Support local democracy - buy the Kilburn Times

 Regular readers of the Brent and Kilburn Times will have noticed that the paper has been a lot slimmer recently.  This is the result of cost saving measures that also include a reduction in reporting staff. The Archant Group, along with other local newspaper groups such as Trinity South who produce the Wembley and Willesden Observer, are facing economic difficulties as a result of the loss of advertising revenue in the  recession and declining leadership.

The increase in free distribution of titles is one way of boosting circulation and thus making the papers attractive to advertising. As the remaining pages have to carry the advertisiments this reduces space for news item. The Letters Page has been a casualty of this squeeze on space in the BKT recently so it is good to see it back this week - not just because a letter I wrote about Central Middlesex A&E and schools was published! There was no editorial his week, presumably to squeeze in more letters, but it would be a shame to lose this feature as in my opinion they have been very influential in the past.

Letters pages in local newspapers are part of the lifeblood of local democracy and vary a great deal. The Ham and High and Camden Journal in our neighbouring borough have particularly lively pages and are often the first pages turned to by readers.

So far the slimmed down BKT has continued its high standard of reporting and they continue to originate stories and break exclusives  rather than recycling press releases which unfortunately is the role of many local newspapers with reduced reporting staff.

Our local newspapers  are particularly important in these times when both council and government cuts mean community is losing vital health, police and fire services and many families face hunger and  homelessness. With a weak opposition in  the Council the BKT has a vital role in holding our local politicians to account.

Help keep them going: buy it and advertise in it.

All Souls claim space earmarked for libraries in redevelopment proposals

All Souls College has now told the Brent and Kilburn Times LINK that their proposals put to developers of the Kensal Rise and Cricklewood library sites includes an allocated space for a library as well as flats.
 
Margaret Bailey, of Friends of Kensal Rise Library is quoted by the BKT as saying: :

Disappointingly and surprisingly the college has gone for a developer who wants to develop the building by putting in flats and would be willing to offer a small space to us.

We will meet with this developer next week to see if there is any room for negotiation. Once we know what is on offer we will be having a public meeting to share these details and find out how to proceed

The Brent leadership boil close to bursting

 Back in December 2011 in a posting on this blog about the relationship between Gareth Daniel and the then council leader, Ann John, I asked 'Brent Council: Who's in charge?' and questioned the apparent political role that Daniel had adopted. More recently in 'U-turn if you want to-this gent is not for turning'  (July 2nd 2012) I wrote:

The June 21st (Chief Executive's) Newsletter exalts in the close relationship between officers and councillors and gives this insight into Gareth Daniel's view of decision making. It sounds as if he has formed his own version of the 'No Turning Back' group which was formed to prevent any change of mind on Margaret Thatcher's 'reforms'.:

Once any necessary consultation has taken place, we should always move confidently into action mode and when we make a decision we need to stick to it.  Nobody respects an organisation that bends to the demands of every pressure group or the inevitable special pleading of sectional interest groups.

Presumably this is what he is saying to Muhammed Butt, the recently elected  'official' leader of Brent Council.

Now Muhammed Butt, according to the Brent and Kilburn Times (Council at War, front page today), has had enough and has stood up to Daniel.  I understand that that Butt's admirable decision to pay the London Living Wage to directly employed Brent council workers was opposed by Gareth Daniel and was the catalyst for the ensuing row.  The BKT reports that this has resulted in a split 'after a senior Labour councillor tried to put forward a motion backing Mr Daniel and other senior managers in the council rather than his leader' failed.

The 'senior Labour councillor' is not named but I have asked a senior councillor who has been on the frontline of cuts and closures and subject to much public flak, to confirm or deny rumours that he is challenging Muhammed Butt's leadership.

I have had no response as yet.

Meanwhile there will be much activity over the weekend culminating in possible fun and games at Monday's meeting of the full Council.

I am off on holiday tomorrow away from the internet so will miss it all!

Tara Brady a champion of the people of Brent, leaves tomorrow

Tara Brady, senior reporter of the Brent and Kilburn Times, has been making the news herself tonight, following her announcement that tomorrow is her last day with the newspaper. She, like her predecessor Kate Ferguson, is moving to the Ham and High (Hampstead and Highgate Express) which is also in the Archant Group.

The Kensal Rise Library Campaign said:

The Save Kensal Rise Library Campaign would like to thank Tara for her part in defending this community through her continued commitment to investigating those in authority and the impact their decisions have on communities.

She is indeed a defender of the community.

We wish her all the best as she leaves the Brent and Kilburn Times. We will miss her as will the many communities she has helped in Brent.

Kensal Triangle Residents tweeted:

What will the good people of Brent do without you. Thursday's essential reading for the last few years. 

The work of Tara, Lorraine King and latterly Max Walters have made the Brent and Kilburn Times essential reading. They have shifted it from the usual local paper fodder of crime and rewritten press releases to genuine stories that emerge from the local community. The BKT campaigned to save Kilburn College and through its coverage and investigations supported the many campaigns around the libraries, as well as battles over the Charteris Sports Centre and local nursery closures. They are now getting behind the campaign to Save Central Middlesex A&E.

It is no secret that some of our councillors and council officers have been peed off with them at times but a vigorous local press is absolutely essential to democracy and, as current national events show, too close a relationship between press and politicians is not good good for democracy.

It is right that the relationship is tetchy at times.

I wish Tara all the best in her new job and look forward to her swansong in Thursday's edition with some  anticipation.

Kilburn celebrates despite the rain and tennis

Despite grey skies, sudden heavy rain showers and a tennis match on the other side of London, Kilburn came out to celebrate yesterday at the Kilburn Festival.

Tara Brady, senior reporter at the Kilburn Times (pictured), was there with colleagues, once again in solidarity with the local community. This time the paper supported people as they battled with rain and mud, rather than the usual struggles over cuts and closures.

It was good to see all ages and ethnicities coming together, epitomised by communal dancing drawn from Brent's many cultures, and sad to reflect that following cuts in the Festivals' budget there are fewer such opportunities now.

Plans to close Central Middlesex Accident and Emergency confirmed - now organise!

The Brent and Kilburn Times website reports today that Central Middlesex A&E is 'certain to close' as part of the 'Shaping a Healthier Future (sic)' proposals which were launched today LINK:

Speaking at the launch, Dr Mark Spencer, medical director for the programme, said:

We looked at all the options but it is not possible to keep the A&E department open and running as it is now.

Unfortunately when the hospital was built, it was far too big and with too many departments for the people it served so it is not viable to keep it open.

The hospital still has an Urgent Care Centre which is open 24 hours a day and can treat patients within 4 hours of arrival and that will remain open.

The certainty of closure will be challenged by local residents and campaigners who are meeting tomorrow evening at The Trades Hall/Apollo Club 375 High Road, NW10 2JR (close to Willesden Bus Garage) to mobilise opposition.. The meeting will begin at 7.30pm. All welcome.

Oppose Brent Parks Service privatisation - support park workers

View across Fryent Country Park meadows to Kingsbury

I was looking at this view with a class of 7 and 8 year olds recently and telling them how we owed the preservation of Middlesex countryside in Fryent Country Park to the far-sighted councillors of Middlesex Country Council who in 1938 purchased the farmland on either side of Fryent Way to preserve some open space from the encroaching housing.

Since then this remaining fragment of Middlesex countryside has escaped proposals to build housing, a golf club, a zoo and even an Olympic Village for the unsuccessful 1988 London OIympics bid.

Now the councillors of Brent Council are making a proposal that could do considerable harm to Fryent Country Park and other Brent parks and open spaces. This week the Brent and Kilburn Times LINK confirms my fears of December 2011 LINK that the Council were considering privatising the parks service. The Council refused to answer my questions on this on the grounds that Wembley Matters was not 'official media' and then refused to answer a Freedom of Information request on the same matter.

According the the BKT the 80 park and cemetery  maintenance service workers have already received letters warning them that the Council is considering out-sourcing the service. The management of the Parks Service was merged with the Sports Service under one Head of Serice recently after the retirement of Shaun Faulkner, a champion of Brent's Green Flag winning parks and open spaces. It will come as no surprise to regular readers to hear that Cllr James Powney is the lead member for this service.

Brent Council says that it spends £3m on parks maintenance and.."we face unprecedented financial pressures, so we are looking at all our services, including saving money on grounds maintenance while also protecting the quality wherever possible". That "wherever possible" should serve as a warning  to all who love and appreciate our local parks.

It is those 80 maintenance staff who have enabled our parks to win Green Flag awards, who have got to know and cherish them and maintain the spaces sensitively, preserving and enhancing natural habitats. Although staff will have rights under TUPE,  if money is to 'saved' whilst giving the private company a profit, hours, numbers of staff and conditions of service will be reduced.

My fear is that this will result in the sort of parks maintenance that is evident in the private contractors operating in some of our housing estates where trees and shrubs are not pruned or cut-back by experts but 'shaped' by a workman with a chain-saw and grass cut whatever the weather resulting in churned up lawn areas.

In the Wirral last year there was a huge row over the privatisation of parks with Labour opposing the plans put forward by the previous Lib Dem-Conservative coalition and a dispute over the possibility of an 'in-house' bid for the contract. LINK Here Labour is putting forward the plans and although Council Leader Muhammed Butt tweated this weekend about Brent's oldest building, Old St Andrew's Church in Kingsbury, Labour has a poor record on preserving our heritage.

As I pointed out to that primary class, parks are part of our heritage.  That heritage should not be threatened by short-term financial cost saving to the detriment of our long term social and environmental capital.

Brent residents should oppose parks privatisation. If despite opposition the plans go ahead everything should be done to provide support for an 'in-house' bid to run the service.

Inspiring story from Chalkhill

 

It was great to see Chalkhill Primary School featuring on the front pages of our local newspapers this week LINK for such positive reasons.  There can be nothing more wonderful than to know that you are responsible for saving a child's life.

I hope the story inspires more people to train in CPR: LINK

Kilburn Times: Library night raid "shameful"

Following on the widespread condemnation by campaigners and authors the  Brent and Kilburn Times   LINK added its powerful voice yesterday to criticisms of Brent Council's clandestine raid on Kensal Rise Library:

In a hard-hitting editorial they state:

The night raid was a shameful episode, one that will win the council no friends, either within or without the borough. It is indeed difficult to imagine councillors and officers planning so nefarious an act: did they do so behind closed doors, at dead of light, speaking only in whispers as they plotted?

Focusing on the fact that the new leader of Brent Council, Muhammed Butt, claims he did not know about the raid they say:

His embarrassment must be profound, since just a few days earlier he had promised that the library's books would remain in place for the time being. Perhaps it is time for him to exert his newly-won authority and hold someone accountable for this brazen breach of trust, before he is made to look like a fool again.

HEAR! HEAR!

In a withering coda they conclude:

Sadly, it seems futile to add that the council's reputation has been damaged. When it comes to the borough's libraries, Brent seems content to behave in a way that leaves it with no reputation to preserve.

In it heartening to have a local newspaper which stands in solidarity with the community against a council that attacks those it was elected to serve.

Now it's time for James Powney to apologise

The Brent Executive approved plans to licence leafleting in designated areas, along with a hefty overall free and additional charges per leafleter, on Monday evening. Sarah Cox and I both spoke against the proposals pointing out the lack of clarity about exemptions, the impact on small businesses and those organising events, the absence of any substantial research on the success or otherwise of such schemes in the past, and the failure to give any information on how the policy would be enforced. Sarah even pointed out discrepancies within the document on charges.

Sarah Cox, speaking for Brent Fightback,  challenged Cllr James Powney's attack on the Brent and Kilburn Times in his blog LINK which implied that the campaign against the scheme  was an invention.  Sarah quite rightly pointed out that the BKT story was based on the Council's own statement to a journalist and said, 'It is absolutely right that the local press has been vigilant and brought this to the attention of the people of Brent".

However in his response to our speeches, Powney again had a go at the reporter about inaccuracy, despite her waving a copy of the Council's e-mail from her seat.

Now in today's Brent and Kilburn Times there is a letter from Michael Read, Assistant Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services, which seeks to 'clarify any confusion about the powers the council has just agreed' and confirms that the exemption will cover campaigning for political purposes, such as local library campaigners'.

He does not admit that the 'confusion' arose from the council's own e-mail to the reporter, which followed the reporters request for clarification.

There is an Editor's note at the end of Michael Read's letter stating:

Brent Council's communication team has issued an apology to the Times for issuing an inaccurate statement on which our original report was based.

It is obviously up to the BKT to decide what to do but my personal view is that Cllr Powney also owes the paper,  and its senior reporter,  an apology.

Below are notes from the speech I made on Monday:

 Talking to people about these proposals over the weekend I was told both that they were a 'farce' and that they were 'fascist'. I think the truth lies somewhere between the two!


Cllr Powney will say we've got it all wrong - it always was meant to be 'political purposes' and not 'political parties' but the Brent and Kilburn Times reporter stands by her quote from the Council and is circulating the council's e-mail here tonight.

“Licensing will only apply to certain streets in Brent.  Charities would be exempt from these new rules and political parties would be exempt during election times."

This is not semantics. The danger is that the Council's interpretation is so narrow that it will affect campaigns. There needs to be precise definitions in the documentation.

Cllr Powney will also say that this is not new and is merely updating of powers but this is not stated in the report and there is no detail or assessment of effectiveness of previous policy.

Cllr John has said we've got it all wrong and it is only about commercial leafleting but again this is not stated  in the report.

Putting aside the political dimension what about small businesses?

Can you imagine the poor contestants of the Apprentice setting up a small shop on Wembley High Road and trying to drum up business?

Let's give out some leaflets... Oh, we have to give 14 days notice....and apply for  licence....and we have to wear a high visibility vest...oh, we have to have 'Authorised Distributor' printed on it...and a badge with our licence number...and pay £175 upfront plus £75 daily for each distributor...and check whether our distributor has been done for littering in the last year.

The Council is in danger of making itself a laughing stock. The Executive should send this poorly written report back to be properly researched and rewritten - they cannot vote for such an unclear policy.

Farce or Fascism? Brent approves restrictions on free distribution of literature

Needless to say Brent Executive rubber stamped the proposal on licensing leafleting on designated land this evening but were left in doubt that that their decision was based on a poorly researched and imprecise report with no detail on interpretation and every sign of having dangerous implications for free speech.

I can honestly say as a school governor that a document like that would have been thrown out by a governing body.  I told the Executive it was hard to decide whether their proposal was farce or fascism, but it was likely to fall between the two.

Despite Tara Brady of he Brent and Kilburn Times circulating a copy of the actual e-mail from the Brent Council which stated 'Charities would be exempt from these new rules and political parties exempt during  election times' Cllr James Powney insisted that all along they had meant all activities for political purposes would be exempt.

Cllr Powney dug himself further into a hole when he claimed the proposals were not just about the Olympics but long-term and across the borough, despite the report stating 'These controls are being sought now to assist with the effective control of literature distributors anticipated during the Olympic period in an attempt to reduce the amount of waste printed material deposited in certain areas of the borough'.

Those designated areas include streets far away from the Wembley Olympic venues such as Shoot Up Hill, Station Road Harlesden  and Edgware Road.

As Sarah  Cox said on behalf of Brent Fightback we should not have to rely on Cllr Powney's interpretation of phrases such a 'political purpose' but have precision and clarity in the documentation.

Small businesses and people organising  cultural events,  jumble sales and fund raising activities will be faced with high fees and restrictions on their activities.

There will now be a 14 day consultation but this is only about the Council's proposal to designate certain areas or roads where the licence will be required rather than the scheme as a whole.

Cllr Powney failed to answer a question from Cllr Helga Gladbaum on whether Brent Council had the capacity to enforce the proposed regulations.

Shahrar Ali, Green Party candidate for the London Assembly Brent and Harrow constituency said:

I can think of little more pernicious act than for a council to impose upon its citizens a requirement to seek advance approval for the dissemination of their literature, whatever was written upon it. It is no business of the council to restrict the free exercise of speech or to charge people for their exercise of it or to prevent readers from making up their own minds about whether they want to receive it or not. This is a dark day for Brent and surely one of the worst instances of this administration's evident contempt for the people.

You can read Brent Fightback's leaflet by click on the PDF below:

Consultation: Kilburn Times hits nail on the head

Hats off to the editorial team at the Brent and Kilburn Times. This editorial sums up what many Brent residents are feeling at the moment:

Christmas images from Preston Library Wall of Shame

Coverage of Brent Council's emptying of Preston Library by Max Walters of the Brent and Kilburn Times can be found HERE