Wednesday 27 March 2024

Give Byron Court the chance to demonstrate progress with a re-inspection by Ofsted leading to revoking of the Academy Order

 

Barry Gardiner MP at the community demonstration against academisation

 Parents and staff opposing the forced academisation of Byron Court Primary School after a poor Ofsted will be cheered by support from the London Region of the National Education Union.

The union is critical of the conduct of the Ofsted inspection and distress that it caused to staff and challenges some of the judgements made. The timing of the inspection meant that staff were not protected by Ofsted guidance on the wellbeing of staff that was later introduced.

The union supports the view that the school has begun to address the issues raised by Ofsted and has shown that it is capable of demonstrating that it can offer the high quality education that all children deserve without recourse to forced academisation.  They call for a re-inspection by Ofsted to assess this claim and if proved correct to revoke the Academy Order. This has happened in the case of 22 schools.

More than 1,000 people have signed the petition opposing academisation and a takeover by the Harris Federation while NEU members at the school have voted to progress to industrial action over their potential transfer to a new employer.

Tuesday 26 March 2024

Learn how to pick fruit in your neighbourhood and save it from rotting Tuesday April 23rd St Raphael's Edible Garden

 

There are so many gardens with apple and pear trees where the fruit just falls and rots. Learn how to shake it off the tree into a tarpaulin and what's involved in starting a group to put fruit to good use with foodbanks etc.

Sufra launch Ramadan Appeal 'Seeking Sanctuary - Finding Hope' - your donation will be match funded, Help the homeless and the hungry

 

 

 Thanks to the Islam Channel for the video

 Message from Sufra Foodbanks and Community Kitchen

Whilst many of our team observe fasting during this month of Ramadan, it’s sad and distressing that a growing number of our guests don’t even have enough food to break their fast.

 

Youssef, a young Sudanese refugee, is just one of many of our guests in this situation.

 

Youssef came to our food bank this week in desperate need of hope. He had been sleeping on the streets for weeks, with no food or adequate provisions to keep warm. He had lost faith in getting the support he needs over Ramadan.

 

As we do with a growing number of refugees and people seeking asylum who have been made homeless, we are making sure Youssef now has a nourishing Iftar every day.

 

Meanwhile, we are paying for emergency accommodation to keep Youssef warm, dry and safe – whilst fighting for his right to a decent roof over his head.

 

With record levels of demand for food aid at Sufra, and homelessness reaching new highs across London, we can’t do this without your help.  

 

 


At a recent Advice drop-in, Ahmed (a refugee from North Africa) turned up in complete despair. Despite his physical disability, he was evicted from his Home Office accommodation without any support, and left to fend for himself on the cold streets of London.  

 

Using our Samaritan Fund, our Advice Team arranged emergency accommodation in a hotel that met his medical needs. We provided food aid and support with his benefits, whilst working to secure his right to a decent roof over his head. 

 

This Ramadan, Sufra’s thoughts are with people like Ahmed, who have been forcibly displaced and are bravely establishing new lives in London. Those who have fled war, abuse and life under threat. Those forced to leave their families and seek sanctuary in a foreign land. 

 

Donate Now to Help Sufra Support People Like Ahmed  

 

Sadly, when a person seeking asylum reaches the UK, their basic human rights are ignored and they are often treated like second class citizens. Every day our advice workers are faced with some of the most inhumane and heart-wrenching cases, and it isn’t the situations they are fleeing but the ones they are facing here. 

 

As soon as a person seeking asylum receives the right to remain in the UK, they are served an eviction notice and have as little as seven days to leave their Home Office accommodation. Many of them are left homeless and hungry whilst trying to find a place they can afford – an almost impossible task. 

When guests come to Sufra, we make them feel at home by sharing a meal and listening to their struggles. We treat everyone with dignity and respect to rekindle their hope and sense of community – all whilst fighting for their basic right to food and shelter.  

 

Please support our ‘Seeking Sanctuary, Finding Hope’ Appeal to help uscontinue to provide food and shelter this Ramadan. 

 

35,000 Meals This Ramadan 

 

During the holy month of Ramadan, our Community Kitchens will be serving free Iftars, four days a week. People of all faiths or no faith are welcome to attend and sample Chef Jas' delicious global cuisine.  

 

Through our network of Food Banks and Community Kitchens, we aim to provide 35,000 meals to those most in need.

 

If you would like to be part of our mission this Ramadan, please donate HERE

 

Double Your Donations with Beta Charitable Trust (BCT)

 

We are very grateful to have £10,000 of initial match funding for our Ramadan Appeal from our gracious, long-term partner BCT. This means every penny you give will automatically be doubled and have twice the impact for our guests.

 

Donation amounts: 

  • £5 will provide one of our guests with a hot and freshly cooked 3-course meal.   
  • £40 will provide a family with a week’s worth of food and essentials. 
  • £100 will cover the cost of emergency accommodation for a guest who has been made homeless. 
  • £250 will sponsor one of our homeless food drives.
  • £1250 will sponsor a week’s Community Kitchen service. 

 

Zakat al-Mal and Zakat al-Fitr 

 

Sufra NW London can distribute Zakat al-Mal and Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of observant Muslims to needy individuals and families living in Northwest London. 

 

All Zakat funds are restricted to providing emergency aid (including food, clothing and hostel accommodation). No zakat funds are used for the general running costs of the organisation. 

 

You can find our Zakat Policy here. 

 

To pay Zakat al-Mal (2.5% of annual savings – restricted to emergency aid) use this link

To pay Fidya, Kaffarah or Zakat al-Fitr (£5/person – 100% restricted to food) use this link

 

Other Ways to Help 

 

Many mosques, community centres and school are running food drives during the month to help keep our shelves stocked, if you would like to organise a collection please get in touch and we can provide you with one of our iconic yellow bins and shopping lists to distribute in your local community. 

Alternatively, you could also take part in our Ramadan Giving Calendar which is a great way for children to learn about the importance of giving (and adults too!)

 

 

LETTER: Is Brent Council ready to be called in by the Building Safety Regulator?

 Dear Editor,

We are now less than a week away from the deadline of 1st April 2024  for Brent Council to comply with the Building Safety Act, but because of Easter, it will be by the 28th March 2024.


There are several sections of The  Building Safety Act coming in from the start of April 2024 but the key one is the publication of the Safety Case Reports and safety cases for each of the 41 buildings in scope.

 
A Safety Case Report requires the council to carry out assessments of all the safety risks in each of the 41 buildings and publish them by the deadline.
 

They also need to publish a new Reporting Safety Issues Occurrences policy and The Golden Thread.

 
But the key publication for tenants and leaseholders is the new Resident Engagement Stategy.

 
So to recap, almost all the Buildings Safety Act will be in force by the 6th April 2024 apart from Building Control which has been given a 3 month extension to the 6th July 2024.

 
From the 1st April 2024 the Building Safety Regulator will start calling landlords for them to provide him with Safety Case Reports and Resident Engagement Strategies, Occurrence Reporting and The Golden Thread.

 
However, no one knows who will be called first but most commentators believe it will be those buildings built with Large Panel Systems (LPS) with three of them in South Kilburn. So the council needs to have everything ready just in case they are called first and failure to comply could lead to fines, or imprisonment.
 
As well as LPS buildings, those over 12 floors will be at the top of the Regulators call in list and that applies to two in South Kilburn that are still occupied, plus Hereford House which now has no tenants.

So based on this criteria, Brent Council could be called in from any time after the 1st April, 2024
 
 
A local resident 
 
 
Thank you for your letter and your monitoring of the Council action on this important issue. Readers wil be interested in Brent Council's own risk assessment on this issue (March 2024):
 
 

Failure to comply with statutory Housing management service requirements and deadlines, may result in a serious health and safety incident or non- compliance with legislation, which may lead to serious injuries and/or fatalities, reputational damage, fines and/or imprisonment. 

 

As a landlord we have to ensure we are complying with all of our statutory duties and health and safety compliance particularly Fire, Legionella, Asbestos, Gas and Electric (FLAGE) form part of those duties. Failure in any of the areas would be a breach of the consumer standards and the Council would be subject to sanctions from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). 

 

Following the Grenfell Tower inquiry findings published in October 2019, there was a number of recommendations made to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. The Government undertook to introduce new regulations based on these recommendations. These regulations take the form of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and extend duties imposed by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. 

 

The Building Safety Act 2022 was introduced to improve the housing safety standards for residents giving them more rights and protections. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will oversee the safety and performance of all buildings with a special focus on high rise buildings. 

 

The above have stipulated actions that have to be completed by certain deadlines to show assurance that our buildings are safe and to avoid any further actions by the Building Safety Regulator. One example is the preparation of Building Safety Cases for our 41 High Rise Blocks by April 2024. 

 

The Building Safety Act working group was formed in September 2023 and currently meet fortnightly to assess progress on adherence with the Act. The group has developed a process for updating vulnerable resident’s details that are held in the secure information boxes. The group have also started to engage with residents in high-risk buildings. The first three block meetings were held in December to discuss building safety and the fire strategy for each block. All high-risk building were registered complete with structural and safety data within the deadline. 

 

We have not been successful in the permanent recruitment of the Building Safety Manager however we do not expect this to have an impact on any of our deadlines. We have commissioned a Building Safety Case pilot with consultants Penningtons Ltd with a view to instructing them on the other 39 blocks if the pilot is successful. 

 

Meetings are being held with consultants to assist the Council in determining how to receive, use and manage  Building Information Management information. The draft Building Safety Engagement Strategy has gone out to residents’ consultation and will go out again when the wider Engagement Strategy is published.

 
Pennington's have published a useful guide on what should be in a Building Safety Report HERE

1 Morland Gardens – Is Brent Council “busy doing nothing”?

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity

 


The Victorian villa, “Altamira”, at Hillside, Stonebridge, in October 2023.

 

When I was growing up in the 1950s, there was a song by Bing Crosby that I often heard on the BBC Light Programme (now Radio 2). It was fun to listen to, and the words have stuck in my brain: ‘We’re busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do ….’

 

I’m beginning to wonder whether the Council are singing that tune over 1 Morland Gardens. It is now more than four months since I wrote that Brent was reviewing its plans for this site in Stonebridge, after the 2020 planning consent for its proposed development there had expired. A report was supposed to be prepared, for submission to Brent’s Cabinet, with new proposals for the site. No report has yet emerged, and there is nothing on the Council’s Forward Plan for such a report to go to Cabinet in April or May 2024.

 

Although the original plans were flawed, including as they did the demolition of a locally listed heritage building and the construction of flats over a community garden, causing air quality problems, the site could still be used for a sensible development. This could include an updated college facility for Brent Start (currently stuck in a temporary home that the Council moved it out to, at a cost of £1.5m), or other community use, and some much needed affordable housing, while retaining and re-using the 150-year old Victorian villa, which was, until recently, in excellent condition.

 

Doing nothing with the now vacant Council-owned building would be worse than doing something. And damage caused to the building, while it was in the hands of contractors last year, is in urgent need of repair. So, what is Brent Council planning to do? 

 

In order to find out, I sent this open email to Brent’s Chief Executive and Head of Capital Projects on 25 March, headed: 1 Morland Gardens, NW10 - its future, and the protection of this Victorian heritage building.

 

This is an Open Email

 

Dear Ms Wright and Mr Martin,

 

1. I was told last November that, following the expiry of the Council's planning consent for its proposed 1 Morland Gardens development, a review of future plans for the property was being carried out, headed by Mr Martin, and that this would report back with proposals to Brent's Cabinet for a decision.

 

I submitted a paper to that review on 20 November 2023, but four months later, the report of that review has not yet been published or submitted to Cabinet, and it is not shown as an item for decision during the next two months on the Forward Plan.

 

Please let me know whether the review has been completed. If it has, when will the report be submitted to Cabinet, and made publicly available? If the review has not yet been finalised, please let me know the reason for the delay, and the date by which the report and recommendations on the future of 1 Morland Gardens are expected to be ready.

 

2. In my open letter of 30 October to you, Ms Wright, I finished by including a photograph of damage to the slates on the roof of the Victorian villa (which had been carefully restored by Brent Council in the mid-1990s, to provide a permanent home for its adult education college). I wrote: 'please ensure that urgent action is taken to replace the missing slates on the roof of 1 Morland Gardens, so that the condition of the empty property is not allowed to deteriorate further.'

 

Following the unsatisfactory reply to that point by Mr Ghani, on your behalf, I wrote again on 20 November, saying: 'There have been further strong winds and heavy rain since I saw the heritage building three weeks ago, so that point is even more urgent now, if expensive damage to the fabric of the property is to be avoided.'

 

It appears that nothing has been done to address this damage to the property, and it has got worse during the winter weather. Here are three photographs, taken yesterday (24 March) by a fellow "Friend of Altamira", with arrows indicating the damaged areas:-

 


Front view of 1 Morland Gardens, showing missing slates, 24 March 2024.

 

 

1 Morland Gardens from corner of Hillside, showing missing slates on south wing of Victorian villa.

 

 

1 Morland Gardens, showing serious damage to slate roof on north wing of Victorian villa.

 

The initial damage was not present when the building was occupied by "Live-in Guardians" up until January 2023, so was probably caused by contractors during the time that 1 Morland Gardens was under the control of the Hill Group (possibly during asbestos survey work). I realise that those removing slates at the edge of the roof thought at the time that the building would be demolished, so that failing to put them back in place did not matter. 

 

However, this locally listed heritage asset (one of only two in Stonebridge Ward) is not currently due for demolition. It would be a travesty if its condition was allowed to deteriorate further, particularly if this was deliberate neglect by Brent Council, to use as an excuse for further proposals to demolish this much-loved, beautiful and still eminently usable Victorian building. 

 

As a reminder, if any were needed, Brent's own adopted Historic Environment policy on "Valuing Brent's Heritage" states:

 

'The effective preservation of historic buildings, places and landscapes and their stewardship is therefore fundamental to the Council's role.'

 

I am copying this email to the Lead Member for Customers, Community and Culture, and to the councillors for Stonebridge Ward, for their information.

 

I look forward to receiving an update on the situation over the review of the future of 1 Morland Gardens, and to hearing that the necessary repairs to the roof of the Victorian building are being carried out. Thank you. Best wishes,

 

Philip Grant.

 

Monday 25 March 2024

Residents in Minster Road, Kilburn advised to close windows due to smoke from house fire

 From London Fire Brigade

Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters have been called to a fire on Minster Road in Kilburn.

The fire has occurred at a three-storey detached house converted into flats. A ground floor flat is alight.

People in the area are advised to keep windows and doors closed due to the amount of smoke being produced. Road closures are also in place including on the A5 (Shoot-Up Hill) at the junction of Minster Road. Drivers are advised to find alternative routes with traffic disruption expected.

The Brigade's 999 Control Officers have received around eight calls about the fire. 

The Brigade was called at 1047. Crews from West Hampstead, Paddington, North Kensington and surrounding fire stations are at the scene.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.


Saturday 23 March 2024

Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals – please sign petition to have them all put back on public display

 A guest post by Philip Grant in a personal capacity

 

The Olympic Torch tile mural, covered over since 2013.

 

It is nearly six years since I first wrote about the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals at Wembley Park, and a request by Wembley History Society to Brent Council and Quintain that they should be put back on permanent public display. 

 

Now, at last, there is a real opportunity to make that happen, which is why I have launched an online petition, and why I am writing now to encourage Wembley Matters readers to sign it, please. The petition statement says:

 

We the undersigned call upon Brent Council, and its Cabinet making the decision on the Award of a Contract for the Bobby Moore Bridge Advertising Lease, to only award a lease from 31 August 2024 for advertising on the parapets of the bridge, and not on the walls of the subway, so that the heritage tile murals on those walls can be put back on public display.

The petition is on Brent Council’s website, and you can find it HERE.

 


Brent’s 15 February 2024 advert on the Contracts Finder portal.

 

The opportunity has come because the current Bobby Moore Bridge advertising lease expires on 30 August 2024. Following a suggestion I made to Brent’s then Chief Executive in 2021, the new lease is being advertised through an open tender process (rather than through a private deal with Quintain), which may mean that the Council receives a higher rental income. 

 

Crucially, again at my suggestion, potential suppliers must make two bids, one for advertising solely on the parapets of the bridge (with a minimum annual income guarantee of £90,000) and one for advertising on the bridge parapets and the walls of the subway (minimum annual income guarantee £100,000).

 

The advertising lease contract opportunity was published on 15 February, with bids to be submitted by 12noon on Monday 18 March. The decision on who to award the new advertising lease to, and which option to award the lease for, is due to be made by Brent’s Cabinet on 28 May. I’m hoping that the difference in the two best bids will be small enough to persuade Cabinet members to award a lease only for advertising on the bridge parapets! 

 

As the light panels which currently cover most of the tile mural scenes in the subway (between Wembley Park Station/Olympic Square and Olympic Way) were installed for advertising purposes, this would mean that they have to be removed, so that all of the remaining tile mural scenes can be put back on permanent public display.

 

Composite image showing tile murals on the west wall of the subway.
(Image thought to be by Amanda Rose, for Quintain, in 2019)

 

The documents issued by Brent Council for the tender process included a “location” sheet, with photographs of the tile murals on the subway walls. The composite view of the west wall mural scenes included some which I did not have images of before. The basketball player, with yellow shorts, probably represents the Harlem Globetrotters team, who played exhibition matches at Wembley Arena every year from 1950 through to 1982. They were a big attraction, and I remember watching them as a boy, on a black and white television set.

 

A Harlem Globetrotters basketball game at Wembley in the 1950s. (Wembley History Society Collection)

 

The singer, with accompanist on a grand piano, may well represent Shirley Bassey, who was one of the stars in the first popular music concert at Wembley Arena in 1959, and performed there most recently in 2003. These are just parts of Wembley’s sports and entertainment heritage that the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals celebrate. It is that heritage which I believe it’s important that Wembley Park residents and visitors deserve to have returned to them!

 

The petition is supported by background information, which I submitted with it. A Council Governance Officer informed me that they had made several ‘factual amendments’ to it, and although I told them that what I had written was factually correct, I had to accept their version, so my petition could be published. 

 

For those interested, I will set out my original text below. Council Officers did not want you to know that Cabinet members were not told about the tile murals when they were asked to award the current advertising lease, and that the lease was secretly extended by three years (in a very “dodgy deal”!).

 

Background information:

 

The Bobby Moore Bridge and subway were created under a 1991 Brent Council scheme to pedestrianise Olympic Way, in advance of the 1996 Euros football tournament. With support from Wembley Stadium, the Council commissioned a large public artwork to decorate the walls of the subway from the station, and the Olympic Way walls as you emerge from the subway.

 

That public artwork was a ceramic tile mural, made up of individual scenes celebrating a variety of sports and entertainment events from the history of Wembley Stadium and Arena. These Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals were designed to welcome the millions of people passing through the subway each year, on their way to stadium and arena events, with a colourful reminder of Wembley Park’s heritage. 

 

The subway was officially opened in September 1993 by the widow of the former World Cup-winning England football captain, who unveiled a plaque set into one of the mural scenes, showing England footballers playing at the “twin towers” Wembley Stadium, naming the bridge ‘in honour of a football legend’.

 

Stephanie Moore, opening the subway and its murals in 1993. (Courtesy of Ray Pepper)

 

In 2013, Brent Council granted an advertising lease which allowed a Quintain subsidiary to cover the murals on the tile walls with vinyl advertising sheets, and to erect advertising signs on the walls above both entrances to the subway. Brent’s Cabinet agreed to grant a further four-year advertising lease in January 2018, but were not told about the tile murals on the subway walls, which the adverts would continue to hide from public view.

 

In 2019, Quintain applied for, and were given (despite strong public opposition), permission to install LED light panels, to be used for advertising, on the walls of the subway, and larger advertising screens on the bridge parapets. The only concession they made, after campaigning by Wembley History Society, was to put the “footballers” mural scene on the east wall of the subway back on permanent public display. Later that year, Council Officers secretly extended the advertising lease for a further three years, to 30 August 2024.

 

During the 2019 planning process, Brent acknowledged that the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals were a heritage asset. At the start of Brent’s year as London Borough of Culture, in January 2020, three of the large tile mural scenes on the east wall of Olympic Way, just outside of the subway were put back on temporary display. The Council publicised the event, saying:

 

‘The tiles, which show scenes from famous sports and entertainment events at Wembley Stadium and the SSE Arena, Wembley, are part of Brent’s rich heritage.’

 

The tile murals in Olympic Way are now back on permanent public display.

The end of the current advertising lease is an opportunity to allow Wembley Park’s residents and visitors to enjoy all of the tile murals in the subway again, for the first time since 2013. Potential advertisers have been asked to submit two bids in the tender process for the new advertising lease. One bid will be for adverting on the bridge parapets only, and the other will be for the bridge parapets and the subway walls.

Brent’s Forward Plan shows that the decision on the award of the new advertising lease is scheduled for the Cabinet meeting on 28 May 2024. This petition aims to show the level of support from people in the borough for the tile mural scenes in the subway to be put back on permanent public display.

 

Composite image showing tile murals on the east wall of the subway.
(Image thought to be by Amanda Rose, for Quintain, in 2019)

 

I hope you’ll agree that these colourful tile mural scenes do deserve to be back on display, so that everyone passing through the subway can enjoy them, and get a feel for a century of Wembley Park’s history as “the venue of legends”.

 

It will only take a couple of minutes online to sign the petition, passing a couple of security tests to show that you live, work or study in Brent, and that you are a real person, not some automated “bot”. When you get to the final page, which repeats the petition, please scroll down to the bottom, where you will find the “SIGN PETITION” box to click on. Thank you!

 

Philip Grant.