Dear Editor
While reading the minutes of the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 23rd April 2024 LINK, I noticed that some of Cllr. Tatler's responses were not quite accurate.
She reported that the South Kilburn Medical Centre has already opened but it is still being fitted out. She also responded that the South Kilburn Boulevard had been completed but the scheme is yet to start.
The councillor reported that 60% of the South Kilburn Regeneration programme has been completed without giving any details about how many developments are still waiting to be demolished before any construction work can begin on them.
However it is difficult to judge whether 60% of sites have been completed, as there are still seven schemes, consisting of 13 buildings, plus the new primary school and the Roman Catholic Church (Marian Centre) all waiting to be developed.
Regards,
A South Kilburn resident
9 comments:
Will the staples corner 'regeneration' be folowing the same course? shiny new plans were displyed at public consultations but it looks as though building works may started in the area before the consultations, which left several questions unanswered, have finished.
A today look at Brent Local Plan Policies map shows South Kilburn in the Maida Vale Food Area (see London Flood Review) as not being a tall building zone anymore?
Still a Growth red-line zoned though...
This Growth zoned has no primary healthcare provision in it (all removed facility-by-facility over the past 23 years of population growth zoned).
The New Health Centre is not open and is not being signalled to local people as new community health services provision hope in any way by Brent as yet.
South Kilburn Boulevard was pitched as being this massive population growth zone's "park", so that the actual 70 year old 2ha park next to it can fill developers greed agenda and be built on (a 'site allocation' since 2010).
Maybe the administrator group-think is changing with national Labour in power?
I would say the zone is never completed, its of such poor build quality and major flooding, social exclusion and hardship for its tenants is being baked-in, so much hard landscaping/ towers packed/ no flood prevention measures or sewer upgrades.....
Interesting how grounds/ playgrounds maintenance has stopped (its re-wilding) for the Large Panel System (BSR focus) towers south of Carlton Vale -towers full of families?
Neglect and abandonment is the developer colonial growth zone establishment way, yet South Kilburn has its MP sitting in Cabinet now and SK is the only Growth Zone in her entire constituency. Growth the focus of all government ministries at that Cabinet table?
Growth Zone Lives Matter
To answer DON'T dis US
Growth zoned to this point (South Kilburn since 2010) is fluid, many plans upon plans upon plans ongoing "we can do whatever we want".....
Developers are waiting for tower land to be released and community, social, health and resilience building is being offset elsewhere in conservation areas which are also being grown spatially while de-populating overall as flats convert back to Victorian family houses.
A key Labour hidden priority is to retrofit net-zero insulate conservation areas freehold family houses using public funded major grants to be paid for by Growth zones of non-resilience and hyper extraction.
Of course there are other political choices to make and 'Good Growth' is a clear option (looking at other wealthy countries urbanism), however there is no UK political appetite for 'Good Growth' as yet. Growth zoned is seen as an extractive and exploitative revenue making process, exclusion and indifference group-think led.
The new SK Health Centre is due to open in early 2025.
The Boulevard project has been put on hold while the council explore new funding options for it.
The council said that the revised planning application for the Hereford & Exeter site will be sent to Brent Planning in July 2024 but it has not been sent yet. However the current plan to build 109 homes for social rent is still facing financial viability issues.
Ref: Deloites 2nd Report on the viability of the H & E site was published on the 24th June 2024.
The council have reported that their priority is to decant the 8 tenants at Blake, the 22 tenants at Austen and the 64 tenants at Dickens but currently there is nothing available for them until late 2027, even then there would not be enough new homes for all of them.
The Brent Cabinet reported that all the 7 remaining SK sites including H & E will need to be viable before they can be sent to planning and each of the 7 projects will need to have a business plan showing how the development will be delivered.
The destruction of social housing by Brent is despicable. As for Tatler's pronouncements, what ......
The council are trying to find a funding mechanism to deliver the junior school ahead of the rest of the MWD (Masefield, Wandsworth & Dickens) site. They are also trying to consolidate the MWD site by adding the adjacent Austen & Blake to it, which will mean there might be 5 buildings in one site.
The CCZ (Craik, Crone & Zangwill) site has been paused while it is being assessesed as to it's viability.
Finally, the council suggest that any of the remaining tenants who own a car should move outside of SK, as all the remaining sites will be car free Ref:GLA London Plan.
The school is not going to be built! The schools have been notified that the project has been cancelled as it's not viable.
“ The councillor reported that 60% of the South Kilburn Regeneration programme has been completed” 60% of the new-build flats? 60% of the area? Still to be regenerated are: Exeter Ct & Hereford Hse, Zangwill Hse, Crone Ct. and Craik Court,The Falcon Pub & Cullen Hse. Then Austin Hse, Blake Ct, Dickens Hse, Masefield Hse (these 5 blocks are being done together), John Ratcliffe Hse (40 decanted flats here not being refurbished and let on short-life tenancies) and finally Dunbar Hse & Savile Hse. All these (supposedly by 31/03/2029. There is also the school and the church as well. Brent have been looking for a single development partner - how equal will this partnership be? How much of the pie will Brent have to allow the developers?
Its certainly a Health Centre without any fanfare in what is regeneration year 23. A 2001 Brent pledge to community, so you would expect more communication with locals about it and what it will offer them, especially so given its zero heath infrastructure at this moment in time.
The Carlton Vale Boulevard is fanfare without Boulevard. Brent spent the CIL on Queens Park Healthy Neighbourhood which diverts its de-population-growth area vehicle traffic through South Kilburn car-free housing towers population growth zone.
The private captured (with pad locks on it) Granville Pocket Park is curious near Hereford, fully park renewed in 2010 as part of the SK Masterplan's delivery process, yet now taken hostage for developers as brownfield 'land'?
So, the Large Panel System estate south of Carlton Vale has only 94 tenants, no grounds maintenance, a new major graffiti art project and a dangerous condition playground in its pocket park- considerate constructors.
Growth zone car-free towers, again Brent should be planning for what that offers in terms of social health and community gains. Queens Park aims at an "our cars only" healthy neighbourhood zone council funded and enabled. What should a car-free housing massive population growth zone aim for?
Angela Rainer is going brownfield on open spaces with "little intrinsic beauty or character." Strange criteria given social estate parks are so neglected and non invested in for decades. What happened to population growth zones, car-free, no gardens (social estates) having their park facilities invested in and cared about by Labour?
It may be that the 6 billion plus HS2 inner London to inner London train tunnel (vent in SK) is to finally be cancelled. How good for Brent, Harlesden Major Town Old Oak as the HS2 London gateway station- upscale its design and connection to adjacent Willesden Junction's ready=made Euston trains. What a genius way to save £6 billion of taxpayers money. Funds to resolve the SK LPS towers crisis issue in year 23/ funds finally to invest big "intrinsic beauty and character" into social estate tower growth zones parks.
Georgia Gould apparently spent her childhood growing up around Queens Park( South Kilburn is between/ can't be avoided) and Maida Vale according to Westminster Extra.
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