LETTER: Brent is prioritisng housing targets over community support on Kilburn Square

 Dear Wembley Matters Editor

 

You have previously published reports of the long-running saga of Brent’s “Infill” housing expansion scheme on the Kilburn Square Co-op estate. I’m a near-neighbour, and have friends who live on the estate itself.

 

Despite good words from the Cabinet Housing Lead and various Officers, the project team is now preparing for Planning Application a design that our combined local community still considers as much larger than what the site can reasonably support without transforming its character and damaging the health and wellbeing of current and incoming residents.

 

I find bitterly ironic the contrast between this scheme and a mirror-image story about a current project in Barnet: https://www.times-series.co.uk/news/19937298.residents-lose-latest-fight-save-east-finchley-green-spaces/ . A Council facing acute housing shortages seeks to build houses on green space next to existing homes, in an area deprived of green space, against the protests of residents. Sound familiar? The twist is that this is a Conservative Council; and the Labour group are defending the interests of the current residents…

 

Kilburn Square was a major topic at a Kilburn Ward Zoom Hustings hosted last week by Kilburn Village Residents’ Association and two neighbouring RAs. As the election is almost upon us, I’d like to share with your readers the following Letter which the Brent and Kilburn Times Editor is about to publish

 

Yours sincerely

Nicky Lovick

 

“Dear BKT Editor

 

In the heart of Kilburn, just off the busy and polluted High Road, Brent plans to impose a major housing expansion scheme – currently 144 extra units - on a well-balanced and mature estate that a Brent Housing Officer has described to our MP as “brilliant”. Our local community is incensed.  Here’s the story:

 

·      On its Kilburn Square estate, Brent Council has been seeking for over 18 months to design a scheme for further housing expansion, that “can work for everyone” and “balances” the acute need for new social housing with protecting the health and wellbeing of existing residents

·      Engagement last Summer produced near-unanimous rejection of the scale of the original scheme by estate residents and neighbours

·      In agreeing to design a smaller scheme, Brent acknowledged three major objections: a new tower, the loss of Trees and Green Space, and the much-increased density of residents.

·      It is now preparing a Planning Application for a scheme (its “Approach A”) https://legacy.brent.gov.uk/media/16420113/kilburn-square-newsletter-issue-2-2022.pdf  that addresses only one of these (the tower)…

·      …and retains two new blocks that would remove green space and mature trees, aggravate an existing deficit of Amenity Space and increase the resident population by 67% vs 2019

·      Kilburn Ward is in the most deprived category for green space in the whole Borough – and the Climate Strategy is supposed to INCREASE green space, not remove it

·      A three-month Council engagement effort, with tightly constrained options and the exclusion of trusted Independent Advisors Source Partnership, identified only 10% of estate residents willing to express any support for Approach A

·      Brent has sought to exclude the local community from debate before fixing the project scale, despite representations from the Kilburn Square Stakeholder Group (KSSG) and over 50 recent emails from concerned neighbours seeking a smaller scheme

·      Lack of any serious communication going to ALL neighbouring streets means many close neighbours are still in total ignorance of the expansion plan

 

For more details, see https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2022/03/letter-response-to-cllr-southwoods.html

 

Brent’s Housing Director has said publicly they “would not want to force homes on anyone, so where they had built had been with the support and encouragement of local residents and Ward Councillors”. Empty words in relation to Kilburn Square!

 

Estate residents and neighbours alike acknowledge the social housing crisis and will accept SOME further development – but this scheme is still too big, and unfair to current estate residents.   

 

Wouldn’t it be great if all candidates standing in Kilburn (Brent) Ward would promise that, if elected, they will NOT support a Planning Application for the scheme in its current shape, and will work closely with the KSSG and all their electors to propose a more balanced and fairer scheme…?

 

At a Ward Hustings last week, hosted by three Residents’ Associations, three Party speakers agreed with that sentiment… and one did not. I’ll leave your readers to guess which one.

 

Nicky Lovick

Brondesbury Road resident (name and address supplied)”

Brent & Kilburn Times saved by takeover

 

Some of the many Archant titles

Brent's only surviving local paper, the Brent and Kilburn Times, which during the Covid19 crisis has been asking readers for support has been saved from bankruptcy and potential closure along with other Archant titles. Readers will have noticed how thin the paper has been recently.

The Eastern Daily Press, lead title of the 150 year group, explained the acquisition by Rcapital.

Norwich-based Archant - which publishes EDP, Norwich Evening News and many newspaper and magazine titles throughout East Anglia and beyond - has been acquired by new investors who will provide funding to continue its transformation into a successful modern media company.

The announcement also gives security for many hundreds of Archant pensioners and their families, and protects the hundreds of local businesses Archant trades with, who may otherwise have suffered losses 
had the business, hit hard by Covid-19, been forced into bankruptcy.

Simon Bax, Archant’s Executive Chairman, said safeguarding the interests of local suppliers and customers, and its near-1,000 employees had been his priority.

Archant and our newspapers and magazines are an intrinsic part of East Anglian life. Not only do we employ hundreds of people in the region, but we are also an important part of hundreds of other local businesses who supply us, or depend on us to help grow their business.

Like so many other businesses, Covid-19 threw us into a very difficult position. Naturally, I am very sad this deal marks the end of ownership of the local families who founded our company all that time ago. But equally I am happy we have found a new partner who respects our heritage and is able to nurture Archant’s future.

I would also like to thank the Colman and Copeman families who have been the custodians of quality journalism in East Anglia for so long – their legacy is a modern media company that will continue to proudly serve the region.

The new owners, family-based firm Rcapital, specialise in backing companies with immediate financial challenges but who otherwise have ambitious and compelling plans for commercial success.

Chris Campbell, partner at Rcapital, said:

We are incredibly pleased to have worked alongside Archant’s management team and KPMG to put forward a plan that will restructure finances and inject fresh capital into one of Britain’s oldest local newspaper brands. We are hopeful, that with the support of its creditors, Archant will emerge from this challenging period as a stronger business that continues to provide a vital service to its clients and readership. Today’s announcement marks an exciting next phase for both Archant and Rcapital - I am looking forward to working with Simon and his team to deliver on the transformation plan.

Like many other businesses in the UK, Archant had become increasingly hamstrung by multi-million payments required to pay down the large deficit in its long-defunct company pension scheme.

Under the deal, that pension scheme has been transferred to the Pension Protection Fund, a public body responsible for managing almost a quarter of a million pensions in the UK.

Shareholders in holding company Archant Limited, which has been placed into administration as part of the change of ownership, have been informed their shares are now of no value.

There is no interruption to publishing in the business, which continues to trade as before.

Clearly it is early days and we will have to wait to see what the 'transformation plans' will mean in terms of jobs and the survival of titles. Closure or transfer to on-line would be a blow against local democracy. The group have this week launched a campaign backing local councils' demands for adequate post-Covid funding.

Kilburn Times calls for system change to tackle climate crisis

This week's Brent and Kilburn Times is a special green edition - both in design and content. The North West London group editor , Ramzy Alwakeel, explains why in a rare editorial:

Tackling climate change isn't about shaming your neighbours for not separating their plastic recycling properly. Everyone has different amounts of energy, money, time; none of us should judge anyone else. We are all working within an economic and political system that promotes and rewards selfishness, and that has left many people with very little to survive on.

But we won't recycle our way out of the climate crisis: we need system change. Government inaction, corporate unaccountability and collective denial mean all of us have inherited responsibility for something that really shouldn't be our problem. It is wrong that a handful of big businesses are responsible for the majority of the world's toxic emissions. It is wrong that a Swedish schoolgirl has become the face of a campaign to treat our planet better.

But the crisis is now so bad that we must all play a part in fixing a problem that isn't our fault. I hope this week's Times makes that clear - and gives you some ideas.

The Kilburn Times asks Cllr Butt a vital question - Brent residents are waiting for an answer

Kilburn Times Front Page November 23rd 2017

Times changing for the better at the BKT?

This week's edition

Our local newspaper the Brent and Kilburn Times will be without News Editor Lorraine King  by the end of next week and reporter Nathalie Raffray has already gone to the Ham and High. Lorraine will become Editor of the (deep breath!) Barking and Dagenham Post, Newham Recorder and the Dockands and East London Advertiser. 

Where does that leave us in Brent?  As part of Archant's shift towards digital and its cut back in jobs a junior reporter (we used to call them 'cub reporters' in the old days) will be all that is left. He will face the daunting task of reporting on a major London borough of 325,000 people (and growing), one of the most diverse in the country, with great potential as well as major social problems, covering huge and often controversial regeneration projects, and an almost 'one party' Council that needs fearless scrutiny.

Some people  have told me of their envy for Camden residents who have the lively Camden New Journal and say we need a local paper like that in Brent.  Local papers are under financial pressure through loss of readers, loss of advertising and competition from the social media, but they also need good management and excellent distribution. Both the latter appear to be missing. I was told by a newsagent on Kilburn High Road only last week that he had stopped stocking the Brent and Kilburn Times because distribution was so unreliable. It is given away at some supermarkets,  stations and  estate agents but there are no longer house to house deliveries and the paper is often not to be found in newsagents.

All that said, local newspapers need to be supported by residents, not only through buying them but through writing letters, phoning in stories and encouraging a robust attitude towards upsetting local big wigs.

As someone remarked to Lorraine on Twitter, 'If you don't put some backs up you are not doing your job.'

Lorraine King announces her departure from the Brent and Kilburn Times

Lorraine King

Lorraine King announced on Twitter over the weekend that she will be leaving the Brent and Kilburn Times at the end of this month:

Sad to say I'll be leaving the @bktimes on January 31 after many, many years. I'm really sad to go but as they  say onwards and upwards

Lorraine has been reporter, news editor and digital editor at the Kilburn Times and will be moving elsewhere in Archant.  Her tweet immediately drew tributes from Brent residents' associations, councillors and many  Kilburn Times readers.

Fans will still be able to hear her DJing on Colourful Radio on Saturday mornings. http://www.colourfulradio.com/

Lorraine's strength as a reporter and editor is that she is a Brent local with strong roots in the community and cares deeply about  what goes on in the area.

There have been times when her passion to fight for the community through campaigning articles has not made her popular with the local council (of whatever political hue) but the role of a local newspaper is to help hold politicians to account and that she did well.

These are difficult times for local newspapers and Archant is going through a second round of  restructuring and has reduced reporting staff with more pooled stories and a move towards 'digital first'.  The Brent and Kilburn Times has become thinner and distribution is sometimes patchy but I believe that it is essential that it survives for the sake of local democracy and part of the glue that holds a community together.

Here are some memorable front pages fom the Kilburn Times:

PS Lorraine, I resisted mentioning the shoes.

Another blow to Brent and Kilburn Times

I wrote previously LINK about the decision of Archant, owners of the Brent and Kilburn Times, to make redundacies through doing away with News Editor posts on its papers, instead merging web and paper roles and centralising news gathering.

I now understand that the three sports writers on the newspaper are to be made redundant and a new post created which will essentially mean one person doing the job of three.  As the sports page, reporting on local fixtures, are probably one of the more popular features of the paper, this seems rather short-sighted.

It saddens me as someone who values the contribution of local newspapers to democratic accountability and building a sense of local community to see their gradual demise.

With few staff they are likely to rely on lightly edited press releases and shared copy rather than original stories.

At present local newspapers are helped to keep afloat by local government advertising in the form of statutory notices (see above). This ensures a steady income independent of the ups and downs of the local economy. However there have been reports that the government is thinking of removing the requirement for such advertising, allowing councils to put the information on-line only.  Given councils' budget constraints they are likely to go along with the proposal and withdraw such local newspaper advertising, dealing another, possibly fatal, blow to the local press.

Brent Cabinet under pressure on three fronts

In the absence of Muhammed Butt, Cllr Michael Pavey presided over yesterday's Cabinet meeting with all the jaunty aplomb of the driver of the Dundee bound express as he approached the Bridge of Tay on 'the last Sabbath day of 1879, which will be remember'd for a very long time.'

The Cabinet was marked by a bitter exchange over the Preston Community Library,  an accusation that an officer's report had turned negative comments into positives in the Tudor Gardens consultation, and a warning that in the Bridge Park development Brent Council was dealing with a 'convicted fraudster'.

Even if Pavey was breezily unaware of what was happening the Brent Communications Team certainly were. No sooner had the meeting ended then the Brent and Kilburn Times reporter, seated in the front row of the public gallery, found three members of what appeared to be the Communications Team, looming over her.

They quickly whisked her off for a post-cabinet briefing in what appeared to be a damage limitation exercise.

As she disappeared with her escorts into the innards of the drum I called out, 'Publish and be damned!'

I hope she does but meanwhile keep an eye on Wembley Matters for more on last night's meeting.

Update on Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre leasing

Over the weekend I heard from Brent Council that they were preparing a statement on the leasing of the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre.

These were the questions that I had sent to the Council LINK :

I refer to the advertisement in the Brent and Kilburn Times Ref: JXH/609/121.

1. How long is it envisaged that the lease to land and premises, including the office in Planet House will last?
2. Is it envisaged that the use of the land and premises will remain for educational purposes?
3. Is the land in question consecrated land subject to any change of use being agreed by the Diocesan of London? (see http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/could-this-let-welsh-harp-rest-in-peace.html)
4. Is it intended that the building and land be leased to one of the following (or a combination): Careys' charity arm, Oakington Manor Primary School, Roe Green Junior School?


With a closing date for comments of Friday June 5th it is important that answers are seen as possible. Commenting without such information is of little value.

Brent's Austerity Cuts - a Disaster for the Environment

Brent FoE and Brent Campaign Against Climate Change outside Energy Solutions, Welsh Harp

This joint letter from Brent Friends of the Earth and Brent Campaign Against Climate Change was published in the Brent and Kilburn Times today:

Imagine our neighbourhoods and parks strewn with litter, fly-tipped with bulky waste, and green wheely bins being fought over. A borough where our children are deprived of the chance to learn about nature, and where vulnerable residents needing advice on fuel poverty have nowhere to turn. This is what Brent's austerity agenda will mean if the Council's budget proposals go ahead.

The proposed cuts will mean no street sweeping in residential roads, no litter collected in parks at weekends, charging us £15 to collect bulky items, and £40 a year for our green wheely bins. It will close two valuable institutions – the Welsh Harp Education Centre (a unique resource that inspires our kids to learn about the natural environment) and Energy Solutions (who help residents, landlords, schools and businesses reduce fuel bills - cutting Brent's carbon footprint and helping fight climate change.) The grants for these, a mere £30,000 and £50,000, are a fraction of the £54 million cuts overall.

Brent's own “Green Charter” will also be scrapped and, apart from statutory monitoring, all Council work on sustainability and climate change will go. All this a time when we need more than ever to build local resilience for an uncertain future.

Whilst we acknowledge the Council's difficulties, and other vital services are also at stake, these cuts are short-sighted easy targets for which we all will pay a heavy price.

Viv Stein

on behalf of Brent Friends of the Earth and Brent Campaign against Climate Change

Teacher organisations, schools and pupils have been taking up the issue of the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre Closure.

There is a petition to save Energy Solutions HERE  It needs many, many more signatures.

Do Brent Council websites and Twitter accounts have minds of their own?

Philip Grant, an occasional contributor to this blog, posted a comment on the Brent and Kilburn Times website about the above story. As, for some reason yet to be explained, it has not been published I print it below.

This is not the first time that Cllr. Butt has had difficulties because of ‘website blunders’ by Brent Council, which expose that he can say one thing publicly, but mean something else in practice.

When changes were made to Brent’s Constitution last June, he told the Brent & Kilburn Times what a good idea the new “Deputations” were (on page 2 of the 12 June 2014 edition):

'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." '

In advance of the next Full Council meeting on 8 September, Brent Council “tweeted” an invitation to more than 8,000 “followers” on 29 August, saying (see image):

'Speak out to the whole council. Ask for a five-min slot (a deputation) @ full council. For 8 Sept. email committee@brent.gov.uk by noon Mon.'

At least one person, Martin Francis (a Brent resident and an active member of its community), did respond to this invitation, and sent a request on Monday morning, 1 September, to speak on the subject of the appointment of a permanent Chief Executive. However, he was told by Brent’s Legal Director that his request had been made after the “five day” time limit, which she calculated meant by midday on Friday 29 August, and that the “tweeted” invitation had been issued in error.

I do not know what Mr Francis intended to say in his five minute Deputation, but as Christine Gilbert was appointed as interim Chief Executive in the autumn of 2012, initially for six months, there was a valid point of concern. Her interim appointment was only extended until the May 2014 local elections because, it was claimed, she had to oversee the Council’s move into the new Civic Centre in 2013, and act as Returning Officer for those elections. Surely it was time for a permanent Chief Executive to be appointed, under the Council’s proper recruitment procedures?

I was one of several people who expressed concern over what appeared to be an unreasonable attempt to stop Mr Francis from speaking to the Full Council under a process which was meant to help residents to “hold the council to account”. I wrote to the Mayor, who as “Chair” of Council meetings has powers over how they are handled, asking him to allow Mr Francis to speak, as he had requested to do so in line with the Council’s own published invitation. He replied that he had to leave the matter in the hands of the Legal Director. At the meeting itself he simply told the councillors that ‘there are no deputations’, even though Mr Francis was there, ready to speak, and there was up to twenty minutes set aside on the agenda for hearing deputations.

I had copied my emails to Cllr. Butt, the Council Leader, and on the day after the Full Council meeting, 9 September, I sent him an email setting out details of what had happened, and saying:

‘I am writing to ask you to explain why you, either individually or in concert with the Council's Director of Legal and Procurement, did not allow Martin Francis to present his Deputation on the appointment of a permanent Chief Executive to the Full Council meeting on 8 September.’

Despite several reminders, I have not received a reply. It seems that he, or Brent’s over-staffed Public Relations team, will reply when they can put a positive “spin” on a story, but when events show that they have acted wrongly, they will either keep quiet or seek to excuse what has happened as an ‘error’, as if websites or tweets have minds of their own.

Robust local press in Brent more important than ever

Hannah Bewley, Brent reporter for the Willesden and Wembley Observer, has filed her last reports fro that paper. During her time at the paper, which is an off-shoot of the Harrow Observer, despite having little space she published some great investigative journalism.  The paper was particularly vociferous in its support of the campaign against Brent library closures.

Her departure reflects a reduction in editorial staff of the Trinity South group and the closure of some titles. The WWO, expensive at 90p where sold, is likely to have fewer Brent stories in the future which is a pity.

Meanwhile the pressure which is exerted on the local press is evident in the adjudication published in last week's Brent and Kilburn Times.  The Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint by former Labour councillor Jim Moher against Lorraine King, the BKT news editor but rejected two further complaints by him about accuracy and the opportunity to reply to stories.

The complaint that was upheld was about a comment that she made on Facebook about an unnamed individual Lorraine identified as a 'failed wannabe MP'. and in which she stated ''I plan to make his life a misery as much as possible' and  'Lord God forgive me if I bump into him before I get back to work, you will be visiting me in Holloway'.  The BKT argued that the comment was made on a personal Facebook account that could only be seen by 'friends'.  The comment had been made after she received an email from Moher which said:

Here you are again this week giving extensive coverage to the most scurrilous and unfounded attacks

and concluded:

PS By the way it was me who sorted your permit problem.

At the time that Moher's email, one of a series, was sent Lorraine King was on compassionate leave after the death of her mother. The PS  refers to a parking permit that Ms King needed for grieving relatives.  In the circumstances she found the email upsetting which led to the Facebook comments.

Although the Commission's remit does not cover social media content they ruled that as the comment related to the news editor's contact with Moher in her professional role, and could be viewed by individuals who she came into contact in that role, it could be considered under Clause 4 of the Code which states:

Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.

The Commission considered that the implied threat of violence was not intended to be taken seriously but concluded:

...it had no hesitation in finding that this constituted intimidation withint the meaning of Clause 4, and a serious failure to uphold the highest professional standards required by the code.

The Huffington Post in covering this story said it was the first time the PCC, which is shortly to be ablosihed and replaced by several bodies, had decided it could rule on what journalsits said on 'private' social media accounts LINK:

Mike Jempson, Vice-chair of NUJ Ethics Council, told HuffPost UK it was an issue that the union had debated on several occasions. "Difficulties have arisen because some employers encourage reporters to express their opinions on blogs and to engage with their publics via social media, yet as reporters they are expected to retain a degree of impartiality," he said.

“Journalists share the right to freedom of expression with all members of the public, and should not feel constrained in how they express themselves. Indeed many journalists also write fiction, drama and poetry which is not a matter for the PCC."

While stressing it was important the journalists themselves made the distinction between personal and professional contributions on social media, it would be "a pity, and improper, if the PCC and its successor IPSO were to determine that all material by journalists published on non-commercial outlets that operate their own agreed contributors’ codes should be subject to the Editor’s Code.”

Readers will make up their own minds about this but I do hope that the BKT maintains its robust coverage of local issues, which has sometimes inevitably made it unpopular with local councillors. Lorraine King has been an excellent news editor and local press coverage is especially important now that we have a Council with a very large majority. The BKT must continue to be 'on the side of the people'.

Wembley Matters in the past has had its own dealings with Jim and Roth Moher LINK

Brent needs healthy local newspapers to hold Council to account

I have written about the importance of the local press for democracy before on this site. Here in Brent we have the Brent and Kilburn Times, owned by the Archant group and the Wembley and Willesden Observer, owned by Trinity Mirror. In some parts of the north of the borough the Harrow Times also circulates.

The number of reporters on the Brent ands Kilburn Times has reduced from the paper's heyday and readers will have noticed that the number of pages has also been reduced. It is sold in newsagents but also distributed free at some supermarkets, estate agents and elsewhere. It does not always contain a letters page which is often a good indicator of a newspaper's engagement with readers.

The Wembley and Willesden Observer is rather different as it is a local edition of the Harrow Observer series and despite having a great local reporter in Hannah Bewley is usually dominated by news about Harrow. A reader has to double check on stories beginning 'The Council...' to see which Council is involved - more often than not it is Harrow.

The paper's  door-to-door distribution in Brent is very patchy and its price of 90p where sold is unpopular with readers when they discover it contains very few Brent stories.

Trinity Mirror has gone through a difficult period and earlier this month told West Londoin staff that the Fulham and Hammersmith Chronicle, Westminster Chronicle and Kensington and Chelsea Chronicle were to close.

Trinity also  announced that their titles in Uxbridge, Hounslow and Ealing are to switch from door-to-door to 'pick-up' only. The Harrow Observer will remain distributed door-to-door but as I mentioned earlier this does not cover the whole borough of Brent. The newspaper's office is being moved to Watford.

Trinity are going through the process of making staff including reporters, photographers and sales staff redundant and the outcome for the WWO is awaited with some trepidation.

Clearly this is a gloomy picture, not only for the staff concerned, but for the health of local democracy and the important role local newspapers play in holding local councils to account.

Laura Davison, national organiser of the NUJ said about Trinity's closure announcement:

This announcement has come as a terrible shock to the hardworking staff of these titles.The speed of it means there is little time to look at meaningful alternatives to closure.Trinity Mirror should not simply be able to shut down these titles and lock them away after years of starving them of resources.It will leave some communities with no local paper, depriving them of a way to access information and hold local power to account. Readers and the Trinity Mirror journalists who serve them, deserve better.

Martin Shipton, chair of the Trinity Group chapel (NUJ branch), said:

These closures would leave many communities in the outer London area without a local paper, as well as Fulham, a significant and densely populated part of the capital. There is a compelling need for journalistic scrutiny of the budget of local authorities which cover the circulation of these papers. Instead of shutting them down, Trinity Mirror should be investing in quality journalism, for which the public undoubtedly retains an appetite.

I agree.

Gladstone Free School pupils advised to find places elsewhere for September

The Brent and Kilburn Times LINK is reporting that Paul Phillips, Principal designate,  is advising parents whose children were due to attend Gladstone Free School in September 2014 to find a place elsewhere. The school has not yet secured a site or a building. 120 Year 6 children currently in primary school are affected. Sara Williams, Director of Children and Families assured the BKT that places were available elsewhere. These are likely to be at Copland or Crest Academy. Brent Council has not control over free schools or their site arrangements but they do have overall responsibility for the well-being of Brent's children.

I raised the issue of Year 7 places in proposed free schools in my letter to the Brent and Kilburn Times on September 10th. There is no further news about a building for Gateway Academy which was also due to open to 100 or so Year 7 pupils in September.

NOT NOW, BERNARD

Will Bernard be given the chance to climb Labour's mountain?

The crowded field of Labour hopefuls for the Brent Central parliamentary has been joined by yet another runner. Fresh from winning a council candidate place for the Willesden Green was, Bernard Collier has now set his sights higher, and has announced he wants the Brent Central seat.

After last week's flurry of letters to the Brent and Kilburn Times (and Zaffar van Kalwala managed it again today)we can look forward to the Thoughts of Bernard jostling for a place alongside those from the other candidates.

Meanwhile here is what he wrote about himself: LINK

I have lived in Kilburn and Willesden since 1986. Bringing up two children in Brent, using local schools, GP’s and hospitals, has given me a thorough understanding of the issues that affect people locally.

I began my working life teaching independent living and advocacy skills to adults with learning difficulties. Since then I have run voluntary organisations and worked with community groups (Refugee, Pre schools, Senior Citizens) for the last twenty years. I have gained experience of promoting their collective voice and influencing social policy at local, regional, and national levels.

My varied experience, including managing Sure Start outreach teams and facilitating Community Networks for example, means that I bring both a passion for social justice and a range of strategic and management skills to “make it happen” in Brent Central.

The Labour party in Brent Central has a mountain to climb after losing a nominal majority of 19% in 2010. It is vital therefore that the candidate we choose has experience of representing, influencing and negotiating on behalf of local communities. Someone with a good grasp of policy and also a history of standing up for communities and fighting for social justice.

I believe Brent Central deserves to have an MP who has lived a life outside of the political bubble. Who has experience of the local area and the problems facing local people. A fresh face untainted by some of the negative issues that have dogged our party in recent years. Someone to represent all the communities of Brent Central.

This is why I am putting myself forward to be the candidate for selection by Brent Central CLP.

Deafening silence on Copland victimisation allegations

Guest post by Mistleflower

According to the  Brent and Kilburn Times website last Friday,  teachers union president Hank Roberts has accused the new management at Copland School of victimisation of union members who  have opposed  the forced academisation  of Copland School and the privatisation of English education in general.   As the man who brought to an end (with no help from Brent or the DfE)  the  financial corruption at Copland which resulted in the upcoming trial on fraud charges of  Alan Davies and five others, Mr Roberts knows a thing or two about blowing the whistle on  unlawful activity by school managements and the victimisation of union members which results. He and his union colleagues acted, at great risk to their present jobs and their career futures, to stop the haemorrhaging  of  Brent taxpayers’ money into the pockets of their chiselling bosses. His observations, therefore, carry some weight in Brent and beyond. Despite this, the only response from the new Copland management to appear in the BKT article are these words  from Mr Nick John, one of the two new men hired by Brent and responsible for the alleged victimisation:

Teachers and students at Copland Community School are preparing for the new school year, we are looking forward to working with parents and families to improve standards and secure good lessons for all children.

While this is nice to know and possibly entirely accurate it has nothing whatever to do with the serious allegation made by Mr Roberts, which is  that  Copland’s Humanities faculty has been singled out for ‘special measures’ as a result of its containing  4 union officers and a Teacher Governor  each of whom have a high profile in opposing forced academisation, workplace bullying and the recent blatant misuse of capability procedures connected with this . It’s possible, of course, that the words quoted were uttered by Mr John on some completely different occasion about an entirely unrelated matter and that Mr John had, in fact, gone off on his holidays before Mr Roberts made his allegations. Whatever the circumstances though, you would expect that the new management of a school with a well-known history of unlawful management activity (allegedly) would wish to ensure that its conduct now and in future would be  squeaky-clean in such matters and perceived to be so by the public. Further, the default position of kneejerk defence of the school management by the governing body and by Brent council is already beginning to remind some observers of the bad old days of Alan Davies and I.P.Patel.

The management’s red herring concerning the English department (that it needs to improve and must therefore be relocated to the remotest and most isolated part of the school)  has already been laughed out of court, not least by the English department itself. But there must surely be one member of Copland’s new leadership, or of the newly imposed IEB governing body, or of Mr Pavey’s Children and Families department, who is not yet on holiday and is capable of making at least  a partly convincing rebuttal of Mr Roberts’s  specific allegations.

 On his arrival at Copland, new Head Richard Marshall apparently promised the staff he would not be a ‘Hero Head’ but that he would be ‘transparent’,  and transparency is a quality that Mr John, the IEB and Mr Pavey would all presumably  like to lay claim to. 

However, in the absence of any demonstration of such transparency,  staff, students and parents will have  to come to their own conclusions as to why the Humanities Faculty at Copland is being selected for special treatment by the new management. Below are 5 points any or all of  which currently have wide credence among the staff.  

1.       Humanities is being targeted as a punishment and a warning to others of the consequences  of  legitimately exercising legal democratic rights to dissent.

2.       Humanities is being targeted as a warning to other staff of the consequences of trade union activity under the new regime.

3.       Humanities subjects such as Economics, Law, Psychology, Sociology and Politics are being scrapped in a bid to limit the range of subjects at Copland to the sort of narrow Secondary Modern School curriculum dreamed of by Michael Gove in his Back-to-the-Fifties fantasies.

4.       Copland is being set up ultimately to be a  ‘Grade B’  (or ‘Secondary Modern’)  Academy, catering for those who, in Gove’s plans for a return to selection by national tests ranking children at age 11, come in the lower deciles (10% bands) of ability.  A narrow curriculum will be good enough for these kinds of students.

5.       Achieving the above at Copland (and also the ‘voluntary’ erosion of conditions of service already suggested by the new head) requires that dissent is neutralised and this requires the creation of a climate of fear among  staff.  The interviews Mr John  conducted with Heads of Faculty shortly after arriving ( in which he demanded they name 2 members of their faculty who they would like to see go, and then threatened that they would be the ones  going if they refused) set the tone.  Concocted capability procedures against a large number of staff came next. Refusal to communicate with staff through existing and long-established procedures was there from the start and continues.

There is evidence within the school itself and also in the wider political educational context, both in Brent and nationally, for all of these views.  In the absence of any contrary evidence, or of any specific denial, by the school management or by Brent, either of Mr Roberts’s allegations or of the 5 points set out above, staff can be excused for coming to their own conclusions.

Brent Lib Dem disarray after thwarted leadership bid

Following the Brent and Kilburn Times report that many of the current Liberal Democrat councillors will not be standing again in 2014 I can reveal that there was an attempt to unseat Paul Lorber, the current group leader, recently.

Lorber was the Council  leader at the time of the Liberal Democrat-Conservative Coalition administration that preceded the present Labour Council.

A leadership bid was due to me made at the party's Annual General Meeting by a seasoned councillor generally seen as on the left of the local party, and often to the left of many Labour councillors.

However the issue was never put to the test because of the eleventh hour withdrawal of a maverick councillor's nomination of the challenger. This has poisoned the personal relationships involved in particular wards in the south of the borough.

Leadership challenges are healthy for democracy and the fact that Lorber wasn't put to the test on a technicality may weaken his position. His colleagues recognise the energy and commitment he has put into the Barham Library Campaign but some question his approach to opposition.  He often seems to be in a state of languor. When he does stir himself to mount a case in committee he is often strong on rhetoric but weak on detail, ending up with a mumbling partial withdrawal of his opposition.

Although Lorber is seen as having been successful at disguising his parliamentary colleagues' role in making the cuts that have impacted so badly on the borough, especially in terms of the libraries campaign, he is seen as having exposed the party to criticism in not grasping the nettle of issues such as the Rev David Clues' absence in Brighton. The decision to not stand a candidate in the Barnhill by-election and to not call a by-election in Clues' or Sneddons' seats is seen as an indication of a lack of confidence in the party's prospects.

However the malaise goes deeper with some of those who are not standing again finding it hard to adapt their former campaigning approach as community activists to the discipline and sometimes bureaucratic procedures of the Lib Dem Group.  They are further frustrated by the current Council structure where decisions are made by the Labour Executive on the basis of pre-meetings which opposition councillors are not allowed to attend.

Full Council meetings become a ritualistic bun fight which often reflect badly on all concerned. Some Lib Dem councillors have attempted to use their position on the different Scrutiny Committees to rigorously examine officers' proposals but then see any referrals crushed when they get to the Executive. Councillors

This dispiriting experience has led some Lib Dem councillors to conclude that they were more effective in bringing about change and standing up for their community when they were independent or semi-independent community activists. It is only fair to mention that this a feeling shared by some back-bench Labour councillors who are equally frustrated although this has been mitigated recently by more debate within the Labour Group and of course exercising their votes at the AGM.

Some argue that the new generation of Labour councillors currently being selected will change things but others argue that after the initial euphoria following their election they will also be ground down and frustrated  by the current decision making structures.

Is there a case for a cross-party review of the current structure with the aim of enhancing the role of debate and democratic accountability?

Harlesden incinerator plans put on hold

The Brent and Kilburn Times is reporting that the application for an incinerator at Willesden Junction have been put on hold by Ealing Council. This follows a letter from HS2 regarding their need for the proposed site.

Local press continue to hold Brent Council to account

Following my recent posting on the importance of the local press in ensuring the accountability of councillors and the counter claim that the BKT was too close to the council, it was heartening to see the front page of the newspaper this week. LINK

Clearly the BKT is continuing to dig up stories that ensure resident know what is really  going on in the Town Hall.

The Wembley and Willesden Observer also has a story this week about the importance of the local press with post-Leveson comments from campaigners about the part local newspapers have played in enabling them to put their message across.

HS2 or Incinerator - what a choice for Willesden Junction!

Well, here's a dilemma!

The Brent and Kilburn Times is reporting LINK that the Willesden Junction site ear-marked for an incinerator may be required by HS2 to transport waste from nearby tunnelling operations.HS2 under its safeguarding rights would have prior claim to the site.

Brent Greens are opposed to both the incinerator proposal and HS2 - perhaps we should campaign for a much needed green space on the site or an Alternative Technology Centre