Residents angered by the behaviour of football fans at the weekend contacted Brent Council calling for action and some residents even turned up on Council Leader Muhammed Butt's doorstep to complain.
There were three matches, one on each day of the bank holiday, but it was theAston Villa v Derby County match on Bank Holiday Monday that was the main focus of complaints.
 |
| Photo: Blog on the Block |
Yesterday’s football match was one that generated a number of complaints, worries and concerns amongst residents in both Forum House and Quadrant Court.
WPRA have received a multitude of videos and pictures as well as concerning messages but residents sent it via our WhatsApp group so we have tried to compile a list of the evidence for your perusal as it shows a lot needs to be done during such match days.
Please note that fans began arriving in the area at around 8/9am yesterday morning and the noise levels were ever increasing nearing hours before kick off so residents were extremely disturbed and felt the effects of this especially since our local Tesco remained closed for a number of hours before the match even began and Police were also called to the area but through what we have attached you can see there’s a need for a strategy that can look into local policing during match days.
In addition, it further adds to the Wembley Park Estate charges for residents feel this should not be covered by residents on such match days as the litter and antisocial behaviour during yesterday’s Bank Holiday Monday shows why residents feel Quintain should recoup such payments directly from the FA and or Brent should subsidise our council tax (as per discussions during our meeting last week).
Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt responded:May you please get back to us with your thoughts on how best to address this as residents are seeking direction on how best this will be resolved so that it is not repeated in the future.
I had residents calling me and knocking on my door because of the issues you mention.
I can assure you we are looking at what happened on Monday.
The behaviour of the fans was not acceptable and will make sure that all the relevant stakeholders are involved in trying to get to the bottom of this.
I was sent some of the pictures and videos.
This morning Brent Council tweeted:Let us look into this and will keep you informed.
To which another resident replied
7 comments:
In addition to the actions reported in this earlier tweet, I have since found out, the football fans also pulled at the wiper blades of this elderly gentleman's car and one even pulled his pants down to 'moon' at him.
https://twitter.com/amandarosephoto/status/1132633269122600962?s=19
Just stating a few facts, this does not normally happen as the grassed area is normally policed and fans are not allowed to congregate, sit and drink in this area as it is a Health and Safety Issue. However, on this day there was no Security or Police presence or barriers preventing this from happening, and I believe the blame should firmly be placed at the FA and Wembley Stadiums door. Over the years I have noted that there has been a dwindling of Police numbers at all Football events held at the stadium which again is down to the FA's not wanting to spend money. Instead of cowtowing to the FA and Quintain Brent Council need to grow some balls and demand they spend some of their huge profits, pay the going rate and stop using our Council Tax ££££s to bail them out.
The behaviour, and mess left behind, by Aston Villa and/or Derby County fans is disgraceful.
I would suggest that Brent Council sends formal letters of complaint to both clubs, including photographs etc., asking them to make clear to their supporters that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable, and should never be repeated, as it brings their club into disrepute.
The message should be that Brent welcomes visitors who come to Wembley for big sports and entertainment events, but in return those visitors should respect our area and its residents, and act as they would if Wembley were their own home area.
Copies of the letters should also be sent to local TV and radio stations covering Birmingham and Derby.
I contacted Brent Council's Press Officer after publishing this story to ask if they had any further comment and they said they had nothing to add at this stage, beyond the reply on Twitter.
FOR INFORMATION:
As is my usual practice, if I make a suggestion in a comment, for something the Council could do, I pass the suggestion on to them.
Carolyn Downs (Chief Executive) and Cllr. Butt now have my comment in their "inbox". I will let you know what response, if any, I receive.
Further to my copying this comment to Brent's Council Leader and Chief Executive, I have received the following reply from Carolyn Downs:
'Thanks for that suggestion Philip. We will consider on Monday. We have both made clear to the FA that this is completely unacceptable. The FA have written to Aston Villa in terms.'
I received the following message from Carolyn Downs today:
'Dear Philip, FYI I did write to Aston Villa.'
Although it is not always productive, I think it is important that we share our thoughts with councillors and Council Officers from time to time, on matters that we feel strongly about. If we don't, the people in the Civic Centre, who are meant to serve the interests of Brent's people, could get out of touch.
Post a Comment