Harrow Council Cuts – Consultation

 

To those interested in “green and leafy Pinner”:

Anyone who has yet to complete an on-line response to the current Harrow Council consultation on proposed budget and hence service cuts to “Environmental Services” has only two days to do so before the deadline.  We have been told that as this consultation is a “tick box” type the number of individual responses will be added up to give the results of the consultation – therefore your individual responses will carry more weight than a discursive response from the Pinner Association.

The information about the “Environment and Enterprise Savings Proposals” is available here:  http://www.harrow.gov.uk/environmentconsultations

And the on-line survey is here:  https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=141874954240

The Association is going to send the Portfolio Holders for the departments involved, and the Leader of Harrow Council, a copy of our responses to the relevant sections of the previous budgets cuts consultation to ensure that they know the Pinner Association’s views on these proposals.

Recycling Electrical items

Help us reduce the volume of electrical items being sent to landfill by recycling unwanted items.

Recycling Officers and West London Waste are holding a recycling event for small electrical items on Monday, 12th January 2015 from 9am to 5pm at the Civic Centre main reception area.

If you have any small unwanted electrical items that you have been wanting to get rid of then stop by and bring along your broken or unwanted electrical waste so the recycling team can get rid of it for you. The electronic and electrical items can be anything from a toaster or hairdryer to a radio, old video recorder or even microwave oven.

The event aims to encourage people to recycle their unwanted electrical items as around 1 million tons of WEEE was sent to landfill last year and it is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the UK.

Fridges and freezers, commercial or industrial items and large items that cannot easily be lifted will not be accepted.   

For further information please contact Codi Shepherd – [email protected]

 

Help us reduce the volume of electrical items being sent to landfill by recycling unwanted items.

Recycling Officers and West London Waste are holding a recycling event for small electrical items on Monday, 12th January 2015 from 9am to 5pm at the Civic Centre main reception area.

If you have any small unwanted electrical items that you have been wanting to get rid of then stop by and bring along your broken or unwanted electrical waste so the recycling team can get rid of it for you. The electronic and electrical items can be anything from a toaster or hairdryer to a radio, old video recorder or even microwave oven.

The event aims to encourage people to recycle their unwanted electrical items as around 1 million tons of WEEE was sent to landfill last year and it is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the UK.

Fridges and freezers, commercial or industrial items and large items that cannot easily be lifted will not be accepted.   

For further information please contact Codi Shepherd – [email protected]

 

Be prepared for Power Cuts should they come your way!

It seems that the powers that be have at last realised that the wind may not blow at times of peak  electricity demandand that all these expensive wind turbnies will be able to contribute and are therefore contemplating power cuts.  One of our members has already suffered and offers the following suggestions for being prepared in the event of others becoming victims:

  • Keep a supply of candles, candlesticks and matches together and remember where they are kept
  • Make sure you always top up the battery on your mobile phone as some landlines only function through an electrical power point
  • Remember that when the power goes down, WiFi is lost, but a well charged mobile can connect to the internet via 3G or 4G. 
  • Call UK Power Networks who are the “governing body” for all electrical supplies throughout the UK.  They are easy to get through to and they are able to give you information on a continuous basis, with updates of when to expect the power to return.  They send texts.
  • Follows UKpowernetworks on Twitter as they respond very quickly to tweets if you have had a power cut https://twitter.com/ukpnnews ;  they will direct message you back or even phone you.

Santa a great hit at West House

2014_12_13SmallgirlmeetsSanta

2014_12_13Duck Santa’s Grotto at West House, Pinner attracted over 150 children on Saturday 13th December. The event, sponsored by Alexander Watson Estate Agents, has taken place for many years and is organised by the Friends of West House.

Lucy Patten, organiser, praised Santa’s Elves who had staffed the stalls and ensured that Santa saw a regular stream of excited children. ‘Everyone pulled together and made sure the children had a wonderful time. As well as thanking our regular volunteers, I should like to welcome Niamh McEnery and the HAWI who were helping for the first time.’ The favourite stall was ‘Hook a Duck’; others included Spin the Needle and Bauble Decoration.

Commenting on the event, Niamh McEnery said, ‘I really enjoyed it and I believe the others did too.’ One parent posted on Facebook, ‘Who knew FC has a steam powered computer, I learnt something! He was a brilliant FC and no queues or ridiculous attempts to flog over-priced merchandise. Win win!!’ Other parents praised the warm and friendly atmosphere and quality of Santa’s presents.

As well as providing a local Grotto for families, the Friends of West House were raising money for the Heath Robinson Museum, due to open in the park in 2016.

 

Closure of Harrow Libraries

The planned closures of some libraries in Harrow was publicised in an article in the Harrow Times. Many local residents went to Pinner Library  9th December to a ‘Consultation’. The chief hatchet woman whose job is to close libraries was there.
The meeting  was very well attended, including some pupils from West Lodge School with their teacher.  Due to popular demand a proper meeting was held, rather than a one to one “drop in style” meeting.  From Harrow Council two senior officers were present, Marianne Locke, Divisional Director for Community and Cultural, and Tim Bryan, Service Manager, Libraries, Sport and Leisure, but no elected representatives.  Questions ranged from the reason for the need for Harrow Council to make such severe budget cuts and how the Council could save money on their own administration, to why Libraries were so important as centres for information and contact with the Council, and how much Libraries are valued by school pupils.
It was agreed that another meeting would be arranged at Pinner Library after Christmas, to held in the evening when a wider cross section of Library users may be able to attend, and that a senior elected representative from the Labour Party (in administration on Harrow Council) would be at that meeting to answer questions.
 

Pinner Park Farm – What Consultation?

From: Friendsof Pinnerparkfarm [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: 26 November 2014 14:58
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Council’s proposals to go with ‘Option 1’

Dear Friends,
I have been interviewed by a Journalist from the local press who rang me to say that the Council will be making an announcement tomorrow (Thursday) that they will be going ahead with ‘Option 1’ for the farm.

They are selling it (the idea) as “A brand new public park for Harrow” and say that “these proposals remove inappropriate industrial units from this historic site”.

NB: Just to add to that that there is one (1) industrial unit and it’s had planning permission since (2006/2007).

I was stunned, I was angry and I was a bit overwhelmed with all the various emotions running around my head so I am not actually sure exactly what I said to the reporter. I was saying things like ‘nobody wants this’, ‘they are just pushing an agenda and it doesn’t matter what anyone says’ and I think ‘there are dark forces at work within the council’ was another. You may not be impressed with this response but I am only human and it came as a complete shock to me.

The reason for my extreme reaction to this news is really because I know this is utterly wrong. We have other associations in Harrow who have commented on the proposals, sending a strong message that they don’t think the consultation plans are a good idea. We have heard reports from people who attended the ‘consultation’ at the Harrow Arts Centre who say they felt they had been misled into thinking the farmers did not want to continue at the site. There has been submitted a comprehensive complaint against various aspects of the way the consultation was presented too. I have personally uncovered that documents, that were released as part of a Freedom of Information Request, contain inaccuracies within them and as such have probably mislead those who have read these in to a false sense of the actual history of the farm.

Something the reporter did say was that Cllr Keith Ferry (Portfolio Holder for Planning) had talked about building properties around the perimeter of the land in order to help fund the work that would be done in the area of the farm where the existing buildings are and that apparently you can do that sort of limited development on green belt land. This is, of course, all second hand information and so we would have to look into what exactly was meant by that.

I am going to end this communication here, until I am able to compose myself a bit and get my thinking together. We will need to work very hard over the next year in order to stop whoever it is that is driving these proposals through. I know from talking to so many people in the past six months that local people want farming to continue on that site but are also keen to see the site improved and be more accessible to our community e.g. Schools, and I for one am certainly not going to sit down and let them push through something that the people of Harrow neither asked for or indeed want!

Yours sincerely,

Georgia Weston (Cllr)
The Friends of Pinner Park Farm
020 8428 2635 Cllr Georgi a Weston
@PinnerParkFarm

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Security – Moss Lane Area

“Over the past few weeks there have been several burglaries and attempted burglaries in the Moss Lane area.  These have occurred during the day and in the evening, and at the weekend, often when the residents are at home.  The would be burglars have been brazen enough to return and again attempt a break in only 10 minutes after the Police had left having searched a property following the miscreants’ first try to get into an occupied house.
Please be particularly vigilant about home security and ‘phone the Police emergency number (999) immediately if you hear or see anything suspicious on your own, or your neighbours’, property.”