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| WHAT PEOPLE WANT |
The nonsense motormouth CEO of Westway Trust spouts makes clear she's been to some junior business school.
Angela McConville does come out with some embarrassing tripe.
If she gets her way a vibrant and colourful part of London will be turned into a dreary 'retail park'
This is what she says about her 'village': of course, it's the antithesis of a village.
The very bossy boss says “Our vision is to enable a cultural, community and artisan retail destination that builds on the unique heritage of Portobello Road .....blah blah blah....while delivering social and economic benefits and yet more..... blah.
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| WHAT PEOPLE DON'T WANT |
(left) is McConville's dreary vision. It could be anywhere...from Dubai to Sidney.
The architects wacked up a few trees up to show it's a 'village'
In the midst of the Borough, citizen activism, led by Amanda Frame and Michael Bach of the Kensington Society, halted developers of the Odeon in their tracks.
The people of the north have the same power.....
Is it really true that Labour's Cllr Mason is on the Westway Trust Board and is in favour of this barbarism?
ReplyDeleteYes, if you go to westway development trust company listings cllr mason is on the board of directors and is presumably paid for his services.
DeleteCllr Mason is not paid for his services on the board, he is nominated to the board by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is silly to tar him with this particular brush. Roger Matland created a "fortress Amenity trust". The portacabin part of the development is rubbish but the rest is very sensible and will stop Portobello Green being a haven for drunks and druf addicts.
Delete07:28 when was the last time you set foot in North Kensington? Where are all these "drunks and druf addicts"? 1992?
DeleteThere's no reason to believe the local councillors support this philistine plan.The drawing shows a building with all the elegance of North Korean military architecture, that will loom over an area in the greatest need of cheering up.
ReplyDeleteThe Westway cuts through one of the least affluent communities in Europe. Yet this plan is for the charity to borrow commercial money. Much of it will be invested in expensive new retail premises, which will inevitably fail. The charity will go broke when the banks foreclose. So yet more of our publicly owned assets will end up in private hands. Problem solved!
Please help stop such destruction Would all those who support London's diverse local communities, take a moment to sign this petition. Thank you.
Already over 8,000 signatures. Please sign to save the soul of N. Kensington.
ReplyDeleteShame westway trust. Will not listen to people. Only what they ceo . Believes is right. And far to many people. In town hall are following her. Is it true someone. From RBKC social council . Helped to find McConville for job .
ReplyDeleteI say:
ReplyDelete"Sure to be a complete disaster that will suck the soul out of
Portobello and sanitise it. Too many clueless councillors at K&C fail to
grasp what gives this city the edge that sets it apart from others. This is
BIG London, not London Ontario...or Disneyland. Hands off!"
Westway responds:
"Westway Trust absolutely agrees with you about the importance of the authenticity of the local area. There are absolutely no plans to diminish the market offer or the number of stalls, quite the reverse, we want to improve the situation for the traders, many of whom are struggling to make a living as unfortunately the average spend from visitors is currently very low. The reality of the situation, as told to us by the market operators, is that the market is in decline. That is one of the main issues we want to try to address. And of course the markets only operate on 3 days of the week, the rest of the week the story is very different with very few people coming to the area. Some parts under the motorway are abandoned and inaccessible to the community. Some of our own tenants in the arcade are struggling to make a living and do not trade outside of market days, exacerbating the problems of what is in effect a three day a week economy. Westway Trust has managed the area for the local community for over 40 years and wants to bring about improvements to ensure it is sustainable for the next 40 years, but do so in a sympathetic way which retains the authentic nature of the area.
Please do have a look at our website, which explains why we are proposing the improvements http://space.westway.org/shaping-future. You will also see from the plans that the majority of new spaces proposed are very small, (less than 30m2) aimed at small and start-up local business, which will help to keep the local character alive and well. Our ideas are at a very early stage and will evolve over the coming months in response to local concerns.
You decide!
It was for many years a rarity to see anyone from Hornton Street in North Kensington without an escort. This proposal has very little to do with serving the local community, in all of its diversity. Westfield is very close -- and has eroded retail activity in a large are of west London. New retail outlets are not necessarily a sure bet. The machinations of RBKC and WDT must be scrutinised with great care before yet more 'family silver' is placed in jeopardy, and a second 'All Saints' debacle is foisted on the area.
ReplyDelete