Neighbourhood news, features, and comment
There were nine planning applications validated by Westminster Council in Fitzrovia West during August 2020. They were mostly minor applications, advertising consent, change of use, and submission of details required by previous applications. Display of one non-illuminated fascia sign measuring 0.35m x 2.54m and one non-illuminated projecting sign measuring 0.65m x 0.65m 61 Great Portland Street …
Continue reading "Planning applications in Fitzrovia West, August 2020"
This September cyclists can get their bike checked over and security marked at various locations in the West End including Fitzrovia. Cycling along New Cavendish Street in Fitzrovia. Cyclists can a get free bike check in September. The New West End Company and Heart of London business Alliance are partnering with Cycle Confident and the …
Continue reading "Get your cycle checked and security marked in the West End this September"
Westminster council has published its latest plans to allow cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars in the West End to set out tables and chairs to increase trading capacity from 4 July when lockdown is eased but while social distancing continues. Some roads will be closed and pavements widened for outside eating and drinking. The temporary …
Continue reading "Westminster council sets out its table on outdoor dining, drinking and toilets"
The Times reports that fellow Conservatives at Westminster council approved a home extension and overturned the planning department's recommendation to reject the plans. Robert Jenrick the secretary of state for housing who is currently embroiled in a row over a planning decision has some previous experience with planning matters, reports The Times newspaper. Conservative councillors …
By Barbara Corr A group of residents in City of Westminster want the council to make our streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists and help maintain social distancing ahead of any lockdown being eased. Fitz West and Westminster Healthy Streets want to hear suggestions for improving the streets and have produced a map to which …
Continue reading "Help us improve the streets for walking and cycling in Fitzrovia West"
The leaders of both local councils serving Fitzrovia have appealed for volunteers and have announced that many services they offer will need to change in response the the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. Cllr Rachael Robathan, leader, Westminster City Council, wrote to community organisations to say: "We have contingency plans in place to keep essential services running …
Westminster City Council is seeking views on making the current temporary closure of Riding House Street at the junction with Cleveland Street permanent, and making a number of other changes to the street layout. The council says it is seeking to improve the eastern end of Riding House Street by formalising the existing temporary closure …
Continue reading "Consultation on closing part of Riding House Street to motor traffic"
Westminster council wants people to help it improve air quality by reporting drivers running their engines when parked but hasn’t got a clue where the worst offenders are located, according to a Freedom of Information request made by a Fitzrovia resident. Yet despite what the FOI response revealed the council maintains it does keep a …
Continue reading "Westminster council has a problem with air pollution and FOI requests"
Community groups in Fitzrovia and Marylebone are bracing themselves for another battle with Westminster council in advance of crucial decisions being taken on the future of Oxford Street this autumn and winter. While full pedestrianisation of Oxford Street is off the agenda the council have been pushing forward with a plan to pedestrianise part of …
Westminster council has finally a got around to consider a 20 miles per hour speed limit across the city with the announcement this week of a public consultation on the plans. If given the go ahead it will mean an end to the two different speed limits in operation on several streets in Fitzrovia on …
Continue reading "Westminster council announces consultation on 20 mph limit"
Great Portland Estates may have been awarded "Property Developer of the Year" but people living in "affordable" homes at its Rathbone Square site in Fitzrovia are struggling to live in poorly designed flats and are watching their bathrooms fall apart mere weeks after they moved in. Residents complain of high service charges, incompetent management, rotting …
Westminster council has written to community groups in the neighbourhoods surrounding Oxford Street to announce that "completely new proposals" will be drawn up after the summer but that pedestrianisation is "off the table for good". In a letter signed by leader Nickie Aiken and cabinet member Richard Beddoe they say there is a very clear …
Plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street have caused Westminster council's Tory leadership and their Labour opponents to defy Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and have given birth to a single issue party to fight the local elections this Thursday. Westminster’s cabinet member for Oxford Street, Daniel Astaire, has now told officials to bring a halt to …
The extent of former council homes sold under Margaret Thatcher's Right to Buy policy and which are now owned as buy-to-let has been revealed by research published this week. Inside Housing magazine has published details of the number of former council homes now being let by private landlords, after analysing statistics from two-thirds of councils …
Continue reading "Number of council homes grabbed by private landlords revealed"
Westminster Council carried out a pilot rubbish and recycling collection system in 10 streets in Fitzrovia this autumn and for the second time is asking people's views on the scheme. The trial was introduced in September in partnership with the Fitzrovia West Neighbourhood Forum and received a mixed reception from residents. A petition calling for the return …
Continue reading "Westminster Council and FitzWest seek views on waste and recycling (again)"
Westminster council has announced that it is to delay a consultation on the revision of its major planning policies until the spring of 2018. In an email to community groups, Councillor Daniel Astaire, cabinet member for planning and public realm, explained that due to a number of recent policy announcements from the Mayor of London and …
Continue reading "Westminster council moves review of City Plan to spring 2018"
Plans for a new hotel in Fitzrovia will be unveiled at a public exhibition at the site on Newman Street next week. Travel and leisure group Leeu Collection will shortly be submitting a planning application to Westminster City Council to redevelop 50-57 Newman Street. The site was at one time a post office but its last …
Continue reading "Travel group to reveal new plans for hotel on Newman Street"
Mayor Sadiq Khan this week revealed more details on his proposal to pedestrianise London's Oxford Street and confirmed exactly what residents in surrounding districts feared -- all vehicles will be simply diverted into neighbouring streets but with a reduction in buses serving the area. The plans put out for consultation this week by Westminster Council …
Continue reading "Oxford Street pedestrianisation plans divert traffic into neighbouring areas"
Westminster council is keen to get Fitzrovia West residents' views on its recycling and rubbish collection pilot scheme which is coming to a close this month. The pilot scheme was introduced in ten streets from September in partnership with the Fitzrovia West Neighbourhood Forum, and residents and businesses were sent letters explaining the new collection …
Continue reading "Westminster council wants views on Fitzrovia recycling and rubbish pilot"
People living in the neighbourhoods near Oxford Street have come out strongly against plans to pedestrianise the shopping street because of concerns about displacing motor vehicles into surrounding areas, according to the results of a consultation carried out by Transport for London and Westminster Council and published this week. More than 65 percent of local …
Continue reading "Most local residents oppose or have concerns about Oxford Street plans"
