FN Newsletter 24-01-2025

Mid January 2025 round up of news, features, public consultations, and local democracy reports

Jan 24, 2025

It’s been a busy start to 2025 with lots going on in the neighbourhood and across Camden and Westminster. And I’m a bit late producing this newsletter so stories have piled up.

::: If you find this newsletter of use, why not give us a small donation? :::

There are licensing applications at Cleveland Street, Riding House Street and Tottenham Street out for public consultation and we have a round up of the latest planning applications (see below).

Yesterday evening a Camden licensing panel revoked the premises licence of the Sican restaurant and bar in Whitfield Street after hearing evidence of noise nuisance and crime and disorder at the venue. We’ll have a report on it in due course. There is also a public consultation open on Camden’s new licensing policy, which we will also be reporting on in the near future.

Meanwhile, water leaks, holes in the road, and poop in the rivers continues as the saga of Thames Water goes on. While the new Labour government drags its feet thousands of people have signed a petition to bring the utility into public ownership. Campaigners will be in the High Court next month to challenge Thames’ creditors who are trying to prevent public ownership and make off with your cash by increasing our water bills. Join the call for public ownership.

Look after your and others’ health: While Covid cases are relatively low at the moment the virus is still circulating and cases of flu are putting large numbers of people in hospital. Wear a face mask if you are indoors in public spaces, and get vaccinated.

If you want to get in touch with us to tell us what you think of our reporting, have a question, or would like to contribute to The Fitzrovia News please email us at news@fitzrovianews.com — and you can keep up with the latest by following us on Bluesky.

— Linus Rees, editor

News

Camden to sell former Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre building

View of the outside of 39 Tottenham Street on the corner with Goodge Place.

Camden Council is selling the building containing the former Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre on the corner of Goodge Place and Tottenham Street, half a century after it first opened as an advice centre and place of community action.

YMCA closure will be ‘huge loss’ say campaigners after new owners refuse to meet

A local resident has described the pending closure of the Central YMCA Club as a “huge loss”, adding it feels as if it is another London facility disappearing “in the interest of tourists and big businesses rather than the local communities”.

Camden Council says it has the power to remove footway obstructions but is afraid to use it

There was a time when Camden Council officers would inspect streets in the borough and issue enforcement notices against businesses which block the footways with advertising boards. And if they didn’t comply, officers would remove the obstructions without further ado.

Upgraded bin shed for Grafton Way residents in Camden CIL payout

Residents in a Camden Council owned estate on Grafton Way in Fitzrovia are to get an upgraded communal bin shed, part-funded by proceeds from property development in the borough’s Bloomsbury ward.

Learn how to mend your clothes and pedal cycles at Fitzrovia Community Centre

A repair shop is on offer at the Fitzrovia community Centre in Foley Street with three Sunday sessions lined up where you can save yourself some money, learn a skill, and help save the planet.

Features

Exhibition: In Attendance – paying attention in a fragile world, at the Fitzrovia Chapel

Painting in colour of two people. Gabriella Boyd (b. 1988, Glasgow) is a painter whose work intricately translates internal sensations and memories into visually arresting paintings, blurring the lines between representation and symbolism. With a unique palette and exploration of urban environments, her art delves into power dynamics and the ephemeral nature of human experience.

Opening the 2025 exhibition season at The Fitzrovia Chapel is a new collaborative exhibition in partnership with the Roberts Institute of Art.

Public consultations

Local democracy reports

Paul Dimoldenberg steps down from cabinet role and announces retirement after 43 years in public life

Head and shoulders photo of Paul Dimoldenberg.

Westminster City Council’s Paul Dimoldenberg has announced he is standing down as a cabinet member and will not be contesting his seat at the next local elections in May 2026.

Activists condemn Camden Council for ‘dither and delay’ on pension fund divestment

Activists have condemned Camden Council for “dither and delay” after councillors refused to unilaterally divest the borough’s pension fund from companies linked to human rights abuses in Palestine.

Camden leader dismisses Tory claims of Awami League influence on Labour

The leader of Camden Council has shrugged off the suggestion that the borough’s Labour party has been unduly influenced by Bangladeshi politics, following the resignation of a Government minister with ties to the country’s former ruling party.

London households on social housing waiting list at 10 year high

The number of households on waiting lists for social housing in London last year hit the highest level for more than a decade, according to newly published data.

St Mary’s Hospital ‘will not last’ until 2040 says NHS trust

A West London NHS Trust has warned that St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington “will not last” until the 2040s after the Government announced repairs are not expected to start until 2035.

Nearly 100 public toilets closed in London over ten years says Age UK

Almost 100 of the capital’s public toilets have closed over the last ten years, according to new research by Age UK London.

A ‘significant number’ of HMOs in Camden are operating without a licence

A “significant number” of Camden’s private landlords who need to license their rental properties are dodging their obligations, according to a council report published this month.

Camden Council plans to increase vaccination uptake among care home workers

Camden Council has said it plans to do more to increase vaccination uptake among care home workers in the borough after a report revealed some were refusing jabs.

Westminster Council children’s services awarded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted three times in a row

Children’s services run by Westminster Council have been given an “outstanding” rating by Ofsted three times in a row following an inspection in November 2024.

Mayor Khan quizzed on planned council tax increase

Sir Sadiq Khan has defended his latest planned council tax increase after facing questions from City Hall Conservatives about the sharp rise bill-payers have seen over the course of his mayoralty.

Cuts to number of Met Police officers could be mitigated says London Assembly

Potential cuts to the number of officers in the Metropolitan Police could be significantly less severe than feared, according to an analysis by the London Assembly.

Printed newspapers

Our next printed news-sheet will be out in March and available from outside Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street. See the newspaper archive for back issues of The Fitzrovia News. We aim to produce a two-page, printed issue at least four times a year. Local weeklies the Camden New Journal and the Westminster Extra are also available outside the Community Centre and they also have an archive where you can view the full Camden and Westminster printed editions.