Increased parking charges for residents now looming

Bad news for local motorists -- Westminster City Council are still on track with their proposals to increase charges for residents' parking permits (along with the charge for pay-to-park casual kerbside parking). They say the aim is four-fold: to reduce air pollution in Westminster as part of its ambition to meet its net zero emissions target by 2040; to introduce a fairer & more proportionate system whereby vehicles are charged in accordance with the level of emissions they produce; to accommodate the growing number of electric vehicles & the different range of hybrid vehicles; & to bring Westminster into line with many neighbouring boroughs who have already implemented emissions-based charging.

The plans immediately provoked a backlash, with one resident claiming this was yet another tax on the poor motorist who was being used by the Council as a "convenient cash-cow" to subsidise its own inefficiencies.

Public consultation on the proposals ended on 14th February & subject to its findings the new residents' permits will be introduced on the revised date of 3rd June (with pay-to-park charges going up on 8th April).

War Veteran Hero remembered

One of the biggest stories of 2023 -- not just in Little Venice but almost it seemed throughout the world -- was the death of local resident Flight Sergeant Peter Brown, one of the last black "Pilots of the Caribbean" who came over from Jamaica aged 17 in 1943 & went on to fly five operations in Lancaster bombers. After he died alone aged 96 at his home in Warrington Crescent just over a year ago with no known family he seemed destined for a low-key funeral, but that was before a Council appeal to trace his relatives went viral & culminated in a hero's send-off at the RAF Church of St Clement Danes last May attended by hundreds of people. Now his friend & neighbour Paul Newman has organised a plaque on the bench at the top of Warrington Crescent where Peter often rested on his way to & from the shops. Our thanks to Westminster Council for providing the funding for this lasting memorial.

Dogs to be given greater freedom of the Garden

We already know that Formosa is the most desirable residential garden for pet-owners in the whole of Little Venice because it alone permits dogs to be exercised off the leash between the hours of daybreak & 10 a.m. Now the Board have agreed to a further relaxation of the rules in response to requests from several dog-owners: for a trial period dogs can now remain off the leash for a further half-hour until 10.30 am, subject to the usual caveats that owners must pick up after them & ensure that their behaviour doesn't cause nuisance or upset to other users of the garden, particularly small children.

One dog who's been happy to take advantage of the new freedoms is young Oz, who is a familiar figure in the Garden along with his owner, Board Chairman Sandy David.

The trial period runs to the end of February, after which the situation will be reviewed.