July E-Newsletter

1. Government to relax rules on holiday lets

2. Paddington Festval 2014-its here
3. What do I think about? Giving you feedback on what you have been writng to me about
4. A word of advice
5. Westminster Council want more luxury housing as housing crisis deepens
6. West Londons NHS under pressure
7. Ramadan Mubarak
8. A poste for the morning:
9. Round the houses - some issues from the consttuency
Government to relax rules on holiday lets
Despite cross-party oppositon from inner London councils, including Westminster, and the deep concerns expressed by amenity societes, like the South East Bayswater Resi-
dents' Associaton, the Marylebone Associaton and the Maida Vale and Paddington Waterways Associaton, the government has now gone ahead with plans to loosen con-
trols on short-lets.
Ministers argue that householders should be free to let out rooms for up to 90 days a year without asking for permission, and it is certainly true that no-one wants to see peo-
ple prosecuted for a fortnights holiday homeswap or something similar.
However, places like Bayswater, Lancaster Gate, Maida Vale and Marylebone are already under huge pressure because so much money can be made from letng propertes
to short term visitors, as it is, Westminster has had to take around 500 enforcement actons a year to keep a check on the problem.


Gloucester Place
The short-term let business reduces the number of inner London homes available for people to actually live in. On top of this, residents in blocks where this is already a prob-
lem report higher levels of nuisance, noise and rubbish, and with fewer permanent residents, it is harder to keep a sense of community.
Heres my speech in Parliament
My artcle in the Wood and Vale
And a powerful blog from the Marylebone Society
What do you think? I am very keen to hear about your views and experiences.
Drop me an email at buckk@parliament.uk or do my survey online here.

Paddington Festival 2014
Enjoy the events taking place this summer under the Paddington Festval banner...Theres loads going on, lots of it is free.
Heres the guide telling you everything thats going on and dont forget to support your local markets.


We have two, of course - Church Street, and now the re-launched Maida Hill Market-at the Prince of Wales juncton on Harrow Road. We are all delighted with the new mar-
ket, but it needs your support. Please come on down!
What do I think about
Every month, hundreds of consttuents contact me about issues they are concerned about, that may have been in the news, or are to do with laws being put forward by the
government.
Here are some of my replies to recent queries:

Fracking
Recall of MPs

Sharing taxaton data

TTIP Negotatons

Breast Cancer awareness
A word of advice
My caseload shows that the need for advice and assistance contnues to grow, but even as Paddington Law Centre has moved out of North Westminster afer forty years.
New fgures show what has been happening to legal aid all over the country:
In 2013-14 there were 1.8 million acts of assistance supported by legal aid compared to 2.3 million in 2012-13, a fall of 20 per cent.
Dramatc falls happened in

Criminal legal aid work, especially in respect of Magistrates Courts

Family Law-which saw a 60 per cent drop in one year, equivalent to 30,000 cases

Housing, more than halved since 2010, from 126,000 to 55,000

Debt, down from 128,751 in 2010 to 81,993 last year

But even though services are getng more stretched, it is stll important not to leave it tll the last minute to ask for help: Here are some places to go:
Advice Plus sessions at the Church Street Library on Wednesdays 10-12 and the Beethoven Centre, Third Avenue W10 on Mondays 1-3 (Beethoven session includes a Job
Club)
Westminster CAB link here
Law Centre sessions in North Westminster by appointment. For more informaton click the link

Councillors surgeries for Harrow Road, Queens Park, Church Street, Westbourne Councillors and Cllr Begum can be found through this link here. For all other details call: 020
7641 2230
Voluntary Acton Westminster has joined new local local charity called 'One Westminster' and they a ofering volunteering workshops and volunteer opportunites. All their
informaton is on there website linked here.
And heres a map of local advice sessions:

Westminster Council supports more luxury housing as housing crisis deepens
You might think we were doing alright for luxury housing in inner London, and neede to build some more afordable homes for sale and rent.
Yet a sales brochure distributed to partcipants at the London Real Estate Forum held in Berkeley Square on 11th-12th June says the Councils development opportunity ar-
ea in north Westminster ofers space for future growth, only moments from the West End.
Labour council leader Paul Dimoldenberg has said that, as part of a plan to encourage development and increase density, the council is planning the demoliton of council
homes and their replacement with luxury apartments and new ofce developments, which will extend the West End northwards into Paddington and the rest of north West-
minster.
We can already see this happening, with luxury fats on the site of the former Adult Educaton Centre in Amberley Road (marketed for 890,000 for a 1-bed fat), the now-
closed police statons in St Johns Wood and Harrow Road, the Jubilee sports centre and more.
Meanwhile, more and more people are priced out of both local home ownership and rentng, over-crowding intensifes, homelessness rises and the council introduces tough-
er rules (again) for homeless families.
West Londons NHS under pressure


St Mary's Hospital
Many of you will be aware that there are plans to close a number of Accident and Emergency Units across West London, concentratng these emergency services at St Marys.
Hammersmith and Central Middlesex A+Es are due to close in the autumn. Last month, the Evening Standard ran a worrying story which suggested that St Marys would be
stretched so severely by this extra demand that they would have to routnely use the beds they reserve to cope for exceptonal winter pressures.
I met with Imperial to discuss this and seek reassurances that emergency services will not reduce elsewhere unless and untl we can be confdent St Marys can cope.
They assure me that they will be able to manage, but I will obviously be wantng to monitor this very closely.
This is what I wrote to them about my concerns:
Here is Imperials reply to me:
We all agree that we want to reduce the pressure on hospitals, such as Accident and Emergency admissions, by improving GP and community services. I was, therefore, con-
cerned to discover that Westminster Clinical Commissioning Group has also had to contribute 10 million towards meetng the fnancial pressures on outer London areas. This
is on top of Westminster Councils further cuts to social care budgets, which were estmated at 2.9m this year. If social and primary care are to improve to relieve hospital
services, they will need adequate investment.
Westminster residents need to know that St Marys will not be under unacceptable pressure from emergency admissions as other Accident and Emergency units close in
West London and I will contnue to make this case locally and natonally.
Ramadan Mubarak
To those marking the holy month of Ramadan.
Heres Ed Milibands message:
I was pleased to catch up with everyone at the Regents Park mosque last week, to discuss issues of concern to the Muslim community.


Karen and Murad Qureshi

A postie for the morning
Royal Mail invited me to become a poste for the morning earlier this month, and I was pleased to do it, especially as my ofce has been getng complaints about poor post-
al services, especially from the new providers TNT. I spent several hours in the main sortng ofce in Kilburn, talking to managers and staf, and then went out on an NW8
round.
I was very concerned by some of the reports of post being lef on doorsteps or with neighbours who were not asked or even known to the mail recipient!Healthy competton
is one thing, but Royal Mail cant be undercut on quality, and we must make sure that we dont end up undermining the universal delivery service if compettors cherry pick
only the proftable delivery areas.

Local round up
Thames Water Works Survey
Unfortunately the Thames Water works that are being carried out in the W9 and W2 areas have been further delayed. While these works are essental to prevent regular
fooding of homes on Shirland Road and in Litle Venice, I am disappointed that the schedule of works has already slipped so much. It is concerning that much needed local
green space will be out of use for even longer than antcipated and local businesses are sufering due to a decline in passing trade.
Road closures will divert buses and other trafc 6, 187 and 414 down Elgin Avenue and up Chippenham Road, contributng to congeston and noise and adding to well-
founded pedestrian safety concerns. The pedestrian crossing at the juncton of Elgin and Chippenham was recently the scene of a tragic accident and I am anxious about the
efects of another large infux of vehicles.
I am surveying residents in the most afected areas to fnd out which problems are causing the most disrupton locally. I also want to fnd out what acton you feel Thames
Water or the council could take to improve the situaton for the remainder of the works, which are not due to be fully completed untl at least Spring 2015. I invite anyone
with views on this issue to complete a survey on my website at www.karenbuck.org.uk
Elmfeld Way
I am very pleased to be able to report that the council now appears to be taking local concern about parking and trafc management on Elmfeld Way seriously. Council ofc-
ers are seeking estmates of the cost of upgrading the carriageway, a pre-cursor to taking control of the road, and one of the current owners, the Department of Health, has
agreed to make a contributon towards the cost. Although negotatons are not yet complete, at the moment it looks like the upgrading and adopton of Elmfeld Way will f-
nally happen.
Saltram Crescent trafc calming
Speeding trafc remains an issue at this locaton. Complaints from residents contnue to come in and I have witnessed several near misses recently. The council were looking
at what trafc calming measures might be feasible and I am pushing for an urgent update.
Warwick Avenue and Maida Vale Staton engineering works
I have received a number of complaints from residents living near these two statons about excessive noise and vibratons, sometmes very early in the morning. I am keen to
hear from local residents who have experienced this noise and learn how you have been afected, so I can raise the issue with TfL.
Edbrooke Road Gardens
Following complaints of noise and ant-social behaviour in the gardens afer dark, I have been working with residents, the Police and the council to improve the situaton.
Beter lightng is now being trialled to make the park feel less secluded at night tme, the Police Safer Neighbourhood Team have agreed to carry out extra patrols during the
warmer summer months and ant-climb paint will soon be on the fences. I would appreciate any comments on how you feel these measures are working.
St Peters Primary School
Afer much campaigning by parents and Mews residents, the council have fnally agreed to look at measures to calm speeding trafc on Chippenham Mews. New signage
alertng drivers to the school is soon to go up and the council are looking at other measures to slow trafc, such as a line of planters along the Mews to force trafc to slow
down. Unfortunately progress has been slow, but I am pushing the council to take further acton.
Harrow Road Pedestrian Crossing
I am very pleased to see work startng on the improved pedestrian crossing at the juncton of Harrow Road, Chippenham Road and Windsor Gardens. Works are scheduled to
be completed by the August Bank Holiday. This should improve pedestrian safety on what was a dangerous secton of road and goes to show that when residents come to-
gether to push for change, we can get the council listen to us.
Eaton Plaza Maintenance Issues
I recently visited the Eaton Plaza estate along with local councillors. We were shocked by the number of residents who wanted to tell us about disrepair issues and poor
maintenance services from Stadium and L&Q. Some of the fats we saw confrmed that many tenants here are not receiving the service they expect from their land-
lords. What makes this even more disappointng is that the estate is relatvely new, so it should not be difcult to keep it in a good state of repair. If you have been afected
by this issue, please do get in touch.
Wharnclife Gardens Major Works
I met with the Wharnclife Residents associaton at a commitee meetng at the end of June, to discuss residents concerns about the tmetabling of the scheduled major
works. Im supportng residents in pressing CityWest Homes to move quickly with providing advice on payment optons and hardship schemes. I hope to have further infor-
maton to share with concerned residents very soon and will be sure to provide updates as and when I receive them.
Graft in NW1
Several local residents have contacted me about their concerns regarding graft popping up at a few locatons in the area that had not been removed for several weeks. I
contacted the council who sent local wardens to the sites to inspect the problem. The council inform me that their contractors have been alerted to the problem and should
have the graft removed within seven working days. This is good news and hopefully will mean local residents can contnue to enjoy their local area.
Rubbish collecton


We seem to be dealing with a worsening problem of fy-tpping, overfowing rubbish and recycling bins in several places. I have been pressing for improvements to collecton/
enforcement around them before they become health hazards.
Prosttuton in Westbourne Park
I have sent further reports of actvity and an assault in this area to the police and Westminster Council, afer residents from Aldridge Road and Leamington Villas contacted
me again. The police are aware of the issue but neither they nor Westminster believe it is sufcient to justfy measures such as CCTV. I am happy to keep pressing if residents
report what they see to me (or copy me in to reports to the police).
Thank you for reading.



Karen Buck MP

Website: www.karenbuck.org.uk
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Facebook: KarenBuckMP
Promoted by Robert Atkinson on behalf of Karen Buck MP at 4G Shirland Mews, Maida Hill, London, W9 3DY. The informaton used to supply this email is for the use of Karen Buck and will not be passed on to
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