WEMBLEY MATTERS News and views on local politics, the environment, climate change, culture and local history
Cllr Rita Begum (Kilburn)
Cllr Tony Ethapemi (Stonebridge)
Cllr Harbi Farah (Welsh Harp) Lead member for Safer Communities, Jobs and Skills0
Cllr Erica Gbajuma (Brondesbury Park)
Cllr Iman Ahmadi Moghaddam (Wembley Park) Labour Group Whip
Cllr Rajan-Seelan (Wembley Central)
From the Draft Tree Strategy. Most of Brent's 19,000 trees are of unknown species at present
As part of the planned spend of Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure monies (LINK) Brent Council is proposing to spend £498,360 trees in line with the Brent Tree Strategy currently in consultation. 1,500 trees wil be planted in 15 specified areas bwteen now and October 2027.
The plans have been welcomed by the recently formed Brent Tree Champions (See below), particularly the proposal for large standard size (3m tall tree) trees rater than saplings, but more detail will be needed regarding maintenance, choice of species etc.
The Proposal:
CAPITAL PROJECT
This project proposes to plant 1500 trees in areas identified across the borough split across 15 identified areas in line with Tree Strategy. Pre- engagement and consultation will be carried out with residents between September 2025 and December 2025.
Planting intends to commence in January 2026 with the end of establishment watering scheduled for October 2027.
Trees for Brent is a wide-ranging proposal to plant new trees across several neighbourhoods and Wards of Brent. Trees proposed are large ‘standard’ size, typically 3 metres tall with a fully formed clear trunk.
There is also one area on new woodland planting proposed, under barn Hill Project Area. Areas have been identified by residents and community groups bringing forward requests direct to officers or via councillors. Several councillors are strongly in support of new trees in their wards and have developed working relationships with officers to constantly seek funding opportunities.
Sadly, in last year there has been a dramatic fall in external funding for large standard trees suitable for street and public realm planting. (small woodland whips continue to be available but there is very limited potential to plant these in Brent, residents are not looking for tiny trees, they want to see something of significant size).
Some residents’ groups in project areas listed below have been waiting a long time for suitable funding opportunities therefore this NCIL roundis very welcome and will address an extensive list of community requests.
For ease of project management and to ensure focussed community engagement with a wide range of different groups, proposal has been divided into 15 distinct local neighbourhood areas.
Number of new trees is given for each project site, these numbers have been assessed by officers as realistic for planting in each area.
Criteria used to assess project areas are:
1/. Community interest and support for new trees
2/. Councillor support
3/. Brent Connects identified priorities for each area
4/. Need for trees in the areas proposed, officer site survey to assess existing tree provision
5/. Sites affected by development, proximity to Growth Areas
6/. Indices of Multiple Deprivation (based on 2015 IMDs)
7/. Tree Equity Score – a measure of tree canopy cover by LSOA for each project area
8/. Area of Open Space Deficiency – Significant for some Project Areas.
BRENT TREE STRATEGY CONSULTATION
There are two Tree Strategy Cosultations next week register on-line and complete the on0line consultation here: https://haveyoursay.brent.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/draft-brent-tree-strategy/1
Consultation ends on the 18th September
BRENT TREE CHAMPIONS
Brent Tree Champions has been set up with the following aims:
1a. Campaign to maintain and preserve existing Brent trees in public spaces and private gardens.
1b. Campaign to increase the tree canopy through replacement of felled trees and new planting.
1c. Encourage the community to appreciate their trees and their contribution to mitigating the local effects of the climate and ecological emergencies
1d. Encourage the community to actively engage with the above aims.
2. Individuals and organisations who agree with these aims are invited to join us. Email BrentTreeChampions@gmail.com and follow Brent Tree Champions on Twitter @tree_brent1424
Brent Anti-racism Charter 2022
Exclusive insight from a former Brent Labour Party member:
Labour's Ruling Body (National Executive Committee) have imposed all Labour council candidates in Brent without any say from thousands of local party members or long serving MPs.
This includes barring eight sitting BAME Councillors, including Labour’s Chief Whip Cllr Iman Ahmadi Moghaddam and Cabinet Member Cllr Harbi Farah from standing in the May 2026 council election.
All deselected councillors signed a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in October 2023, infuriating Starmer loyalists. This is thought to be the primary motive for their deselection.
White councillors who also signed the same statement survived the purge, in a move that will undoubtedly raise some difficult questions for Labour on the doorstep amongst Brent’s diverse communities.
The panel that decided Labour’s candidate list was chaired by Starmerite and corporate lobbyist Abdi Duale, who also carried out most of the interviews that led to the Councillors being deselected.
London Labour Party Executive member and Kingsbury Councillor Shama Tatler did not stand [she said so in Twitter statement]. She was a vocal supporter of the move to take decision making out of the hands of Labour members, and is rumoured to have been actively involved in deciding the final list of candidates. Cllr Tatler was also involved in the running of a similar process in Leicester in 2023, which deselected 19 Muslim and Hindu Councillors.
New Starmerite MP, Georgia Gould, imposed by the national party in 2024, is rumoured to have taken time out of her busy government ministerial role to personally intervene to encourage the purge and replace sitting Councillors with her Starmerite allies.
This comes four days after Labour's catastrophic defeat in the West Hampstead ward by-election in neighbouring Camden Council. A similar 23-point swing in Brent in 2026 would see councillors being lost in almost every single Labour-held ward. The recent upheaval in Brent Labour will undoubtedly increase this likelihood, leading to internal fears that Labour could lose control of Brent’s administration.
This appears to be the first step in removing council leader Muhammed Butt, motivated by Starmerite outrage over his non-compliance, especially his decision to allow Brent council to set up a ‘twinning arrangement’ with Nablus, a town in Palestine.
EDITOR'S NOTE - The deselected individuals remain as Brent councillors until the May 2026 Local Election unless they resign.
Illustrative image - not an actual scene from Barham Park!
Dear Edtor,
1. Alperton Delroy Morrison, Judith Forbes, Mansoor Akram
2. Barnhill Robert Johnson, Rhoda Ibrahim
3. Brondesbury Park Ryan Hack, Tashi Thomas
4. Cricklewood and Mapesbury Gwen Grahl, Tariq Dar
5. Dollis Hill Liz Dixon, Parvez Ahmed, Arshad Mahmood
6. Harlesden and Kensal Green Matt Kelcher, Mili Patel, Tina Amadi
7. Kenton John Poole, Janice Long, Fiona Mulaisho
8. Kilburn Rita Conneely, Anthony Malloy, Leeta Holmes
9. Kingsbury Saqib Butt, Jas Bajwa
10. Northwick Park Narinder Bajwa, Shymala Rajan-Vince
11. Preston Daniel Kennelly, Orleen Hylton
12. Queen's Park Lesley Smith, Neil Nerva, Marc Harris
13. Queensbury Omid Fadakar, Simon Cheng, Sabah Ibrahim
14. Roundwood Jake Rubin, Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Samiah Anderson
15. StonebridgeTrevor Blackman, Promise Knight, Abdi Aden
16. Sudbury Teo Benea, Greg Innes
17. Tokyngton Muhammed Butt, Krupa Sheth
18. Welsh Harp Iftekhar Ahmed, Mary Mitchell, Amer Agha
19. Wembley Central Anita Thakkar, Sonia Shah, Ketan Sheth
20. Wembley Hill Lloyd Mcleish, Ishma Moeen, Joyce De Souza
21. Wembley Park Ajmal Akram, Apurval Saral
22. Willesden Green Saqlain Choudry, Prema Thakkar, George Burn
Exclusion of current councillors from the above list does not necessarily mean they have been deselected by the recent process. Like Shama Tatler, above, they may have decided not to stand as did Steve Crabb. Cllr Kathleen Fraser was barred from selection following her suspension.
Results and comments from reliable sources are coming in as the selection of Labour candidates for the May 2026 council election are announced in letters to candidates. One insider said, 'Half of the left councillors have been deselected'. The selections were made by the London region of the Labour Party rather than local Labour Party members.
Two high-profile de-selections were the Labour Group whip Cllr Iman Ahmadi Moghaddam and Cabinet meber Harbi Farah. Cllr Jumbo Chan, an NEU member and backer of anti-academisation campaigns is another casualty along with Cllr Tony Ethapemi (Stonebridge) and Cllr Erica Gbajum (Brondesbury Park).
One disappointed candidate commiserated with another saying, 'Don't tak it to heart. The selection process was as corrupt as it's ever been. A pity because it looked hopeful for an even playing field this time, but not to be.'
I will update this blog post as more results and reactions come in.
Further deselections;
Cllr Rita Begum
Cllr Rajan-Seelan
Cllr Diana Collymore
