Camden Council’s Clean Air team writes:

Would you like to know what the air quality is like in your home? We now spend 80-90% of our time indoors and certain indoor environments can be even more polluted than outside. Because of this, it is becoming increasingly important to understand our indoor air quality and to take simple steps to breathe cleaner air indoors. We are offering residents the opportunity to borrow a free indoor air quality monitor for 4 weeks that measures and displays some of the common types of air pollution. 

If you are interested, please email AirQuality@Camden.gov.uk or speak to a member of the team by calling 020 7974 8896.  

WISH Plus is a Camden Council referral service covering Warmth, Income, Safety and Health.  You can refer yourself or someone else to get access to a range of services.  You don’t need to know all the services available through WISH Plus to refer, just that the person you are referring might need some support to improve their health and wellbeing.

WISH Plus puts people in touch with the services they need after discussing these with them first.  They are not emergency call out services and some services do have eligibility criteria so they are not available to all.

Services include a well and warm home energy efficiency improvements visit; a telephone energy advice service; home security check and free provision and installation of measures such as door locks, spy holes and window restrictors; a free fire safety visit, including installation and the provision of a smoke detector; free provision and installation of stair gates for those with a child aged four and under; and carers’ support.

Find out more about what is offered by going to www.camden.gov.uk/wish-plus#eojt or phoning 020 7974 3012.

There are two live local planning applications which are of interest. The Society is conveying its concerns about the exterior changes planned as Leyland Paint Store take over a shop on Haverstock Hill. BelSoc’s planning committee member, Alan Selwyn, highlighted to the Ham & High the tackiness of the six illuminated cold white LED signs and vinyl stickers blanking out windows for the area. He has also objected to the Council for the Society.

Development at the 100 Avenue Road site stalled after planning was approved with the site remaining a building site for the past few years. Regal London have outlined their future plans at local events. These informal consultations usually precede a formal planning application.

Websites need refreshing every so often and now is the time to review and update the BelSoc site. It needs to be a more dynamic portal for interacting with users and attracting new members. We need to be able to join, pay our subscriptions, book events, learn about local issues and find information more easily. The membership details need to be held on a secure database linked to the site. The Committee needs an area for their business. 

We want to keep the site simple, elegant and gimmick-free and also to use some of the wonderful images from the existing site. We also want to keep costs down and will probably use an open-source platform such as WordPress with its wide choice of easy-to-use themes and plugins. We have been well-served by the present provider which has considerable experience providing charity sites very economically. They understand our needs and sticking to an existing provider is usually the most efficient way to get what is needed when good relations already exist. 

We also need a social media presence and will first set up a Facebook page and look into other options. 

Alan Selwyn and Heather Harte have recently joined the committee and are leading this review and are keen to hear members’ views and suggestions. Send them to info@belsize.org.uk.

Chris Langdon, Retrofit Group Member, writes:

Are you considering improving your home to cut fuel costs or reduce draughts, but not sure how to find the right suppliers? Are you are concerned about contradictory messages from Camden about what you are allowed to do in a Conservation Area like Belsize? 

If so, join the club! 

That’s why the Belsize Society has recently set up an informal group of members who plan to retrofit their homes.  The group met on 30 April in the Washington pub. We discussed Camden Council’s call for support for its bid to join a new project designed to overcome some of the blockages making domestic retrofit so hard.   Camden is applying to be one of three Councils to pilot the new Local Area Retrofit Accelerator. It’s called LARA for short. 

The LARA pilot project will also aim to set up local delivery groups, which will aim to turn the plan into substantive action, working with local supply chains, businesses, colleges and installers.

For the LARA pilot, the initial funding would go to Camden – if they are successful. Camden’s bid would, they say, “allow residents and local groups to work together to develop an action plan to accelerate domestic retrofit in Camden.”  A main plank of Camden’s bid are a series of workshops in the autumn.  They ask organisations like Belsize Society to commit to engage seriously with the co-designing and participating in the workshops. 

Having offered our support to Camden in principle, we will wait to see if Camden’s bid to join the LARA pilot is successful.

This year’s AGM was held at Belsize Square Synagogue on Sunday 12 March, with about 50 members attending.

The Chair reported on the year, noting the sad loss of our Treasurer at the start of 2023, and the steps that had to be taken to fill the substantial gap for the Society. Eva Papadopoulou was welcomed as the new treasurer.

The year saw a successful historic walk and a well-attended carol singing event. The Society was also able to co-host a talk with the Friends of the Belsize Community Library, also contributing to the Library’s refurbishment. The Society had also continued its initiative supporting retrofits. 

The Society’s finances remain healthy, and there were donations to local charities. In the context of rising costs, discussion about raising the annual subscription fee to £20 led to a resolution enabling the committee to raise 2025 subs. There was also the suggestion that the committee consider how printing costs may be reduced through electronic publications. 

A new committee was agreed, and – soon after this year’s AGM – the committee has been joined by two further co-opted members, Heather Harte and Alan Selwyn.