Friday 23 November 2018

Residents angry at threat of 17 more Spurs games at Wembley Stadium flood planners with objections




There was a lot of opposition to the original change to planning conditions when Spurs moved to Wembley and wanted (and were granted by Brent Council) more full capacity (90,000 seats) events. LINK

That opposition has been reinforced and strengthened following the latest Spurs application to play an extra 17 matches until the end of the season at Wembley Stadium as a contingency on their stadium not being ready on time. It is interesting that this time there are more objections from people who have moved into the new flats in Quintain's estate.

BRENT COUNCIL SILENT ON IMPACT ON PEDWAY REPLACEMENT

A request to Brent Council Press Office for a statement on how this will affect the already tight timetable for the works to replace the Wembley Stadium pedway by steps has still not been answered. The request was made on Monday, a reminder phoned mid-week but with no response so far.

The planning portal today showed only two in favour, one being the Wembley Traders Association (although the portal has labelled it as an objection!) and another a resident.  All the 20 plus others object.

I publish them below with the house number etc of addresses removed. To make a comment in support or against the application go to LINK

COMMENTS ON PLANNING APPLICATION

Georgian Court, Wembley, HA9 6QG (Objects)

I object to the above proposal of additional 17 events taking place between 15 January 2019 and 12 May 2019 due to increase in traffic in the local area.

Parking restrictions opposed (imposed?) on the residents.
Quadrant Court, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0EY (Objects)
Not only spurs, think about neighbours also...

Redwood House, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FX (Objects)

I Object this proposal.

We already have almost 40 big events a year as it stands now and it excludes smaller events at SSE. This comes up to almost average of 1 event per week. Having to make travel arrangements this often is already a rather big overhead for residents.

I understand that part of what makes Wembley a great and vibrant place to live is the Stadium and the world class events it attracts. But to ADD another 17 MAJOR events within the span of a couple of months will disrupt our daily lives in a considerable way.

Event days, THFC in particular means a huge surge of intoxicated, loud and inconsiderate crowd. It will affect traffic too much too often. It affects the cleanliness of the streets and the feeling of safety on the area even after the events are finished. These additional events will definitely effect on the character of the area. It will also limit our privacy and ability to truly enjoy the area as a lot of local businesses and shops will either be too full or operate in a reduced manner during game day for local residents to use.

On game days, metropolitan and jubilee line gets so crowded that I had to often wait for up to an hour to be able to fit into the tube all the way from Liverpool Street. It delays my travel both on weekdays and weekends.

Once again I understand that events are an essential part to the borough. But the frequency at which it is proposed is going above the limit of what I believe is reasonable for residents that lives, commute and grow here.
Marathon House, 33 Olympic Way, Wembley, HA9 0GE (Objects)
I have two main objections related to the flow of crowd and traffic.

1) There is no management on the flow of the crowd. They should be restricted to just the main Olympic Way and not allowed to wander off on any other roads and streets (e.g Fulton Road, Rutherford Way etc). This will make sure that the residents in the area can leave and come back to their homes without any disturbance. Otherwise, these additional events will cause significant disruption to the residents’ daily lives.

2) The Traffic management leaves a lot to be desired as well. Engineers Way is typically close for a few hours on such event days which causes a great deal of disruption. Also, there does not seem to be any limit on the number of vehicles allowed in the area on the event day. The increase in the flow of traffic causes environmental concerns in terms of noise and air pollution. These events should be made pedestrian only with spectators not allowed to park their cars in the area.

In addition a majority of the marshals who man the barriers at road junctions for Rutherford Way with Engineer’s Way and Fulton Road have little if no common sense. They also believe that it is their God given right to prevent access to and from Rutherford Way for residents in their cars.

Kind regards etc

CLICK BELOW TO SEE MORE SUBMISSIONS



Cambium House, Palace Arts Way, Wembley, HA9 0GH (Objects)
I Object to the proposal.

The amount of event day is already extremely very high. On event day I find it very difficult to get anywhere, not only by car, but also by public transport.

Thank you for taking my objection seriously.
Salmon Street, London, NW9 8NL (Objects)
The THFC supporters show no consideration for local residents on match days. They frequently park blocking our and our neighbours drives, making it impossible to get in and out. We have a Care Home next door to us and they are unable to drop their residents off outside the house due to inconsiderate parking. Although we are meant to be in the controlled parking zone, the illegally parked vehicles never are issued with parking tickets or warnings. Do these parking restrictions not apply to the slip road outside our properties in Salmon Street, NW98NL?
Bassingham Road, Wembley, HA0 4RJ (Objects)
Living close to Wembley Central makes my life hell on event days. Using the tube station is a nightmare and it takes me and my family hours to get anywhere even by car. Our life just stops. If we need to go out then we have to fork out extra time and cash to get to another tube station to avoid the mad chaos in Wembley Central area.

There is no way I and I guess any resident of Brent who lives close to the stadium will support this proposal to add extra nightmarish days for the residents to the stadium’s calendar!
Bassingham Road, Wembley, HA0 4RJ (Objects)
Absolutely terrible idea. Event days completely ruin the lives of neighbors on those days and days leading up to and after in so many ways (i.e. incredible amounts of traffic on event days, and days leading up to and after the event, station closures so you cannot even leave Wembley, excessive numbers of people on the street where many are completely inebriated and behaving badly, difficulty parking on event days just to go to the shops). The list goes on. I am completely against this proposal and it seems that we already have too many events on.
Quadrant Court, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0BY (Objects)
Operating the Stadium at its full capacity generates excessive traffic, and the volume of crowds disrupt access to public transport and other local shops/amenities for local residents. The diversion of buses from their usual routes is highly inconvenient, and their is a problem with the suspension of visitor parking.

Some local residents have complained about anti-social behaviour such as public intoxication, urinating in the streets, offensive chanting, and violent assaults before or after Spurs games, generating fears for their safety. The volume of crowds particularly restricts the ability of the elderly, disabled or families with young children from moving around the neighbourhood on event days.
Forum House, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0HL (Objects)
Why do you even bother to make a consultation if you’re going to ignore it? Despite the great opposition in last year’s consultation and in the meetings held in the Civic Centre you still did whatever you wanted and approved it. And my “precognitive powers” tell me that’s what going to happen again this year.
Quadrant Court, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0EY (Objects)
Events days in Wembley disrupts our family life outings especially on the weekend. The buses are on divert, people are drinking and misbehaving.They dirty the street with glass bottles and food thrown every where. It is very unsafe to take our kids out due to people drinking and some of them creating a hovac. The event day parking restrictions are set in place and we have to park our cars far away from home and walk back home which is again not fair as I am paying council tax and as a resident of Wembley I should be able to park my car without the event day restriction installed on me. As we can see that no provision has been made for the residents living around the stadium in terms of freedom of movement and hence we are house bound which is truly unfair. Therefore i object this planning permission and if granted would just mean that the council has not taken into Consideration the comments and the sentiment of the residents.
Forum House, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0HJ (Objects)
I think it is an absolutely terrible idea. Event days completely ruin the lives of neighbors on those days and days leading up to and after in so many ways (i.e. incredible amounts of traffic on event days, and days leading up to and after the event, station closures so you cannot even leave Wembley, excessive numbers of people on the street where many are completely inebriated and behaving badly, difficulty parking on event days just to go to the shops). The list goes on. I am completely against this proposal and it seems that we already have too many events on.
Logan Road, Wembley, HA9 8PY (Supports)
I would be very happy if Tottenham Hotspur continue playing at Wembley Stadium beyond December 2018, as my household hires out our driveway and has thus generated plenty of income from the matches they have played there since the 2016/17 season. On virtually every occasion Spurs have played there, we have received a booking for our driveway.

As a supporter of Watford who attends virtually all of the club’s away matches, I am hopeful that our away match v Spurs on Wednesday 30th January 2019 will be played at Wembley, as I relish every opportunity to attend matches there, and you never know, maybe I will finally get to see Watford win a match at Wembley, where they have lost on each of the three previous occasions I have seen them play there. Also, playing the match at Wembley would mean that I would be home quicker than if the match was played at White Hart Lane, and would mean I would be home considerably quicker than when the two teams met earlier in the season in a Carabao Cup match in Milton Keynes, when I did not get home until about 1:00am due to the lack of trains between Bletchley and London and due to the first train due being cancelled.

I feel that it makes a lot of sense for as much use as possible to be found for Wembley Stadium, as it would be a bit sad if the ground once again often laid dormant for weeks on end (or months on end during winter) like it did before Spurs began giving the ground regular use. Hopefully Chelsea will play two or three seasons (maybe even more if they encounter problems rebuilding Stamford Bridge like Spurs have with White Hart Lane) at Wembley within the next few years.

Another reason why I support the continuation of Spurs staging matches at Wembley is because it seems to have sparked an increase in the provision of free tickets to events being given to the local community. This has enabled my family to have received tickets for three events.
Marathon House, 33 Olympic Way, Wembley, HA9 0GF (Objects)
Thanks for sending the consultation letter.

I have two main objections related to the flow of crowd and traffic.

1) There is no management on the flow of the crowd. They should be restricted to just the main Olympic Way and not allowed to wander off on any other roads and streets (e.g Fulton Road, Rutherford Way etc). This will make sure that the residents in the area can leave and come back to their homes without any disturbance. Otherwise, these additional events will cause significant disruption to the residents’ daily lives.

2) The Traffic management leaves a lot to be desired as well. Engineers Way is typically close for a few hours on such event days which causes a great deal of disruption. Also, there does not seem to be any limit on the number of vehicles allowed in the area on the event day. The increase in the flow of traffic causes environmental concerns in terms of noise and air pollution. These events should be made pedestrian only with spectators not allowed to park their cars in the area.

Kind Regards,
Millennium Place, London, E2 9NL (Objects)
Comment submitted date: Sun 18 Nov 2018
I believe that the building referred to as the ‘Wembley NATIONAL Stadium’ will have its character altered, and harmed, by continued association with one, privately owned Premier League football club at this level of use.

When seen as an emergency ‘stop-gap’ measure, the use of Wembley National Stadium was seen as a necessary, short-term measure. Continued association with one club now presents the appearance of an open-ended relationship which irrevocably alters the character and image of the national stadium.

Furthermore, the ongoing relationship with Wembley National Stadium potentially gives the privately-owned premier League Club an advantage when playing latter-stage FA/ League cup games which purport to being played at the neutral Wembley National Stadium but at which one Privately owned Premier League club will have become used to playing and perceiving as a ‘home’ ground.

Alternative football stadium options exist for said privately-owned Premier League club including, but not limited to: Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, Portman Road Stadium in Ipswich, Brisbane Road Stadium in Leyton, and any financial impediment, suffered thanks to fixtures taking place at smaller capacity grounds than the Wembley National Stadium should not be a consideration of influence in this decision but must be seen as a cost to be borne by the privately owned Premier League Club.
Clarendon Gardens, Wembley, HA9 7QW (Objects)
The cap on events has already been broken. While it is inevitable that build of the new THFC stadium has not run to time, Wembley residents have been disrupted without recompense or, indeed, thought to the disruption caused more than enough.

17 more football events between January and May, plus the onslaught of concerts already planned in summertime is insidious. There is no infrastructure relating to public transport for those of us who have to commute through central London which is already stretched to capacity in early evenings. Parking is costly, if it can be found, anyone has the option to park at Wembley Park Station car park meaning that the woefully inadequate bus service to/from the station (route 297) grinds to an almost halt/carries an unsafe number of passengers.

Sporting, and music, fans who drink to excess are not policed; they are just left to disturb local residents who have to travel.

So no, I do not support this application whatsoever.
Pienna Apartments, 2 Elvin Gardens, Wembley, HA9 0GN (Objects)
I am a resident living close to Wembley Stadium. Although I understand that events happen throughout the year at Wembley Stadium, I am opposed to increasing the number of sporting events to be held at Wembley Stadium due to the increased noise levels (which we can hear inside our flat) and disruption to travel in the area by car, tube and on foot.

East Stand Apartments, Highbury Stadium Square, London, N5 1FF (Objects)

As a Londoner I am concerned about the environmental impact of additional games being played in such a densely populated area of London. Air quality in London is already at an unacceptable level with daily reports of children suffering lung damage.


The people of Brent have had to endure increased levels of crime and antisocial behaviour and to expect them to continue to accept this for an additional period of time is just not reasonable.
Central Road, Wembley, HA0 2LH (Objects)
Local residents are already facing parking problems when they wants to do family get together they do not get enough parking permission for their guest. By allowing additional events to take place this will increase inconvenience to local residents. In addition to this Brent council and Wembley stadium makes additional money but local residents gets no benefit apart from inconvenience.
Watford Road, Wembley, HA0 3HF (Objects)
Would like to go about my life particularly at weekends without the addition congestion on our poor ill maintained roads with event days.
I am being restricted now on to many days with event days with its parking issues for visitors and family gatherings.
On the requested months will mean most weekends having congestion divertions and restrictions for me and my neighbours losing quiet enjoyment of our surrounding area.

Brent council and Wembley stadium your pushing your luck,why would any agree to the proposed changes

Empire Court, North End Road, Wembley, HA9 0AJ (Objects)
We appreciate the positive effect that these events have on business in the Wembley area, however, as a family living close to the stadium, road access via car to our flat on event days is already bad as it is.

Adding 17 more opportunities for us to get stuck in badly managed traffic, or not being able to return to our home at all for over 2 hours before and after each game, doesn’t sound like a good idea at all.


We also have to contend with inebriated visitors loitering near our property leaving rubbish and making noise. As council tax paying residents we see no benefit to having to plan our lives around stadium events.


If Brent Council would work to solve this situation with special access rights and routes for residents for the entire duration of these events, or reductions in council tax for those in the near vicinity, we could be swayed, but as it stands, we absolutely object to this application.

Office 103, Empire House, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0EW (Objects)

On behalf of Wembley Traders Association we would like to state we support the application. We have seen that the rise of events in recent times has helped improve income amongst the local traders and given a much needed boost. It has been proven that Wembley Stadium have been more than able to handle the demand and 3rd Parties such as Tottenham Hotspur have been generous to the local community and very approachable. Wembley has adapted to the demand of the increase in events and we see absolutely no reason why this should be maintained or increased

Comment submitted date: Sat 17 Nov 2018

Dear Sir/Madam

I have two main objections to the proposed additional 17 extra events at Wembley Stadium 15th Jan-12 May 2019.

The first is the extra crowds using public transport on event days (especially the evening events). I travel from Kings Cross to Wembley Park station Monday to Friday during peak hours and when there is a Tottenham game in the evening it makes the journey quite unpleasant with the overcrowding and noise from supporters. I have seen no violence but the crowds can be rowdy and intimidating and the TFL alcohol ban is not enforced, supporters are drinking alcohol. The public transport system cannot cope with the extra number of travelers at 18:00 when people are trying to get home from work. Why should hard working people who live in Wembley park have to suffer this so more events can be scheduled at Wembley Stadium.

I have lived in Wembley Park for three and a half years. I have always been disappointed with the general appearance of the local vicinity around my flat. In particular the Wembley Park underground station and surrounding area in Bridge Road. The whole area looks very dirty and shabby. I have complained in writing to Brent Council and my local Councillors and MP Barry Gardiner about the appearance of Wembley Park station and in particularly the Bridge Road entrance which can only be described a filthy! I feel these areas are not maintained properly with the current amount of people visiting the area (regardless of whose responsibility it is Brent Council, Wembley Stadium of TFL). If even more people visit the area I feel the local services that local residents use everyday such as Wembley Park Station will fall into further decline. It emerged from the replies that I received from Brent Councillors and Barry Gardiner that it appears Wembley stadium and TFL take no responsibility for the impact the events have on local residents and infrastructure.

Who benefits from these extra fixtures? Certainly not local residents and commuters who are expected to travel on rowdy overcrowded trains and use filthy stations and not be able to use the local shops in Bridge Road because they are full of TFC fans! If the owners of Wembley Stadium made a visible contribution to residents that live in Wembely park such as some kind of sponsorship helping TFL maintain the tube station (cleaning and improving the area) it might seem that that care about the impact their business has on the people that live here. The Wembley Stadium operators and Brent Council only seem to focus and invest in the area immediately around the stadium and Olympic Way. There also seems to be no partnership with TFL to improve local residents’ experience that are affected by the extra number of people attending events.

North Circular Road, Stonebridge, London, NW10 0HY (Objects)
We have lived here for over 20. When we moved here we accepted that on occasions our lives would be inconvenienced by events at the stadium, but since Tottenham started using the stadium the impact on our personal lives has been negativity impacted.

It’s bad enough that if we wish to invite family/friends to socialise at our home we have to work around event day restrictions, increasing this to allow an additional 17 major sporting THFC means our ability to live our lives like others in the borough would be significantly impacted.

On top of this I frequently have had to travel home from work with football fans, whose language leaves a lot to be desired that is if you can get on the train in the first place. Wembley Stadium as the home ground for THFC must not impact any further on our lives. We didn’t move to live near the grounds of a football club, and as local residents who were here before they were we must not be penalised because THFC cannot get their act in gear and move to their new home ground.

I object to this extension

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3 comments:

Martin Francis said...

Copy of letter to Carolyn Downs, Brent Council CEO, from Paul Lorber: Dear Ms Downs

As you know Tottenham have now submitted a Planning application for extra games on top of the 35 cap.

This does have an impact on local communities as the parking restrictions (and other issues) have an impact on people leading a normal life and organisations holding events are impacted by lower attendances.

The published 8am to 12pm restrictions are penal and unjustified and the signage warning people of events are still inadequate.

I appreciate that Planning will deal with this in its own way and may be influenced by the extra CIL money on offer. Perhaps someone can confirm how much this will be.

Irrespective of this I think the Council should also set out clearly how the Wembley Event Day zone area will be improved - with restrictions reduced to core times around each event and the signage improved.

Residents were promised improvements when Tottenham first came in but it is not clear whether these have been delivered yet or when they will be.

I would appreciate an indication how the Council intends to help local residents to cope with the extra games.

Regards

Paul Lorber

Sandro said...

A complete & utter waste of time in objecting! I strongly objected last year but I for one will not be posting an objection this time round for the plain & simple reason that Brent Council will grant Spurs & the FA whatever they wish for irrespective of how many objections occur.

Brent Council offer us residents a 'consultation' only because they have to by law but the decisions are already decided well in advance & our objections fall on deaf ears, this of course goes for the concrete jungle building projects in the area also but let's just stick to football for the time being.

Best of luck to Mr Lorber & all the other residents who wish to object but it's a complete waste of bloody time!

Jaine Lunn said...

100% Agree with you Sandro, last time the Council received 177 Comments, 8 Supporting, 3 Neutral and overwhelmingly the majority Objected, and yes it was Granted. What makes me laugh is all the residents from the new properties built around the stadium Objecting lmfao. Clearly non did their research when deciding the live in close proximity to Wembley Stadium, what were they thinking? Clearly they do not watch TV or read the News. Like you it's a forgone conclusion, WNSL need the revenue this generates and since when did residents consultations ever dictate how a private company run their business. If WNSL wanted to run an event every day of the week with capacity of up to 50,000 they could do so.

My only comment would be to increase the contributions that Spurs or WNSL pay for increased parking enforcement, traffic management, and rubbish collection. Along with increased payments for Policing to reduce anti-social behaviour.