Planning applications for housing blocks on both College of North West London Brent sites approved in exchange for new college building on Olympic Way

Tower blocks replacing CNWL Wembley Park building

Medium rise and high rise blocks on CNWL Dudden Hill site

Despite having doubts regarding the amount of affordable housing, lack of amenity space and fears of flooding (Wembley Park) and shared ownership and shading nearby 2 storey homes (Dudden Hill) members of Brent Planning Committee unanimously voted for the redevelopment of the College of North West London (CNWL) sites at Wembley Park and Dudden Hill. 

They were told that plans for a new college building in a prime site off Olympic Way could not go ahead without approval of both applications because the developments held fund the college building.  Promises of viability reviews at various stages of the process of development looked promising for increasing the number of affordable homes at first (just 69 social rent homes out of 1,000 at Dudden Hill) but later looked very unlikely when they were told the costs for the college new build could rise.

No one asked if a less expensive option than prime site Olympic Way had been considered for the college. Brent Council arranged a loan for United Colleges (merged CNWL and City of Westminster College) to enable the redevelopment project  at Wembley Park to go ahead.

A review of intermediate tenures other than shared ownership, generally considered not affordable, was agreed along with a £149,500 contribution to bus service enhancement at Wembley Park.  Again at Wembley Park, the developer will pay £100,000 towards improvement of nearby open spaces as little amenity space is offered on a constrained site.  There will be road layout changes and crossing enhancements and possibly a CPZ at Dudden Hill and Denzil Road.

The Planning Committee waas chaired by Cllr Saqib Butt in the absence of Cllr Matt Kelcher while his brother Cllr Muhammed Butt (Deputy Leader and lead member for housing, regneration, planning and growth)  looked on from the public gallery.

New CNWL campus on the corner of Olympic Way and Fulton Road

 The twin developments will add many homes to Brent Council's target and there will be a new state of the art FE college, but there will be nagging doubts, not least in some councillor's minds, about whether a better deal could have been possible in terms of homes affordable for the many on Brent's housing list.

 

31 and 18 storey blocks application for site of CNWL college on Olympic Way

The view across Bridge Road yesterday. The 8 storey CNWL buidling is obscured by a tree

As the proposed buildings will look if approved 

Plans have been published for the development of the site of the College of North West London's Wembley Park site. The development is part of a three phase project which will see Wembley Park and Dudden Hill campuses moving into a new college building further down Olympic Way on the site of the building that was previously the head office of Network Housing. The extensive Dudden Hill (College Green) site will be redeveloped for housing some of which will also be highrise. See those proposals HERE.

The land is owned by United Colleges Group, the result of a merger between CNWL and City Westminster College and property rationalisation has been a strategy from the start. The decision on the Wembley Park and College Green development swill be made by Brent Council Planning Committee. In 2019 Brent Council granted a £50m bridging loan to United Colleges to facilitate the move to a new Wembley Park campus. LINK

 The Hill Group who are managing both applications calim that the Wembley Park site will provide 307 homes in two towers (18 storey and 31 storey) and College Green 1,627 homes. Together comprising 84% of the London Plan requirement of Brent Council. LINK

On the Wembley Park site they state 30% of the 'habitable rooms' will be at social rent and 100% affordable. However, the habitable room measure is a slippery concept and not the same as affordable homes as a percentage of the total. I have asked for clarification as elsewhere there is a reference to shared ownership as affordable - which we know it is not.

As the illustration shows there is a big impact on the view along Olympic Way although the proposal claims it does not interrupt the view of the stadium arch. It is certainly the first thing that will hit you looking from Wembley Park station towards the stadium and much more signicant  than the 8 storey CNWL building.

The Wealdstone Brook flows through the site. The present building is raised from ground level (as is Michaela on the other side of Olympic Way) as flood protection, so it is surprising to find that basements are planned for the new buildings. Retail, cafe or community uses are planned at ground level.

The present college building and Wealdstone Brook

The Wealdstone Brook flows through the site and beneath Olympic Way

The one storey temporary Black Sheep Coffee shop on Olympic Way  has recently been granted an extension to 2026 but the plans retain flexibility with the possibility of opening up the site where it faces Olympic Way if the Black Sheep goes.

The Black Sheep  now and after

 

Vehicle access to the site will be via Wembley Park Drive as at present but the development itself will be car free given its proximity to the station. Readers will note the Wembley Stadium Retail Park buildings on the right of the picture. The Retail Park, McDonalds and Troubadour Theatre (Fountain Studios) are another development site which will comprise 995 housing units in several towers.

On the image, below taken from the 2019 planning application, the CNWL building is bottom left corner. Now substitute an eighteen storey and a 31 storey block to see the scope of that development and the overall context on Bridge Road/Wembley Hill Road.

Finally it is good to see that the application includes a Whole Life Cycle  Carbon Assessment (albeit incomplete) and includes some mitigations to reduce carbon impact. LINK.

So far there have been no public comments on the proposal on the Brent Council Planning Portal Reference 24/1841 LINK

51 storey building in Neasden will be Brent's tallest yet - major transformation of the area by 2032

 

Tower panorama

 

Plans have been submitted for the section of the Neasden Stations Growth Area known as Neasden Goods Yard.

The design is by architects Allies and Morrison that were involved with projects for Kings Cross, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the BBC Media Village. The developer is Hollybrook who were responsible for a develpment in Park Royal for Network Homes. LINK

The proposal is for tower blocks of 30, 40, 42, 43 and 51 storeys  and lower blocks of 5 and 16 storeys. 11,600 square metres of industrial space is planned along with changes to Neasden station to provide a link to the possible West London Orbital Rail station.

 

The development site

The development would provide 1,151 homes amd 640 student rooms along with a central garden, pocket park and children's playgrounds. Accommodation would start at podium level with industrial and commercial space at ground floor level.

A collonade is suggested to link the two stations along the heavily polluted ands pretty lethal Neasden Lane - also the site of the new North Brent secondary school.

There is also a potential bridge to the site which the applicant suggests could be part of a cycle route to Wembley.

 

Building would commence in early 2026 and completed by the end of 2032.

 

A recent view of the site

The statement of  Community Involvement LINK begins with a meeting with the Brent Senior Leadership team in Febrary 2022 and ends with a meeting/s  with the Council Leaders and  Brent Planning Committee on  September 14th. It is not clear whether this was two separate meetings on the same day or one meeting.

In between  there is a list of consultation offers (it is not clear how many were taken up) to ward councillors, local residents' associations, places of worship, schools and businesses as well as public exhibitions and extensive leafleting.

What emerges in terms of responses is quite slight:

To date, the Applicant has received 48 written responses from residents and local businesses. 25 were issued through the online feedback form and 23 hard copy forms with feedback were submitted at the in-person consultation events. In addition, verbal feedback was shared with the development team at the workshop and public consultation events.

 But used to demonstrate support for the scheme:

Unfortunately the Neasden Stations Growth Areas Masterplan also received little public attention although its repercussions for the area are highly significant.  The changes are not just on this site but also the College of North West London's Dudden Hill site (developer Pinnacle Investments)  and a  light industrial area  between Dudden Hill Lane and Willesden High Road.

The low-rise estate of Severn Avenue and Selbie Avenue forms an island between the towers of the Goods Yard site and the CNWL site that may be developed in the future.

 

 From the Masterplan (Neasden Goods Yard on right and CNWL on left)

There was a discussion on Wembley Matters following the conclusion of public consultation on the MasterPlan that you can read HERE.

The Neasden Goods Yard planning application is now on the Brent Council Planning Portal and comments can be submitted there. LINK

  

611 local addresses should receive a consultation letter. Addresses HERE. 

 

You can also comment on the GLA Planning 'Have Your Say' site HERE

 The format is different to Brent Council's with prompts for what counts as planning considerations:

 

 

New building for College of North West London in Wembley Park approved by Brent Planning Committee - present Wembley Park and Dudden Hill sites will be redeveloped

 

Brent Planning Committee last night approved a new building for the College of North West London on Olympic Way/Fulton Road the site of the current Olympic Office Centre.

 

The building will replace both the current building in Wembley Park at the station end of Olympic Way and the Dudden Hill campus of the college which will be developed for housing.

 

 Early plans for Dudden Hill site (part of Neasden Stations Master Plan)

 

The current Wembley Park building will be redeveloped alongside the shopping centre, McDonalds and the theatre. The Wealdstone Brook flows within that college site and under Olympic Way.

After the CNWL's amalgamation with Westminster College as United College Group there were a number of property deals. The other Wembley Park building was sold to the DfE and now houses the Michaela School and the fairly new £5.5m Kilburn Centre LINK  building was disposed of.  LINK

Although the applicant's image above shows an open area around the college it emerged that it is likely to be secured by additional measures  given the large crowds using Olympic Way on event days.  Planning officers said that the new building  at 8 storeys would be just 2 metres higher than the Olympic Officer Centre.

The college will cater for 1,630 people including teenage and adult students but, unlike a school, attendance hours will vary,and it will operate at 60% capacity. Neighbourhood CIL will not be payable  by the applicant  but London CIL will apply.

Councillors expressed concern over security, particularly as the college is aiming to cater for more neurodiverse students, and one councillor was keen that there should be a separate entrance for them. The college responded that they believed in integrating such students as part of their inclusion policy.

A number of security features are included in the building such as anti-hostile vehicle devices but Cllr S Butt was puzzled that no accreditation for Secure by Design had been sought when this was the case with other buildings in the vicinity that had been considered by the Committee. Planning Officer David Glover insisted that this was not necessary but Butt warned that if there was an incident in the future the Council may regret that this had not been done. Glover said that the applicant could be encouraged to seek accreditation.

Councillors also asked about the loss of 27 trees as a result of the redevelopment with only one retained. The applicant will provide 41 new trees at ground floor and third floor level.

In contrast to the Mumbai Junction's 500+ objections only one objection had been received to this application and this was about disturbance during the construction period.

 (Olympic Way!)

 The Planning Statement by the applicant gives an overview of what the campus will offer:

Curriculum & Specific Requirements

 

The curriculum offer aligns with key local and national priorities and requires certain elements of specialist space. This modern and flexible building will provide the canvas for significant growth in these key strands of provision:

 

● Academic teaching quality and student success

● Technical and apprenticeship provision for young people, including STEM key stage

curriculum

● Higher level technical skills qualification for adults

● Increased quality of Profound Multiple Learning Disability facilities

 

The new campus will provide a whole of year approach to provision and will ensure access to education using multiple entry and exit points which will allow adult learners the opportunity to ‘retrain and return’ to the labour market quickly or progress to higher level qualifications. This meets the identified skills development needs of London Borough of Brent and the Greater London Authority, in a borough with a stated desire through the Local Plan (2022) to improve the skills level of its residents and increase the average wage.

 

The portfolio of provision also aligns with those areas that have been identified by Central

Government including STEM, precision engineering, green technologies, and the built

environment, as well as opportunities in practitioner qualifications in digital tech/communications and science.

 

The new campus will provide an inspiring learning environment that will impact positively on learning, learner outcomes and learner satisfaction. The site will provide for an integrated Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision through an inclusive ’Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties’ PMLD unit. The housing of this provision in one building with the rest of the student cohort, integrates PMLD students fully into the student body for the benefit of all.

 

Providing this consistent and inclusive approach does create additional servicing requirements as specific pick up and drop off is required as close to the entrance of the building as possible.

 

Through discussion with Brent and TFL officers, it has been agreed to maintain the existing layby on Fulton Way as also permitted within the extant scheme. Within the adopted highway, this layby will be capable of housing two dedicated mini bus shuttles for PMLD students, the college acknowledged that this will create a specific management requirement on the college, especially during a match day scenario. The College commits to working with the Council and Metropolitan Police to ensure that this public benefit does not result in any additional risks during special event days. We expect further details to be provided pursuant to planning conditions

Plans for 1,500 homes on College of North West London's Dudden Hill site revealed - it's early days get your feedback in

 

The College Entrance

The Hill Group held an on-line consultation and an in-person consultation this week in the first stage of their engagement with the public over plans for the  extensive Dudden Hill campus.  I attended both.

The College will be demolished in phases with the eventual move of both the Dudden Hill and Wembley Park students to a new building in Wembley Park on the site of Network House.

The plans are for c1,500 new homes, work spaces, retail, nursery and community facilities. They are at an early stage and little detail is available. This gives residents a possible opportunity to influence the development.

Some buildings were demolished some time ago but there are also comparatively new buildings that will be demolished when redevelopment gets underway:

 

 

 

The plans include a central green open space as well as the retention of the green at the junction of Dudden Hill and Denzil Road.

A tree survey of the site is to be completed but a tour of the site yesterday demonstrated that there are some attractive specimens which I hope will be retained.

 

The size of the plot can be seen from this satellite image. Note the green corridor along the railway line and the area near Dudden Hill Lane and the green where buildings have already been demolished.

 

Among the issues I raised was the heights of the buildings. The highest blocks will be along the railway line and complement the tall buildings on the other side of the line on the former garden centre site. Lower blocks will front Denzil Road and  Selbie Avenue.

I was told that tenure for the homes had not yet been decided and there were ongoing discussions with Brent Council. I stressed the importance of the provision of genuinely affordable housing and the findings of the Brent Poverty Commission that social housing was the only housing type that was affordable for Brent residents on the housing list. It was cleared that despite the issues involved shared housing would be part of the mix as well as private sale and built to rent. We discussed the current conditions regarding cost inflation.

You will see from the boards below that there is quite a lot of retail planned within the development. When I raised doubts about that given how many such units remain unlet in Wembley Park I was told that this was a different sort of development and the retail would serve the residents rather than visitors. It was not envisaged that it would compete with other nearby retail outlets.

Community spaces are planned and the public are invited to share ideas for what they should be. A nursery is already planned. An earlier visitor had suggested a swimming pool. I was interested that there shddould be an accessible and affordable space in which the new residents and other locals could get together with perhaps a cafe along the lines of the Chalkhill Community Centre model.

Further questions were raised about 'child yield' the number of chidlren expected to live in the 1,500 homes and the capacity of local schools as well as the impact of increased commuter traffic on Dollis Hill Jubilee line station.

The on-line webinar had a small section on the separate but connected WembleyPark  campus redevelopment also to be be built by the Hill Group. This is separate from Quintain's development of the 'Fulton Quarter' which includes the curren retail park, McDonalds and the former TV studios, now a temporary theatre,

The Wembey site has the  Wealdstone Brook running by and there are plans to see if this can be naturalised. I of course spoke about the extreme climate change flooding dangers as covered elsewhere on Wembley Matters.  A very tall building will be the cornerstone of this development but there will be a separate consultation on this. 

Concerns that came up earlier when plans were first publicised was whether the new integrated College site in Wembley Park would be able to house the space hungry engineering and building faculties that exist in Dudden Hill and whether Willesden area students would be happy travelling to Wembley Park for their courses.

Have a look at the Exhibition Boards below kindly supplied by Hill Group and submit any questions or feedback to collegegreen@fourcommunications.com .

Click on bottom right corner for full page view.

First consultation on massive redevelopment of the Dudden Hill College of North West London site on zoom tonight and tomorrow at the college 3pm-7.30pm

 

 

The Hill Group will be holding public consultation events for the proposed College Green scheme on Thursday 20 October from 3pm to 7.30pm and Saturday 22 October from 11am to 2pm. These will take place at College of North West London Willesden Campus, Denzil Road, London NW10 2XD. They will also be holding a public consultation webinar event on Wednesday 19 October at 7pm. The link to register for the webinar is:
https://fourcommunications.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tBBYKv8mS2KTKHQMIQs1jg 

 

 Wembley Matters has covered these plans since 2019 and the college's merger with Westminster College came rise to speculation over selling off of some property. Current plans are for CNWL to move to a new site in Wembley Park, with the Dudden Hill site and the current Wembley Park site redeveloped. The site is part of the Neasden Stations Growth Area Draft Masterplan LINK.

 

An old view of the college and College Green

 

The development is site 3 of the Neasden Growth Area Masterplan

 Artist's image (right) of the development from Masterplan

 From the Draft Masterplan - contrast with Hill Group's description for the consultation (top of page) including increase in homes from 1,100 to 1,500 and dropping of 'affordable' description.

 

Artist's impression of the development 

 

 

 

Tributes pour in for Indro Sen - great CNWL lecturer and trade unionist

Former secondary maths teacher, primary school governor,  College of North West London lecturer,  and most importantly trade unionist, Indro Sen has died shortly before his 68th birthday.

In 2016-17 Indro was involved in a dispute at CNWL over his allegations of corruption in an apprenticeship scheme and I worked closely with him on publicising the issue here on Wembley Matters. (Links below) He was suspended from his job allegedly because of his support at an emeployment  tribunal for a sacked colleague and his opposition to the CNWL's merger with Westminster College.

At the time Peter Murry, Trade Union Liaison officer for the London Federation of Green Parties and for Brent Green Party  supported Sen and said,   'Both of these are actions are entirely proper for a University and College Union Branch Secretary to carry out. If Indro Sen’s suspension is a result of his performing the legitimate duties of a UCU Officer, then he himself seems to be threatened with unfair treatment and victimisation.'

His son Shenin said on Twitter:

On Wednesday we lost my father Indro Sen. Being unaware of his underlying health issues, this has been a complete shock for me & my family, which is where my full focus is right now.

His whole life was dedicated to helping others, I couldn’t have asked for a better role model.

Sen's novel approach to maths teaching in the 70s or 80s

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU said:

So sorry to hear of the loss this week of Indro Sen. Long time NUT and then UCU militant.
Long time school rep at Kingsland secondary school. Successful fights against victimisation.
Highly regarded Maths teacher.Brilliant ally in fights as a parent, and governor, at Benthal Primary school. 

Many condolences to all the family. Rage against the dying of the light. Rest in Peace Sen.

Bernard Regan, long time member of the NUT, Summed up Indro Sen, the person:

A great comrade and campaigner. At the centre of fighting many injustices. I will remember him for his strength of character and gentleness of being. I will remember his laugh with fondness. His hat which he wore all the time - his eye for detail and passionate commitment to fighting injustices including those inflicted on him..We will remember him.

Wembley Matters postings on Indro Sen and his struggle at the College of North West London:

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2016/12/greens-call-for-immediate-and-full.html

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2017/02/support-builds-for-indro-sen-in-cnwl.html

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2017/06/support-cnwl-strikes-to-defend-sacked.html

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2017/05/indro-sens-appeal-against-dismissal-to.html

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2017/02/cnwl-lecturers-threaten-action-to.html

College of North West London's Dudden Hill Campus to be sold off for housing & everything moved to Wembley Park

The College of North West London, now part of United Colleges after its merger with Westminster College, is getting involved in another property deal after selling off its Kilburn site some time ago LINK and one of its Wembley Park buildings to the Education Funding Agency for Michaela Free School.

The latest move is to sell the Willesden campus on Dudden Hill for housing development, vacate the remaining Wembley Park building for redevelopment, and move everything to what is currently the Network Housing building on Olympic Way.

Colleges are not now part of the local authority but have Corporation status.

The present Wembley Park building, together with the shopping precinct, McDonald's and the ex-TV studio, temporarily the Troubadour Theatre, together make a prime development site close to Wembley Park station.

Brent Council is proposing that it provide United Colleges with a bridging loan facility of £50million to  facilitate the process as UC have been unable to get a loan from other sources due to the period involved.

A report to the Cabinet LINK sets out the rather complex deals involved:

In order to consider the loan transaction being proposed this report now sets out the essential features of the overall transaction. In summary: 

 

•       United Colleges would swap the former CNWL site at Wembley with Quintain for the site currently occupied by Network Homes. This latter site would in turn be redeveloped to provide the long-term, and substantially enhanced educational facilities for United Colleges, and the former CNWL site for housing, in line with the existing masterplan for Wembley Park. 


•       The current Willesden site would be developed to provide new housing, including affordable housing. This would happen in stages, so that there would be continuity of educational provision during the development. 


•       United Colleges would use the proceeds from the sale of their Willesden site to fund the development of what is currently the Network Homes site. Since this will, be before the whole of Willesden is sold, United Colleges need the bridging finance set out in this report.

•       On agreement of the terms between United Colleges and Quintain the development would commence, with the approximate expectation that the permanent facilities in Wembley Park (the current Network Homes site) would open in July 2023 and the two stages of the Willesden site would complete in July 2020 and July 2023. The former CNWL site in Wembley Park would be developed by Quintain by after it is vacated by United Colleges in July 2023. 


•       In order for United Colleges to be able to sign their contracts ‘and any other agreements with Quintain they would need to be sure that they had access to a loan facility to enable them to fulfil their construction contract (i.e. to develop the college facilities at Wembley Park). They therefore require reasonable certainty from a lender that these funds will be available. This report proposes that the Council provide such a facility 


The report admits that there are risks involved and nothing can be done before thorough due diligence is done and planning permission will be involved, although one can be for forgiven for thinking that such permission is a foregone conclusion.

According to the council the risks are outweighed by the benefits of building 1,500 new homes at Dudden Hill (the report actually says Willesden Green but we can't expect local geography to be planners' strong point) with a further 250 at Wembley Park, the enhancement to the Wembley Park area through a state of the art further education establishment improving the mix of development, an improvement in the actual education offer to local young people and the provision of employment opportunities.

One factor not mentioned in the report is that this further centralises facilities on Wembley Park with Kilburn and Willesden losing out in terms of neighbourhood further education facilities.  The suggestion of a former Brent Council Chief Executive that the London Borough of Brent should be renamed the London Borough of Wembley appears to be coming close to reality - although I personally favour the London Borough of Quintain!

A pertinent question from an ex-CNWL lecturer: 'Is the college's primary role now that of a property developer?'