Crumbles Castle is located alongside Bingfield Park in the heart of Caledonian Ward
Cally Labour councillors have welcomed the Council decision, announced today, to increase funding to our adventure playground, Crumbles Castle. The extra money will start in April this year and means that Crumbles can provide a core service of 3 days throughout term times and “short day” of play (12-4pm) during the school holidays throughout the coming year.
After lobbying by Crumbles with support from Islington Play Association and local Councillors, Islington has increased its funding from £45,000 per year to £56,000.
Crumbles has gone through significant change in the past year with recruitment of new Committee members and staff plus a significant renovation and refurbishment of the building.
Cllr Paul Convery says “this is excellent news for kids in our neighbourhood. We have supported Crumbles over the past year to get a better funding deal from the Council. Crumbles is run by a volunteer committee and for many years it has received far less money from the Council than the other adventure playgrounds in the Borough – especially those run directly by the Council. Crumbles is now placed on a much stronger financial footing and is getting a more fair deal from the Council.”
“The increase in funding comes at a time when the Council is being forced by the Tory-led Government to make cuts of almost £40 million in 2011-2012. So this decision represents quite an achievement for this vital youth service in our neighbourhood. The Labour Council intends to safeguard its youth and play services over coming years in the teeth of these government cuts.”
Yet more traffic chaos scheduled for Cally Road
Stop-go traffic will last for at least 6 weeks
Network Rail is carrying out work to the “Ferodo” rail bridge on Cally Road, starting on Monday 10th January. The structural repairs mean that one lane of traffic will be closed for a period of 6 weeks.
Traffic lights will control movement of vehicles. Work hours will be from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday plus other work during weekends. The work is planned to finish on 21st February.
Network Rail says in a statement “we understand the effect our activities may have on the local community and can assure you that our team is familiar with working in close proximity to residents. We will endeavour to keep the noise and disruption to an absolute minimum; however some disturbance during this period may be unavoidable due to the nature of the work.”
Questions or complaints should be made to a National Helpline on 08457 11 41 41.
Paul Convery comments “This is bad news indeed. It’s engineering work that Network Rail did not issue much advance notice about. It wasn’t mentioned in their consultation about the main railway works that started over Xmas. This kind of traffic disruption will not help local traders and will badly disrupt bus services on the Cally Road“.
The Council’s planning enforcement team today served a Temporary Stop Notice on the nightclub Pappeos on Caledonian Road. It takes effect today and runs for 28 days. This requires them to cease operating between midnight and 08.00 on any weekday and Saturdays and entirely on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Breach of this notice is an offence which could result in immediate prosecution.
Cally Councillors urge anyone witnessing the premises open beyond the permitted hours to make a detailed record and send to Cllr Paul Convery because evidence may be needed for prosecution. Additionally, over the holiday period, the Council’s noise team have been briefed to make any visits necessary to gather evidence.
UPDATE 24th December
The Pappeos operators submitted a planning application to try and obtain a permission to operate later hours (until 4am on Friday and Saturdays). The permission has been refused by Islington Council (click here for decision notice and report (24-12-10)
Copenhagen Street zebra crossing to be restored to safe condition
The zebra crossing ... before
Local councillors have ordered the restoration of a “central refuge” in the zebra crossing on Copenhagen Street at its junction with Bemerton Street. The crossing serves two primary schools and the Lewis Carrol children’s library.
The zebra crossing was rebuilt during the October half-term to remove the central refuge at a cost of around £3,000. Council officers decided that the original configuration was “unsafe” for use by a new school crossing patrol officer that has been assigned to the location. Councillors were told that “the pedestrian refuge splits the crossing into two” and means that a school crossing patrol officer “would have to cross pedestrians in 2 stages which is very difficult to do safely and effectively.”
... and after
However, school crossing patrol officers only man the zebra for about 2 hours per day. For the rest of the day the wide “straight-across” crossing makes Copenhagen Street far more dangerous. The previous refuge acted as a pinch-point in the street requiring all traffic to slow-down. Until recently, there were 4 other such narrowings along Copenhagen Street (outside Blessed Sacrament Church, at the junctions of Haverstock Street, Delhi Street and at the other zebra crossing at the York Way junction.
Rupert Perry commented “Councillors were disappointed that the inital decision to remove the refuge was taken by traffic engineers without any public consultation … or even notification. They just decided that, because a school crossing officer was much needed, they would change the zebra crossing to suit this. The consequential reduction in overall safety seemed to be forgotten. After the removal of this refuge, traffic speeds have visibly worsened on Copenhagen Street because vehicles can now barrel down the middle of the road. Many cars go southbound, turning right out of Bemerton Street because it’s a cut-through from Caledonian Road … and they now easily cut the corner through the centre of the zebra crossing.”
Paul Convery adds, “I’m a Governor at Copenhagen Primary School; I walk my small son to the school most days and we use this crossing. Like most other parents I’m pleased we have a crossing patrol officer on duty butI don’t accept the argument that safe operation requires removal of the refuge. Without the refuge, this zebra becomes very much more dangerous for everyone using it outside the hours when a patrol officer is on duty.”
A decision to re-instate the central refuge was agreed unanimously by Councillors at the West Area committee on 22nd November. It is likely the work will be done during the half-term week of 21st February.
Pappeos nightclub starts up again … so does enforcement action
Pappeos nichtclub at 169-171 Caledonian Road
Pappeos nightclub is back and is already disturbing the neighbours at weekends. With Xmas/New Year looming, things looks like they will get much worse. However, the Council is taking firm enforcement action.
Earlier this year, Cally Councillors pressed hard to get this nightclub to stop operating beyond it’s lawful permissions. Enforcement action began in March of this year. Then in June, the operators of the nightclub managed to get a liquor and entertainment license. But within days they were evicted by the landlord for failure to pay bills and rent. Everything went quiet until 12th November. Then the partying started up again.
A planning permission granted in 2004 gave permission for “a cafe/bar, banqueting suite with dancing, meetings and conferences”. So, the venue does not have planning permission to operate as a nightclub. And it does not have consent to operate beyond midnight any night of the week. Their website already says it is open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Now operators have applied for planning permission to open until 4.00am on Friday and Saturday nights. The application submitted will be determined once a public consultation has been completed on 6th January 2011. Objectors should send their comments to the case officer, Bob Armsby (bob.armsby@islington.gov.uk) before this date. It is likely the application will be considered in public session by the planning committee in February.
In the meantime, enforcement action by the Council has begun. Islington’s lawyers are considering issuing a “stop notice” to prevent the operators running without a valid planning permission.
Cally Councillors will oppose the application to open until 4am. But they also say the venue should not be used as a nightclub at all. The operators may try and claim they are running something else. But they admitted it was a nightclub when applying for an alcohol and entertainment licence. Their own website says it is an “entertainment venue” and announced regular Friday night sessions with “resident and guest DJs” at “Pappeo Night Club”. The Pappeo’s entry on a prime club listings website was written by the operators and it says “Pappeo’s Music Lounge is Islington’s brand new night club”.
Paul Convery says “I shall oppose the latest planning application and I urge other residents to do likewise. Just because the operators managed to arm-twist an alcohol and entertainment license out of the Council does not mean they can expect to get a planning permission too. This venue is plainly a nightclub and it is located in the heart of a residential neighbourhood. We already know it causes considerable noise nuisance to the neighbourhood and to the residents of numerous flats above, alongside and opposite this venue. I don’t want people to stop enjoying themselves in London. But this is the wrong place for a club.”
“Choudhury Mansions” – Planning Inspector urged to uphold demolition order despite owner’s last ditch maneouvre
Probably the worst building in our neighbourhood ... it has a demolition order ready to go
The 4 year battle to remove a “modern slum” on Pembroke Street enters its final stage after the owner of Choudhury Mansions lodged a desperate appeal against Islington Council’s decision to demolish his building. A planning inspector will consider the appeal at an enquiry hearing beginning on 20th January 2011.
The building is on the site of the old Marquess of Salisbury public house on the corner of Freeling Street and Pembroke Street.
Cally Councillors have asked the Inspector to back the Council’s latest decision and uphold an earlier ruling that the building should be demolished.
The lengthy saga over this site began in 2001 when the closed pub was sold to a developer (trading as “Volta Developments”) who is quite well known in the area.
Construction began in early 2006 but the new building did not match the plans originally granted four years earlier. After pressure from local Councillors, Islington began enforcement action.
In 2008, the owner tried to get planning permission to regularise the building as constructed but this was refused and Islington issued a demolition order on the building. The owner appealed and lost. The Inspector upheld the demolition order but offered a final “chink of light” to the owner.
So the Council invited him to submit further plans to reconstruct the building in ways that would meet the Council’s planning policies. But these plans were dubbed “a disgrace” by local Councillors who said they “fundamentally failed to meet Islington’s basic planning policies.” The Planning Committee in September 2010 agreed and the scheme was rejected outright. There were 3 substantive reasons:
- The owner tried to flout Islington’s affordable housing requirement. The current building has 14 apartments and the owner wanted to reduce this to just nine – thereby dropping below the threshold at which affordable homes must be provided.
- The revised building would not provide any “amenity space” for any of flats, for example by providing gardens or yards for family-sized units. It also significantly failed to meet the standards for disabled access.
- The standard of design was very poor and it did not match the scale or character of adjacent buildings.
The public enquiry will be held in Meeting Room 2 at the Municipal Office at 222 Upper Street on Thursday 20 January 2011 beginning at 10am.
Gloria Johnson passes away
Gloria pictured for a recent Islington Tribune story about vandalism on the Bemerton estate
A redoubtable local resident, Gloria Johnson, has died at her home in Perth House on the Bemerton estate. For almost all her life she had lived in the Cally area having worked for the railways at Kings Cross. She was rehoused on the estate after it was built in the mid 1970s and was known to all the older residents … and a lot of the younger ones too.
She was utterly committed to her estate and to a way of life she felt had withered away – where people showed each other respect and behaved with courtesy. She had lived through the Bemerton estate’s rougher moments about a decade ago and was appalled at the way that prostitutes, drug dealers and other criminals had tried to move onto the estate. Although the worst of times are over, Gloria remained exceptionally vigilant to anti-social behaviour and to any incidents of vice-related activity anywhere in the neighbourhood.
Paul says “I shall miss Gloria. I used to see her almost every day and she would always have something to say or ask about. She had a burning sense about what was right and what wasn’t. And she would know what went on around her like almost no-one else. Sometimes she interpreted events wrongly but often she was absolutely spot-on. I’ve chaired scores of neighbourhood meetings in the last 5 years or so and you could be sure that Gloria would attend almost everything and anything. She could be quite hard work when she got her mind fixed on something. And that something wasn’t always the subject under discussion. But she was a sincere, determined and committed woman with very firm opinions.”
The funeral will be at St Andrew’s Church, Thornhill Square, at 10.30am on 19th November.
Tougher licensing rules to protect our neighbourhoods
Eagle pub, 427 Caledonian Road ... a late hours license application was successfully defeated by residents and Councillors
The area around Kings Cross will become a specially designated zone with tougher licensing rules to tackle alcohol-related anti-social behaviour. This is just one of the proposals contained in a (draft) licensing policy drawn-up by the new Labour administration at Islington Town Hall.
Tough new rules will also put limits on the number of off-licences in Islington and the hours they can open, to reduce anti-social behaviour caused by easy access to alcohol.
Residents are also being asked if they want the whole Borough to become a Controlled Drinking Zone, allowing police to confiscate alcohol from nuisance drinkers and impose on-the-spot fines.
There will be tough rules on underage sales. For a first offence, off-licences would be fined and given a written warning. Any further offence would lead to a full review of their licence. In serious cases a full review would happen after just one offence.
Cllr Paul Convery says “Excessive alcohol is a primary factor behind most anti-social behaviour. So, we’re cracking-down on the selfish minority of nuisance drinkers who cause problems for our community. We want to toughen up Islington’s policies so police and council officers can tackle the problems that alcohol causes. And we are making it harder for pubs and clubs to get licences or extensions to hours in the Kings Cross area.”
He adds “The draft policy still needs some further work done on it and the Council wants to hear from residents who have experienced the problems of late licenses, noisy bars, street-drinking and other forms of anti social behaviour.”
A copy of the new draft policy is at www.islington.gov.uk/Leisure/licences/licensing_act/. The consultation is open to residents and businesses and will run until 15th November. A short questionnaire is available via the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YRSPTB8
York Way tyre-dumpers go to jail
Three thousand tyres were dumped on York Way railway land
Two fly-tipping villains are now serving prison time after Islington Council prosecuted the “York Way Tyre dumpers”.
In August this year, two men were each given 3 month sentences, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to helping to illegally dump around 3,000 tyres on railway land in York Way. They were also served with ASBOs which prohibited them from being in a vehicle carrying used tyres.
Just three weeks after receiving the ASBOs, the pair were caught in a van filled with used tyres in the East End. Islington Council took them to the Crown Court and, on September 20th, each were jailed for two months for breach of their ASBOs. They were also ordered to serve the previous suspended sentences.
Paul Convery comments “This shows two things: Islington Council is now getting tough on fly-tippers in our neighbourhood; and ASBOs plainly work – breach an order and you go to prison, sharpish.”
The Council’s press release is here.
Stephan with Cllr Abdul Quadir, the Deputy Mayor of Camden. Also pictured (right) is a portrait of the British Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, to whom Stephan has now sworn his allegiance.
Cally Councillors have warmly congratulated Kings Cross community campaigner, Stephan Schulte, on acquiring UK nationality.
Originally from the USA, Stephan recently attended a citizenship ceremony at Camden Town Hall and has received his UK passport.
Cally Councillors also note that he is now entitled to vote!
Stephan has been a backbone of community campaigns in the Kings Cross area. He isone of the longest serving members of the Safer Neighbourhood Panel in Caledonian Ward.
After 21 years, Stephan acknowledges that “it doesn’t seem that long ago that I first came to London to try it out for a while. It agreed with me and I stayed.”
He also says that “life here is filled with wonderful new friends, and experiences and I know it has been enriched by my becoming more ‘international’ in attitude and outlook.”
Paul Convery says that “like many arrivals to London, Stephan’s life has been bogged-down with tiresome visas, work permits and residency application paperwork. As someone who has put a great deal of energy and imagination into making the Kings Cross neighbourhood a safer and attractive place, he richly deserves the benefits of becoming a British national.”
Labour Councillors representing Caledonian Ward in Islington 