Notes of the first North Harrow District Centre Partnership Meeting held at Savoy Community Centre, Gilbert Square, Station Road HA2 6BU on 1 July 2011
The meeting was organised by Harrow Council’s Economic Development Unit (EDU) and chaired by Cllr Keith Ferry.
Present were Mark Billington and David Sklair of the EDU and Cllrs Bill Stephenson, Janet Mote and Sasikala Suresh.
Apologies: Cllrs Anthony Seymour, James Bond
There was disappointment that only three or four businesses were represented; over 20 representatives had come to the North Harrow Traders Meeting on 21 February 2011.
The Partnership covers those North Harrow shops and businesses in Station Road and along the Pinner Road, including Broadway Parade (between Station Road and the car park entrance) and the eccentrically-numbered Broadwalk (between the car park entrance and Woodlands) but not the parades of West Harrow shops and businesses further up the Pinner Road towards Harrow.
Mark Billington described how the EDU were preparing a bid for the Mayor of London’s Outer London Fund (OLF). This was £50 million aimed at those London Boroughs not benefitting directly from CrossRail or the 2012 London Olympics.
In the first round, the council has applied for funds for both Harrow and North Harrow District Centres.
The council will look for funding, then local businesses and shop owners must take control of the Partnership themselves.
Comments
At the moment there is no urge to stop on the way through North Harrow. Parking bays in both directions would help. We need to make the shopping centre more pleasant. Hatch End has flower troughs on the railings.
Shopkeepers should be responsible for tidying rubbish in front of their shops. How can we educate people not to leave litter and develop pride in the shopping centre? North Harrow needs more litter bins. The Hatch End [Residents’] Association holds “litter-picks” every few months to tidy up their shopping centre and Harrow Arts Centre.
A decorative brick planter with seating which had once stood at the bottom of Woodlands where it meets Pinner Road had been removed because of vandalism. Money should first be spent on keeping the shopping district tidy. Anything decorative must be very sturdy or out of reach.
We’re looking at ideas out of the ordinary, such as the “mock shop” [an empty shop opposite North Harrow tube station was given a temporary makeover to attract publicity and custom]. This was on the BBC and ITV; shop owners and people in the street were interviewed. The French market in North Harrow in 2007 had been a great success; perhaps there could be a German market. The markets had stopped coming to Harrow for lack of publicity when Harrow Council had banned advertising on lamp-posts but this can be overcome.
The North Harrow Traders’ Association meets every month but few people are coming along. How can we keep the business owners interested? The EDU has gone to the individual shops. Many of them came to the meetings on 17 January and 21 February.
The council is doing its share; businesses can’t just wait for major projects such as parking.
There are things the council can’t do because properties are owned by private individuals. We’d like to get some art into empty shops but landlords aren’t interested. Some want a short-term tenancy agreement. Some interiors need a lot of work to be suitable. There are issues over insurance, rent, electricity costs, fit-out costs.
When rates are so high, how can we possibly attract businesses?
Business rates are set by a valuation agency [see www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/index.html] and central government. They are uniform across the country. There is nothing the council can do apart from the small business rate relief. The valuations in North Harrow make no sense.
There is a legal dispute between Genesis Homes [the developer of the Gilbert Square flats on the old Safeway site at the junction of Pinner Road and Station Road, North Harrow] and Megabowl about the lease of the ground floor. Megabowl has first refusal on the head. It is not suitable for the hoped-for supermarket.
Nower Hill School could provide a choir at Christmas and some artwork. There could be competitions just before Christmas to get people looking in shop windows.
Could events be held in Woodlands Open Space [behind the Cambridge Road car park]?
How can we promote passing trade? Can we get people away from the idea of shopping at big supermarkets?
We need pick-up and drop-off points especially near the station and the Post Office.
Some North Harrow parking signs are obscure. People get tickets from the CCTV camera on the Lloyds bank corner without realising it. [Various personal anecdotes about parking tickets.] We need money for parking bays and better signage for the hour’s free parking. Councillors are working with the council’s parking and traffic departments to get more latitude from the CCTV people.
A parking bay costs about £30,000. It took five years campaigning to get the ones along Pinner Road.
When Lloyds Bank left its North Harrow premises, it offered them to other banks but there was no interest, not even from Sri Lankan or Indian banks.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 November -0001 00:00
