Queen’s Park petitioners call for a ‘parish-style’ voice

Published: 13th May, 2011
by CONRAD LANDIN

A CAMPAIGN to establish London’s first “community council” in Queen’s Park has been welcomed by the area’s councillors, but City Hall says it will await the outcome of a consultation before making any decision on the plans.

On Monday residents from the north-west tip of Westminster presented council leader Colin Barrow with a 1,500-strong petition calling for the establishment of parish-level authority to deal with local issues.

Labour group leader and Queen’s Park councillor Paul Dimoldenberg said: “This community initiative deserves to succeed and will make Queen’s Park an even stronger community. My fellow ward councillors and I have been giving support and advice to campaigners, who have been right to draw on the neglect of the area. It’s always been an uphill struggle to get a fair hearing for Queen’s Park, given the distance to City Hall in Victoria Street.”

He said he expected the proposal to receive cross-party support.

Unlike its predecessor, the Queen’s Park Neighbourhood Forum, which has been a victim of government spending cuts, a community council would be funded directly through an additional levy on households.

Cllr Dimoldenberg said: “The residents of Queen’s Park have been forced to take this action because the local infrastructure has been taken away.”

Cllr Barrow said: “We always welcome people wanting to get involved in shaping their community to make it a better place to live and work. A review will now be carried out to ask the wider community in Queen’s Park about the idea of a parish council. We will consult other bodies such as schools and voluntary organisations as well as established local forums such as residents’ associations to see what their views are of the proposal that has been put forward. At the end of the review, we will then publish our recommendation setting out if a parish council is appropriate for this area.”

Angela Singhate, chairwoman of the Campaign for a Queen’s Park Community Council, said she was encouraged by the positive reception to the campaign. 

She added: “We’d really like to see the council move quickly to have the governance review done in time for the first elections to take place next May, at the same time at the vote for London mayor. We’re hoping the bureaucratic process won’t get in the way.”