Help shape nature's future in Brent. Take part in London's Local Nature Recovery Strategy consultation. Ends 23.59 October 29.

 

The local Nature  Recover Strategy will shape our nature spaces (opefully preserve and enhance them) over the next few years as we deal with an ecological emergency.

You can read the documents and take complete a questionaire on the GLA site HERE. 

A summary of the purposes and key strategies from the document:

Natural spaces offer Londoners places to relax, exercise, play, and connect with the city’s natural heritage and culture. They also serve as essential habitats for wildlife, help protect the people who live and work here from the effects of climate change and play a role in improving air quality.

 

Yet despite its importance, nature is in decline globally and the UK is among the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

 

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are a new, nationwide system of spatial strategies that aim to help reverse biodiversity loss. There are 48 LNRS areas covering the whole of England.

 

The Mayor of London has produced Greater London’s first LNRS. This new spatial tool maps London’s most valuable existing and potential areas for nature for the first time. It identifies the parts of nature most in need of help to recover, outlines the actions needed to improve them, and sets out where those actions could have the greatest impact.

 

What is nature recovery?

 

The term ‘nature recovery’ means increasing and improving nature to help reverse its decline. ‘Nature recovery’ does not necessarily aim to bring back something that existed in the past, instead it seeks to grow a richer network of nature by improving, connecting, creating and expanding it, while minimising further harm.

 

A collaborative approach

 

Successful nature recovery relies on collective action, so the LNRS has been developed through close collaboration with technical specialists, community groups, boroughs and Londoners.

 

It also builds on existing information and strategies, like the London Environment Strategy.

 

Purpose of the LNRS

 

The LNRS acknowledges that nature underpins everything people do. The priorities and measures set by the strategy will help to restore a healthy natural environment, which will in turn help clean our air and water and improve our mental and physical health.

 

The LNRS is a shared tool to help everyone in London support nature. It can be used by any organisation, group, or person. It provides a clear framework for coordinated and targeted action for nature in London, aiming to guide city-wide nature recovery that benefits the health of Londoners, biodiversity and climate resilience.

 

Londoners can help with nature recovery by using the LNRS to inform the way they use, manage, improve and develop land.

 

The six overarching priorities that apply everywhere in London are:

 

• Help people enjoy nature: Make it easier for all Londoners to enjoy and connect with nature, while looking after the most sensitive natural areas

 

• Bigger, better, more connected and more diverse: create, improve, and connect a mix of habitats to help nature thrive

 

• Boost wildlife populations: increase species abundance, with a focus on native and threatened species

 

• Help pollinators and minibeasts thrive: support a wide variety of land- and water-based invertebrates, including pollinators

 
• Support healthy soils: restore and minimise disturbance to soils and fungi to support all biodiversity
 

• Protect wildlife from invasive species: reduce and control invasive species to
protect and improve valuable habitats and species 

The focused priorities and measures specify needs around:

 

• Urban nature: support, enhance and connect nature in more urban areas such as parks, gardens, rooftops, and other green urban spaces. This will provide a range of benefits for people, such as supporting mental and physical health, and help many species including black redstart, peregrine, swift and house martin.

 

• Rewilding and re-introductions: create large-scale areas for nature, to support a diverse range of species in a complementary mix of habitats and to bring back animals and plants that used to live in London, including water voles and beavers.

 

• Green corridors: connect nature spaces across London to help wildlife move through the city.

 

• Trees and woodland (including orchards): plant more trees and look after existing woodlands, orchards, and parklands. This will benefit important species including bats, butterflies and specialist woodland plants and provide cooling for Londoners.

 

• Waterbodies and waterways: create, improve and restore water environments to help nature thrive in rivers, streams, and lakes. This will benefit species including kingfisher, otter and European eel.

 

• Wetlands: create, improve and connect other wet habitats, such as marshland and reedbeds. This includes natural flood management measures, like sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and constructed wetlands. This will benefit birds and wetland flowering plants, and build climate resilience.

 

• Grassland, heath and scrub: create, improve, and connect nature in grassland, heathland, scrubland, and on farms. This will help support ground nesting birds such as skylark and lapwing, a range of butterflies and harvest mice.

 

• ‘Micro-habitats’: increase specialist habitat areas such as deadwood and patches of sand to benefit specialist insects, fungi and bats.

 

The LNRS does not give any extra protection to nature sites, but it helps landowners and managers, planners and designers know how best to design, improve and manage land to help London tackle the climate and ecological emergencies through nature recovery

 

A rather extraordinary resource is the Local Habitat Interactive Map showing areas for action in Brent and other boroughs. LINK 

It is quite complex so the video below may help. You can find your address on the map and see any proposals relating to it. 

 

Respond to the consultation on the future regeneration of Willesden Trades Hall and Apollo Club

 

The Willesden Trades Hall Charity is celebrating the launch of its inaugural project at the building, with a grant of £85,675 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and further match-funding from The Architectural Heritage Fund.

 

Over the next eight months, the Board of Trustees, comprised of local stakeholders, will commence the process of regenerating this historic building, via three key objectives. The board will be supported by heritage specialists, London Historic Buildings Trust, and award-winning architecture and design firm, Adjaye Associates to:

 

1.     Invigorate and communicate the historic significance and legacy of the building and appraise and address its material condition and needs.

2.     Facilitate the reopening of the ground floor (former London Apollo Club) for ‘meanwhile’ community use

3.     Identify a viable long-term future for the building that will benefit the diverse communities of Brent.

 

Project activities will include the delivery of a series of building investigations, community consultations and architectural services by Adjaye Associates; a pilot programme of cultural and heritage activities overseen by London Historic Buildings Trust; and actions to strengthen the governance and resilience of the new Charity on its journey towards the full repair and renovation of the building.

 

Alan Scott, Chair of Trustees said:

 

The Willesden Trades and Labour Hall is a building with great historical and cultural significance to Brent, London and the nation as an iconic home for the British Labour movement.  Since the early twentieth century the hall has played a crucial role in the political, economic and social history of the local area, and indeed the nation. The London Apollo Club, opened in 1969, was one of the first venues exclusively for Reggae and Afro-Caribbean culture in Europe and as such a historic community asset for that diaspora. We are now extremely excited to have the opportunity to re-invigorate this building’s legacy and imagine how it can migrate into the future.

 

Stuart McLeod, Director of England - London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

 

Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re delighted to support this important first step in the regeneration of the Willesden Trades Hall along with money from The Architectural Heritage Fund. It will look to shape a sustainable future for this much-loved community asset, bringing the Hall back into meaningful use and celebrating its heritage for generations to come. At the Heritage Fund, we believe in the power of heritage to bring people together and this project is a great example of this.

 

 LINK TO CONSULTATION

 

VIRTUAL TOUR AND MORE

 

ABOUT THE WILLESDEN TRADES HALL CHARITY

The Charity was launched in 2024 with the purpose of preserving and maintaining the Willesden Trades & Labour Hall and London Apollo Club as a site of architectural, historical and cultural interest and significance, and to benefit the residents of the London Borough of Brent.

 

The Willesden Trades Hall and the Labour movement, the arts and the London Apollo Club

The Willesden Trades Hall has in recent times fallen into disuse. The Willesden Trades Hall Charity owns the Hall and is the grateful recipient of resilience funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund so it can commence the reinvigoration of this legacy building for the twenty first century with the support of the London Historic Building Trust as Project Managers.

 

The Labour movement

From no 375 High Road trade unionists, the trades council and Labour movement activists have met and organised industrial action and campaigns for over 100 years: it has been the venue for significant advances in emancipation, particularly with respect to women’s workers’ rights as headquarters for actions from the National Federation of Women Workers in the early twentieth century. In 1924 Sylvia Pankhurst founded the Willesden Branch of the Communist Workers Movement at the Hall. In 1926 the Hall became the HQ of the General Strike. The General Strike was followed by the Hunger Marches in the 30s protesting high unemployment. Marchers were welcomed at the hall.

 

The 2-year Grunwick strike of the 1970’s for unionisation because of low pay and intimidating practices by the employers was organised by a group of mainly Asian women workers at the nearby Grunwick factory. Its strike committee met at the hall. The local trades council coordinated the level of solidarity the Grunwick strike achieved between women from minority ethnic backgrounds and the wider trade union movement.

In the 1980s it was the London base for the Kent Miners during the Miners’ Strike and followed by the Peoples March for Jobs in the 1980s. Local dinner ladies provided lunches for the marchers.

 

The Hall’s reputation for solidarity was international when Nelson Mandela visited the UK in 1962 and was invited to Brent. His intention was to speak at the Hall, but the attendance was overwhelming, and the event was moved to another venue.

 

The London Apollo Club, Reggae and the Afro-Caribbean Community

In 1969 the London Apollo Club was launched by Bob Marley on the ground floor of the building. Despite local resistance mainly due to racism the club became a treasured cultural and community venue for the local Afro -Caribbean community. It provided a space for activism and solidarity for the community (which continues at the Brent Black Music Co-operative next door) and welcomed legendary national and international reggae artists including John Holt, Elton Ellis, Gregory Isaacs. The London Apollo Club prevailed until the pandemic lockdown of 2020 but had sadly to close.

 

The Future

Following de-industrialisation in the 1980s, the weakening of the trade union movement and the retreat of collective bargaining, the Hall, its funding and its activities have slowly declined and the Willesden Trades and Labour Hall Society was deregistered in 2000.

The building itself has since been neglected and needs attention, some urgent. The Charity has been formed to seek solutions for the buildings’ future.  WTLH Services Ltd (by Guarantee) was awarded a first grant by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.  WTLH Services transferred ownership of the building to Willesden Trades Hall Charity which was formed in December 2024.

 

The new project, funded by the Heritage Fund and AHF, will pursue a broad community consultation to inform how to best care for the building’s legacy and ensure this legacy migrates into the future both as part of the Labour movement and as a cultural and music venue. The charity has the firm and broad intention of creating new spaces for the Labour movement, the community and the arts by facilitating education, history, practices of community care, a place to meet and the cultural and creative enterprise that reflects the diverse constituents of Brent.

 

LINK TO CONSULTATION

 

 

The Building

The Charity will be procuring an architect-led design team who can start the process of defining a practical and creative direction for the renovation and development of the building long term, that has an affinity with the area and its communities, and can bring a creative vision to bear onto the ethical, cultural ambitions of the Charity as they reflect the material legacy of the building and its historical activities.

                                           

ABOUT THE NATIONAL LOTTERY HERITAGE FUND

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past. 

 

Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities. 

heritagefund.org.uk 

 

 

The 'Lions of Grunwick' are coming back to Brent - November 29th

 

Townsend Theatre Production's play about the Grunwick strike is 'coming home' to the borough in which the strike took place near Dollis Hill station.

The fresh version of the play will be at the Performance Space in Willesden Green Library on November 29th at 7.30pm.

 

Townsend Theatre write: 

Grunwick wasn’t a strike about wages – it was about something much more important than that: it was about dignity. Dignity at work. And, for the small band of Asian women strikers, who braved the sun, rain, and snow month-in and month-out on the picket lines, from August 1976 to July 1978, rights in the workplace and pride at work were far more important than any amount of money.

 

Night after night the public watched dramatic television footage of clashes on the picket lines, between snatch squads and regimented police lines, on the one side, and wave after wave of trade union members, pickets and protesters, on the other.

 

Each morning the strikers, a group of predominantly Asian women, colourful saris often hidden beneath heavy woollen coats, would take up their posts on the picket lines, unbowed and unbroken in the face of intimidation, the threat of arrest and the sting of the cold.

 

They had been employed by Grunwick, a photographic processing factory in north-west London, in the belief that they would be easy to handle, to browbeat and to exploit. Yet, they found their own distinctive voice in the course of the struggle to secure their rights.

Even during the hardest of times, Jayaben Desai had the uncanny ability to evoke a mood or sum up a situation with a perfectly weighted turn of phrase. In this way, she had the measure of the most brutish and charmless of her managers, when she told them: ‘What you are running here is not a factory, it is a zoo. But in a zoo there are many types of animals. Some are monkeys who dance on your fingertips, others are lions who can bite your head off. We are the lions, Mr. Manager!’

 

Ranged against these ‘lions’ of the trade union movement was, however, a new type of employer – ruthless and implacable in defence of his ‘right’ to make the maximum amount of profit, regardless of the human cost, and behind him a new, highly ideological breed of hard right-wing politicians, fanatically devoted to neoliberalism and the destruction of the hard-won freedoms of working people.

 

Jayaben Desai: ‘...my English not good’. Yet she talked the language of Gandhi, with the burning sense of injustice of La Passionara. Indeed, at times she was almost Shakespearean. She had a way with words that captured the very essence of the human spirit.

 

Grunwick truly did make history. The strike saw the biggest mobilisation in labour movement history around a local dispute, with 20,000 descending on Chapter Road in Willesden on 11 July 1977. Grunwick saw one of the most remarkable acts of solidarity in labour movement history with the brave stand taken by the Cricklewood post office workers.

 

Grunwick put centre-stage the issue of the exploitation of immigrant workers, nailing the myth that Asian workers were passive and unorganisable.

 

Grunwick was a defining moment in the trade union and political lives of tens of thousands, who came to the streets of Brent to back the Grunwick workers.

 

BOOK TICKETS HERE 

 

Now the NHS want to reduce the opening hours of the Central Middlesex Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre

2012: Candy Unwin of Keep Our NHS Public and John Lister warn of the impact of the closure of the A&E at Central Middlesex Hospital. Meeting chaired by Brent Trades Council LINK

You may wonder why I am posting the photograph above from 13 years ago here, well it marked the moment when the NHS began the run down of services at Central Middlsex Hospital (known to many locals as Park Royal).John Lister, who had been commissioned to write a report on NHS plans across the NW London area warned that closures of A&E departments could be the beginning of a process that would eventually lead to the  closure of local hospitals.

At the time much was made of the provision of an Urgent Care Centre at Central Middlesex that would offer treatment for less serious cases, while those needing A&E would go to Northwick Park Hospital, an awkward journey miles away.

We know now how busy Northwick Park A&E has become but the NHS are proposing to cut the hours of the Urgent Treatment Centre at Central Middlesex with the last patients being registered at 8pm rather than the current 11pm.

The proposalfrom London NW University Healthcare Trust, comes after the row over their closure of the hydrotherapy pool at Northwick Park, still not formally scrutinised by Brent Council Scrutiny Committee.  The lack of proper consultation was a major issue but the Trust admitted that consultation would not change their decision - it would only help shape their advice of alternatives.

The current consultation on a reduction in hours of the Central Middlesex Urgent Treatment Centre if of of the same ilk - it appears it would not change the actual hours reduction proposal.  LINK

Have your say on a proposed change to the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) opening hours at Central Middlesex Hospital

We are considering changing the opening hours of the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) at Central Middlesex Hospital. The UTC currently opens between 8am and 12midnight, seven days per week, with the last patient registered at 11pm. 

Challenges with current opening hours

Radiology services (X-ray, ultrasound, etc) at Central Middlesex Hospital are not available after 8pm. This means many patients who attend after this time must visit another centre that evening or to return for care the following day. This is both inconvenient and causes delays to care. Furthermore, the service only sees an average of four patients per hour after 9pm. This may be because it is well known locally that the hospital does not have an A&E department, leading patients to attend elsewhere. Given low patient numbers and our limited workforce, allocating staff to radiology services after 8pm is not an efficient use of resources.

 Review findings and proposal

A recent review of our urgent care services found that many patients who visit our UTCs out of hours would be more appropriately seen in a primary care or pharmacy setting. We are therefore proposing new opening times of 8am to 9pm, with the last patient registered at 8pm. The UTC would continue to open seven days a week and provide the same services as now. 

Your views matter

We would like to hear your views on this proposed change. Your feedback will help us understand how the change might affect you, your family, or the people you care for. It will also guide us in making sure patients can still get the right care, at the right time, in the right place. The survey should only take a few minutes to complete. All responses are anonymous, and your views will be shared with decision-makers to help shape the future of urgent care in your area.

 

Consultation Meetings  

• Thursday 23 October from 6pm to 7pm at Central Middlesex Hospital
• Friday 31 October from 12pm to 1pm at Central Middlesex Hospital

If you would like to attend either event, please register your attendance on EventBrite.

Online Quesionnaire 

 

Having failed dismally to hold the Trust to account on behalf of local residents over the hydrotherapy pool closure, will the Brent Council Scrutiny put this proposal on their agenda, urgently?

Brent Cabinet endorses pause on Wembley student accommodation boom

 

 Monday's Brent Cabinet approved the pause in purpose built student accommodation in the Wembley Growth Area. Cllr Grahl brought up the Matalan student housing development in her ward  and supported her residents' misgivings particularly in view of the local housing housing crisis. She suggested that the pause could also be applied in other parts of the borough. 

Leader of the Council, Muhammed Butt, in a rather confusing statement said the Council should 'share the love' across the borough which seemed to suggest support for student accommodation elsewhere in the borough but also looked forward to changes in the Local Plan regarding housing issues.

You can hear the discussion in the above video. 

Strategic CIL bonanza for some Brent youth facilities

 

The Stonebridge Adventure Playground team and suppporters

Ten years after Stonebridge Adventue Playground was closed by Brent Council, the Council has approved a £4m capital spend on youth facilities in the borough through another raid on the Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy Fund. It would have taken a tiny fraction of that amount to keep the much-loved  playground going but hey-ho, that's the way it goes in Brent.

So it is with mixed feeling that I welcome the improvements to youth facilities that are planned. There are a number of caveats to the plans including complications around ownership of some of the facilities, a tight ceiling on expenditure that may mean projects have to do some of their own fundraising if they go over budget or seek partners (that failed with Stonebridge Boxing Club's King Edward VII's park plans) and a long delivery timeline.

Because of the above there is a larger than usual 20% contingency on the budget:

At the end of August 2025, Brent had £156.9m SCIL with £80m committed and £72.9m allocated to pipeline schemes.[total £152.9] Therefore, there is £4m SCIL available for this programme and the Council’s Infrastructure Officer Working Group has approved this as an appropriate use of the SCIL funding.

 

Because these organisations are relatively small, they have limited capacity to undertake major capital projects. Therefore, the intention is Brent project manages the works on their behalf. This creates a risk that Brent is liable for overspends or changes in project specifications. Agreements with these organisations need to be clear that Brent’s maximum budgets are fixed and they will need to cover any shortfalls or changes in project specifications.

 

Organisations can also apply for alternative funding sources to supplement the Council’s contribution. Should organisations successfully apply for additional capital funds officers will seek to investigate these and any other funding streams to potentially reduce the SCIL request for this programme. It is however recommended to proceed with SCIL funding for the whole programme to ensure it proceeds in line with the projected timescale.

 

A welcome innovation is the involvement of a Youth Panel in selecting the projects that will benefit:

Eleven potential projects had feasibility studies undertaken, involving input and feedback from the youth facility provider. Examples of the proposed enhancement works included multi-use games areas, teaching kitchens, extension of existing facilities and amenities, and reconfiguration of currently unusable areas for multi-purpose youth provision.

 

A detailed scoring criteria was developed by officers that included points such as the length of existing lease on the building, location, current condition and anticipated higher levels of participation from disadvantaged and hard to reach young people.

 

Organisations then presented to a Youth Panel during a selection event. The Youth Panel was formed consisting of young people from Brent Youth Parliament, Youth Justice Service, Brent Care Journeys 2.0 and the voluntary and community sector, ranging from 14 to 20 years old. Members of the panel lived in different areas across the borough. Ten organisations ultimately attended the Civic Centre to present their projects to the Youth Panel at a Youth Facilities Capital Investment Programme Selection Event.

These are the projects and costs for each plus some comments from the Youth Panel: 

 

Cricklewood Boxing Club

 

Cricklewood Boxing Club, The Boxing Gym (Dollis Hill Ward) £826k – The current facility, situated in a four-story building located on the edge of a large residential district with nearby schools and community services, has outgrown its capacity. As a result, the club is currently forced to turn people away due to lack of space. This expansion proposal seeks to ensure the club can continue to serve the local community effectively. By upgrading essential facilities such as the kitchen, to provide space for teaching healthyeating, increasing bathroom and changing facilities to provide a more comfortable, hygienic, and accessible environment for young people, improving the connectivity at first floor level between the boxing ring and the gym space, and providing additional usable space where garages are currently located.

 

Jason Roberts Foundation, Gym and Sports Hall flooring (Stonebridge Ward)  £1.06m– This project aims to upgrade the foundation's facility in Stonebridge to better serve its diverse and growing community of young people. By providing a safe, weather-proof and accessible environment, the foundation will be better equipped to serve its mission: creating inclusive spaces that foster healthy relationships, build life skills, and support the personal growth of young people. The Youth Panel were impressed by the organisation hosting additional activities to those usually provided, with one young person stating, “it was unique” … “more than just football, sports that I have never seen before in London – American Football.” One of the female members of the group stated “girls-only football was great” and it “felt like the project is safe”. The feedback included positive comments about a “good sense of community”, with “good outreach and good positive opportunities for growing children and young people”. While The Pavilion venue where Jason Roberts Foundation deliver many of their activities is adjacent to SCIL growth areas, it was unanimously agreed by the Youth Panel that the organisation had a wide reach to young people who reside in neighbouring growth areas and would therefore be SCIL eligible. Jason Roberts Foundation were able to support this with their own data which was provided on request.

 

 The OK Club

 

The OK Club, Sports Hall refurbishment (Kilburn Ward)  £550k – The proposed project will involve a full redesign and refurbishment of key areas within the building to create more inclusive and sustainable spaces. There was, positive feedback from the Youth Panel about the longevity and inclusivity of the organisation and activities – “they own the building which is good” and “it is open to all” and supports “a decent amount of kids.” This in turn means the club will be able to better achieve its goals of meeting the growing needs of young people, improving access and enhancing the safety and well-being of young people in the area.

 

Roundwood School and Community Centre with Sport at the Heart (Roundwood Ward) £390k - The building is spread over three levels, offering a media suite, performance area, outdoor multi-use games area, IT suite, dance studio, art room, café, and flexible meeting spaces. While the existing facilities serve as an essential resource for young people, this project will focus on maximizing the space and improving its functionality to inspire creativity, promote physical activity, and support the well-being of students and staff alike. Members of the Youth Panel wrote in their comments that this project had a “clear vision” and “would have a big impact.” They felt that this was in “an area that is needed, well known, and the impact is already big, and this would increase it.” The organisation, venue and project were described as “youth centred”, “very accessible” and “all ages, safe area”. The young people understood the aims clearly, appreciated the style ofpresentation, and identified that “they [Beckmead and Sport at the Heart] want to help continue providing activities and hobbies for all children and young people including [those with] SEND.” They were also impressed by the “offer of a diverse range of activities for all age groups, all needs and all different groups on the weekends, with SEND specific activities.”

 

Young Brent Foundation, The Anchor Youth Hub (Roundwood Ward) £500k – support the continuing establishment of the new facility, whose tender was awarded in June 2024, with capital investment. The facility will provide young people with access to a wide range of recreational, educational, and wellness opportunities, fostering a safe and supportive environment for personal growth and development. The Youth Panel fed back that “the organisation is well known in the borough and are aware of the context of the area.” There was positive regard towards the organisation, with one young person stating that “They seemed genuine – they showed that they know the situations with different areas and showed evidence of someone with lived experience changing.” There was also an appreciation for how they demonstrated that “they know how to keep young people from trouble.” The project and venue were described as “accessible” and “seems like an  organised project” with “good risk assessment” and it was identified that “there are no gyms in the area so this project fills that.” 

The report suggests that the grants will help residents and you people to see the 'benefits' of development: 

The application of Strategic CIL can be used to demonstrate to communities the benefits that new development can bring, through the provision of key infrastructure projects, place-making and local improvements. This proposal aims to fund structural changes and improvements to premises used by youth organisations to enable better access and an increase in facilities and activities for young people in the London Borough of Brent.

Do remember that these are capital projects and that youth facilities face a cotinuing problem of securing funds to pay staff and running costs. 

 

 

 

Wembley Park road closures from 8am on Sunday for NFL game

 From Brent Council

Wembley Stadium will be hosting NFL - LA Rams vs Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday 19 October.

Please read below to see how this might affect you.

Timings

- NFL - LA Rams vs Jacksonville Jaguars kick off will be at 2.30pm and road closures will be in place from 8am for above event.

We expect the area around Wembley Stadium to be very busy before and after this event so please avoid the area if you can, unless you have a ticket for the event.

Event day parking

Event day parking restrictions will be in place from 8am to midnight on main roads and from 10am to midnight on residential roads on Sunday 19 October.

If you have a paper permit, please make sure you clearly display it in your vehicle. If you have an electronic permit, you do not need to display this.

Abbey Wood, Bexley Council, tall building lesson for Brent?

News from Bdonline is of interest. Major planning applications go to the London Mayor consideration.  The project below was turned down by the local council but their decision was overturned by the London deputy mayor. It is similar to many applications in Brent but contained a higher proportion of affordable accommodation, at 17.5% London Living Rent, than we often see. It did not comply with local plan and London Plan criteria re tall buildings but the design was considered acceptable.

 

The deputy mayor of London has overturned a council’s rejection of plans for a 228-home build-to-rent tower in Abbey Wood.

Bexley Council had previously refused permission for Abbey Wood Sedgemere Limited’s plans to demolish existing commercial buildings and build a 25-storey tower next to the Elizabeth Line.

The council rejected the plan, designed by architect GRID, for several reasons, including the height of the building, harm to the nearby Lesnes Abbey and increased flood risks.

The scheme was called in by the Greater London Authority and Jules Pipe, has now said in a decision notice: “Considerable weight and importance has been attached to the harm caused by the proposals to Lesnes Abbey. However, it is concluded that the public benefits delivered by the scheme, improved over the course of the application, would clearly and convincingly outweigh the heritage harm.”

Pipe added that the scheme would “make a positive contribution” towards achieving housing targets in alignment with the National Planning Policy Framework, London plan and Bexley’s local plan.

The developer made several changes to the scheme since it was called in. The scheme will include 35% affordable housing, and the proportion of these homes that are London Living Rent was increased from 30% to 51%. The flood risk assessment and drainage strategy was also altered. It proposes to discharge surface water into the sewer within Harrow Manorway.

The notice said the development is considered to be largely in accordance with relevant design policy requirements. It said that while there are partial conflicts with London plan and local plan policies relating to tall building criteria, “the overall design is considered to be acceptable in response to the surrounding context and emerging character.”

Pipe said: “The proposed development would deliver new homes and affordable homes, along with non-residential town centre floorspace, public realm and landscape improvements within a highly accessible location. It would bring forward an underutilised brownfield site in close proximity to Abbey Wood Station.”

LETTER: Not enough Climate and Bio-diversity Action in Brent? Join us.

 

Dear Editor,

ACE Brent is a coalition of 13 groups who want to see more climate action in Brent. We started working together in November 2023. Can your readers support us or be involved?

 

So far we have :

 

- Agreed a set of our own priorities for climate action in Brent (on Transport/active travel, Insulation and retrofitting, Divestment, Planning and Regeneration, Renewable energy, Food/Plant based consumption, Trees/green space). We have an overarching priority of mechanisms for public participation in and scrutiny of climate action (most neighbouring councils have these). We have received responses to our priorities, and accept the arguments about lack of funds, but believe more ambition, creativity and transparency is needed when other councils are doing better. https://councilclimatescorecards.uk/#jump=london-borough-of-brent

 

We are currently working on actions we want to see in the party manifesto's for the May 2026 Council Elections:

 

- Increased discussion about climate action across the council; through delegations to Full Council and the Public Realm Scrutiny Committee, and by writing to all councillors with comments on key climate reports. One result is the current work of a Kerbside Management Task Group which is looking at actions for more climate and people friendly streets.

 

- Pushed for Monitoring the effectiveness of local climate measures, and benchmarking with relation to other London councils; resulting in a new monitoring dashboard (not yet publicised or available for public scrutiny)

 

- Influenced (maybe) the appointment of new climate roles : Cabinet member for Climate Action and Community Power (Cllr Jake Rubin), and Climate Champion (Cllr Mary Mitchell)

 

- Met regularly with Cllr Jake Rubin and Oliver Myers, Head of Environment Strategy and Climate Action. We have pushed for mechanisms for public participation, more frequent climate reporting to the Scrutiny Committee, and better information on the council website. 

 

We were able to input to the Tree Strategy before it was written, and have had discussions about planning, active travel, food issues, use of NCIL and Strategic CIL etc.

 

The meetings are useful but not a substitute for full public participation. We now have agreement that the council will publicise future meetings with ACE Brent.

 

The next meeting is on Planning and the Climate, Nov 3rd, online at 7pm, and will be attended by the senior council members and officers.

 

We are aware that many Brent groups with environmental concerns are not yet aware of ACE Brent. We welcome all groups to get involved who want Brent Council to be doing more on the climate and bio-diversity. You do not need to agree with all of our suggestions so far. You can see work in progress at the moment here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-G0zJmmH8th96TrUf5dCQiSDwnqlyfRfBxEsAfHYFCk/edit?tab=t.0

 

Join in for news, to take part in working groups and participate in meetings with council. 

 

You are welcome to :

 

1) Join us as a member group. The bigger our coalition the stronger our voice will be (see our current members below)

 

2) Join our mailing list as a group or individual. You will be updated on our activities, meetings - approx 6-weekly - meetings with the council and other key news (mailings max weekly, except when urgent matters)

 

3) Sign up for quarterly updates only

 

 

We look forward to hearing from you. And please let Elaine know Ace@brentfoe.com if you want the Microsoft Teams link for Nov 3rd at 7pm.

 

 

Best wishes,

 

Elaine Sheppard

on behalf of Action for the Climate Emergency Brent