Guest post by Pete Firmin, chair, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenants’ and Residents’ Association.
Brent Council – with the support of planners and architects - likes to praise its regeneration of South Kilburn as a model for others.
Yet, beyond the issue of the dubious quality of some of the new housing built in the area, raised in Wembley Matters many times, there is also a big issue around general neglect of the area.
To be clear, the area described here, a small part of South Kilburn, is not due for `regeneration’ anytime soon. It does not figure in any masterplan. Not that, even if it was, this would excuse the level of neglect shown here.
Everything here has been reported to Brent Council, individual officers and Councillors dating back to November of last year if not earlier.
To start at the steps at the corner of Coventry Close and Kilburn High Road. These broken steps have been reported with no response received.
This rubbish dump has been growing steadily for the best part of a year and reported many times on the Cleaner Brent App. It just gets closed quickly with no explanation. It is not directly on Brent land but is clearly a health hazard.
This patch of ground (known to residents as the Bermuda Triangle) was created when regeneration hit the area 7 years ago. They still haven’t sorted out whether Brent or Catalyst is responsible for its upkeep, so it just accumulates rubbish.
Clearly Brent’s responsibility, overflowing like many bins along Cathedral Walk footpath.
Mattresses abound, this one was photographed by an estate officer two weeks ago. It is propped up by the metal frame for previous recycling bins. We were promised when they were replaced (a year ago) that they would be removed.
Broken pane of glass in door of Gorefield House, reported last November.
The wonderful bin store next to Gorefield House. Erected by Catalyst during regeneration. For their residents they put up a brick bin store, but Brent tenants only get a wooden one, which has been falling apart since it was put up. Too near the flats, overflowing bins, never fully cleared. We’ve been told someone in an office worked out how many bins are needed for the number of households…..
5 of these 7 lights along a footpath created in regeneration have been out for more than 5 months. We’ve been told the issue has been escalated…..
Damage caused by the flash flood last July. Brent had to be pestered to do anything at all, but we have been left with this botched job which is causing accidents.
I could go on, like the numerous street lights not working (one of which has never been connected to the mains), the lift out of order for over a year, and much else, but I hope you get the picture one of a Council which doesn’t seem to care.
Pete Firmin
EDITOR'S NOTE: Pete's problems in getting responses is well illustrated by this exchange that took place only yesterday.
14 comments:
Is Brent becoming the worst borough in London by every measure? Perhaps it already is the worst in many ways. Oh hang on, new pavements on Wembley High Road that weren't needed, then there's the Wembley Steps to give Quintain yet more development space.
I was cycling along Pentland Road today, an adopted road through the PCHA 100 re-development and that was likewise super dumped, hazardous and depressing. Add South Kilburn Public Open Space still under 'do and invest nothing/ housing the only infrastructure' sanctions too.
Developers demoralise and neglect entire Growth Area zones for more Land take opportunities, but South Kilburn G A clearly needs an all day/ every day dumped stuff collection van solution. Maybe the the Mono Re-developer Corporates Board would provide this common sense health and safety housing support as a goodwill gesture to local residents in major change year 21/ with another 21years to go?
Re-thinking re-development culture and its METHOD during pandemic times is surely a small ask?
Of course none of this is reflected in the Brent Magazine or posed photographs of Councillor Butt or his photo buddy Cllr Sheth.
Labour Councillors decided to bring the Housing Service 'back into house' (i.e. under direct Council Control) to improve the service. From the pictures and report here things have got worse not better.
None of this is helped by Labour infighting and the fact that one of the Labour Kilburn Councillors has gone.
Hope local people realise that Labour no longer deserves their votes as they clearly cannot provide a basic service that most of us would expect.
I think that part of the problem is that Kilburn, and South Kilburn in particular, are a long way from Brent Civic Centre, and the people who make the decisions.
This has been a concern since the former Boroughs of Wembley and Willesden were merged to form the London Borough of Brent in 1965. Wembley had the more modern Town Hall, and that became the centre for most local authority staff and decision makers.
I can remember, in the fight to save the remaining Victorian section of Willesden Green Library in 2012/13, accusations from local residents that Brent had become 'Wembleycentric', with no care for Willesden.
Having had a Council Leader from a Wembley (Tokyngton) seat, and working out of an office in Wembley, for the past ten years probably hasn't helped.
Residents in Kilburn need to have strong voices speaking up for them and their area, and they will have the chance to choose who those voices are in the May 5 local elections.
I hope they will have some candidates standing who can fulfil that role, and that they vote for those who will represent Kilburn and its needs the best.
The area around the Wembley Park towers might be clean and tidy, particularly the £17.8m CIL money steps, but sadly Wembley Central is a disgrace!
Our local councillors have turned up for many photoshoots but together with the highy paid Brent Council Executives they have done very little to resolve the disgusting paan spitting, the intimidating street drinkers and their litter (and urine stains on pavements) and the incessant flytipping - these occur in the same hotspots everyday that so many of us have been reporting for many years, yet it seems they can't catch these people???
Sadly we live in the London Borough of Butt, what do you expect? Exactly what we are getting of course.
Tower blocks, unaffordable housing, homelessness, moved out of the borough, fly tipping, ASB, riots in and around Wembley Stadium, urination in the streets, street drinking, overcrowded housing, poor repairs to Brent's housing stock, polluted rivers, falling down new flats, sub standard housing, the council becoming a private landlord, cladding problems, potholes, dangerous pavements (unless Butt wants a headline in Wembley), academisation of schools, too many school places provided, eyewatering levels of borrowing. Lets face it, the area is going to the Butts, sorry, Mutts.
Are we playing 'spot the deliberate mistake' in South Kilburn, as the council seem to believe that Brent Housing Partnership are still responsible for all the mess reported by Pete (Ref:-Pete Firmi'n's email reply from the council the first sentence).
Maybe we should return to the days of BHP, as before the council got rid of them on the 30h September 2017 they used to hold Rea Housing Boards where residents met with council officers and Cllr's to report housing issues e.g. Street cleaning & removing rubbish etc.
Are we playing 'spot the deliberate mistake' in South Kilburn, as the council seem to believe that Brent Housing Partnership are still responsible for all the mess reported by Pete (Ref:-Pete Firmi'n's email reply from the council the first sentence).
Maybe we should return to the days of BHP, as before the council got rid of them on the 30h September 2017 they used to hold Rea Housing Boards where residents met with council officers and Cllr's to report housing issues e.g. Street cleaning & removing rubbish etc.
Ah, the days of the South Kilburn Area Housing Board, late 1990's when 6,000 people lived South Kilburn 48 hectares, though admittedly under heavy sanctions and estate mismanagement neglect for two decades. Those days our tenants association used to take its own extensive AHB minutes and then get the thinned out minutes presented to the next AHB corrected and made full record. A delay, but what residents reported at the previous AHB on record was then usually addressed and effective action taken. These housing consumer meetings did have costs and consequences and South Kilburn re-development has clearly learnt the avoid local engagement lesson well.
When Brent Council took over from BHP in Oct. 2017 Cllr. Butt said it will take around a year to make all the changes needed to make all our estates places where our residents will want to live. We will continue to engage with all of our residents, holding regular meetings in the Civic Centre, where their ''block champions' can report their housing issues in person to housing officers.
I was the 'block champion' for William Dunbar House and was able to raise issues that our residents had e.g. cleaning but once the council took over, the meetings were moved from South Kilburn to Wembley but I did not attend any of them, as I said I was quite happy to attend a local meeting but as an unpaid volunteer, I felt the paid officers should come to us. Inside a year these meetings closed down as no one was attending them from across Brent and the council said they would return to local venues but they never have and all resident engagement for the rest of Brent also closed down,,leaving nowhere for residents to report issues to, apart from sending emails to the council that were then ignored by them.
I tried to raise a repair for a Fire Safety Door in my block for many years without it being done and it was only through the intervention of WM that the repair has finally been carried out.
But instead of Cllr's Butt's intention to make our estates a better place to live in under council management, the opposite seem to have happened, as there is no local input and no accountability from our housing officers either. I for one would like to see a return to local mtgs. where residents could report issues as soon as they occur and before they escalate to the level that Pete's post has shown us that they can reach.
Dear John (31 March at 16.10) and other Brent Council tenants,
With local Council elections coming up, it's an opportunity to ask the candidates seeking your votes if they will commit to seek the early reinstatement of local meetings with tenants, if they are elected.
I'm sure there are also other things you'd like to ask them. Try to get your questions and their answers in writing (exchange of emails?).
Vote for, and encourage your neighbours to vote for, the candidate(s) whose answers you trust the most, and hold whoever is elected for your Ward to account if they fail to deliver on their promises.
Good luck!
Fully agree, Wembley is Far Far Away for South Kilburn folk (UK Parliament closer).
South Kilburn re-develop mega density (and the other Brent Growths zoned) are creating very complex UK new unique autocratic none town social, well being and health fails.
Brent re-opening partnership dialogue with its Bad Growth Area consumers in each zone could hopefully find new ways towards much less DEVELOPER WANT FOREVER AGRESSIONS zoned?
John's comment says it all - Butts promises sound good, but what you get is the opposite!!!
Always of major interest because of South Kilburn having the lowest car ownership in Brent…..
Peter's images show the Millennium Walkway Active Travel Route, cycleway and linear sculpture park built in year 2000. Low car use Alpha and Gorefield residents need to be aware of re-development BLP ideas for re-purposing this route for two way vehicle traffic (closed for 20 years) and building towers on Mint Coaches, P.O. sorting office, multi-games court and school. No doubt plenty of underground car parking built for sale too. Next to that, the HS2 vent site!
The dumping aggression re-development allows which is detailed could be related to this multi sites agenda? I saw Brent's street surveillance smart car this morning, but what does such a tiny vehicle do beyond record at taxpayers expense what Peter records for free?
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