Preston Community Library - Two Poets October 8th and Lady Rose, Justice of the Supreme Court on October 11th

Union Jack Classic at Wembley Stadium Saturday 19th September - road closures from 10am Kick-off 5pm

 

The game kicks off at 5.10pm

General admission to the stadium will be available from 3pm

Road closures from10am 

Parking restrictions 8am to midnight 

 

Morland Gardens – Why no progress? An Open Email to Brent Council

 Guest post by Philip Grant in a personal capacity

 

  

The photograph above, showing the secured entrance to the former Brent Start college at 1 Morland Gardens in Stonebridge, was taken on 30 October 2023, the day the planning consent for the flawed 2020 Brent Council redevelopment proposals for the site expired. In a guest post a month later, “Morland Gardens – now there is a real chance to save the Victorian villa!”, I wrote about the opportunity which the review of future plans for the site, which the Council had just begun, gave for Brent to come forward with much better proposals, learning from their mistakes in the past (which I also referred to in that article). 

 

Now, nearly three years later, the Council has yet to come up with any plans, other than an agreement by Cabinet in 2025 that the site should be redeveloped for affordable housing and youth facilities, both of which are much needed. After years of “reviewing the situation”, they have yet to disclose whether they still intend to seek the demolition of the beautiful and locally listed heritage building on the site (but if they do, “I think they better think it out again!”).

 

To try and get some answers on what is happening, I sent this open email to Brent’s Chief Executive and Head of Capital Projects (and copied to Stonebridge Ward councillors and the Cabinet Lead Member for Regeneration) on 15 September:

 

‘Request for update on plans for 1 Morland Gardens

 

This is an open email

Dear Ms Wright and Mr Martin,

 

It is a year since I presented the Willesden Local History Society petition to Full Council, calling for the heritage Victorian villa "Altamira" to be retained as part of Brent's redevelopment of 1 Morland Gardens. At that meeting, councillors from all three of the then parties on the Council spoke in support of the petition, and I had a positive conversation with the then Lead Member for Regeneration, Cllr. Teo Benea, straight after the meeting.

 

Council Officers started a review of future plans for the former Brent Start site in November 2023. A year later, that review was combined with the wider proposals for Bridge Park and the Hillside Corridor, and a consultation held during which I submitted detailed comments in December 2024, including this draft proposal showing how the heritage building could be retained as part of a youth/community facility, with a pocket park including the Harlesden City Challenge Community Garden outside the site, and still provide room for at least 27 affordable Council homes:

 

 

The Bridge Park report to the July 2026 Cabinet meeting still gave no details of what is proposed for the Morland Gardens site, so the public are still no wiser about the outline of "affordable housing + a youth facility" which was agreed by Cabinet a year earlier, and there is nothing in the Forward Plan to indicate when any further decision on the future of this vacant Council-owned asset will be made.

 

Although you have heard these arguments before, I will summarise them for the benefit of Councillors Blackman and Kelcher.

 

·      Brent's own Local Plan historic environment supporting document says this about the value of heritage assets:

 

 

·      In addition to Willesden Local History Society and many local residents, The Victorian Society also opposed the demolition of "Altamira" when Brent sought permission for that in 2020.

·      A Professor of Architecture, also opposing demolition in 2020, finished his detailed reasons by writing: ' 1 Morland Gardens is not just any nineteenth-century villa, but a characteristic work by an architect of genuine and lasting significance. Its destruction would be a terrible loss, not only to the local environment, but also to the architectural heritage of Victorian Britain.'

·      This beautiful 150 year-old landmark building is one of only two Locally Listed heritage assets in Stonebridge Ward, at the gateway to a small development which saw the birth of, and gave its name to, Stonebridge Park.

 

Council Officers have surely by now decided whether or not to recommend the retention of the Victorian villa as part of the Morland Gardens redevelopment. It is well past time that this decision should be made public, and real progress made on plans to make use of a vacant site which needs to be developed for affordable housing and a youth club. Please let me, and the people of Brent as a whole, know whether the Council proposes to retain "Altamira" as part of that development, or not.

 

If the proposal is to retain the heritage Victorian villa (which was sympathetically restored by the Council in the 1990s, to provide an inspiring home for its adult education college, now known as Brent Start), then please carry out the necessary work to make good the damaged slates around the roof, so that the condition of the building does not deteriorate.

 

I believe that I sent you, in the past, a copy of an article by architectural historian Mark Sabolch, about Italianate-style buildings, of which "Altamira" was an excellent example (and probably the best surviving one in our borough). Mark will be leading a tour in this country for the Historic Houses of Australia Association in May 2027, looking at heritage buildings here which inspired the designs of Australian architects in the 19th and 20th centuries. It would be great if he could include "Altamira" in the London leg of the tour, seeing it at its best, rather than in the state of neglect which the Council has sadly allowed to happen!

 

I look forward to receiving a positive response to this email (which I would ask that you make "reply all", please, so that the Lead Member and Ward councillors are kept informed), rather than another "no decision has been made yet", which is wearing thin after nearly three years since the start of the "urgent review" which was meant to take place. Thank you. Yours sincerely,

 

Philip Grant.’

 

    

“Altamira” in a 1907 Stonebridge Park postcard, and a similar view in 2023.

 

I have received a generic response email from Brent Council to “[My] Service Request”, and will ask Martin to share their “full response” with you once it is received, so that it is available to everyone who may be interested.

I fully believe that this landmark Victorian heritage building is too valuable for the past, present and future of Stonebridge Park to be destroyed through a lack of understanding and care by Brent Council. The sooner they bring it back into community use, and build genuinely affordable Council homes on the land behind it, the better!

 

Philip Grant.

Dress to Remember - Reimagining Dementia Care Thursday 8th October 11.30am-1.30pm Brent Civic Centre

  

The event will feature:

• A short documentary sharing theproject's experiences and findings
• Interactive discussion exploring dementia care and quality of life
• Opportunities to share ideas and ways forward

 

Celebrate another year of Dress to Remember

 

Come and celebrate the people, stories and experiences at the heart of Dress to Remember. This documentary screening and reflective event will provide an opportunity to hear from those directly involved in the project, and reflect on how community, creativity and collaboration can help reimagine dementia care going forward in service provision – seeing the person, not the diagnosis.

 

Working with two of Brent’s community groups, the project has reimagined familiar experiences including yoga, storytelling, fashion, nature walks, museum and cultural visits. These activities have created opportunities for participation, connection and inclusion. At its heart is intergenerational connections, bringing elders and young people together to share stories, experiences and skills, and learn from one another.

 

A Year of Activities and Experiences

 

This special event will showcase some of the 17 workshops and activities delivered since September 2025, highlighting the experiences, conversations and connections created throughout the project.

The journey builds on the first Dress to Remember Discussion Forum, held at Brent Civic Centre in February 2026 and chaired by Dr John Licorish. The forum brought together voices from health, education, the arts and the community to consider dementia, health inequalities and the importance of community partnerships.

 

Since the forum, the project has taken these discussions into the community, putting ideas about inclusion and participation into practice. Through the workshops and activities, we have explored how familiar experiences can be adapted to help people living with dementia take part in ways that are respectful, enjoyable and meaningful. The activities have also helped build relationships between elders, young people, community organisations and professionals, showing how collaboration can turn discussion into action.

 

Documentary Screening

 

The event will also feature the premiere of Dress to Remember: Reimagining Dementia Care, a 20-minute documentary written and produced by Lorna Holder and edited by Katie Leyden, an NTU London Content graduate. The film takes us on a year-long journey alongside elders living with dementia in Brent, capturing moments of creativity, resilience, joy and human connection across a series of workshops. Through their stories and experiences, it challenges perceptions of dementia and reveals the person beyond the diagnosis. A strong intergenerational thread sees young people working both in front of and behind the camera, bringing their energy, curiosity and creativity to the project.

 

The documentary draws on perspectives from health, education, the arts and the community. It features a dramatic performance by Marsha Millar and reflections on memory and identity from Joseph Marcell. The film explores how culture, creativity and community can help reimagine dementia care, while celebrating memory, dignity and belonging.

 

FREE TICKETS 

BRENT FIGHTING BACK - THEN AND NOW Saturday 17th October & Sunday 18th October 2pm-6pm

 

Early notice for what is likely to be a well attended weekend celebrating and learning from struggles that have taken place in Brent in the past and have important lessons for trade unionists today.

  

Saturday 17th October 2-6pm 

The 1926 General Strike in Brent.

Film: The General Strike in Brent The 1926 General Strike in Brent and the role of local trade unions. • Speakers: Mary Davis. Visiting Professor of Labour History, University of London The General Strike in Brent: Chris Coates, former Librarian at the TUC, researcher in local & trade union history • Panel Discussion: Organising unorganised workers • Poets on the Picket Line 

 

Sunday 17th October 2-6pm 

Celebrating and learning from the Grunwick Strike 1976-78

Film: The Great Grunwick Strike Speakers: Professor Sundari Anitha, co-author "Striking Women: Struggles & Strategies of South Asian Women Workers from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet" Dave Ward Gen Sec. Communication Workers Union • Panel Discussion: Issues facing trades unionists today • Music & songs of struggle. 

 

Venue 

Brent Trades Hall (Apollo Club)

375 High Road

London NW10 2JR

 

Just up the High Road from Willesden Bus Depot and served by many bus routes including 260, 266 and 297. Nearest tube Dollis Hill on the Jubilee line. 

 

 

BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE 

Woodfield strikers vote unanimously for a legal challenge to academy bosses

 

Woodfield school strikers early morning picket in Autumn sunshine today

Woodfield Special school strikers, victims of the imposition of  fire and rehire by their academy bosses, showed they were not finished in their battle today by voting unanimously for a change of strategy.

They will strike for the last time for now on October 1st, the last strike day notified to the management, and take up a legal challenge supported by the National Education Union. This will be based on a claim that the academy management broke the collective bargaining agreement, not in imposing fire and rehire itself, but the way they did it individually rather than through collective bargaining. Each worker will be submitting an ACAS Early Conciliation form.

 

Lucy Cox, Brent NEU Secretary, said that in this way they could return to work proud and united.  She congratulated the strikers on their persistence and solidarity and told them that their struggle provided an example to others that  meant that no other school had dared impose fire and rehire - a strategy that will soon be illegal.

Meanwhile I understand that the HMRC is showing a keen interest in the school's finances. 

MORE THAN 600,000 COUNCIL WORKERS LOST IN ENGLAND AND WALES

 From the GMB

More than 600,000 council workers have been lost in England and Wales since 2012, official figures show. 

According to the Office of National Statistics [1], fourteen years ago there were 1,886,584 people employed by local authorities. 

By 2026, the number had plunged to 1,282,853, a drop of more than 603,000 – more than 30 per cent of the total headcount. 

The East Midlands was the worst hit region, losing 66,000 jobs equating to more than 40 per cent of all workers. [See below for full list of regions and nations]. 

The figures emerge as GMB delegates discuss cuts to local authority budgets at TUC’s annual congress in Brighton this week. 

Region	Headcount 2012	Headcount 2026	Difference	Percentage
East Midlands	155,912	89,612	66,300	43%
South West	169,095	105,679	63,416	38%
Yorkshire and the Humber	2,091,215	1,410,137	681,078	33%
West Midlands	133,974	91,606	42,368	32%
North East	93,596	60,261	33,335	36%
North West	263,187	185,944	77,243	29%
South East	257,518	187,988	69,530	27%
London	214,535	154,036	60,499	28%
East of England	197,837	161,338	36,499	18%
Wales	149,393	127,380	22,013	15%

Will Dalton, GMB National Officer, said: 

Local government workers are absolutely essential for a healthy, thriving country. 

They help our children learn, clear away our rubbish, look after our loved one and keep our green spaces clean. 

To lose more than 30 per cent of them has torn the heart out of our communities and shows the damage austerity did to the country. 

If the Prime Minister wants to make good on his promise to give power and prosperity to every post code, well-funded councils with well paid workers must come first.

Mapesbury Family Bike Day Saturday 19th September 1-4pm St Gabriel's Church