Sudbury Town Residents Association have launched a petition and are crowdfunding legal action over Brent Council's Local Plan, and are asking residents to lobby their ward councillors to vote against at tomorrow's Full Council meeting which will also adopt the budget for 2022-23.
This is their appeal:
Ask Your Ward Councillors to VOTE NO to the Draft Local Plan on Friday 24 February 2022
SAY NO TO MORE Development in Brent
Brent Council planning officers have created the Draft Local Plan. Once this plan is adopted by Brent Council, planning officers can grant permission to build within and around our green spaces, force the sale of homes and turn our wonderful neighbourhood into rows of high rises.
We are all aware of the housing shortage in England, and like every borough, Brent was given a target to build new homes to help the Government minimise the shortage.
To meet housing shortage in England, Brent’s target was 23,250 new homes from 2019 to 2029and it has already met this target via developments approved in Northwick Park Hospital, Wembley Park Wembley Central, Beresford Avenue, Alperton House, MinavilHouse, Alperton Bus Garage and Bridgewater Road. However, as per their own Draft Local Plan, Brent Council plans to continue unnecessarily granting permission to build more new homes. An interesting observation is that there is insufficient planning to develop or add to vital infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, GP clinics and adult social services.
Everyone living in Brent has a say on the Local Plan and it’s the Council’s duty to consult its residents, but most residents are not even aware of its existence!
We are challenging Brent Council’s plans on a number of issues that will affect all Brent residents:
• Tall Buildings
• Intensification Corridors
• HMOs
• Compulsory Purchase
• Demolition of rows of houses
• Residential dwellings in rear gardens
• Replacement of pavilions and other buildings within green spaces with residential dwellings
• Building on brownfield sites within green spaces
Our group of community minded volunteers are trying to spread the word and let people know. We are local residents volunteering our precious time and expertise to try and protect our area from unnecessary development. We are non-political and independent. We are just trying to take care of our area and borough.
If you are also unhappy about the excessive development in Brent and would like to help, please:
• Donate to support our legal challenge via our Go Fund Me page
GoFundMe, https://gofund.me/bbd06d51
• sign the petition HERE
• ask your Ward Councillors to VOTE NO at the Full Council Meeting Friday 24 February 2022
11 comments:
A matter as complex, and involving so many additional documents, as approval of the Draft Local Plan, which will be in force and affect the lives of Brent's citizens for the next twenty years, should not be included on the agenda for Brent's Budget Setting Full Council meeting.
It should be the subject of a separate Full Council meeting, at which there is time for residents to give their views, through Deputations, and for councillors to speak, on behalf of residents in their Wards, before a decision is taken to adopt (or not) such a major piece of future planning policy.
It will be interesting to see how many Councillors listen to their residents and dig deep enough to consider all the consequences.
The target for new homes in Brent has been more than doubled by the current Labour Mayor. The consequence is even more massive tower blocks blighting our area. Very few of the high rise flats can be afforded by Brent residents. It looks as if the London Mayor has identified Brent as the easy target for more building for the rest of London. As STRA has rightly identified the Council either cannot cope or is incapable of dealing with the serious problems that all this new development is causing for existing Brent residents.
As the Local Plan has had to be changed due to Planning Inspector's concerns it should go back to a Special Council Meeting for consideration as Philip Grant has suggested. Today's Council Meeting is specific to confirming the Labour Cabinet's 4.2% Council Tax rise and there will be very little time allocated to any discussion of this important issue which has a massive impact on the lives of Brent residents.
Regarding the Local Plan, do you really think any of the current labour councillors actually understand the proposal, sorry idict from above? Do you think any labour councillor would dare to vote against the leadership?
Sorry, Butt's developer inspired dictatorship continues regardless of Brent residents' dispairs, and Towerblock Tatler's vision continues towards its inglorious future for Brent residents who continue to vote with their feet. Shame they don't do the same at the ballot box. We can only hope for a brighter future post May.
Perhaps a borough wide petition against tower blocks and inappropriate developments would be a better use of our time. Demanding Social Housing be built with the necessary infrastructure being planned too. Then we could have 'Brent homes for Brent residents' instead of the dystopian dream of Ego Butt, Developer Tatler and the rest of the Butt sycophants.
Could a new future for Brent be created at the forthcoming council elections? Vote Labour, and you'll probably get more of this ruination of Brent. There are surely some Labour candidates (the ones who attract the Momentum label that Butt seems to using to discredit honest Labour politicians) who don't agree that the future envisaged by Butt and Co, find them and vote for them.
No to the new Brent Local Plan is seconded by South Kilburn (a neighbourhood never landlord consulted on being designated as a Growth Area)
South Kilburn produced a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) in 2004, following a 3 years of estate (48 public owned hectares) block by block consultation process costing £3 million, with a £100,000 architectural model of this 'final' plan and every estate household having an SPD 'vote.'
This SPD was however non-statutory and so for Development Colonial- a massive ha, ha, ha/ LOL legal position for residents rights in defending and basing South Kilburn future major change on this SPD 2004. Ever since Brent Master Developer trades land, land-uses and zone operates as if the South Kilburn Estate and its in full use existing built-in complex communal land uses and natural rivers flood defences quite literally never existed. All 'regeneration of people as well as place' (7 SPD supporting themes) likewise went straight into the bin; I guess that was all non statutory non required nonsense too for developers and political aim?
Here we are 2022 living in a Development Colony zoned and occupied. The Brent Local (Development) Plan with its 'site allocations' no planning requirements (for sites Brent reveals at least) - is where residents must now look regarding actual market intentions inside this Growth Area Colony, container of third class citizens of nowhere but housing blocks, housing blocks to build more housing on top of being the latest bad growth wheeze, no planning permission required. So, a Development Plan on top of a Development Plan zoned- its no wonder that Colony build quality is so poor.
Best advice is a) never allow your Brent neighbourhood to be planning designated a Growth Area (that horrific designation is meant to be consulted with an SPD being the administrative sleight of hand and developer way to avoid GA consulting with local people), b) don’t live in a Growth Area and, c) don't live near a Growth Area either (they are expansive sideways and upwards) being "designed by greed". This is best advice for all Londoners, now that UK elites have "taken back control" and are building these high tax extraction slum zones as core political/economic aim.
The decisions and minutes of the 24 February Full Council meeting are not yet available on Brent Council's website, but they have issued a press release headed "New Local Plan shapes the future of the borough":
https://www.brent.gov.uk/news-in-brent/2022/february-22/new-local-plan-shapes-the-future-of-the-borough
This confirms that the 2019-2041 Local Plan was agreed by Full Council on 24 February. Calls by STRA for it to be adjourned to a later special meeting, or for councillors to vote against its adoption, must have been ignored.
Given the always positive / "good news" nature of all Brent Council's publicity about itself, readers may not be surprised by the following extract from the press release about the new Local Plan (although they may read it with some scepticism):
'It sets out the strategy for growth and meeting housing needs, protecting existing employment areas and providing new infrastructure such as health facilities.
The plan encourages good growth and determines what can be built and where, to ensure all of Brent's diverse communities' benefit.
Policies within the plan will also play an important role in protecting and enhancing open spaces and heritage assets, tackling climate change and supporting more sustainable travel.'
I wish I could believe that Brent's open spaces and heritage assets will be protected and enhanced. A number of the Council's own plans for land that it owns suggest the opposite!
There is, of course, a quote from a Cabinet member included in the press release:
'Councillor Shama Tatler, Lead Member for Regeneration Property and Planning, said:
“The Local Plan sets out our long-term vision for the borough. It will help us improve local places and deliver good growth, whilst retaining those parts that are special.”
“It provides a blueprint for all future development that will provide greater certainty for our residents, businesses and investors.
“This includes eight Growth Areas where the majority of the new homes, commercial space and supporting social infrastructure will be built.
“By 2041 Brent is expected to be home to around 65,000 more people. Our Local Plan is helping us to plan ahead and prepare for the future, this includes building an additional 46,000 homes along with the right facilities, jobs and infrastructure to support our communities of today and tomorrow.
“The adoption of our Local Plan is a significant step on our journey to creating a fairer more equal Brent and a borough of opportunities for all.”
If you want to find out whether you live in one of the eight Growth Areas, you can read more about them on the Council's website at:
https://www.brent.gov.uk/business/regeneration/growth-areas
I have today received an email from Brent Planning Policy, following the Council's decision to adopt its Local Plan on 24 February.
As well as the notice of adoption, there is also a notice of the Brent Planning policies which have been revoked. This includes "my old friend", the Wembley Area Action Plan, which I have fought on several occasions to uphold, while Brent Planning Officers have recommended approval of applications which breached the WAAP's adopted policies!
The revoked planning documents will be removed from the Council's website IF THERE IS NO JUDICIAL REVIEW against Brent's decision to adopt the new Local Plan. This is what the revocation notice says:
'In accordance with Regulations 28 and 35 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 notice is hereby given that following the adoption of the Brent Local Plan 2019-2041 on 24th February 2022, the London Borough of Brent also revoked the following Development Plan Documents within the area where the Council is Local Planning Authority.
Brent Core Strategy 2010
Brent Site Allocations Plan 2011
Wembley Area Action Plan 2015
Brent Development Management Policies 2016
These documents no longer form part of the Development Plan for the purposes of decision making within the area where the London Borough of Brent is the local planning authority. Accordingly the documents will be removed from the Council’s website and from Brent Council libraries when it is clear that the adopted Plan has during the six weeks qualifying period not been subject to any request for judicial review.'
I presume the adoption of the Local Plan and the revocation of proceeding policy documents means that anything goes in Brent
Dear Anonymous (1 March at 14:52),
The revocation of the previous policy documents means that objectors can no longer refer to those planning policies when opposing planning applications in Brent.
Quite a lot of what is in the new Local Plan is the same as, or similar to, the previous policies, but there are a number of new features, such as more Growth Areas (was 5, now 8), broadening of tall building zones, intensification corridors etc., which are worrying for many residents.
The other thing which remains to be seen is whether Brent's Planning Officers will enforce the new Local Plan policies effectively, or whether they will continue to recommend for approval applications from developers that "stretch" those policies beyond what they are meant to permit.
Would STRA consider a Judicial Review of the entire Brent Local Plan?
The same aggressive anti-social/ anti-resident Development Colonial style is forced in many Brent zones and South Kilburn Growth Area is a pathfinder for this abuse with many miss-steps already very public and very real.
I guess STRA doesn't want to repeat this catastrophe, so best practice would surely be to use real Brent wider evidence to JR challenge the entire BLP global market absolute entitlement culture?
Phillip's policy/ planning requirements revoked point is an important one.
In South Kilburn Growth Area so much social, health and park open space infrastructure policy pledged/ planning required has been so Master Developer delayed (decayed) that it is now all revoked.
These casualties are worth some study, and no doubt are the strategy elsewhere in Brent's othered zones. SKGA 6,000 population in year 2000 to 36,000 plus on its 48 hectares by 2041- housing the only infrastructure- the new BLP?
Has Countryside's new health centre at Peel Precinct been revoked?
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