Environment

Westminster City Council is responsible for district-wide waste collection and cleaning, and this is underpinned by a statutory Baseline Agreement between the City Council and the BID. The role of the BID is to provide services over and above those provided by the Council and so since 2019 we have carried out a single deep clean of Edgware Road. During the Covid-19 pandemic the BID led the way improving the external environment, providing queue markers for 70 businesses in over 100 locations and carrying out hot washing up and down Edgware Road and side streets.

The BID funds a dedicated Neighbourhood Co-ordinator within the City Council to draw on Council services like waste, cleansing and enforcement, directing a rapid response. Similarly, the Marble Arch Street Team make regular reports to Westminster about fly-tipping, waste, damaged street furniture and highway assets.

Having identified lighting issues through our night-time audits, the BID raised concerns about low lighting levels in Connaught Place with Westminster City Council in 2020 and lobbied for the inclusion of a lighting improvement scheme in the Council’s annual programme of planned preventative maintenance. The scheme was completed in March 2022.

The BID installed 46 Christmas lights the length of Edgware Road for the sixth year running in 2022 to bring a welcome and necessary boost to our retail and leisure members over the Christmas period.

Pedestrian movement and safety were among the highest priorities when we first asked businesses to vote on proposals to establish the BID in 2015. Since then, through our strategic relationships with TfL and Westminster City Council we have brought about junction and crossing improvements in nine separate locations.

The BID’s role at each of these nine locations has been one of advocate and lobbyist, providing the evidence base for green man crossings through our extensive network of district-wide footfall counters and socialising proposed schemes through exhibitions and consultation events. The goal of maximising buy-in from businesses for these schemes was achieved, with every single crossing and junction project receiving a resounding majority in support.

In 2019 we successfully bid for £250,000 through the Hyde Park Paddington Neighbourhood Forum for Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to bring forward small scale improvements at two gateway locations – Burwood Place and the corner of Sussex Gardens. The schemes involved the creation of new seating to provide vital rest opportunities, plus small-scale planting. At the corner of Sussex Gardens and Edgware Road new surfaces and a bespoke tree pit ensure that surfaces are safer for pedestrians at this key gateway to Edgware Road. Both schemes were completed in 2022.

Improving the environment at transport gateways is vital to ensuring a pleasant and safe welcome for all who arrive in the district. At Edgware Road (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City Line) station the BID worked with London Underground to deliver a facelift for the station which included improved signage between the two stations, a new roundel, painting, re-tiling and replacement entrance signage and frames. The BID’s contribution funded a large Legible London map in the ticket hall, the first of its kind and size to be implemented by TfL for its stations.

At Marble Arch station a new installation in the subway was completed in 2019, sharing the little-known history of Marble Arch with the 14 million visitors who pass through the station each year. The pedestrian tunnel that leads from the ticket hall to the monument now showcases over 43 panels featuring history, photographs, maps and illustrations of the district.

One of the biggest opportunities in our second term is the delivery of two major public realm schemes; at Oxford Street and Marble Arch. Westminster City Council has ambitious plans for Oxford Street including creating world class gateways and strengthening the status of the entire district. Marble Arch London BID will play a key role in ensuring that pedestrian improvements are prioritised at Oxford Street west.

At Marble Arch a transformative scheme led by The Portman Estate will create a high-quality, safe civic space. The scheme aims to improve road safety, alongside better walking and cycling connections, creating an accessible and healthier environment with improved air quality. The proposals were launched in December 2019 and a funding package is being assembled with both public and private sector contributors.

The Joe Strummer subway network below the Marylebone Flyover closed in 2018. Since then a scheme has been in development with TfL, Westminster City Council and Thames Water to create rain gardens and additional public space. We hope to see this scheme completed in the BID’s second term.

The BID has built up a wealth of data over the past six years and our Insights Study, completed in August 2021, has enabled us to define catchment areas and demographics for each of the main sectors and identify zones in which further action is required either in planning policy terms or public realm interventions.

Likewise we know which parts of the district are more susceptible to rough sleeping, organised begging, encampments, fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour and we tackle these hot spots with businesses and landlords to take concerted action, designing out issues where practical.

We will match efforts by Westminster City Council to reduce freight on local roads by stepping up support for local businesses seeking to consolidate freight and waste activities. Through its regional and national networks, the BID is well placed to identify funding for pilot projects and best practice.

The movement towards active travel was accelerated following the Covid-19 pandemic as local employees looked to walking and cycling more. The BID supported this by increasing both on-street and secure cycle parking. This momentum will be maintained, and employers supported to offer greater choice to employees to explore active travel in their journeys to and from work in the district.