Loss of 'Copland Fields' mourned as Wembley Central population without access to gardens increases by thousands

Wembley Open Space (Copland Fields) as was

PROW 87 as was (broken line) and replacement (solid line)

Five years ago there were protests about what was called a 'land grab' of a Wembley open space popularly known as Copland Fields.  When Ark Elvin took over Copland High School the government found money for a brand new school for the academy chain. Copland had been campaigning for years for a new building because the school was in such bad condition.  There had been plans for a 'Copland Village' development at the time to pay for a new build but the plans never came to fruition.

Muhammed Butt,  leader of Brent Council, then a governor at Ark Elvin who have been in favour of the academisation of Copland, strongly backed Ark's  plans but found himself in conflict with local residents, who valued the access to green space in a heavily built up area.

The plans were approved and Ark Elvin got its new building and extended its footprint, while Elsley Primary doubled its size with an additional new building, and both they and St Joseph's enclosed part of the space that they'd had access to by covenant.  Residents were left with a redirected Public Right Of Way (PROW) which is a path lined on both sides by a high fence and warning signs that this previous publicly used space was now 'Private Land.'

Local residents had used routes across this space to access the schools and Alperton via the bridge across the railway. A map of these routes was submitted at the time.

Those routes are now closed except for the main footpath. At the time local  resident Chetan Patel told Annabel Bates, the headteacher of Ark Elvin:

With respect to ARK's planning application (ref 15/3161) for the school redevelopment, I believe your proposal breaches the community's 'Public Right Of Way' onto the existing fields in accordance to Highways Act 1980 Section 130A.

The community has had access to the existing park without any objections from ARK or from the previous management of Copland Community School for many decades now. The law assumes that if the public uses a path without interference for some period of time – set by statute at 20 years - then the owner (ARK) had intended to dedicate it as a right of way.

ARK's proposed development of the school can only be described as 'land-grab' with no consideration for the community users and the Law.

You may well ask, why is this coming up again 5 years later/ The answer is that since then we have had major housing developments in Wembley Central: Elizabeth House, Brent House and the Twin Towers with more to come alongside the Chiltern line and at Ujima House and on the former Copland site fronting the High Road.  Planners admit most are deficient in amenity space but point to the accessibility of  King Edward VII Park in Park Lane.

During lockdown residents have told Wembley Matters that King Eddies is now overcrowded because of the many new residents who have no gardens in which to exercise and enjoy fresh air. Longer term residents are now referring back to that loss of Copland Fields and reflecting on the access they used to have:

One resident told Wembley Matters:

Since moving to Wembley in the mid 1980s, Coplands Fields as it was known, was open to the public,  myself and friends always exercised our dogs freely on this open space,  flew Kites, off road remote control cars, played ball games, Rounders etc.  It was a well used space by Asian cricketers (on designated hard surface - which I think no longer exists)  Numerous local Football groups (Somali and Romanian) played regularly at weekends and during the week early evenings.  Wembley Youth Club had unlimited access.  A Volleyball Group set up their own nets in the far corner near Elsley Primary.   

One of the best things about this open space  was it allowed you to fly kites, remote control planes and helicopters as it has no trees in the middle, unlike King Eddies which does have obstructions such as trees.   The public footpath and fields provided a quick short cut from Alperton to High Road, It was consistently used by parents from Wembley Central and Alperton area walking their children to schools St Josephs RC School, Elsley and Oakington Manor.  All the people living in Tokynton Ward are completely cut off from using this space.

No CCTV evident on footpath which is like a dog's hind leg and nowhere to run if attacked.

St Josephs regularly (or did prior to Covid) use the space, Ark Elvin does not as it has its MUGA's designed in with artificial grass, and does not have access via a gate or anything unlike St Josephs and Elsley.

The Wetlands you refer to is within the boundaries of the Ark Elvin Academy.  I seem to remember discussing this with a Biology Teacher who at the time said it was going to be utilised by the students to grow stuff and create a bio-diverse environment for nature and study. 

I might add it makes a mockery of Brents Green Park and Open Space document, which clearly states that Wembley Central is massively deficient in green space, considering in the last few years more than 1800 new flats have been built with yet more to come.  In 2011 census the pop of Wembley Central was approximately 15,000 I think we are now in excess of 25,000 and when all these flats are let we will be double in less than 10 years.  The Brent House development in the report clearly states its deficient by 20% in its amenity space with respect to the number of residents it will hold.

It is hard to convey the nature of this enclosure of land in words so I have made this short video of the path of the redirected public right of way:



Four years ago Brent Council wrote to a resident to say what needed to be done to claim a right to access to the other footpaths across the Copland Fields as shown on the map above LINK.

The evidence sheet that needs to be submitted is HERE and Guidance from the Ramblers Association HERE.

It is late in the day but if nearby residents think it is worth the effort then good luck to them.

'Go and play on the roof my dear, but please don't breathe' - new primary school for Wembley

 You do wonder sometimes...

A planning application has been lodged to build a three form entry primary school in the York House car park fronting the busy Empire Way main road which connects Wembley Central and Wembley Park.  The artist's impression of course shows very few cars.

The school, which when full would have 630 children plus nursery, is the Ark Somerville and would be funded directly by the government with no oversight from Brent Council. It would have rooftop play space.

It is close to Elsley Primary School which has recently doubled in size from two forms of entry (240 children) to four forms (840), round the corner is Ark Elvin Academy and along the road at Wembley Park the all through Ark Academy (3-19 years), Michaela Academy and the Lycee.

That's an awful lot of child journeys by bus and car. It will of course be argued that children will walk from the new build Quintain developments but these are not exactly family-friendly developments. Theye are likely to come from further away.

Just imagine parents dropping children off on this busy road!

Elsley Primary has not filled up and there is a danger that Ark Somerville could cream off pupils from Elsley and other nearby primary schools.  After years of rising school rolls some Brent primaries are now experiencing reduced waiting lists and even falling pupil numbers in the wake of Brexit and movement of housing capped families out of London.

 The application is HERE. A date has not yet been fixed for it to go to Planning Committee

Cabinet approves expansion of Uxendon Manor and Elsley Primary Schools

I was unable to attend the Brent Cabinet Meeting this afternoon as I was travellig back from a long weekend in Bristol. This is the Brent Council website statement on the decisions taken (unfortunately they got the spelling of Elsley wrong!):

Plans to expand two schools in Brent were given the green light at a meeting of Brent Council's cabinet this afternoon (24 August 2015).

Uxendon Manor and Elsey primary schools will be expanded to accept an additional two forms. Uxendon Manor will expand from September 2015 whilst Elsey will begin accepting additional places from September 2016.

The Cabinet also agreed to buy 35 new homes using around £2million of income generated from the Government's Right to Buy scheme. It was decided that the council should seek a partner to build 200 new, affordable homes with the remaining money generated from the scheme.

Councillor Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, said: "We have today taken some key decisions in-line with our borough plan priorities which are based on what local people told us matter most to them.

"We have approved the expansion of two local schools to meet the increased demand for primary school places.

"We have approved the purchase of 35 new homes and we will build around 200 new homes to ensure local people have somewhere affordable to live."

Too much concealed in Copland plans to make a judgement

The Brent Cabinet on August 26th will receive an update on plans for a new school on the Copland site following its takeover by Ark Academies.  Frustratingly, many of the references in the report to detail in appendices are unavailable due to the following statement:

Note for publication ('below the line')
Appendices 2 (EFA option plan), 3 (Brent option plan) and 4, 4A and 4B (commercial matters) are Not for Publication.

The EFA Option (Appendix 2) is the plan for a new school from the Education Funding Agency and Appendix 3 is Brent Council's own plan.

The fact that they are confidential means that backbench Labour and opposition councillors are unable to compare the plans and reach an informed view, and the same goes for local residents, the local press and this blogger.

The report states that a new school could be provided within the current school's footprint but claims, 'this could result in a sub-optimal solution and will entail considerable disruption to the learning environment during the two year construction period'.

It adds, 'The EFA's objectives have firmly focused solely on delivering a new school at minimal development costs, whereas Brent officers have been keen to ensure delivery of the Wembley Area Action Plan and a sustainable locally well integrated new school design with connectivity to the local community'.

Officers claim that the EFA design option (which we are not allowed to see) is inferior to the Brent Council option (which we are not allowed to see) because it ignores the 'financial benefits of an improved regeneration area'.

The Brent design would mean loss of playing field space which would require the approval of the Secretary of State and relocating a public right of way that currently dissects the school playing fields.

The report says that the EFA option would result in a reduction of redevelopment/regeneration land at the High Road and claims that the Brent option would give the benefit of a..

...new and expanded (additional one form of entry) secondary school and an expanded primary school (Elsley will double in size to 4 form entry) along with new homes (including affordable housing) retail, commercial and community floor space in line with the ambitions of the Wembley area Action Plan. The transactions may generate a capital receipt that will help offset the costs of this proposals as outline in appendix 4 (which we are not allowed to see), some of which will be incurred irrespective of whether the freehold transfer proceeds or not.

A new school building is certainly required at Copland, and has been for at least a decade,  and so of course is affordable housing. However the link with commercial development, office and retail along the High Road, leaves me a little uneasy. Is the commercial tail wagging the educational dog?


Full report on Cabinet Agenda HERE

Copland land deal for rebuild and academisation

Ariel view of site. Copland is at the top on the High Road, St Josephs top right at end of  Chatsworth/Waverley and Elsley bottom right at end of Tokyngton

The Brent Executive on April 22nd LINK will discuss a land deal for the Copland Community School site and adjacent lands. Copland is due to become the Ark Elvin academy on September 1st 2014. Government money has been made available for a rebuild which also involves adding another form of entry.   Copland has suffered from an inadequate building for a long time and this has been mentioned in its Ofsted reports.

The previous headteacher Sir Alan Davies and the governing body had plans for redevelopment approved in 2006 which included the 'Copland Village' but these plans were never realised.  The land involved is currently in multi-ownership:

The Council intends to hand the land over to Ark on a 125 year lease and at the same time secure land for the necessary playspace and land for the expansion of Elsley Primary school which will double in size from two forms of entry to four. Current consultation on Elsley's expansion has been halted until the land issue is resolved.

The report states:

Copand Community School is a foundation school and therefore the land and buildings are mainly in the ownership of the school itself, the responsibility for which is vested in the Interim Executive Boards. The IEB has expressed agreement to transfer the freehold of the site which it currently owns to the Council instead, in order for the Council to rationalise the ownership and use of the site overall, ensuring an optimum footprint for the school. The ARK would under these proposals be granted a 125 year lease on the final school site.

 As part of these transactions, the Council would secure enough land from the overall site to facilitate the proposed expansion of Elsley Primary School.

On completion of the freehold transfer the Council will grant the ARK an interim lease agreement to allow occupation of the existing school building until the new building is completed. Following this a 125 year lease arrangement will be granted. The transfer from the IEB needs to happen before the conversion to Academy Status, because the IEB will cease to exist on the conversion date, proposed for 1st September.

The land transaction proposals in the report are dependent on the Secretary of State for Education agreeing to disposal of education land, and specific consent surrounding disposal of school playing fields, this is an absolutely critical point referred to further in section 6 below and the confidential appendix 1.

Section 6 outlines how school playing field disposal has to be approved by the Secretary of State. Because most of the appendices have been declared confidential it is not easy to see just how much of the playing fields will be needed for the new build. There will have to be a statutory  consultation:

Therefore, prior to any disposal or change of use of school land the relevant statutory process will need to be followed. The relevant statutory process that applies will depend upon who owns the said land (for example a governing body of a school, or local authority), and whether the land is playing field land, or non-playing field land. Each process for consent and/or notification has its own specific requirements and complexities.

The scheme would involve commercial development and housing on the present Wembley High road site of the school realising the Wembley Plan's vision of a shopping street from Wembley Central Station to the London Designer Outlet close to Wembley Stadium. The amount of housing and the proportion of it that will be affordable is not stated in the public documentation.

The report says that the new school building  will be behind the present one as envisaged in the plans approved in 2006. (Below) Note the East-West orientation of this plan: