August update from your local Councillors
Planning enforcement remains a key issue across the ward. As ever, construction activity is high, with major developments in Grosvenor Place and Lancelot Place in particular.
We are fortunate to have secured funding from the Council for a planning enforcement officer dedicated to Knightsbridge and Belgravia, so we are able to monitor planning matters closely but please get in touch with any concerns so that we can investigate.
Your ward councillors have also been busy tackling disruption caused by some AirBnb short term lets. The council is actively lobbying for more controls to address this and we are interested in feedback from local residents.
Cllr Rachael Robathan explains "Of course, Knightsbridge & Belgravia welcomes many visitors, including those using short term lets, particularly in the summer and the majority respect the beauty and peace of the area. However, we need to make sure that, for the minority who don't, we crack down on issues such as dumping waste, holding loud parties and other issues which cause havoc for residents."
Local ultrafast broadband rollout gathers pace
Some of the common frustrations experienced by internet users will no longer feature at Churchill Gardens Estate, where ultrafast fibre broadband has been rolled out to over 1,800 homes. The new service provides download speeds of up to a whopping 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps) – putting the estate in the top 2% in the UK for connectivity. This means that residents can enjoy a greater amount of internet streaming for their home entertainment. Last year, Community Fibre completed installation of Gigabit broadband to over 1,000 homes in the Grosvenor estate area.
The overall fibre project is part of your Westminster Conservatives ambition to see every resident in the borough connected to superfast, reliable broadband. It took a year to upgrade broadband across the Churchill estate. Westminster Council negotiated with Community Fibre, the service provider, to achieve the best value rates for residents for the higher speed service. A fair and competitive market for high speed services in the city is a critical part of the programme, ensuring competitive prices for residents.
Councillor Jonathan Glanz, Lead Member for Broadband and Connectivity said: “The estate is the first of many areas in Westminster that will be upgraded to this quality of connectivity. Ultrafast broadband is an absolute must for London if we are to continue to operate as a world-class city. I am very proud that we have managed to get this service at affordable prices into Churchill Gardens.”
Other estates that are planned for ultrafast broadband include:
- Abbots Manor
- Hall Park estate
- Hallfield estate
- Holcroft Court
- Lillington and Longmoore Gardens
- Lisson Green
- Maida Vale
- Millbank
- Warwick and Brindley
