Community Review
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) emphasises the importance of involving communities in the decision-making process. The aim of this is to increase design quality and place benefit. Whilst no specific mechanism on how to do this is set out in the NPPF, community review panels are becoming increasingly popular amongst local authorities for enabling greater participation in the planning process.
Brent Community Review Panel
The council is looking to recruit local people to a new Brent Community Review Panel (CRP). This aims to give a voice to local people on new developments in their area.
The panel will help the council to better understand the needs of the local community by playing an independent advisory role in the planning process through discussion of issues around housing, transport, public and green spaces, and the environment. This will help ensure that new developments are of the highest design quality, and meet the needs of people living in, working in, studying in and visiting Brent in the future.
Frame Projects, who manage the Brent Quality Review Panel on behalf of the council, is responsible for recruiting and managing the panel, ensuring that it is independent, well-briefed, and able to effectively communicate its views. Frame Projects will provide panel members with the support needed for their role through free training sessions.
Who can be on the panel?
The panel is aimed at residents, workers, students and regular visitors within the Brent community who are at least 16 years old. We are keenly looking for candidates who do not already have a strong voice or position of influence in their area. Councillors and Brent Council employees are not eligible to apply.
Will I be paid to be on the panel?
Panel members will receive a £25 voucher for each two-hour review meeting they attend, with reasonable expenses for travel and other necessary costs also covered.
How can I find out more and apply to join the panel?
You can email Frame Projects at brent@frame-projects.co.uk or call 020 8164 9980 to find out more and request an application form.
Application forms must be submitted by 5:30pm on Monday 4 December 2023.
If shortlisted, you will be invited to a selection workshop in January 2024 (exact date to be confirmed) with other candidates, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.
Panel Chair
Daisy Froud
Daisy is a community engagement strategist, design critic and educator with over 20 years’ experience of devising tools and processes that allow communities to meaningfully contribute to built environment decision-making. She has particular expertise in enabling diverse groups to find common ground in situations where policy constraints or low budgets pose challenges, specialising in brokering productive communication between professionals and non-professionals. Daisy sits on a number of design review and advisory panels across London, including serving as the Chair of the Ealing Community Review Panel.
Call me a cynic but were not Neighbourhood Plans aimed at "involving communities in the (planning) decision making process"?
ReplyDeleteSudbury Town Residents Association spent years working with the Council and local people to develop the Sudbury Neighbourhood Plan. It took at least £20,000 of public money to develop it and hundreds of hours of hard work.
As far as local residents were concerned they hoped that the Plan, which they spent a lot of their time to contribute to, would protect their local environment, stop over development, stop more betting shops and almost every shop being turned into a takeaway and generally make the Sudbury Town area cleaner and more pleasant to live in.
All very reasonable aims - the only problem is that Brent Council does not listen to the views of local people and has consistently ignored the Sudbury Neighbourhood Plan.
* When local people and the Residents Association and local Councillors objected to the 6 storey Keelers development - next to 3 storey buildings - Labour Councillors ignored their views and aproved the plans.
* When local people opposed the redevelopment of the 2 park keepers cottages in Barham Park because it went against the Sudbury Neighbourhood Plan policy - Labour Councillors ignored them and approved the plans to demolish the cottages and replace them with 4 three storey houses.
* The Council has ignored the Plan and there are now many more takeaways then when the Sudbury Neighbourhood Plan was agreed - even the local Sub Post Office has a take away now.
* Sudbury Town is now dirtier than ever with pan spitting caused by the delivery bikers everywhere and the litter left behind from all the takeaways.
The Neighbourhood Plan idea was meant to "give a voice to local people on new developments in their area". Just ask the people of Sudbury if they feel that they have been given a voice.
The CRP (Brent Community Review Panel) is another gimmick which will simply earn a lot of money for Consultants and leave local people without a voice on planning issues as before.
If you do not believe me ask the hundreds of people who raised objections/concerns about the Mumbai Junction planning application in Watford Road Northwick Park.
There was massive local opposition from local people to the loss of what they regarded as community space. The Plan was to replace the former John Lyon Pub with a large and ugly 5 storey development of flats in the middle of an area of 2 storey housing.
* The first planning application was refused.
* The revised panning application was also refused by 5 votes to 2.
* It was brought back to the Planning Committee to confirm the reasons why it should be refused BUT instead of voting on these reasons the same application was amazingly approved - with some of the Labour Councillors who voted to REFUSE the 1st time suddenly voting to APPROVE it without having to justify their change of mind.
It is hardly surprising that local people have lost trust in the Brent Council Planning process. Until there is a change of culture and clear evidence that the Labour Administration shows that they are willing to listen to the views of local people the 'Community Review Panel' is just a complete waste of money and time.
'We are keenly looking for candidates who do not already have a strong voice or position of influence in their area.'
ReplyDeleteTranslation: Anyone who has objected to a local planning application need not apply!!!
Wonder how much is this tick box exercise costing us council tax payers?
ReplyDeleteThey don't need to do this, they need to consult on planning applications actions properly and listen to the concerns of the local residents affected by proposed plans.
No offence to Daisy but what is a community engagement strategist, design critic and educator ?
ReplyDeleteShe probably lives in Ealing, or Camden...
There are plenty of voices in our community, people who live in our community...whose views have not been listened to, because they aren't in agreement with the dictatorial voice of Bent Council.
They didn't listen to what people said about Morland gardens, Bridge park, Stonebridge Adventure, Barham Park, St Raphaels redevelopment...because they had their own agenda....but they want to recruit residents to sit on this panel....people who do not already have a strong voice or position of influence in their area...strange criteria for community invlovement... Come on people its time to rise up!
The London Borough of B~ent will do as they wish until these decimators of the Borough are removed from office.
ReplyDeletePaul Lorber needs help with his account of developments which have led to a loss of trust in Brent's Planning Committee and in Brent Councillors - past and present.
ReplyDeleteIn 2018 Brent Council proposed to demolish Preston Library and overdevelop the site. There were more than 70 objections and speakers from the community against at the planning meeting. This was not a surprise as everyone knew from consultation meetings held for two years that the local community did not want the library demolished, a poor scheme built that looked into the neighbours bedrooms and gardens, or the site overdeveloped.
The High Court ruled that the scheme was contrary to the Local Plan but even then the Council when ahead using a Tory law made by Mrs. Thatcher which allows them to ignore the local community. (Labour happy with the Tory Government when it suits them)
Paul Lorber missed the Preston Library scheme in his list of the Council ignoring the 'voice' of residents. Perhaps this was because its not in Sudbury?
But no - its because Paul Lorber supports the Preston Library scheme and ignoring the residents at the Preston Library site.
Oh!
Let's blame Margaret Thatcher again shall we?
DeleteSubsequent governments have had 33 years to alter what you refer to as this "Tory law made by Mrs. Thatcher which allows them to ignore the local community"!!!
£25 vouchers! To be spent only with Brent's chosen outlets no doubt.
ReplyDeleteIs it enough temptation to apply to join a Community Review Panel? I doubt it. More tempting would be proof that you'd be listened to and not used as a tick box for consultation and diversity evidence. I mean, after Tatler's patronising and bullying performance at the last Scrutiny Committee, does anyone in Brent really believe she and her peers would listen to anyone else? No, I agree with you.
Almost choked when I read this
"This will help ensure that new developments are of the highest design quality, and meet the needs of people living in, working in, studying in and visiting Brent in the future."
The Planners and Cabinet already believe all the awful buildings already and currently being approved fit these criteria, so why do they need the Panel other than as a tick box exercise.
Just noticed that the Berkeley Homes, Grand Union development of rabbit hutches in Alperton is now being advertised as investment properties. No longer are they being marketed as potential homes. This is obviously a real benefit to Bent residents isn't it? So, a huge congratulations and pat on the back for Tower Block Tatler for attracting even more foreign property investors who rely on capital values increases who often leave the properties empty or empty for most of the time so they are easier to sell on in bundles.
In summary; again Bent are doing nothing for our thousands of local residents in temporary accommodation, bed and breakfast and/or generally unfit private rentals properties. Don't several of our esteemed Labour councillors have private rental properties in Brent AND other boroughs?
Why do you need to be paid or join this panel - if you cared about where you live and your community you’d volunteer for this role with no payment expected. It’s so offensive to those who already volunteer in Brent with no reward.
ReplyDeleteHighly trained architects and the Brent Council Planning Department are supposedly highly experienced experts in ensuring “that new developments are of the highest design quality, and meet the needs of people living in, working in, studying in and visiting Brent in the future”!!!
If the Brent Council actually listened to what residents want it would make a huge difference to all communities but they just don’t so it’s clearly just a tick box exercise..
Re the Barham Park buildings complex housing the Barham library, the veterans club, the children centre, the Gurkhas group etc who all pay rent to Brent Council - Brent Council employ architects to develop plans without actually asking any of those groups nor any of us residents what we would like in our much loved historic local park causing much stress and anguish for everyone.
And Brent Council Planning Commitee didn’t even do a site visit before voting in favour of the latest development of the two ex park keepers cottages - loads of residents objected and attended the planning meeting but we were considered invisible.
£25 per 2 hour meeting plus travel expenses - how will they judge what panel members have contributed to earn this? Can you just turn up and do nothing? How do will they judge what value for money us Council tax payers will get for this tick box exercise???
ReplyDeleteHow many people will be on this panel? If they can afford this money we’d rather it was spent on extra curricular classes or activities for local teenagers.
The blame is with Councillor Butt and his agents like Councillor Kelcher who pretend to be listening to local people (eg in this useless panel) and then use obsolete laws to get rid of their objections.
ReplyDeleteThe High Court ruled the residents were right on their reasonable and well evidenced opposition to Preston Library development - so Butt & Co took a break from complaining that Brent's problems were all the Tory governments fault to use the Tory methods and laws to silence opposition.
Politicians don't change laws that allow them to get away and do what they like when they have lost the argument in the community and in the High Court.