Home Secretary Alan Johnson joins Karen Buck on walkabout at revitalised Prince of Wales junction off the Harrow Road

Published: 26 February 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

FLUTTERING red rosettes brought a welcome splurge of colour to an otherwise grey and listless Prince of Wales junction on a bracing Tuesday morning in the Harrow Road. 

The huddled mass of Labour party members, shopkeepers and councillors may not have known it as they clutched their leaflets and waited patiently for their leader – the member of parliament for Regent’s Park and Kensington North, Karen Buck – but this was no ordinary walkabout.

As Ms Buck strode around the corner into view, she was locked in intense conversation with the Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

They were at the busy junction, once benighted by crack dealers and petty criminals, to celebrate Ms Buck’s two year battle with Westminster Council and the Metropolitan Police to improve safety in the area – securing it the biggest police presence in the capital. 

It has also benefited from the new Maida Hill street market and investment from the council that has given the area a much needed facelift.

Ms Buck said: “There’s been an endemic problem here for about 20 years. It used to be a drugs supermarket. I came here last year and watched people openly dealing drugs in the middle of the afternoon. 

“The film Kidulthood was filmed here, and it gets mentioned in rap tunes – that was the kind of reputation it had.

“What is good to see is that with the clean up hasn’t been a replication of the problem elsewhere. The real issue is the partnership between the police and the residents associations and the businesses. 

“It doesn’t happen in very many places but its happened here. People have gone the extra mile to make this work.”

Bridie Sheehan, who lives by the junction said: “I walk here every morning to and from work in Little Venice and the change has been amazing. 

“At 6.30-7am it used to be crawling with prostitutes and drunks. It was a nightmare, it was  very intimidating. 

“Now it feels really safe – and what’s better it has an atmosphere again, especially with the market and the events they hold down here.”

Asked about the proposed cuts to police forces across the Met – which will cost Westminster 14 officers if approved – Ms Buck conceded that hard won gains at the junction could slip away. 

Future problems could be by compounded by the announcement earlier this month that City Hall would be cutting 60 “city guardian” posts – the so called “eyes and ears” of the council who work in improving community safety.

Ms Buck added: “This area has been a visible illustration of what you can do with more police resources, and anything that threatens to put that into reverse is only going to be bad news.”

She was backed up by the Home Secretary, who was unflinching in his criticism of the proposals.

“There’s no excuse for cutting police anywhere in the country. We have provided record funding and in 2010-11 we will be putting in another £257 million,” he said. 

“Moving police from the front-line will only cause problems elsewhere, and I can’t believe anyone thinks it will be cost effective.”