Living Streets

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Sophie Talbot

Walkabout3 Yesterday saw local residents and King’s Cross St Pancras station users walking the streets of King’s Cross giving their feedback to a report for Transport for London (TfL) on how it feels to be a pedestrian here. Conducted by Living Streets, these street audits were thoroughly cathartic, giving us the opportunity to get our concerns heard by the people that could really make a difference.

TfL has commissioned Living Streets to produce street audits for all Livingstreets of the main railway stations in London, ours was the final one carried out. It was a big relief to hear the Living Streets folk totally understand our worries; we look forward to seeing their report… And on that, there is more for us as a community to do. Living Streets will submit their draft report to TfL shortly. Its then up to TfL to decide what they do with it. We need to ensure the report doesn’t get lost in any TfL bureaucracy. We need to get our elected representatives to keep asking TfL about the report. And we need to make sure TfL understands that King’s Cross – north, south, east, and west – is a community, not just a transport hub.

In 2004 TfL produced ‘The Walking Plan for London’. In it the Mayor stated that,

‘London is a great city for walking. My vision is to make it one of the world’s most walking friendly cities by 2015. Walking is an enjoyable, free and accessible activity and for most people, a necessary part of their everyday journeys’.

The Plan has six objectives, all of which apply to King’s Cross:

1: Improving co-ordination and inclusiveness in the Walking Plan development
2: Promoting walking
3: Improving street conditions
4: Improving developments and interchanges
5: Improving safety and security
6: Plan delivery and monitoring.

Then in 2005, TfL produced ‘Improving Walkability: Good practice guidance on improving pedestrian conditions as part of development opportunities’. This was aimed at local authority officers, elected members, developers and their agents. It stated that when planning in ‘walkability’ to any development, the five Cs should be used to make sure walking routes are:

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Convivial
Conspicuous
Comfortable and
Convenient.

‘Improving Walkability’ didn’t come out of thin air, TfL’s policy officers undertook comprehensive research which is very usefully cited throughout the report.

It does seem odd then, that despite a strategic plan and accompanying good practice guidance, both new and old walking routes around our local stations are so dire. CTRL, Network Rail, LB Camden and TfL itself are currently failing to encourage us to walk. In fact, the experience of walking in King’s Cross can be likened to dodging traffic on a motorway and its slip roads, being forced to walk in between a constant stream of heavy goods vehicles, buses, vans and cars with foul emissions, frightening levels of noise pollution, unprotected pavements, missing green men or green men that are constantly on a tea break somewhere. Basic safety would be welcome, let alone conviviality.

So… let’s not rely solely on Living Streets’ report. Please use TfL’s own walking feedback page to remind them that we need changes urgently, we shouldn’t have to wait until the King’s Cross station redevelopment finishes in six years time, or the Railway Lands development finishes in twenty years time, or the number of traffic accidents increases as more and more residents and workers move in to King’s Cross.

Also, please make contact with our Greater London Assembly Members (GLAMs) and ask them to press TfL into putting King’s Cross walking routes at the top of their priority list by:

1. Publishing the Living Streets report as soon as possible;
2. Consulting on a detailed Walking Plan for King’s Cross immediately after the Living Streets report is published; and
3. Implementing the results of the report and consultation without delay.

GLAM email addresses:
For Islington residents, Jeanette Arnold
For Camden residents, Brian Coleman
For all of us (a selection of the London-wide GLAMs):
Jenny Jones (Green Party and the Mayor’s road safety advisor)
Graham Tope (Lib Dem and member of the Transport Committee)
Sally Hamwee, (Lib Dem and member of the Planning and Spatial Development Committee)
Murad Qureshi, (Labour and member of the Transport Committee)
Geoff Pope, (Lib Dem and Deputy Chair of the Transport Committee)

If you get responses from TfL or any of our GLAMs, let us know and we’ll keep everyone up to date…

Posted in How to get things done locally, Road Safety in Kings Cross | 1 Comment

Planning Application for Advertising Banners at King’s Place

Posted on January 31, 2008 by Stephan Schulte

PhotoParabola Land Developments, the developer of King’s Place at 82-96 York Way (the new home of the Guardian Media Group) has filled a Planning Application (P080189) to allow four non-illuminated advertisement banners relataing to the Arts Centre and Concert Hall to be displayed on the front of the building as shown in the sample photo and plan.

Proposed_west_elevation_5 The Consultation Period for this Application started on 29-Jan and will end 28-Feb. Any comments that local residents would like to make regarding this application should be made by 28-Feb to case officer Helen Dilks at: Helen.Dilks@islington.gov.uk.  Please be sure to include your address in any submission.

Should you need further information, she can be reached at 020 7527 2401.

Posted in Planning, Licensing and Regulation | Leave a comment

King’s Cross station redevelopment

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Sophie Talbot

Kx In a major public relations exercise yesterday, Network Rail teamed up with Argent to give afternoon and evening presentations about the forthcoming major redevelopment of the station and how it will link closely to King’s Cross Central on the railway lands. It was worrying though that in neither session was the existence of our community on the north eastern side of the station acknowledged. It was left to members of our community to raise questions about how the negative impacts of the massive construction works will be minimised for us, and whether Network Rail will seriously address our potential exclusion from the benefits of the new station.

Our community has fought hard to ensure that the station will remain at least as accessible to us as it is now. Current plans will close the north eastern entrance completely whilst providing cash to improve York Way – although there are no plans to re-site the bus depot. This option has never been attractive to our community as it leaves us having to circumnavigate the station either to the north or the south when walking or cycling, cutting us off from our sister communities on the south and west of the station and ignoring our needs as station users. We have been campaigning to ensure the original bridge giving access to the station from Wharfdale Road is restored, as the construction of a new “Platform Y” where the old taxi rank stood, will remove our current entrance. The need for access from our side of the station is set to increase over the next few years as King’s Place residents move in and other developments such as King’s Quarter complete.

Unfortunately, the planning authority for the station redevelopment is LB Camden, leaving Islington residents without a voice. At the final planning consent meeting last year LB Camden’s attitude could be summed up by the stance of one councillor who stated in the open meeting that providing our community with a pleasant walk to the station out of the rain should not be a priority, totally ignoring key principles of accessibility and inclusion for all – pedestrians, cyclists, disabled people and women.

Network Rail’s response to our campaign has been to undertake a feasibility study into building a bridge from Wharfdale Road to the new concourse. During yesterday’s afternoon session Network Rail said that this study has now come down to two options, although no detail was given. We look forward to publication of this feasibility study.

Network Rail did commit to working equally with LB Camden and LB Islington on community inclusion. Network Rail’s own site states that the benefits of “improved access, including for disabled passengers as well as links to the underground, Thameslink and domestic and international services” will be a result of the new station design, it seems that these benefits maybe limited to passengers passing through the station whilst being denied to local communities. Watch this space to see how this develops…

Meanwhile, we await a response from Network Rail giving details of routes for construction traffic during the next six years. Our community has just seen the end of eight years of construction traffic to and from the CTRL works and is facing a further twenty years of construction traffic relating to King’s Cross Central.

On a personal note, I suddenly realised that I moved here in my twenties and major construction works will not complete until I am at least in my sixties. Surely our community should derive some benefits while all this carries on?

Posted in Kings Cross Station Refurbishment, Road Safety in Kings Cross | 2 Comments

King’s Cross Central, Triangle site: Notice of Appeal Hearing

Posted on January 28, 2008 by Stephan Schulte

Folks, Our neighbour Diana Shelley requested this notice be posted.

Last July Islington’s West Area Planning Sub-committee rejected developer Argent’s application to develop the Triangle site between York Way and the East Coast Main Line (you can see it from the corner of Randell’s Road).

Councillors were concerned that too little affordable housing was proposed. Argent decided to appeal against Islington’s decision and there is to be a Public Inquiry. Cally Rail Group and King’s Cross Railways Lands Group will be opposing the appeal at the inquiry.

Come to the Public Inquiry

The inquiry will start at 10 a.m. on 19 February and almost certainly go on till 22 February. It will be held at The Crescent Suite Highbury, 70 Ronalds Road (off Holloway Road), N5. There will be about 25 places in the public gallery. Please come if you can, even for an hour or two.

We’re told the venue is wheelchair accessible, but if you need disabled parking facilities or other facilities like tape loop etc we suggest you contact Lisa Topliss at Islington council (phone: (020) 7527 2786, email: lisa.topliss@islington.gov.uk).

The two community groups will be making a two-part case. We’re worried that the site may not be suitable for homes, because of noise, but if the Inspector decides it is suitable we want more affordable homes than are currently proposed. You can find out more about our case on the King’s Cross Railway Lands Site www.kxrlg.org.uk.

Consultation on new environmental information

The Planning Inspectorate has asked for more environmental information, particularly on noise and wind. This is good news for us, as we’ve been saying for years the site may be too noisy for housing.

The Inspectorate has required Argent to provide a supplement to their Environmental Statement and this is now out for public consultation, so anyone can give their opinion on it. Write to the Planning Inspectorate, 3/23 Hawk Wing, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay Bristol BS1 6PN, or through the Planning Inspectorate website: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1102936775956.html.  Remember to put the case reference APP/V5570/A/07/2051902 on your comments. The deadline is Thursday, 14 February.

You can see a copy on the 5th floor, Camden Town Hall, Argyle St, Euston Road, WC1, or ask Argent (King’s Cross), 5 Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, W1J 0HF for a hard copy, or download it (about 6.5 MB) from http://kingscross.argentgroup.plc.uk/further_information/ES_Supplement.pdf or via www.kxrlg.org.uk.

It’s not as long as it looks: the reports are in the first 23 pages. We haven’t finished analysing it yet ourselves, but we would urge anyone who lives close to the Triangle site and wants to tell the Inspector about noise there to write to the Inspectorate. If you’d like to discuss it first, do get in touch with us via office@kxrlg.org.uk and we’ll do our best to advise. We may also need to revise our own case in the light of the new material.

Best wishes

Diana Shelley
On behalf of Cally Rail Group and King’s Cross Railway Lands Group

Posted in Planning, Licensing and Regulation | Leave a comment

Big Changes at The Driver

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Stephan Schulte

Driver At a meeting held on Thursday evening at The Driver Bar and Restaurant on Caledonian and Wharfdale Roads, the pub's owner Billy Reilly told a group of about 15 local residents about his plans to improve the offerings at his establishment and dramatically modify the outside of building. 

The pub itself will remain on the ground floor with some slight modifications while a new restaurant will be added to the 1st floor.  The 2nd and 3rd floors will also be renovated and turned into smaller and more intimate bar/lounges.  Entry to the restaurant and upper floors will be via a new separate entrance on Killick Street.  Capacity to the upper floors will be approximately 100 people/floor (to be determined by the Council). Contrary to some reports we were told that there will be no outside space created.

Mr. Reilly spoke of dramatic changes to the appearance of the outside of the building. He indicated that has commissioned the well-known, French, landscape artist Patrick Blanc (confirmed by one local gardening expert) to construct vertical hanging gardens over the outside of the entire building.  Blanc's work is highly regarded in landscape design circles and it is Reilly's hope to establish the building as a "destination location" as a result of the changes proposed. Leblancmurvegetal11_3It is not clear whether or not new planning permissions will be required for these modification as this past September an extension of a previous Change of Use was approved by the Council.  Watch this space for more information.

Lastly, the group was told that there would be no modification to the current entertainment licensed hours which we believe run until 4 AM on Friday and Saturday night and 2 AM most other nights.

Mr. Reilly who also owns several of the clubs in the Good's Way Yards – The Cross, The Key, and Canvas, as well as Pasha in Victoria, made a special effort to assure local residents that The Driver was not going to be turned into another large club-like venue.  He hopes to continue in the pub tradition, creating a respected venue for local residents and business people.  Only time will tell.

Fast forward to June 2009, The Driver has now reopened with it's new facade and interior.  Check out their website for the latest information – www.driverlondon.co.uk

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Posted in Food and Drink | 7 Comments

Free Electronic Tagging of Resident’s Bicycles

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Stephan Schulte

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The Bulletin Board has been alerted by John Argyrou, Police Community Support Officer that the Caledonian Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team will be launching a special campaign to curtail bicycle theft in our area.  They are offering to install microchips on local resident’s bicycles at no charge as part of the campaign to improve security, deter theft, and help residents fight crime.

Once tagged with one of these new electronic microchips, the police will be able tp easily identify the rightful owner, especially in the case of recoveries.  More importantly, the local police team will also have hand-held scanners that will allow them to read the information stored on the chips right on the street – so ownership could be verified on the spot in situations that warrant such action.  This fact, in itself, will create a powerful deterrent as potential criminals will be easily caught-out unless they can prove ownership.

PCSO Argyrou explained: “The message to cycle thieves is ‘enough is enough.’  Once fitted, these tags cannot be removed and means that the bicycle is easily identifiable. We have targeted specific locations where we have seen an increase in the number of cycle thefts and will use this new approach as a deterrent to would-be thieves. This is a fantastic opportunity for cycle owners to help secure their property.  I’m particularly thinking of anyone who received a new bike for Christmas.  Please, come along and have it tagged for free, and maybe prevent it from being stolen in the future.”

Police Sgt. David Wiggins added, “We hope for a good turn-out as we think this is exactly the kind of iniative that the public will appreciate, we believe it is a solid step forward in reducing cycle thefts in the area.”

The electronic tags are hidden in the frame of the bicycle and cannot be removed.  They have a unique code number which corresponds to information stored on a local database which is available to officers 24 hours a day. As part of the registration process, owners receive a "photo ID with their details and a photograph of the bicycle to certify ownership and to assist identification, if necessary. 

To get one of these microchips installed, local residents need simply to bring their bike(s) to the Caledonian Pool (Caledonian Road, just North of Copenhagen Street) between the hours of 4PM and 7PM on Monday 28 January.  The process should only take a few minutes, but come early as a large turnout is expected.  However, if you miss this opportunity, the police are planning another such tagging event in the near future.

While the Police are doing all they can, Residents should be reminded that this is only one facet of preventing crime, and that they can take further tips to avoid cycle theft. Keep in mind to:

• Always lock your bike when you leave it. You should invest in a good quality D lock or high security chain. A list of police recommended products can be found on the Sold Secure website www.soldsecure.com

• Lock your bike through the rear wheel and front wheel and secure it to a strong immovable object such as a bike rack or lamp post (making sure that you do not obstruct pedestrian routes).

• Do not allow the chain or lock to drag on the ground as this can make it easier for the thieves to break or cut it.

• Leave your bike where it can be seen by other people or an area covered by CCTV cameras.

• Remove any accessory that is easily stolen and take it with you.

• Have your bike marked and registered. There are a number of schemes that offer this service www.bikeregister.com & www.rfidsystems.co.uk

• Many bikes are stolen from people’s homes from insecure garages or sheds. Use your bike lock at home and secure your bike to a heavy or immovable object. There are a number of wall and ground anchors that can be fitted see www.soldsecure.com

• Make sure that the garage or shed is locked.

• If you have any information about anyone who might be involved with bicycle theft, please ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

For further information please contact Caledonian Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team on (020) 7421-0271, or email them at: Caledonian.SNT@met.pnn.police.uk

Posted in Anti Social Behaviour, Crime etc | Leave a comment

Have your say on the future of North London’s waste

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Stephan Schulte

Nlwp_advert_loresCouncils in Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest are currently developing a plan to deal with North London’s waste up to 2020. When adopted, the plan will form part of this council’s Local Development Framework.

The North London Waste Plan will identify sites for the wide range of waste facilities needed to manage the waste produced in North London. The plan is in the early stages of preparation but your views about the key issues and policy options that have been identified are wanted.

Local people will get the chance to find out more about the plan, and give their views at this early stage through a series of workshops which will be held in January and February 2008 in each of the seven North London boroughs. Details of these are as follows:

24 January, Ocean, 270 Mare Street, Hackney E8, 6.30-8.30pm
11 February, Camden Centre, Bidborough Street, Kings Cross WC1, 6.30-8.30pm

(Note in this notice, we’ve only indicated the workshops in the Hackney and Camden – link to workshops in other boroughs)

In order to attend the workshop please register in advance by emailing events@nlwp.net or calling Archie Onslow on (020) 7974-5916.

The full issues and options report can be viewed at www.nlwp.net, the council’s planning office or one of the council’s libraries. At the same locations you can also see related reports on waste data, previous consultation, flooding risks, habitats, equalities and sustainability.

You can send feedback in a number of ways:

• Send general comments by email to feedback@nlwp.net or in writing to Archie Onslow at Camden Town Hall, Argyle Street, London WC1H 8EQ
• Send your reponses to the questions in the issues and options report by completing the questionnaire online at www.nlwp.net
• If you are a member of a community group that has a particular interest in the issues, we would be happy to attend one of your meetings to discuss the issues with you. Just email us at events@nlwp.net

All questionnaires and comments must be returned by 4 March 2008.

Lucy Bird
Senior Planner (Policy)
Policy and Projects
Strategic Planning and Regeneration Division
Islington Council
222 Upper Street, N1 1YA

Tel:  0207 527 2291
Website:  www.islington.gov.uk

Posted in Community Health and Welfare | 1 Comment

Off the wall and into the garden!

Posted on January 23, 2008 by Sophie Talbot

Cyp_painting Great news from the Wharfdale Road Greenwall Project… we have been talking to the Copenhagen Youth and Play Partnership and are hopeful that through them, both the Copenhagen Youth Project (CYP) and Crumbles Castle will work with us to design the greenwall.

CYP have a very succesful history of producing great community art. Some of their work can still be seen in the window of Prospex at 334 Caledonian Road. For those that have not seen Crumbles, do go take a look on Bingfield Park – not many folk realise we have our very own castle there, tailor made for play. Even those of us without children cannot fail to be impressed!

The Greenwall Project aims to combine imaginative horticultural design with community-based art. The result will be a vertical garden and public art installation – the first in our area, all on an existing ugly narrow high wall. Do contact us with your ideas and comments. And… watch this space for news!

Posted in Green Wall Project | Leave a comment