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

23 comments:

Alison Hopkins said...

The same thing has happened with a local application in Dollis Hill. I contacted the planning officer, who was very helpful and changed them back to Objects.It's yet another Acolaid bug.

Anonymous said...

Martin,
99% sure that the user has to state whether they are 'objecting', 'neutral' or 'supporting' when they submit their comments. The onus is on the 'objector' to submit their comments properly, not for Brent Council to babysit and vet every single comment as soon as it comes in!
Notwithstanding that, officers when evaluating responses will clearly see that the 'objector' has made a mistake on the submission form and will manually change it within any future report.

Sandro said...

I have already emailed the Council this morning to ask them to put back the 'Objects' after I wouldn't be surprised they deliberately changed us residents to 'Neutral'. I await a response from them however I suggest that others here please do the same & hit the Council with emails of complaint about this disgraceful situation. I have come to realise that at times I don't even trust my own shadow let along Council's on certain matters & whilst of course there is no concrete proof I am fairly sure that this is a deliberate act of sabotage by someone high up at Brent Council.

Jaine Lunn said...

It would appear the software that scans emails for the words "I object, I strongly object, I 100% object isn't working correctly much like the rest of the Council's IT system! It is severly lacking. Isn't this the same IT system they wish to share with Lewisham and other Boroughs? Like I have said before, I believe this consultation is nonesense, I believe this is a done deal no matter how many objections the Council recieve. It's just sad that our National Stadium has come to this, it totally eradicates it's famous world renown stadium status. Had Brent Council fulfilled all its obligations under S106 to improve the infrastructure, roads, junctions, traffic management as was promised we would not be in this situation. Nor if they enforced the by-laws with regard to public order offences, drinking and parking. It's clear they are totally unaware of how it blights residents lives who live on the major access routes to the Stadium.

Andrew Daws said...

That's because we are asked to choose whether we support, oppose or are neutral. If we don't choose it defaults to neutral. Nothing dodgy going on

Sandro said...

Dear Andrew...your missing the point. The vast majority of residents chose to put 'Objects' myself included & now it's been changed to Neutral. Whether it's a 'software bug' like Alison here has mentioned or something more sinister still remains to be seen!

Alison Hopkins said...

I can categorically assure 12:01 that I, and the many others who objected to the planning application here ticked the OBJECT option. The planning officer concerned told me that there was a problem with the software and also fixed the ones I'd pointed out. There's now a stack more to be amended. Acolaid is a dreaful piece of software, but the problem is there's hardly any planning software out there any more.

Anonymous said...

Sandro, that's a silly comment. If you don't inform the system that you wish to object, then it won't register your comment as an objection. Very simple.

Anonymous said...

Nimby's are just so incandescent with rage that the national stadium they occupy their property near wishes to hold more days that they have not filled in the form properly and ticked the appropriate box.

Martin Francis said...

It is imperative that, if you wish to write an objection letter, you make reference to the planning conditions, numbers 3 & 33, which the Stadium wishes to vary or remove, otherwise your letter may be classified as neutral, rather than an objection.

I am pleased to confirm that Alice Lester, Head of Planning, has agreed that representations will be accepted until 9th March, however the sooner you write, the better.

See below the link to use if you wish to comment on the application online:

https://pa.brent.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=neighbourComments&keyVal=DCAPR_132323

Martin Francis said...

Above message was from the chair of a local residents'association

Anonymous said...

Very easy for those who don't live next to the Stadium to call others nimby's. Let's hold a welcome party for 90000 Spurs fans in your street. Perhaps that'll change your opinion then!

Sandro said...

I DID inform the system & I DID put OBJECT down! I know what I'm doing & saying before I post anything on here. With respect you obviously aren't reading all the comments here to see what went on & the changing from Objects to Neutral on the Council website.

Unknown said...

I noticed this hicup too!
I am disgusted at how they have carried out this consultation...The link has been down several times (as mentioned above) and I live in a development with 300+ flats less than 5 mins WALK from the stadium entrance and we have not receieved any letters informing us about the application. I called Brent Planning who said 20,000 letters had indeed been sent out but he didnt have the information as to where they had gone...I have repeatedly tried to contact the case officer by phone and email to alert him of this negligence, but I have not heard anything back. Of course the letters are not a requirement to comment, but it is a planning requirement that neighbours are duly informed (I knew of this through a Google search and media article as to why Spurs were here in the first place).

I am a transport planner by profession and am shocked at the poor quality of the Environment Statement submitted. Again I have made detailed comments and queries to several points within the Transport Chapter...not sure if they will be responded to.

We need to attend the committee meeting on 23rd March in large numbers to ensure our comments are heard and considered.

Unknown said...

Martin, they have closed the online comments portal...contrary to what Alice Lester said... Do you want to follow up with her?
(emailed comments may stil be accepted I think)

Martin Francis said...

Thanks Fatema. I have emailed her.

Martin Francis said...

Now fixed:

I have been contacted by a member of the public who has tried to post a comment on the planning portal but has been unable to do so because it says comments are now closed.

I understood from John Woods of Barn Hill Residents Association that you had said the deadline had been extended to March 9th and have advertised this on Wembley Matters.

Could you clarify please.

Thank you,

Martin Francis
Editor
Wembley Matters

Apologies, this is now fixed and the consultation bit reopened.

Alice Lester
Head of Planning Transport and Licensing

Anonymous said...

We will do Fatema. Are you on Nextdoor? If not do join for local info.

Philip Grant said...

CHELSEA NEXT?

This item has appeared today on the BBC News website:

'Chelsea Football Club has been given permission by the mayor of London to build a new £500m 60,000-seat stadium.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council approved the plans in January to demolish the current 41,600-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium.

The mayor has the final say on major planning applications in London.

Earlier, Sadiq Khan said the "high quality and spectacular design" would add to the capital's "fantastic array of sporting arenas".'

Chelsea's new stadium will include the site of their existing one, so they will be looking for a temporary, large capacity, home for several years. Could that be Wembley?

Philip.

Sandro said...

Monday 6th March @ 15.12pm Their website is DOWN AGAIN!! How unbelievable is this or should I say what a joke this is!

Sandro said...

I have an awful feeling yes is the answer which is so important that we force the Council to limit the spectators at Wembley to 51,000 when Spurs play there next season otherwise if Spurs get permission for 91,000 then you can bet your bottom dollar that Chelsea will also get permission for 91,000 for 3 damn years!! One can hope & pray that Chelsea go elsewhere but I have a nasty feeling that Wembley will be the destination.

Unknown said...

I have now joined - thanks, had no idea about Nextdoor!

Unknown said...

Consultation has been extended to 21st March...but not much publicity on this...
But you will not a couple more 'supports' comments from random locations over London speaking about what a great job Spurs did for their area...sounds SO FISHY - marketing ploy and push from FA/Spurs. Their comments cannot carry the same weight as local residents/businesses as they will NOT have to deal with the impacts.

Disgusted at this whole thing.

We still haven't recieved comms at Danes and Empire Court (300+ flats), so there are not many comments from my neighbours.
I am tempted to go around and leaflet! I already did a mailshot but not everyone is on that.