A FATHER and son duo are heading off up north to take on a gruelling 96 mile walk to raise cash for a bereavement charity.

Peter Edwards, 51, and his son Ben, 14, of Hillview Gardens, Harrow, are setting off to walk along the Pennine Way on Saturday (11).

The pair will walk for an average of seven hours a day for six days from Malham in North Yorkshire to Dufton in Cumbria to raise funds for Harrow Bereavement Care.

Mr Edwards said: "As a family we do a lot of walking. We normally only go away for a couple of days though so this is going to be quite a challenge.

"The terrain is very hilly in places. I think the highest point is about 600 metres but I'm reasonably fit for my age and my son is very fit because all he does is sport.

"I think as long as we stay injury free we will be okay. Our legs will ache but it'll just be like a long day's shopping, which I try and avoid at all costs.

"We had the opportunity to take a week off so we decided to go on a walking holiday, but that was before we decided to do it for charity.

"My wife, Caroline, works as an office manager at Harrow Bereavement Care so we decided it would be a good idea to raise money for them.

"This is the first time I have actually organised a charity event myself. A couple of times I have felt a bit apprehensive but generally I feel fairly confident. Ben is very excited as well.

"He's just been to Cornwall on a cadet course camp with his school so I imagine he's full of beans."

To sponsor the pair call Harrow Bereavement Care on 0208 427 1629 or email harrowbereave@btconnect.com.

A GERMAN Christmas market could be held between November 25 and December 31 in St Ann's Road, Harrow, if Harrow Council grants permission.

A DESIGN to convert Station Road into a two-way street for buses has been approved.

Funded by Transport for London, the works will begin this summer.

Why stay in doors when there's so much going on in your local area? Check out the our guide to what's to see and do for the week ahead. Tip: you'll need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to view this link.

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COUNCILLORS will decide tomorrow night whether high rise flats and shops can be built on Harrow's ex-Post Office site - having been warned the scheme may not bring the regenerative benefits first promised.

Harrow Council's planning committee is due to consider an application by developers Dandara to tear down the vacant building in College Road and construct three towers containing a total of 410 apartments, with the highest structure 19 storeys tall.

Planning officers had presented committee members with two alternate recommendations - one for approval and one for rejection - with evidence to support both.

Their report stated: "Whilst the details of the scheme are considered to be acceptable and appropriate to the site, its town centre location and the current policy background, the scheme has implications for the developing policy background that could mean that the proposal is premature."

What this means is that the planning brief for the centre of Harrow was written before the credit crunch when the council envisaged receiving a substantial sum in community contributions from several developers, of which Dandara was one.

The idea was to pool this money and revamp the area around Harrow-on-the-Hill station, including creating a new bus station and building a pedestrian bridge across the Metropolitan line.

However, following the collapse of the Gayton Road proposals and news that the replacement Harrow College campus may yet fall through, the brief needs to be rewritten to reflect the current, less lucrative economic outlook.

Officers were therefore worried that approving Dandara's scheme, having judged it against objectives that are now redundant, may be too hasty, especially given that the firm could may only chip in a maximum of £5 million towards the aforementioned aspirational transport improvements.

Dandara pointed out, however, the officers' warning that despite being genuine concerns, the arguments for rejecting the plans may not meet the requirements of Planning Policy Guidance 1, the Government's sustainable development policy document under which the scheme could be thrown out for "prematurity".

DANDARA - THE FACTS
n demolition of ex-Post Office building
n construction of three towers containing 410 flats
n basement parking for 87 cars
n build 1,120 sq m of retail and entertainment premises
n contribution of up to £5m to boost public transport based partly on sales
n provide pedestrian bridge over railway line
n create public open space
n allocate 15 per cent of housing as affordable
n incorporate police office
n provide work placements for local people

FIFTEEN volunteers are needed to pick up a paddle and take part in dragon boat race to raise cash for the UK's only specialist hospital for colorectal disease.
St Mark's Hospital Foundation, which supports St Mark's Hospital in Watford Road, Harrow, has entered a team into the 12th Rotary Dragon Boat Festival on Sunday May 17 but the original scheduled participants have had to pull out.
Dragon boat racing involves a crew of around 20 sitting two abreast in a long canoe-like boat and paddling in synchronism to the sound of a drum beat.
The races will take place on the River Thames at the Docklands Sailing Centre located at the Millwall Outer Dock in south-east London between 10am and 3pm.
An entry fee of £10 per person is required along with a minimum guaranteed sponsorship of £100, and all participants get a T-shirt.
n For more information and to register, call Maxine McNeil, the foundation's fundraising manager, on 020 8869 2371 or email maxine.mcneil@nwlh.nhs.uk

FIFTEEN volunteers are needed to pick up a paddle and take part in dragon boat race to raise cash for the UK's only specialist hospital for colorectal disease.
St Mark's Hospital Foundation, which supports St Mark's Hospital in Watford Road, Harrow, has entered a team into the 12th Rotary Dragon Boat Festival on Sunday May 17 but the original scheduled participants have had to pull out.
Dragon boat racing involves a crew of around 20 sitting two abreast in a long canoe-like boat and paddling in synchronism to the sound of a drum beat.
The races will take place on the River Thames at the Docklands Sailing Centre located at the Millwall Outer Dock in south-east London between 10am and 3pm.
An entry fee of £10 per person is required along with a minimum guaranteed sponsorship of £100, and all participants get a T-shirt.
n For more information and to register, call Maxine McNeil, the foundation's fundraising manager, on 020 8869 2371 or email maxine.mcneil@nwlh.nhs.uk

THE Comfort Hotel Harrow in Northwick Park Road, Harrow, could expand by a further 34 rooms if councillors approve plans this evening.

Operator Grangebrook wants to demolish 57 Gayton Road, redesign the car park, relocate the restaurant and bar, convert roofspace and build a series of extensions to create more floorspace and bring the total number of suites to 107, while improving disabled access and the circulation of guests and staff.

Harrow Council's strategic planning committee meets tonight to consider the application.

The scheme is slightly different to one for less additional bedrooms that was granted permission by Harrow Council in October last year.

OFFICERS discovered a house in Kingsfield Road, Harrow, had been turned into a cannabis factory on Friday.
Harrow Police came across 500 plants in the cul-de-sac property but did not make any arrests.
However, staff at the Kingsfield Arms at the end of the road told the Observer they had heard nothing about it.

A DECISION to turn run-down West Harrow Recreation Ground into a private tennis academy has been challenged by councillors.
They claim that no consultation had been held with residents before councillor Tony Ferrari (Conservative), portfolio holder for major contracts and property, agreed in March to rent out the land in The Ridgeway in West Harrow, for 35 years.
The company interested in the development would - at its own expense - build changing rooms, a gymnasium and a base for a local boxing club, while in the winter, four of the tennis courts would be covered by a translucent bubble dome to ensure year-round use of the facility.
A council report into the existing seven tennis courts said: "They are currently in a poor state of repair and incapable of use without significant financial investment.
"They require resurfacing, new fencing and new nets and the council does not have the financial resources to undertake this
work.
"Additionally, the council needs to secure the site to prevent it being a health and safety hazard."
However, five Labour and Lib Dem members have 'called in' the decision, a process which allows backbench members of Harrow Council to collectively request a public review of a cabinet-level decision.
They said: "We would emphasise that we are not necessarily against the actual proposal itself or a modification of it but we are very much against the failure of the council to consult anyone and take their views into account."
A call-in sub-committee is being held tonight at Harrow Civic Centre to debate the decision.