• MONDAY evening saw a well-attended and lively annual general meeting of the West Hampstead & Fortune Green Neighbourhood Development Forum.

Thanks go to all of the committee who work so hard on residents’ behalf all year round.

Discussion covered the progress in constructing 180 new flats on West End Lane and 106 new flats off Maygrove Road, as well as developer Landsec’s plans for redeveloping the O2 Centre building, Homebase and car park into 1,850 flats, retail and amenity space. A formal planning application on this is expected.

Questions and suggestions flowed back and forth across the meeting and were deftly handled by members of the committee or knowledgeable representatives from local residents’ groups.

However one question remained unanswered: where were the West Hampstead councillors? Two of the three Fortune Green councillors attended, and the third sent apologies. But none of the three Labour councillors for West Hampstead attended, or even sent apologies.

All of the major developments described above are in West Hampstead ward, but the elected representatives were conspicuous by their absence. Surely West Hampstead residents deserve better?

JANET GRAUBERG
West Hampstead
Liberal Democrats