Two seperate incidents in and around Holland Park have shocked residents in the area.

The first incident took place last Tuesday morning, when an 18-year old was attacked with an iron bar in what police described as a "horrendous" attack. He was in Holland Walk, near to Holland Park school, when the incident took place. The victim, with blood pouring from his head, staggered towards Kensington High Street where passers-by raised the alarm.

Police are seeking information, " If anyone was in the area of Holland Walk by Campden Hill and Holland Park School at the time of the attack then they should contact us. We also want people who saw anyone entering or leaving the park either before or after the attack to come forward."

The victim who is still in critical condition in hospital, is described by police as of oriental appearance with short black hair. He was wearing a beige jacket, beige scarf, blue jeans, green jumper, blue and white check shirt and Prada trainers.

Anyone with information is asked to contact DI Mike Christensen on 020 8246 0156 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

In the second incident on Wednesday, a man exposed himself to two women who were forced to flee the park. The man approached the women at 5.50pm with his shorts around his thighs. The man is described as 28, black, 5ft 10ins, slim and wearing dark shorts and a sweatshirt.

Anyone with information should call police on 020 8246 0173.

The Royal Borough Cabinet last night has agreed (25/2) a Council Tax of £762.03 for a Band D property, an increase of 10.6% on last year.

The increase, part of the Cabinet's proposed budget for the next financial year, will now go to a meeting of the full Council in March for approval. The budget, if ratified, will leave residents with the fourth lowest Council Tax in London, a feat achieved despite the fact that the Council receives by far the lowest Government grant per head in the Capital.

Government support in 2002/3 will be just £642, in Westminster the figure is £839 and in Wandsworth £756. Just five years ago the Government was providing 75% of the money it estimated the Council needed to spend on services. Now it's only 63%, leaving an ever larger chunk to be raised locally.

A further strain on the council tax position is the GLA. Had the Mayor not demanded a 15.2% increase in the money it receives from the London boroughs to support the Greater London Authority (£23 per band D property), Council Tax increases could have been in single figures.

"Council Tax at Band D is going up by a little over £70 but over a third of that is down to the GLA," explained Council Leader, Cllr. Merrick Cockell. "When you take out inflation from the remainder it can be seen that the Council is doing a good job of holding down spending. And that isn't being done at the expense of services; check out our Ofsted reports, our recent social services review, our Triple A credit rating and our best value inspections. We have quality services, we have value for money but we also have vision as well. "

Our budget proposals this year includes the creation of a new reserve to build funds that will help us address our residents' key concerns. We're thinking of a new secondary school so that more local children can benefit from our proven success as an education authority and we thinking of a borough constabulary to give serious support to our local police."

The Local Initiatives Reserve included in the budget would set aside £250,000 in this financial year and a further million in 2002/3 to help meet start up costs for these flagship projects.

The harrowing stories of London street crime in the media in the last two weeks has focussed attention on the growing trend of homeowners hiring security firms to guard their homes and bring them peace of mind.

Residents in Eldon Street in Kensington were amongst the first communities in London to employ private security. Eldon Street and two neighbouring streets, Stanford Road and Victoria Road, are proof that the scheme works, with crime reduced to almost zero in the year this secret pilot scheme has been running.

Residents pay up to £1000 a year, which pays for a uniformed guard with an alsation to patrol the area, and access to a 24-hour operations room to report any suspicious activity. Crown Protection Services who run the security operation claim that their staff can be on-site in less than 12 minutes.

Councillors in the centre of London are warning that a two tier police service is emerging, with those who can afford to pay for private security increasingly prepared to do so, while those who cannot are having to wait for the increasingly overstretched Met.

The Sunday Telegraph reported 'Simon', a resident and spokesperson for the project:

"The benefit was immediately apparent and now we have a situation whener nearly 95 per cent of the residents are on board".

"The patrolman has an alsation and if he sees anything suspicious he takes action. He has a civilian's power of arrest which means if he apprehends anyone he can detain them until the police arrive."

The scheme was set up in consultation with Pc Spike Townsend, the area beat officer.

Police federation give muted response (Sunday Telegraph) - 03/02/01
Not all policemen support this type of resident action. Nick Hartfree, the chairman of the constable's branch of the Metropolitan Police Federation, interviewed in the Sunday Telegraph, said it was "denigrating the role of the policeman".

" The Government has announced it wants to introduce civilian auxilliaries under police control and also accredit private security firms to patrol street," he said.

"By the evidence of this scheme that has effectively started already," said Mr Hartfree. "But by doing so, they are taking away the role of th police officer as a professional person and also getting policing on the cheap.

"If rich communities can afford to do this, it is unfair on those areas which can't."