FITZWEST
NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUM
NEWS
New Planters arrive in Fitzrovia
We are delighted to announce that the long talked about and frequently delayed planters have...
Changes to traffic direction, news on new docks for hire bikes and CIL application information
There is lots happening in Fitzrovia and opportunities for you to have your say on various...
Well-attended AGM hears from Westminster Council and local police
First of all, a big thank you to over 40 local residents and businesses and all the West End Ward...
FITZWEST FORUM AGM
You can read the full minutes of the meeting here.
As well as all the usual business of the AGM, we had several interesting presentations. These included an update from Jordan Scammell from the Soho Poly Theatre about their development plans and how the CIL funding has been spent.
You can have a look at the presentation here.
Lee Lyons from The Fitzrovia Partnership and Lucy Mitchell from the New West End Company discussed how they are dealing with issues of crime and anti-social behaviour in Fitzrovia. Councillor Patrick Lilley also shared some of the complex challenges the police are facing and how they are working to deal with it. Greening and outdoor space is always a very popular issue for our members and Mark Gazaleh told us about tree planting and plans for future greening in the area.
Consultation – Chance to have your say
The Fitzrovia Partnership is co-designing a sustainability strategy and action plan for the area and has been engaging the community on its environmental, social and economic priorities to make Fitzrovia a better place to live, work and visit for all.
There was an exhibition and consultation about this at the AGM and residents and businesses gave their opinions. Join The Fitzrovia Partnership for its final sustainability strategy co-creation session on 10th July at 12.30.
This session will include a wrap-up of insights gained during the recent sustainability drop-in sessions and survey, including feedback from local residents and businesses on how they would like to see better social and environmental value delivered in the area. The session will also provide an opportunity to provide final feedback on our Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan.
To attend online, register here:
CIL-funded planters revamped
After the successful installation of planters on New Cavendish Street, Hanson Street, Great Titchfield Street and Gosfield Street last year, it was time for a spruce up with some summer colour. We were lucky to have our team of green-fingered volunteers ready to help and the results are stunning. Our volunteers also share out the watering of all the planters.
We will need some more help over the summer to keep the planters watered so if you would like to be involved please drop us an email on info@fitzwest.org or talk to one of the Executive at the AGM.
New Planters Arrive in Fitzrovia
Great Titchfield Street Planning
We are delighted to announce that the long talked about and frequently delayed planters have finally been installed on Hanson street, Great Titchfield Street, and Gosfield Street at the junctions with New Cavendish Street.
These planters are funded by Neighbourhood CIL and the Tesco Bags of Help scheme.
Rebecca Heard of Fine Line Garden Design has done a wonderful job of sourcing hardy and attractive British plants and creating a very appealing planting design. It is designed to look great now, but also to grow and fill in as the months go by.
Lots of volunteers worked hard to get the planting done – including planting lots of bulbs which will come up in the spring. We are very conscious that maintenance of these planters is incredibly important to keep them looking as good as they do now and we have a whole roster of volunteers who are watering , clearing rubbish that might appear and doing any other maintenance.
Children from All Souls School will be helping as well and it’s great to see all ages keen to be involved. If you would like to help out and volunteer, then please do email us: info@fitzwest.org
The various locations for the planters were chosen after a public consultation. They needed to be in places where there was space away from utilities and that didn’t get in the way of passersby. It was also hoped they will serve an additional purpose of discouraging on-street dumping. We are aware this may take a little while to settle in but hope that residents and businesses will help by only putting their rubbish out at the time and in the place stipulated by WCC. The times are available here.
Thanks again to the many people who have helped and supported this project.
Do you live or work in Fitzrovia West?
Do you live or work in Fitzrovia West (west of Cleveland Street and Charlotte Street) and care about safeguarding our unique environment?
Following a referendum on 2nd September 2021, where all residents and businesses had the opportunity to vote, a majority voted YES which means the plan is formally adopted into planning law.
If you live or work within the red line, or you are part of an organisation that works within the area, you are welcome to join the Forum. Membership is free and will qualify you to be involved with helping support the plan and to be involved with decisions which will have a positive effect on the FitzWest area.
If you would like to join the forum, just fill in the application form here.
Greening plans - update
Thanks to everyone who has made suggestions and comments on the location of planting and greening as a means to improve the streetscape and to deter rubbish dumping. There are plenty of locations – we had 15 on the long list – so now we have a great resource to refer to and also to share with other organisations as we work on greening the area. Where we are at the moment:
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 have many suitable suggestions for locations, all over the FitzWest area. It is suggested the greening will have more impact – both visually and practically as a dumping deterrent if the greening areas are clustered together.
We will keep all suggestions for a long term greening plan, but in the short term, for this initial CIL project we suggest the following which has the benefit of being relatively close together and therefore visible:
1. Langham Street/Gosfield St – 2 locations/ 4 or 5 planters A real and visible hot spot with lots of commercial and residential dumping.
2 & 3 Hanson Street /Foley Street – 2 locations /2 planters Two planters on Hanson Street/Foley Street corners. One of the corners by the bin is very prone to dumping, and there is plenty of space.
4 & 5 Candover Street – 4 locations/ 4 planters Four planters, one on each corner with Riding House Street and Foley Street. Prone to persistent dumping, would link to and echo existing planting outside local businesses on Foley Street.
These locations would create a real impact and are close enough together to be a noticeable improvement to the greening in the area and will be easy to monitor for rubbish dumping. Let us know your thoughts – by email info@fitzwest.org or by commenting on this post
Local business involvement We also plan to approach local businesses to see if they would like to be part of the application – we can apply for additional planters for businesses to display and care for on their forecourts (as some do already). If you are a local business with a forecourt or pavement space that is yours and would like to register an interest in acquiring planters then please get in touch at info@fitzwest.org
