Brent Citizens welcome Council leaders' offer to meet to resolve Living Wage issues that have arisen since May local elections

 

Cllr Butt responds to school students and other community members questioning his commitment to making Brent a Living Wage Borough (Photo: @AmandaRosePhoto )

After Monday's Living Wage action at Brent Civic Centre by Brent Citizen's, Muahhmed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, put out a tweet:

Today Brent Citizens replied:

Thank you Cllr Butt for attending our public action and offering to meet with us in January to review your administration’s commitments re: making Brent a Living Wage Borough! For the benefit of your followers, allow us to provide some context:

 

Accountability and transparency matter. We’re glad our collective action led to

Cllr Butt offering to meet and resolve the issues that arose since May. We look forward to working with him and Cllr Southwood to combat in-work poverty in Brent.

 

Finally, for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the Living Wage Places schemes - Living Wage Zones, Living Wage Boroughs, Living Wage Cities - we recommend this resource: https://t.co/PQ5k5DcfhK

 

 

 Brent Citizens held up posters reminding Cllr Butt and Cllr Southwood of their election pledges

 

 

Joining in the coversation Brent Renters added:

 

That's great community involvement, however, wage rises for a huge proportion of workers will mean nothing as without rent controls/freezes increased wages will just be eaten up by ever increasing rent levels - especially for private renters.

 

This is why it's so important for Brent's communities to organise on both fronts - for better wages and for good quality, affordable housing. We're fully behind you.

 

Council to extend consultations on Kilburn Square development over the summer

Cllr Southwood speaking on the development proposals for Watling Gardens, Windmill Court and Kilburn Square at this morning's Cabinet said that she was aware of Kilburn Square residents' concerns.  Some of these would be dealt with at the Planning Committee stage but she recognised that Covid restrictions had meant that the Council had not been able to engage with residents as much as they would lik,e so consultation would be extended over the summer. She emphasised that no final decisions would be made and she would come back to Cabinet when team had heard from 'more people, in greater depth.' She said that the main point of the agenda items was to put the necessary legal requirements in place.

 She said that they were working to improve the stability of the Tenant Management Organisation and finding ways to working towards a constructive environment in which the inevitable concerns could be addressed.

£80 spot fines for littering in Brent start on Monday

The 12 month experiment in the use of private contractor wardens to issue fixed penalty fines for littering in Brent will start on Monday.  The scheme came under scrutiny when first suggested earlier this year  LINK    LINK

This is the Council's official press release:

 Litter bugs beware, because as of Monday (13 June 2016), uniformed patrol officers will be on hand to issue £80 on-the-spot fines for waste offences in Brent.

Private security firm, Kingdom, have been chosen to run an innovative 12 month pilot to help keep Brent's streets clean and litter-free.

Dedicated patrol officers will be deployed to hot spot areas in the borough with the purpose of issuing Fixed Penalty Notices to anyone caught in the act of committing a waste offence, including littering, paan spitting and not cleaning up after their dogs.

This scheme will support the efforts of our existing Waste Enforcement Team, who work tirelessly to investigate littering and illegally dumped rubbish offences and prosecute offenders.

We have been working closely with Veolia, our waste and recycling contractor, and both residents and Councillors, to identify particular areas for enforcement activity, known for littering and dog fouling.

Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Brent Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment, said:

"The vast majority of residents here in Brent love where they live and take great care of our streets and parks. More and more residents are working with us to keep the borough clean by reporting illegally dumped rubbish via the Cleaner Brent app and organising their own clean up days. So it's really frustrating that there are still a minority of people whose actions are spoiling Brent for the rest of us.

"We're determined to take action against this anti-social behaviour. I hope that the possibility of getting a fine will make people think twice before dropping litter or allowing dogs to foul our pavements.

"We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone in Brent to get rid of their waste legally, to recycle more and take greater care and pride in the local area. This pilot scheme is part of our Love Where you Live campaign and sends a clear message that choosing to drop chewing gum or flicking a cigarette butt instead of disposing of it properly will have very real consequences."

Renu Kaul, Vice-Chairman of Sudbury Town Residents Association (STRA), an organisation committed to keeping Brent's streets clean and green, is full of praise for the initiative and said:

"I am over the moon to learn that Brent Council has appointed patrol officers to enforce action amongst litter offenders. I believe that this will make a dramatic difference in Sudbury and the rest of Brent.

"We need to continue to advocate a zero tolerance policy to littering, dog fouling and paan spitting and I really feel that the presence of enforcement officers will send out a positive message to the community that we need to take responsibility for disposing of litter and recycling properly."