Saturday 13 August 2022

Brent Council undermines Aslef & RMT strikes with special car park in a Fryent Country Park field during Coldplay concerts on strike days

 Readying the car park early this morning

Dawn Butler and Barry Gardiner on the picket line today

Hard to get my head round this. Labour activists tweeted their presence on Aslef picket lines this morning as they joined RMT strikers and Barry Gardiner and Dawn Butler on the picket line.

Meanwhile however, Brent Council was setting up a temporary cara park in a field in Fryent Counrty Park, Wembley and directing Coldplay fans to the Stadium.

Cllr Saquib Butt, a man with many hats, was extolling the virtues of the Council's money making strike breaking on Facebook last night. Saquib is the brother of council leader Muhammed Butt.

This is what he said:

FRYENT PARK **Important information**
Hi all,
 
We have received notification from Brent Council that our partners, Wembley Stadium connected by EE have sought the support of the Council in making the event field at Fryent Park available for customer parking on four upcoming dates as below:
 
13th August – ASLEF strike action affecting National Rail services only
This has a direct clash with the Coldplay concert on 13th August and an indirect clash with the Coldplay concert on 12th August (skeletal services operating / cessation of services on the 12th August in preparation for the strike)
 
18th August – RMT strike action affecting National Rail services only
This has an indirect clash with the Coldplay concert on 17th August (skeletal services operating / cessation of services early on the 17th August in preparation for the strike)
 
19th August – RMT strike action affecting the London Underground network and impacting National Rail services in Wembley
The direct clash with the Coldplay concert on the 19th August has resulted in a change of date to 21st August. This strike action has an indirect impact on the Coldplay concert on 20th August if LU services are not resumed to a full and good service.
 
20th August – RMT strike action affecting National Rail services only
This has a direct clash with the Coldplay concert on 20th August and an indirect clash with the rescheduled Coldplay concert on 21st August (skeletal services operating / slow resumption of services – Chiltern Rail have also confirmed engineering works and no National Rail service from Wembley Stadium station)
 
The event field is available for use on a commercial basis to host events that are proposed by the community or event organisers. We charge a fee for this and hold deposits to account for any grounds damage and the need for reinstatement. Damage to the fabric of the park would always be a key consideration but we are satisfied the recent hot and dry weather will mean the ground is strong enough to withstand the parking without any risk of damage.
 
The Council will benefit from a rental income and the proceeds of the parking sales will go to the ‘Best in Class’ fund that supports event day joint operations.
 
As always, please do reach out to us for any concerns/issues and we will arrange for a response as necessary. 
 
Our contact details can be found here:

Cllr Butt answered residents' queries and made no bones about the fact that this was a reaction to the strikes:

Saqib Butt
Author
Hi Jay , the stadium manages fine on normal event days when there are no strikes. This situation has only arisen due to the travelling public not being able to use the trains etc.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So Coldplay are doing an environmentally friendly tour, see there website here https://sustainability.coldplay.com/

On their website it says “We pledge to drawdown more CO2 than the tour produces supporting projects based on reforestation, rewilding, conservation, soil regeneration, carbon capture & storage and renewable energy. As part of this pledge, the tour will fund the planting – and lifelong protection of – millions of new trees including one tree for every ticket sold.”

Yet Brent Council encourage people to drive to the event by offering parking in one of our vital green spaces during one of the hottest summers ever recorded - shameful!

Martin Francis said...

Resident's comment received by email:

However this action by Brent Council also goes against the environmentally friendly pledges made by Coldplay for their current tour, see their website here: https://sustainability.coldplay.com/

- Coldplay want to reduce pollution yet Brent Council are encouraging people to drive to Wembley and park in one of our vital green spaces - this is despite Brent Council themselves declaring a climate emergency???

The parking in Fryent Park also ruins the enjoyment of the park for other people during this hot weather.

If also endangers the park because it is so dry from lack of rain - how many of these drivers or passengers might discard a cigarette butt or glass bottle which might start a grass fire?

Anonymous said...

The event field must be dark by the time the concerts finish. Who provides the lighting and security to ensure that people who've paid to use this car park are kept safe?

Anonymous said...

Are Brent Council that short of cash? or just run by stupid idiots? Surely Brent can't stoop so low after all the monies generated by NCIL from the new builds. Let's not be fooled, Brent Councillors couldn't care less about climate change or being green, they just out for their own personal gain.