Be sure to stay on the alert

Sad to say there has been something of an upsurge in criminal & anti-social activity in the area recently so residents need to be on their guard, with people using their phones as they walk along proving particularly vulnerable. I was standing at the bus stop outside Tesco's on Clifton Road the other day when a girl became vey distressed after her phone was snatched by a guy on an electric bike who made off at speed with no chance of being caught..

There have also been reports of a man loitering along Castellain Road checking doorways & peering down into basements, presumably on the look-out for parcels which unfortunately all too often seem to be abandoned outside buildings when no-one is at home.

Last but not least a key box was smashed outside a flat in Castellain Road recently & the man who gained entry made off with an iPhone & iPad. Elsewhere a key safe was removed in its entirety which meant that the front door lock to the building had to be changed.

So -- eternal vigilance seems to be the watchword unfortunately!

Roll Up, Roll Up!

Tickets are now on sale for this Summer's latest production from Shakespeare in the Squares, All's Well that Ends Well, due to be staged in the Formosa Garden on Wednesday 12th June. This rarely- performed play has been described by the company's patron Dame Judi Dench as "beautiful & complex, summed up by the exquisite line: 'The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good & ill together'" As ever with Shakespeare in the Squares we can expect an imaginative re-working, with gypsy swing music & a fairytale twist.

The estate agents Chestertons are kindly sponsoring the event & the performance will begin at 7 pm, with the Garden open for picnics from 5.30 pm.

To buy your tickets via Eventbrite go to the following link: https://SITS-allswell-Formosa.eventbrite.co.uk.

All that remains is to bag your seat...& offer up a small prayer for good weather on the night! You may remember that last year's scheduled performance of Twelfth Night in neighbouring Crescent Garden was sadly rained off -- for only the first time in the company's entire eight-year history!

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).