Following the public notice above, Northwick Park Community Garden has issued the following appeal:
We are shocked and dismayed to find out that today that Brent Council made a notice on the Friday before Christmas to sell the Freehold of the Northwick Park golf facility. Then at the Council’s Cabinet in early February agreed to sell the Freehold. Now a notice has been issued to remove the protection of its designation as Public Open Space after the 2nd of April.
Public Open Space is protected from inappropriate developments and is defined thus:
land that is generally accessible to the public for recreation, exercise, or relaxation, including parks, green spaces, civic squares, and play areas. These areas often have few restrictions on access, allowing for both formal and informal activities, and are typically managed by local authorities to enhance community health and urban biodiversity.
It should be noted that the path from Watford Road, the Northwick Park Playing Fields, that runs alongside St Cuthbert’s Church is being included in the disposal and redesignation.
If you believe, as we do, that public spaces need to remain for the use of us all in this day of increasing high rise buildings with a lack of gardens, and need to be protected then please email objections by midnight 2nd April to:
Pam@brent.gov.uk
Editor's note. Thanks to people who have pointed out 'pam' stands for Proprty Asset Management - had me confused!
14 comments:
So grateful to our Community Garden. And I gather a lot of others have objected. Being me, I have (just) sent the equivalent of 14 pages of A4 and a couple of attachments.Keith (Perrin) and I have spent the last (I kid you not) 3 decades highlighting issues with Northwick Park Golf Course site, in particular first the dumping that was alloweed first in teh mid 1990s when - shock horror - our former MP Sir Rhodes Boyson intervened. (Barry Gardiner did a sterling job following up on it when he was elected in 1997.) Then our second lot of unauthorised materials being added about 4 years ago. I would dearly love not to have to spend time on this but I guess it is Keith's and my burden. But thank you to everyone - and I think there are a lot - who I gather, having been alerted, has added their objection to this unadvertised removal of public open space protection. Great community work all! I would just mention that , in teh Cabinet REport of 9 February, Grove Park Pavilion, Grove Park NW9 0JP in Kingsbury Ward will also lose its public open space designation if disposed of. Sadly I have been busy with my objections re Northwick Park (& I know nothing about Grove Park Pavilion) but if any locals to that property are worried by the loss, you have till tomorrow night midnight to lodge an objection to pam@brent.gov.uk (pam stands for properrty asset management, btw.)
I completely reject the plan of removing the golf course and rejecting completely for building any properties on this ground please. Thanks
Car-free housing feudal tower lords really love to build on public open spaces first. Brent doesn't have a quality of life/ wellbeing infrastructure growth plan to support its C21 towering reformist policy.
The ideal is for segregation/ regressive barriers for the car-free zoned, so the more closing off of public rights of way the better. Keep the towers segregated and excluded.
Why can't Brent residents see the public open space and public right of way to be privatised. The Brent car-free towers plan made transparent would also be useful.
Lets see how it all doesn't fit together. Lets see the bad growth design of Tower Hundreds Brent.
Former Borough of Wembley (now Brent) does have a public rights of way definitive map and statement. That likely needs updating in this case. Former Borough of Willesden (now Brent) has no such legal protection of its public rights of way. Extraordinary when car-free towers are factored in. Its political consensus to look the other way on this bad growth approach to Brent peoples rights to move around or to direct access remaining green spaces.
PAM stands for: Property Asset Management
Yes I realise now. Reminds me when Brent had Business Unit Managers which was unfortunate.
FOR INFORMATION: I have submitted an objection to the email address in the notice, and I'm sharing the text of it below, as some of the details in it may assist other objectors:-
'Dear Brent Property and Asset Management,
Further to your Notice dated 17 March 2026 in the "Brent & Kilburn Times", I am writing to object to the proposed disposal of open space land known as Northwick Park Golf at 280 Watford Road.
This land was acquired jointly by Middlesex County Council and Wembley Urban District Council (from October 1937 the Borough of Wembley) around 1936/37, under policies designed to ensure sufficient public open space in the rapidly expanding London suburban areas. The money borrowed from the Treasury for such purchases in the 1930s had to be approved by the then Ministry of Health, and one of the conditions for their consent was that the land should always remain as public open space.
The book "Middlesex", published by Middlesex County Council in 1939 to celebrate the Council's Golden Jubilee, and written by C.W. Radcliffe, Clerk and Solicitor to the County Council, records that the County Council's resolution to acquire the open space at Watford Road in Wembley was approved in 1936. Such acquisitions were usually funded 75% by the County Council and 25% by the local Council, and the book states:
'In June 1935 it was definitely decided that, in all future cases in which the County Council agreed to make a contribution of 50 per cent or more of the cost involved, the freehold of the land should be conveyed to the County Council. In such cases the general practice is for the land to be leased to the borough or district council in whose area it is situated, on a 999 years' lease at a nominal rent. The procedure has the advantage of enabling the County Council to exercise greater control of the open spaces than would otherwise be the case and the County Council is in a stronger position in preventing any unauthorized dealing with the land.'
Such 'unauthorized dealing' would include the use of the land for any purpose other than open space available for the public to use for recreational purposes. Under the local government reorganisation in 1965, Middlesex County Council ceased to exist, and the freehold interest in the land, as well as the leasehold interest held by the Borough of Wembley, passed to the new London Borough of Brent.
But as well as the freehold passing, so did the responsibility for ensuring that the successor to Middlesex County Council retained the freehold in that land, to ensure that it could only be used, for the rest of the 999 years, as open space available for public use. That is why Brent Council should not dispose of the freehold.
New urban developments now are much denser than they were in the 1930s, so maintaining existing open space is even more important. That is particularly so on this site, because of the high density housing development currently taking place next door to it in the grounds of Northwick Park Hospital. I trust that my objection, and those of others which I am aware of, will be upheld, and that Brent Council will not dispose of the freehold of this open space land. Yours faithfully,
Philip Grant.'
Hey Martin - I am not sure which better describes the Labour run Council - "Bum" or "Bent". Probably both.
Community Garden has posted this email that you could use as a basis for your own objection: If like us you are appalled that Brent Council are proposing to sell off public open space and take away the protection it currently has then please send an email of objection to pam@brent.gov.uk
If you would like an idea of the content then please read this email below, and feel free to copy and paste to your email if you wish:
Dear Brent Council
I am writing to formally object to Brent Council’s decision to sell the freehold of the Northwick Park golf facility and to remove its designation as Public Open Space.
The proposal to dispose of this land and redesignate it raises serious concerns regarding the loss of protected green space that serves the local community. Public Open Space plays a critical role in supporting physical and mental wellbeing, encouraging recreation, and preserving urban biodiversity. The removal of this designation significantly increases the risk of inappropriate development and the permanent loss of accessible green space.
I am particularly concerned that:
* The decision appears to have been taken without adequate, transparent, and meaningful consultation with local residents and stakeholders.
* The inclusion of the pathway from Watford Road to Northwick Park Playing Fields, alongside St Cuthbert’s Church, in the proposed disposal risks restricting public access to an important and well-used route.
* There is insufficient clarity on the intended future use of the site and how community interests will be safeguarded.
Given the importance of this space to the local area, I strongly urge the Council to:
* Halt the process to remove the Public Open Space designation
* Reconsider the proposed sale of the freehold
* Undertake a full and proper public consultation with residents and community groups
* Provide transparent information about any proposed development and its impact
This decision has long-term implications for the community and environment, and it is essential that it is made with appropriate scrutiny, transparency, and public engagement.
I respectfully request that my objection be formally recorded and that I am kept informed of any further developments regarding this matter.
Yours faithfully,
#object
Jo Harris
Objection submitted. We need to do everything possible to protect our public open spaces. This land belongs to the community, … See more
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With hundreds of car-free housing towers in the pipeline for Brent land. Access adjacent these new tower homes to high quality public open green space is a public health, wellbeing and resilience pro human/ assisted living good growth plan. Why is Brent so dominated by Reform policy othering/ regressive ideas instead?
Richmond, half the borough is protected and enhanced green spaces, yet its a de-growth borough as regards population. London green spaces access is all about inequalities and a widening social, health and wellbeing gaps between London boroughs. Brent is the de-regulated, no plan, massive population growth car-free tower lorded over opposite of Richmond.
Why is Brent like this? Politicians like Butt and Tatler!
Which public open space is this?
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