Showing posts with label events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label events. Show all posts

Wednesday 24 January 2024

Some Great Library Events – but where can you find them online?

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant

Brent Libraries What’s On leaflet for Spring 2024

 

I know that Brent Libraries have a good programme of free events, and I wanted to let you know about some of them, so I went to my usual online source, the Brent Culture Service Eventbrite site. As you can see, this ‘home of events from Brent Libraries’ has lots of followers, and has previously given access to nearly 500 events for local residents:

 


But when I scrolled down to find out what was on offer for the next few months, this is what I saw:

 


I knew that could not be right, because I am “booked” to give a free library talk myself in March! I contacted the Library Development Officers, who organise these events, to find out why there was nothing on Brent’s Eventbrite website, and was told that they have a new one. Instead of Brent Culture Service, it is now called Brent Libraries, Arts and Heritage, which I think is a much better description. But how many people know about it?

 


I tried “googling” that name, but did not get any “hits” for this new Eventbrite website! I got the address from my Brent Libraries contacts, so before I go any further, let me pass it on to you:

 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/brent-libraries-arts-and-heritage-73407690863

 

You can now pick up a leaflet in your local Brent Library, setting out all the events on offer this Spring. However, it says it the orange sun at the top of the cover picture: ‘Advanced bookings required for most events.’ Those bookings have to be made on Eventbrite, and the leaflet does not give the website address that I’ve just given you above. It does provide a QR code, but if, like me, you are not yet able to use such things, that is little help.

 

It is a “What’s On” booklet, with the brent.gov.uk/whatson website address printed on the front cover, so surely you can get details of all the Brent Libraries events from that online source, can’t you? That site currently lists 212 events, but:

 


 

The events in the Brent Libraries, Arts and Heritage booklet are not on the Council’s main What’s On listings, but they must be in the Events section of the “Libraries” pages on the website, mustn’t they? After all, this is headed: 

 

Library Events - We have lots happening across all our libraries, from regular kids events to family learning. Find out what is happening near you.’ 

 

I’m afraid you would be disappointed, because all that appear there are the current (“Exploring grief and loss through art”) and next two exhibitions at The Gallery at Willesden Green.

 

Brent Libraries, Arts and Heritage management and Brent Communications really must sort out this lack of effective online publicity for the programme of free events at Brent Libraries! I know that a lot of effort, by Library Development Officers and others, has gone into providing this programme. It is unfair on the local community, as well as on those Libraries, Arts and Heritage staff members, if hundreds of people who could benefit from these events miss out on them because of the current lack of online information.

 

As well as giving the Eventbrite website address (see link above) I will mention a few events coming up soon which may be of interest to “Wembley Matters” readers.

 


Five Little Ducks story and craft workshop at Wembley Library

 

There are regular weekly Booktrust Story and Rhyme Time sessions for under 5s at all six Brent Libraries, but this coming Saturday and Sunday there is also a number of special events for National Storytelling Week at Wembley and Willesden Green Libraries.

 

Veganuary event at Kingsbury Library on 30 January

 

Next week’s coffee morning event at Kingsbury Library (Tuesday 30 January, 11.15am) is “Veganuary: Trust your gut!”, making healthy snacks with chef Nishma, of the award-winning vegan food business, Shambhu's.

 

Ealing Road Library hosts a regular STEM CLUB, providing science, technology, engineering and mathematics workshops for children aged 8-11. The same venue also provides Family Film Club events during half-term and school holidays – the next one is on 15 February, when “The Little Mermaid” is featured.

 

An author talk at Ealing Road Library on 12 March

 

Ealing Road Library also has a coffee morning event on Tuesday 12 March at 11am, where you can meet Brent-based author, Manoj Kerai, and find out what inspired him to write his novel, “The Burning Bride”. Kilburn Library has regular coffee morning events as well, the next one is on Wednesday 7 February, as does Harlesden Library, with its next coffee morning on Tuesday 20 February.

 

I hope this has inspired you to find out, from the Brent Libraries, Arts and Heritage Eventbrite site, what free events YOU can enjoy at Brent Libraries over the next few months. 

 


Philip Grant

 

P.S. I did mention my next free local history talk, at a Kingsbury Library coffee morning on Tuesday 26 March at 11am, didn’t I?

Tuesday 26 January 2021

Wembley Stadium bids to hold 9 additional up to 100k capacity non-sports events annually - comments close tomorrow

 

I missed out on a consultation about Wembley Stadium's bid to host more full capacity events at Wembley Stadium because leaflets were not circulated in our area despite the estate being affected greatly by such events, including the curtailing of the 206 bus on event days. The leaflets appear to have been delivered on Christmas Eve.

The consultation closes tomorrow. Follow this LINK to comment.

So far there have been only 18 comments on the Brent Council Planning Portal. Most are against citing the impact of traffic congestion, lack of infrastructure, residents effectively imprisoned at home on event days, almost one major event a week and behaviour of fans. There are also references to the lessons of the Pandemic regarding contagion amongst large, densely packed crowds.

The applicant states LINK :

The amendment to Condition 1 of planning permission LPA ref: 18/4307 would allow the use the Stadium, on a permanent basis, for up to 9 additional non-sporting events. These would be in addition to the 22 full capacity sporting events and 15 non-sporting events currently allowed per calendar year.

The major sporting events would be at full capacity. For non-sporting events, it is expected that capacity would be circa. 77,000 spectators for 15 major non-sporting events and circa. 100,000 spectators for 9 major non-sporting events. These estimates reflect the different capacities which can be achieved within the stadium with different configurations and the expected variation in demand generated by different artists.

Condition 1 also allows up to three additional sporting events in any calendar year provided that for each additional sporting event there is a reduction of two non-sporting events in the same year. The effect of this ‘swap provision’ is that 25 major sporting events could take place at the stadium within the scope of the current planning permission, provided the number of major non-sporting major events reduced to 9. It is proposed that this swap provision would remain to allow up to 25 major sporting events if the number of major non-sporting events decreased to 18 with the ‘one-for-two’ mechanism set out.

Given Wembley Stadium is unrestricted in terms of the number of events for up to circa 51,000 spectators, the effect of the proposal is, in practice, to allow up to an additional 49,000 for the 9 additional non-sporting events (concerts). Not all events would be expected to be fully attended to these levels, but to ensure a robust assessment the planning analysis and environmental impact assessment (EIA) assume full attendance at all additional events.

The applicants make it clear that the main reasons for the proposed increase are economic based on market competition:

As is the case for a number of businesses across the country, WNSL and the FA have been heavily impacted both operationally and commercially by the COVID pandemic. The Stadium was scheduled to host 30 events (including the Euro 2020 finals) in 2020, with an estimated attendance of over 2 million spectators. Only 1 of these events was actually held with spectators in attendance with a further 15 events held behind closed doors. The impact of these forced cancellations manifested itself immediately in the form of an estimated loss of circa. £300m and 124 redundancies.

  It is hoped that by the Spring/Summer of 2021 the Stadium will be able to return to hosting events with a proportion of visitors being in attendance. However, WNSL are working on the basis that a full calendar of “normal” events will most likely only be possible from 2022 onwards and as such want to ensure the Stadium can host the right number and mix of events to support a commercial recovery from the impacts of COVID by both the Stadium and the wider Brent community.

The focus of this future recovery programme is ensuring that the Stadium remains an iconic multi-use venue in London, the United Kingdom and across the world and continues to showcase Brent to this audience. The emergence of Twickenham, the Olympic Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as large outdoor venues with the ability to host a range of events has created a more crowded marketplace in which Wembley must compete. In order to do so the Stadium needs the flexibility to respond to the changing commercial booking process for music events. This sees artists looking to book “runs” of events in a block to provide flexibility for (additional) events dates in order to fit into large tour schedules.

The current restriction on music events at the Stadium makes it difficult to provide this level of flexibility and limits the ability of the Stadium to compete against other venues that operate with fewer restrictions and have much greater freedom. It is within this context that the proposed change to the event cap detailed below are being sought

Meanwhile I have been sent this news which seems rather optimistic:

This season’s Carabao Cup Final between Spurs and Manchester City has been rescheduled and will now take place on Sunday 25 April 2021, with a 4pm kick-off. 
 
It is the objective of the League to stage the Final with as many supporters in attendance as possible and the decision has therefore been taken to move the Final from its original date of Sunday 28 February 2021 to later in the year.
 
The number of fans permitted will be dependent on Government guidance in place at the time and it is hoped that moving the date to later in the year will give Clubs and their fans the best opportunity to attend in person. 

 

Wednesday 27 September 2017

Local Democracy Week events in Brent




From Anne Kittappa, Brent Local Democracy Week

This year, Local Democracy Week begins on Monday 09 October. The events that I think you might be particularly interested in are:

All About Brent Question Time
Wednesday 11 October, 7-9pm, Brent Civic Centre
This annual event follows the BBC Question Time format. Jonathan Carr-West from the Local Government Information Unit will return to chair. The panel will be comprised of:
·         The Leader of the Council 

·         Leader of the opposition
·         Dean Simon, a social media personality known as Rants n Bants and local resident
·         Yasmin Hai – Author, producer, and former resident with a strong local connection

If you would like to submit a question for this event, please email Localdemocracyweek@brent.gov.uk, or call me on 020 8937 6060, or tweet @Brent_Council using #qtbrent

 
Or contact me directly.

Scrutiny Cafés

We are holding three cafes, one for each committee, to talk about topics which the scrutiny committees are going to look at in detail this year. Come and join us for a cup of tea and a chat.

Housing
Topics: rent setting for council housing, housing associations quality of service, reviewing how housing complaints are handled, and applying new rules on tackling homelessness.
Date: Wednesday 11 October
When: 3-5pm
Where: Willesden Green Library
Who: Cllr Janice Long

Community Wellbeing:
Topics: adult social care, children’s services, public health, cultural services and the work of the NHS in Brent
Date: Tuesday 10 October
When: 11-1pm
Where: Costa Coffee, Wembley Central Square
Who: Cllr Ketan Sheth

Public Realm and Resources:
Topics: Regeneration in South Kilburn and Wembley, welfare and benefits, what it’s like to contact and deal with the council, the council budget, recycling rates in Brent, employment support and closure of job centres in Kilburn and Willesden, crime and antisocial behaviour, and how the council engages with residents.
Date: Monday 09 October
When: 10-12noon
Where: St Laurence Larder - Christ Church, Christchurch Avenue, NW6 7BG
Who: Cllr Matt Kelcher

If you would like to book a place, please contact me by email, Localdemocracyweek@brent.gov.uk, or call me on 020 8937 6060

Other events taking place throughout the week, include, Be a Councillor event, the Great Youth debate, Councillors visits to schools, video poetry, and Brent Youth Parliament radio station takeover. For more information about these events, please visit our website, https://www.brent.gov.uk/ldw or email or call me.

Be a Councillor

Saturday 14 October 2017, 10:00am Brent Civic Centre
Are you passionate about your local area? Are there local issues that you feel need to be raised and addressed by the council? Why not consider becoming a councillor?

Most councillors are put forward for election by their political parties, but independent candidates are also just as eligible to stand for election to represent their local area.

This session is for anyone who may consider standing in the May 2018 council elections to find out what you need to do to get your name on the ballot paper, what being a councillor involves and what support is in place to help you carry out your duties once elected.

Book your place today!

 

Monday 20 March 2017

Brent Council apologises for misinformation on Wembley Stadium planning application

I posted a story on Saturday about the incompetence surrounding the management of the Spurs/Wembley Stadium planning planning application to increase the number of events and increase the crowd capacity at the Stadium LINK 

Some residents who had made submissions on the application received the following email from Brent Regeneration and Growth.
You will recently have received two separate pieces of information about the planning application submitted by Wembley National Stadium Limited to vary the cap which restricts the number of major events held at Wembley Stadium. We wrote to you because you commented on the application, and we now want to let you know about the next steps in the process.  
The first communication, sent on 16th March 2017 by either email or letter was a repeat of an earlier consultation letter giving you 21 days to comment, rather than the committee notification letter. I do apologise for this and would like to reiterate that the consultation period has now closed – please disregard this communication.  
 The second communication stated that the Planning Committee will meet to consider the application on Thursday 23rd March 2017 is correct, however, the meeting will COMMENCE AT 6.30pm – not the usual Committee starting time of 7pm, as stated as the default time, in the communication sent on 17th March 2017.  
Please treat this as the correct information:  
That the above application 17/0368 will be heard at Planning Committee on Thursday 23rd March 2017 and the meeting will start at 18:30 / 6:30pm at Brent Civic Centre.

Please accept our apologies for any confusion this may have caused.
This still leaves the problem of the frequency of occasions when the Brent Planning Portal was down and the erroneous classification of Objections to the planning application as 'Neutral' to be addressed.

Thursday 2 March 2017

Barn Hill Residents comprehensively oppose Wembley Stadium planning application

This is the submission made by the Chair of Barn Hill Residents Association (BHRA) to the Planning Department on the Spurs bid  to hold more events and lift the capacity cap at Wembley Stadium:

Planning Application ref: 17/0368
Wembley Stadium

We wish to make the following comments on this Application:

Proposed variation of Condition 3

Condition 3 of the original Wembley Stadium Planning Consent has not yet been fully complied with.  This Condition restricts the number of full capacity events at the Stadium until various transport improvements have been put in place. These include the upgrade of one section of road within the Wembley Industrial Estate which requires the purchase of a significant amount of land. This purchase has not yet taken place, despite Wembley Stadium having given Brent Council millions of pounds to facilitate these works.

We believe that until such time as these works are completed in their entirety, this Application should be refused.

It is not at all clear why the Stadium feels the need to increase the number of full capacity Event Days. There is no restriction on the number of events using only the lower and middle tiers of the Stadium which can accommodate up to a total of 51,000 spectators. 

The pretext for increasing the number of Event Days is that Tottenham Hotspur will be using the Stadium from 1st August 2017 until 31st July 2018 while their own stadium is being rebuilt.

However, Tottenham’s current average home attendance of 36,824 falls well short of the capacity figure of 51,000 for normal Event Days. The 31 additional planned events could therefore go ahead without any variation to the existing planning consent.

Although this proposal purports to be a temporary arrangement to accommodate Tottenham, we strongly suspect that, if approved, it would pave the way for Chelsea Football Club to use the

Stadium for a further three years while their stadium is also being rebuilt.

Proposed removal of Condition 33

We do not agree with the lifting of this Condition as we believe that many fans of Tottenham will travel to Wembley via the North Circular Road despite it already being heavily used and subject to constant traffic jams.

Other issues

We believe that Brent Council is not fully taking into account the detrimental impact that approving this Application would have on the local environment and residents. Even without any increase in the frequency of matches and the numbers of spectators, it is evident that Police resources are totally inadequate when it comes to enforcing the law on match days. 

In flagrant disregard of the regulations in the local Controlled Drinking Zone, there is widespread and excessive consumption of alcohol in the streets, especially when large numbers of fans are turned out of the local hostelries one hour before kick-off, while Police officers look on, apparently powerless to act.

This inevitably leads to the public nuisance of widespread urination not just in the streets but also in residents’ gardens, or even behind the Civic Centre.

The other unwelcome by-product of match days is the sea of litter left behind in the streets.  Fans discard food packaging with impunity, an offence which in other circumstances might attract a fine of £80. Sadly, Veolia (Brent Council’s contractor) are failing to maintain their previous standards of rubbish collection.   

This is to say nothing of the massive disruption suffered by local residents in many other ways on Event Days, what with overcrowded buses and trains making normal travel by public transport very difficult, and parking restrictions inconveniencing family and social events in residents’ own homes. 

Any increase in Event Days would seriously impact the right of residents to the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their properties.  In addition, other local activities would increasingly have to be curtailed at short notice, with venues such as church halls suffering a serious loss of income.

I believe that, before attracting ever larger crowds to Wembley on match days, measures should be taken to alleviate existing problems, whether that involves a large increase in Police resources or perhaps the Council reviewing the licences of local pubs.

Local residents suspect that designating many more match days as full Event Days when this is not warranted by the likely numbers attending, is a kind of 'Trojan Horse' strategy to increase the full Event Days to 68 on a long-term basis, to continue long after Chelsea and Tottenham have returned to their rebuilt stadiums.
If, as we have been told, the local Police already have insufficient resources to enforce the widely-flouted ban on drinking in the streets around the Stadium, what hope is there that they would be able to cope with extra Event Days?

Even if there were to be no increase in Event Days, we strongly believe that extra Policing is essential and suggest that the costs should be borne jointly by Wembley Stadium and the clubs involved.

For the reasons given above, we strongly object to this Application.

Tuesday 28 February 2017

Dodgy goings on with Spurs application to increase events & capacity at Wembley Stadium?

Residents have been in contact about two aspects of the on-line consulation on removal of the cap on the number of events held at Wembley Stadium and more full capacity events LINK.

The first is the fact that on at least two occasions the link has been unavailable clearly affecting the public's ability to comment.

The second is puzzlement that submissions by the public that clearly object to the proposal are classifed as 'Neutral' - see below:

Please see comments below one of which suggest that if you do not choose Support, Object, or Neutral when submitting a comment online the system defaults to Neutral to the Neutral category. If this has happened to your comment it might be worth contacting the Planning Officer to state your position.

4 Park Lane, Wembley, HA9 7RZ (Neutral)

I strongly object to the proposals. It would add to the traffic gridlocks, sometimes hooting of horns late in the evening - not to mention increased air pollution! And difficulty using public transport. Also, residents having the nuisance of having to plan theirs lives around the events. The behaviour of hooligans is also unbearable - I came home once to find a brick had been thrown through my bathroom window! A small tree got broken in half once on an event day - and then there is urinating everywhere. And parking becomes impossible of corse. - As the stadium is a national stadium it should not be used for anything else. - I therefore strongly object to the variation of condition 3 and the removal of condition 33 of 17/0368.

8 Village Mews, London, NW9 8SZ (Neutral)

I strongly object to this and don't think residents have been taken into consideration here.

Roads are already highly congested and Brent should be thinking about minimizing this instead of making matters worse. Whether I drive or take public transport on an event day my journey time is doubled sometimes tripled. I am unable therefore to travel within the local vicinity on event days.

Looking at other comments it is clear there is strong opposition, so it is hoped you take these concerns into consideration and think again of the impact this will have to residents, roads, traffic and the environment.

15 Hillside Drive, Edgware, HA8 7PF (Neutral)

We live and work very near to Stanmore and Cannons Park Underground Station, the A41 and the M1 Edgware exit. Whenever there is any event on at Wembley Stadium, the whole area grinds to a halt. The roads become impassable and journeys around this area almost impossible. There is just not enough space for the amount of cars on the road to travel or the availability of parking places. Together with the noise and nuisance levels of hundreds of various football or rugby fans, the request for additional events is unacceptable for the residents living anywhere near Stanmore or Cannons Park Underground stations or the M1/A41 or A1. If there are visiting fans from the North of England, then the additional traffic on the M1 turns the area to one large car park - absolutely nothing moves and a 10 minute journey can turn into an hour.

We already have to contend with additional traffic and congestion when there are any events on at Allianz Park in Copthall Stadium Mill Hill and any events at The Hive in Edgware.

Therefore we strongly object to any additional usage of Wembley Stadium and to any football club having their games held there or having a residency there.

68 Beverley Gardens, Wembley, HA9 9RA (Neutral)

'Condition 3' was put in place for a reason - to prevent local residents from suffering the great disruption and inconveniences caused to local residents when up to 91,000 people descend on Wembley Stadium. Yet it is now proposed that an extra 31 such events are allowed to take place. And not just any events, but football matches, with their supporters, some of whom have a tendency towards rowdiness, drunkenness and anti-social behaviour.

WNSL has tried to say that it will try to mitigate any problems by 'working closely' with TfL and the Met Police etc. But with a large football crowd those problems can only be 'managed' not removed completely. On match days, residents will still have problems getting home (or leaving it) by train or car, problems picking up their children from school, problems accessing the Civic Centre, or be unable to have friends round.

I therefore object to this application. At the very least, THFC matches should be restricted to 50,000 seats. After all, their existing stadium only accommodates 36,800 and their new one will only be a 61,000 seater.

I also feel that by allowing this application for THFC to use the Stadium, a precedent will have been set that will allow future applications to be 'nodded through'.

49 Linden Avenue, Wembley, HA9 8BB (Neutral)

I feel that the application is not pragmatic to the overall functions of Wembley. I believe that the current situation is bad enough and does not need to be exacerbated any further. There is enough congestion in Wembley on event days. We as residents of Wembley do not feel any benefit from the stadium events. We feel that we are made to surrender our parking spaces to people who do not live in Wembley. We cannot have visitors around because of the congestion. Life in Wembley is already bordering on depressing. Please do not make it worse. I strongly object!

99 Grasmere Avenue, Wembley, HA9 8TG (Neutral)

This area is already very busy and too much traffic.

I object.

DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS THURSDAY MARCH 2ND

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Spurs planning application for Wembley Stadium now open for comments

Click on image to enlarge
The application to increase the number of event days at Wembley Stadium and to increase the number of full capacity events has now been published on the Brent Council website.  Full documentation can be accessed and comments made. LINK

I was interested in the fact (see image above) that no local residents in the neighbourhood, nor residents' associations or other organisations, schools etc have been directly written to with a 'unique letter' about the plans.  Consultation with them seems to be limited to a presentation at Wembley Connects, a poorly advertised and attended event at Chalkhill Community Centre on Monday, and an advertisement in the Kilburn Times.

The proposal in summary is:

[Previously] the number of major sporting events held at the stadium in any one year was restricted to no more than 22 (to exclude European Cup and World Cup events where England/UK is the host nation), and the number of major non-sporting events to 15. After this, additional events over and above this were permitted subject to the number of spectators being limited to the capacity of the lower and middle tiers of the stadium.

The proposal would allow for up to an additional 31 major sporting Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) events between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018. A major event (which may or may not include THFC) would be considered to be an event in the stadium bowl with a capacity in excess of 10,000 people.
Spurs set out their responses to concerns about the application in their 'Statement of Community Engagement' which addresses issues such as urinating in public, obscene and racist chants, congestion, pay back for residents. I have embedded it below for ease of reference. In particular see pages 5-9. The current 'standard' expiry date for consultation is February 23rd 2017.



There is an ongoing discussion about the application on the Streetlife website LINK



Sunday 29 January 2017

Wembley residents need to get down to Chalkhill on Monday re Spurs proposals on stadium events increase


Councillors have received little notice of this meeting and the public even less.



The proposals will make a big impact on Wembley as Jaine Lunn outlines below.




Wembley resident Jaine Lunn has not been impressed by the proposals.  This is the comment she made on my earlier blog about the meeting:

Meanwhile back in the real world. Local residents will be treated to more disruption to there daily routines as once or maybe even twice a week, 75,000 people visit Wembley Stadium (an international destination renowned the world over).

To the soundtrack of Spurs fans chanting the attributes of Harry Kane, whilst traipsing along the high road, swigging cans of beer, decorating every road within a 1,000 metres of the stadium with litter, overflowing waste bins, using every conceivable nook and cranny as a public urinal. Bumping along the pot holed roads, rattling sinking drains and the mangled manhole covers. Jostling for space amongst the HGV's and Skip Lorries removing rubbish and delivering plant works and materials to all the new developments in process of being demolished or built, of which Brent House, Chesterfield House, and Curtis Lane just to mention a few. Adding to the already daily occurence of gridlocked Wembley, where is takes more than half an hour to drive several hundred metres at peak times.

All the while ensuring the already overcrowded Public Transport system is bursting at the seams, TFL and the Mayor failing miserably in delivering their promises of more buses, less pollution, better air quality. Oh the anticpation of what's to come, I can't wait, but I won't be the only one standing in the queue for the soap box telling you "I told you so". However there will be some winners to this scenario, look at all the overtime Veolia and the Police will be entitled to. Not to mention all the people who work in the Fast Food outlets along the high road, pubs, and security personnel required to keep the peace!

Roll on 2017 a very happy New Year to one and all.

Thursday 26 January 2017

More events and larger capacity at Wembley? Exhibition Monday at Chalkhill Community Centre

From Wembley National Stadium Limited


As part of its preparations for the 2017/18 season, Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL) has submitted a planning application to temporarily increase the number of full capacity events at Wembley Stadium.

The application seeks to establish a temporary cap to accommodate up to an additional 31 THFC sporting events at Wembley Stadium between 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018 where the available spectator capacity is increased from 51,000 to up to 90,000.

This would allow up to 36 full capacity THFC home games may be played at Wembley during the season with 5 of these accommodated under the existing event cap. In practice however, the number of games is dependent on progress within knockout competitions and whether fixtures are drawn to be played at home or away. In reality, based on recent averages, the total number of home games likely to be hosted at Wembley Stadium is expected to be in the region of 30.

The application also seeks the associated removal of a limit on temporary traffic management events (Condition 33), to enable effective event day travel planning;

Summary Planning Document:

 

 
The application has been submitted to Brent Council where it is to be assessed on its own merits against the prevailing planning policy.

The FA and WNSL are responsible for ensuring that local residents and the wider community are a key consideration in the organisation of any events that take place at the stadium. A consultation process is underway and further discussions will be held prior to the determination of the application.
Local residents and businesses are invited to attend an exhibition at Chalkhill Community Centre on Monday 30 January 2pm until 9pm to learn more about the planning application and what it entails.

Wednesday 28 December 2016

FA bids to increase the number of full-capacity events at Wembley Stadium


High rise developments around Wembley Stadium today
The Football Association is bidding to increase the number of full-capacity events at Wembley Stadium.  At present the cap is 20 per year and the FA wants to increase this by 20 to 57 per year - more than one a week.

The FA will be making a presentation at the next Brent Connects Wembley as part of the consultation process.  They have left little time for a public response as Brent Council expect the formal application to be made around January 20th 2017. There will be just 30 minutes allocated to the presentation by the FA and questions from the public.

Meanwhile little further has been heard about the FA's opposition to Quintain's  housing developments close to the stadium which they felt pose a danger to fans. LINK

Other weighty issues will also be on the agenda for the meeting including consultation on the 2017-17 council budget and  on how the Community Infrastructure Levy (CiL) should be spent.  The CiL is the contribution made by developers towards improvements in local infrastructure (roads, nurseries. schools, health facilities etc) and is subject to some controversy.  Some feel it should be spent in the immediate area of developments like South Kilburn, Wembley and Alperton while others feel its benefits should be distributed across the borough. Negotiations over the amount of CiL between the Council and developers are an issue that could benefit from deeper scrutiny.

Brent Connects is 7pm-9pm  on Wednesday January 11th at Patidar House, 22 London Road, off Wembley High Road, HA9 7EX


Click on image to enlarge