EXCLUSIVE Lottery Community Fund withdraws support from Wembley Central Big Local Partnership

The Wembley Central Big Local area

The  Trustees of the Local Trust that manages the Big Local programmes funded by the Lottery have dissolved their formal relationship with the Wembley Central Big Local Partnership LINK .

The public face of the Partership is Wembley Futures LINK  Among the partners listed on its website are Ark Elvin Academy, Elsley Primary School, Barham Community Library, Federation of Patidars, Wembley Crime Prevention, Daniels Den, SAAFI, Daniel Estate Agents and The Hub Group (developers of the 'Twin Towers' on the Chesterfield House site).

The Local Trust explains Big Local:

Big Local is an exciting opportunity for residents in 150 areas around England to use at least £1m to make a massive and lasting positive difference to their communities (over 10years).

It is about bringing together all the local talent, ambitions, skills and energy from individuals, groups and organisations who want to make their area an even better place to live.

The decision by the Local Trust follows complaints by members and previous members of the Partnership outlining a number of conflicts and concerns regarding the Wembley Central Big Local and formal concerns by the Trust itself over the Partnership not meeting minimum criteria and unacceptable standards of behaviour by Partnership members  witnessed by the Trust itself.

They conclude that the current Partnership is dysfunctional in its current form, there is mistrust amongst many of its members and no credible plan to move the Big Local programme forward to deliver the local priorities previously agreed.

The Local Trust suggest there is a high level of risk in terms of investing the Big Local funds appropriately and a reputational risk locally and more widely.

The Trust will now 'take ownership' by following up with CommUNITY Barnet as the Locally Trusted Organisation.

They conclude that though they regret having to take such action there is no workable alternative.  In doing so they say they are acting in the best interest of the individuals, the area and the  programme.

Brent Young Green writes on how the Green Party harnesses the radicalism of the school strikers

This article by Brent Young Greens member Macsen Brown was first published on the Bright Green blog LINK  yesetrday and is republished with the author's permission.

The campaign for the 2019 General Election is well underway, and the parties are well into the rhythm of things. The Lib Dems are cranking out their dodgy bar charts, the Tories are hitting the scene with a steady stream of lies and deception – and everyone is insisting that they’re the only party that is taking the climate emergency seriously.

But it seems to me that there is only one party that is even remotely close to understanding the radical political, economic and social change that beating this civilisational crisis requires – and that is the Green Party. This is of course my personal opinion, and by no means an endorsement of the party on behalf of the wider school strike movement or the UK Student Climate Network.

This snap election, originally called to resolve an artificial crisis of Tory/Liberal creation, comes at the end of a year of change. It is the cumulation of decades of neoliberalism, privatisation, greed and austerity – which is in itself a continuation of centuries of colonialist and capitalist exploitation of the Global South and of workers everywhere.

This crisis began centuries ago, but every day that goes by it increases in intensity. We missed our last chance to save the world decades ago, what we are trying to do now is to limit the death count and build a sustainable society that can better resist the catastrophe this system has unleashed. Friday the 29th is a Global Climate Strike, but here in the UK it is also opportunity for disenfranchised young people like myself to make our voices heard. We strike monthly because as it stands the government is not meeting our demands, the government is failing to keep us safe.

Today thousands of us will be striking to demand that the UK economy is completely decarbonised by 2030 through a Green New Deal. Integral to this is a worker-led just transition away from the fossil fuel industry and others that contribute to this climate crisis. The Green New Deal calls for the rewilding and the restoration of habitats devastated by the capitalist class’ rampant search for profit, it also calls for the elimination of inequality on a local, national and global scale. The political and economic system that gave us this crisis is responsible for the destruction of communities and lives across the UK, but also across the planet. The Green Party manifesto recognises this, pairing radical environmental policies with a social transformation on a scale that is simply not met by other parties.

The work of Labour for a Green New Deal has been phenomenal, and that the membership did indeed pass a GND resolution at their most recent conference – the fact remains that Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution (though miles ahead of the Tories’ farce of a climate policy) has been watered down by the leadership and as it stands lacks the ambition and scope of a genuine Green New Deal. They will often point to their success in getting parliament to declare a climate emergency as proof of their worthiness, but words don’t cut it alone – and besides, it was Green councillor Carla Denyer who got the first climate emergency motion passed in Bristol.

The Lib Dems similarly fall short of the line with a failure to commit to decarbonisation by 2030, and a continued endorsement of the neoliberalism and austerity that continues to ravage our climate and our communities.

We are also calling for a radical reformation of the way young people are educated about the climate crisis – that the government Teach the Future. The Green manifesto calls for an English Climate Emergency Education Act (just like TTF) as well as putting schools back into the hands of our communities, building links between students and the world around them – both human and natural. We need to start preparing young people for the new world that is coming, for better or worse; and the Green Party’s evidence-based, pragmatic policy is a step towards we need.

We are also asking that the government Tell the Future, with a massive public information campaign that ensures everyone in the UK genuinely understands the sheer scale and scope of this crisis, and what needs to be done to fight back.

Finally, the future must be empowered. This means finally giving 16 and 17 year olds the vote, as a Green government would do, but it also means going far, far beyond that. I feel very strongly that everyone living in a country has a right to take part in that country’s democratic process, that suffrage must be genuinely universal. This means extending the franchise to prisoners and migrants as well as removing the barriers that prevent people without fixed addresses from exercising their right.

But what use is having a vote if it counts for nothing? What this crisis shows us is that now, just as we always have, we need a democratic revolution. This means electing national representatives by the fairest system (STV), organising ourselves horizontally with maximal direct participation from people in their communities, making decisions as a community. It’s not just Cymru, Alba and Éire, we all need independence from Westminster.

Of course, the Green Party is not perfect, but looking at the choice that adults will have to make in December it seems to me that they’re by far the best one you can make.

It’s time we stopped settling for second best, that we stopped picking the lesser of many evils. We are often sneered at and called idealists, but in reality I can think of no party more pragmatic and rational than the Greens. There can be no delusion that things can go on as they are, that we can compromise or find a middle ground between climate justice and genocide. We must do what reality demands, not what politicians can be bothered to do.

Header image credit: Stephen Smith – Creative Commons

Ban on election leafleting of Northwick Park University of Westminster students

The Harrow Halls of Residence

As a result of encouragement by the University a third of the 1,500 students accommodated at the Northwick Park University of Westminster  halls of residence have registered to vote.

Excellent work encouraging democratic participation of young people.

All the more perplexing then that a polite request to distribute election material to the student flats was, equally politely, turned down by the management of the accommodation.

I was told that this was a decision made at the highest level as the University did not want the students inundated with material and that modern students got all their information through internet searches rather than leaflets.

Apparently this ban applied to all political parties and bundles of leaflets delivered to the Campus by the Labour Party had been binned.

I wonder if the students have had any say in this decision that I was told was 'final'.

Sadiq Khan visit to Wembley Pak cancelled

A General Election campaigning visit to Wembley Park by London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been cancelled folowing the London Bridge attack.

Cllr Sarah Marquis joins Michael Pavey in resigning from Brent Council

Cllr Marquis

From the Brent Council website

Councillor Sarah Marquis, a local Councillor for the Barnhill Ward in the London Borough of Brent, has resigned today.

Councillor Marquis notified Carolyn Downs, Returning Officer and Chief Executive of Brent Council, of her decision to stand down with immediate effect due to family and personal reasons.
Her resignation creates another vacancy for the office of Councillor for the Barnhill ward, alongside the vacancy opened up in the same ward earlier this week due to the resignation of Councillor Michael Pavey.

In order to trigger a by-election, two local government electors in Brent must write to the Chief Executive’s Office requesting that an election take place.

Two letters are required to fill each vacancy. On receipt of the requests to fill this vacancy, the Returning Officer will set a date for an election to be held within 35 days.

All requests / letters regarding these vacancies must be sent to: Chief Executive’s Office, Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ or by email to: Carolyn.Downs@brent.gov.uk or Chief.Executive@brent.gov.uk.

Cllr Marquis is a former Chair of Brent Planning Committee where she often displayed a principled independent streak. LINK

South Kilburn General Election Hustings December 4th

South Kilburn Hustings

Come to meet the  5 candidates for  Hampstead and Kilburn Constituency:

Johnny LUK (Conservatives)

James POINTON (Brexit)

Matt SANDERS (Liberal Democrats)

Tulip SIDDIQ (Labour)

David STANSELL (Green Party)

Bring your questions!

4 December 7-9pm

at Carlton Centre Rumi's Cave

Carlton Vale, NW6 5RA

Note: Brondesbury Park, Kilburn and Queens Park are Brent wards that are in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency 

Hosted by

Brent's independent voice for the disabled silenced

No longer able to afford the market rent demanded by the NHS  for its premises in Willesden Hospital Brent Advocacy Concerns has closed its doors today and will vacate tomorrow.

Last week I received this message from John Healy, one of the volunteers (there are no paid workers):

I know you are very busy with the election and climate change, not forgetting Brent's pavement's as well but I am just letting you know that we will be leaving our office this Friday, the 29th November 2019 (on the same site for over 31 years) where we have been continuously providing advocacy to the disabled community in Brent during all that time.

We are not closing down (yet) as we will still be available online but without seeing people in person, I think it will only be a matter of time before we close the charity down completely.

Through Wembley Matters, could you ask both the council and Brent CCG who will take over from us by  seeing disabled people face to face in an office, when we are no longer there.

With a nice bit of irony--A Clinical Psychologist from Northwick Park Hospital has asked us (21/11/19) to provide him with an advocate for one of his stroke patients, who can no longer access his kitchen & bathroom.  I have sent him two emails offering to advocate for him but as yet, he has not replied.

John got in touch again this evening to say:

Hi Martin, I had three disabled people contact me on my last day.

Including:-

A lady with Autism who had been turned down by PowHer, Voiceability and Brent CAB who all said she did not meet their eligibility criteria.  Even the council turned her away, saying she was not entitled to a needs assessment.  Under The Care Act, 2014, the council have a statutory duty to carry out an assessment for anyone who asks for one.

So with us gone after today, who will help disabled people in Brent?

 

Best wishes

I hope the the Council and Brent CCG will respond but I don't think it right not to finish without thanking John and his colleagues, past and present, for what they have done for Brent people with a disability over the past three decades.

Thank you.

Brent Central Hustings on Austerity Saturday December 7th

Please sign the petition to improve the Quainton Street Open Space and Brent River/Feeder Walk - Deadline December 1st

Quainton Street Open Space (top right) -the trees trace the route of the River Brent towards St Davids Open Space

Quainton Street Open Space is one of the hidden delights of Brent - when it is not covered in litter... A section of it is on the Brent Green Walk I devised LINK

Now there is a great proposal to request Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure funds to improve the Quainton Street Open Space and the rive/feeder course from the Welsh Harp. The deadline is December 1st. Please sign HERE

From Brent Rivers and Community Project

On 21 November 2019, we went to Quainton Street Open Space again for the second event of the series. The objectives this time were to pick litter from the park area and surroundings, and to open access to the river. But, we did much more than that… In addition to the proposed activities, the group of eager volunteers cleared the towpath making it safe for passersby to walk on.

In this cloudy and breezy autumn day, we started to work at 10.30 am, and stopped at 2.30pm, despite the call from volunteers to continue.

Many peculiar items were collected, this time we found a collection of vintage bottle tops, a funny hat and other unusual pieces. It seems that there are small abandoned camp sites in the park, each of them containing huge amounts of litter. We are looking to have them all cleared after the third event on 30 November 2019.

The aftermath: 58 bags of litter, 2 mattresses, as well as many clothes and shoes - and this cleared space!

During the event, there were also wildlife occurrences, and two were noteworthy: the presence of toads near the pond area, and a kingfisher. “It is great to see these organisms at Quainton Street Open Space, I couldn’t imagine that they would live here”, said a volunteer. We will continue to spot and report wildlife in and around the River Brent, highlighting the importance of biodiversity.

In the next events that will happen on the 30^th November and then in January and February, participants will have the opportunity to help the river and park area further, to expand their knowledge on the River Brent, meet other people, share experiences and expand their network. As well as building dead hedges and bird nesting boxes.

CLICK HERE MORE INFORMATION

Building on the great start of the Brent Rivers and Communities project at Quainton Recreation Ground, we’re pulling together an application for Brent Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) funding to extend riparian improvements and create a riverside walk in the park just downstream of the Welsh Harp reservoir..

Community support with make a BIG difference to this application!

The deadline is Sunday 1^st December.

Walk the riverside & discover nature safely: Wembley to the Welsh Harp SSSI

Please Sign! Forward and Share this petition LINK

You can also tweet LINK

Everyone’s signature will help to make a real difference! 

Furious residents confront Brent Council officials over tree removal and win some concessions

Chris Whtye, representing Brent Council, confessed that tonight's meeting outside Furness Primary School in Furness Road about the removal of 11 trees, was much bigger than he had anticipated. He was given the unenviable task of both giving the Council's case and responding to questions. Brent Council leader Cllr Muhammed Butt and Lead member for the Environment, stayed silent for the first part of the meeting, leaving Officers to take the brunt of the crowd's passionate criticism of Council policy on removing trees and asphalting of walkways.

Eleven trees were to be removed from Furness Road and Chris told the crowd that five would now stay after review, three would be removed because they were diseased, dead or dying and three would be removed because contractors could find no way of laying the new footway around them.

This did not satisfy the protesters and nor did a further concession that the trees would be replaced by semi-mature plantings rather than saplings. They pointed out the widely different contribution to reducing air pollution made by different sizes of trees and the carbon cost of fossil fuel based asphalt compared with replacing cracked paving. Officers pointed out their duty to protect pedestrians from tripping hazards and falling branches.

The Council were reminded of the battle over asphalting in Chandos Road and the removing of very old specimen trees in Old Paddington Cemetery.

 Cllr Butt, Leader of Brent Council, responds

The meeting did not so much conclude as tail off in a series of arguments with Muhammed Butt furious in certain exchanges. However a cool intervention by Cllr Jumbo Chan won a promise of a properly chaired meeting of residents and the Council in early-January.

It was hard to be absolutely certain in the chaos but I believe the Council undertook to carry out no work in Furness Road until the meeting has taken place.

Brent Council accused of mendacity over trees/paving policy

Salmon Street, NW9 - August 2019

 From an email sent to Brent Council:

RE: Brent Council Announces Climate Emergency And Then Chops Down All The Trees

Are you still insisting we hold a meeting outside in the dark today, at rush hour, before most residents have got home ?

I am unsure exactly what you propose to convey to us with your "brief discussion" in these conditions; we obviously will not be able to see the trees you mention.

Is it your intension to try to confine this discussion only to these remaining eleven trees on Furness Road ?

As you know the systematic destruction of Brent’s wonderful & varied stock of mature trees has been ongoing for a decade. 

Many of us have correspondence with the council going back several years regarding the tragic culling of mature and healthy trees outside our homes.

Amid repeated broken promises of them being replaced, line upon line have been erased from our streets. Furness Road has suffered terribly. And it continues.

We would like them back.

Who is sending these chainsaw gangs around the borough and why?

Similar action by another council in a recent case was described by Michael Gove (then Minister for the Environment) as “Ecological Vandalism’.

At an impromptu gathering outside Furness Rd School last Monday, a council representative claimed that it is Brent Council’s intention to replace ALL paving stones throughout the whole borough with asphalt.

Can you confirm if this is true ?

If so, what volume of asphalt in tonnage is likely to be purchased by the council ? 

I’m sure rough estimates by quantity-surveyors were calculated before such a decision was made.

What calculations regarding carbon offsetting, to cancel-out the use of such a large quantity of petroleum-based bitumen/asphalt have been completed ?

And, how does the felling of thousands, of mature trees help in this offsetting?

Clearly, in spite of recent claims by Brent Council, that they are in some way concerned with the environment, their actions (historic & ongoing), and recent decisions regarding pavements and canopy cover (without consultation) demonstrate the opposite. Indeed, it shows utter contempt.

This amounts to a public relations disaster for Brent Council & current MP, and yet further anger & frustration for the borough’s long-suffering residents.

Finally, I understand Krupa Seth will be attending today.

I do look forward to Counciller Sheth's answers to our previously unanswered questions and outstanding FOI requests sent to her under separate cover.

And a response to the above email from a resident with whom it was shared:

Thank you for an intelligent and insightful email which rightly centres on Brent Councils casual disregard for its tree stock and the profligate waste of money caused by this approach to pavement works, that is compounded by the damaging use of the extensive amounts of a fossil fuel derivative.

Brent Council has a corporate responsibility to reduce the amount of fossil fuel use in the borough – not increase it steadily.

This is for obvious reasons – obvious to everyone else, except the officers of Brent Council.

Brent is fortunate in that it appears to have many intelligent, engaged people who really do care about their borough and the way it is managed – it is deeply shameful that Brent Council continues with its ruinous pursuit of degrading the public realm facilitated by a Council that views its environmental responsibilities as a minor inconvenience.

I see again, the mendacious line trotted out again that a replacement sapling is in anywhere near a reasonable replacement of a mature tree as regards the large environmental benefits provided by a mature tree.

It will take decades for the replacement sapling to reach the same amounts of carbon sequestration, the production of oxygen, reduction in solar gain and the ecological benefits for wildlife.

Anyone with common sense can see the lunacy and ignorance of that statement – any honest arborist would tell you exactly the same thing. 

You would think it should be incumbent for the officers of Brent Council to be aware of this basic fact – this is not a difficult of overly complicated concept.

If not, they are either ignorant or incompetent or just plain dishonest.

This is a borough wide issue regardless of Brent Council's opinion and residents will continue to fight this environmental degradation everywhere in the borough.

How is Mallard Way's asphalt faring 3 years on as policy comes under scrutiny?

Brent Council's justification for asphalt replacing paving - 2016

With the current controversy raging in Mapesbury Conservation Area over the replacement of paving with asphalt I thought it worth checking on the current state of Mallard Way, in Kingsbury NW(, which was asphalted 3 years ago.

For the most part the walkway is smooth although there are some shallow indentations in places which accumulate rainwater. The photos below suggest that there is some cracking beginning and mould/moss. which becomes a slipping hazard in wet or icy weather, is beginning to form in places.

Next to a tree pit

Cracking beginning

Moss/mould

Preston Library Fundraiser Party Sunday December 1st - with the Silvertones

Brave the rain to save the trees - Furness Road, 5pm tonight

Rainy Day With Umbrellas Painting by Natalja Picugina

It is not the best time for an outdoor meeting but residents are expected to gather outside Furness Primary School in Furness Road NW10 at 5pm tonight to meet Brent officers and councillors to try and find a solution to the issue of 11 trees in the street which the Council has scheduled for felling.

The trees on Furness Road from above

As word has got around the community people from elsewhere in Brent have also expressed concern about the fate of trees in their local area.  Pedestrian safety and insurance claims are set against concerns that healthy mature trees that contribute to combating pollution and enrich the urban scene are being lost.

Cllr Michael Pavey resigns - By-election in Barnhill ward in January

Cllrs Butt, Choudhary, Marquis & Pavey

 I had to miss tonight's Council meeting but I understand that a by-election was announced to take place in January 2020 as a result of the resignation of a sitting councillor. The ward is currently held by three Labour councillors - Cllr Shafique Choudhary, Cllr Sarah Marquis and Cllr Michael Pavey. Michael Pavey resigned for personal reasons.

Pavey is a former Deputy Leader of the Council who stood against Cllr Muhammed Butt for the Labour leadership.LINK

The by-election is likely to be held in mid to late-January when two ward electors have asked for an election.

The road to Hell is paved with Brent's good intent (or asphalt)

 

Recent paving in the Barn Hill Conservation area - why not Mapesbury?

A Mapesbury resident who is a retired Civil and Structural Enginer (MIStructE and MICE) has carried out a pavement survey of Dartmouth Road where Brent Council wishes to replace the paving in this Conservation Area road with asphalt.

The survey has been forwarded to the  Council and members of the Mapesbury Residents Association.

The works have been temporarily suspended giving time for  review and it is hoped that in the light of the Council's Climate Emergency Declaration an assessment will be made of the comparative carbon footprint of renewing broken paving compared with taking paving up and replacing with asphalt.

Dartmouth Road Pavement Survey.

Carbon footprint of proposed replacement of paving slabs by asphalt

Date:  20.11.19

This report is based on a detailed survey of the pavements on both sides of Dartmouth Road:

A:  between nos. 103 to 131

B:  between nos. 60 – 92

Which is ¼ of the length of Dartmouth Road.

C:  between nos. 1 – 24.  This last section has recently been repaved and is in excellent order.  See appendix for the survey results for this section.

Pavements are on average 2700 mm. wide and are formed using 600 x 750 and 600 x 600 precast concrete paving slabs. The width consists of two of each size staggered: 

(2 x 750 ) + ( 2 x 600 ) = 2700.

Each property is approx. 10 m wide and so there are theoretically 16 ½ x 4 = 68 slabs per property. But many properties have vehicle crossovers which reduces the number of slabs. The crossovers are either of concrete or block paving construction or a mix of one of these plus paving slabs.  There are also a very few tarmac crossovers.

Where trees occur the paving is extended upto the tree or there is a resin gravel type infill upto the tree, or occasionally tarmac or nothing with the soil visible. Whatever has been installed next to the tree has usually failed in some way and is uneven.  These areas have the most trip hazards.

Concrete and concrete block vehicle crossovers have performed best and are often in good serviceable order. Any area of crossovers that is surfaced with paving slabs is in poor condition with on average over 1 / 3 of the paving slabs cracked.

Good condition slabs .			Cracked slabs .
Between crossovers	At vehicle crossovers	Total	Between crossovers	At crossovers	Total
1540	243	1783	129	72	201
			% of total 129/1540= 8.3 %	% of total 72 / 243= 29.6%
Whole length of Dartmouth Road pro-rata  (i.e. x 132 / 32 )
6350	1000	7350

It can be seen that paved crossovers contribute nearly 4 times the rate of cracking that occurs  in areas between crossovers.

It can also be seen that within crossovers there are 243 – 72 = 171 uncracked slabs which is comfortably more than the 129 cracked slabs within the paved areas between crossovers. So when the defective crossovers are replaced there will be sufficient uncracked slabs recovered to replace all the cracked slabs between the crossovers.

We can extrapolate this detailed survey to the whole of Dartmouth Road because a visual inspection indicates that the area surveyed in detail here is of the same configuration as the whole of Dartmouth Road and the total figures for the whole road are shown in the table. 

The plan proposed by Brent Council is to remove all the paving and replace the crossovers with block paving and to infill between the crossovers using asphalt.

Therefore the number of paving slabs to be removed from between crossovers and dumped is 6350 slabs.  The slabs are 50mm thick

The average weight of a slab is (.6m x .675m x .05m) x 2000 kg / m cube = 40.5 kg

Therefore the weight of slabs to be removed = 6350 x 40.5 / 1000 = 257 tons. These slabs have to be lifted, piled up and then grab loaded onto a lorry and taken to a dump. Such loading will achieve about 10 tons per typical 8 wheel lorry giving rise to 26 lorry movements. And the dumping will attract landfill tax. More seriously, these slabs will remain in landfill unchanged for centuries.

Asphalt requires a well compacted base layer of stone which will have to be imported because the sand / soil / clay found under the existing slabs when lifted will need improvement. 

The area of new asphalt will be the same as the paving removed = 6350 x 0.6 x 0.675 = 2570 m square. 

Allow for a restored formation thickness of 75mm, this will require the removal of 75mm of existing soft material ( to maintain existing levels) and reinstatement using 75 mm of stone material. So the volume of material removed and replaced will be 2 (1 removal and one replacement) x 2570 x 0.075 = 385 m cube = 770 tons. Which at 15 tons per lorry for this type of material gives rise to 51 lorry movements.

The amount of asphalt required if 20mm thick will be 2570 x .02 = 51 m cube = 100 tons at least, requiring another 10 lorry movements.

So the total weight of materials being lifted and moved is 257 + 770 + 100 = 1,127 tons requiring 26 +5 1 + 10 = 87  lorry movements. 

The lorries will have to travel to a dump outside London and the asphalte and stone will have to be brought in from a quarry, also well outside London.  This represents a lot of diesel at 10 mpg! And this is just Dartmouth Road. For the whole of Mapesbury Estate there will be at least 6 x these quantities, i.e nearly 7,000 tons of materials dumped or imported, involving 500 plus lorry movements. 

Furthermore, since Brent plans to change all the pavements in the Borough for asphalt, the quantities will become huge.

It is obvious that the proposed use of asphalt to replace existing slab paving is totally unacceptable on carbon foot print grounds for material handling and transport and the energy intensive manufacture of the asphalt itself, which is a heavy crude oil hydrocarbon based product. Levelling the slabs in situ would have minimal carbon foot print and lead to a pleasing durable solution appropriate for a Conservation Area. 

Appendix:  P

Appendix:

The section of Dartmouth Road between Mapesbury Road and Exeter Road has also been surveyed in detail as follows. This section was re-laid using slabs 5 years ago and is in very good condition and shows how successful slab paving can be when well laid.

Survey on Dartmouth Road between numbers 2 and 14 and the opposite odd numbers side which is in equally good condition
Good condition slabs .			Cracked slabs .
Between crossovers	At crossovers	Total	Between crossovers	At crossovers	Total
1043	No paved crossovers, all are conc. or blocks or tarmac	1043	19 *	No paved crossovers, all are conc. or blocks or tarmac	19
			% of total 19/1043 = 1.8 %		% of total 19/1043 = 1.8 %

About half of these cracked slabs are so finely cracked it is difficult to see the crack because they have not moved having been very well laid.

This table applies to only 15 % of Dartmouth Road and so would not affect the pro-rata totals used above very much and in fact further support the case for retaining all the existing paving in Dartmouth Road.