Christopher Fowler Has The Last Laugh!

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Stephan Schulte

Chris It's alway nice to promote local people, especially when they win awards.  So here we go.

Cheers to our neighbour Chris Fowler, local Albert Dock resident who has just won the "Last Laugh" Award for the best humorous crime novel published in the previous year.

The award, announced at Bristol’s CrimeFest convention last weekend, was for Chris's latest novel The Victoria Vanishes, the latest book in his popular Bryant and May series.

The-victoria-vanishes

According to the blog Between the Lines, Chris beat off stiff competition from other shortlisted authors, including Gilbert Adair, Christopher Brookmyre and Mike Ripley.

The shortlist was compiled by a panel of leading British crime fiction reviewers and the winner was chosen by a vote amongst CrimeFest delegates.

So well done Chris, we'll all now be sure to go out and get this book for our summere reading at the seaside.

Yes, I'm sure Chris will autograph your copy – just pop down to Gran Sasso on the Caledonian Road where he can often be seen having his coffee. 

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

The Guardian’s local impact

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Sophie Talbot
Gnm1 New neighbours in the King’s Cross area, Guardian News Media (GNM), have been working with our community in many ways since they moved into their new home at King’s Place.

GNM has organised two fundraising concerts at New Horizons Youth Centre in Somers Town, with performances from the Guardian's Angels choir, young people from New Horizons, and Jon Snow & Alan Rusbridger. GNM has donated laptops and staff helped develop New Horizon’s website and fundraising strategy.

GNM is running a series of conservation days at Camley Street Natural Park where staff will be undertaking a number of projects including building a green roof or reed bed pontoon.

GNM donated Mac computers to the all new Copenhagen Youth Project venue, CYP Culture.

GNM staff are assisting with reading in our local schools, particularly the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School and are running a chess club at the Winton School.

Gnm2 Working with Pentonville prisoners to produce the regular newsletter "Voice of the Ville”. Guardian staff are supporting inmates with literacy, communication and 
media skills. They plan to help the prison develop its new media centre

And all this in addition to GNM’s HR team working with residents and ground staff on the Bemerton Estate (pictured). The team painted and removed graffiti, planted flower beds, edged and reseeded the lawn and built a picnic table and benches. This continued the work they started in November when they transformed an outdoor area by building planters, clearing up and removing rubbish.

We hope to keep you up to date with The Guardian's local activities on this site.
Posted in King's Cross People | Leave a comment

Gifford Street bank – trees, houses, warehouses? You decide….

Posted on May 13, 2009 by William Perrin

Giford rough At the back of Gifford Street is a remarkable space above the Channel Tunnel tunnel – a very steep high railway embankment runs behind the Gifford Street houses then slopes down and broadens out to meet the Cally Road next to the Ferodo Bridge.  Much of the site is too steep to use for development and there are some wonderful trees and scrub forming a rare wilderness with lots of interesting wildlife.   There is a large concreted yard on the site and some old warehousing.  

The scrubby bits of the site are sometimes called 'Copenhagen Junction Rough', which is nice for those who like a bit.  The Channel Tunnel people have now finished with the site and are looking at what they can do with it next.
The folk on Gifford Street and the Cally Rail Group have had long discussion with the Council and the developer, and the Council has now come out with a draft planning brief that will govern how the area can be developed. One of the more interesting issues is how they manage the trees (at present mainly a wild scrubland) with some sensible development.  The Council says:

'The draft planning brief expects proposals for new development on this site to retain trees where possible. Due to the location of housing suggested in the draft planning brief, some trees would have to be removed to make way for the new development. A tree survey is required with any planning application to help the council decide if trees are suitable for removal. Should tree removal be agreed, Islington Council requires every tree lost to be replaced with a minimum of two new trees.'

Repsonding to this isn't hard.  You should look at either the fairly simple consultation document here, with lots of pictures

or the draft brief here on the islington website, which is longer and a bit more technical, with annexes etc

….then go to the online questionnaire here where you can comment by clicking some buttons.

However, if you can spare the time come along to a meeting where all this will be explained at 730pm on the 18 May at Laycock Professional Development Centre, Laycock Street, N1 1TH (map) up near Highbury Corner.  

As a footnote it has taken me some time to wade through this and work it all out after Lisa was kind enough to send me the documents – i hope that the council is making a special effort to communicate within the Bemerton Estate, where i am conscious not many people read this site.  By special effort i mean more than leafleting.

UPDATE 22 May
We always like to correct things we don't get right the first time – Diana Shelley from Gifford Street has mailed in pointing out that I had misunderstood what had happened while the planning brief was being drafted:

'Cally Rail Group and residents on Gifford Street did not have any discussions with either Islington or the landowner about this draft planning brief. Cally Rail Group was largely successful over 15 years in protecting this designated nature conservation site from unnecessary destruction by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and many Gifford Street people with garden extensions have helped maintain the biodiversity of the site. But despite many, many attempts over the last seven years to get the Council to draw up a planning brief for a nature reserve, it was finally produced without talking to us.

'We have several concerns about it and hope to post an edited version of our comments made to West Area Committee. The day after West Area was the first time the group met officers from planning and greenspace to discuss these concerns, and we hope they will be taken on board. 

'We were particularly disappointed that there was only one proposal, unlike other local consultations (for example on Bingfield Park) where several different schemes were put forward. We hope the next stage of consulting with local people will include different ideas.'

Posted in Planning, Licensing and Regulation | 2 Comments

Matthew Swift – Local Artist – Show Opening

Posted on May 13, 2009 by Stephan Schulte

In keeping with our attempts to promote local people, I wanted to pass on information about a local artist (my neighbour), Matthew Swift who will be having an upcoming art exhibition.

Interrupted Spaces

Blackpool improved email 2  
Bricks and clouds can be seen as opposites, one permanent, the other transitory, yet both are a part of the landscape of our everyday lives.  In this exhibition the sky is brought down to street level from which built structures extend; architectural constructions adopt facades of photographs: a realigned world is presented.

Interrupted spaces will be showing at Madame Lillies, 10 Cazenove Road, Stoke Newington, London N16 6BD.

Viewings:

Fri – Sun, May 22nd, 23rd, 24th from 12 to 6 PM
Fri – Sun, May 29th, 30th, 31st from 12 to 6 PM

Stoke Newington British Rail stop
or by bus: 67, 73, 76, 149, 243, 476

Posted in Arts and Entertainment | Leave a comment

English Heritage and King’s Cross

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Stephan Schulte

6a00d8345162e169e20105354da2a4970b-800wi Friday 15 May TV viewing BBC2 (9-10PM)

Chris F. of Albert Dock brought this to my attention and I thought it was worth passing on.  The last episode in the the English Heritage programme on BBC2 this Friday night will be about the re-development of King's Cross Station.

According to the blurb on TV Guide online,

Full Steam Ahead Chronicling the battle of wills involved in the restoration of London's King's Cross station and adjacent goods yard – the biggest infrastructure project in Europe. English Heritage case officer Clare Brady takes on the architects, engineers and developers trying to modernise the Grade I listed building.

For a review of the English Heritage Series go here.

In the Sunday Times Culture section it also mentioned the programme under "Pick of the Day" and referred to the "passenger bridge," however I think this was referring to the bridge inside the building rather than the one that local residents are fighting for that would like the East side of the Station to the new entrance on the West side…but who knows, maybe the campaign got some unexpected publicity.

Posted in Kings Cross Station Refurbishment | 2 Comments

Charity appeal – WheelPower

Posted on May 8, 2009 by William Perrin

Wheelpower Dan Collins a neighbour at the Guardian has got in touch with a charity appeal:

'I am working on the Wheel Appeal project for WheelPower and we are going to be having a mini-Guardian wheelchair basketball competition… to raise some funds to buy them a couple of wheelchairs.  I think personally it's a superb charity, and one that I'm proud to be helping.  There's a Just Giving page here.'

Dan also reports that Guardian staffers are about to get involved in a range of charity projects across the Kings Cross area.  It would be good to see a big local business get stuck in – more on that soon.

Posted in King's Cross People | 1 Comment

Stand up for local education – followed by comedy at the Cross Kings

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Sophie Talbot

March

Posted in Current Affairs | Leave a comment

YTouring Theatre Company at OneKX offer you a training opportunity

Posted on May 7, 2009 by Sophie Talbot

OneKXposter

Posted in How to get things done locally | Leave a comment