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Other hot topics in H&F - let us know what you think ...
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Brook Green playground development
I think the development of some of Brook Green area into play spaces for older children is excellent. The existing playground is very focused on little children and it would be great for the older kids to have something to do and not try to use the younger kids’ equipment.
Frpm Samantha Gibbon on 06/12/09
Congestion Charge Western Extension
What has happened to democracy in this country? I appreciate that the Mayor is loathed to do away with the congestion zone at this time, when money is so short, but he was voted in on this. We have voted once and I cannot believe that we are going to be asked our opinions again. We have an unelected Prime Minister, the Lisbon Treaty has been ratified without our approval, there is chance that our rejected previous Prime Minister will become President of Europe - all of these decisions made without public consultation because the decision-makers are well aware that they would be firmly rejected by the British population. The Congestion Zone extension was clearly very expensive to implement, but traffic in the zone is as bad as ever because: 1) The residents of London's wealthiest borough are all driving freely through both zones, paying next to nothing for the privilege; 2) Delivery vans are still clogging up London during working hours. All deliveries should be banned between 6am and midnight. This would add extra costs to shop products, of course, but it would solve traffic congestion; 3) London is over-run by buses. A really great service if now offered during the rush hours, but hasn't anybody noticed that almost every bus running during the daytime has no more than 2 or 3 people on it? I understand that the buses and drivers are paid for regardless of the number of passengers and no-body really cares - BUT I DO! I hate seeing public money going down the drain. The congestion zone doesn't work and Londoners and shops have been promised that it will be done away with. Why don't we have a zone from the M25? I am very angry to hear that our views have been over-run again. How much does a public consultation cost?
From Jan Morgan on 18/11/09
I supported Boris Johnson to become Mayor largely on his pledge to cancel the Western Extension of the congestion charge zone, which two years later, is still in place. If this brazen tax, which is damaging business in the area, is not lifted soon, Boris Johnson will lose credibility and any future pledges will not be believed. Get rid of the Western Extension tax now!
From Chris Bradbury on 14/11/09
Estate Agents’ boards
These boards are hideous and ruin the look of the street. I'm sure they hinder rather than help sales. I represent Stonor Road NHW and we would all like them banned.
From Angela Chew on 17/11/09
Yes, please do ban all boards from the borough as soon as possible. Every board is an eyesore and estate agents care less about leaving their boards up or removing them as appropriate, they just see it as free advertising. With all the communication technology there is today and with the change in the way people shop and access information, I believe they are completely unnecessary. All these boards are visual litter and many times end up as literally litter - in short, they do nothing to improve the community.
From Mark Heron on 18/11/09
Sculpture in parks
I am interested to know about the purchasing policy for sculpture for public places in the burrough and would be very pleased if you could advise me about it. Whilst I think its wonderful that we may get a beach in Bishops Park and all the effort that is made to make beautiful play spaces in hammersmith and fulham I wonder if we could also invest in some sculpture for our parks as for some residents beauty is more important than function and if you look at the greatest parks in london or in the world they all have beautiful sculptures in them, I think it would be a great addition to making fulham and hammersmith the smartest in London.
From Sarah Hyde on 13/11/09
Council tax
I would just like to congratulate you on hopefully managing yet another reduction in the council tax bill. It is a significant achievement and much appreciated at a time when every other form of taxation is going in the opposite direction.
From Dr Robin Wrench on 05/11/09
This council is being completely irresponsible in cutting council tax yet again. Public services are already suffering. They will now suffer again. Children's Services? There soon won't be any. The council should be ashamed of itself.
From Julie James on 05/11/09
Refuse collection
After nearly 17 years of living in the borough without any cause to complain about our refuse collection, I am really frustrated by the new team working our streets. For three weeks they have failed to come into our front garden and pick up the rubbish. We have always put out our orange sacks late the night before, but we feel that leaving the black ones out will start to cause a hazard, especially if foxes and cats start to investigate them. However, by doing this it seems that the bin men now think they have everything, so don't go to the bins to collect the black sacks. For the last two weeks we had left all the sacks (both orange and black) in our bins - with the net result that nothing was collected for two weeks. Today I have put everything out - but had to get out of the house at 7am to ensure we didn't miss them. Why has the good service we have enjoyed for so long become so unreliable? Surely the borough can't expect everyone to be getting up at the crack of dawn to do the job that for years was efficiently done by the collection men.
From Elisa Williams on 02/11/09
Quiz The Leader Event
I would like to thank everyone involved in this debate for making our local democracy open to questioning. There are some interesting future developments, especially around our health services locally. I would however like to ask how we recruit more individuals on our local panels, especially from businesses, as we have plenty of support from the public and third sector. It is difficult to encourage our private sector to send representatives, unless it is on issues requiring a response generated through matters like notices or planning permission that may have an impact. We, as always, have a lot of interest in crime and associated ASB, however we need to attract some of our local business entrepreneurs to add to the wealth of knowledge we have already.
From John Ryan on 10/11/09
What initiatives does the LBHF council provide / or would it support, to facilitate stronger cohesion among communities of diverse Faiths, Ethnic and Cultural traditions? Most other boroughs have "Inter Faith Relations" enhancing associations and regular "getting to know, understand and respect each other" meetings for friendly dialogues and grass roots networking among people of peaceful intentions. They find themselves often sharing very similar problems, be it helping young members of families (and those without a happy home!) to deal with their growing up and often first job finding problems. Such initiatives can be started with practical matters (e.g. cooking, eating music making together) which concern and can be enjoyed by ALL, irrespective of faith and ethnic or cultural backgrounds. The present first initiative in LBHF appears too much exclusively focused on, however important, housing issues. We need more direct personal contacts at relaxed social occasions, e.g. different communities performing some traditional or just typical displays of music, dance and even light hearted comedy, ideally gently involving the audience.
From Dr Christoph von Luttitz on 10/11/09
Westfield London
A lot of people have just complained about Westfield. Are they not capable of looking for good in things? Westfield is certainly a much more attractive proposition than what was there before. It has brought jobs to the area and it provides a focus point of interest and activity. Sure, maybe all the shops don't cater to everyone’s tastes but isn't that life? Not many initiatives will be perfect. Shops will come and go anyway, so I'm sure everyone will get to be able to do their bit of shopping. So stop moaning and start being positive. Life's too short.
From M Jackson on 19/08/09
Pavement and kerb renewal
I am deeply staggered that at this time of recession the Council is able to spend large sums renewing kerbstones and paving which do not need doing (eg Fulham Road from Parsons Green Lane amongst others). It does not seem that many years since they were last done and appears to be a complete waste of money.
From Paul Morrissey on 10/08/09
Licensing
I think the ability to limit new applications or vary existing licences in the Fulham Broadway area would be a good thing and I support this proposal. The walk late at night from the cinema to Dawes Road used to be fine. It can now be quite intimidating with very drunk and anti-social behaviour. I wish Fulham to be a vibrant and alive place, but residents put up with quite a lot, especially with two premier football clubs in the borough to add to the disruption.
From Sarah Fairbairn on 09/08/09
Binge drinking
Yesterday on the news they talked about the problems of binge drinkers and bars in Hammersmith and Fulham. The solution presented on TV was to restrict the number of bars. In my view the worst for the rest of us is the sick on the pavement which we have to step over almost everyday. I don't think it is the number of bars that is the problem but rather the habits of the drinkers. Most people here go straight from work to a pub and all they eat is crisps the entire evening. No wonder so many gets sick. This problem could perhaps be solved by suggesting that happy hour is only available with a light meal/substantial snacks.
Life in our streets at night is a good thing but we should have higher aspirations as to what kind of life it could be. There is a huge number of people living in H&F who have spending power but who go elsewhere because the type of bars locally does not appeal. why not spend more efforts on trying to make the nightlife here appeal to us all so we reduce to appeal of binge drinking.
From Christina Godiksen on 20/07/09
Super Sewer
Why cannot Thames Water use the waste ground next to Frank Banfield park for the sewer hole? This area is called Hammersmith Embankment and it is currently boarded up. It has been disused for the last few years and is currently used as a temporary parking area.
From Neil Phillips on 20/07/09
Local trauma centre for London
Absolutely agree. Charing Cross is a fantastic hospital with very high standard of care, at the forefront of medical technology and life saving equipment. My son was saved there at 3.5 years old after falling under a car. I have just had a laparoscopy on my gall bladder. I cannot believe what a high standard it is. It is clean, friendly and has super nursing and consultant staff.
From Ewa Sylwestrowicz on 20/07/09
Commercial advertising
Congratulations on stopping the hording near Charing Cross Hospital and the surrounds. Also to the refusal at 129 Shepherds Bush Rd/Brook Green. We must stop the borough becoming a commercial and traffic nightmare.
From Barrie Thompson on 20/07/09
Play equipment in Bishops Park
I think it would a good idea to use the old boating lake for a play area for older children 7-12. There is nothing for that age group in the park at the moment.
From Eivor Martinus on 20/07/09
Development of Fulham Palace gardens
The walled garden has long been neglected and we welcome its restoration and particularly that of the vinery.
From Janet Liebster on 20/07/09
Waste collection
I believe that the council's recent decision to scrap the free collection of 3 large domestic items or 10 black bags in favour of a £15 charge is a big mistake. More and more 'dumping' incidents are a certainty as residents struggle to meet their everyday bills & will simply leave unwanted items on streets all over the borough.. The result will ultimately be a bigger 'clean up' bill for the council, thus rendering the charge totally counter-productive. I have been very pleased with the efforts of our council up to this point (though the garden waste curtailment should have been a warning shot) but this a cut too far. Perhaps it's time to stop currying favour by reducing our annual council tax bills if such reductions mean the disappearance of some of our essential services. Wake up at the back! Wake up!
From Malcolm Taylor on 20/07/09
Building a new swimming pool in Sands End
There are two swimming pools in LBHF, one in the north and one in the centre of the borough, I think the council should take this opportunity to negotiate with Sainsburys and persuade the company to build a new swimming pool in the development in Sands End. The residents at this end of the borough do not have that many facilities and it would make swimming more enjoyable in the borough as the other pools are often too busy, and will only get busier with free swimming for over 60s (which is a good thing).
From Andrew Medd on 20/07/09
Heathrow expansion
We need to expand and grow, Heathrow is as big as it can get. I object to the 3rd runway at Heathrow. The roads and transport links neccessary for a airport of that size is immense and Heathrow does not have sufficienttransport links or roads, to say the least they are poxy. Therefore a new airport with 3 + runways or another London airport Expansion with more space around it would be ideal. As for people complaining of noise, well there is one solution to that. Move!
From Rich Poolman on 20/07/09
Fountains on Lyric Square
The improvements to Lyric Square WERE fantastic - WHAT HAPPENED? Now there are no fountains, more litter and regular HORRIBLE smelly markets on the weekend. Please turn the fountains back on - they give so much pleasure to all the children, particularly my daughter who has special needs. It used to be our weekly treat to walk and look at the fountains and have a coffee outside.
From Pauline Crawford on 01/04/09
Parks
For a long time I have wanted to write and thank you for transforming Banfield Park. I do miss the old big trees, but understand they had to go as they were not healthy. It has become such a pleasant little park to walk through or spend some time in. On the children’s playground there are always children with their parents, fun to watch. I also like the fact that the park is shut at night, so we find it clean and pleasant in the daytime. Thanks!!!!!!!!!
From Marianne Sammann on 02/02/09
Page last updated: 10/12/2009
