Camden as a ‘Liveable Neighbourhood’
This is not the revival of the nineteenth century Camden pleasure garden but depicts the ups and downs over the last 18 months for us.
Our Committee met last week and reviewed the current position for Camden on Liveable Neighbourhood Council-run programme. At that time, we were able to acknowledge that the overall programme was on course to support several experimental schemes. We see today that the Council budget for 21/22 (commencing 1st April) has been announced here.
Here is the important bit which allocates several million pounds to the first year of the programme. We are helping our Walcot ward councillors with their written bid to be considered in one of the first wave of communities. This has to be submitted next week.
The primarily bid centres on our needs for:
- a return to quieter and safer neighbourhood from Camden Road down to the London Road,
- so that using Camden to walk, cycle or take the bus somewhere have a less threatening and more reliable journey,
- well regulated parking for residents throughout Walcot – not just zones 11 and 15,
- some electric car charging points accessible from the kerbside as we begin to make these greener choices.
If there is anything you feel we may have missed please fire them through to me at [email protected] or as a comment to this post – from the obvious to the obscure – this is the time to make our case.
Thanks to all the Committee. Carry on the good work!
I note that No consultation has taken place with residents that connect to Camden road and no advertising of proposals has been put forward. I see this week in the Local look Larkhall has a questionnaire for ALL residents to fill in, and Other groups have had public zoom meetings, Even your AGM where I hear you discussed this wasn’t open to the wider public to see what you have planned.
I would draw your attention to this statement from Weca in respect to Banes plans”there may be an element of a breach to the public sector equality duty if the council haven’t done an equality impact assessment before closing the roads, parking spaces and general access to disabled people.”
Reading comments here I see you said that you would put your proposal into the Local look. If what I hear is correct then your plan will affect the residents of Larkhall Fairfield and the london road, Is it not fair that you included these people in in what you are planning.
You as a group need to stand up and publish here and in the wider press what you plan as freom what other residents groups have said it seems you have no support for you plan other than amongst yourselves.
Thank you for your comments, Joe G.
In response:
No consultation – despite a weekly blog going to 234 subscribers, a dedicated section of the web-site devoted to liveable neighbourhoods which has been updated for the last year, two consecutive AGMs with published papers, 3 leaflets dropped through residents doors, an online campaign with 159 signatories, plus a consultation over the summer of 2020 run by the council, to which over 200 people in the area participated?
This is not a ‘Camden Road’ initiative. If you look at the map of our area in the Association section of this web-site you will see five other streets that we represent, on which two of our committee members live.
Our AGMs, other than 2020 which was zoom, are held in a public venue, to which anyone is welcome. All households get a four page newsletter delivered to their door by a committee member who is prepared to speak to the occupant if they so wish
The introduction of Liveable Neighbourhoods’ is Council policy and we are simply supporting our ward councillors in putting their bid together. This is step 2 of a 5 step process so what the ultimate solution, if any, looks like is still subject to a lot of consideration.
I cannot find any reference to Local Look on our web-site and don’t recall making the undertaking you are suggesting.
We have reached out to as many other stakeholders as we can contact including other residents’ associations. We have had a series of productive meetings with Transition Larkhall who are starting their process.
If you represent one of those bodies that we may have not contacted you have an open invitation to speak to me or, of course, your ward councillors.