Community celebration on St Raph's
Brent Green Party councillors have expressed serious concern regarding the appointment of the Independent Chair to the St Raphael’s Estate Neighbourhood Board, following growing public disquiet and formal governance inquiries over the recruitment process.
The £20 million government-backed "Pride in Place" initiative is intended to deliver long-term, community-led investment to support St Raphael’s Estate. However, the recent announcement of Priyesh Patel as the board’s "Independent Chair" has sparked concern from local residents, grassroots community advocates, and commentators.
Brent Green councillors share the concerns raised by the local community regarding whether this crucial appointment can genuinely be considered independent. Public records indicate that Mr Patel was employed directly within the Council Leader’s office until August 2025 and has actively engaged in political campaigning alongside Brent Labour candidates. Furthermore, community advocates have raised serious questions over reports that an advertised resident stakeholder interview panel was omitted from the final selection process.
The Leader of the Green Group Cllr Mary Mitchell said:
We share the deep concerns voiced by local residents and community advocates. Appointing someone who was employed directly in the Council Leader’s political office only twelve months ago and who has been actively on the campaign trail with Brent Labour severely undermines public trust in what is designated as an 'independent' role.
I am calling for full transparency about the appointment, the selection process and the safeguards in place to ensure that the role is genuinely independent, including through a conflict of interest and independence review.
A non-partisan community role must be open to scrutiny and must command confidence across the political spectrum, and, most importantly among local residents. Residents deserve concrete commitments to guarantee that St Raphael’s residents, and grassroots organisations are independently represented in choices about how the £20m fund is spent.
15 comments:
Thank you! Cllr Butt needs to be called out. This doesn't smell right....And is very familiar with the first selection of the steering group Chairman SRV St raphs
Excellent work
This has to be exposed, the council officers are complicit in this alongside the leadership and mp.
Ceo Kim why has this happened on your watch.
Even if the mp and council get to choose, why have you not included residents from the outset?
Typical of Brent council.. endemic through most of not all processes of appointing candidates for a role.
Get this a brother in law was on a panel where the sister in law was being interviewed 😂😂 and this was for a rolling housing at Brent council around 15 years ago... Absolutely disgraceful
I remember this epic event pictured - queens jubilee - organised by Asif - people as far as the eye could see. He knows how to engage and get residents excited
This is why we need Greens, sure some don’t know what a woman is but the bravery to stand up and scrutinise the decisions of a leader who is by all accounts been acting like brent is a personal thiefdom is why we voted for them. Well done greens 🥬
Please, everyone knows your dealing with BENT labour
This is Cronyism or patronage as the dude had no link to St Raphel and was not elected by residents as resident input was promised. This is Labour led council corruption to hand someone money for supporting Brent council leader and other Labour councillors during the last election. St Raphael needs someone who has lived in the place to lead this and it should be through a group of trustees.
South Kilburn Trust- you got corporatism, you got coloniser meanwhiling. Two new Kilburn Wall towers are being built on what is the main historic estate community centre, the Carlton Centre. Its not as if there aren't towers either built or pending all around Carlton Centre. Why build on Carlton, rather than allow some at town scale civic community space public good for tower tenants to have a chance of sustaining a community?
St Raphael's Tower Wall is pending.
It's about blind control, control, control! Mohammad Butt is a control freak so of course he'll want one of this own people in control of the St Raph's Budget and Projects and Photo opportunities. It's NOT Dictatoriship - it's pure common sense! Is it not?
Having lived every minute of my life as a girl, a woman, and in more recent years a mother, I have a very clear grasp of what it is to be one. I understand our lived experiences.
If enduring the patriarchy teaches you anything, it’s how to spot establishment stitch-ups a mile off. If we want a better, fairer world for our kids, for ourselves, that means asking the awkward questions, like how an “independent” chair with control over £20m at St Raph’s happens to be straight off the council leadership’s campaign trail. We will keep the scrutiny coming! 🥬
Or even DICTATORSHIP? Blame the stupid Tories - they let him continue in power.
Butt is power depleted though.
In what is regeneration year 25. Look at South Kilburn Trust, shifting all community public owned social infrastructure assets (LAND) bit-by-bit, site-by-site, meanwhiling it all, into private developers hands. This while while estate population has been trebled since 2001.
There are trusts, Butt then there are Brent trusts (in its agencies won't go there) growth zones Brent. Special operations which are post-human, considering that these zones are where UK record population densities are being grown for tower lords to dominate and rule over in 'fail and fail better style' forever.
ZP was detailing this state system/ method in the Local elections campaign. Do the Greens oppose anti-socialism/ growing inequalities in zones?
St Raphs please don't become 'its all brownfield estate' community erased by the global tower lords.
Feudal tenanted tower lords demand a poverty of environment. They insist on isolation and exclusion, needless neglect too, to intimidate- even between each new estate tower block 'business'.
Existing estate community overall to be total excluded. That's 'design by greed' method for Brent tower walls, that's new anti-social Brent building.
Anyway, back to Queen Park Day- never had it so good with all the off-set from the Brent developer extraction zones. It did rain on their parade though!
Overpowering
Does St Raphs have any private owned sites within its public owned zone, maybe kept on hold as Brent towers become taller, wider, longer and worse quality? Hopefully not.
You need a elected neighbourhood board model in 2026, to which all residents can appeal and lobby direct every time that it meets for business. You would need state approval for that to happen and of course Corporatist Brent would try and undermine it at every step. Still, would be way better than your estate hijacked and hostage to tower lords first trapped in no plan permanent development abuse, where the aim is poverty of estate environment and of estate opportunities. Neglect and un care to intimidate and total exclude local life.
Good Luck!
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