Belsize Lib Dems

Last Tuesday evening, we held the latest meeting of the Belsize Local Area Forum. Those attending had the chance to decide how to spend the £10,000 pounds allocated to Belsize. There was a list of five options boiled down from the debate at the previous meeting. In the end, although many people were keen on funding food growing projects or helping the Belsize Library, the vote was in favour of giving the money to the Winchester Project and St Mary’s Centre – two local youth charities. Both of these do excellent work with young people from Belsize and the surrounding area and will come up with proposals as to how to spend the money. There may even be some of the money left over for a food-growing project.

The turn out at the meeting was a little disappointing, but it was nonetheless a good advertisement for the Local Area Forum scheme, with a lively discussion preceding the vote. The scheme is far from perfect – the low participation rates undermine the representativeness of decisions made and the level of funds available are currently fairly insignificant. However, as a long term project it has a lot of potential. If further funds are made available each year, along with support to improve participation, it could eventually prove to be a powerful tool for truly local decision making and democracy.

Fantastic news – Camden Council has won a bid to make Belsize and the surrounding area a Home Energy Efficiency Programme pilot for the whole of London. That means up to 1,000 households will each receive 10 energy and water efficiency measures installed for free. The aim is to test the concept for the whole of London. Those who have hard-to-heat homes which need solid wall insulation and double glazing will also be offered the chance to take part in a new Pay-As-You-Save pilot, which Cllr Alexis Rowell spent a year arguing for with the government. Basically the PAYS scheme will mean Camden Council lending money to homeowners who will pay it back out of energy bill savings or when they sell the property. This is great for Belsize and, if the two pilots are successful, for London and the UK as well. If you would like a free energy efficiency audit of your home, then please contact the Small Steps team at Camden Council on 0800 801 738 or by emailing info@smallstepsenergyvisits.co.uk.