Blog

The KTNF boundary will be discussed at the Haverstock Area Action Group meeting on Thursday 6^th September, 6.30pm until 9.30pm, at Cresswood Hall, 215 Queen’s Crescent.

We have heard that people feel passionately that Kentish Town West is very much part of Kentish Town. Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum has responded and is inviting the West to join the Forum. Now it looks like West Kentish Towners have the opportunity to put their money where their mouth is.

On Thursday 6^th September the western boundary of KTNF will be discussed and agreed upon. This is the chance for Kentish Town West to decide once and for all if they would like to be included or not, and, if so, where the boundary should be. KTNF, therefore, asks that those who feel Kentish Town West should be included come along and support their campaign and this decision making.

This summer Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum ran a 6 day street engagement strategy in Kentish Town. Our two main objectives were firstly to ask people, who live or work in Kentish Town, what they want to see and happen in their area – the results of this consultation will help us with the formation of our Neighbourhood Plan. Secondly we wanted to publicize the 3 day Planning Event that was going to happen immediately afterwards. Previously a group of us had made everything we would need, like banners and a giant A frame board onto which people could fix post-it notes with their wishes for Kentish Town. We had balloons, wish cards and business cards printed with details of the Planning Event and KTNF. The 6 day street engagement was most amazing. 22 members of KTNF took part over the 6 days, some of them helping on most of the days. We all enjoyed it because we got to talk to hundreds of people who live or work in Kentish Town, and to hear their views about Kentish Town.

In May Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum had a stall at Alma Street Fair. A banner printed with a huge heading and printed balloons were ordered. The banner never turned up but at least we had the balloons. Four of us manned the stall – Angela Koch, Hannah Westwood, Caroline Hill and Alan Cane. We decorated the stall with our balloons and donated bunting. Angela had brought a big board onto which people could fix post-it notes with their wishes for Kentish Town. It was a hot summer’s day, would you believe it, and hordes of people turned up. There was a great deal of interest in the KTNF stall. Lots of people came to talk to us and ask us about the Forum and we signed up 31 new members. We had good fun too.

From 3 to 5 July we held 2 public sessions and 1 stakeholder workshop at St Luke’s in Oseney Crescent.  A big thank you to the Rev. Jon March and his congregation for kindly allowing to use the Church over those days.  St Luke’s is a Kentish Town landmark building, built nearly 150 years ago at a time when Kentish Town was developing rapidly from a green suburb noted for its clean air into a more grimy and gritty suburb as a result of the development of the railways.  Along with the other buildings from the period including our streets and crescents, public houses, piano factories and shops it shows the vigour, energy and confidence of our Victorian forebears.  The vision of Kentish Towners from that period was a sort of neighbourhood planning that we wanted to acknowledge and develop to be relevant to those of us who now live, work, shop, worship or play in Kentish Town.
The first public session on 3 July was attended by over 80 people.  Around the Church we had displayed the results of the week long engagement we had undertaken around Kentish Town Road.  This included the wish cards and the post it notes with ideas from people as to what would most improve Kentish Town, what they would do if they were Mayor of Kentish Town, what they would like to see in Kentish Town.  During the evening this was added to and people were asked to identify the places they most liked and least liked in Kentish Town on a large map and the 3 things/areas most in need of improvement in Kentish Town.
On 4 July we held a stakeholder day attended by around 50 people including Camden Council Officers, local Councillors, owners of businesses in Kentish Town, landowners, Transition Kentish Town, the Somali Youth Development Resource Centre, the Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team and representatives from London Underground and Transport for London.  In groups we looked at identifying key issues and priorities in areas such as transport, community services/facilities, green/public spaces, planning, housing and historic buildings and economic development.

During the day of 5 July technical experts from the Prince’s Foundation worked to summarise all the work undertaken and put it together into a presentation highlighting some possible proposals to take forward.  The second public session on the evening of 5 July, attended by over 60 people, focused on presenting the outputs of all the engagement based on the priority areas identified by everyone who had attended the events.
The Prince’s Foundation are now collating all the information and feedback and will produce a report for us.  Once this report is finalised we will circulate it to everyone for further comments.  We will also continue with consultations with those groups we have not yet been able to contact. In the light of all those comments we will then consider those aspects of the report that could go forward into a draft Neighbourhood Plan for Kentish Town. Our aim is to develop the Neighbourhood Plan with you over the course of the next 6-9 months.