Friday 26 September 2014

A group of local mothers are squatting next to London’s Olympic Park. we need social housing, not social cleansing

Why I’m occupying a boarded-up east London council house

A group of local mothers are squatting next to London’s Olympic Park to tell the government we need social housing, not social cleansing
Read more from the Guardian

Thursday 18 September 2014

Sutton Estate Artist Chris Steadman to exhibit work at the Queens Head


The truth about property developers: how they are exploiting planning authorities and ruining our cities

The landed families of Grosvenor, Portman and Cadogan have been joined by a breed of corporate giants like Lend Lease, CapCo and Ballymore. 

The wave of developers buying up swathes of London includes Malaysia’s SP Setia, which acquired Battersea power station. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

The truth about property developers: how they are exploiting planning authorities and ruining our cities

Affordable housing quotas get waived and the interests of residents trampled as toothless authorities bow to the dazzling wealth of investors from Russia, China and the Middle East

.Extract from  the Guardian.....Across the country – and especially in superheated London, where stratospheric land values beget accordingly bloated developments – authorities are allowing planning policies to be continually flouted, affordable housing quotas to be waived, height limits breached, the interests of residents endlessly trampled. Places are becoming ever meaner and more divided, as public assets are relentlessly sold off, entire council estates flattened to make room for silos of luxury safe-deposit boxes in the sky. We are replacing homes with investment units, to be sold overseas and never inhabited, substituting community for vacancy. The more we build, the more our cities are emptied, producing dead swathes of zombie town where the lights might never even be switched on... Read More The truth about property developers:

Wednesday 17 September 2014

HELP SAVE THE CURZON The Curzon cinema, King’s Road, is under threat from developers.

HELP SAVE THE CURZON The Curzon cinema, King’s Road, is under threat from developers. Developers want to replace it with a smaller, two screen cinema but it won't be the Curzon which is unique. Their choice of art-house and foreign films as well as their streaming of Opera, Theatre and Ballet would be sorely missed. There is still time to object to the development by emailing planning@rbkc.gov.uk or via post to the Planning Department, Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall, London W8 7NX. Please quote the planning reference number (Planning application no. PP/14/03650) when you object.
Click here to comment on the RBKC planning

World Homeless Day on the 10th of October 2014


West London Churches Homeless Concern - Fundraising Event in Chelsea to raise money for the homeless
.  After last year's award nominated "Sleep Out" at Duke of York Square, theyre gearing up to do it again for World Homeless Day on the 10th of October 2014. Join 250 volunteers sleeping rough for the night, with nothing but sleeping bags and cardboard boxes for comfort. WLCHC’s Sleep Out 2014 aims to raise £125,000, which is enough to ensure that 70 to 100 rough sleepers a night will find a safe, warm haven during the coldest months of the year. For more information and to register please go towww.wlchc.org/sleepout2014.htm
If you would like to sponsor Brian & Ramani please go to their Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/BrianandRamani/


Monday 15 September 2014

COUNCIL TAX FRAUD- please be Aware

The Council has been made aware of an attempt to con residents into giving personal details under the guise of receiving a ‘council tax adjustment’.

Unsolicited emails and phone calls have been received by residents purporting to be from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Council Tax section.  In the emails residents are told that, as a result of an adjustment by the Listing Officer of the Valuation Office Agency, their address has been downgraded for council tax purposes and they are entitled to a refund for previous overcharges.  In order to obtain a refund residents are asked to scan and send a copy of their latest council tax bill and also a copy of their UK driving licence or passport.

They are also given an option to post copies of the documents to the Town Hall.

The Council wants to stress that these are not genuine emails and no such council tax adjustment exists.  If you have been contacted please do not respond, but instead call the Council on 020 7361 3424. This number can also be used to verify that a caller from the Council Tax office is genuine.

For information on how to protect your identity go to http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/businessandenterprise/fraudawareness/protectyouridentity.aspx

Tuesday 9 September 2014

Summers Over - Back to Business

Hello all - I hope everyone had a lovely summer. We are all back now and will be keeping a close eye on the estate redevelopment.

Monday 8 September 2014

Bram Stokers Chelsea Connections

























W8 7NX 19th Century House On St Leonard Terrace  Was Once Lived In By The Author Bram Stoker. W8 7NX - 19th Century House On St Leonard Terrace
Check out @londonerwalking's Tweet: https://twitter.com/londonerwalking/status/509068687173623808

Is inequality intensifying the housing crisis?


Why are house prices so high and why are prices in desirable areas becoming ever more extremely detached from the national average?
London homes now cost 12 times the median salary of those who live there. That seems absurd and unsustainable.
The usual suspects – housing supply not meeting demand, overly onerous planning restrictions –fail to provide a satisfying explanation on their own. Last month we were also told that the government’s Help to Buy scheme is not the main driver. Where then does the answer lie?
We need to start focusing our attention on the underlying, big picture factors that are shaping and distorting housing supply and demand. Aditya Chakrabortty, the Guardian’s Economics Commentator, has recently pointed to regional imbalances. Another possible explanation, the focus of our new working paper, is rising economic inequality.
More from this article at the New Economics Foundation Blog

Friday 5 September 2014

Chelsea FLEA MARKET 7th September

ChelseaFLEA MARKETAt The Sunken Garden 



behind Jane Asher’s Teashop on Cale Street Chelsea SW3 3QZFrom 11am -2pm
Sunday September 7thFor more information and to book a table please call07792674435 or 
email sunkengardenclub@gmail.com

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Malnutrition, rickets and other manifestations of extreme poor diet...

Tudor style illnesses such as Malnutrition, rickets and other manifestations of extreme poor diet are becoming apparent in parts of Britain, warn experts
....In May the association sent an open letter to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, published in the Lancet medical journal, highlighting the increase in the use of food banks, and said that high food and energy prices were causes contributing to poor diet choices and ill-health...Read more from The Independent