Artificial lawn replaces Wembley Lycee willow

July 21st 2017

September 2nd 2017

When I reported on the demise of the magnificent willow that use to grace the Marriage Garden at the former Brent Town Hall LINK a couple of sceptics were doubtful that it had come down in the storm as a Lycee staff member had told me.

Over the summer holiday the area has been landscaped with artificial grass and some kind of wooden construction is in process.

I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Before the willow came down

The demise of one of Wembley's wonderful willows

Trees are too often an undervalued part of our local heritage and personal histories. The willow above, in the Marriage Garden at Brent (formerly Wembley) Town Hall, probably appears in thousands of wedding albums across generations.

According to the Lycee security officer I spoke to the tree came down in the recent storm.

After the Town Hall was sold-off by Brent Council to the Lycee International des Londres Winston Churchill it became part of the children's playground and doubtless figured large in their creative play and exploration.

The storm occurred after the school broke up for the summer holiday so children will return to find a large gap in their playground. This was the scene today.

Wembley is well endowed with mature willows with local doctors' surgeries and playcentres named after them.

There is a magnificent specimen, in need of a trim, just behind the Lycee in Greenhill Way:

If you would like one of your pictures of the Marriage Garden willow published please send in jpeg or png format to me at martintinrfrancis@virginmedia.com

Wembley Lycee restores memorial gardens

The Lycee Internnational de Londres LINK which now occupies the former Brent (and previously to that Wembley) Town Hall had been criticised by locals for the neglect of the former municipal gardens in front of the building LINK but now seem to have taken action.  The gardens include a number of memorial trees, some to former councillors and others to major world events. Memorials to the latter have been incorporated into the formal garden next to Brent Civic Centre.

Although  the planting of privet around the perimer of the gardens and the restoration of flower beds to grass may have been done by professional gardeners some of the planting appears to have been done by Lycee students.  Their action is a welcome recognition of local sensitivities.

The Holocaust

Hiroshima

Abolition of Slave Trade

40 years of Peace in Europe

Work starts on mowing Wembley French School's meadows

Flower beds in formr times

Today after the 'meadow' was cut back

Cutting waits to be completed on the south side of the steps

 It was probably a coincidence but following a flutter of comments on Twitter at the weekend, work started today cutting the grass back in the former municipal gardens in front of the Lycee de Londres  previously Brent Town Hall and before that Wembley Town Hall.

It is a rough and ready job and still lots of litter around but let's hope it is the first stage in a restoration of what was once a source of local pride.

Lycee litter annoys locals

Locals have stopped me to complain about litter and neglect in the former munical gardens outside the old Brent Town Hall,  now belonging to the Lycee de Londres Winston Churchill. The litter is dropped by passersby rather than the school but residents suggest the school is responsible for clearing it up as the land belongs to them.

Apart from the litter there is a pile of rubble and no spring planting has taken place in the flower beds. The gardens contains contain several memorial trees and the plaques remain.

The French School wanted to excavate a basement swimming pool on the gardens on the southern side of the building but their application was twice refused by Brent Planning Committee.

The main school grounds are beautifully landscaped and maintained.  The gardens on Forty Lane appear to be a neglected no man's land.

Planning Committee sinks plans for a swimming pool at the former Brent Town Hall

The Kilburn Times has reported LINK that Brent Council Planning Committee has refused permission for the fee paying Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill to build a 5 lane swiming pool sunken into the garden area in front of the former Brent Town Hall bulding, adjacent to Forty Lane and the Paddocks.

There were few objections to the plans and the Planning Officers' Report recommended approval  LINK  and continued to do so after members of the Committee visited the site and raised various issues  LINK 

The Kilburn Times quotes a Brent Council spokesperson: “The Planning Committee voted unanimously to refuse the proposal based, in particular, on concerns about its effect on the setting and views of the Grade II Listed Building on this prominent frontage site.”

This is an impression of the new pool building included in the planning application:

The refusal comes as a surprise and some local people and schools had been looking forward to the promised public access when the pool was not being used by the French School.

Around the corner there is some uncertainty over the promised community swimming pool, and the extent of public access.  on the site of the former Dexion House. This would be a 2,500 m2 pool in the basement of one of two new buildings which are given over to student accommodation.

Brent’s Coat of Arms – some thoughts on history, and on justice

Guest bog by Philip Grant

The Coat of Arms which used to grace the front of Brent Town Hall in Forty Lane has been preserved, and will shortly be on display in the Civic Centre. A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Brent’s Regeneration Department, and asked if I would ‘review for accuracy’ the proposed text of the sign which would be displayed alongside it. As a keen local historian, I was happy to assist them, and was able to correct several minor errors and suggest some improvements. The resulting text and artwork for the sign can be seen below.

This coat of arms used to appear on Brent Council’s letterhead, and on various Council publications, but in recent years has been replaced by a modern branding logo. Looking at the coat of arms again, and the civic messages it conveys, has given me some thoughts which I will share with you here. Please feel free to add your own thoughts as “comments” below.

The designers could not use all of the information which I supplied. One of the details left out, about the banner held by the lion (taken from Wembley’s coat of arms), was that it shows the scales of justice, and commemorates the Saxon moot court held at a site near the present-day Kingsbury Circle. There was a form of local government here a thousand years ago, when Wembley was part of an area of Middlesex known as the Hundred of Gore. The name had nothing to do with blood, but with the triangular spear-head shape of the small field where the Hundred’s inhabitants used to meet.

The Moot (or meeting) for each Hundred was held in the open air on a regular basis, to discuss any problems, disputes or petty crimes which had arisen in the Hundred since the last meeting. The parties to an issue raised would put their case, anyone else who had a point to make could do so, and the matter would then be decided by a vote. The majority view decided the issue, and everyone was expected to accept it.

Illustration of a Saxon Moot, from “Wembley through the Ages” by the Rev. H.W.R. Elsley

I do not know how well this early system of local government worked in practice, but both Wembley (in the 1930’s) and Brent (when it was formed in 1965) were keen to use the symbol of the scales of justice, to show their commitment to fairness for all, which is what the Moot was meant to deliver. 

 

With over 300,000 inhabitants, it is not possible for the people of our borough to meet together in a field for an open discussion of issues which are then decided by a majority vote. Once every four years, we elect 63 councillors to represent us, in the expectation that they will hear the facts and evidence on matters of local concern, debate them and reach decisions democratically. Like the Saxon villagers of old, we have the right to attend Council meetings, and for several years we have been able to watch and listen to Full Council meetings online. In June 2014, we were given the hope that we could participate in our modern version of the Moot, when “Deputations” were introduced. The Council Leader explained the purpose of these in the “Brent & Kilburn Times” (12 June 2014) as follows:

‘Cllr Butt said, “New proposals allow the public to speak in council meetings for the first time ever is aimed at bettering how the community engages with the council and allows residents to hold us to account.” ‘

So far, in my experience, this measure to bring more openness into Brent’s local democracy has not lived up to its original promise.

Martin Francis made the first request to present a Deputation in September 2014, on the (overdue) appointment of a permanent Chief Executive. He was denied the chance to speak, on the grounds that he had not given sufficient notice (even though he did so within the time set out in a “tweeted” invitation issued by Brent Council itself) LINK 

I have given valid notice to make Deputations a number of times, but have never been allowed to present them. I asked Scrutiny Committee, in November 2014, to allow me to make a Deputation seeking scrutiny of Brent’s decision to appeal against the Employment Tribunal judgement in the Rosemarie Clarke case. They were persuaded not to hear me, by misleading advice from Brent’s then Legal Director (who had a clear conflict of interests in the matter). LINK 

At the end of April 2015, I gave notice to make a Deputation about the Equalities and HR Policies and Practices Review, which was on the Scrutiny Committee agenda. I was told that I could do so, but only if I did not refer to the Rosemarie Clarke Employment Tribunal case, which the review had been set up to learn the lessons from. Although I explained why it would be both relevant and reasonable to refer to that case, the committee accepted the advice of Council lawyers that I should not be allowed to speak on those terms. LINK
 

A year after Martin’s first attempt, I asked to present a Deputation to Full Council, to welcome the new Chief Executive, and to emphasise the importance of high standards of conduct in carrying out Council business. On this occasion, I was prevented from speaking only by the personal discretion of the Chief Legal Officer, who wrongly claimed that my proposed subject was ‘inappropriate’, and ‘in reality, a complaint about how the Council has handled your request for greater transparency.’ LINK
 

Does Brent Council still uphold the spirit of fairness that its use of the scales of justice in its Coat of Arms was meant to show? You can add your answers, whether “yes” or “no”, as comments below. Personally, I hope that the presence of the Coat of Arms, on display in the Civic Centre, will be a reminder to councillors and Council Officers of the standards that, historically, Brent should be aspiring to.

Philip Grant

  Text and artwork for the proposed sign at Brent Civic Centre

 

Exclusive preview: Lycée International de Londres - Winston Churchill, in Wembley

500 students will be starting at the Lycée International de Londres - Winston Churchill on Thursday September 3rd. The private fee paying Lycée will operate in the old Brent (formerly Wembley) Town Hall.

I was given a preview of the refurbished building as well as the newly built block last week,.

As the Town Hall is a Grade 2 listed building refurbishment had to take place under strict conditions and I was interested in how the unique features designed by architect Clifford Strange had been preserved.

Acoustic ceilings have been installed in many of the rooms with lighting in sympathy with the original period of the building. The Paul Daisley Hall is now an assembly/sports hall with multi-use games area markings painted on the floor.

The original wood panelling is protected from damage  by a series of boards and the stage can be separated  from the hall by a partition to create a drama area.

The former Council Chamber has a state of the art video wall installed that will enable it to be used for international conferencing. The public gallery will enable parents and visitors to watch proceedings in the hall without disturbing the students.

The glass engraving at the entrance to the Council Chamber has been retained.

The parquet flooring in the old Committee Rooms has been restored and the rooms will retain a variety of uses, including formal examinations.

The Mayor's Parlour is now the Headteacher's Office and restoration has extended to the wooden desk and fire place. The electric fire remains in position in the fire place.

For me the most impressive room was the old Town Hall Library. Cleaned up and repainted, but empty of furniture, the room was full of light and the proportions beautiful.

The staircases and banisters remain as they were with some changes in the corridors to enable access for disabled pupils.

Some of the roof areas are accessible from the rooms and one roof garden has been carefully landscaped, albeit with astroturf.

A huge kitchen has been installed with a dining hall for pupils that overlooks landscaped gardens. There are expected to be three sittings for lunch eventually, each lasting 25 minutes, and children will have the choice of a French, international or vegetarian dish. Lunches are included in the school fees.

There are comfortable common rooms for middle and senior pupils which will be equipped with games as well as social seating areas. There will be student coucnls for both lower and upper secondary pupils.

The new block houses technology based subjects with Art, Science, Design Technology and IT rooms furnished and equipped to a high standard.

Outside there is a primary playground with a landscaped area shaded by the huge willow that can be seen from The Paddocks and three different MUGAs.

A unique feature is the running track due to be marked out along the frontage of the building between King's Drive and the Paddocks.

The school aims to be paperless with staff and pupils all having ipads. Secondary pupils will have an ipad each and there will be one between two at the primary level.

Photovoltaic panels have been installed on the roof and the school travel plan will encourage secondary pupils to travel to school by public transport. Pupils have been instructed to walk to school from Wembley Park station along the west side of Bridge Road, crossing at the junction with Forty Lane, and then proceeding right to the school across Barn Hill and King's Drive.

I was told the Lycée wants to cooperate with local schools in Wembley and does not see itself in competition with them. When the Autumn term is underway they will explore potential links with the community including evening classes.

My overwhelming feeling was one of regret that the same degree of care and investment in quality in this private school is not available for our new state schools. The Lycée will inherit a sense of history, permanence and continuity too often missing from our  'warehouse' schools.

And perhaps also missing from our new Civic Centre.

School website (English version)

Update on The Winston Churchill Wembley French School

Living locally I have been following with interest the redevelopment of the former Brent (and Wembley) Town Hall as, what we have been calling locally, the Wembley French School. It is not clear what the new bus destination that will replace 'Brent Town Hall' will be.

The internal works are nearly complete and most activity is now on landscaping works. One can't help but be struck by the high quality of the work for this private fee paying school in comparison with the 'off the peg' cheap new school build in the public sector as well as free schools in converted buildings with little play space: compare these grounds with Michaela's tiny 'car park' play space benath the building and next to the railway line.

Many of the trees on the site have been kept which provides pleasant shaded areas around the buildings and there has been some new planting and landscaping.

The Lycee International Londres Winston Churchill is due to open on Thursday September 3rd to Years 1-11 and applications are open until Wednesday August 26th.

The playground on the space once occupied by the huts of the Town Hall annex - new primary building in background

The front of the building which is to be a running track

Primary building from The Paddocks

Impression of finished building and grounds

Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill produces record 14,000 page views on Wembley Matters

Unique page views on Wembley Matters topped 11,000 yesterday mostly reflecting interest in the story on the 1,000 pupil French School in London opening in Wembley at the former Brent Town Hall.  LINK Hits are normally between 1,500-2,000 a day. More than 14,000 have read the article.

What this means in terms of applications for places at the school remains to be seen.

Wembley's Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill on target for September opening

Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill today

This week the hoardings around the Lycee International de Londres Winston Churchill have been taken down and locals are able to see the result of the work that has been going on.  Workmen tell me that the internal work is largely completed and work on the grounds is taking place as well as installation of iron railings on the existing perimeter wall.

The building includes the refurbished Brent Town Hall (before the merger of Wembley and Willesden, Wembley Town Hall) and a new block for primary pupils. The school's website shows the completed site, complete with running track where the Council car park used to be.

One can't but notice that the building looks far more substantial than many recent new school builds in the borough.

The school is due to open on September 3rd 2015 for Years 1 to 11 with Years 12 and 13 starting in subsequent academic years.

The school will offer a bilingual education with 'an Anglo Saxon' ethos and will be fee paying:

2015- 2016 school fees will be as follows:

• Maternelle: £10,470 / year
• Elementaire: £9,770 / year
• Collège: £9,770 / year
• Lycée: £10,470 / year 

These fees include lunch, insurance and, from Primary onwards, an appropriate tablet device.

Please note that:
There is a non-refundable £90 pre-registration fee per pupil.

If you are offered a place, you will receive an email explaining in detail the acceptance procedure and the Terms and Conditions. A first registration fee of £1,200 per pupil, as well as an advance payment of £1,000 on the first term fees, must be paid to secure the place. These fees are non-refundable.

The school has published a welcoming letter to parents on its website:

Dear families,

It is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you to the Lycée International de Londres. Our school aims to create a nurturing and vibrant environment where students and adults thrive sharing the joys of teaching and learning alike. The Lycée provides an international education based on the French National Curriculum leading to the French Baccalaureate.

Rooted in the tradition of French educational excellence, and aiming to offer the most modern pedagogical approaches, our ethos reflects our commitment to foster the development of the whole child along with collective achievement through mutual respect and dedication.

Our campus encompasses newly refurbished and purpose ­built buildings surrounded by large outdoor leisure and sports facilities on five acres of land. These beautiful surroundings and brand new teaching spaces will offer the school’s 1,100 pupils a wonderful campus ­style environment. The Lycée also houses a large gymnasium, a bright and spacious library, state­-of-­the­-art science labs, a music room and a drama studio: we want to offer the best a modern school can offer today.

We hope you and your children will join our community, share our values and adhere to our ethos. We look forward to welcoming our first classes Autumn 2015.

It is a great honour for me to be entrusted with the mission to build and lead, with your support, such a vibrant community of learners. Rest assured that I will do everything in my power to gain your trust, act with your support and provide the energy and inspiration to succeed in our endeavour.

Best wishes,
Mireille Rabaté
Head of school

The website includes a video extolling the virtues of blingualism/multilingualism:



 The school's website is available in both French and English HERE

Brent Town Hall begins its transformation into French School

Brent Town Hall earlier today

 

Wembley Town Hall during the 1948 Olympics

Hoardings, closed access to the famous steps, roadworks, a shifted bus stop and tree surgery have heralded the beginning of Brent Town Hal's transformation into a French School this week.

The Town Hall never really experienced a proper farewell in contrast to the ceremony that greeted the opening of the Civic Centre, for the record is how things looked earlier today.

Shrubs cut back in King's Drive gardens next to the Town Hall Library

Some of the trees have preservation orders attached

The lawned area at the back of the Town Hall is being cleared of vegetation

£100m spent on the Civic Centre and the phones don't work

Town Hall car park still full

I spoke to one of Brent's Labour councillors recently about the problems at the new Civic Centre. The councillor had been frustrated by unanswered telephone calls and inaudibility when they were answered. Now told that things may not be working properly for another 6 months the councillor was outraged, 'Why couldn't they wait until everything was checked and working properly before rushing to move us in?'

The Council's corporate risk assessment had recorded a risk with the telecommunications system before the move and the danger this posed both to the effective running of the Council and to its reputation.

The councillor added, 'No one is talking about it publicly but we all know how bad it is.'

Meanwhile residents puzzled as to why the now empty Brent Town Hall has a full car park need look no further than the Civic Centre.  The Centre was designed to discourage car use by council staff and encourage a shift to public transport. Instead it seems that staff are driving to the Town Hall and parking there, thus avoiding parking charges, and walking round the corner to Bridge Road and accessing the Civic Centre via Olympic Way.  That option will soon disappear when the French School starts work on adapting the Town Hall.

Brent Town Hall plaques to be replicated for Civic Centre gardens

In an earlier posting LINK I asked about the future of the memorial plaques and trees currently standing in the gardens outside Brent Town Hall. They include memorials to post-war European Peace, Hiroshima and the abolition of the Slave Trade.

The Town Hall has now been fully vacated on the move to the Civic Centre and is closed to the public.

The Brent Parks Department have now told me the welcome news that the plaques will be replicated and placed within the memorial area of the Civic Centre gardens.

What future for the Brent Town Hall memorial plaques?

Memorial garden outside Brent Town Hall

Brent Council is due to come back to me regarding the future of the memorial trees and plaques in the garden area outside the Town Hall now that it is to be refurbished as the Wembley French International School (see below).

The Council's attitude towards heritage and posterity has been under scrutiny in the light of the fate of  Dollis Hill House,the Old Willesden Library, the Palace of Industry and Oxgate Farm.

These plaques have been neglected and are in poor shape but nonetheless represent Brent Council's concerns with our wider history and as such merit some consideration.

Still time to comment on Wembley French International School plans for the Town Hall

School plan with Annex

Plans for the Wembley French International School which will occupy the redundant Brent Town Hall have largely met with approval from heritage organisations as they preserve many of the features of the Grade 2 listed building.

The prefabricated buildings and garages  at the back of the Town Hall will be demolished along with the print room, a former mortuary which was added to the original building. A new L-shaped annex to the north east (dark orange on plan) will be constructed with a canopied link to the main building and entered via The Paddocks.

Changes of use include the Mayor's Parlour becoming the headteacher's office, the Paul Daisley Hall a gymnasium, the Council Chamber a lecture theatre, the stage a drama studio and the committee rooms a study and exam space. Th retractable walls and parquet flooring of the committee rooms will be retained.

Two MUGAs (Multi-use Games Areas) are planned for the area north of the building but what is likely to be controversial is a running track in front of the Town Hall. Also controversial the plans will  require the removal of some trees. Some of the trees at the front of the Town Hall  have been planted as memorials and have plaques attached, It is not clear whether these will be retained or transferred to another site.

The small primary school (one form entry) will be in the East Wing and will largely be segregated from the secondary school sharing only the dining room, sports hall, studio and adminstration.

The secondary school of 900 pupils (11-18) will be in the West Wing.

The current Town Hall Library will be retained as the school library and it is proposed that it could be used by neighbouring schools. It will retain its Kings Drive entrance.

The existing bar will be demolished to expose the walls but the glazed roofing pavilion will be retained after a plea from English Heritage. The refreshment room will become a cafeteria.

It is envisaged that Institut Francais will provide after hours language classes for local schools and adult learners at the school.

The school will be fee paying and run by a board of trustees.It will follow the French curriculum and pupils will be taught in French and English.

The hours will be from 7.30am until 6.30pm with sports activities restricted to 8.30am until 6.30pm. A breakfast club will run from 7.30am.

Car parking will b reduced from the current 107 spaces to 46 with 78 cycle places.

The Planning Application can be found HERE It will not be decided before August 22nd, 2013

Michaela's 'frightening and scary event'

 

Katharine Birbalsingh

Katharine Birbalsingh, pretty well self-appointed head of the Michaela Academy free school, has this week written to primary headteacher asking for their help in recruiting pupils to her new school. She wants Michaela's meetings advertised and letters put in the book bag of Year 5 pupils with information for parents about the school.

As by its very nature the school has no track record, exam results, Ofsted report and hasn't appointed  all its staff, parents would be advised to treat shiny brochures and grand words with scepticism.

Tom Stone wrote to local newspapers about his experience of a Michaela meeting but it was not published. Instead I publish it here as a Guest Blog:

I attended the consultation meeting on Saturday15th June  at Brent Town Hall concerning the new proposed Michaela  Free School. This was a very frightening and scary event,one that left me feeling  very cold and concerned.

To quote the Headteacher in her address to those attending, she promised "that the School will teach lots of stuff". No, suspend your disbelief, this is the new guiding mantra of the Michaela Community School.Yes, lots of stuff will be taught! This school will also apply  Eton/Public School type of pressure daily to its pupils,with tests every week and  the results will be published and known to all. Yes, we know the current prime minister was educated at a public school and so were a good few of his cabinet, but  just look  at how they are running the county ,hardly a good advert for private education surely! Pupils with confidence and self esteem issues and pupils with special needs  had better watch out too, your friends will  all know your test scores and use it to bully and harass you - great!

The latest research from Oxford Brookes University states that students who have been to state schools were more likely to  complete their degrees and that they were also more likely to get a good degree ,classed as a first or 2:1, than their privately educated counterparts. Why then was the Headteacher  at this meeting taking  so much delight in running down  the UK' s State Education. American type charter Schools -as praised by the Head, are hardly out of the  headlines in the USA-for all the wrong reasons!

Another fact to point out is this is not  going to be a local Community School, there were people from Harrow, Haringey and Islington at the meeting. It is not going to be a cosy  little haven of  Wembley schoolchildren, this  school will be taking in anyone foolish enough to choose it. A school with no grounds, a school  set up in an office building and a school that is not needed-it is directly opposite another Secondary school!

The Headteacher obviously preaches what she believes too. She  told the meeting that "kids will  just listen to teachers". No time  for clarification or discussion ,no time for interaction and working together.So it  then follows that the proposed Headteacher  did not allow questions from  the public after she spoke ! There also was no loud applause after the Headteacher spoke and the meeting was certainly not full to overflowing ,as claimed by  their recent propaganda leaflet. a strange  and odd meeting this was-oh and just to end with -the teachers in free Schools don't have to be qualified to teach! What next - doctors who don't have to study medicine!

Is this Ikea or the Civic Centre?

Brent Town Hall Council Chamber

Characteristically, as befits their attitude to Brent's heritage, councillors barely registered that Monday's Council Meeting was the last to be held at Brent Town Hall (formerly Wembley Town Hall) before the move to the Civic Centre.

The ballroom dancers having their last dance at the Town Hall on the same evening seemed more aware of the significance of the occasion and I encountered several couples later that night, in dishevelled finery, swaying gracefully, if rather tipsily as they went home from the Paul Daisley Hall for the last time.

I had a look behind the scenes today at the councillors new quarters and I must confess that the Ikea style furnishings seemed to lack solidity compared with the oak wood panelling and aged wooden desks of the old Town Hall.

The great atrium and imposing staircase of the Civic Centre lead through to halls and offices in 'the drum' which have an overall colour scheme of grey and actually seemed quite poky in comparison with the Town Hall. The grey, spotted carpet, in the councillors' office area, already looked grubby and stained in places, but is perhaps awaiting an industrial deep clean. The Council Chamber carpet is  a rather loud turquoise.

The Civic Centre Conference Room/Council Chamber - councillors' offices are behind the translucent panels

There is no public gallery as such but these are seats for officers and public

The replacement for the Paul Daisley Hall - ballroom dancing?

Into the grey zone - a committee room

The Labour Group's Office

The Mayor's Parlour

There is also a sort of members' common room furnished with armchairs but little else at present. I have only seen the staff offices from a distance but I am sure for many workers this will represent an improvement in working conditions compared with the old buildings they have vacated, and that is to be welcomed. The hot desking does not appear to be popular and open plan offices with the boss sitting amongst the workers may not be to the taste of some.

There will be a live video feed of council meetings but I hope that will not mean a restriction on the public being able to sit in the council chamber to observe meetings in progress. The broadcasts are unlikely to challenge the supremacy of East Enders although there is potential for Cllr Zaffar Van Kalwala to become a cult hero on the internet.

The Wembley Library was a welcome centre of colour and activity and some students I spoke to liked it but were worried about the difficulty of getting there compared with the Town Hall Library. They also lobbied for sound barrier glass between the main library and the children's library!

The food at the Melting Pot restaurant was tasty and reasonably priced but I was shocked when I asked for a glass of tap water to go with my lunch that 'We don't have tap water'. A Civic Centre that boasts its green credentials must surely rectify that as soon as possible if it is to escape ridicule.