Moped arson on Regents Canal towpath

Posted on May 14, 2007 by William Perrin

Canal2007_049It is sad to see that moped theft and arson has returned to the area after being absent for a while.  Lisa reports three separate incidents of moped arson on the Regents Canal towpath near Treaty Street, with some being set alight right next to residential buildings.  Quite scary for people who live there.  Hopefully the police are on the case.   The only durable solution though will be activities for local young people to channel their risk-taking behaviour into a more productive outlet.

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

King’s Cross – Think Again Campaign

Posted on May 11, 2007 by Stephan Schulte

Think_again_logo_2One of the hardest working groups in the King’s Cross area is the King’s Cross Railway Lands Group.  As many of you know they are currently engaged in a High Court legal battle with Camden Council regarding Argent’s King’s Cross Central Development.  They continue to need as much local support as possible and hope interested members of the community will help.  Specifically they need help with the following:

Attendence at the Judical Review Hearing In High Court, 24th – 25th May.
Help with costs to the support the campaign – there are a number of different ways to do this (see their website, mentioned below).
Write letters to local papers.
Sign the online petition to No 10 Downing Street
Visit the RailwayLands Exhibition at the Dissenters Gallery in Ladbroke Grove.

Please check the KXRLG website for more detailled information and the latest developments on all of these matters

Thank you for your support.

Posted on behlaf of:

Marian Larragy, mobile: 07969 183 103
Michael Edwards, mobile: 07813 1944 01
Co-Chairs, KXRLG

Posted in Planning, Licensing and Regulation | Leave a comment

Granary Square, Central St Martins

Posted on May 11, 2007 by William Perrin

Fishing_regents_canal In the distant future, when/if Argent finish the redevelopment of the railway lands behind kings cross station, a new London University of the Arts will take up residence in Lewis Cubitt’s Granary building (the huge Victorian building in the middle of the site).  The Flickr photo feed on this site led me to a project by some students at Central St Martins on how to bring the square in front of the Granary to life. 

It’s bleeding edge stuff but reflects how young designers see urban spaces and the relationship of younger people with technology. My favourite concept is a Nintendo Wii style fishing game alongside Regents Canal using mobile phones.  You can see their tutor’s views here and a set of photos here.  If you haven’t used a Wii you might not get this. But i have fond memories of my 64 y.o. mother playing a great game of Wii tennis at Xmas.

Posted in Kings Cross N1C, railwayslands | 1 Comment

NHS Coming to King’s Cross

Posted on May 10, 2007 by Stephan Schulte

Nhs_logo While out walking yesterday I spotted a poster mounted on a pole on Balfe Street notifying local residents of a new planning application – P070898 just beginning the consultation process.  To check it out, I went online and found the application and it is for: Change of Use to Class D1 (non residential institution) – walk in NHS healthcare centre.

As I did not know what this generic expression actually meant, I requested our local Councillor Paul Convery to investigate. I felt that as a general medical facility it would be welcomed by the neighbourhood, whereas if it was “drug oriented,” local folks would be more concerned. The following is Paul’s response:

This is something I had heard some talk about. It’s a privately financed NHS healthcare centre that offers a "city-centre" walk-in service, free at the point of use. For us local politicians it’s a rather intriguing concept (not the private finance bit) but that it’s contracted directly by the Dept of Health rather than by Islington’s Primary Care Trust. So, it’s parachuted in by the Feds at a time when increased devolution is meant to be the guiding principle. This model is mainly because it’s designed as a service for people who work around KX, not simply people who live here. I’m going to have a conversation with Karen Sennet the senior partner at Killick Street practice because I would like her perspective. The attached letter (Download w01_letter_17_04_2007_10_47_07.pdf) explains it quite well and emphasises there’s no needle exchange/methadone supply etc under consideration. All told, it’ll be a pretty good addition to the neighbourhood.

Paul Convery
Caledonian Ward Councillor

Given this info, it looks like a good thing, but of course if anyone does have concerns and wants to air them to the Planning Department they must write in before 24 May.  This can be done via email to the case officer, Sujata Majumdar at: development.control@islington.gov.uk.

Posted in Planning, Licensing and Regulation | 1 Comment

New artificial pitch for Kings Cross

Posted on May 10, 2007 by William Perrin

Cally_pitch_after Some really good news for local kids and anyone who wants a good artificial grass surface – the excellent local youth group the Copenhagen Youth Project have pulled off a real coup in refurbishing the Cally Pitch next to Orkney Tower – the before and after photos are great.  Giving local kids something to do in this inner city landscape is vital part for their development.  The local girls football team Cally Girls has played a huge part in raising the money.

Cally_pitch_before The CYP’s press notice says

‘Thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Copenhagen Youth Project’s young footballers, the Cally Pitch near Orkney House has been resurfaced and will re-open soon for supervised sports sessions for young people. The old asphalt roof had to be relaid, because it had become dangerous and unusable and a new artificial grass surface put on top. It is marked out for five-a- side football and basketball but it is now an attractive surface for many other activities.’

‘There will be a reception hosted by the CYP at 6.30 pm on 24 May at the Cally Pitch, to celebrate the Copenhagen girls’ football team, who raised £36,500 for the new surface and to thank the Listen Up Team’s young people’s jury, who made the money available from the Youth Opportunity Fund.‘

Groups like CYP are totally dependent upon help from the local community – they are always looking for people with experience of being on boards or who have some skills or cash to donate.  It is a really worthy cause right on our doorstep – arguably much better than sponsoring a goat in Africa. 

If you want to find out more about it or help or donate contact Eloise Calandre Tel: 020 7607 6050 or 07852 284538.  There are details on how to book the pitch etc at the link.Download cally_pitch_newsletter.doc

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

What kind of YOB does this????

Posted on May 5, 2007 by Stephan Schulte

P1010004 Frankly, I’m just at a loss for words about this!  As I walked up York Way on Saturday afternoon and glanced down Railway Street I was greeted by this sight!

All the trees on Railway Street were paid for by local resident and business contributions and already on this street alone three of the seven recently planted trees have been vandalized.  And this is not the only place – as one walks around the neighbourhood there are a number of other empty tree pits where newly planted trees have been vandalized.

Did anyone see or hear anything?  If you did, please let me know as I would like to make it my personal quest to go after those responsible.

Posted in Anti Social Behaviour, Crime etc, Wildlife and Nature | 2 Comments

Juicy Fresh – now that sounds pretty appealing!

Posted on May 5, 2007 by Stephan Schulte

P1010001

This just in from Sarah Ward of Northdown Street…

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been walking past a new shop front on Caledonian Road and wondering if it really was a shop or just looked like one but was never open! Anyway, I can confirm that ‘Juicy Fresh’ opened this past Monday and sells all sorts of lovely Thai, Malay, Japanese and South American food including tons of fresh fruit and vegetables. They’re even going to start making fresh juices and smoothies in a couple of weeks time.

I popped in and the couple who own it seem very nice and eager to meet local residents. They’ve had some trouble sorting out the shop frontage, hence why it looks like it might not be open.

The shop is on the western side of Caledonian Rd just below the entrance to Northdown Street but well before Tesco’s.

Juicy Fresh
55 Caledonian Road
N1 9BU

Please pop in and have a look and let your neighbours know it’s open too. It’s always worth supporting a nice local business that adds something to our area (and saves us going all the way to Chinatown for
ingredients!)

Sarah
_______________________

If you have other news to report that would be of interest to your neighbours, send an email to Will or Stephan…

Posted in Food and Drink | Leave a comment

Sneaky little visitor

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Sophie Talbot

Fox_26_april_2007_2 On the morning of 26 April 2007 I was sat at my desk in our flat on Wharfdale Road when who walked right into my living room but Reynard! I gently ushered it onto the step and offered a range of foods from the healthy options menu. It was quite happy with the mixed seeds and nuts usually reserved for local sparrows and the female mallard that visits from time to time!

Posted in Wildlife and Nature | 1 Comment