Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:47:49 +0000WeeblyThu, 26 Feb 2026 18:11:56 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/police-stations-front-desk-reporting-changesFrom Tuesday 3 March 2026, the front counter at Kentish Town Police Station will no longer be available 24/7 and will be changing its service to extended hours.  From Tuesday 3rd March, this front counter will be open from Monday to Friday, 10:00 – 22:00, and Saturday to Sunday, 09:00 – 19:00. 

If you need to report a crime outside of these hours, the police station front counters that are open 24 hours are: 
·  Charing Cross Police Station , 2 Agar St, London WC2N 4JP 
·  Lewisham Police Station, 43 Lewisham High St, London SE13 5JZ 

Alternatively, you can report an incident by: 
·  Visiting the Met Police website 
·  Calling the non-emergency number 101 
·  For hearing or speech-impaired users, you can text 18000 to access the textphone service 

If a crime is happening right now or if someone is in immediate danger, please call 999. You can stay 100% anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form. 
]]>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:00:12 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/crash-has-a-new-chair​With effect from the 1st January 2026 our long-time committee member Lucy Findlay became our new Chair following the retirement of Eric Bergsagel, who has kindly agreed to remain on the committee.]]>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:56:35 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/o2-car-park-site-revised-plansNo one will be surprised that Land Securities has chosen to revise its plans for the Phase 1 development of the car park site at the O2 centre. Hot on the heels of the government and Mayor of London's planning requirements' changes, Land Securities has chosen to reduce its affordable housing offer from 35% to 20%.. It has submitted a bunch of revised planning documents to Camden which are available at https://www.camden.gov.uk/search-for-planning-applications application number 2025/0484/P. The new documents are dated 2 February 2026 onwards and comments are due by 28 February While there are some oblique references to changes in massing and footprints it is almost impossible to tell what the changes are to its proposals. or its commitments to the local area.

Land Securities update is at: https://o2centremasterplan.commonplace.is/en-GB/news/our-response-to-new-government-policy-to-tackle-industry-wide-challenges-facing-delivery-of-new-homes and there is a drop in at the O2 centre Tuesday 24 February, 12-6:00pm. This will be followed by a Quarterly Community Meeting from 6:30-7:30pm which will be held in the O2 Centre’s ‘Number 7’ unit (the former Pizza Express).

Meanwhile a separate application for the former Homebase site has been submitted with the full knowledge of Land Securities proposing 10 padel courts, sauna and  club house for five years or until Land Securities is ready to bring their project forward. The planning application number is 2026/0201/P with a deadline of 20 February. ]]>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:53:01 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/100-avenue-road-yes-againThose of us who are old enough to recall the days when 100 Avenue Road was a pleasant modern office block, housing for some time the editorial offices of the venerable Ham & High, suspected we wouldn't live long enough to see the more recent 'hole in the ground' became a completed building with homes and commercial spaces fully occupied. There is still some way to go, but, believe it or not, construction work is to commence on site shortly. The dates being posted by the developer - Arada aka Regal - are:

• February 2026 - initial site work commences.
• March 2026 - Main construction work commences.
• Summer 2028 - Project completion. 

As with all construction sites in the London Borough of Camden  working hours are 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 1pm on Saturdays and no work on Sundays or Public Holidays.

As readers will recall, residents, local politicians, neighbourhood organisations etc fought tooth and nail to prevent this development. Thousands of people lodged objections to the planning application. Its one and only supporter of any repute was  the Winch youth project on Winchester Road who were to be rewarded for their support with shiny new premises in one of the new blocks. It is ironic that the Winch has now decided it would rather not move into 100 Avenue Road.

CRASH, alongside virtually everybody else, was glad to see the back of the reviled Essential Living, the initial developers of the site. Some hoped for a more sympathetic scheme from a developer based locally - just down the road in Fairhazel Gardens. Sadly that wasn't to be the case. The 'local' developer, Regal, is now owned by Arada, a property developer founded in 2017 in the United Arab Emirates by a couple of local sheikhs. So, in a few years time when you are sunbathing on the Swiss Cottage Open Space and you have to move every fifteen minutes to avoid the looming shadow of Arada's tower blocks be consoled by the knowledge that the desert sun is ever-present in the UAE.]]>Fri, 14 Nov 2025 11:10:14 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/leaf-sweeping-session-1030-200-sunday-16th-novemberA  leaves clearing outing has been organised for this Sunday, 16th November, by the Liberal Democrats. 
Whilst CRASH is diligently apolitical, it applauds all endeavours aligned with its constitutional aim to protect and enhance South Hampstead in all aspects for the benefit of its residents.  
Leaves create slip hazards and block drains and contribute to flooding risks. Everyone is invited to come and join in clearing up leaves as we are well into the rainy and flood-prone Autumn season. 
The meeting location will be near one of South Hampstead's most flood-prone areas -- the corner of Fairhazel Gardens and Goldhurst Terrace. 
For more information, please email Laurence Lodge, Tara Copeland and Pranay Hariharan at nw6libdems@gmail.com or call 07356 284455.
]]>Mon, 23 Jun 2025 12:43:54 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/crash-2025-agmThe well-attended, and successful, Annual General Meeting of CRASH was held on Monday 16th - a lovely warm June evening - at the Community Centre on Belsize Road. The evening's guest speaker was one of the ward's councillors. Tommy Gale, who spoke about his work at Camden and, in particular, his experiences as a member of the planning committee. During the following Q&A Tommy was good enough to answer a barrage of questions and observations from the members and guests on all the usual subjects: the O2 Centre, 100 Avenue Road, crime, litter, anti-social behaviour, playground provision, Finchley Road coach stop, etc. There followed a presentation by SHFAG (the floods group) before the Chairman moved on to the formal business of the AGM.

During his Chairman's report, the Chair, Eric, was kind enough to pay tributes to (a) Susan Hadida for her long service as the association's treasurer (b) Frances Radford, a founder of CRASH about to celebrate her 100th birthday and (c) the hard-working CRASH Planning Group. The new treasurer, Mark Spurlock, reported on the association's financial position, which - happily - was boosted on the night by subscriptions and donations from existing and, always-welcome, new members. The existing members of the Committee, having indicated that they were willing to remain 'in post', were duly re-elected to serve for a further year.

The formal business of the AGM being concluded, the Chair invited everyone to help themselves to a glass of wine and a snack and continue chatting to fellow-residents of South Hampstead, the guest speaker and the committee members. ]]>Tue, 27 May 2025 12:14:22 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/have-we-reached-the-end-of-avenue-roadThose residents of a certain vintage will recall - provided they still have a good memory - the early plans for the development of 100 Avenue Road. That reviled scheme proposed by Essential Living never lifted off the runway, but the idea was picked up by local developer Regal who submitted a re-worked scheme, to little in the way of applause from neighbours and residents' groups. A revised version of the Regal plan (ref 2025/0852/P) goes before the Planning Committee on the 5th June (7pm at the Town Hall, Judd St).

"The officer's recommendation to the Committee is that the application(s) be granted subject to a Section 106 Legal Agreement."

From bitter past experience we must assume that the Committee will rubber-stamp the officer's consent. 
]]>Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:27 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/o2-centre-the-ongoing-sagaLandsec has now (11/02/25) submitted an additional planning application to Camden Council seeking approval for a number of alterations and additions to its existing consented scheme. The majority of the changes - including the additional height of some tower blocks - were widely known following consultation events held at the O2 Centre. However, it still comes as something of a shock to realise that the heightened tower blocks in the scheme will be visible from as far away as Greenwich Park!]]>Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:09 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/one-gone-one-goingThere can be few people in South Hampstead without a plant in their garden or a tool in their shed that didn't come from Homebase. No more. Its demolition is now complete. A sad loss.

Iconic must be one of the most over-used words in the English language, but its use here must be allowed. The Swiss Cottage pub has closed its doors, with many people assuming that, like Homebase, it will be demolished for yet another block of flats. Let's hope that the closure is temporary and that new owners can be found. Swiss Cottage without the pub will be like Crystal Palace without the glass palace - just a place on the map and the name of a TFL station.]]>Mon, 22 Jul 2024 16:50:32 GMThttps://www.southhampstead.info/news/100-avenue-road-back-to-the-futureAs many of you will know, Regal - a local property developer - has signed a conditional agreement to purchase the 100 Avenue Road site from Essential Living. Regal has begun consulting with the community on its revised plans for the site and will hold a second consultation later in the year. With the exception of the additional staircases - now required by post-Grenfell regulations - CRASH can see no improvement on Essential Living's reviled scheme. In fact, they are worse.

CRASH opposed Essential Living's original scheme for 100 Avenue Road and will continue to oppose the current plans.]]>