LETTER: The loss (theft?) of Wembley Central's greens spaces and trees

 Dear Editor, 

Brent Council have long since chopped down the mature trees along the High Road,Wembley, and replaced with twiglets. 

 

The remaining tree at the corner of High Road and Cecil Avenue (Pic Google Streetview)

 

The only remaining large tree stands at the corner of High Road and Cecil Avenue it has a Tree Preservation Order on it, and at present remains outside of the hoarding in Public Realm, for how long remains to be seen, as I recall seeing some documents some years ago from Planning that it was intended for removal as it will interfere with the Copland site development, despite numerous objections. 

 

All the beautiful trees that stood outside Brent House were removed, and all the trees on Coplands School and Fields were removed with no consideration for the wildlife.

 

The Copland site top left of centre. Copland fields now enclosed is the large green space. Public access is limited to the alley way between fences seen as grey line.

 

Brent Council care nothing about the environment. Coplands Fields (approx 20+ acres) to the rear of Ark Elvin School was Public Land and used by locals for over 70 years. Brent thought nothing of holding a public consultation before disposing of it and leasing it to Ark Elvin School, who do not use it at all, only St Josephs RC School and Elsley Primary use it under  ancient covenants. 

 

It is now surrounded by 3 metre high fences and locked gates, the grass is mowed regularly and the area kept very clean, however it cannot be accessed by local residents, not by anyone, least of all the residents of the 115 Flats in Elizabeth House, nor 250 flats at Wembley Place (former Brent House) and I doubt any of the 304 flats still to be built at Cecil Avenue, the old Copland School site which lies within a 150 metres of this once green Open Space. 

 

The eventual residents of those flats will probably have some reduced amenity space by way of a tiny balcony and a tiny bit of grass and they'll call it a Pocket Park or such like. Only 500 metres from Wembley Stadium the home of English Football, the kids round here are finding it increasingly difficult to find somewhere to kick a ball about, andwe wonder why 25% of Brent 10 year olds are considered obese!

 

Jaine Lunn

Editor's note. This was first received as a comment so with the writer's permission I edited it as a letter for a wider audience.

Wembley Place in the High Road - beyond a joke!

New developments and regeneration in Wembley Park, Alperton and South Kilburn get a lot of attention but Wembley High Road is also being steadily redeveloped.  In this guest blog a local  resident looks at some disturbing issues in a new development on the High Road.

 

Perhaps whilst everyone is banging on about parking etc let’s look at Wembley High Road. Wembley Place was built by Henley Homes  the very same contractor that closed the High Road for months having pumped 25 metres of concrete into the sewer when piling) now operated by Genesis Notting Hill.  I believe they are responsible for the social housing (45) flats above Sainsbury's and shared ownership above Costa Coffee.  Not sure who operates the remainder which is private, block is at the back overlooking Copland Fields.

 

Since complaining that the gates were never open to the service areas when everyone and their mother is parking in Ecclestone Place opposite  to facilitate their deliveries, it would now appear that said gate is now broken and hasn't been closed for months.  

 

 

This results in a theoretical "Car Free Development" where the  majority of residents who own cars are now freely parking along the service road.  I counted approximately 18 vehicles when I took the photographs for this article.  

 

 

When I saw people moving I asked if they were residents – the answer was,  “Yes, the gate doesn't work and it's easy to park here without any problem.”

 

 

I also noted that the disabled bays of which there are 20 were also nearly full, and have it on good authority from a resident of the private block which is above it that only about 4/5 have permits and it is rumoured some residents are using their relatives and friends to gain a space.  This area has now been reduced due to scaffolding, which brings me on to my next item.

 

Since shortly after completion in Easter of 2020 and the retail units being fitted out and leased to Costa and Sainsburys, scaffolding went up around the ground level of all the three blocks.  You will note it's under every section where there are greyish oblong bricks.  

 

Now from when it went up, well over 18 months ago, nobody has been seen working on it.  The only person I have spoken to is the guy that comes and puts up the permits and checks the security of it.  I asked the scaffolders as to what is happening and they informed me that these bricks/cladding has been installed incorrectly and there is fear that they may fall off and injure someone.  As the scaffolding is at low level there does not seem to be anyone in a rush to repair it/remove/remedy the situation.  

 

 

But the best joke is, outside Costa on the area where they have installed seating on the "Piazza" adjacent to where our "Water Feature" was supposed to be installed but never happened.  There is no scaffolding and scaffolders have not been told to erect there, so god help the fans and patrons of Costa who may be injured if one falls off!

 

You might also observe the Heras Fencing which has been there forever, along with the security gates to enter the development. None of this was shown in the artist’s impression of the development.

 

 

As for the play area, it is unusable for the kids as it's full of scaffolding and despite the fact it was 20% down on the recommended amenity space in the first place. Coplands Fields still remain locked off to everyone, despite being "public land". We were told it only required 10% of the space to build the new school but they have given St Josephs RC School and Elsley Primary some to expand to for forms of entry - the rest remains fenced off to the public.  

 

I really need Carolyn Downs to answer an FOI as to why this is so.  I have ear-ached Muhammed Butt and Krupa Sheth to no avail, and cannot get a sensible answer from either of them.............something is not right.

 

 

Who closed off a Wembley Public Right of Way?

 

Nearly two weeks ago I took the above photograph at the entrance to PROW (Public Right of Way) Number 87 on High Road Wembley. It goes between Elizabeth House and Wembley Place and around the former Copland Fields (now the grounds of Ark Elvin Academy) and joins footpaths to the south to Tokyngton Way (also a safe cycle route from close to Stonebridge Park Station)  and north to London Road and Lyon Park Avenue.

The footpath was the source of controversy as it had previously allowed Wembley residents to use the Copland Fields as open space but now has 6 ft fencing either side of the tarmacx path. An enclosure of former public land according to some campaigners.

Follow the right of way as it is now on video LINK.

Local resident Jaine Lunn got on to Brent Council when I contacted her about the blocking up. I said that I could see absolutely no work in progress and wondered what work could be taking place.

Yesterday Jaine received this somewhat surprising reply from Brent Highways Management:

 

Dear Jaine Lunn,

 

Thank you for bringing this to my attention, unfortunately we have found no records on our system of any contractor applying for a works permit or Temporary Traffic Order to close footpath PROW 87 leading from High Road to London Road, which is what should have been done legally.

 

However since we have no information regarding the closure or whom to contact, what we can do in the meantime is to get someone from our Enforcement Department to go to site and re-open the path to the public.

 

I will also suggest that the footpath in question is monitored for any unforeseen works activity, furthermore just in case whomever is responsible decides to return again.

 

You will be updated as soon as it gets done.

 

This was followed up by a further message this morning:

 IRC-16547-Q0N6D2 Closed Public Footpath between Elizabeth House and Wembley Place around Coplands Fields

 

Thank you for your enquiry regarding the closure of the above foot path.

 

I requested that our Public Rights of Way officer attend the location recorded as PROW 87 regarding your enquiry.

 

The foot path leading from  High Road to London Road was found to be closed at both ends with Heras Fencing. It has been closed for over 2 weeks without public notice, permit or Temporary Traffic Order and currently we have no idea who is responsible as there are no signage attached to the fencing.

 

As this is an unauthorised closure, we have passed this onto our Highways Enforcement Team to investigate further and take any action they deem as necessary.

 

Our urban public rights of way are as important as those jealously guarded by the Ramblers Association in more rural areas.  As we move towards prioritising walking and cycling as part of much needed reduction in car journeys, and for the sake of clean air and healthy exercise, we need to protect these routes which are often of ancient origin.  A map of of Brent's 16km of public rights of way is available here:

https://legacy.brent.gov.uk/gis-maps/prow-map/