Covent Garden London
The heart of London's West End
Co-ordinator's Report
Working for the CGCA is a privilege, but can, at times, becomes a thankless task as we are constantly up against the near-impossible. During the past year, we have often been busy trying to please everyone, without realising that in doing so we may have been in danger of losing our ability to make a real difference. More and more CGCA time is taken up with replying to badly-worded, ill-researched, meaningless questionnaires related to issues far removed from real Covent Garden life. One great frustration during the past year has been the lack of time to react to incidents and to take time to listen to residents' problems and visit their homes. 'Casework' in the form of major licensing objections or planning appeals tends to be very time-consuming and sometimes leaves little time for solving members' problems.
Not all is gloom and doom, however. Although nothing earth shattering has happened, much progress has been made on a number of fronts. The past year has shown very clearly how committed some people are and how determined residents and businesses can be when their quality of life in one of "London's favourite hot-spots" is more and more eroded. Local businesses, with the exception of one or two, have shown a renewed interest in the CGCA's work and the community they operate in. The CGCA has benefited from practical, financial and intellectual support from many generous, forward-looking local companies and organisations.
In practical terms, we have worked hard in keeping up with the large increase in the number of licensing and major planning applications. This has made it necessary to close the office on the odd day or afternoon, as we represented local residents at hearings and appeals. Even the CGCA team can only be in one place at a time.
Whilst we have received help and assistance from countless individuals, a small band of regular volunteers has enabled the CGCA to continue far beyond our normal scope. Robert has continued to volunteer 2 or 3 days of his time each week to answer phones, deliver mailings and leaflets, the administration of planning enforcement cases and research. Mary's weekly visits have resulted in a first-class filing system, whilst Joyce and her 'A-team' have folded more leaflets and stuffed more envelopes than they care to remember.
One entirely new service this year has been the creation of the CGCA website: www.coventgarden.org.uk The exponential growth of the Internet and the free access now available mean that this is a very important new medium. We will endeavour to make as much local information as possible available on our website, as this is a very low-cost means of getting our message across to our 'customers', i.e. you. The CGCA site has been designed by Liam, a talented local web designer (see back cover), free of charge and has been developed entirely outside normal CGCA working hours.
We have conducted a survey of all local food & drink establishments, initially for statistical purposes. Even we were surprised to see that Covent Garden is home to 412 food & drink outlets. See the Licensing report for more details.
The CGCA is pleased to note a large increase in the interest that businesses have shown in their community. They realise that it makes good business sense to work with local residents, as they face so many of the same problems and have so much in common. A number of local businesses have contacted us about their concerns over the state of Covent Garden after dark. They find their business environment seriously affected by the excesses of people having a 'good night out'.
A prospective volunteer recently asked what the CGCA actually does and whether it duplicates the services of the local authority. Duplicating the services of the two local councils: that will be the day! The CGCA fills the gaps left by the local councils and other bodies. This sometimes means that we need to be critical or outspoken or that we act as a 'watchdog'. If we don't, Covent Garden will become even more over-developed and London's most notorious victim of its own success.
Our actions may not always be to everyone's taste, particularly if large investments or profits are involved.... Whatever happens in the coming year, the CGCA will continue to work with and for the people that really matter to Covent Garden.
John Bos
[ Home | About | Advice | Cartoons | Contact | Gallery | Handbook | Links | News | Newsletters | Sponsors ]