Wendy and I went on a big walkabout around Kensington last week, accompanied by about a dozen officers from the council, local housing associations and various other partners and residents.
We walked around that area of Kensington that is not in the new deal area, nor a zone of opportunity, nor HMRI, nor indeed anywhere that anyone ever prioritises, except us and the people who live there of course. Basically it was that area between Farnworth Street and Sheil Road, from Kensington to Boaler Street (and we did walk up to West Derby Road briefly along the side of St Michael's). Wendy and I planned the route with various stops on the way to point out things of interest.
During the walk we created a long list of about 50 items of concern or interest where we want to see improvements or priorities setting. These will then form a schedule which will go to the Neighbourhood Committee for inclusion as part of our local area agreement.
Some of them were as simple as rubbish that needs removing, some were empty sites where it would be good to build a couple of new houses for local people. Some were areas in need of new lighting, at least one was a small row of council houses that would benefit from redesigning. There were green areas that need proper upkeep, broken perimeters that need mending. Masses of stuff.
I dont know how much of it will happen, Wendy and I will of course monitor and track progress, but it was great to show these people round who had never been to Kenny before and really had their eyes opened - either because it was nowhere near as bad as they had thought it would be or much worse than they had imagined. I suppose that depends how often you get out of the office and walk the patch, doesn't it.
A really valuable experience, I hope as time progresses we will do similar walks in other areas of the ward.
1 comment:
Makes you wonder why we Kensingtonians pay these people if they've never bothered to turn up here to date?
Well done for forcing the desk jockeys out of their offices.
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