WANTED: NEW MEMBERS FOR THE FRIENDS OF BELSIZE COMMUNITY LIBRARY COMMITTEE
The Friends of Belsize Community Library was first set up as PLUG (Public Library Users Group) in 1988 to fight Library closures. Since then it has continued to actively fight against efforts to close the library, held regular monthly talks of local, literary and historical interest (more recently on zoom), as well as making a contribution to fund raising activities. In 2016 it campaigned successfully for the building to be listed.
The Friends are seeking new members for the committee who are willing to help organise monthly events and to participate in the other activities of the committee. If you are interested ​in finding out more, please contact ​belsizelibrary@thewinch.org, who will pass your details on to the Friends Committee.

Camden has new electoral wards in 2022
Following a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission, the Council wards in Camden have changed. The number of electoral wards in the borough has increased from 18 to 20 while the number of Councillors will increase from 54 to 55. Fifteen wards will be represented by three Councillors and five wards will be represented by two. The changes are intended to make sure that all Councillors represent about the same number of residents.

The first election under the new wards will be the local Council elections on 5 May. In preparation for the changes, the Council has undertaken a review of its polling districts and polling stations within the new wards. The new Belsize ward covers (in broad terms) the area bounded by Finchley Road (west), Eton Avenue (south), Haverstock Hill (east) and the northern part of Netherhall Gardens (north).
For further information on the new ward boundaries, visit: https://news.camden.gov.uk/camden-set-for-new-electoral-wards-in-2022/

BelSoc plans to hold its customary hustings for candidates from major parties to answer questions from residents in the run-up to the May 5 poll.

BelSoc’s unique TRADESMEN YOU CAN TRUST booklet

Yes, it’s that time of year again: the “Happy New Year”s have all been said and many of us will be deciding what we need done to house and garden and who to approach to do the work. And where do many of us look first? Why, to BelSoc’s TYCT booklet!

The form for suggestions, enclosed with this Newsletter, has been redesigned and is hopefully easier to use (comments welcome). If 20% of our members (the usual is nearer 10%) were to contribute new tradesmen this year and comment on how well currently listed tradesmen have worked as well, we could have a bumper harvest of entries by the end of March and maybe the booklet would revert to or even exceed its pre-covid entry numbers and remain as useful as so many of you tell us it is.

Please do your very best to recall all the repairs and renovations you’ve had done during the year and the tradesmen who’ve done them and just use the enclosed form or email us at tyct@belsize.co.uk, to send us their contact details, brief description and any comments you have. We’ll do the rest and send you a unique booklet of local Tradesmen You Can Trust with our May newsletter.

Belsize Carol Singing
The Society’s Christmas Carol Singing was well-attended with over fifty singing along with Matthew Watts at Belsize Terrace. During the 45 minutes, some old favourites were rolled out, many with our youngest singers leading from the front,  Also, over £250 was raised for the Marie Curie hospice, a good local cause.

January 2022 will see construction of the trial Haverstock Hill pop up cycle lanes begin. This will provide protected cycle lanes in both directions on Haverstock Hill/ Rosslyn Hill (between the junctions with Prince of Wales Road and Pond Street). Having consulted and made several amendments to the scheme, the changes to be made include:

• Adding 4 new zebra crossings and one new signalised pedestrian crossing.
• Introduce new benches along the Haverstock Hill / Rosslyn Hill corridor.
• Extending the hours of operation of the bus lane to Monday – Sunday 24/7.
• Add shared use bus boarders at bus stops to enable cyclists to remain separated from traffic
• Improving the junctions/traffic lights for those walking and cycling.
• Removing the majority of parking provision on Haverstock Hill/ Rosslyn Hill and relocating some of this provision to adjacent side roads.
• Install more cycle parking to help people switch their journey to the shops by bike.

The scheme will be implemented under an 18-month Experimental Traffic Order, which will enable the improvements to be implemented on a trial basis. This will allow the Council to observe how the proposed changes are operating before carrying out a full public consultation, after twelve months, to decide whether or not the scheme is made permanent. There is also a window to make formal objections to this scheme within the first six months of the scheme’s operation, 27 January 2022 to 27 July 2022. Details on this and the scheme are online: https://safetravelcamden.commonplace.is/proposals/haverstock-hill-pop-up-cycle-lanes.

 for a permanent designation for street trading purposes only, is now open until 21st January 2022. It can be found here.

Camden has included some explanatory notes such as: “Designation Consultation”, which indicates that if approved, the area will still be the subject of a licence application. Also informative are  “About Pavement Licensing” and “About Pavement Licences”

(This possibly relates to the substantial controversy over the proposed development of the 02 Centre site.)

Further opportunity to have your say on the emerging Site Allocations Local Plan

Since the last consultation on the Site Allocations Local Plan ended in March/April 2020 a lot has happened: Camden has declared a climate emergency; there have been significant changes to the national planning system; the New London Plan has been adopted, as have two more Neighbourhood Plans; and we are in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that is likely to have a lasting impact on our work, home and leisure priorities.

Over the last few months we have had requests from some local residents and community groups for us to carry out some further consultation on the Plan before we undertake a formal consultation on the next draft (Publication Draft). In response, we held an online public meeting earlier in November to give people a chance to find out more about the Plan and ask questions (recording available here). We have also now launched an additional online consultation to make it easier for people to have a further say on the growth areas and individual sites proposed for allocation in the Plan and on what more the Plan could do to help tackle the climate crisis. Please see our site allocations commonplace homepage. Alternatively you can email your comments to planningpolicy@camden.gov.uk using the subject title: Site Allocations – Additional Engagement.

The closing date for additional comments on the Draft Site Allocations Local Plan is Monday 24 January 2022. All comments received by the Council will be considered by the Council in preparing its the Publication Draft of the Plan.

The November BelSoc Newsletter is online here as a pdf.

It has been a pleasure to welcome you to some events over the last months. We have had almost a year and half without this being possible but this Newsletter reports on two lively and successful events.

Averil Nottage provided an excellent tour of both Belsize and local history, with a walk that gathered 50 of us despite the threat of rain. The library hosted a screening of David Percy’s “The Story of Moll King’s Belsize Houses”, an illustrated presentation of his recent book. The event also gave us an opportunity to celebrate 50 years and we reproduce in the Newsletter Averil’s talk about our first half-century.

The Newsletter also draws from our archives, looking at the community events that have been a feature of the past half century of our work and TYCT. The Newsletter also covers the Belsize Community Choir and notes some of the planning matters that are live in the Belsize area (100 Avenue Road, HS2). Some Society matters are also covered.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the Society’s carol singing this year. 

Hope you enjoy this Newsletter.

HS2 Update

Works are continuing to set up the Adelaide Road site for HS2.  From mid-November for up to six weeks, HS2 will start to remove further vegetation and trees within the site boundary.  The works do not include removal of vegetation or trees within the Adelaide Nature Reserve. Please visit HS2inCamden.co.uk for more information.  If you have a question about HS2 or the works in Camden, please contact the helpdesk on 08081 434 434 or email HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

Have your say on the Community Vision for Gospel Oak and Haverstock

Camden Council is consulting until 17 December about a draft planning guidance document, setting out the key issues and opportunities seen in the Gospel Oak and Haversack area. The context is an anticipated large amount of changes happening in the coming years, highlighting the development proposals that are to be built or likely to come forward. This includes sites for new homes or modern replacements for existing homes. There are also plans for community and health facilities. Further details: bit.ly/gohvision

Belsize and Argentina

We have had a request for information about the family of General Juan Manuel de Rosas, President of the Confederation of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, the precursor of Argentina, who was a dictator and exiled to Britain in 1852.  His descendants had connections with Belsize Park. Any information about where they lived would be welcome and, in particular, we have been asked about whether No 88 Belsize Park Gardens ever existed as an address. If you have any clues about this, please contact us at info@belsize.org.uk.

Are you a keen baker?

We are looking to update our rota of people able and willing to make a cake or savoury snack for our events.  If you want to contribute to this much-appreciated aspect of BelSoc, please contact info@belsize.org.uk.

BelSoc subscription reminder

Your £10 annual subscription to the Belsize Society is due on 1 January.  We do not send out a separate invoice, but in the envelope with this newsletter you will find an individual letter about your payment method.  Please ensure your subscription is paid on or before 1 January 2022.

Remember all the benefits of the membership, such as the “Tradesmen You Can Trust” booklet and the chance to be involved with local issues. Also, if you are able, please use gift aid when making membership payments.