by FitzWest admin | Oct 26, 2022 | Consultations, Environment, Rubbish, Uncategorized, Waste
Rubbish dumping and problems with waste are big problems for us all in Fitzrovia – and are certainly issues that come up with regularity at all of our meetings.
So we are pleased to share with you some of the steps that are being taken by Westminster Council to deal with this issue.
Here is a communication from Rob McCrae, the Senior City Inspector at Westminster Council about what is happening this week:
I would like to update you on the upcoming plans for a Waste Action Squad to tackle the challenge of dumped waste and littering. The Waste Action Squad will be a multi-agency team working with the community to identify effective solutions to address dumping hotspots through a trial programme, across Westminster.
This will start on Monday 24th October 2022 with a week of action focused on hotspots within the Fitzrovia ward area.
The key objectives for the team are:
· To provide a highly visible operation that shows this is an area of focus and that we are acting against persistent problems.
· To engage residents in a meaningful conversation about waste problems in their neighbourhood. To gather insight into how these could be tackled together and educate on the best ways of disposing of their waste to keep their streets clean and tidy.
· To create an action plan following the engagement to tackle these issues.
Below is a timeline for the week of engagement, the Waste Action Squad will be available at various different times on different days throughout the week, from 11am through to 9pm around the area providing education and enforcement on street and engaging with our residents and businesses.
|
Day & Time
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Area
|
|
Monday
PM:
14:00 – 16:00
Nightime:
19:00 – 21:00
|
AM: James Street j/w Oxford Street
Gazebo
PM: Bird Street/Barratt Street
|
|
Tuesday
PM:
11:00 – 13:00
Nightime:
15:30 – 17:30
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AM: Great Portland Street Gazebo
PM: Great Titchfield Street
|
|
Wednesday
AM:
10:00 – 12:00
PM:
15:00- 17:00
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AM: Wells Street
PM: Market Place (South) Gazebo
|
|
Thursday
AM:
12:00 – 14:00
PM:
16:00 – 18:00
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AM: Langham Street
PM: Foley Street
|
|
Friday
AM:
12:00 – 14:00
PM:
16:00 – 18:00
|
AM: Hanson Street
PM: New Cavendish Street
|
by FitzWest admin | Oct 19, 2022 | AGM, CIL, Consultations, Environment, Greening, The Plan
The Fitzwest Forum AGM last week was a great chance to hear about ongoing and future projects funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and to hear Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg speaking about the Fitzrovia environment and how the Council are dealing with environmental issues.
You can read the minutes here.
We were treated to interesting presentations on the following CIL projects:
- All Souls School Playground Renewal
- Carburton St Greening
- Soho Poly Theatre
- Market Place Greening and Development
- New Cavendish Street Planters
More details are available on our website: CIL Projects
For those who couldn’t attend or didn’t get a chance to leave their ideas, we would very much like to hear from you. These further ideas will be added to the suggestions from the AGM and the public meeting earlier in the year.
Ideas for funding should align to the Fitzwest Neighbourhood Plan and the recently amended priorities of Westminster Council which are:
- Affordable housing (enabling)
- Green transition
- Sustainable and active travel
- Community facilities
- Accessible and inclusive public spaces
Please email us with your ideas on info@fitzwest.org
by FitzWest admin | Feb 23, 2022 | CIL, Consultations, Environment, Greening, Our Neighbourhood, Public Space
Thanks to everyone who attended the public meeting on 15th February 2022 at the Fitzrovia Community Centre.
The purpose of the meeting was to hear ideas and to inform residents and local organisations about the Community Infrastructure Levy and how it works.
We were delighted to see lots of people there and to hear many ideas of how to improve the infrastructure of Fitzrovia West using the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
Amit Mistry, Principal Policy Officer from Westminster Council addressed the meeting and took questions about CIL, the kind of projects it funds and how it works.
There were lots of suggestions for projects from people at the meeting and via email beforehand. A summary of the subjects is here:
- Cycle racks modelled on Banja Luka
- Planters with cycle racks attached
- Planting around the tree on Carburton Street
- Replacing the planters near Holcroft court.
- Upgrading the cycle racks near the Almost Saturday cafe.
- A children’s playground (if a location could be found)
- Green walls
- Benches with green walls built into them (solar powered)
- Small on-street waste bins
- Rain gardens
- Trees on build outs
- Cultivation of tree pits
- Opening up the school for the benefit of the community
- A corridor through the Fitzrovia Centre to the garden behind
- Refurbish the old swimming pool behind the Fitzrovia Centre (expensive)
- Notices on bollards giving the times of collection of rubbish
- A study for a low traffic neighbourhood
- An air quality survey
- Refurbishing local benches
- Road bollards.
- Pop ups of various kinds
The full minutes of the meeting are available here – CIL Public Meeting 15.2.22
The time scale to come up with a project and apply for CIL funding is ongoing. The Westminster Council CIL committee meets every 3 months to assess the applications, so there are plenty of opportunities for people to create an application. All details are here:
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/planning-building-and-environmental-regulations/neighbourhood-community-infrastructure-fund/applying-neighbourhood-cil
Any comments or suggestions then please email us on info@fitzwest.org or leave a comment here.
by FitzWest admin | Nov 3, 2021 | Consultations, Environment, Greening, Public Space
After consulting previously with residents and businesses, we identified various locations which either have a lot of pavement space or are prone to rubbish dumping – or both! The idea is to position planters in these locations to brighten up and green our streets – but also we hope to deter dumping. We have funding that we successfully applied for from Tesco. The disruption of Covid has meant all plans were put on hold, but now we are keen to use the money to improve the area. Please let us know your thoughts.
Westminster Council have agreed in principle to the locations, so this is about making sure that residents and businesses know what is going on and have had a chance to have their say. Can you help? We are also looking for anyone who would be able to help maintain the planters, e.g. by watering, particularly in the summer.
We are very much hoping that this will lead to further greening projects as there have been many locations suggested by residents and businesses.
Click on this link here to fill out the survey: Fitzwest Greening Project 2021 Survey
by FitzWest admin | Feb 22, 2021 | Coronovirus, Environment, Greening, Public Space
Westminster Council are asking for your views on their plans for temporary works designed to support social distancing and enable the safe reopening of Oxford Street when restrictions are eased. You can comment directly to the Council: oxfordst@westminster.gov.uk
Letter from Cllr Melvyn Caplan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for City Management:
“It was agreed at the meeting on Monday, 25th January, with Amenity Societies and Neighbourhood Forums that Westminster City Council would share further information and invite comment on our plans for temporary public realm improvement works, proposed to begin towards the end of this month.
The first phase of the overarching Oxford Street District (OSD) strategy involves our proposals for installing a temporary scheme on Oxford Street itself, to showcase innovation, sustainability, culture and diversity.
We think quick-win interventions could be delivered by late Spring 2021 and present an exciting opportunity to test and experiment, as the first potential step towards the longer-term revitalisation of the district.
The temporary scheme would be delivered via a Temporary Traffic Order (TTO) for 18 months. We would plan to start these works at the end of this month.
These temporary proposals would see increased footway space on Oxford Street to enable safe, socially distanced access to the district, complemented by streetscape changes designed to improve the look and feel of the area. These plans are designed to enable the safe reopening of Oxford Street, when permitted, following the easing of national regulations and ensure visitors will be able to successfully socially distance. It has recently been reported that social distancing may remain in place until 2022, although there is no current guidance as to when that rule may change.
We will ensure that any works that take place are Covid secure and we think it would be beneficial to carry out these works during lockdown to ensure that any disturbance would be kept to a minimum. As with all schemes, we would keep it under constant review once established to ensure it is working effectively.
Our proposals for temporary improvements include:
- footway enhancements: extended pedestrian space and footways
- ‘street dressing’: a significant increase in plants and green areas, new contemporary seating, particularly in ‘pocket’ spaces along the street, colourful, themed banners which will be designed to create a sense of place and continuity
- ‘urban theatre’: spaces for outdoor performance, features that create a sense of enlivenment, with ‘smart’ technology-based installations, and concept lighting
Initial locations for the temporary scheme including footway widening have been identified for the following locations:
- West Oxford Street: Marble Arch islands, Bird Street junction, Davies Street junction, outside Selfridges
- Oxford Circus: Hills Place junction, Great Titchfield Street/ Market Place, Winsley Street junction, Old Cavendish Street junction, Holles Street junction
- East Oxford Street: Newman Street junction, Rathbone Place junction and Soho Square (north).
You can see further details of the proposed works at www.westminster.gov.uk/osd and we would be grateful if you could share your views on our plans or ask us any questions via our dedicated e-mail
oxfordst@westminster.gov.uk
We will also be launching our full vision and framework document later this month that will set out all of the ambitious and complementary improvements we wish to deliver with our partners for the benefit of residential communities, businesses, workers and visitors.”
by FitzWest admin | Feb 1, 2021 | Consultations, Environment, Greening, Our Neighbourhood
We want your ideas
The problem of on-street rubbish dumping and the need for more greenery are frequently mentioned by our members as important issues for all of us living and working in Fitzrovia.
The FitzWest Forum has supported various schemes to improve waste collection and deal with fly tipping. There is still a lot of progress to be made in this area and discussions are on going with Westminster Council on ways to deal with this.
One way to combat dumping is by improving the street scape – and a relatively quick way to do this is by planting and greening. The hope is that this will both deter dumping and also bring some much needed greenery into the area. We are planning to apply for funding from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which is a levy that local authorities can choose to charge on new developments in their area. The money is used to support development by funding infrastructure that the council, local community and neighbourhoods want.
We are very keen to for our members to suggest where potential planting could take place. With the help of the wider membership last year, we had previously identified various ‘dumping hot spots’ which you can see on the map. We have two questions for you.
- Which of these do you think would be best suited for adding planters and greening?
- Are there any other places you would suggest? Several sites have been identified in the central area of FitzWest – but what about the North and South?
Please comment on this page or email your ideas to us at info@fitzwest.org. We will collect all the suggestions together and select the most popular locations for our application.
