1 Rufford Street planning application rejected

Posted on December 11, 2006 by William Perrin

Islington_logo_1_2 Pleased to report that the West Area Planning Committee this evening rejected the proposal for extra units on the 1 Rufford Street development.  Three local residents spoke out against the application and the Committee rejected the proposals unanimously, thanks to a bravura performance from Cllr Convery.  This remined me what local Councillors are for – detailed knowledge of the immediate area, applied with vigour and precision to undermine a flawed proposal.

Posted in Planning, Licensing and Regulation | Leave a comment

Beaconsfield buildings – local history

Posted on December 10, 2006 by William Perrin

Beaconsfield_buildings_1879 I stumbled across this superb living history piece (click here) from a former resident of the awful Beaconsfield Buildings that used to be on the site of Bingfield Park and 8 Rufford Street.  Absolutely fascinating lesson of how state of the art social housing can go bad, in this case very bad.  A lesson we should remember as our representatives Beaconsfield_buildings_1969 approve increasingly dense housing in the planning system.  It may work nicely when it is new, but we could be storing up problems for future generations

Posted in Kings Cross local history | 120 Comments

Blue containers on Rufford Street

Posted on December 9, 2006 by William Perrin

Dsc01176These huge steel containers are driving residents mad.  They are a terrible safety hazard and have an awful impact on our neighbourhood amenity.  They are particularly dangerous as they are opposite the entrance to the concrete plant with its heavy lorry traffic – pedestrians are basically forced off the pavement into the path of oncoming 30 tonne lorries.  Or they have to walk through the enclosed passageway behind the containers that is perfectly designed for muggers – a sort of ‘tunnel of mug’.

Residents were not consulted at all – we just came home from work one day and there the containers were.  Cllr Convery is battling away to get them moved, working with my neighbours.   But the Council officials seem to have painted themselves into a corner.  United House who owns the containers has moved them once, after Council officials told them to put the containers in an even more stupid place at first.   The Council then gave permission for the containers to be on Rufford Street and Randell’s Road.

United House are doing some street work for the Council and will store tools etc in the containers.  It’s a fair bet that United House will now charge the Council cash for moving them again.  And that won’t be in the budget.  Officials accept that they need to be moved but are coming up with everything but action – you can almost feel the squirming in the email correspondence.
The underlying issue that really annoys me is why they thought they could dump these eyesores in a challenged neighbourhood and not stick them in Barnsbury or somewhere.  All pretty shoddy by the Council. 

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

Rufford Street – paddy field ?

Posted on December 9, 2006 by William Perrin

Rufford_paddy_fieldGlobal warming seems to be hitting Rufford Street hard as the Council diversifies into rice paddies if this green swamp outside number eight is anything to go by.  Bit of a drainage problem – I think the Council is onto it but will check.

Posted in Broken Stuff on the Street | Leave a comment

Carnoustie Drive – more tipping

Posted on December 9, 2006 by William Perrin

Carnoustie_trashCarnoustie Drive has a long history of tipping – which is getting worse again.  All three pics here show the situation today.  Carnoustie suffers from the inadequate waste management facilities of the Bemerton Estate, the poor practice of many traders on the Cally Road and the lack of waste storage for many people who live in bedsits and small flats above shops on the Cally.  Carnoustie_mattress There has also been a boundary problem with unclear responsibility between different bits of ICSL.  Things have got better over the last few years but it seems to be slipping back againCarnoustie_rubbish – will raise with the Council.

Posted in Street Tipping, Mess, Trash | 1 Comment

Light Pollution

Posted on December 9, 2006 by Stephan Schulte

Natwest_tower_200_pentonville_road_1 Have you ever wondered why it’s necessary for so many lights to be left on overnight at construction sites in the area?

Considering that individuals are constantly being chastised to conserve electricity and told to turn-off all their electrical gear – rather then leave the equipment in the standby mode – why are local contractors not required to extinquish all their excess lighting overnight?

Recently, I got so annoyed with the resultant light pollution and wasted electricity, I wrote to Islington Council and asked specifically why the contractor at 200 Pentonville Road (NatWest conversion to dorms), found it necessary to leave all their lights burning on the top four floors of their site overnight.

Within about two weeks, I had a result, and as some of you now know, as a result of Council intervention, these lights are now off.  A small annoyance solved…but maybe the start of something big.

Are you living in nearby a site in our neighbourhood that leaves unnecessary lights burning overnight?  If so, why not send a note to the Council letting them know.  I would suggest a short note to Contact Islington – contact@islington.gov.uk, for the attention of "Planning and Building Control."

Good luck and let this blog know if you’ve had any success.  Oh, and if you know anyone in the local press, maybe they want to take on this story for action across London!

Posted in How to get things done locally | 1 Comment

Keep signing that petition while i am away……

Posted on November 23, 2006 by William Perrin

Holiday Keeping up with all these local issues is great fun, but tiring – and as it gets darker and darker i am off to the sun for a little while and this website will have a rest for a couple of weeks (unless Stephan feels like posting).  However the petition against evil Network Rail and their stupid plans for closing access to Kings Cross from York Way and Islington will carry on.  A wonderful 64 people have signed up so far in only three days – if each of you could tell one friend, neighbour or co-worker to sign up that would be fab.  The more community solidarity we show the better. I expect you to have got over 100 when i get back Click here to go to the petition and remember, it only takes a minute to sign up.

Posted in #googlebridgeKX, Kings Cross Station Refurbishment | Leave a comment

Kings Cross refurbishment – petition the Prime Minister

Posted on November 20, 2006 by William Perrin

Kings_cross_station_3_2The Camden planners have only temporarily knocked-back the awful plans by Network Rail to close access to Kings Cross from York Way for ever.  The plans will come back to the Council just after Christmas.  So we have to keep the pressure up.  To rally support I have created a petition to the Prime Minister on the new No10 petitions website (created by incidentally by Tom Steinberg a neighbour in Matilda Street).  It is really easy to use – you can put your name down by clicking here .  It takes less than a minute and is perhaps the highest profile way we can make a protest without even leaving the house.

Go, give it a go otherwise you may regret it when you have to walk all the way around Kings Cross to the St Pancras side on a wet and windy January night.

Posted in #googlebridgeKX, Kings Cross Station Refurbishment | Leave a comment