Sunday, 29 October 2017

Mill Hill Focus - Issue #5 - Sunday 29nd October

Welcome to the fifth edition of our Mill Hill Focus. We've had a marvellous response to our weekly newsletter. We want to know what people in Mill Hill are talking about and what you want us to cover. Is there a picture or video you want us to include? 

 We've had some glorious weather this weekend, which has hopefully given us all a good excuse to enjoy the parks, cafes and country walks on our doorstep. For us, it is most important to try and ensure that the very best aspects of living in Mill Hill are protected and cherished. We've had a great response to this newsletter which we find really encouraging.  We've also had a great response to our pictures from around the neighbourhood, so we'll be taking a closer look at  some of these today.

 Mill Hill Environment and Campaigns

As we reported last week, there were resurfacing works in the Broadway. Much to our surprise, the scheme was not a full resurfacing of the Broadway, just the section by the bus stop outside WH Smiths. We were very surprised that the Council doesn't use its Twitter account to inform residents of such roadworks and disruption. It would seem and ideal use of such a resource. You can follow this at https://twitter.com/BarnetCouncil - Over the coming months, you are likely to see quite a few canvassers from local political parties knocking on your door. There is a council election next May. This means that it's a great time to get stuff done, as they are keen to impress you. We recommend making a list of things you want to see changing or improving and going through it with them. Local councillors get paid a minimum allowance of £10,000 and a free parking pass. In return they are meant to represent local people and do their best to ensure that the council delivers quality services. If one of your current councillors knocks on your door, you are perfectly entitled to ask what they have done for the £40,000 they've been paid since the 2014 election. Hopefully, they'll be able to give you a list of achievements on their watch. 

 We've noted several areas where we believe that the current councillors in Mill Hill should be doing more.  The ongoing issues of vandalism in Mill Hill Broadway (have you signed the petition yet?) is just one. 



It seems that it is not only vandalism that is a risk to the street scene and environment in Mill Hill. This week, we were horrified to learn that due to a cock up at Barnet Council, planning permission has been granted for a massive billboard next to the motorway. This application had objections from local residents and even the famous University of London observatory. It seems that the application was put in over a year ago and the Council did nothing about it. As is their right, the applicant appealed to the planning inspectorate on the grounds that the council had not completed the application in due time. As a result, all objections were ignored and the council were forced to pass the application. Our friends at the Barnet Eye blog cover the story in full detail. We agree that it is quite unacceptable that a council cock up can result in the passing of contentious planning applications. It should also be said that this is not only bad for the objectors, but if the planning application was in good order, then the applicant has lost a years worth of revenue due to the cock up. In short, no one wins. In the London Borough of Barnet, planning is outsourced and run by Capita. It appears that this is not working well. It is our view that local councillors should be on top of all planning issues and working to ensure that the system is run competently.

 There also seems to be  a bit of an issue with local Telecoms companies not maintaining their equipment properly. Here is one example that has been brought to our attention.



Transport

The Hot Topic (excuse the pun) for Thameslink commuters at the moment is the poor air conditioning on Thameslink Trains. This week, the Train manufacturers put out the following tweet, to demonstrate that they are taking the matter seriously.

We will keep you informed as we get more information.

 Quite a few of our readers are interested in transport issues. This months Modern Railways magazine has a special pull out on major projects affecting London. There is a good article on the West London Orbital railway, which will run from Hendon to Acton, providing a much needed orbital link to West London. We would like to see the scheme extended to Mill Hill.


Mill Hill History

 If you are interested in local history, there is a fascinating album of historic pictures of Mill Hill on the Francis Frith website. We thoroughly recommend checking this out! There are 65 different pictures!

 https://www.francisfrith.com/uk/mill-hill/photos

 There is also a very interesting video about the plans in the 1930's for a railway line from Mill Hill East to Bushey. Well worth a watch


Mill Hill News, Events and Pictures


We love Mill Hill! So every week we bring you the best of the tweets, local events and great pictures from our community. Here is this weeks selection. If you are on Twitter, why not follow all of your local community groups and businesses.

 Here's this weeks round up













See you next week!
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