Apparently not so 'Upcoming' as advertised, according to the Enquirer:
Shaft and headhouse sites at Adelaide Road and Canterbury Works
will remain on pause over the next two years while parts of the Euston
drive including the station cavern, crossover tunnels, portal and
scissor box are being rescheduled.
The Enquirer understands that suppliers and subcontractors were given the bad news by main contractor SCS JV on Friday. The Canterbury works will remain on pause for the next two years.
Two giant tunnelling machines have been assembled and are ready to
dig the HS2 tunnel between Old Oak Common and London Euston after
Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed funding for the project in last
year’s budget.
A spokesperson for HS2 said:
When HS2 opens, services will initially
run between Birmingham and Old Oak Common in west London and this
section of the railway remains the focus of our delivery.
Last autumn, the government confirmed that HS2 will be built to
Euston and we are now preparing for construction of the tunnel from Old
Oak Common. Construction on associated works including the tunnel
shafts, headhouses and station approaches will start at a later date.
We are currently reviewing the whole HS2 programme as part of a
major reset – making sure the building blocks of the scheme are in the
correct sequence.
We’re really sorry you are experiencing low pressure. We’ve been made
aware of damages caused by a third party to one of our mains on High
Road which may be causing this.
Streets affected: Chatsworth Avenue, Harrow Road and High Road
What we’re doing
Our repair team have stayed on High Road and are continuing to repair
the damaged water main. As soon as we know how much longer this will
take, we’ll let you know.
We’re really sorry for the disruption. We’re working hard to get your water flowing again soon.
What you can do
Because it can cause problems, until we’ve sorted this, please avoid using your:
Washing machine
Dishwasher
Electrical appliances that use water
If you still have water, we recommend you put some in your kettle or
fridge for drinking in case your water needs switching off for the
repair. We’re really sorry about this, we’re working to get your water
back to normal as soon as possible.
We updated this message at 14:50 and we'll update it again after 18:50
Alas, not a radical student demonstration in these dark times, but a developer's revised plans for the Matalan site on Cricklewood Broadway.
An almost entirely new plan has been put forward for the site which in December 2023 was consented for 238 homes as C3 flats:
Previous consented scheme
The developercites new building regulations, including the post-Grenfell requirement for a secondary fire staircase, for their change of mind and presumably financial gains play a part.
The new scheme is for 826 student beds across 164 rooms and 82 clusters (662 beds) in two blocks. Block A 5-9 storeys and Block B 3-7 storeys. There will be commercial space on the ground floors.
New proposed scheme
So far there are no comments on the Brent Council Planning Portal and the developer claims favourable community responses from their consultations and a letter of support for the provision from Middlesex University.
The site in current context - bottom right building is Wickes
The Planning Reference is 25/0413 and details and link to make comments can be found HERE
Barham Park Trustees, consisting only of Brent Labour Cabinet members, approved the removal of the covenant protecting the park from development on the payment of £200,000 by developer and fairground owner George Irvin.
Cllr Mili Patel sought an assurance that agreement of the Charities Commission for the action would be sought 'in order to safeguard ourselves'. Chair of Trustees, Cllr Muhammed Butt, confirmed that this would be the case.
Cllr Butt confirmed that exempt papers (confidential papers not available for public perusal) had been considered.
He went on to say that representations from a local resident had been received and he had looked through them and concluded that they would add no value to what the Trustees were considering.
In fact they were detailed papers that picked apart the process and reasons for the covenant removal.
More generally Trustees were told of plans to expand the Trust's activities and continue the 'redevelopment journey'.
Readers of this blog will know that many questions have been raised about Cllr Muhammed Butt's refusal to allow any scrutiny of Trustees' actions over Barham Park.
Barham Park was gifted to the people of Wembley by Titus Barham (HISTORY HERE) but Butt gained control of the Trustees by making himself their Chair and other members of his Cabinet fellow Trustees. They claim that they represent the people of Wembley and refuse any other representation.
In his role as the all-powerful Chair, Cllr Butt has refused to let people speak at meetings of the Trustees to raise issues over the accounts, plans to redevelop and privately market park buildings, his relationship with the developer and fairground entrepeneur George Irvin, the sale of two workers' cottages in the park to Irvin, and Irvin's gifts of free fairground ride tickers to councillors (see links below).
There is a Trustees' meeting on Monday morning where a payment bu Irvin to the Trustees of £200,000 will allow a restrictive covenant protecting Barham Park to be removed, enabling Irvin to build four three storey houses inside the park on the site of the cottages. (CGI above). Irvin has already received planning permission for them from the Council pending settlement of the covenant issue. Observers reckon given the sale value of the proposed private houses, situated in a beautiful park with vehicle access and nearby rail connections, the payment is quite a bargain.
Unsurprisingly, local councillor Paul Lorber has asked to speak to the Trustees about the issues raised. Equally unsurprisingly Chair of Trustees and Leader of the Council, Cllr Muhammed Butt has refused:
The Brent Officer concerned responded:
As is usual practice I’ve consulted with the Chair and, as a result, can advise he is not currently minded to allow any requests to speak at Monday’s meeting. Whilst it will not, therefore, be possible for you to address the meeting in person you’ll obviously still be more than welcome to attend to observe proceedings. We’ll also be webcasting the meeting live, which you’ll be able to follow, as an alternative, via the following link:
A WW2 German Dornier DO-217-M bomber aircraft. (Image from the internet)
The distance from Wembley to Cambridge is around 50 miles (80 kilometres)
as the crow flies. This story links both places. I was contacted by someone who
knew the Cambridge half, and asked what I knew about the Wembley part. At the
time it was nothing, but after a little research in the local newspaper microfilms
at Brent Archives, I can now share a remarkable story with you.
The events in this article took place on the night of 23 February 1944.
The Second World War had already been going on for 4½ years, and it would be
another fifteen months before the country could celebrate VE Day, the end of the war in Europe. After several years with little or no
German bombing, London was in the middle of a “mini-blitz”. Just five nights
earlier, eight members of the Whitfield family and seven members of the
Metcalfe family had been killed when their semi-detached homes in Birchen
Close, Kingsbury, suffered a direct hit from a high explosive bomb. An air raid
warden, who’d been blown across the road by the blast, died in hospital two
days later.
The first report of the incident in Alperton was this short article in
“The Wembley News”:
The following week’s edition of the newspaper had more time for a full front-page
report of what had happened:
“Fireguards Arrest German Airmen”, headline from “The Wembley News”, 3
March 1944. (Brent Archives local newspaper microfilms)
Fireguards were ordinary local residents, not otherwise serving in the
Home Guard or as air raid wardens. After the widespread damage caused by German
incendiary (fire) bombs in the “blitz”, regulations were introduced in early
1941 that adults should spend 12 hours a week (often split into four-hour
shifts) on night-time fire watching duties. The Wardens in charge of Wembley’s
eighty A.R.P. posts had to organise firewatchers for every sector in their area.
25,000 Wembley civilians were given the necessary training, and supplied with bags
of sand, galvanised water buckets and stirrup pumps to use in putting out fires.
A WW2 fireguard bucket, stirrup pump and hose. (Source: Imperial War Museum)
The local newspaper report on 3 March included this eyewitness account,
from an Alperton man, of what he saw during an air raid on London by over 200
German bombers that night:
‘I was watching the barrage [of anti-aircraft
gunfire] when suddenly a plane could be seen caught by about eight
searchlights. The guns put up a terrific barrage and got him “boxed”, and then
closed in on him. It was obvious that no plane could stay up there long, and
all of a sudden there was a flash. They had got him. The next thing I saw was
two parachutes sailing down. They were picked up by the searchlights and
followed down.’
A WW2 photograph showing searchlights on a bomber, and anti-aircraft
gunfire. (Image from the internet)
Two firewatchers, Mr W. Hall of 47 Douglas Avenue and Mr F. Harrison of
1 Christchurch Green, were sheltering under the front porch of his house. They
had seen a parachute descending, and heard a bump as something hit the roof of
number 49. The newspaper report said:
‘A high hedge separates numbers 47 and 49. The
airman went one side and the parachute the other. After a discreet wait Messrs
Harrison and Hall, who thought it was a land mine, hurried over to
investigate.’
47 and 49 Douglas Avenue, Alperton, as it might have been at the time. (A Google Street View image, painted to restore the
wartime hedge!)
The firewatchers were right to be cautious. “Land mines”, as they were
commonly called, were 500kg German bombs
dropped by parachute, which drifted through the air until they hit a solid
structure, killing indiscriminately. On the same night in September 1940, two
such bombs had killed four people, women and young children in flats above
shops in Kingsbury Road, and four more (two married couples) in District Road,
Sudbury.
The newspaper report continued:
‘After releasing the Nazi from his complicated
harness, Mr Hall picked him up. He was thoroughly dazed, helmetless and dressed
in a blueish grey uniform. First-aid was rendered, he was given smelling salts
and asked if he was alright. He nodded his head, answering in the affirmative.’
‘By this time neighbours began to collect, and the
head fireguard of the sector, Mr W. Thornton, disarmed the Nazi by removing his
belt and revolver. He offered no resistance and was quite docile. When the
young airman had sufficiently recovered, he was taken to the wardens post in
Christchurch Green and the police were sent for and he was taken to Wembley
Police Station.’
Locations from the incident, marked on a map from 1939. (Extract from page 30 of the original A to Z Atlas
and Guide to London and the suburbs)
Mrs Hall, the wife of the fireguard at 47 Douglas Avenue, had also
spoken to the reporter:
‘The German airman proved to be a youth, aged about
20, fair haired and according to Mrs Hall “a good looking young boy”.’
The young German who landed in Douglas Avenue was lucky. In April 1943,
Ronald Francis, a 21-year old RAF airman who’d lived just along the road at 19
Douglas Avenue, was killed with the rest of the 7-man crew of a Lancaster aircraft
which crashed in The Netherlands, after being shot down while returning from a bombing mission over
Germany.
The newspaper mentioned two German airmen in Wembley’s streets. There
were brief details of the other one:
‘The second defeated raider landed in Wembley Park
Drive about the same time. He also was captured without any difficulty, and
after being taken to a nearby Army unit’s headquarters was handed over to the
police.’
But all four crew members of the Dornier bomber had baled out. The
airman captured in Wembley Park was described as being around 30 years old, so might
have been the pilot. I don’t know where the other two landed, but it may have
been earlier, just over the Wembley Borough boundary in Ealing. If you have any
information on this, please add a comment below!
The Dornier’s pilot must have thought that his aircraft would crash,
after being damaged by anti-aircraft “flak” shells. He locked his plane’s
controls so that it stayed level while he and his crewmen baled out. If it had
crashed, the plane and its load of 860 incendiary bombs would probably have
come down on a built-up area in Kingsbury or Edgware, causing massive damage
and potential death or injury to local residents. But the Dornier DO-217-M did
not crash. It flew on in a north north-easterly direction, over Hertfordshire
and beyond.
Later that night, a lady at 302 Milton Road in Cambridge heard a loud
noise behind her house. When she dared to look out, there was a German bomber
aircraft with its nose up against her back garden fence!
Two photographs of the Dornier bomber where it came to rest in Cambridge,
February 1944. (Screenshots from the “German Ghost Bomber” video)
The Dornier bomber had flown over fifty miles, without a pilot,
gradually getting lower. Miraculously, it had passed just east of the centre of
Cambridge, missing the University’s historic colleges, and the homes in its
northern suburb, and made a “wheels-up” landing across a large allotment site.
Although it left a trail of unexploded incendiary bombs behind it in the
vegetable plots, the remaining fuel in the aircraft’s tanks had not ignited. No
one was hurt.
The Cambridge end of this curious incident is told in an excellent 9-minute
video film from 2022 by Mark Felton, “German Ghost Bomber – The Mysterious Case
of the Cambridge Dornier”, which I will leave you to watch and enjoy!
Thank you, Mark Felton, for the video that led to the enquiry, and which
has enabled me to share the Wembley end of this story.
Philip Grant.
[With apologies to Mark Haddon, for borrowing from the title of his
award-winning book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”. When
the idea flashed into my head, it fitted this story so well that I just had to
use it!]
There were 116 responses to Making The Leap's planning application Ref: 25/0041 on the Brent Planning Portal LINK110 objections, 5 in favour and 1 neutral). This is a fantastic achievement and brilliant community engagement!!!
We
now also have the support of Kensal Triangle Residents Association,
Kensal Rise Residents Association, Queens Park Residents Association,
The Victorian Society, SAVE Britain's Heritage and Willesden Local
History Society.
Making The Leap's planning application will now almost certainly be referred to the Brent Planning Committee and it's essential
that we email our local Councillors to urge them to lobby the committee
on our behalf and that we also email the members of the committee too,
and our MP Georgia Gould. The next meetings of the committee are 12
March and 9 April.
Since the North End Road was re-connected to Bridge Road at Wembley Park in June 2021 LINK concerns have been raised about the danger to pedestrians and cyclists at the road crossing as no lights were installed. Traffic came in 3 directions and visibility of the junction from further down North End Road is poor.
In August 2021 I sent Brent Council a video of the danger, particularly for families with children walking from Chalkhill or the Bridge Road bus stop to the Civic Centre, Wembley Library or the LDO. Crossing North End Road was made more difficult by terrorist prevention concrete slabs that were eventually replaced by bollards.
At the time Brent Council said they were liaising with Tranport for London over installing signalling at the junction. Four years later, as you can see from the images above, it looks as if we are almost there.
Unfortunately, on the issue of allowing the 206 bus to re-route via North End Road on Event Days, raised at the same time with the same answer about liaising with TfL , no progress has been made.
At present the 206 is curtailed at Brent Park on event days and Wembley is not served.
Unusually the public gallery was packed last night at the meeting of the Brent Council Pensions Sub-Committee that oversees the council's Local Government Pension Scheme. Brent Council workers and non-teaching school staff form the bulk of members of the scheme. Chair of the Pension Sub-committee Cllr Robert Johnson declared an interest at the meeting as he is a member of the Scheme as a former Brent Council employee.
The full presentation and response can be seen in the short video above. The Chair of Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign told the Sub-Committee that more than 2,000 residents. local workers and students had now signed the petition calling for divestment from funds complicit in human rights abuses in Palestine and elsewhere. The Council should take urgent action as it did over South African apartheid in the past.
The call for ethical investment was shared by many including environmental campaigners.
The Council's response was carefully worded and took less than two minutes. Listen to it above to see whether it fully answers the points made earlier in the presentation.
The presentation asked for a list of the LGPS investments. This was supplied to national PSC in 2020 but when asked last year Brent Coucnil said they were unable to supply a list.
These were
the top five of their complicit investments in 2020 and a check on
whether they still have such investments would be helpful:
HSBC £4,663,056
HSBC invests over £830million in, and provides financial services worth up
to £19billion for, companies arming Israel. These investments include up to
£100million worth of shares in the company Caterpillar, who supply the Israeli
army with bulldozers which are weaponised and used to demolish Palestinian
communities, build Israel’s illegal settlements and apartheid infrastructure
including the apartheid wall and military checkpoints. For more info:
https://www.palestinecampaign.org/campaigns/stop-arming-israel/
Barclays £1,252,342
Barclays is a British multinational bank and financial services company.
Barclays hold approximately £1,167.6 million of investments in companies that
are known to supply the Israeli military. This includes Babcock, BAE and
Boeing, Cobham and Rolls Royce. More information available in War on Want’s
2017 ‘Deadly Investments’ report.
BAE Systems£970,233
According to CAAT, “BAE Systems is the world’s fourth largest arms producer.
Its portfolio includes fighter aircraft, warships, tanks, armoured vehicles,
artillery, missiles and small arms ammunition. It has military customers in
over 100 countries. BAE has a workshare agreement with Lockheed Martin
producing the US F-35 stealth combat aircraft. Israel, for example, took
delivery of its first F-35 in 2016. According to Investigate, a project by the
American Friends Service Committee, BAE has worked in cooperation with Lockheed
Martin and Rafael to produce and market the naval Protector drone used to
maintain the siege of Gaza along the Mediterranean coast.
Smiths Group £316,811
According to CAAT “Smiths Group is a global technology company with five
divisions: John Crane, Smiths Medical, Smiths Detection, Smiths Interconnect
and Flex-Tek. Smiths Connectors is part of Smiths Interconnect and comprises Hypertac,
IDI and Sabritec brands. Products include connectors used in fighting vehicles,
unmanned vehicles and avionics systems.” They have applied for a number of
military export licences to Israel.
Rolls Royce £294,535
Rolls-Royce is a British manufacturer that produces military aircraft
engines, naval engines and cores for nuclear submarines. Despite arms
comprising only 26% of its total sales, it is still the world’s 17th largest
Arms trade. In 2014, the year of Israel’s arial bombardment and ground invasion
of Gaza, which killed over 2,200 civilians, nearly a quarter of them children,
Rolls-Royce was granted export licenses for engines for military aircrafts to
Israel.
Charlie Clinton (Lib Dem) speaks after vote declaration
Charlie Clinton swept to victory in the Alperton by-election yesterday with an increased vote share. The by-election took place in unusual circumstances following the resignation of Anton Georgiou as a result of pressures on his personal life casued by the release from jail of a stalker.
Brent Greens decided not to field a candidate and called on other parties to do the same as a principled stand against violence in public life. In the event Conservatives and Labour went ahead and Reform joined them.
Cllr Muhammed Butt had allegedly received the news of Georgiou's resignation with glee and Labour threw everything into the campaign. Barry Gardiner MP and Labour councillors joined party members in a huge effort to gain the seat for their 19 year old candidate, daughter of a former councillor.
Charlie Clinton outside the blue blocks in which he lives opposite Alperton Station
Paul Lorber, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Brent Council said:
The stunning victory for Charlie Clinton and the Liberal Democrats is down to the amazing had work by Anton Georgiou and the Lib Dem team for Alperton over many years.
Winning over twice as many votes as Labour was beyond our expectations but shows how much trouble Labour are in since the formation of their Government. Things will get even worse for Labour as they put up taxes and cut services.
With Charlie's election the Lib Dem Group is back to 3 on Brent Council and we will continue to punch above our weight in challenging the Labour Leadership on the many bad decisions they are making.
We are grateful to the Brent Green Party for their solidarity with Anton Georgiou by not putting up a candidate in Alperton.
An ex-Brent Labour Party member reviewed the result for Wembley Matters:
As a
long-term resident of Brent, an ex-Labour Party member and a lifelong trade
unionist I have watched with horror what has been happening in Brent Labour
since 2010 when the current administration come into power. I am very aware
that the Tory Party austerity policies has put local councils, especially
metropolitan boroughs, and Labour controlled ones and suffer financially.
However, some of the decisions and direction of travel in Brent have not been
what most of us would consider being aligned with Labour Party values, nor for
the good of residents.
The
campaign in Alperton was a prime example of Brent Labour’s lack of care about
Labour Party values and the residents they are supposed to represent.
There were
several messages spawned by Brent Labour that were untrue and misrepresented.
Blaming
the LibDems for the general untidiness of the ward, along with fly tipping etc
is unbelievable. Brent Labour has the tools at their disposal to sort these
issues, not the LibDems, all a LibDem councillor can do is make a noise to
Council Officers, whereas, a Brent Labour Councillor, such as they have in
Alperton, can request the Leader and Cabinet Member to rectify these issues by
directing Council resources to where they are needed in the ward. That didn’t happen,
so the mess in Alperton is down to Brent Labour, so electing another one is
pointless?
Telling us
we need Social Housing while allowing all the available land to be turned into
either flats for sale, or more likely private rentals is not the way to go. We
are told that Brent is supplying hundreds of Affordable Homes, 80% of an
unaffordable rent is still too high for Brent’s housing waiting list
applicants, as are even London Affordable at is it 60% of the inflated rental
values. Then there are the Shared Ownership properties, these are known to be overpriced
and very difficult to sell and realise even the original investments for those
that buy in.
Basically,
in the eyes of Brent residents they see Brent Labour as being the out and out
supporter and facilitator of their best friends the developers and private
landlords (such as many of their own councillors). The Leadership are not shy
of accepting gifts (Irvin’s fairs, lunches, receptions and more no doubt) and
why would the Council (Barham Trustees, chaired by the Leader) remove the
covenant off the park warden buildings in Barham Park for a paltry
£200,000? I look at Ealing Road library forecourt and wonder how they are
getting away with that ridiculous occupation. Maybe they know someone?
Brent Labour
have let Brent’s environmental services decline into an ineffective service
while spending ridiculous amounts of money on the Civic Centre, publicity, and
other unnecessary spending. There are so many other failings of this Brent
Labour led council that are wrong, it is not surprising that residents don’t
vote Labour in sufficient numbers anymore, as shown in recent elections, even
before the Labour nationally lost a lot of their support over its recent
ineptitude. Citing the Labour Government as an issue is partially true, but it
is far from the real issue for Labour in Brent, Brent residents need a Council
that listens, does the right thing, tells the truth because it is worth telling
and represents the electorate first.
I really believe that this Labour group believe what they are
doing is the right thing and that they lost Alperton because residents don’t
understand how wonderful the council is!!!!
