Millbank residents get shirty in battle to save their washing lines

Residents on the Millbank Estate are fighting plans to remove old-fashioned washing line poles used for 70 years.

Until now people on the Millbank Estate in Pimlico had been airing their clothes on lines held up by the same posts for generations.

But some of the poles and lines have been “removed urgently” by housing bosses, who claim they are a “health and safety hazard.” When workmen tried to take away the rest, residents blocked their path and refused to move.

Protest banners — old shirts — have been sprayed with the slogan “Save Our Lines.”

An online campaign to bring back the poles is planned. Resident Barbara Brady, a film costumier who is leading the campaign, said: “We need the lines because no one has any room in their flat for a tumble drier. They were removed in undue haste and nobody has been consulted.”

Millbank Estate Management Organisation, which runs the estate of 500 flats, said it wanted to buy new rotary driers instead but these were rejected as “ugly.”

It said: “We have written to residents… to let them know we would remove the corroded washing lines and would replace them. We want to provide better and more flexible facilities.”

New petition launched to save Westminster Fire Station from closure

Labour Councillors have launched a new petition to save Westminster Fire Station from closure

http://petitions.westminster.gov.uk/firetimes/

“We the undersigned petition Westminster City Council to redouble its efforts to oppose the Mayor’s proposal to close Greycoat Place fire station after London Fire Brigade figures show that response times in six wards will not meet the critical six-minute target set by the London Fire Brigade.”

If the Mayor’s plans go ahead Fire Brigade response times in Warwick ward would increase from 4 minutes 34 seconds to 7 minutes 16 seconds and by more than two minutes in Tachbrook and Vincent Square Wards.

Call for pelican crossing after motorcyclist suffers serious injuries in collision at Harrow Road ‘danger junction’

A motorcyclist was hospitalised after colliding with a van just weeks after a fatal accident at the same Westbourne Park junction.

Police closed Harrow Road at the junction with Chippenham Road on Tuesday morning and paramedics took the rider to St Mary’s Hospital with injuries that were “serious, but not believed to be life threatening”.

Margaret O’Brien, 93, who lived near Admiral Walk, died after a collision with a lorry in March and residents described crossing the road as a “gamble with their lives”.

Their have been renewed calls for Westminster council to install a pelican crossing at the junction and a petition (see below) has been signed by more than 100 people.

Sandra DeCosta, who lives opposite the junction, said: “Westminster are dragging their heels. How many more accidents have to happen, how many more people need to die? They need to hurry up.”

Labour group leader Paul Dimoldenberg said: “Action needs to be taken this week. I have written to the council to call for urgent action to protect residents at this dangerous junction.”

http://petitions.westminster.gov.uk/pelicancrossing/

Mayor Boris told to abandon Greycoat Place closure because fire station cuts will ‘put lives at risk’

The ‘West End Extra’ reports;

“EMERGENCY response times are set to increase by more than two minutes in parts of Westminster if plans to close fire stations get the green light.

Official figures show that response times in six wards will not meet the critical six-minute target set by the London Fire Brigade.
Greycoat Place fire station in Victoria is one of 12 slated for closure as part of Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s plans to cut £45million from the brigade’s budget.

If the plans go ahead response times in Warwick ward would increase from 4 minutes 34 seconds to 7 minutes 16 seconds and by more than two minutes in Tachbrook and Vincent Square.

Conservative and Labour councillors have formed an unlikely alliance in their opposition to the closure and passed a motion which agreed to “seek any changes to [the plans] that will be necessary to ensure the continued safety of Westminster” at a full meeting of the council earlier this month.

Warwick ward Conservative Nickie Aiken said the response times were “unacceptable”, adding: “We have always laid out some very strong general arguments against the principle of these cuts.” She also raised concerns about the number of high-rise buildings and conservation areas that will be affected by the closure.

She said: “As we have repeatedly argued once we lose these fire stations they will be gone for ever.”

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour group, said the mayor should “abandon his plans to close Westminster fire station immediately”, adding: “These figures show that the mayor’s cuts will put lives at risk.”

He said: “Getting to a fire quickly saves lives. Seconds matter in these life-and-death situations.

“A fire can quadruple in intensity every two minutes.”

• A public meeting is due to be held on June 11 at Parker Morris Hall, 34 Great Smith Street, SW1P 3BU from 7pm.

Outbreak of gang violence as police station closure looms

The ‘West End Extra’ reports;

“POLICE were granted emergency stop-and-search powers following a spate of related stabbings and fears of “increased gang tensions” in north Westminster.

Officers reported four attacks over six days last week that they say are linked.

Two of the young men who received stab wounds were already known to the council’s gang units and all three refused to co-operate with police inquiries.

Westminster North MP Karen Buck said the figures highlighted the need to provide alternative bases for officers after the closure of Harrow Road police station.

She said: “The information we have received about a further upturn in serious youth violence makes the case even stronger.

“I am entirely happy with the proposal for a different kind of police presence, but a police presence there must be in the north-east and north-west of the borough.”

A controversial section 60 order was set up across Westminster, north of Oxford Street, over the weekend, giving police the right to search people and vehicles without needing grounds for “reasonable suspicion”. The additional powers were granted in response to what the Met described as “an increase in gang tensions”.

But Ms Buck said: “This is not going to be a solution, it is an emergency measure, but it is not going to be the way that you solve the problem if, and it is a big if, you have a resurgence of the problem we had two years ago.”
She added: “You are not going to have a section 60 over half of the borough and expect it to be managed and enforced for the next four or five months.”

In the six-day period between May 3 and May 9, three young men were stabbed and police were called to a fourth incident described as a “large fight involving weapons”.

Leader of the Westminster Labour group Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg said: “These latest incidents involving young people show how it would be dangerous folly to close Harrow Road police station without opening a new police station in north Paddington to take its place. Residents in north Paddington are entitled to a full local police service, not the long-distance policing that is currently proposed by an increasingly out-of-touch and complacent mayor.”

A spokesman for Westminster police said: “Following an increase in gang tensions within the north of the borough towards the close of last week, provisions under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 were utilised as part of our planned police response.

“Additionally, a number of search warrants were executed at key addresses as a result of intelligence received and an extensive level of police resources were deployed across the borough as part of a cohesive pan-London effort in respect of recent gang-related incidents.”

Police said the section 60 order ended on Monday morning following “no gang-related incidents” over the weekend.”

http://www.westendextra.com/news/2013/may/outbreak-gang-violence-police-station-closure-looms

London Living Wage should be paid by all Westminster Council’s contractors, say Labour

Labour Councillors have called on Westminster City Council to require its contractors to pay the London Living Wage when all future contracts are let, after the Council revealed that it has no information on the wages its contractors pay and no policy requiring contractors to pay the London Living Wage of £8.55 per hour.

Following questions to the Council, The Council’s Human Resources staff say;

“We do not have a specific policy in place requiring contractors staff to be paid at London Living Wage and we do not hold details of contractors’ pay and remuneration structures. Many of our commercial contractors have been in place for some years, and there could not be a requirement to pay the LLW imposed part way through a contract.”

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said;

“If Westminster Council wants to be considered a good employer then it must require all its contractors to pay the London Living Wage on all future contracts. Westminster Conservatives have repeatedly raised concerns at the growing Benefits bill paid by the public to people on low incomes. Perhaps if the Council’s contractors paid the London Living Wage the Benefits bill would be a lot lower than it is now. Why should Westminster residents continue to subsidise the Council’s low-wage contractors through increasing Benefits bills? It is about time the Council’s contractors all paid the London Living Wage to their staff.”

Renewed call for a Pelican Crossing at the Harrow Road/Chippenham Road junction after another serious accident

Labour Councillors have renewed their call for a Pelican Crossing at the Harrow Road/Chippenham Road junction after another serious accident this morning.

Residents say;

“There was another terrible collision with a pedestrian and as you already know recently someone else was killed there. It needs to be policed and the signals need to be looked into and changed to make it safe as it stands it is lethal. This needs urgent attention. “

“Had to take my son to school through police lines again today. Do you think there’s enough blood spilled yet for either City Hall to accept there’s a problem with this junction? Sorry to sound brutal, but feeling quietly desperate about this today.”

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said;

“Action needs to be taken this week. I have written to the Council to call for urgent action to protect residents at this dangerous junction.”

Meanwhile residents can sign the petition launched following a fatal traffic accident on Wednesday 27th March.

http://petitions.westminster.gov.uk/pelicancrossing/

There is an urgent need for a Pelican Crossing at the junction of Harrow Road and Chippenham Road, next to the former Windsor Castle public house and the Windsor Gardens Estate. Many children cross at this junction, with the St Peter’s primary school 20 yards around the corner. With the opening of the former One Stop at 317 Harrow Road as a Council Registrar’s Office soon, many more people are likely to park in Chippenham Rd and cross the road at this junction. This is a high density residential area with many elderly and young people living in the area.