Grafitti hotline

Posted on November 21, 2008 by William Perrin

25082008(005) Regular readers will know of the hard work by the Council's environmental crime unit to tackle graffiti vandalism in Kings Cross.  We have had one grafitti related death in the area and hundreds of tags removed.  The canal is now transformed thanks to the innovative Council/British Waterways grafitti destroyer.  Reporting graffiti through Contact Islington means that it does get dealt with and the Council doesn't charge for it (unlike Camden).  I have just been sent a link to the new grafitti hotline site which brings together news on grafitti issues, the law etc.  It's got a commercial angle but seems like a handy resource for people interested in tackling grafitti.

Posted in Street Tipping, Mess, Trash | 5 Comments

Walking about in King’s Cross more…

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Sophie Talbot

Buchananlogo You may remember we carried a piece a short time ago about the stakeholder consultation being carried out by Buchanan's for LB Islington on movement and open spaces in King's Cross. I've been contacted by Buchanan's as they would like to make clear the stakeholder event held on September 18th this year lasted for three hours including a one hour walkbout in the area. Buchanan's said: 

 

"I felt I had to make the point as the description of the workshop as a 'two hour timeslot' was inaccurate in my view. The session was in fact three hours long, including a one hour slot for a walkabout with the option of attending one of two tours and having a detailed dialogue with the project team. I felt your description sold the process a little short. We designed the approach specifically to inform our understanding of the issues and to enable participants to contribute actively to this information gathering."

 

I have replied to Buchanan's. Anyone wanting to see my reply please contact me.
Posted in Road Safety in Kings Cross | Leave a comment

Lisa Pontecorvo Memorial

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Stephan Schulte

This page will be devoted to the memory of Lisa Pontecorvo, our friend and a tireless community activist in the Caledonian Ward, Islington and Camden.

Pari_09may0414[1]

You may wish to join many others of Lisa's friends and colleagues who have left a Tribute to Lisa in the Comments section at the bottom of this posting.

Posted in King's Cross People | 1 Comment

King’s Cross Railway Lands Group invite you…

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Sophie Talbot
To their Annual General Meeting. Discussions on the theme of
Employment and training opportunities in the King's Cross Development
Tuesday 18 November 2008, 7.00- 9.00pm
Guest Speakers:
Professor Linda Clarke
University of Westminster, on creating successful training and job outcomes for local people
Abul Rahman
Camden Bengali Tenants and Parents Association, on local employment and training needs
Plus
• Latest news and campaign update
• Presentation of Annual Report
• Elections to Management Committee
• Refreshments
The AGM will be followed by entertainment from Somali comedian Botan & by Bengali poetry read in English by Rob Inglis.
Everyone welcome!
The venue is fully wheelchair accessible.
5 Caledonian Road
London
N1 9DX
Posted in Architecture, Kings Cross N1C, railwayslands, Kings Cross Station Refurbishment | Leave a comment

Taming the streets in Kings Cross – RoadWitch and PARKing Day

Posted on November 17, 2008 by William Perrin

Repaint the streets We have a lot of busy streets in Kings Cross – the presumption for years has been that 'cars are king', pedestrians come distant last in the car, bus, truck, road works, bike pecking order.  TfL Camden and Islington have neglected the appalling Kings Cross gyratory for decades and Sophie has been following their recent consultant-led efforts to make up for this.

Residents however can take control with some imaginative re-use of the black stuff.  In Oxford residents working with RoadWitch and SusTrans and tacit connivance of their local council repainted and completely reorganised their entire street (pic left).  After all, they live there, pedestrians have right of way etc etc.  Some of the RoadWitch stuff is really fantastic and imaginative – check out their site.

Parking day

Elsewhere my attention has been drawn to PARKing Day – put enough money in a meter for a day and turn an on street car parking space into a park – with some hay bales, wood chips, perhaps some art (pic left from Australia). Perhaps Kings Cross should be replace graffiti with guerilla/street art – perhaps an art caravan in a parking bay. 

BTW unhitched caravans are an interesting loophole in parking law – they aren't motor vehicles and if they haven't been dumped, the council has to use planning law to get rid of them as unlicenced structures. I only know this because the council failed for months in 2005 to get rid of a caravan in a residents parking bay on my street being used by a crack dealer…..

Posted in Bad Gyrations KX Campaign, Broken Stuff on the Street | 1 Comment

Update: Sainsburys King’s Cross HQ planning application

Posted on November 16, 2008 by Sophie Talbot

The deadline for comments on the Argent King's Cross' planning application covering the new Sainsburys  block is 28 November 2008. Comments can be made online at LB Camden's website.

Posted in Planning, Licensing and Regulation | Leave a comment

White Flowered Bike to remember Madeleine Wright – and still nothing has been done!

Posted on November 15, 2008 by William Perrin

IMAGE_336 This bike was seen chained at the corner of Pentonville Road / Pentonville Rise to remember the spot where Madeleine Wright
lost her life at the age of 26 riding her bicycle and being crushed to death by a lorry.  The junction has been ear marked as severely dangerous by locals and those caught up in accidents.

Peter Wright, the father of Madeleine, has made serious allegations against Transport for London earlier this year, because the junction remains unsecured and without improvement.  In the three years before Madeleine died there, the spot saw 22 collisions and previous deaths.

This also is important in terms of the walkability audit, which by the way does not include this corner.  Pedestrians crossing the spot have a very small island in the middle of the street, which lacks the push buttons that are on the end of the road.  The crossing is used by many young children attending the EGA girls school and students from a variety of universities.

The cycling path is highly unlogical.  Cyclists are expected to move from the left of the street to the right and then cross in a straight line onto the bus lane that continues Pentonville Road whilst all other motorized traffic makes a left turn.

The same spot has also been in the news (Which Magazine) because of bad sign posting to motorists, who often get trapped onto the bus lane, failing to realise they must turn left… and being penalized with a fine for doing so.

In spite of all of this the left turning detour of the A501 into residential streets of Kings Cross (Kings Cross Rd, Swinton St, Grays Inn Rd), introduced a few decades ago, remains unchanged.

In my personal opinion the A501 ought to be brought back into a straight line feeding Euston Rd, and the current arrangement turned upside down, namely  with cyclists and buses able to use a specially reserved bus line on Pentonville Rise and Swinton Street and private motorists to continue straight down Pentonville Road.

Read more about Peter Wrights campaign in the Evening Standard
Report in Islington Tribune
Report in Moving Target

IMAGE_337

Posted in Planning, Licensing and Regulation, Transport | 2 Comments

King’s Cross Central – Sainsburys block planning application

Posted on November 13, 2008 by Sophie Talbot

Sainsburys new HQ in Kings Cross King's Cross Development Forum's website has just uploaded all the details of the planning application for the new Sainsbury's HQ in King's Cross. 

It's a big building with some every exciting elements – including various greening bits (sun gardens, a herb garden, a kitchen garden etc) as well as some less exciting and less pleasing bits. 

This is the first big detailed planning application for the Railway Lands at the back of King's Cross Station so do take a look. You may just want to have a say on this one. 

Don't be too put off by the sheer number of documents, just take your time as no deadline for responses has been given yet – watch this space for details.

Posted in Kings Cross N1C, railwayslands | 1 Comment