Tuesday 18th Juneat 7. 30pm in

St James Norlands ChurchSt James’s Gardens , W11All r esident s of t he Nor land

Conser vat ion ar ea ar e welcome t o at t end. Non member s will be asked t o j oin at t he door .

Please st ay af t er t he meet ing f or r ef r eshment s.

. 1. Apologies

2. Chair man’ Repor t

3. Planning Repor t

4. Tr easur er ’s Repor t

and Adopt ion of annual

Account s

5. Elect ion of Execut ive

Commit t ee

6. Any ot her business

CHAI RMAN’S REPORT

Annual Newslet t er J une 2013

AGENDA

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETI NG & SUMMER

PARTY 2013

Last year Nor land Conser vat ion Societ y was designat ed as one of

t he f ir st Neighbour hood For ums in t he count r y which was t he f ir st

st ep t o deliver ing NCS’s Neighbour hood Plan (NP) f or Nor land

Conser vat ion Ar ea (NCA) ( See page 6) . Our Neighbour hood Plan

set s out t o enhance and pr ot ect t he char act er and hist or ic f eat ur es

t hat def ine Nor land’s sense of place and t hose elusive qualit ies of

peace and t r anquilit y which ar e r e-enf or ced by it s open squar es and

pr ivat e gar dens. Toget her wit h our st r eet t r ees, our gr een spaces

light en our exper ience of living in t he cit y. However , t her e ar e

cor ner s of NCA which one would be har d pushed t o def ine as eit her

peacef ul or t r anquil. Holland Par k Avenue f or ms t he sout h west er n

boundar y of NCA wher e at t ent ion t o buildings and gr een spaces r uns

out of st eam at Holland Par k r oundabout . The impr ession t o ever yone

ent er ing Kensingt on f r om t he west , especially by f oot , is of gener al

neglect , backlit by a 24 hour glar e of blanket adver t ising. While

t her e is not hing we can do about t he amount of t r af f ic t hat t hun-

der s ar ound t he r oundabout , t her e is somet hing we can do about t he

shabby and neglect ed pavement plant beds – and, in Mar ch, a number

of ent husiast ic volunt eer s (which included Helen and J ohn Mur lis

f r om Royal Cr escent ) br aved t he poor weat her and plant ed up t he

smaller bed wit h a r ange of plant s and f lower s. This int er im measur e

pr ovides a splash of colour and gr eener y and shows t he st r ong local

ent husiasm t o get t hese plant er s impr oved.

Norland Conservation Society Protecting and Enhancing the Norland Conservation Area

While not quit e ‘guer illa gar den-ing’, it will cer t ainly be an exper i-ment in cr eat ing a communit y gar den. The idea was suggest ed by Nor t h Kensingt on ar chit ect s De Rosee Sa, who have a mission t o t r ansf or m neglect ed public spaces in t he ur ban envir onment . NCS didn’t need asking t wice and has r eceived gr eat suppor t f r om it s War d Councilor s J ulie Mills and Cat her ine Faulks, who have pr oposed t he ‘gar dens’ f or Cit y Living, Local Lif e f und. Gar den-ing in t his busy public space will

©

FK

Cont ’ on page 2

Ar t i st ’ s i mpr essi on of t he ‘ gr eeni ng’ of Hol l and Par k r oundabout

need some super vision, as we r ise

t o t he challenge of becoming com-

munit y gar dener s. We ar e ver y

lucky t o have Ter r y Oliver , RBKC’s

Envir onment Manager , t o advise

and help us. Quadr on, RBKC’s gar -

den cont r act or s, have alr eady dug

out r ubbish, br oken glass and dying

plant s and r eplaced t he beds wit h

f r esh soil r eady f or r e-plant ing.

At t he same t ime Nor land Road is

r eceiving a welcome f ace lif t wit h

new sur f acing and har d landscap-

ing; t he new ‘piazza’ will be r e-

st r ict ed t o pedest r ians and

cyclist s.

Accor ding t o Ter r y, t her e will be

addit ional communit y gar dens on

Nor land Road wit h ent husiast ic

t ake-up f r om local r esident s. NCS

was appr oached and has suggest ed

t r ees f or t heir colour , blossoms

and var iet y f or t he eight new t r ee

pit s.

NCS hopes t hese impr ovement s

will t empt people t o look at t heir

shar ed spaces dif f er ent ly. Small

act ions can t r ansf or m Nor land’s

public spaces int o bet t er places;

meanwhile our Neighbour hood Plan,

t he culminat ion of many year s

wor k, will pr omot e sust ainable

gr owt h, while saf eguar ding t he as-

pect s t hat should be pr ot ect ed or

enhanced. Libby Kinmonth

We have a healt hy member ship

but if any of your neighbour s have

not yet j oined NCS please encour -

age t hem t o do so! Email cont act is

member ship@nor landconser vat ion

societ y.co.uk or via our st un-

ning new websit e.

nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uk

As you will see f r om t his newslet -

t er , we ar e successf ully pr eser ving

and enhancing Nor land, so please

help us by keeping your member -

ship up t o dat e and advising us of

your cur r ent email addr ess. I f you

have not r esponded t o r ecent mail-

ings wit h new st anding or der and

gif t aid f or ms we would be ver y

gr at ef ul if you could do so. We will

be ver y happy t o see you at t he

AGM and will have f ur t her f or ms

f or your convenience if t hat helps.

NCS member s ar e list ened t o and subsequent ly do make a dif f er -ence when it comes t o challenging unsympat het ic development s, pr o-t ect ing Nor land’s t r ees and open spaces, and impr oving t he qualit y of lif e in t he Conser vat ion Ar ea. Wit hout your member ship NCS has no voice. Thank you f or your suppor t .

We are very gratef ul t o t he f ollowing:Benef actos

Corporate and retail support ers The Academy Bar & Rest aur ant Bar nar d Mar cus Beaney Pear ce Car t er J onas J ackson-St ops & St af f J ohn Wilcox & Co The Rug Company

Annual Membership ratesMember ship £ 20 per per son £ 40 per couple Concessions £ 10 ppBenef act or £ 50 ppRet ailer £ 45Business/ Cor por at e £ 100 Chrissie Colbeck

Subscr ipt ions and donat ions in 2012 of more t han £ 3,000 bef ore Gif t Aid were about 30% higher t han in 2011 and, wit h a one-of f cont r ibut ion f rom a f ilm unit of £ 500, t ot al income ex-ceeded £ 4,000 f or t he f irst t ime. But expendit ure t oo was unusually high. The new websit e, a non-recur-r ing it em, cost more t han £ 2,200. Expendit ure on pr int ing and st at ion-ery, which was unusually low in 2011, ret urned t o more normal levels. The Societ y t ook on out side help f or membership administ rat ion f or t he f irst t ime at a cost of more t han £ 700, an expense t hat is expect ed t o cont inue. There was, t heref ore, a def -icit f or t he year of more t han £ 800 compared wit h a surplus of about £ 1,600 in 2011.

The Societ y expect s t he increase in running cost s t o cont inue and has t heref ore raised subscr ipt ion rat es (see under membership rat es above) Det ailed account s f or 2012 will be present ed at t he AGM.

John Hodgson

MEMBERSHI P

2

Vol unt eer gar dener s wor ki ng at Hol l and Par k r oundabout

TREASURER’S REPORT

J ames Lamber tMar k & Lucy Lef anu Gr egg Sando & Sar a HavensI an & Mer iel TegnerClive Thomas J ef f r ey Wickham

,

Planning and conser vat ion-r elat ed act ivit y in Nor land over t he past year has been a micr ocosmic r ef lect ion of t he development under way all over London, but par t icular ly in t he densely-built , pr ime cent r al ar eas of which RBKC is one. While Nor land may not have been t he locat ion in quest ion, f ew days, let alone weeks, have gone by wit hout a headline-gr abbing st or y which r esonat es wit h, or echoes, issues af f ect -ing our conser vat ion ar ea.

Pr essur e on t hese London neighbour hoods is now r ising, since t he qualit y of lif e is deemed so good t hat exist ing r esident s, who in t he past would have moved elsewher e in or der t o f ind addit ional space, now st ay and ext end t heir pr oper t ies. At t he same t ime, de-mand f r om elsewher e in t he UK - and incr easingly f r om over seas - is soar ing. The r ecor d pr ices f or pr oper t y being achieved ar e j ust one r esult : anot her is, t hat while per iod pr oper t ies ar e gr eat ly pr ized, t heir owner s f r equent ly want t o adapt t hem - in many cases quit e r adically- in or der t o meet incr easingly sophist icat ed lif est yles.

Such change is an inevit able f act of lif e in one of t he gr eat est and lar gest cit ies in t he wor ld. And UK planning policy at all levels at t empt s t o balance t he of t en conf lict ing demands of her it age ver sus r egen-er at ion. Hence, ever y planning applicat ion must be looked at bot h on it s own mer it s and t hat of it s impact on t he ar ea and t he neighbour hood.

As f ew pr oper t ies in Nor land of f er t he oppor t unit y t o ext end sideways, t he only way t o cr eat e mor e space is t o build up or down. Of t he 142 planning

decisions made in t he past year , many r elat e t o t he f ollowing: subt er r anean excavat ion (of t en f or dual level basement s); int egr at ed gar ages; summer houses t o r eplace gar den sheds; change of use f r om commer -cial t o r esident ial; t he mer ging of pr oper t ies t o cr e-at e a single r esidence; and r oof line development s t o cr eat e space bet ween mansar d ext ensions or r oof t er r aces.

These shar ed concer ns under lie t he development of t he Nor land Neighbour hood Plan and t he involvement of t he NCS in planning issues out side our ar ea. I f we have f elt st r ongly on pr inciple t hat a planning applica-t ion out side our ar ea might set an example or a pr ecedent - f or good or ill - in Nor land, we have lent our voice t o t he debat e.

Adver t ising is a pr ime example: wit h t he suppor t of

bot h our war d councillor s and RBKC, we have st at ed

our views in cases wher e we f elt per mission would be

bowing t o t he commer cial imper at ive, Wher e it should

be r ef used by vir t ue of scale or light pollut ion or be a

hazar d t o t r af f ic. The r oundabout at t he bot t om of

Holland Par k Avenue, t he West way and t he t all

buildings on Nicholas Road and Fr est on Road have

again been t ar get s f or displays.

Out side Nor land, we lent our suppor t t o obj ect or s t o

t he basement development pr oposed f or a pr oper t y in

Elgin Cr escent . We also suppor t ed t he campaign

against t he per manent inst allat ion of t he canopy f or

Oper a Holland Par k since it would have hidden t he

views of Holland House which had only r ecent ly been

r est or ed at gr eat expense. Georgie Lebus

PLANNI NG 2012- 2013

The Good The Bad The Ugl y

3Queensdal e Wal k: new el evat i on Gar i sh f r ont age subj ect I nappr opr i at e col our appr opr i at e t o set t i ng t o f ut ur e amendment di sr upt s uni t y of t er r aces

SCAPEGOATSThirt een vict ims of milit ary injust ice

The annual lect ur e, on Tuesday 19t h Mar ch in St . J ames Nor lands chur ch, was given by Michael Scot t , a local r esident f or over 38 year s. I n a depar t ur e f r om t he t r adit ional t heme of conser va-t ion issues, t his year ’s t opic was based on his r ecent ly published book, Scapegoat s. Following 35 year s of ser vice in t he milit ar y, Michael went on t o ser ve as t he f ir st Complaint s Commissioner t o t he Bar Council; an apt and ample backgr ound f r om which t o spr ingboar d int o his t hir d car eer .

An excellent and amusing speaker , Michael set minds at r est wit h t he assur ance t hat his book was designed t o appeal t o t he gener al r eader as well as t o mor e avid milit ar y ent husiast s. Wit h uncommon skill he gave not a dr y r ecount ing of t he book’s cont ent s, but r at her t he pr ocess by which t he book came int o being, it s inspir at ion, t he cr it er ia by which t hese 13 vict ims of milit ar y inj ust ice wer e select ed, r esear ch sour ces, and t he under ly-ing ambit ion of t he aut hor not t o inf luence t he conclusions r eached by eit her t he audience pr esent or , in due cour se, t he r eader .

A st at ue of t he Fr ench-bor n Pr ince I mper ial in it s incongr uous set t ing at Sandhur st ignit ed t he aut hor ’s cur iosit y and sear ch f or answer s. Thus t he inspir at ion f or t he r esult ing book, and our t opic f or t he evening, was bor n.

To qualif y f or an ent r y int o t he book, t he vict ims wer e dr awn f r om a collect ion of candidat es whose st or ies could best illust r at e t he br oad spect r um of milit ar y miscar r iages of j ust ice. The cr it er ia, some achieved bet t er t han ot her s, sought t o in-clude men of dif f er ent r anks and nat ionalit y, places of act ion and t ime-span which cover ed 240 year s. Alas, a f ew exper t s in t he f ield wer e disap-point ed t hat t heir own f avour it es wer e not includ-ed.

The Nat ional Ar chives at Kew, r eposit or y of se-cr et s hidden f or decades, and t he Nat ional Ar my Museum pr ovided much of t he pr imar y sour ce mat er ial, wit h our aut hor f or ever on t he lookout f or evidence t hus f ar undiscover ed wit h a view t o pr esent ing his own slant , pr oper ly accr edit ed

on t he st or ies of vict ims. Secondar y sour ces came in t he f or m of a wide r ange of int er views, cor r e-spondence and document s held by descendant s and par t ies maint aining a cont inuing int er est in t he t r avest y.

Dr awing ext ensively f r om t he var ious chapt er s, but giving away ver y lit t le of t heir st or ies, Michael highlight ed t he dist inguishing f act or s of each case along wit h t hose element s common t o all. A r ar e happy ending has been t he pr ize of some of his vict ims, ot her s ar e not so f or t unat e. I n at least one case, t he bat t le t o br ing about j ust ice cont in-ues. Michael did not pr of f er conclusions t o t hese cases, but r at her pr esent ed an even balance in or der f or us t o ar r ive at our own decisions.

By way of summing up, milit ar y st r at egies may be gr and in design, but when t he har sh r ealit ies of war int er vene, cat ast r ophic disast er s can r esult and in t hese cases a scapegoat needs t o be f ound. Those closest t o t he act ion ar e t he likeliest candidat es, of t en lower in r ank and mor e vulner able t han t heir accuser s. Avoiding blame wit h t r agic out comes is not limit ed in t ime and place but is a nat ur al conse-quence of human nat ur e.

For f ur t her r eadi ng, Mi chael ’ s book, Scapegoat s, Thi r t een Vi ct i ms of Mi l i t ar y I nj ust i ce, publ i shed by El l i ot t & Thompson Lt d, i s avai l abl e i n bookshops, pr i ce £20. Rosemary Bauccio

4

ANNUAL LECTURE

I nspir ing, incisive, ener get ic, Kat hleen Hall, t he exact ing and eagle-eyed Edit or of t his Newslet t er , will be 90 in J une. She has had a f ascinat ing and var ied lif e. Tr avelling was in her blood and became her passion along wit h her int er est in languages. But as a t eenager in t he 1930s, t r avelling was not an opt ion. Dur ing t he war she r ead Fr ench at Oxf or d, and t hen br ief ly ser ved in t he WRNS.

A skiing holiday in Swit zer land was like an escape; and in 1948 an ‘exchange’ wit h a Fr ench gir l f r om Lyon opened t he door wider . While on her way t o visit Swiss f r iends out side Zur ich, she st opped of f in Geneva, applied f or a j ob wit h t he Unit ed Na-t ions, and a f ew days lat er f ound her self wor king f or t he Economic Commission f or Eur ope. I t was an ideal t ime t o be living in Geneva; skiing ever y week-end in wint er , sailing in summer and one week-end she and a f r iend cycled r ound t he ent ir e lake of Geneva. What ’s mor e, she could af f or d t o t r avel, so holidays wer e spent in Cor sica, I t aly and Spain, wit h f r equent t r ips acr oss t he bor der int o Fr ance.

By 1951 her f r iends in t he UN wer e disper sing so, having t aught her self some I t alian, she moved t o Rome t o wor k f or t he Food and Agr icult ur e Or gan-isat ion. Her f ir st lodging t ur ned out , on ar r ival, t o be in a pent house in t he Palazzo Dor ia-Pamphilij over looking t he Pant heon. Once again it was t he r ight t ime t o be in Rome, which was t hen t he cent r e of a f lour ishing f ilm indust r y, wit h t he cit y as a backdr op f or such f amous f ilms as ‘Roman Holiday’ and ‘Thr ee Coins in a Fount ain’.

On a r ar e visit t o England, Kat hleen bought her self a car and dr ove it back t o Rome. As one of only a f ew gir ls wit h a car , she was in demand f or dr iving f r iends on t r ips out side Rome, such as t o t he Palio in Siena, and also f or week-ends in Posit ano.

Back in England t owar ds t he end of t he 1950s, and af t er f ir st wor king f or a f ir m of publisher s t hen a spell doing public r elat ions, she j oined t he RI BA in 1962, wher e she was r esponsible f or over seas r elat ions. This pr ovided an oppor t unit y t o accom-pany UK delegat ions t o congr esses of t he I nt er na-t ional Union of Ar chit ect s, t he f ir st of which was in Cuba in 1963 at which Fidel Cast r o welcomed delegat es. Ot her congr esses t ook her t o Mexico, Ar gent ina and Czechoslovakia. Ther e f ollowed meet ings of t he Liaison Commit t ee of Ar chit ect s of

t he Common Mar ket in Par is and Br ussels giving her an oppor t unit y t o t est her t r anslat ing and int er -pr et ing skills.

Af t er t en year s wit h t he RI BA, she decided t o go f r eelance, t ook an int er pr et er ’s cour se and became a member of t he I nst it ut e of Linguist s. While doing some int er pr et ing f or t he Br it ish Council and t he I UA, she r enewed her links wit h t he Common-wealt h Associat ion of Ar chit ect s, which had been set up while she was wit h t he RI BA. They wer e looking f or someone t o edit and pr oduce audio-vis-ual aids f or t he const r uct ion indust r y, and t his opened t he way t o t r avel in t he Commonwealt h and included t r ips t o Hong Kong, Aust r alia and Ghana wher e, when visit ing t he School of Ar chit ect ur e at Kumasi, she was pr esent ed t o t he local t r ibal chief .

Ther e f ollowed a commission in 1988 t o wr it e and pr oduce an audio-visual pr ogr amme t o mar k t he f ir st decade of t he Aga Kahn awar d f or ar hit ec-t ur e; t his was t r anslat ed int o ar abic and shown at a conf er ence in Cair o. I n or der t o collect t he mat er ial she paid sever al visit s t o t he Aga Kahn’s est at e in Geneva.

I n 1993 Kat hleen moved t o Nor land and j oined t he NCS. She is a dynamic member of t he commit t ee, inspir ing subj ect s f or t he annual lect ur e and edit ing t he newslet t er ; she is also a f eist y f ight er against planning t r ansgr essions. She also plays t ennis and goes on walking holidays.

She says she was lucky t o be in t he r ight place at t he r ight t ime and t o get paid f or so much of her t r avel. She has made many f r iends all over t he wor ld wit h whom and she st ill keeps in t ouch. Catherine Wilson

A TI ME TO TRAVEL

Kat hl een and 2 RI BA del egat es at t he 10t h I UA Congr ess i n Buenos Ar i es.

5

Neighbourhood Plan

Member s may well wonder why it is all t aking so long. Last year we emphasised t he impor t ance of be-ing pr o-act ive and t aking t he lead in developing policies and init ia-t ives t o pr eser ve and enhance Nor land. This led t o our set t ing out t o updat e t he Conser vat ion Ar ea Policy St at ement f or Nor -land over f our year s ago. Changes in Planning Law r esult ing f r om t he Localism Act led RBKC t o pr opose we should t ur n t his int o a Neigh-bour hood Plan, which would have legal f or ce t o cont r ol develop-ment in Nor land. We consult ed on t he Plan in J une last year , and have made sever al impr ovement s r esult ing f r om comment s r e-ceived.

The next st ep is inspect ion by an independent examiner who will make sur e t he Plan ‘t icks all t he boxes’. Then t he Plan will go t o a local r ef er endum, which is wher e we need you, our member s, t o give us t he t humbs up! This is due shor t ly. But somehow t he goal-post s seem const ant ly t o be mov-ing, as mor e and mor e ‘aut hor it ies’ get involved, and we never quit e get t her e. St ill, we r emain hope-f ul it will all be in place by t he AGM. Clive Wilson

Art icle 4 Direct ions

These ar e a key par t of t he Neighbour hood Plan, t o pr ot ect non-list ed buildings in t he Conser -vat ion Ar ea. We have done a de-t ailed house by house sur vey of ever y building. Ar t icle 4 Dir ec-t ions r emove Per mit t ed Develop-ment r ight s f or def ined t ypes of alt er at ion and addit ion, and make

t hem subj ect t o addit ional plan-ning cont r ol. Such Ar t 4 Dir ec-t ions have alr eady long applied t o paint colour in Nor land Squar e and Royal Cr escent . The Council consult ed on a wide r ange of new Ar t 4 Dir ect ions last summer .

To make sur e t hese do not over -bur den t he planner s wit h t oo many applicat ions, t he Neighbour -hood Plan will specif y cer t ain t ypes of development which will not r equir e planning appr oval, pr o-vided cer t ain guidelines ar e f ol-lowed. Typical examples ar e: r ear gar den development s (summer houses and sheds); r ear building ext ensions and enlar gement s; pr event ing br ickwor k det ailing being ‘paint ed out ’; t he colour of or nament al st ucco det ailing, such as cor nices, window sur r ounds, balconies, and st ucco r ust icat ion at gr ound f loor and basement lev-el; and t he f açade colour of some addit ional t er r aces (ext ending similar guidelines t o t hose alr eady in place f or Nor land Squar e and Royal Cr escent ). Clive Wilson

Basements

The Council has been going t hr ough an ext ensive, det ailed and ver y valuable r e-assessment of it s cor e st r at egy policies, in-cluding t he vexed issue of base-ment s, which has caused so many people so much angst f or sever al year s. I was asked t o j oin a wor k-ing gr oup wit h planning policy of -f icer s (led by Penelope Tollit t ), ot her conser vat ion gr oups and developer s.

The new Revised Dr af t Policy CL7 may not go quit e f ar enough, but it cer t ainly includes some consid-er able impr ovement s. Key point s: basement development should not exceed 50% of t he gar den (pr eviously 85%; not compr ise mor e t han one basement st or ey, nor add a f ur t her f loor t o an ex-ist ing basement ; not involve exca-vat ion under a list ed building, or any gar den of a list ed building (except on ver y lar ge sit es). Ther e ar e sever al mor e impr ove-ment s t oo det ailed t o list her e. Go t o t he websit e below and scr oll down t o Basement s Second Dr af t Policy. We ar e making f ur t her suggest ions t o t r y t o t ight en and clar if y policies st ill f ur t her . Clive Wilson

CURRENT I SSUES

6r bkc.gov.uk/ planningandconser vat ion/ planningpolicy/ cor est r at egy/ basement s.aspx

I nappr opr i at e pai nt col our whi ch woul d not be

per mi t t ed i f subj ect t o an Ar t 4 di r ect i on

Excavat i on dept h equi val ent t o hei ght of a 3 st or ey bui l di ng

Keeping Norland Saf e

Bet ween 7t h J anuar y and 8t h Apr il t his year t he Mayor of Lon-don' s Of f ice f or Policing and Cr ime car r ied out a maj or public consult at ion wit h t he aim of pr o-ducing a Police and Cr ime Plan f or t he capit al by Apr il. I n f ut ur e, t he Saf er Neighbour hood Teams ar e t o be t he f oundat ion of polic-ing in or der t o make t he police mor e visible, accessible and ac-count able t o t he public. The good news is t hat RBKC will have 74 mor e SNT of f icer s, despit e t he huge cut t o be made t o t he Met -r opolit an budget . At t he Nor land SNT meet ing in November 2012, coor dinat or s set t he f ollowing pr ior it ies: bur glar y pr event ion, yout h diver sion (act ivit ies de-signed t o st eer young people away f r om cr ime) and f ight ing dr ugs.

Alt hough Nor land has a r elat ively low cr ime r at e, never t heless be-t ween Sept ember and December 2012, t her e wer e 15 house bur gla-r ies or at t empt ed bur glar ies, 17 t hef t s f r om car s, and 3 car s and 10 bicycles st olen.

Last ly, on 20t h Mar ch t he Met r o-polit an Police t oget her wit h SNT held a ' Cour ier Fr aud Awar eness Day ‘ in ever y bor ough t o high-light pr event ion measur es against t he r ut hless f r audst er s who use cour ier f ir ms t o help def r aud vic-t ims - most ly elder ly - of t heir savings. This scam has claimed mor e t han 2,000 vict ims in t he past t wo year s, f our in t he Nor -land ar ea . The police message t o t he public is, as always, ' I f any-t hing seems suspicious, t hen it pr obably is' . Cont act t hem at once and t hey will r espond quickly. For t he Nor land War d SNT r ing 0208 2460165. Kathleen Hall

Neglected Royal Mail Let t erboxes

Geor gie Lebus has r ecor ded all t he Royal Mail let t er boxes in t he Nor land ar ea. What a sor r y pic-t ur e t hey pr esent . English Her it -age and t he Royal Mail issued a j oint st at ement in 2002 which acknowledged t hat “ Royal Mai l l et t er boxes add r i chness, col our and hi st or i cal dept h t o t he st r eet scene and ar e so hi ghl y r egar ded t hat t hey have become par t of t he nat i onal i mage. Thi s st at e-ment guar ant ees a secur e l ong- t er m f ut ur e f or Royal Mai l l et t er boxes of al l t ypes. ”

Not accor ding t o Geor gie’s phot o-gr aphs! Toget her wit h J ulie Mills our indef at igable War d Council-lor , NCS is going t o r emind Royal Mail and RBKC of t hese f ine sen-t iment s t o maint ain and r e-paint what ar e, af t er all, some of t he oldest st r eet f ur nit ur e st ill in use.

Some Recent Successes

West er n Appr oaches

A side ef f ect of t he West f ield de-velopment has been dawning recogni-t ion of Holland Park, it s roundabout and it s environs as t he cornerst one of t he borough. Unf ort unat ely, it is also t he gat eway t o Shepherds Bush and t he exuberant commercialism of LBH&F. We have achieved a number of vict o-r ies over unrelent ing at t empt s t o est ablish adver t ising displays by Transport f or London (whose pr ime f unct ion is t o generat e income f or it self ) and ot her opport unist s seek-ing advert isement loopholes in t he rat her slack planning process.

Not able successes have been our dismissal of t hree f reest anding LED

displays on t he remaining green pat ch adjacent t o Richmond Way (Tf L). We made represent at ions at t heir appeal (an all-day event at t he Town Hall) which was narrowly de-f eat ed.

We have j ust repelled a plet hora of smaller displays on t he roundabout it self (Tf L again). Net work Rail have been ref used a f oot hold in t he West way corr idor on Lat imer Road (LBH&F). This may seem rat her re-mot e but we are backing object ions t o t heir current appeal, which would achieve a precedent f or f ur t her incursions. Fergus Kinmonth

Obj ect i on t o si t i ng of Bor i s Bi kes

Combined voices over t ur ned Tf L’s planning applicat ion f or a Bor is Bike docking st at ion out side St J ames’s Gar dens, a locat ion in conf lict wit h NCS’s conser vat ion policies. Resident s Kat har ina and Mar k Labovit ch r allied t he neigh-bour s and cont act ed NCS. Our r easoning - t hat it would be det r iment al t o t he char act er and appear ance of t he Conser vat ion Ar ea, ar gued by Clive at t he ap-plicat ions commit t ee meet ing won t he day. NCS cer t ainly suppor t Bor is Bikes, but not in t his case, Tf L’s insensit ive and densit y dr iven choice of locat ion. Fergus Kinmonth

7

Negl ect ed Let t er boxes

Chairman Hon SecretaryMembership Secretary Hon TreasurerNeighbourhood PlanPlanning Applicat ionsPlanning SupportNewslet t er Edit orNewslet t er Compiler

Libby Kinmont hChr issie ColbeckVacantJ ohn HodgsonClive WilsonGeor gie LebusVolunt eer soughtKat hleen HallVer onica Scot t

chair man@nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uksecr et ar y@nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uk t r easur er @nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.ukclive@nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.ukplanning@Nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uk c/ o ver onica@nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uk ver onica@nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uk

To cont act a r epr esent at ive, inser t t he name bef or e... @nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uk

Addison Avenue and Addison Place Veronica Scot t ver onica@... Norland Square and Norland Place Gregg Sando gssando@...Penzance Place and Penzance St reet Catherine Wilson cat her ine@...Port land Road Anthony Perry aj vmper r y@... Princedale Road and Pot t ery Lane Edward Eyerman edwar deyer man@...Queensdale Road, Place and Walk Keit h Hunter keit h@... Royal Crescent and Royal Crescent Mews Tif f any Chawner t if f ogden@...St Ann’s Road and St Ann’s Villas Rosemary Bauccio r osemar ymconway@... St James’s Gardens and Darnley Terrace Catherine Wilson cat her ine@...Taverner’s Close and out side Norland area Kath leen Hall c/ o ver onica@... David Campion , Robin Price & Mary Sheehan: c/ o secr et ar y@nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uk

NETWORKI NG WI TH RESI DENTS AND MEMBERS

Our hands-on par t -t ime administ r at r at or does a gr eat j ob enabling t he kind of cont inuit y t hat none of our lives allow. This involves up-dat ing t he websit e and cont act ing member s on planning applicat ions and diar y dat es. Emails make it so easy t o keep in t ouch and we ar e const ant ly r eminded t hat NCS is only as st r ong as it s member s’ combined voices. NB t her e is st ill a place on t he commit t ee f or an ent husiast ic per son t o t ake on member ship development . Cont act : member ship@nor landconser vat ionsociet y.co.uk

NORLAND CONSERVATI ON AREA