Richmond Hill: this is where we live: Richmond Court

These photographs were taken last Friday in Richmond Court, the former Richmond Hill Hostel that closed a while ago.




As it often the case when services desert an area, the buildings fell into desrepair and attracted a great deal of vandalism and antisocial behaviour.




The place is dangerous, full of broken glass and building materials. We also found office equipment, that could have been re-used by the community but was left to rot with the rest of the building instead.




A sad picture of a place that used to provide a lifeline for people in need.



We also found a pile of documents at the back.



And one has to hope that there aren't any confidential documents left there..




In an area like ours, this is now common sight: when services like the hostel, the neighbouring day centre and old people's home leave the area due to the infamous "cuts" we are also left with increasingly shrinking public space and with the new owners "sitting on" their new properties until the opportunity arises for development- if ever, in the present climate.



So the whole area suffers: Walter Crescent has now got only one fully functioning building since the Housing Office reduced its opening hours. The area looks and feels like a ghost town. And this is where the only Children's Centre in the area is located.





So, what can WE do? Can we propose alternative uses for former council buidings? Can we, as a community reclaim our streets, reclaim our guinnels, reclaim our buildings?

Can we get the council to look for alternative uses before rushing to sell to first available developer? Can we make sure that the council will buy back properties that stay into permanent disrepair and are not redeveloped?

We are stating the New Year on a positive note

Those of you who live near or travel along the parade of shops at York Road towards the bus stops bound for town will have noticed there has been a really remarkable turnaround in the standards of street cleaning in this area recently.

COVEN spoke to the gentleman in charge of the street cleaning service at the last Inner East Area Committee meeting in December and pointed out the disgusting state of the pavements in this area particularly and asked for him, Mr John Woolmer, to look into the situation and see what could be done.  We are happy to say that Mr Woolmer and his staff have made herculean efforts recently and as a result the area is now no longer the smelly and shameful site it was.

COVEN has also asked about having rubbish bins placed near the take aways and off-licences on the parade and this is being looked into but as always finance is the sticking point on this, though we have great faith in Mr Woolmer doing all that can be done to procure these items to help the clean up stay clean.

The street cleaning staff are working very hard to keep the area clear of rubbish but it would help if those who live here did their own part and made sure that all rubbish is placed in bins (if and when we managed to get them installed) and not left to blow about the streets.

Another really disgusting problem in this area is the amount of dog mess on every available pavement, road, green space or playground.  This has been raised several times with our councillors, Street Cleaning and the dog wardens however the main problem again seems to be that there are not enough dog wardens to effectively police the whole city and there is no money to hire more but we intend to keep after everyone involved to see if this problem can at least be lessened if not eliminated.

If you have any problem or query that you would like COVEN to look into please email us at ls94ever@gmail.com and we will be happy to talk to you about it.

The last band concert of the summer of 2011

The last band concert of 2011 was a complete success!  The weather was perfect, warm and pleasant with a gentle breeze.

Thanks to the generosity of a new local firm, Northern Hospitality Ltd we had tables to set up an eating area and as you can see picnicking is was the order of the day.

Refreshments and cup cakes were on offer donated by local residents and businesses as were the prizes in the Raffle held to raise funds for The Friends of East End Park.

While some of those who attended the concert took shelter from the sun under a convenient tree, those of our visitors who had fur coats that they could not remove soon settled down to snooze in the fresh air.

The COVEN Cup Cake Book Club, which meets at the Spring Close on the first Tuesday of every month, supplied free books for people to read, enjoy and pass on.  The Book Club is very keen to keep the people of Richmond Hill reading since we lost our library.  This month's book was Smut by the famous local author Alan Bennett who was kind enough to contact the members to wish us well with the our endeavours and to commend the book to us.

It is the aim of the Friends of East End Park to stage other entertainments in the park in the coming year with an even wider appeal to people, both locally and across the city so watch this space for further details on that.

A special thank you must go to the park staff especially Tracy and Mick who have worked tirelessly to help produce the concerts as well as working hard the whole year round to keep the park to a very high standard we could not have done it without you.

East End Park: this is where we live. The blooming Glensdales.

COVEN will go on presenting aspects of our lives here in East End Park, some good, some bad, and today a ray of sunshine in one of the most talked about streets in our neighbourhood.

This is Paul, in front of his house on Glensdale Terrace. He is a keen gardener, and since the street-lined back-to-backs have no gardens, he is creating one, out there on the street.




He is making window boxes, and he grows flowers and vegetables from seed. Now, the gardening bug is spreading on the street. The neighbours like them, and they asked Paul to make window boxes for them, and now the whole street is in bloom.



Where else in Richmond Hill you can find fresh courgettes and beautiful courgette flowers, I wonder? Well, Glensdale Terrace is an unlikely place, but Paul's efforts have proven that it doesn't take too much to transform a place: a lot of imagination and a lot of hard work, but, that's about it.



And yes, he has even managed to find a new use for that piece of old guttering: now it's filled with flowers, brightening up the place.




If you take a walk on the Glensdales these days, you might be surprised by what you will see.

What Paul has done, is proof that you don't necessarily need big stale organisations to do neighbourhood management and regeneration, as it has been the case in our area for a number of years, without much success. But you will need big ideas and a lot of hard work.

East End Park: this is where we live...

These pictures were taken last week, from the back of the Edmund House Social club, looking across the railroad.





This is a view of our little neighbourhood, in all its Victorian Splendour- this is what we want to preserve.

Come along to the Forum and have your say

The next meeting of the Richmond Hill Community Forum is being held tomorrow at 6.00pm at the newly re-furbished Richmond Hill Community Centre on Long Close Lane.

Come along and listen to what is being said and have your own say.  This is a chance to put your point across to the councillors and the council officers who have your lives in their hands.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible tomorrow.