The Autumn round Brent Connects Meetings. All are online except Willesden.
Brent Connects meetings will be held as follows for each area:
| 7 October 2024 | Online | Harlesden, Kensal Green, Roundwood and Stonebridge wards |
| 10 October 2024 | Online | Barnhill, Kenton, Kingsbury, Queensbury and Welsh Harp wards |
| 17 October 2024 | Online | Alperton, Northwick Park, Preston, Sudbury, Tokyngton, Wembley Central, Wembley Hill and Wembley Park wards |
| 22 October 2024 | Online | Kilburn, Brondesbury Park and Queens Park wards |
| 29 October 2024 | In-person: The Crest Academy, Crest Road, Neasden, NW2 7SN | Cricklewood and Mapesbury, Dollis Hill and Willesden wards |
Thought the pandemic was all over and officers should be out and about directly engaging its unequal communities as Westminster does once more, especially so where growth zoning policy and brownfield no legal definition of brownfield predaTORY stalks Brent lives?
ReplyDeleteYes - Online Connects a total waste of time and money. Just check the very low attendance numbers - effectively Chairs of Connects getting paid for talking to themselves and the officers. Meetings packed with long and boring presentations to stop residents having their say and challenging the Council's poor 'street care' performance everywhere.
ReplyDeleteReceived by email: Wembley Connects covers the most Wards, what are the Councillors afraid of, I like to see them squirm in public, surely they can find a venue, used to be Patidar House?
ReplyDeleteSurely it’s more a thing of work life balance and having these virtual also makes them more accessible? There may even be a safety element to it too
DeleteMartin - I am not afraid! I also agree with Anonymous above. The whole Connects/Consultative process is also undermined by Labour's arrogance in demanding that all Connects areas/meetings MUST have a Labour Chair and all Agenda's are packed with items selected by the Council rather than local residents. That is why most people have stopped coming or simply switched off.
ReplyDeleteI refer to Anon 19:05
DeleteAgree. They are now just an excuse for Butt to give extra allowances to councillors loyal to him!
DeleteDecision makers really do need to get out and go look at their brownfield brutalism and get that direct consumer feedback. Councillors and MPs are all about DO NOT ENGAGE the brownfield zoned people of Brent.
ReplyDeleteBrownfield not legally defined in England is key to the welfare state entire infrastructure dismantling happening incrementally everywhere in Brent outside of its legally defined conservation area safe haven growths. The USA where this development term originates at least has a legal definition of what brownfield land is and it is not the USA's housing projects.
If the USA can legally define what brownfield land is, why can't Labour lawmakers with their massive Westminster majority in October 2024? Make all future growth based on the rule of law the same way that conservation area health and resilience social developments are already?
Wembley meeting could be held at the Brent Civic centre which, oddly enough, is in Wembley and where most councillors and council officers work!
ReplyDeleteLoads of staff allowed to work from home so not many in Civic Centre these days. Councillors do not work in the Civic Centre - Cabinet Member hide there.
DeleteNo reason at all for online meetings - what about those in our society who don't have internet access or who can't use computers at all? How do they have their say???
ReplyDeleteI imagine this number is very low
DeleteOn what basis do you assume this number is very low??? It is simple discrimination. Every council tax payer should be able to attend these meetings in person.
DeleteIs it not discrimination for e.g. people who can’t get out of work early enough to make these meetings but are able to dial in when convenient on their way home, mothers or others with caring responsibilities who cannot easily find time to get away from home? You can’t just have one lens on something like this. The vast majority will probably sit in the camp of virtual meetings working best. Only those who routinely attend such meetings would bother to attend in person. The net needs to be cast wider to allow for more diversity of thought.
DeleteDo you honestly think that people dial in their way home??? On packed tubes underground? On packed buses? Whilst driving?
DeleteWhy not? Do you know for a fact that they don’t and that those without internet DEFINITELY would attend in-person meetings? You sound like someone who just isn’t interested in opposing views or, frankly, reality that people are moving with the times and tech - this is now an inevitability, there’s no choice in the matter.
DeleteComment from Philip Bromberg received by email: I spoke about Preston Library at the online Wembley meeting last year; no doubt mine was one of the "long and boring presentations", but it hardly mattered because the only people there were councillors and council officers. In my opinion, if Brent Connects is to serve any useful purpose then there need to be physical meetings. I imagine we'd be very happy to host one in Preston Library.
ReplyDeleteBrent Council are not interested in what us residents think 😞
ReplyDeleteSeeking a private members bill in Parliament to get brownfield land legally defined by lawmakers in October 2024.
ReplyDeleteThere is a massive Labour majority to achieve this public good and a massive freebie lobby to block this from ever happening no doubt. Growth, growth, growth on 'brownfield land', but the difference from present would be that all the English public/every community knows precisely what brownfield land is?
A return to rule of law, safeguarding and human rights in this to be escalated and accelerated development frenzy of zones.
Paul is not afraid, so there is one political start point for this legal change perhaps?
This change costs words not £ billions to action. The USA legally defines brownfield land, England needs to take that same considerate development step.
They used to have a soapbox, where residents could speak of issues that concerned them but never saw that anything came of it. It's not like cllrs were there to back them up or anything. Cllrs these days don't even acknowledge emails.
ReplyDeleteSo to sum up all the comments - Brent Council do not consult properly, they don't listen, they pack agendas to deprive residents of having their say, they make it impossible to properly participate and they just waste money as they pay Labour Councillors to chair pointless online sessions which the public do not join. SCRAP THEM and Save Money and don't waste our time.
ReplyDeletewell said
DeleteSo rather than fighting for us council tax paying residents to have more say and engagement with Brent Council and our elected local counvillors you are just happy to cave in and let Brent Council get away with this sham??? All such meetings should be in person.
ReplyDeleteAgree with 10.11- Brent decision makers should be encouraged out from their conservation area English legally defined protected fortresses and be made to explain to 'everything goes' othered Brents outside safeguarded fortress England walls fully what their interpretation of brownfield land is today.
ReplyDeleteAs I say, if Labour in the sprit of good growth/ return to rule of law legally defined what brownfield land is in England, then we would councillors, decision makers, developers of Brent again in person. They would have no choice but to engage with all Brent health and wellbeing needs linked to growth. Brent people in ALL communities would finally (better late than never) know what is protected and what is brownfield Local waste land in and around where they live.