, including Moscow Road, Westbourne Grove, Craven Road, Craven Terrace, Queensway, Bishops Bridge Road and more.
Remembrance Weekend
We were honoured to attend both the Westminster Abbey Service and Lancaster Gate Remembrance service to mark Remembrance Sunday. It was a particularly special privilege to host the Lord Mayor, councillors and friends in Lancaster Gate, and connect with so many residents after the afternoon tea afterwards. We want to thank everyone for the efforts in organising such meaningful and poignant events to bring the community together to mark our respects.
South East Bayswater Residents’ Association (SEBRA) AGM
Both your Lancaster Gate and Bayswater councillors were delighted to attend the recent SEBRA AGM in Porchester Hall, which was the first in-person SEBRA AGM with a Labour council and eight Labour councillors in the local area. The night was a great opportunity to catch up with residents, and to hear questions about ongoing local issues in the area – which we are already following up on. We thank John Zamit and the whole SEBRA team for organising such a successful event.
Hallfield Major Works
As mentioned in our previous update, we were shocked to hear about the proposed bills for the next phase of the Hallfield Major Works. We have been working with residents to get the bottom of the large cost differential between this phase and the previous phases. We are now in the process of discussing which, if any, costs can be descoped to reduce the burden on residents, as well as organising independent verification of costs by RICS Chartered Surveyors.
If you’re a leaseholder in Winchester, Worcester and Lyton who has been impacted, please reach out so we can connect you with other residents and support you with writing formal Section 20 observations. You must provide your observations before the 1st December to the mailbox as per the Section 20 notice.
Bike Marking Event
Given recent reports of bike thefts in the area, we are working with police to fund another bike marking event funded through our ward budget. The event will be held in early December, with details to be shared shortly once confirmed.
Free IT Support on the Hallfield Estate
We are pleased to host our final installment of our IT Support Sessions in collaboration with Paddington Partnership and volunteers from Vodafone. In a change to the previously publicised date, it will be held Thursday 7th December 2pm-4pm in Pickering House on the Hallfield Estate. No appointment necessary – first come first served.
Queensborough Terrace / Passage ASB
Residents had recently reported an increase in anti-social behaviour and littering near Queensborough Terrace close to Queensborough Passage. We organised a site visit with our council’s neighbourhood coordinator, residents and ourselves to see the problem first hand. We took away some actions to explore increasing the lighting in the passage and a review of the maintenance plan for the surrounding shrubbery.
Lancaster Gate Tube Station
After the recent success of our petition to stop the closures of Lancaster Gate station, we have been pleased to see closures reduced. Nevertheless, we have seen a recent small uptick in closures. We have spoken to Transport for London to get assurances this does not mean a return to the near daily closures we saw earlier in the year. TfL have informed us recent ad hoc closures were due to last-minute and unexpected staff absences, but with recent staff recruitment this should now be resolved. Please do let us know if you experience any more disruption or closures.
Chilworth Mews
Following a recent site visit to Chilworth Mews with residents, to discuss various aspects, we have been busy working to solve several issues. These have included organising a site visit to re-visit the options for a one-way street, which both local Labour Councillors are supportive of, and to discuss the proposed public realms works and other highways issues. We also requested that the Metropolitan police provide informative letters to residents around reporting ASB to enable them to collect data on hotspots, and letter drops to houses around the food waste bins and recycling. We have had confirmation that the servicing bay on Craven Road is scheduled to be re-installed, and hope to confirm timing soon. These are among other issues that we are actively investigating here.
Hallfield Recycling Door Knocking Campaign
We hope Hallfield resident managed to chat to our recycling team who spent 13th-16th November door knocking across the estate informing residents about good recycling practices. Hallfield has one of the lowest recycling rates across Westminster and we’d like to see this increase!
Hallfield Roaming Security Trial
The council instigated a roaming security trial across several estates across Westminster, including the Hallfield. This trial will be coming to a close soon and the council will be reaching out to residents to ask for their feedback to help shape the service going forward. If you want to share your views, please do get in touch.
Hallfield Breathe London Air Quality Monitor
We are pleased that, following representations made by the Clean Air Bayswater team that we were supportive of, that the council has decided to not move the air quality sensor installed by Breathe London on the Hallfield estate. The main reason for this decision was the usage of the current sensor in monitoring exposure to multiple potential local sources of air pollution, and to enable future data to remain comparable to historic data. We thank the Clean Air Bayswater team for pushing for this to remain in place.
Craven Hill Gardens
We have been working with planning officers and British Land to work up a proposed solution to resident grievances regarding access to Craven Hill Gardens. Further detail will be shared shortly through formal channels, but we are pleased to see progress on such a long-standing issue.
Craven Terrace
We have received reports that flytipping has increased outside one of the bins on Craven Terrace, despite the nearby large black bins on Craven Road and other bins on the street. We have assessed the area and, following a request from residents, it has been determined that one of these bins can be removed with no negative impact, and are reviewing the other locations and numbers on the street too to ensure the bins are being used in the way they should be.
Hallfield Estate CCTV
Residents have been asking for CCTV on the Hallfield Estate near ASB hotspot next to Exeter House for a significant period of time. We have been pushing for increased pace. The council is now seeking quotes from contractors for installation.
Hallfield Parking Space Audit
Our team has conducted an audit of all parking spaces on the Hallfield after reports of space misuse and under-utilisation. Nevertheless, some void bays are being blocked by bollards which is inhibiting our ability to redistribute parking bays.
Gloucester Mews
We have received concerning reports of an increase in ASB in Gloucester Mews over recent months, causing both safety fears and noise issues. We have requested that City Inspectors and the police include the area in their patrols, which has seen similar issues in other areas reduce in the past, and we are also looking into historic reports and if any information is known about the individuals. If you see this ASB, please do report it to us as well as calling 101.
Cleveland Square – Dropped Kerb
Following a resident reaching out about the need for a dropped kerb near their property, the lack of which had caused a safety hazard, we are pleased to have acted swiftly to be able to install this. The new dropped kerb, at the intersection of Cleveland Square and Devonshire Terrace, is scheduled to be installed over the next two months. We are grateful to the resident who raised this, and encourage residents to let us know of any other similar situations in the ward.
Repairs
We have been supporting several residents with repairs in their council properties or in the communal areas of council blocks, including repairs to drains and leaks. If you’re struggling with a repair in a council owned property, please do reach out for us to assist.
Cleveland Square Residents’ Association Fireworks Display
We’d like to say a massive thank you to the Cleveland Square Residents’ Association for inviting us to their annual fireworks display. Great to see the community enjoying the marshmallows, hot dogs, sparklers, music and (of course) fireworks.