Bedford Park Society Seeking New Members

To work together on a variety of issues that affect the community

The Bedford Park Society has launched a major recruitment programme to encourage all 2,300 households in Bedford Park to become members of the Society. As part of this, the 35 Road Representatives, who act as the link between residents in their respective roads and the Society, are distributing brochures to every non-member household, explaining the work of the Society and why residents should join.

Chair Helen Jameson explains,“Although we are well known for our core role of protecting the architecture and amenities of Bedford Park, people are less aware of the wide variety of issues we are tackling on behalf of our local community. The more members we have, the stronger our voice and the more effective we can be in making an impact on the issues that are important to people.”

The focus of the Society’s covers the whole of the wider Bedford Park estate, which extends beyond the conservation area to Abinger Road in the east, Whellock/Speldhurst Roads to the north, St Albans Avenue/Kingscote Road in the west and South Parade/Bath Road (plus Roman Road, Lonsdale Road, Gainsborough Road and Flanders Road) to the south.

Helen emphasises,“We joined forces with the Bedford Park Community Group this year, which brought fresh support and perspective to the Society. It has enabled us to tackle a broader range of issues more effectively and continue to modernise and improve the way we work. We have worked hard to improve our communications and continue to develop new ideas for our social events and lectures. We are always keen to hear from our members to help with problems or answer questions.”

Recently the Society has been working more closely with both local councils and has been involved in:

• Streets - paving and cleaning issues; reduction in proliferation of street signage; commissioning a specialist lighting report and ensuring appropriate new lighting
• Tree management – removal of diseased trees, replacement with suitable species and timely pruning
• Parking and Transport - maximising resident parking bays, increasing safety, reducing traffic congestion and obstruction to buses
• Waste and Recycling - supporting the Bedford Park Community Group’s campaign, resulting in special dispensations from Ealing Council for wheelie bins and continuing to monitor local authority plans
• Broader community issues - taking on issues that might adversely affect Bedford Park such as supporting the campaign against the Heathrow Third Runway and representing members’ views on the Cycle Superhighway
• Encouraging the planning teams of both boroughs to work more closely to ensure greater consistency in planning decisions.

“The Society has been working since 1963 to preserve and enhance the character of Bedford Park and on community issues that affect residents. We would like to encourage more residents to help support our efforts,” said Helen.

For further information about the Society email: information@bedfordpark.org.uk or check the website.

November 15, 2017