Showing posts with label old Willesden library. Show all posts
Showing posts with label old Willesden library. Show all posts

Thursday 26 July 2012

GLA planners torpedoed Old Willesden Library demolition application


GLA planners, advising the Mayor,  have acted before the bulldozers move in, at least as regards the Old Willesden Library.

It can now be revealed that Strategic Planners at the GLA  met with the Galliford Try application team twice during the 6 week consultation period during which the they considered whether the Willesden Green Redevelopment application  complied with the London Plan Policy.

According to Gemma Kendall, Case Officer,  in the meetings before the July 4th deadline, the planning officers:
...expressed serious concerns that the proposed scheme would not comply with the London Plan Policy 7.8 and 7.9 regarding heritage assets and heritage-led regeneration. The applicant subsequently chose to withdraw the application before it was reported to the Mayor on 4th July 2012.
Galliford Try, in what appeared to be a surprise move, withdrew their planning application for the Willesden Green Cultural Centre on July 4th.

It now appears that the combination of unprecedented local campaigning, massive public rejection of the plans,  the views of the GLA planning team and not least the Town Square application combined to force withdrawal.

Meanwhile, appearing to have learnt little, the application team have arranged a consultation day on the revised application in the middle of the August holidays!






Saturday 23 June 2012

Navin Shah opposes Brent Labour's library demolition


Last month Navin Shah, Labour London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow wrote to Andy Bates, the planning officer for the Galliford Try planning application, regarding the demolition of the old Willesden library building.. This is what he wrote:

Dear Mr. Bates,

Application for Conservation Area Consent for the demolition of the old library building. Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, London NW10 2SF

I am writing to you about the conservation area consent application for the proposed demolition of Willesden Green Library. I strongly object to the proposal for demolition on the following grounds.

As the London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow I have been contacted by a number of residents in Brent who are extremely dismayed at the proposals to demolish the library. I fully share their dismay as I feel that this is a historically important building of local interest and importance which should be preserved.

As an architect by profession with special interest in listed buildings of architectural and heritage value I feel preserving Willesden Green Library is extremely important. The old building of ‘Arts and Crafts’ design contributes greatly to character of the area and should be celebrated as an iconic building, rather than be demolished.

This library building is a social and cultural tool and knocking it down would destroy the historical and architectural contribution it makes to the Borough of Brent and its special significance to the character of the area. This is a much loved building making positive contribution to the surrounding areas which is recognised by its local listing by Brent council and local people love it, as do I. So why destroy local heritage?

I’m not against the principle of regeneration for the site but there are other options available to the Council without destroying this cute little local landmark. Once a building of this character is destroyed, you will never get it back. I urge the members of planning committee to save Brent’s heritage by refusing the consent for demolition

Friday 11 May 2012

Three weeks to save Willesden Green. Meet May 15th


Old Willesden Library demolition proposals published


The proposed development
Most of the planning documents for the proposed Willesden Cultural Centre are now available on the Brent Council website.  They are numerous and will need careful study. There is a main planning application for the demolition of the Victorian Library, 1980s Library, bookshop etc and the building of 92 flats and the Cultural Centre and an application relating to the Conservation Area. Most of the documentation is replicated on both sites.

Main Planning Application HERE

Conservation Area Application HERE

The future of the Old Willesden Library is of particular interest to many and the Heritage Statement is available below.

One key section states:
The loss of the Old Library is to some extent mitigated through ‘preservation by record’ and the undertaking of the historic buildings survey to English Heritage Level II standards, and which has been used in this report to understand the building’s significance. Should consent be granted for this or future schemes affecting historic fabric, it is recommended that additional recording be undertaken during demolition in order to supplement this report with further details of the building’s history.


It is also recommended that specific elements of the architectural fabric are retained, and where possible, reused within the new building as architectural details, art installations and/or exhibits within the museum space. While it is recognised that the scheme represents the total loss of the Old Library, the retention of certain elements would evoke the cultural memory of the building and help preserve the historic narrative of development on the site. Those pieces that should be considered for retention are as follows, though further elements may be revealed during the demolition process:


· Shell-hood above the former entrance way on the north elevation;


· Parge work on the north elevations and around the tower;


· Plaque commemorating the building on north elevation; and


· Weather-vane on summit of the tower


The remaining historic fabric and fixtures such as window frames should be considered for salvage, and where suitable, deposited in a suitable store such as the Charles Brooking Collection currently housed in Surrey.


Sunday 1 April 2012

Navin Shah backs retention of Old Willesden Library

Close behind Ken Livingstone's distancing from Brent Labour's library closures the Labour AM for Brent and Harrow, Navin Shah, has told a constituent that he favours the retention of the Old Willesden Library on local heritage grounds:
With regards to Willesden Green Library, as an architect by trade I feel preserving Willesden Green Library is extremely important. In Harrow, I have fought long campaigns to keep locally listed buildings and am on the board of Harrow Heritage Trust, which take matters such as these extremely seriously. I want to keep Willesden Green Library building and am actively pursuing this issue.
Shah's full statement can be read on the Keep Willesden Green blog HERE


Wednesday 28 March 2012

Ann John to meet with Keep Willesden Green campaigners

The Keep Willesden Green campaign, which has been very successful in gaining broad public support over its opposition to the Willesden Green Redevelopment has arranged a meeting with Cllr Ann John, leader of Brent Council on Wednesday April 4th. The campaign will be represented by members of its committee.

Campaigners are opposed to the loss of the Old Willesden Green Library building and the loss of the open space in front of the current library, want to see the Willesden Bookshop relocated in the proposed Cultural Centre and most importantly want the Council to call a halt to the development while a full consultation, involving the full participation of local people, takes place.

Friday 9 March 2012

Big push on Willesden Green tomorrow

The Keep Willesden Green campaign has had excellent coverage in the Brent and Kilburn Times this week. They will be out in force tomorrow for the Brent Council-Galliford Try Exhibition at Willesden Green Library.

Campaigners are pushing to get 5,000 signatures on the petition to save the historic Old Willesden Library building from demolition. Reaching 5,000 will mean that the issue has to be discussed at full council. E-petiton is HERE and the paper version will be outside the Library tomorrow morning and lunchtime.

The main issues are summarised in the video below:

Thursday 1 March 2012

Tell Willesden Green developers what you think on March 9th and 10th

Shop/house window poster

Keep Willesden Green is producing these posters for display in shop and house windows to get the message about the redevelopment out as widely as possible.

You can download your own A4 version as a PDF HERE

Keep Willesden Green are pressing the Council/Galliford Try to STOP, LISTEN  AND REFLECT to enable residents to say what they think of the proposals and what they want for their community. It is important that this message gets to them on the Exhibition/Feedback days to be held at the Willesden Green Library Centre on Martch 9th and 10th.

Keep Willesden Green do not accept that this development is a 'done deal'.

Friday 24 February 2012

Willesden Green Campaign gathers support

More than 30 people volunteered for Save Willesden Green's committee last night and quickly got down to the work of organising different aspects of the campaign. They aim to stop the development to give time for local people to have a say in the proposals, and time for the Council to reconsider their plans.

Only 12 people were involved in initial consultations and there are only 30 spaces available in Galliford Try's two consultations days on February 28th and 29th.

Anger is building at what residents see as a private 'done deal' between the Council and developers and committee volunteers included a broad range of local people including shop keepers, parents, teachers and residents.

Petitions to save the old Victorian Willesden Library from demolition and to relocate the Willesden Bookshop in the proposed Cultural Centre each look likely to gains more than 1,000 signatures. A leaflet has been produced outlining the issues and is being distributed widely, aided by more than £350 which was collected in a whip round last night.

The vast majority of people taking part have not been involved politically before but have been galvanised by what they see as their exclusion from major decisions about their neighbourhood.

Sunday 19 February 2012

Willesden Green residents rise in defence of bookshop and Victorian library



Many thanks to BNCTV


BNCTV made this recording of the inaugural meeting of the 'Keep Willesden Green' campaign that was held earlier this week. The letter I read out near the beginning is from Labour councillor Claudia Hector. Liberal Democratic councillor Barry Cheese defends the plans that will demolish the Victorian Building and leave the Willesden Bookshop without premises.

Friday 17 February 2012

Community rallies to Willesden Green cause

The proposed Cultural Centre building from Brondesbury Park
 The Keep Willesden Green Campaign held a well attended inaugural meeting yesterday evening which I chaired.  After a lively meeting many residents came forward to sign up for the campaign's committee and to join working groups on various aspects of the development.

It was great to see the community coming together in such a positive way.

 In a clear challenge to the Council's plans an application has been made to English Heritage to make the old Willesden Library a listed building.

A full report and more images of the proposed development are available on the Keep Willesden Green blog HERE

Keep Willesden Green can be contacted at keepwillesdengreen@hotmail.co.uk

Friday 10 February 2012

Willesden Green campaigners get organised

KEEP WILLESDEN GREEN

 Please join us to discuss the development of the
WILLESDEN GREEN LIBRARY
and the impact the proposals may have on Willesden Green
FEBRUARY 16TH 2012 7pm
KINGS HALL, 155 Harlesden Road, Willesden Green, NW10 2BS 
 
Residents have organised a meeting to discuss the Willesden Green Library development proposals and the impact on the Willesden Green area for Thursday of next week (details above)

Details of some of the issues involved can be found on the Keep Willesden Green website LINK but among the issues are:
  • Lack of consultation over the original proposals and the 'offer' to be made in the proposed Cultural Centre
  • The handing over to developers of council land to finance the development with all profits from housing going to the developer
  • The Council-Private Partnership which leaves a lot of decision making to the developer
  • The developer's apparent decision that retail in the Centre would not be viable (despite provision for a cafe when there are many available in the vicinity)
  • The subsequent loss of premises to the much valued Willesden Bookshop
  • The developer's advice that the historic old  locally listed 1894 Willesden Library could not be accommodated in the new plans
  • The subsequent loss of  a base for the Brent Irish Advisory Service
  • The apparent lack of public meeting rooms in the new Centre when the current rooms have been well-used and are essential to local democracy
  • The adequacy of the council's alternative arrangements during the 18month-2 year building period and proposals to reopen some of the closed libraries instead
  • Loss of the open space in front of the library
  • Lack of parking spaces for disabled visitors
Meanwhile ePetitions are gathering support on the council website and paper versions are also gaining support.

The ePetition calling on the council to allocate space for the Willesden Bookshop currently has 417 signatures and can be accessed HERE 

The ePetition calling for the retention of the Old Willesden Librray building currently has 474 signatories and can be accessed HERE


Thursday 2 February 2012

Confused councillors cause chaos at Call In

Tonight's Call In Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the Willesden Regeneration Project descended into chaos tonight when inattentive Labour members apparently missed a vote and enabled a motion supported by two Lib Dems on the committee to be passed. Labour councillors tried to get the vote taken again when they  realised that it put in jeopardy plans to sign the Development Agreement with Galliford Try tomorrow. They tried to argue that the chair, Cllr Ashraf had been unclear when he called for votes for and against, but legal officers ruled that Ashraf had been clear.

As the councillors floundered noisily, asking each other what was happening, the public at first made fun of them and then called for the whole lot to resign.

The motion called on the Executive to reconsider their interim service plan for the period of the Willesden Green redevelopment to include the possibility of using existing closed library buildings in order to provide a comprehensive and financially viable library service.

Legal officers present appeared to say that the effect of this was to postpone any signing of an agreement until the Executive had considered the motion from Scrutiny. This will put back the timetable for the regeneration which is already running behind schedule.The anticipated signing date was only revealed after the vote.

The next Executive is on February 13th and will already have a full agenda which includes the budget. Although the Executive routinely votes down referrals from Scrutiny Committee there will be a further chance for the public to make representations.

Eleven members of the public spoke tonight and any neutral observer would be likely to agree that they spoke better, were more attentive, and made more sense than many of the councillors.

Much of what they had to say was concerned with the poor consultation over the plans.  It emerged that the 'stakeholder consultation' consisted of two evening focus group meetings attended by 5 and 7 people respectively who were unrepresentative of Brent's population. Several complained that there had been no mention of the Willesden Green closure when the Library Transformation plans were discussed and users of the closed libraries had been told that Willesden Green was their nearest alternative,

There were pleas from several different library campaigners for the closed down libraries to be reopened to provide an interim service. If Willesden Green had been near enough to be an alternative for their closed library then the reverse must also be true. A Kensal Rise campaigner argued that there was no justification for paying rent on temporary buildings when that purpose built library was available rent free and had enough space for the Brent Archives.

Nicolette McKenzie from Mapesbury Residents  made an impassioned plea for the Willesden Bookshop. She said that most cultural centres have a bookshop.  Although the bookshop was not part of the council's core service it was part of the bigger moral contract between the council and local residents. She said that the council needed to make some compromise and show goodwill towards residents.

Alison Hopkins for Dollis Hill and Neasden residents reminded the council that they had spent £300,000 on refurbishment of Neasden and were paying rent of £55,000 plus security costs on a building that could be put to use. The area was one of high deprivation and badly need the library..

Jacky Baines said that there had been no consultation over the of the old Willesden Library building and called on the council to listen to residents. She said that an epetition had been launched on the council website. (Available HERE)

Simon Hawkins, speaking for Brondesbury residents said that the first they had heard of the proposals was on January 16th. On the  focus groups he said it was wrong that so much was decided by so few. Consultation was now available only when detailed plans existed and decisions were being made by small groups behind closed doors. He said interim arrangements were incoherent and residents needed reassurance that the project was not a housing scheme with a small ill-thought out library space. He asked what justification there was for removing the cinema. Contrasting the success of the Tricycle he said that the Willesden Green Library Centre had been badly managed and needed a manager of real calibre.

Responses from Cllr Crane (leader member for regeneration and major projects) and Andy Donald, the officer concerned, reiterated that the present building was not fit for purpose and would cost too much to refurbish and anyway the council did not have the money. A developer partnership meant that the project was cost neutral with the council gaining the freehold of the new building by handing council land (the library car park and a section of Chambers Lane) over to the developer for housing.

However it emerged during exchanges that it was the developers who had said there should be no retail in the new building and that the locally listed Old Willesden Library could not be incorporated into the design. This brought calls of 'But you are the client!' from the public seats. 

Cllr Lorber asked then what was the point of people wanting to make representations on the old building and the bookshop when it was a 'done deed'. Residents had had no say in matters that clearly concerned them.

Towards the end, Cllr Ann Hunter, who had been getting more and more agitated during Cllr Lorber's contributions, jiggling around on her seat and clapping her hand to her forehead in apparent exasperation, intervened from the public seats. She berated Cllr Lorber for his caricature of a museum outreach service and praised that of the British Museum. As a Willesden Green councillor she had been to a briefing about the building and had some  input. She had seen the indicative design and thought it was wonderful but was not allowed to tell people about it.

In response to challenges over interim arrangements Jenny Isaac said that the facilities were needed in the Willesden Green area because of the 10,000 users there and because of its high levels of deprivation. In addition to Grange Road negotiations ere in progress for another building. She could not give any details until negotiations had been completed but the council would be providing a book stock, study spaces and IT and other activities normally carried out at Willesden Green would continue to take place. She said that the council hoped to match the number of study places during the revision and exam season but there might be a shortfall at other times.  She gave very high costs for the reopening of the closed libraries that were challenged by Cllr Lorber.

Andy Donald said Galliford Try had a detailed public participation strategy and there would be a chance to make representations at the pre-planning stage, when the  project went to planning committee and during implementation of the plans. He said that council officers were having detailed discussions with Brent Irish Advisory service and the Willesden Bookshop over relocation. They were in contact with landlords and there were a number of premises available from the council perspective. The head of property had begun these discussions. Cllr Crane said that it was hoped the plans  would go to Planning Committee in July 2012 with work to start in October 2012 (possibly later after tonight's vote). As a result of this the Willesden Bookshop would be offered an extension on its premises until the council needed vacant possession.