The idea
The Queens Park Community (parish) Council (QPCC) was set up in May 2014. It is the only parish council in London. We wish to transform our section of the Harrow Road - between the Kilburn Lane/ Ladbroke Grove junction and Maida Hill Market. We want our residents and shop owners to be proud to live and work there.
In order to do this we want to study our High Street so we can make adequate proposals that will benefit the High Street in the long term. Alongside this study, we hope to take over an empty shop and involve local people in this exciting project.
Queens Park was the 624th bottom ward of 625 London wards in the GLA Well Being Survey.
Our Community Council has been consulting local residents and shopkeepers through a stall at community summer events, an on-line survey, and one to one conversations with older people and youth groups. Discontent with their High Street s high up their list.
What we'll deliver
- We want to form a partnership with representatives from all the key stakeholder groups
- We want to have a presence on one of the vacant shop units on our High Street
- We want to run community events from this space, such as workshops addressing emerging issues from our consultation
- We want to study and analyse our section of the High Street, & build up a set of recommendations and design guidance
- We are keen to work collaboratively with neighbouring community initiatives & Westminster City Council.
Why it's a great idea
The Harrow Road from The Great West Road to Chamberlayne Road is an important community High Street. But it is run down, with a large number of empty shops or opaque shop fronts. This section of the High Street lacks from variety of offer – for example there are a high number of green grocers and charity shops but not enough of a mix of retailers.
The canal is potentially a fantastic asset, but it’s almost invisible from the High Street, not helped by a dead area of municipal garden to the west of Canal Terrace, a beautiful but neglected structure with a large number of vacant ground floor units.
The older generation of residents complain of its degrading from a place where they did all their shopping to a place they no longer use.
Steps to get it done
- As a catalyst project, we will aim to take over a vacant shop to be used as a community hub space,
- We will continue to work with Publica Community and Research CIC to devise a set of principle from our High Street.
- We will work in partnership with Westminster Council, our local traders, shop-owners and local residents.
- We will set up a Stakeholder Group to ensure different views are taken into account.
Our Community Council is starting to draft its Neighbourhood Plan. We are in a really good position and at a really good stage in the process to include our High Street in this Plan. Surveying and analysing the street and its adjacent spaces and assets, as well as continuing to consult and engage with shop owners, shopkeepers, visitors and residents, is vital to the long term success of the High Street. And there is a lot of energy within our community to get this going.
