Issues |
| Main Issues | The primary issues likely to be of interest to
residents of Pembridge Ward are considered to be the
following: Conservation Areas Trees Refuse Collection Street Cleaning Parking Control Neighbourhood Watch Police Sector Working Group Notting Hill Carnival London Underground Noise Traffic in Ladbroke Square Westbourne Hotel |
| Conservation Areas | The Ward covers the whole of the Pembridge
Conservation Area and half of the Ladbroke Conservation
Area. These formally designated Conservation Areas enable
the Council to exercise additional planning control over
development in order to conserve the special
architectural character of the area. It is important for
residents to be ever vigilant to ensure that unauthorised
work is not carried out which spoils the character of
the area. It is open to any resident to ring the Council
to report any activity that appears to be unauthorised;
the North Area officers of the Planning Department will
then inspect and deal with any matters that arise. The Council has applied to the government for approval of Article 4 Directions to bring under planning control such things as front boundary walls which, if removed, can have a serious effect on the character of the area; these are expected to be approved by the end of 2001. Back to Top |
| Trees | The Ward
is blessed with a large number of trees in Pembridge
Square, private gardens and in the streets. Being within
a Conservation Area it is a legal requirement for anyone
intending to carry out work on any tree to formally
notify the Council in advance. Where any unauthorised
work to trees is undertaken without permission the
Council will usually take vigorous legal action against
the person or persons responsible for it. Back to Top |
| Refuse Collection | The Ward benefits from the Council's decision to
provide a twice weekly street collection of refuse
including the collection of recyclable rubbish such as
newspaper, bottles etc. Back to Top |
| Street Cleaning | The Council's contractor, SITA, provides a 7-day
a week service of street cleaning so there is no excuse
for rubbish that has been deposited illegally on the
streets and pavements not being cleared up. Back to Top |
| Parking Control | The current residents bays parking control hours
in the Ward are now from 08:30 - 22:00 Monday to Friday
and 08:30 - 13:00 on Saturday. The Pay & Display
Bays for residents operate from 08:30 - 18:30 Monday to Friday as previously; after 18:30 parking by non-residents on single yellow lines is permitted but not in residents bays. Back to Top |
| Neighbourhood Watch | In conjunction with the Metropolitan Police the
following areas of the Ward are covered by Neighbourhood
Watch Schemes: Pembridge Gardens, Clanricarde Gardens and
Portobello Road. The Neighbourhood Watch scheme in
Portobello Road has suggested that signposting running
from Notting Hill gate tube should direct pedestrians
along Kensington Park Road, into Chepstow Villas and then
into Portobello Road. This suggestion is made in the
interests of safety as the crowds are very dense in the
section of Portobello Road between Pembridge Road and
Chepstow Villas. This proposals will need careful thought
as it is one of the aims of the Council to reduce the
cluuter of signs and signposts. Back to Top |
| Police Sector Working Group | The Ward
comes under the Holland Sector Working Group. The three
Ward Councillors attend the Working Group unless its
meetings clash with Council Committees on which they
serve. Back to Top |
| Notting Hill Carnival | The Notting Hill Carnival does not officially
take place in any streets within the Ward apart from the
boundary street - Westbourne Grove - along which the
Carnival Route passes. However, the streets of the Ward
are host to those passing through the area from the
public transport interchange in Notting Hill Gate to the
core area of Carnival within Colville and Golborne Wards
to the North. Back to Top |
| London Underground Noise | There is
a major problem many affecting some residents in
Pembridge Square and Linden Gardens as a result of noise
and vibration caused by the London Underground system.
This appears to have started in February 1995 when
various work were undertaken to the walls of the tunnel
and when a new design of suspension was introduced on the
trains. Inspite of investigative work over a number of
years London Underground currently appear to be undecided
as to how to tackle this problem. While some the
residents continue to suffer considerable inconvenience,
London Underground are themselves concerned in that the
trains are causing considerable wear and damage to the
tracks on the bend into Notting Hill Gate from the
Bayswater end. The Council has carried out extensive
noise and vibration tests, in conjunction with London
Underground, and these show that a "noise nuisance"
is being created as defined by the Environmental
Protection Act. While the Council could in theory serve a
notice on London Underground to require an abatement of
this nuisance it has received legal advice that it would
have to show what steps are available to London
Underground to rectify the situation; this is currently
the basis for discussion. Some publicity was given to this in the BBC News South East on Thursday 13th July. Michael Portillo, the Member of Parliament for Kensington & Chelsea, is taking an active interest in the matter and will lend his weight to the campaign to try to resolve the situation. Back to Top |
| Traffic in Ladbroke Square | As a
result of the extensive work carried out by Thames Water
in the southern section of Ladbroke Grove, and the
frequent traffic diversions that have been entailed, many
regular users of Ladbroke Grove and Holland Park Avenue
have become used to taking a shortcut along Ladbroke
Square and Ladbroke Terrace into Notting Hill Gate. The
increase in traffic along Ladbroke Square is causing
considerable concern to residents who live there. The
Council will keep a watching brief on the situation but
there is a need to allow a period of time for the short-cut
traffic to revert to its normal route before any attempt
is made to tackle the existing situation. It has never
been the policy of the Council to move traffic out of one
residential street and into adjoining ones - while this
may satisfy some residents who lose traffic it tends to
upset those who gain the traffic. Back to Top |
| Westbourne Hotel | The new Westbourne Hotel at 163/165 Westbourne Grove has been causing concern to a number of local residents. Firstly, it has had extensions added without the benefit of planning permission, for which the Council issued Planning Enforcement Notices in June 2000. Secondly, it applied to the Justices for a licence to serve alcohol to non-residents in the areas on the ground floor for which planning permission has not been granted. The Justices have granted a licence for residents to be served with alcohol but have deferred the consideration of the wider licence until such time as the planning situation has been resolved. The residents and business in Rosehart Mews, and residents in Pembridge Villas that back on to the new hotel, have expressed considerable concern about the development of this hotel and the effect that public use of it is likely to have if there are events that take place late at night. |
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