ZEBRA CROSSINGS
The zebra crossing over Seymour Street has been in place for a couple of months and has improved the safety of those crossing between Old and New Quebec Streets. The refurbishing works continue for New Quebec Street and it is still hoped that the crossing required for Upper Berkeley Street, to complete the Portman Estate's Bryanston walking route, can be included in this improvement investment.
PARKING
Westminster found over 1000 new parking spaces for residents this year, and a few were in F zone, with some help from Association members identifying spaces. One does wonder about the net effect, though, as spaces are lost for electrical parking points, and the bike hire scheme. Marylebone Association members should continue to let us know if you think there are single line spaces which would be suitable for conversion to a parking spot!
OXFORD STREET
The diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus seems to have proved a success, with many more people able to cross the road, and less impact on traffic than anticipated. It has upgraded the look of the street too. We lobbied against a proposal to ban any non bus traffic from using the western end of Oxford Street (from Marble Arch to Orchard Street) as this would have pushed far more traffic movement into Marylebone. Instead, it was agreed that signage would encourage traffic to stick to Marylebone Road, Edgware Road, rather than using Baker Street, Gloucester Place and further assessments made in due course. We also made representations to the London Assembly about congestion on Oxford Street to try to ensure no bus diversions were planned through Marylebone.
For those who would like to avoid the disruption caused locally during the Oxford and Regent Street closure for shopping before Christmas, it is scheduled to take place on Saturday 27th November.
EDGWARE ROAD
The improvements in Nutford Place are almost complete - there has been much discussion about the plans and their implementation. The seating has been designed so that it does not encourage street sleepers, the adjoining properties have been involved in an agreement to provide tables and chairs during the day and to remove them at night.
The Council has continued to put pressure on Transport for London to implement improvement works on Edgware Road, but much of the pavement is still in poor repair. There are plans to upgrade during 2010/11.
A new Tesco has opened on Edgware Road, providing potential competition to the Waitrose further up the road! This means there are three Tesco shops within Marylebone.
CHAPEL STREET
There are parking suspensions in Chapel Street due to the construction of a new electrical sub-station, which will be completed in early 2012.
ROYAL PARKS
The Royal Parks do keep us informed on the activities going ahead in the Parks affecting the use of open space and also disrupting traffic flow with the closure of North Carriage Drive. Earlier in the year, a number of you responded to our query about the impact of events in the Parks. We passed these comments on to the Royal Parks and did receive a response to many of the points made. We acknowledge that it is difficult for the Royal Parks to strike the right balance, as their funding from central Government gets cut and they have to raise money through events. However, there is more and more evidence that we need to have open space and areas of tranquillity for our own health and so it is important that the value of the Parks in playing such a role is recognised. Hyde Park and Regents' Park are bound by the strict licensing regulations imposed by Westminster City Council, but it is important that we protect our valuable open space so a watchful eye will be kept on the Parks.
TREE PLANTING
Local residents celebrated the completion of the first phase of the W1W Tree Planting Initiative with the planting of forty Chanticleer pear trees. The trees now line the entire length of Hallam Street up to the BBC's new Broadcasting House facility. This success is the result of a partnership between Westminster City Council, Westminster Tree Trust, and local residents and businesses. Mark Gazaleh has been instrumental in bringing more trees to Westminster! We have also made strong comment to Westminster City Council regarding their strategy for trees and planting 
in Westminster, as it suggested that tree planting in Marylebone's streets was inappropriate! We did not agree and hopefully our views will be incorporated in a revised strategy.
Heather Acton
