Harlesden Neighbourhood Forum Public Meeting Saturday 19th September 1pm-5pm. Community safety, local Improvements & initiatives

 

Wembley Public Reassurance Meeting after Civic Centre murder: Thursday 17th September 6.30-8.30pm Boxpark, Wembley Park

 

Following the fatal incident at Brent Civic Centre last month where David Wynter lost his life the Metropolitan Police, Brent council and local partners have arranged a public meeting to provide an update and answer your questions about safety in Wembley Park area. 

Thursday 17th September 6.30pm - 830pm

Boxpark, Olympic Way, Wembley Park

ALL WELCOME 

Road closures and parking restrictions from 8am/10am on Saturday September 19th for Wembley Event

 From Brent Council

 

Wembley Stadium will be hosting following event this week.

Union Jack Classic - Arizona State Sun Devils v Kansas Jayhawks on following date this week:

 - Saturday 19 September

Please read below to see how this might affect you.

Timings

Union Jack Classic kick off will be at 5.00pm and road closures will be in place at 10:00am on Saturday 19 September.

We expect the area around Wembley Stadium to be very busy before and after this event so please avoid the area if you can, unless you have a ticket for the event.

Event day parking

Event day parking restrictions will be in place from 8am to midnight on main roads and from 10am to midnight on residential roads on Saturday 19 September.

If you have a paper permit, please make sure you clearly display it in your vehicle. If you have an electronic permit, you do not need to display this.

Come together to experience and appreciate Granville Rec and help save it! Saturday 19th September 12- 4pm

 

Park Royal Fire Station Open Day Sunday 13th September 12-5pm

 

Park Royal Fire Station is opening its doors on Sunday 13 September for a fun-filled community open day—and we’d love to welcome local residents and families.

 

Come along to meet your local firefighters, receive practical fire-safety advice and watch a live demonstration exercise.

 

London Ambulance Service will also be providing CPR training. There will be partner organisations, music, children’s amusements, food, arts and crafts, a raffle and more.

 

Park Royal Fire Station Open Day

 

Sunday 13 September 2026

12pm–5pm

Park Royal Fire Station

15 Waxlow Road

Park Royal, NW10 7NU

South Kilburn residents call on Brent Council to act after their community room is taken over - immediate enforcement action demanded

 

The Chair of William Saville and William Dunbar House Residents' Association has written urgently and in some desperation to Brent Council officers and others asking for help following the takeover of their community room by homeless individuals.

 They write:

Our concerns are follows  Homeless individuals have broken into the community room and are refusing to leave despite  a Brent council officer told us a court injunction reportedly being applied for by the Building Manager
 

Progress has been very slow and the individuals remain on site, He now invited his friends and other homeless people into the community room 
 

Residents, including children and elderly, are scared to go out in the evenings
 

Parents do not feel safe allowing children to play outside near the community garden area
 

There is a serious risk the community room will be used for drug dealing 
 

The community room is now unusable. We have nowhere else to hold our Saturday coffee morning and other resident  important meetings
 

Residents have contacted the Police and a Crime Reference Number has been issued

We urgently request:

Immediate enforcement action to remove the individual/s

We request An update on the court injunction and expected timeline 

Emergency security measures such as boarding up the room until resolved

Confirmation of steps to prevent future break-ins

Please treat this as a high-priority ASB and safeguarding matter.
 

I look forward to a response within 5 working days. If no action is taken we will escalate to our local Councillors and the Housing Ombudsman.

Kind regards,

Chair of William Saville Willliam Dunbar resident association.

Trains, homes and heat: motions for Brent Council meeting on Monday September 14th

 The new political structure of Brent Council with four party groups is gradually getting into a new more constructive way of working and motions from Labour, Conservatives and Greens tabled for Monday's meeting might produce some cross-party consensus. Liberal Democrats do not have a motion slot this time round.

  

Labour Group Motion

 

All Aboard the West London Orbital

 

This Council notes:

 

 The West London Orbital (WLO) would bring under-used freight railway into passenger use as part of the London Overground, with an 18.5km route spanning Hounslow, Ealing, Brent and Barnet.

 New stations at Harlesden and Neasden, with up to six trains per hour, would give Brent residents direct connections to Old Oak Common, Brent Cross and West London’s Golden Mile Tech District. Journey times would be transformed, with Harlesden to Brent Cross West falling from 39 to 13 minutes and Neasden to Old Oak Common from 44 to 11 minutes.

 The WLO is projected to support more than 15,000 new homes, 11,500 new jobs and nearly £500 million in wider economic benefits. In Brent alone, it could support around 4,100 homes and widen access to jobs.

 More than 1.3 million car kilometres a year could be removed from Brent’s roads through a shift to WLO services.

 

This Council believes:

 

 The new Government’s focus on transport, housing and growth provides an opportunity for Brent to renew its efforts to secure support for the WLO.

 London must remain central to the national conversation on transport and growth. West London alone is a nearly £70 billion economy, while Brent residents paid £1.58 billion in income tax in 2023/24 – as much as Glasgow and more than Manchester. Investment in London also supports skilled jobs and supply chains across the UK, including rail manufacturing at Alstom’s factory in Derby. Investment that unlocks further growth in London is of benefit to the whole country.

 Brent is not immune from the challenges facing communities elsewhere in the country. Brent contains some of the most deprived communities nationally, including along the proposed WLO route. 37% of the travel-time savings for journeys originating in Brent would accrue in areas among the 20% most deprived nationally.

 By connecting with the Elizabeth line and HS2 at Old Oak Common, the WLO would help maximise the benefits of national rail investment while improving access to employment, education and opportunity across London.

 

This Council therefore resolves:

 

(1) To reaffirm its strong support for the West London Orbital and renew its engagement with the Government to ensure Brent and London’s voice is heard in decisions on future transport investment.

(2) To write to the Secretary of State for Transport and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, setting out the economic, social and national case for the WLO and calling on Government to work with the Mayor of London, TfL and West London boroughs towards a credible funding pathway for delivery.

(3) To continue working with the Mayor of London, TfL, the West London Alliance and neighbouring boroughs to progress the WLO and maximise its benefits for Brent residents.

(4) To work with TfL and other partners to safeguard land and protect future options for additional WLO stations in Brent, particularly where public transport accessibility is currently limited.

(5) To support and promote the forthcoming public consultation, encouraging residents, businesses and community organisations to help shape the proposals.

 

Councillor George Burn

Willesden Green Ward

 

Conservative Group Motion

 

Temporary Accommodation: Better Value and Greater Accountability

 

This Council notes:

 

 Brent faces severe pressure from rising homelessness, constrained housing supply and the increasing cost of temporary accommodation. In April 2026, the Council reported approximately 2,450 households in temporary accommodation, with around 60% in nightly paid arrangements.

 Brent’s Housing Needs service was forecast to overspend by £4.5 million in 2025/26, while expenditure on nightly paid temporary accommodation was expected to reach approximately £38 million. The Council has allocated a further £8 million of budget growth to Housing Needs to address existing and anticipated demand pressures.

 The Council has acknowledged that reliance on nightly paid accommodation creates financial volatility, increasing caseloads, limited affordable options and variable accommodation quality. It has also identified longer-term leasing to provide greater stability and better value, with around 367 units anticipated to deliver approximately £4.8 million a year in savings or cost avoidance compared with equivalent nightly paid accommodation.

 

This Council believes:

 

 

 Families who become homeless deserve safe, suitable and stable accommodation, while Brent taxpayers are entitled to expect that scarce resources are managed effectively.

 Nightly paid accommodation will sometimes be unavoidable, but it should not become a long-term substitute for developing more stable and better value housing supply.

 The success of Brent’s temporary accommodation strategy should therefore be judged by whether reliance on costly nightly accommodation is falling, properties are being brought into use quickly, families move into more stable homes and forecast savings are achieved.

 

This Council therefore calls on Cabinet to:

 

(1) Set and publish measurable targets for reducing Brent’s reliance on nightly paid and other high-cost temporary accommodation, together with a clear trajectory for achieving those reductions.

(2) Review the process for bringing newly acquired and leased properties into occupation, identifying avoidable delays and establishing clear performance targets for the time between a property becoming available to the Council and a household moving in.

(3) Continue to pursue longer-term leasing, acquisition and other supply options where these provide demonstrably better value and greater stability, while regularly assessing whether the savings and cost avoidance anticipated in business cases are being achieved.

(4) Introduce and publish a monthly Temporary Accommodation Performance Dashboard, reporting where possible:

 The total number of households in temporary accommodation;

 The number in nightly paid accommodation and B&Bs;

 Expenditure on temporary accommodation and the cost of nightly paid provision;

 The number of households moved into more stable accommodation;

 The number of acquired or leased properties awaiting occupation and the average time taken to bring them into use;

 The number of households placed outside Brent;

 Progress against the Council’s published reduction and savings targets.

(5) Use the Council’s new Temporary Accommodation and Private Sector Leasing Digital Management Platform to improve management information, performance monitoring and scrutiny.

(6) Report progress to the relevant scrutiny committee, including actual savings achieved, progress in reducing nightly paid accommodation and any barriers preventing the Council from moving families into more stable housing more quickly.

 

Councillor Anup Patel

Kenton Ward

 

Green Group Motion

 

Addressing Urban Heat and Climate Inequality in Brent

 

This Council Notes:

 

 Extreme heat is an increasing public health risk, with an estimated 2,877 heat-associated deaths in England during the May and June 2026 heatwaves.

 The risk of extreme heat in Brent is acute. Brent and London Risk Registers identify heatwaves as a major risk requiring local adaptation.

 That social and environmental justice go hand in hand. Extreme heat disproportionately affects communities already experiencing social, economic and health inequalities.

 Brent's Heat Vulnerability Index identifies Park Royal as a hotspot alongside other areas where existing and pipeline data centres are located.

 Tree equity mapping demonstrates a need for increased tree canopy and urban greening across central and southern Brent.

 In June and July following investment of £1.14m the newly refurbished Kilburn Library had to close due to inadequate heat mitigation measures.

 Brent published a Climate Adaptation and Resilience Framework in December 2025 and is strengthening climate adaptation measures across the borough.

 

This Council Believes:

 

 Whilst Brent has taken important steps towards climate adaptation the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme heat requires further action.

 Natural green spaces act as heat sinks and should be protected and developed to reduce urban surface temperatures, including partnership with residents.

 The Council has a responsibility to ensure that public spaces are accessible and safe during periods of extreme heat and council housing tenants are protected from heat impacts.

 Existing guidance does not provide sufficiently specific or consistent guidance for assessing the cumulative local heat impacts of data centres, particularly where multiple facilities are concentrated within a small area.

 

This Council therefore:

 

(1) Requests the necessary action be taken to:

 

(a) Expand the network of Cool Spaces across Brent, update the GLA water refill map to reflect all the stations in Brent and explore all options for increasing the number of refill stations across the borough.

(b) Integrate natural materials, shading and strategic planting in new playground designs to reduce heat exposure.

(c) Begin a dialogue with the NEU about mitigation for over-heating in local authority schools, and review protections for council workers and contractors during periods of extreme heat.

(d) Conduct a review of heat risk in public buildings, mapping buildings at high-risk and developing an action plan.

(e) Commission a feasibility study into community-public partnerships for the greening and maintenance of spaces such as pocket parks, derelict land and larger areas of hard surfacing to reduce heat and increase access to shade.

(f) Ensure that the Local Plan is informed by future climate risks and that future developments assess urban heat and incorporate heat resilience measures

 

(2) Request the Leader of the Council write to the Mayor of London seeking clearer guidance on how local authorities should assess overheating risks and cumulative impacts arising from clusters of data centres.

 

(3) Invites the relevant Cabinet Member to set out the Council’s approach to managing overheating risks in council housing including responsibilities under Awaab’s Law.

 

Councillor Mary Mitchell

Willesden Green Ward

 

DEPUTATIONS TO THE FULL COUNCIL (ITEM 6)

 

a)      Progress towards divestment (requested by Sheila Guhadasan representing the Brent & Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign)

 

(b)     Engagement of council members in monitoring progress on the delivery of the Council’s climate and biodiversity commitments and in setting future priorities in relation to Brents Climate & Ecological Strategy and delivery plan (requested by Elaine Sheppard, representing Action on the Climate and Ecological Emergency (ACE) Brent)

Brent Greens Raise Deep Concerns Over Independence of Board Appointment to £20m St Raphael’s "Pride in Place" project

 

 

Community celebration on St Raph's

 

Brent Green Party councillors have expressed serious concern regarding the appointment of the Independent Chair to the St Raphael’s Estate Neighbourhood Board, following growing public disquiet and formal governance inquiries over the recruitment process.

 

The £20 million government-backed "Pride in Place" initiative is intended to deliver long-term, community-led investment to support St Raphael’s Estate. However, the recent announcement of Priyesh Patel as the board’s "Independent Chair" has sparked concern from local residents, grassroots community advocates, and commentators.

 

Brent Green councillors share the concerns raised by the local community regarding whether this crucial appointment can genuinely be considered independent. Public records indicate that Mr Patel was employed directly within the Council Leader’s office until August 2025 and has actively engaged in political campaigning alongside Brent Labour candidates. Furthermore, community advocates have raised serious questions over reports that an advertised resident stakeholder interview panel was omitted from the final selection process.

 

The Leader of the Green Group Cllr Mary Mitchell said:

 

We share the deep concerns voiced by local residents and community advocates. Appointing someone who was employed directly in the Council Leader’s political office only twelve months ago and who has been actively on the campaign trail with Brent Labour severely undermines public trust in what is designated as an 'independent' role.

 

I am calling for full transparency about the appointment, the selection process and the safeguards in place to ensure that the role is genuinely independent, including through a conflict of interest and independence review.

 

A non-partisan community role must be open to scrutiny and must command confidence across the political spectrum, and, most importantly among local residents. Residents deserve concrete commitments to guarantee that St Raphael’s residents, and grassroots organisations are independently represented in choices about how the £20m fund is spent.