Note from the Editor. Below is the view provided by the developer for what the proposed hotel would will look like from Wembley Park Boulevard. Captions added.
WEMBLEY MATTERS News and views on local politics, the environment, climate change, culture and local history
Sunday, 8 November 2026
Brent Green Party Launches Community Fightback Against Fresh 24-Hour Kilburn “Bingo Hall” Bid and Invasive Facial Recognition Plans
The large premises of the former Santander Bank on Kilburn High Road (Instant Streetview)
The Brent Green Party has launched an urgent community fightback against a fresh application by Golden Slots (Southern) Limited to open a new “Bingo” and 24-hour slot machine venue at the former Santander bank branch at 131–135 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7HS.
This latest application comes as local authorities and communities continue to wait for long-overdue statutory reform to the Gambling Act 2005—specifically the repeal of the notorious Section 153 “aim to permit” mandate, which legally pressures councils to presume approval for gambling applications. At Brent Civic Centre, the Brent Labour Party recently brought forward a Gambling Harms Emergency Motion at Full Council, finally and formally acknowledging the full scale of addiction and harm across the borough.
However, warm words and council motions do not stop predatory operators from targeting local high streets. Brent already suffers from over 80 licensed gambling premises, extracting an estimated £18 million annually from local communities and concentrated overwhelmingly in the borough’s most socio-economically vulnerable areas. Until the legal framework actually changes, Brent residents are forced, time and again, to fight every single expansion, variation, and new application from the ground up. It is in this context that the Brent Green Party is mobilising residents once again to defend Kilburn High Road.
Round Two at 131–135 Kilburn High Road: Coming Back “Guns Blazing”
Earlier this year, Macau Casino Slots applied to transform the exact same former Santander bank branch into a gambling hub. Following a powerful, multi-week grassroots mobilisation campaign led by local residents and Green Party campaigners, hundreds of formal objections flooded in. Confronted with determined, well-organised community pushback right ahead of the council licensing hearing, the applicant formally withdrew the application.
Now, the gambling industry has returned to the same site with a new applicant—Golden Slots (Southern) Limited—coming back guns blazing with a series of calculated approaches in its Local Area Risk Assessment (LARA) designed to convince Brent’s Licensing Sub-Committee that the venue will cause no harm to the community.
Despite applying for a “Bingo Premises Licence” (with bingo offered between 09:00 and midnight), the operator’s paperwork reveals plans to keep its “ancillary gaming-machine area” open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week—L, operating purely as an overnight slot machine arcade between midnight and 09:00 when no bingo is even played.
Weaponising Invasive Facial Recognition Technology as “Safeguarding”
Most troublingly, in an effort to mask the severe risks of opening a 24-hour gambling venue in a high-deprivation area already saturated with at least seven other gambling premises and multiple pawnbrokers within 400 metres, Golden Slots is proposing the mandatory installation of invasive facial recognition entry screening alongside a “Verified Player Access” registration scheme.
The Brent Green Party is raising severe concerns over the deployment of biometric surveillance on Kilburn High Road:
- Biometric Mass Surveillance on Our High Street: The Green Party has consistently opposed the rollout of live and biometric facial recognition technology, both by the state and by private corporations, as a disproportionate, privacy-eroding intrusion into civil liberties. Subjecting residents to biometric face scanning and longitudinal tracking by a private gambling company raises profound data protection, consent, and human rights concerns.
- Algorithmic Bias in a Diverse Community: Facial recognition systems are notoriously prone to higher false-match and error rates across ethnic minority groups, women, and younger people. Deploying this technology on Kilburn High Road, one of London’s most multicultural and diverse corridors, risks discriminatory false alerts and unfair targeting.
- A “Tech-Wash” Distraction from Unacceptable Harm: Facial recognition is a surveillance tool, not a public health solution. It cannot prevent a person from gambling beyond their means, nor does it mitigate the cumulative impact of clustering another 24-hour slot arcade next to schools, bus stops, and cash converters.
- Unresolved High Risks & Unproven Legality: Remarkably, the applicant’s own risk assessment admits that its facial recognition system has not yet received the required Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), lawful-processing approvals, or technical sign-offs. Even more tellingly, the operator explicitly excludes facial recognition from its own risk scoring—and still forecasts 12 separate “High” target risks across child protection, concealed gambling harm, financial hardship, cumulative exposure, overnight fatigue, and local crime and disorder.
Cllr Suzanne Gallagher, Brent Green Party, said:
We are still waiting for Westminster to deliver on its promise to reform the Gambling Act 2005 and scrap the ‘aim to permit’ rules, and while Brent Labour has finally passed an emergency motion recognising the £18 million extracted from our communities every year by over 80 gambling venues, motions alone won’t stop Golden Slots. Until the law changes, residents have to fight every single application on the ground.
Earlier this year, our community came together in their hundreds and forced Macau Casino Slots to back down and withdraw their bid for the old Santander bank. Now, Golden Slots has come back guns blazing at the exact same address, attempting to dress up a 24-hour slot machine operation as a ‘bingo hall’ and dangling invasive facial recognition technology to convince the licensing committee they won’t cause harm.
The Green Party is clear: biometric surveillance is not safeguarding. Scanning people’s faces and harvesting sensitive biometric data on a diverse high street is a deeply troubling invasion of privacy and a smokescreen that does nothing to stop financial exploitation or cumulative gambling harm. Even the operator’s own risk assessment admits that 12 separate ‘High’ risks remain unresolved. We beat this proposal once, and we are calling on every Kilburn resident, business, and community group to submit a fresh objection before 2 December so we can beat it again.
How Residents Can Object (Deadline: Wednesday 2 December 2026)
Because this is a brand-new application by a different operator, previous objections against the withdrawn Macau Casino Slots application do not carry over. Residents must submit a fresh representation before 2 December 2026:
- Email: Send objections to Brent Council’s Licensing Team at business.licence@brent.gov.uk
- Reference: Application for a Bingo Premises Licence – Golden Slots (Southern) Limited, 131–135 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 7HS
- Requirements: Include your full name and postal address, and link your objection to the statutory licensing objectives under the Gambling Act 2005:
- Protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling (citing the 12 unresolved “High” risks, 24-hour slot machine operation, local deprivation, proximity to schools and pawnbrokers, and the inadequacy of unproven facial recognition surveillance).
- Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder (citing the 3,238 recorded crime and anti-social behaviour incidents in the Kilburn area over the past year and the strain of 24-hour opening on the night-time economy).
- Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way (challenging the use of a Bingo licence to run a 24-hour gaming machine venue where bingo ceases at midnight).
Saturday, 7 November 2026
Music, crafts and books (plus a little sunshine) heralds the opening of the Tiny Bookshop at Willesden Green Station
Things have been tough lately in Willesden Green with stabbings, drug dealing, anti-social behaviour and more, but today the mist cleared, the sun came out and friendly crowds started milling around the entrance to Willesden Green Station. Spotting the crowd the station's regular saxophonist took no time at all to unpack his instrument and soon cool jazz added to the atmosphere.
The occasion was the opening of the meanwhile space, Tiny Bookshop. mainly managed by 16 to 25 year olds. Outside the shop (only room for about 6 people at a time) there was crochet, tote bag printing and more. The registered charity is looking for donations of books, vinyl records and CDs and anyone with an hour or two to spare to help run it.
The Willesden Bookshop
As Jolene Skordis says in the video above, this is the first bookshop in Willesden since the council failed to provide space in the new Willesden Green Library 14 years ago when the old library that included the Willesden Bookshop was demolished. There was a hard-fought campaign to keep it open and it was good to meet Helen, one of the Willesden Green Bookshop's key staff members at today's opening. The Tiny Bookshop is a fraction of the size of her old workplace but a glimmer of hope. Martin Redston, a leader of the fight for the bookshop is no longer with us, but I am sure would have been proud of the community's support for a new, young venture, today.
Guest Post: Two more interesting talks, at your Local History Societies this November.
Guest post by local historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity:
Willesden Trades Hall, during its time as the London Apollo Club.
Willesden Trades Hall, which was built as the Hamilton Hall in 1884, has a long and very interesting history. Unfortunately, it was not able to hold its planned open day last month, but there is a chance to see a newly released film about that history, and the plans for its future, at a meeting of Willesden Local History Society on Wednesday 18 November at 7.30pm.
A Grunwick Strike meeting at Willesden Trades Hall in 1977. (Image courtesy of Christine Coates)
The hall was used for music and dancing in Victorian times, and again as the London Apollo Club, a famous Reggae music venue from 1969. It has at times been a place of worship, but more especially as a centre of Trades Union activity, including during the General Strike of 1926 and the strike at the nearby Grunwick factory in the 1970s.
The meeting is taking place at St. Mary’s Parish Church Hall, next door to Willesden’s historic St. Mary’s Church in Neasden Lane, London NW10 2TS. This venue is easily reached by public transport, with the 297 bus stops at Wharton Close very close to the hall, and the 260 and 266 buses to Willesden Magistrates’ Court just round the corner. It is only a five-minute walk from Neasden Station on the Jubilee Line (or one stop from the station on the 297).
Location map for Willesden Local History Society meetings. (Based on Google Maps)
Willesden LHS welcomes visitors to its meetings, in return for a small donation, so if this subject is of interest to you, please come along by 7.30pm on Wednesday 18 November. You can find more details about this event, and Willesden’s history, on the Society’s website, HERE.
The illustrated talk at Wembley History Society, on Friday 20 November from 7.30 to 9pm, takes you further afield, to the shores of the Caspian Sea!
Poster for the talk on 20 November by Nick Higham.
The speaker is the well-known former BBC News journalist and author, Nick Higham, whose illustrated talk "Mavericks: Empire, Oil, Revolution and the Forgotten Battle of World War One" tells the story of 'a small group of enterprising, fearless and often reckless men', who set out to save an oilfield "for King and Empire". Although set over 100 years ago, the well-researched book his talk is based on gives an insight into the struggles by major powers to control the supply of oil from other lands, which continue until this day.
The Baku Oilfield, c.1918. (Image from the Imperial War Museum)
The talk takes place at St. Andrew’s Church Hall, Church Lane, Kingsbury NW9 8RZ (see poster above for transport details and location map). Visitors are welcome at all Wembley History Society meetings (non-members are invited to make a donation of £3, to help cover the cost of the hall and speaker’s expenses). If you are interested, please come along!
Philip Grant.
Friday, 6 November 2026
Guest Post: A safe space for Brent's young people is about to close. Here is why it matters.
Some of the youngsters who will be affected by the track closure (Pic: Track Academy)
Guest post by Patrik Ewe, CEO, Track Academy
I am the CEO of Track Academy, a youth athletics, education and mentoing charity based at Willesden Sports Centre. We have been there since 2007. We use athletics to reach over 500 young people a year and then provide mentoring, tutoring, lifeskills and enrichment for them.
On Monday 9 November, the indoor athletics track at Willesden Sports Centre is due to be taken offline. It is the only indoor track of its kind in Brent. It is being converted into a gym.
This is not a story about a gym versus a running track. It is a story about who gets to be active, and who gets left behind.
What the council's own documents say
The council's Equality Impact Assessment admits the loss will adversely affect girls, disabled young people, young people with special educational needs and ethnically diverse communities. It admits that the sports hall, the only alternative on offer, is "not a like-for-like replacement". It admits Saturday provision is "unresolved".
We were not consulted before the Cabinet decision on 22nd June. We were shown a completed design on 9th June. The Equality Impact Assessment was published 24th October, four months after the decision. The law requires equality impacts to be considered before a decision is taken, not after it.
This contradicts the council's own Youth Strategy
Brent's Youth Strategy 2025-2028 commits the council to ensuring young people have a voice in decisions that affect them, and to expanding opportunities for positive activities and personal development. Removing this track, without consulting the young people who use it, contradicts both commitments.
Track Academy is not simply an athletics club. We provide mentoring, leadership opportunities, positive role models and a safe environment for hundreds of young people. The preventative value of that work does not appear to have been weighed in the decision at all. A Brent Youth Parliament survey stated that only 28% of young people feel they have enough safe spaces to socialise.
Why this matters for Brent
We serve young people from some of the most deprived wards in the borough. 64% are from low-income families. 58% are girls. 90% are from Black, Asian, mixed and other minoritised ethnic backgrounds. 29% have a disability or long-term health condition.
The indoor track is the reason many of them come. It is warm, it is safe and it is available in the winter when the outdoor track can be unusable. For girls in particular, it is a place where they feel comfortable being active. For disabled young people and those with special educational needs, it is a place where the environment is adapted to them. For young people with nowhere else to go after school, it is a place to be.
Take it away, and they do not simply train somewhere else. Many of them stop coming altogether.
The public response
Over 1,100 people have signed our petition, 809 of them from Brent. Over 224 residents have written to councillors. Over 290 young people, parents and supporters have shared their stories.
Here are just a few of them:
"My son is severely sight impaired, has complex medical needs and is autistic. There is no other track in close proximity that he can access. Losing this outlet would set us back." - Parent
"My two daughters train with Track Academy. They suffer from asthma, which is triggered by cold air. Having an indoor track means their training is continuous rather than stopping and starting due to the weather." - Parent
"Track is a place of safety to me. There's no pressure from school, and I'm staying active while having fun with friends." - Nyah, 12
"Given the recent killings of young people in Brent, I would have thought this would be something the council would be driving people towards, not watching it be pushed out." - Parent
What we are asking for
We are not asking the council to break contracts or change its plans. We are asking for a pause until a suitable, funded alternative is agreed in writing.
Our solicitors have written to the council formally. We would much rather resolve this without legal action.
What you can do
Sign the petition and email your councillor. It takes two minutes. The full picture, including the council's own assessment, is here: https://trackacademy.co.uk/protect-brent-athletics
Brent's young people deserve better. They deserve somewhere to do athletics whatever the weather. In a borough where young people have lost their lives to violence, they deserve not to lose one of the few safe spaces they have left.
Patrik
Ewe
CEO, Track Academy
Tiny Bookshop opens at Willesden Green Station tomorrow from Noon
From Tiny Bookshop
🎉 FINALLY, WILLESDEN GREEN STATION IS SLOWLY COMING TO LIFE! 📚
We are delighted to announce that TINY BOOKSHOP is opening this Saturday from 12pm!
Please come along and show your support! There will be a wonderful selection of children’s and adults’ books for sale.
❤️ VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
TINY BOOKSHOP is a registered non-profit and is looking for volunteers to help keep the shop open for as many hours as possible.
Having these spaces open, active and welcoming makes such a difference to the station and our wider community.
If you can spare just an hour or more, it would be hugely appreciated!
Please email: tinybookshopnw2@outlook.com
A huge thank you to everyone helping to bring some much-needed life back to Willesden Green Station.
PLEASE COME AND SUPPORT! ❤️
PETITION:
Revitalisation of Willesden Green Station - Occupation of Vacant Commercial Units
Tiny Bookshop is the second of the disused units to open, the other is a confectioners (above). A petition has been launched urging TfL have them all the units opened.
The Issue
For years, Willesden Green Station has served as a vital transport hub for countless residents and commuters crossing this vibrant North London area daily. However, numerous commercial units within the station remain empty, including Units 1, 6, 7–8, and 9. These spaces, instead of enhancing our community, stand neglected, often boarded up or poorly maintained. This is not just an eyesore for us, the residents, commuters, and local business owners but is attracting crime and increasing antisocial and intimidating behaviour, but also a missed opportunity for Willesden Green to thrive culturally and economically.
We, the undersigned residents, commuters, and local business proprietors of Willesden Green, formally call upon TfL/Places for London to take immediate and effective action to address the prolonged vacancy of commercial units at Willesden Green Station.
Statement of Concern
Willesden Green Station is a well-utilised transport hub; however, several of its commercial units (including Units 1, 6, 7–8, and 9) have remained vacant, boarded up, or inadequately maintained for an extended period. This ongoing vacancy materially detracts from the amenity, safety, and overall perception of the station environment, contributing to neglect and anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Furthermore, it is our considered view that the current rental strategy adopted by TfL/Places for London is misaligned with prevailing local market conditions. Rental levels appear to be set at a threshold that is prohibitive for small and independent enterprises. The resulting failure to secure tenants, and the prolonged vacancy of these units, demonstrates a lack of commercial prudence by effectively foregoing potential rental income and undermining the economic utility of these assets.
Adverse Impacts
Diminution of Local Amenity: The persistence of vacant units undermines the vitality and attractiveness of Walm Lane and its surrounding area.
Loss of Essential Services: The absence of active retail occupancy results in the loss of valuable local amenities, including cafés, newsagents, and independent retailers that serve the commuting public and local residents.
Economic Underperformance: Rather than contributing to employment and local economic growth, these units remain unproductive, increasing the risk of crime and anti-social behaviour.
Requested Actions
Review and Adjustment of Rental Terms: Undertake an immediate reassessment of rental pricing for all vacant units to ensure alignment with current market conditions, including the provision of flexible and commercially viable lease terms to support independent businesses, rather than exclusively targeting large corporate tenants.
Expedited Refurbishment Works: Prioritise and accelerate necessary repair and “make ready” works for units requiring structural or preparatory intervention (notably Units 6 and 9), ensuring they are brought to a lettable standard without undue delay.
Active Promotion to Local Enterprises: Implement a targeted strategy to market these units to local independent businesses that contribute positively to the character and needs of the community, with appropriate consideration given to the nature of prospective tenants.
Publication of Delivery Timeline: Provide a clear, transparent, and publicly accessible timeline outlining when each vacant unit will be brought into active commercial use.
A well-managed and fully occupied station estate is integral to the economic and social wellbeing of Willesden Green. We therefore urge TfL/Places for London to take prompt and decisive action to ensure these publicly owned assets are utilised effectively and responsibly, in a manner that reflects both sound commercial practice and community interest.
TfL/Places for London have the power and responsibility to transform these vacant units into thriving businesses that serve the local community. Let us not allow this wastage to continue. Join us in urging the relevant authorities to take swift and decisive action.
Sign this petition to support the revitalisation of Willesden Green Station's commercial units and help turn our vision into reality. Every signature counts towards creating a vibrant, safe, and economically prosperous community for all
Thursday, 5 November 2026
HS2 tunnelling. Will South Kilburn get that sinking feeling?
The route of the HS 2 tunnel (parallel black lines) - click on image to enlarge
On Sunday My London posted an excellent report on damage to homes in Kilburn by Luke Donnelly LINK that readers may have missed because the headline said West London rather than North West London.
Residents in Claremont Road reported cracks in their houses that they attributed to tunnelling by HS2 making the house sink. Brent Council erected scaffolding around one house that was affected.
HS2 told My London that they carry out a comprehensive monitoring and surveying programme of ground levels before, during and after tunnelling takes place to assess ground movement, and analysis of the monitoring data indicates that tunnelling-related ground settlement in this area has been small in magnitude and in line with expectations.
South Kilburn residents report an increase in surveying activity by HS2 in their neighbourhood of council-owned properties. They report a distinct lack of interest by Brent Council in HS2 issues for the last decade.
In March 2026 Wembley Matters reported LINK HS2 had sent a survey form to residents of Alpha House on South Kilburn that is clipped by the tunnel route (see map above). A local Tenants and Residents Association sent a copy to Brent Council (below) suggesting that they were in a better position to respond to the technical questions but received no reply.
We don't know whether Brent Council responded to the survey at the time but they haven't told residents if they have. They recently asked the TRA for a copy as the original had been mislaid.
Wembley Matters asked Brent Council for a comment on the MyLondon story on Monday but have received no response.
Wednesday, 4 November 2026
Workers Fight Back - Learning from Brent's Rich Labour Movement History Sunday 29th November 11am-7pm
This is the revised version of the event that was cancelled recently.
Sunday 29th November at Brent Black Music Co-op, 385 High Road NW10 2JR
Workers Fight Back - learning from Brent's rich labour movement history -organised by Brent Trades Council
11.00 General Strike centenary film, followed by discussion introduced by Edd Mustill (author, Britain's Revolutionary Summer: The General Strike of 1926) invited, and Chris Coates, local labour movement historian on the General Strike in Brent
1.30-2.15 Lunch
2.15-2.45 Poets on the picket line
2.45 Grunwick strike film, followed by discussion introduced by Anitha Sundari, author Striking Women: Struggles & Strategies of South Asian Women Workers from Grunwick to Gate Gourmet
4.45-5.00 Break
5.00 Issues facing trades unionists today (probably Amazon, RMT,)
5.30 French trade unionists
5.45 Sarah Wooley, General Secretary BFAWU invited
6.00 Music
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