Thames Water forced to repair bad work
June 24th, 2008 by highburyeastThe Council and Local residents in Fieldway Crescent have won a battle to ensure Thames Water to make good shoddy repair work that has ruined the street.
Cllr Terry Stacy said “After major excavations back in March local resident expected the road to be put right, instead the road surface is poor and irregualr causing pot holes and looking a mess. It was basically a temporary repair. This is not good enough. I contacted Thames Water to get swift action.”
After months of Thames Water refusing to undertake the work the council finally took action to bill Thames Water for the cost of the council undertaking the work they fianlly did the work. “At last!” concluded Terry
Improvements to Highbury Fields
May 12th, 2008 by highburyeastAs many of you know, after a long consultation process with the community a vision was agreed for Highbury Fields that is helping us make the Fields better for everyone.If you want to see a full copy of the vision click here: click here
What has happened to the fields since the vision document?
- new metal, bow top fencing around the play area new benches
- installed the installation of a 20mph zone around the fields and adjoining roads
- new and improved road crossings (near Ronalds Road) to make access to the park easier
Below are details of what is to come:
Improvements to the Fields Soil and Turf
To deal with large numbers of Arsenal Fans and now summer sun seekers the grass is showing signs of wear and tear. In some areas the grass has been worn away to bare soil which is heavily compacted and increasingly susceptible to water logging. The permanent damage that could result from this is a real concern – it would create real eyesores and water problems. So the grass is going to be re-sown starting next week and up until early July, this will means some areas of the fields will be cordoned off to give the grass a chance to grow. There will also be some changes to prevent future damage. This will mean:
North West end
- The path to the West of the ranger’s hut will be removed and grass reinstated in its place.
- The first set of steps will be removed, and cobble stone reinstated in its place in character with the surrounding area.
- The post and rail fencing will be extended, down Highbury Crescent, to the second set of steps, again in character with the existing post and rail.
- A gap in the fencing will be created opposite the Ronald’s Road crossing. This gap will have an inbuilt, extendable tube, to allow for it to be closed on Arsenal match days.
- Existing damaged post and rail fencing will be rebuilt
South East end – Highbury Pool
The area between the Highbury Place path to the playground (roughly opposite Calabria Road) and the edge of the fence to Highbury Pool is also heavily used by pedestrians and in shade for the greatest part of the year. Discussion with your councillors, residents and officers concluded that restoring grass in this area was unlikely to succeed creating a unusable space. So instead the council will fence off the area using black bow top fencing to match the playground and encourage pedestrians further up Highbury Place. There will also be planting of low growing, native shrub species to hide changes in styles of fencing. These works will be completed by the end of June 2008.
Development of a Tree Management Plan
By the summer of 2008, the council’s tree service will have the started consultation process for the tree management plan for Highbury Fields. This document will define the long term maintenance and planting objectives for the trees on the fields.
Development of a Management Group for the fields
As agreed with residents the councils is setting up a new management steering group for Highbury Fields, which will be chaired by Cllr Stacy. If you would like to be part of this group then please contact Laura Sanna, Greenspace Ranger, on 07825 098451 or laura.sanna@islington.gov.uk
Street cleaning changes from Mid-June
May 9th, 2008 by highburyeastFrom mid-June you should expect to see improvements to street cleaning in and around Highbury. Street cleaning service in residential roads that will occur on the same day that refuse and recycling collections are made to ensure roads are left clean and tidy.
The street cleaning service will also feature mobile ‘team sweeps’ that will enable a greater emphasis on litter collection and the ability to target litter hot spots at times of need. For example in high pedestrian areas, or outside schools during or after peak times. This also means if there is a problem in your road that needs sorting outside of your normal street sweeping day - let us know and we can get it sorted.
The Green Team will work alongside the refuse and recycling crews. They will be monitoring service delivery, encouraging the crews to do better, by putting lids back on bins, clearing up spillage and dealing with your eqnquiries.
They will also be running a ‘Love the Street you Live In’ to encourage residents to take more care and litter less, making Highbury better for all of us!
Highbury gets new pavements and other improvements
April 29th, 2008 by highburyeast|
The Lib Dem Council is working on a programme of street improvements across the Borough to help declutter our streets and improve access and safety. As a result the area around Highbury Fields across to Holloway Road will get new paving and other works to make this happen. This will also deal with the nasty mess left by the builders on Ronalds Road that we assured you would be dealt with a few months ago.
The improvements include laying new paving on each side of the street along:
At the same time there will be a reduction in thethe amount of street clutter, by removing any redundant bollards, signposts etc. These works will start on 6 May 2008 and finish by mid July 2008. To allow the work to happen the ouncil will introduce some parking suspensions in the area - lots of notice will be given but to look out for signs. However, these will be kept to a minimum and we will ensure that signs are put up well in advance to give residents as much notice as possible of any restrictions. The noise will also be kept to a minimum and work will be carried out between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday and if necessary, 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.
Cllr Terry Stacy said “I hope you will see the benefits of the improvements, it will make a big difference. In the meantime if you have any problems with the works please do let us know.”
You can also contact the office reponsible, Greg Kerr, Project Engineer, on 0207 527 2624. Alternatively, you can email public.realm@islington.gov.uk
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Highbury Barn and Blackstock Road get hanging baskets
April 28th, 2008 by highburyeastCllr Terry Stacy has welcomed the news that Highbury Barn and Blackstock Road are to get new hanging baskets this summer.
Along with Holloway Road, Upper Street and Seven Sisters Road the baskets will be go up from the 27th May with installation completed by the 14th June.
Cllr Stacy said: “This is great news. Every year we are working with traders and spending more to make the barn an attractive place to shop and spend time. The baskets will make a big difference and finally we may feel summer is coming!”
Fieldway Crescent Tree removal
April 28th, 2008 by highburyeastMany of you may have heard that the council plans to remove a tree on Fieldway Crescent. This is a large plane tree and is a very important part of the street landscape here. We have had contact from lots of residents about this and know about the concerns of the loss of the tree.
We have spoken to officers and this is the situation so far as we understand it:
There are several related issues here, the health of the tree and the condition of a number of homes nearby and what the tree will be replaced with.
Islington has lots of trees and we are very proud of these. However, in the ten years we have represented you it has been clear that many of the trees planted decades ago were not an ideal type of tree for such built up streets. As a council we get lots of claims from homeowners for insurance claims for damage to their home as a result of the impact very large trees. The Fieldway Crescent case is not unique and we have dealt with many over the years. As a result of our desire to retain as many trees as possible we have invested in an amazing team of tree officers, equipment, surveys and policies to make sure this happens (more on this later)
Third and final Arsenal Liaison Committee complete
April 21st, 2008 by highburyeastOn Wednesday 13 March 2008 the council held the final AFC Liaison Committee held at Emirates Stadium.
The Liaison Committee was chaired by Ken Friar OBE (Director of Arsenal FC). In attendance were senior managers and representatives from all the partners that are involved in the operations for the stadium on a match day (Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police, and the British Transport Police). A number of resident and business groups from the local community attended as well as the Arsenal FC supporters association.
The meeting consisted of a presentation of the results from the monitoring programme for the 2006/07 football season. The headline result of the monitoring are that Arsenal FC have achieved a transport modal split target of 12.5% for the 60,000 spectators travelling to the stadium by modes of transport other than private cars. This compares favourably with the council’s requirement of 20% or below.
A question and answer session followed the presentation allowing for an open forum to discuss a number of hot topics that are currently issues for the local community. This allowed the stakeholders to directly address a variety of questions raised by the local community and the council will now look at dealing with further problems.
Further information on this and previous AFC Liaison Committee meetings can be found at www.islington.gov.uk/arsenal.
For further information please contact Neil Huddart on ext 1826 or e-mail neil.huddart@islington.gov.uk.
New Technology saves Highbury Field’s Trees
April 21st, 2008 by highburyeastThe council’s tree service has just bought a new piece of equipment which will make themanagement of trees an easier task by being able to assess tree disease and decay.
The equipment has already saved a tree on Highbury Fields. The ‘picus’ machine can work out the extent of decay inside a tree using sound waves, a bit like an ultra sound machine used for checking unborn babies.
Information gained from a picus test enables a tree officer to make a much more informed diagnosis of the condition of a tree. In the past the unknown extent of decay in a tree often left no safe option but to fell. This equipment can’t be used to assess every type of disease that affects trees, but it will be invaluable to Islington’s tree service in assessing the condition of trees with external signs of trunk decay, and will allow a wider range of management options in many cases.
Islington is also one of only a handful of local authorities with this equipment. See below an example of a scan, the colours indicating the different consistencies of wood, and attached, a photo of tree officer Sheridan Sayer using the picus at Highbury Fields.
For more information please contact James Chambers on ext 4572 or e-mail james.chambers@islington.gov.uk.
Highbury Fields- Greener, Cleaner, Safer Day a great success
April 21st, 2008 by highburyeastThe Greener, Cleaner Safer day took place on the 7th in Highbury Fields and was a big success. The weather helped, there was plenty of sunshine many more people were in the park. Street Environment officers were present throughout the day. There were displays by Street Environment and Greenspace offering advice and information On the day the Graffiti team carried out proactive work and all graffiti was removed from all bins in the area and the bins were also washed by the ART team.The highways department repaired footway potholes in the park and Street Wardens were in attendance as were the Safer Neighbourhood Team, who made regular patrols in the park and surrounding area. Parkguard attended between 3pm and 7pm offering advice etc. with regards to dogs and several young people took up the offer of training advice and the free grooming kits that were available. 40 cubic metres of compost from Edmonton was delivered at 9am and a steady stream of residents collected it free of charge throughout the day. All the Islington staff in attendance assisted residents in loading their bags, boxes or whatever containers they brought. As this had been publicised across the borough in ‘Islington Now’ residents from across the borough took advantage of the free compost.During the course of the day approx 800 people spoke to staff asking for advice or taking information leaflets.
Climate Change Fund projects in Highbury
March 31st, 2008 by highburyeastAs many of you have just received your council tax bills again it is worth looking at the projects that have been agreed in this area as a result of your donations to the climate change fund. As you will remember, along with £3m from the council, residents were able to donate their council tax discount of £20 to the fund. The aim of the Climate Change Fund is to fund individuals and projects to improve the environment. Residents can bid for help with projects in their own home (for more information click here. ) and community and public buildings can apply for match funding. In Highbury the following projects have been approved:
- Highbury Pool - over £100,000 towards solar thermal energy
- New Park Day Centre - nearly £20,000 towards solar thermal energy
- The Ecology Centre had over £20,000 for a biomass boiler
- Residents in Birchmore Walk on the Highbury Quadrant Estate will get solar thermal energy
And there are lots more projects to come. If you run a community building or have ideas for a project do let us know.
Lib Dem car club initiative wins praise
March 18th, 2008 by highburyeastIslington Council has won an award from Transport for London for the Transport Team/Partnership of the Year. The award recognises the groundbreaking partnership between the Council and Streetcar - the pay-as-you-go car club scheme. lt has the most number of cars in the country due to the Lib Dem council developing a pro-active relationship with the scheme - setting aside residents bays across the borough for the cars and 2 vans!
There are 7 cars in Highbury East alone - two at Highbury Fields, and others parked at Baalbec Road, Highbury New Park North and South, Highbury Grove and Riversdale Road as well as may others within easy reach.
Cllr Laura Willoughby who uses the scheme said “It is worth joining, there is always a car available not far from my home and it is great for shopping and picking up my Lib Dem leaflets!”
Laura did an interview about the car club for the Guardian - you can see the article by clicking here. You can join the car club for free by clicking here . And do say Laura recommended the club to you - thay way both you and Laura will get some free hours of driving!
