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ONA AGM Minutes, 16 March 2023
News |
Fri - April 14, 2023
7:09
Guest speaker Jonathan Wade, RBKC Head of Spatial Planning
Chair Charles Lawton (CL) opened the 50th Annual AGM of the ONA at 6:30 and invited ONA President Julian Lloyd Webber to speak. JLW thanked guests and Courtfield Ward Councillors Greg Hammond (GH), Janet Evans (JE), as well as Hans and Brompton Councillor Mary Weale, for coming. He mentioned the danger of losing focus after we win on an issue; we need to keep paying attention. Many problems affecting our area reflect national trends—empty shops, the homeless, high rents, crime. These problems can be scary and out of our control but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t mention or try to address them locally. He asked attendees to keep watch, be persistent and encourage friends and neighbours to join ONA. We all need to work together and there is strength in numbers.
The 2022 AGM Minutes were accepted and approved.
Chairman’s Report: CL observed that the same issues come up time and time again in our area!
Regarding the Around Station Development of SK Station (SKS), he reported that the inquiry has been going on since mid-January. We’re up against TfL and Native Land. He thanked Susanna Trostdorf (ST) for spending so much time on the Inquiry and she was given a round of applause for her work.
Re: Pelham Street: 40 Pelham Street is due to be converted to office space. 61-83 Pelham Street will be demolished and rebuilt by spring of 2026. Consultation on the traffic management plan is starting. If you have any reason to object, please do.
Re: Former Christies site: CL noted that we were consulted on a 30 to 40 home plan and objected. Cllr JE spoke up to say that the developers have since abandoned the project. ST credited the outcome to the coordinated effort of ONA and the so-called BBC group, formed by neighbours residing next to the site, for this outcome. No news on what might come next.
Re: Bute Street pedestrianization—Cllr GH noted that work will begin in May.
Re: Old Brompton Road urgently needs a facelift, with dirty streets, rubbish bags frequently on the pavement, many abandoned storefronts. Little action to report. Members who are interested in taking this on, please email CL.
Re: Pigeons on the plaza. A community order was served on people feeding them but it’s still happening. CL suggested a bylaw to further discourage these individuals.
Re: Licensing. CL noted that RBKC’s draft Local Plan as of Oct 2022 stated that South Kensington (SK) had been identified within the London Plan as having a night-time economy of “international or national” significance, which is a cause for concern as SK is very much residential. Boca Lounge on the Cromwell Road, just north of our area, has applied to stay open to serve food and drink till 2:30 am! Treats in the SKS Arcade applied to serve ‘late night refreshment’ till 1:30 am, but after our objections, agreed to stop serving at midnight.
The ‘B London’ nightclub, operated by the people who owned Boujis, is soon to open in the former site of the short-lived Albert: on Queensgate and the Old Brompton Road. We need to keep eyes/ears open to ensure activities there don’t disturb neighbours.
CL attended a crime meeting held by our MP Felicity Buchan where he heard RBKC was getting two new officers but wasn’t sure if these were ‘real’ police officers or community officers. Some takeaways: car theft and theft from cars continues to be a perennial problem; burglaries are back up to pre-pandemic levels, and people riding e-bikes on the pavement are very concerning and a threat to pedestrians.
CL reminded all that the ONA Garden Party will take place on Wednesday 14 June in Onslow Square, moved up one day from the initial date of 15 June. ONA is also sponsoring, once again, a summer concert in the Square on 7 July. There are currently no local plans for the Coronation of King Charles; the deadline for applying to hold a street party is 11 April. The councillors said they thought there would be an event in Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens.
The Q&A period dealt with issues related to crime: the fact that magistrates are being instructed to deal very lightly with some types of crime—not to prosecute shoplifters for taking items worth less than £200. A shoplifter’s chances of being caught and sanctioned are almost zero. Staff are being told not to pursue shoplifters in case they have knives. There are currently 80k people in prisons in the UK and they are full. These are bigger problems that our association can’t directly address. CL notes that fraud crimes are rarely prosecuted.
A member asked if ONA could help with leaseholder issues; CL said that Onslow Square Residents Association already does this and we don’t have the capacity.
CL and ST urged attendees to report problems with rubbish and clutter on our streets via RBKC’s portal. Cllr JE said that the Council needs to hear from us, and later circulated emails and advice for how to report both litter and e-bikes and scooters that are strewn across/obstructing the pavement. (Email photos and locations and problems to streetline@rbkc.gov.uk and do the same to the relevant E-bike/scooter company: Dott: support@ridedott.com; Lime: London-ops@li.me; Tier: support@tier.app.
ONA’s actions in the SKS ASD: ST reviewed the latest developments. (Please see separate news stories with the details.) In brief, Zoe Hill is the Inspector who will decide whether to uphold the Council’s refusal of the Native Land/TfL plan. The inquiry was originally to run from 18 January to 3 February but has been extended to April to allow for the cross-examination of all witnesses.
The Appellant hired a very prominent barrister, Russell Harris, KC. The outcome is still hard to predict. ST noted that the Inspector is under a lot of pressure to overturn the Council’s refusal.
Accounts: ST noted that even with all the money ONA has spent there have already been some good outcomes, spelled out i.
In 2022 we spent £10K and there will be more expenses to come. The transition to the new Treasurer, Cynthia Parker (CP), is happening. CP has been chasing members for payments since start of the year and will follow up on GiftAid. In 2023, we have so far received £6K in donations, £2K from one resident. We should end the year in acceptable financial shape despite the expenses for ONA’s Rule 6 representation at the ASD Inquiry. Donations are most welcome as we still need to replenish funds.
For the ASD inquiry, ONA was able to team up with Pelham Residents Association and Pelham Street Association as one Rule 6 party as we agreed on the strategy and areas that we wanted to address, avoiding potential cost award issues. It is unfortunate that ONA was unable to team up with other RAs but they had different aims. We did achieve savings on the ASD campaign, for example, by finding talented but less expensive representation.
Election of Officers and Committee Members: CL mentioned he has now completed two four-year terms as Chair and is term-limited per the provisions of our constitution. No one objected to his reappointment for a further year while seeking a successor. He endorsed CP, who has a banking background, to succeed ST as Treasurer. He expressed gratitude that more members have stepped up to join the Committee.
Current officers and committee members were re-elected, and proposed new committee members were elected en bloc.
Current: Charles Lawton, Chair; Cynthia Parker, Treasurer; Laura Mosedale, Secretary; Susanna Trostdorf, Planning Lead; Samantha Wyndham, Membership Lead
New Committee Members: Nicola Aldridge, Andrew Carnegie, Mark Goodwin, Lara Mazzoni, Malcolm Ransome, Caroline Senley
CL then welcomed Jonathan Wade, Head of Spatial Planning for the RBKC Council, to make a presentation on the Local Plan. JW began by saying that he does not deal with planning applications. In his talk, he dealt mainly with South Kensington. Takeaways from his presentation: town centres have dramatically changed, with a huge reduction in the need for retail space. For that reason, there’s a new ‘Class E’ superclass for commercial, business and service units. The government conflated these to one use-class so businesses don’t have to apply for planning permission to change from one use to another. In this new environment, there has got to be flexibility and to let the market decide what is appropriate in an area.
That said, the draft Local Plan will limit the proportion of betting shops, hot food takeaways, payday loan shops and pawn brokers in city centres.
Regarding the reference in the Local Plan to SK having a night-time economy of “international or national” significance. He noted that this comes from the Mayor’s adopted London Plan and had been included with the support of our local Councillors in RBKC’s draft Local Plan. The Council still has policies to protect residents from harmful developments.
If the Council refuses an application, they need substantive grounds to do so. The Council needs to be sensible, to manage and not just ‘refuse everything.’
The Local Plan recognizes that the RBKC has to supply more housing, a challenge in our already densely populated borough. There are two sites where this is feasible on a large scale: Earls Court and Kensall Rise. The Council has to show that it has a housing plan going forward. Our housing delivery is currently 35 percent below the national policy.
Cllr GH noted that the RBKC is moving forward on efforts to mitigate climate change—now allowing double glazing and solar panels in or on listed buildings, both of which could have a significant impact in a borough with 4K listed buildings. The Council is exploring fitting heat pumps in different types of housing. The Council aims to be zero carbon by 2030.
CL thanked JW for his presentation. He also thanked Josie Jenkins, Ian Grimshaw, Nicola Mather, Caroline Senley for helping at the AGM, and, especially, Caroline Church for her delicious canapes.
Finally, he thanked ST and LM for their long service on the ONA committee. He repeated to audience members that if you see something you don’t like in our area, please report it to the appropriate authority—the Met Police or the Council.
The meeting closed at 8:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura Mosedale
ONA Secretary