December 2008 Archives

A memorial service was held at the spot in Harrow on the Hill where a man died from burns injuries.

David Mitchell, 56, was found in St Mary's Church Fields, behind cottages in Nelson Road by a man on his way to work on December 8.

The Reverend Tim Gosden, of St Mary's Church, led a public service on Friday December 19 which incldued a violin solo, attended by a dozen people at the spot where Mr Mitchell set himself on fire.

Mr Gosden conducted the service at 11am.

The service took place at the request of the residents of Nelson Road and West Street who were moved by Mr Mitchell's death

Reducing the opening hours at the borough's libraries to save cash is just one belt-tightening move planned by Harrow Council in its first credit crunch-hit budget.

The Conservative administration is proposing to trim expenditure to the tune of £4.8 milion across all departments, its draft spending plans for 2009/10 show.

Savings of £1.25m are expected through an increase in parking camera fines, while shortening library opening hours will cut costs by £102,000 and a 'review' of the highways department is anticipated to shave £133,000 off expenditure.

More than half a million pounds of foreseen savings is attributed to unspecified projects identified by Capita, the private company contracted several years ago to help cut costs.
Elsewhere, the council wants to get rid of a £200,000 from a sum set aside to employ external barristers, as well as sparing £203,000 by merging its the early years and community services functions.

What Harrow Council will be spending taxpayer money on, however, includes the provision of social care - to the tune of £670,000 - and just shy of £250,000 for extended schools, whereby pre- and post-school activities are provided to the local community.

The Tory-controlled authority has pencilled in forking out £267,000 towards the construction and running costs of three Neighbourhood Resource Centres, which will host day centres for residents with learning disabilities.

Providing waste collection and recycling services will be an anticipated £800,000, less a rebate of £139,000 for the high rate of composting the borough achieves. Two hundred thousand pounds will be invested into road maintenance.

A policy of setting aside £1m per year to build up a £5m reserve was revised so annual deposits will be just £500,000.

Harrow Council's proposed total revenue budget for April 2009 to March 2010 is £168.6m. Its capital budget is anticipated to be £56m, of which the authority has to find £32m (entirely by borrowing) and the remaining coming from external funding, primarily the Transport for London and the Department for Children's, Schools and Families.

A man drove off in a woman's car after snatching the keys from her hand in Harrow.

The white male, aged about 20, struck in Woodpecker Close, Harrow, at 8.30pm last Wednesday.

As well as her blue Astra the 43-year-old victim lost her handbag and a small amount of cash.

Harrow on the Hill's long running family Christmas carol service takes place next weekend.
Residents can find their voice on the green outside King Henry Mews (formerly The Kings Head Hotel) in High Street.
The half-hour carol service begins at 4.45pm prompt on Sunday December 21 and everyone is invited.
Lyric sheets will be provided by the organisers, the Harrow Hill Trust, so attendees ought to bring torches or lanterns.
The trust's Don Walter said: "The joke is that we have been doing it so long that us old guys can't remember when we started but it's been running for something like 30 years.
"We put the Christmas tree up last week. It's the biggest we've ever had."

A Stanmore supermarket and scout group are teaming up to bring some Christmas cheer to stressed shoppers.
Sainsbury's, in The Broadway, and the 16th Edgware Scouts and cubs will be helping customers pack their shopping as part if the store's Make a Difference Days on December 21 and 22.
Store manager Dave Turvey said: "At such a busy time of year, it's always useful to have some extra help and having the 16th Edgware scout and cubs group in store will certainly help to speed up the checkout process for customers in the lead up to Christmas and bring some Christmas goodwill to all involved."

A housing association that links single people with private landlords is supplying 40 shoeboxes filled with gifts to vulnerable clients in Harrow and four other boroughs.

Linda Lancaster, from Amersham-based Paradigm Housing, said the donations would help its customers who were struggling this Christmas.

A former RAF base is opening its doors for one evening only for a winter tour.
The historic Bentley Priory, in Stanmore, will play host to residents and enthusiasts on December 18.
Seven tours will take place throughout the evening from 6.30pm until 9pm and on the night the Grimsdyke Brass Band and the Stanmore Air Cadet Band will be entertaining visitors.
Squadron Leader Erica Ferguson, of the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust, said: "There was such a high demand for tours at the last open day and give people another opportunity to visit.
"This is the last event we have planned before the museum opens."
All the funds raised will go towards the Trust, which needs £2 million in order to open a museum on the site in 2011.
Tickets must be bought in advance and cost £10 and are available through Erica Ferguson at the Trust and will also be sold at Sainsbury's, in The Broadway, Stanmore, on Saturday (December 13).
For more information contact Erica Ferguson on bentleypriory@btinternet.com or 07813 856719, during office hours.

Harrow's Interfaith Council has led a multi-faith prayer vigil for the victims in Mumbai at Harrow Civic Centre.

A two-minute silence was held in the main council chamber as representatives of nine different religions gathered to pay their respects to those killed by terrorist attacks in India. At least 170 people were killed after terrorists attacked the Taj Mahal and Oberoi-Trident hotels in Mumbai and other locations last month.

Mary Hale, chairman of the Harrow Interfaith Council, who chaired the vigil said: "The fact that the nine faiths are able to work together is a visible sign of the good relationships of the faiths in Harrow".

The mayor's chaplain, Rev Tony Rablen, delivered the opening prayer.

Those offering faith prayers at the event were: Martha Besser (Bahai); Rev David Tuck (Christian); Bharat Maharaj (Hindu); Dr Vinod Kapashi (Jain); Arik Yacobi (Jewish); Imam Mohammed Akram (Muslim); Paramjit Singh-Kohli (Sikh); Phiroza Gan (Zoroastrian) and Mary Hale (Buddhist).

More than 80 people attended the event, including the mayor and mayoress Councillors John and Joyce Nickolay, local faith leaders, community group representatives and a cross-party group of councillors of whom Councillors Anjana Patel, Paul Scott, Navin Shah and Bill Stephenson made speeches.

Are you a top puzzler, the pride of your local pub quiz team?

We are looking for people to set quizzes, crosswords and puzzles to be published in the Observer series in our New Year edition.

If you would like to set a puzzle or quiz for our readers please email davidtilley@trinitysouth.co.uk, write to Harrow Observer series, Gazette House, 28 Bakers Road, Uxbridge, UB8 1RG, or visit our website www.harrowobserver.co.uk

Closing date for submissions is December 19.

Bus bosses are consulting on proposals to run more frequent services on the borough's most popular routes.

The draft changes are as follows:

302 - additional peak hour journeys and earlier morning and later last buses

H9/H10 - increase from five to six buses per hour (bph) Monday to Saturday and from two to three on Sunday

H11 - increase from two to three bph in evenings from Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday

H14 - increase from six to seven bph from Monday to Saturday

114 - increase from four to five bph in evenings from Monday to Saturday and all to Sunday

140 - additional journeys from Harrow Weald from 3am onwards to Heathrow Airport

183 - increase from five to six bph from Monday to Saturday plus later last buses

340 - increase from four to five bph from Monday to Saturday

A TfL spokesperson said: "Contracts for a number of bus routes in Harrow come up for renewal in September 2009. We keep the bus network under constant review to ensure that it provides the best possible service for Londoners, and as part of this review process we are proposing to make some improvements to these routes.

"We will be consulting on with stakeholders over the coming months."

Anthony Wood, chairman of Harrow Public Transport Users' Association, said: "Some of the improvements were requested by us, but all improvements are very welcome. Other suggestions we have made are still the subject of discussions with TfL Buses."

To comment on the proposals, call 0845 300 7000, write to London Buses Customer Services, 4th floor, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NJ or email customerservices@tfl-buses.co.uk.