AFFINITY WORKING ON BURST WATER MAIN IN THE MALL

 

UPDATE AT 21.10 SATURDAY

What we’re doing

Our repair team have stayed on The Mall and are continuing to repair the burst water main. As soon as we know how much longer this will take, we’ll let you know.

We’re really sorry for the disruption. We’re working hard to get your water flowing again soon.

Due to the traffic conditions, we’ve temporarily closed the road so our team can work safely. We’re really sorry if this causes any disruption to your journeys.

Once it is safe to do so, the road will be back open for you. We’re working hard to get things back to normal for you, but we really appreciate your patience at this time.

What you can do

Until we’ve sorted this, please avoid using your:

• Washing machine
• Dishwasher
• Electrical appliances that use water

If you still have water, we recommend you put some in your kettle or fridge for drinking in case your water needs switching off for the repair.

We’re really sorry about this, we’re working to get your water back to normal as soon as possible.

We added this message at 21:10 and we'll update it again after 08:00 on Sunday 25th August 2024

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Hundreds take a stand for community solidarity in North Harrow

 

It was difficult to determine how genuine the threat was to an immigration advice centre in North Harrow but nevertheless 400-500 people turned up yesterday in a show of unity. 

Their message was that the rioters who caused mayhem last weekend were not welcome in Harrow and that the community rejected racism and Islamophobia.

Apparently Keir Starmer had told Labour councillors not to attend such demonstrations and there were none from Harrow present. Some Brent Labour councillors did attend and Cllr Ihtesham Afzal (Wembley Hill ward) made a passionate speech to the crowd.

 

Attendees and speakers were from many faiths and ethnic backgrounds representing Harrow and Brent's  diverse population.

In the event the right-wingers did not turn up. Similar events were held across the country with local people turning out in numbers that demonstrated popular resistance to attempts to divide and threaten communities.

Community Unity this evening in Harrow join at 7pm North Harrow Business Centre

 

The Harrow community will come together tonight at 7pm outside the Business Centre in North Harrow, 429-433 Pinner Road, that also houses the community library.

This follows reports that far-right supporters have targeted an  immigration advice office at that address. The organisers want a show of strength to demonstrate to the far right that their racism and Islamophobia is not welcome in Harrow.

Even if the far right does not turn up the action the action will show the community solidarity with those most likely to be theatened by the far right.

Harrow Police issued the statement below yesterday:

 

 

Brent and Harrow GLA Election 2024 COMPREHENSIVE RESULTS

Source: London Elects

JUST 3 WEEKS TO GO: Vital Brent Council consultation on transport to school for children with special needs and disabilites

 

 

Brent Council is asking families with children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) for their views on proposals to update the Council’s Travel Assistance Policy. LINK

 

The consultation is open for another 3 weeks. There have been only 11 responses online so far.

 

The Home to School Travel Assistance policy provides support to help children and young people to travel to school when they might otherwise be prevented by disability or special need. 

 

The service currently supports approximately 1,300 children and young people in Brent. The council must provide travel assistance to children aged between five and 16 who meet the criteria set by the Department for Education. 

 

Parents have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the service that is shared with Harrow, over issues such as long journey times and difficulty in accessing help and called for a review. LINK The draft policy makes no bones about the fact that reducing the cost of the service to the Council is a significant part of the review:

 

Budgetary considerations: Free travel to school is a valuable service for many families, but budget pressures mean the Council often has to make difficult decisions about how to make the best use of the limited resources.

 

Face to face and online sessions are taking place with parents and carers to discuss the experiences and needs of local families, and in particular those with children with SEND.

 

Councillor Gwen Grahl, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools said: 

 

Every child and young person is entitled to education and no one should be prevented from accessing it because they cannot travel to school. We want all of our children and young people in Brent to have the best start in life. It’s really important that people feed into this consultation so that our Home to School Travel policy enables those who need it the right support to travel to one of our great schools.

 

The Council says the proposed changes to the policy also reflect the ambitions of the Brent SEND Strategy for 2021-2025, which focuses on the council’s ethos to allow children and young people in Brent to lead happy fulfilled lives. The consultation is open until Sunday 14 April. Its findings will help shape the final policy that will be approved by the Cabinet later this year. Those interested can read the draft policy and have their say online, on the council’s consultation page

 

There is an emphasis on children travelling more independently rather than relying on the school transport service. However, this will often mean parents escorting their children.

 

EXTRACTS FROM THE DRAFT POLICY

 

The Education Act 1996 and this policy use the phrase ‘travel assistance’ because the form this takes will vary and often does not involve the Council providing any transport at all.  The Council will determine what is appropriate in each case, taking account of its legal obligations, the needs of the applicant, safety considerations, the best use of the Council’s resources, any expressed preference and any other relevant matter.  In order to achieve as much independence and as much active travel as possible, when reviewing travel assistance  applications, we look at the potential options in the following order:

 

 

    Travel pass – This is a free pass in the form of an Oyster Card that is available for use on public transport such as buses and is the most common form of travel assistance provided. Brent Council considers that this will be suitable for the majority of children and young people up to the age of 16.

 

     Personal Travel Budget – This is a sum of money provided to parents/carers/guardians of children who are assessed as eligible for travel assistance. This allows parents/carers/guardians to arrange personalised, flexible travel arrangements that suit the needs of their child and family.

 

The sum provided is based on the safe walking distance between home and school and the number of days per week the child or young person is scheduled to attend school or college.

 

Parents/Carers/Guardians can use a PTB in any way they deem necessary to ensure their child/young person attends school regularly and arrives and leaves on time. Parents will not need to provide any evidence for how the money is spent. PTBs will not affect any of the other benefits the family already receives.

 

If attendance falls, Brent Council will contact the parent/carer/guardian and review whether the PTB is still the best mode of travel assistance. As a result of the review, the travel assistance offered may change to a more suitable mode or PTBs reduced or withdrawn, depending on consultation with the school and family.

 

The parent/carer or adult individual then assumes full responsibility for the travel arrangements and getting the child or themselves to their place of education on time and achieving good attendance. It is anticipated that the use of personal travel budgets can meet most individual needs and the Council encourages their use wherever appropriate. The provision of travel budgets can be offered in a number of ways such as mileage allowance.

 

Provision of a Travel Buddy – A travel buddy may be provided to accompany a child, young person or adult to their place of education whether using public transport or on Council provided transport. A travel buddy will only be provided where they are necessary for the safe operation of vehicles and/or the care of children and young people and where parents or carers are not reasonably able to accompany them

 

 

 

    Transport vehicles – If we have considered and ruled out all other options, we may provide a suitable vehicle, specifically adapted as necessary, to transport the child or young person. Vehicles and drivers are provided by a suitably qualified, registered, commercial provider working to contractual standards set by the Council. 

 

In general, vehicles are routed to pick up a number of children from different locations who attend a particular school. Therefore, journeys can be relatively long, and the child or young person will spend more time in the vehicle than with other forms of travel assistance.

 

Each route will be planned on the basis of the start and finish times of the place of education and the shortest possible route for all passengers on a particular vehicle.  Passengers will be picked up and dropped off at a convenient location, within a reasonable distance from their home, in many cases from recognised bus stops. A home pick up and drop off will only be made where it is deemed essential due to the individual’s significant needs.

 

If your child is accessing a collection point, you will be responsible for ensuring that your child gets safely to and from the collection point at the appropriate time. If your child’s travel assistance offer requires them to walk to a collection point, then it is expected that an adult will accompany them where necessary. You will also be responsible for your child when they are waiting for transport and when they leave the transport at the end of the day.

 

In the event of an emergency, late running of the service, or an adult not being present at a collection point, children will be taken to an agreed safe point for collection.

 

§  Other – The Council may provide any other form of travel assistance which is considered suitable and will consider any suggestions from applicants about any particular type of travel assistance.

 

There is an online consultation session tonight from 7pm until 8.30pm:

 EVENTBRITE BOOKING

 

Other sessions (note the St Raph's event is on Tuesday 26th March - Brent Council omitted the date):

 

Session 6 Booking

Session 7 Booking

Session 8 Booking

Brent Council cite 'budgetary constraints' on providing a quality service after hearing petition on problems with the school transport service for children with special needs and disabilities

A presentation was made at Monday's Cabinet  regarding problems with school transport for Special Educations Needs children and those with a disability (SEND.  It is a joint service with Harrow Council who have the lead role.

Wembley Matters reported on the issues that had been raised by parents and carers at a Brent Fiightback meeting HERE

 

THE PETITION PRESENTATION

• Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak today. My name is Zaynab Alfadhl and I am a parent of a child with special educational needs attending a special school in Brent and residing in the borough.

• I raised this petition to plea that councillors listen to the voice of the most vulnerable; our children and young people with SEND and their families who represent their voice.

• I have spent approximately 4 years battling with Brent Council regarding the transport service not meeting my own child’s needs, and exacerbating my child’s SEND needs.

• Like many other families, I am a working parent with another child to take to and from school. It is not possible for me to take my SEND child to and from school and I heavily rely on this council service.

• In multiple complaints over the years, Brent council have failed to consider the wellbeing and their duty of care of my child in their decision making. Examples include my child being strapped in a harness which worsened his difficulties, against my wishes where I have been told ‘if I do not agree to a harness then the council will no longer be able to transport my child to and from school’. I have felt I was given no choice as I would have to consider leaving my job to take my child to and from school.

• Not at any point has the council looked at the number of children on the routes and the journey times being too long as a contributor to the distress he has been facing on the journey to and from school.

• Health professionals have been ignored including CAMHS recommendations for a shorter journey time and safeguarding concerns raised. This is a continuous concern raised by other parents.

• I have made complaint after complaint and I have not been listened too. The transport staff are rude, unsympathetic, bringing their personal lives into conversations, and refusing/resisting to give emergency telephone numbers for after hours when children are still not home. It left me no choice but to start a petition in the hope that the council will now act on this.

• Having recently joined parent forums it has come to my attention that I am not alone in this, and that many other families in the borough are experiencing the same problem with the journey times being too long, with too many children on route.

• Due to lack of specialist SEND provision in Brent many children have to travel outside the borough to school, or across the borough as there is little specialist provision in the North of the borough.

• Many SEND Children are not able to attend their most local mainstream primary or secondary school due to their complex special educational needs and are being forced to sit on buses in immense traffic conditions while being transported to and from school. Families have told me that this can range from 2-3 hours per journey, each day.

• The council state that the increase in travel times is due to the traffic and roadworks and have disregarded that there are too many children on the bus routes which is a significant contributor to travel times.

• The maximum journey time for a child of primary school age should be 45 minutes each way, and 75 minutes each way for a child of secondary school age. The council is no where near meeting this requirement.

• Brent buses have increased the number of children on buses to 12 on some routes in a ploy to save money at the expense of these vulnerable children.

• Our children are often not attending school on time and missing essential statutory education and not coming home at a reasonable time and missing essential family time. They are spending more time on the road than in school which is totally unacceptable.

• Our children’s SEND needs are being impacted by these long journeys with significant traffic delays and roadworks which is heightening their anxieties and causing immense distress both in school and at home.

• These SEND children are in need of routine, safety and predictability and are left anxious and upset while parents also wait anxiously for the service that they rely on.

• Children are not arriving to school in a state where they are ready to learn as they have already had a bad start to the day, which makes them dysregulated. My son is also an example of this. This would therefore result in behaviour difficulties, dysregulation and he certainly is not in state ready to learn.

• Another example is my son would arrive home some days between 6pm- 6.30pm. School finishes at 3pm. My son on occasions has soiled and wet himself on this long route and would come home extremely distressed as a result of being stuck on transport for 3 hours on the way home. This is one example of many that parents have too shared similar experiences.

• We urge the council to review the distress this is causing vulnerable young people and their families, and place some extra buses with less children on each route to reduce the journey times and conditions that the most vulnerable in Brent are experiencing.
  

 

BRENT COUNCIL'S RESPONSE

As a council we take the wellbeing of our children with special educational needs very seriously and are conscious of our obligations to provide suitable travel arrangements to help eligible children get to school.

 

All routes are planned by the Brent and Harrow Transport Hub using specialist software and local knowledge to arrive at school on time, no matter how many children are in the vehicle used.

 

The service uses both directly owned and operated buses, and vehicles provided by a robust group of approved contractors to ensure there is always enough capacity available to meet our obligations to provide suitable travel arrangements within the budgets available. For example, at present our directly operated routes currently run on average at two-thirds of vehicle capacity to reduce journey times.

There are however factors outside of our control that can cause journey times to be longer than planned, such as unscheduled roadworks and children not being ready to board the vehicle on time.

 

As every route, and the children on it, are unique, there can be teething issues when a new route is set up despite the best efforts of route planners, drivers, and passenger assistants. The performance of any new routes is therefore closely monitored and where required adjustments are made.

 

While we appreciate that the number of pick-ups on a route does influence the total journey time, we do have to be conscious of our responsibilities to use taxpayers’ money wisely and run efficient services within budgetary constraints. While this can be a difficult balance to get right, ensuring a good quality service is delivered for children and young people within reasonable journey times will always be our top priority.

 

Speaking to parents about the issue  it became clear that some were concerned that their children's human rights were not being recognised. IPSEA who offer independent advice to parents with SEND children wrote about the importance of parents being able to challenge local authorities over SEND provision last year. HERE

Parents & carers give voice to problems over SEND transport that leave them and their children anxious

• In June 2023 the Government published new School Transport Guidance.
  

• In July 2023 Brent Council Cabinet agreed a three year extension of the joint arrangement with Harrow Council for the provision of a shared transport service for children with Special Educations Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The report to Cabinet said the joint scheme had saved the councils £250,000. LINK
  

• In September 2023 the Local Government Ombudsman found against Brent Council in a case about problems with school transport encountered by a Brent SEND pupil.
  

• Local councils are facing huge deficits and part of that budget crisis is due to excalating numbers of pupils requiring school transport and increased costs of that transport. There is pressure to reduce spending in the area.
  

• Brent Council's Special Needs Block is in deficit making it harder for parents to get an Education, Health and Care Plan for their child/ren and the slow process means many schools have to provide addition help without any addtional budget. If an ECHP is eventually granted the budget cannot be back-dated.

• Due to lack of specialist SEND provision in Brent many children have to travel outside the borough to school.

All these factors formed the background to a recent meeting of Brent Fights Back! attended by parents and carers of SEND pupil users of the shared transport service.  

The Agreement approved by Cabinet includes many performance indicators to be measured. They begin on page 30 LINK and these are the top three:

The Ombusman case was about school transport reliability:

1. Mrs X complained about the transport provided for her disabled child to get to and from school. She said the transport was often late without any communication or updates and staff on the transport lacked the skills and training to support young people with Special Education Needs. As a result, Mrs X says her child was often late to school and arrived distressed.
2. Mrs X also complained that the Council failed to complete the actions it committed to in response to her complaint. She had to go to avoidable time and trouble pursuing this.

The Ombudsman found LINK:

  Summary: The Council accepted fault when it investigated Mrs X’s complaint about school transport for her Disabled child. However, the Council’s failure to complete the actions agreed in its complaint response was further fault which caused Mrs X injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise, take the action it agreed to, make a payment to Mrs X and improve its services for the future.

More than a month later it was clear from the meeting with parents and carers that reliability was still an issue. Late collection and late delivery left vulnerable pupils, who are in need of routine, safety and predictability, upset and parents waiting anxiously for the service.

Long routes were blamed along with more pupils (so more drops) per vehicle  and the many roadworks causing traffic delays in the borough.  

One of the main calls was for a tracking app that could let parents know where the vehcile was on its journey.  The service needs to recognise that parents have a duty to ensure their child is safe and an app would help with this. There were complaints about late information about transport arrangements at the start of term.  One parent reported that it had taken two weeks for transport to be arranged for a new school so the child had to stay at home.

In terms of comparable size and scale of the transport services provided by Harrow on behalf of Brent, there are currently 92 in-house operated routes and 223 taxi routes compared to 74 in-house operated routes and 123 taxi routes for transporting clients in Harrow. (Cabinet Report)

In addition to minibuses some children are transported by taxi and there were concerns that frequent changes of escorts meant that children were not travelling with people they knew and who understood their needs. One disturbing example was a child who was made to get out of the road side of a vehicle putting them at risk.

A pick-up arranged for 7.20am could be made at 8.10 or 8.20am, or 6.55am. One child had more than 3 hours of travel a day, picked up at 7.04am and back home at 6.30pm. Another child was only 20 minutes from their school but picked up at 7.45am.

Parents wanted more training for escorts to ensure they understood the needs of the child and importance of safety and also training for when children made the transition to the use of public transport.

A driver said that staff take pride in the buses and try to clean them twice a week but some vehicle are reaching the end of their lives. Some routes are long but drivers have no control over that. Buses do run slightly late but there are real traffic issues and 20mph limits. The minimum number of children has been raised to 10-12 and one driver and one escort is not enough. There should be more transport tailored to individual needs.

The website Special Needs Jungle reminds Local Authorities:

• They must consider each transport application on its own merits and should not be rigidly sticking to their policies.
• They have duties under the Equality Act 2010, including the duty not to discriminate on the basis of disability.
• Children with SEND or who have mobility difficulties may be eligible for transport even if they live within statutory walking distances, and do not have to have an EHCP.  In our experience, it still seems to surprise some LAs that children with SEND living within walking distance of their school are eligible for transport.
• Provision of transport costs must cover both return journeys unless it is inappropriate, e.g. if the parent works near the school. This demolishes a favourite tactic of some councils, that an agreement is to pay for transport only for those legs of the school journey when the child is actually in the vehicle.
• Means, including disability benefits, are not to be taken into account.
• LAs must give as much notice of changes to transport arrangements as possible, given they’re frequently dealing with children who have difficulty with changes in routine. At this time of year, with the new term just started many parents still waiting for confirmation of transport details, so it may be worth reminding LAs of this.
• LAs must take reasonable steps to meet medical needs (e.g. anaphylactic shock, asthma, seizures) during journeys.
• Behavioural problems on transport are often the result of SEND, and transport can only be withdrawn as a last resort. LAs will still have to meet their education duties to the child concerned and cannot simply tell parents it’s their responsibility. Many LAs’ polices have in the past included a provision allowing them to withdraw transport due to poor behaviour. 
• LAs cannot assume parents will provide transport without their consent. It is unlawful to insist without consent to limiting transport provision to, for instance, a travel allowance or mileage for parents. LAs also need parental consent for arrangements for providing escorts, including expecting parents to act in that capacity.
• The guidance states that LAs may “consider it appropriate” to make arrangements for transport at times other than the beginning and end of the school day for children who cannot attend all day, such as for medical reasons. However, we suggest this is inadequate: there is nothing in the statute limiting the transport duty school hours.
• Local transport policies must be published on LA websites and in the SEND Local Offer. They should be easy to find, clear, and give information on how to apply for free transport, plus how to appeal.
  

Brent Council is aiming to reduce the amount of out-of-borough travel by increasing the amount of SEN provision in the borough with a 150 place school in London Road and 16+ provision at the Welsh Harp.The Manor School satellite at Newman Catholic College has been increased to 63 places.  Primary schools with falling pupil numbers are being encouraged to use the space freed up for additional special needs provision.  In July the Cabinet were told that the number of clients transported by Harrow on behalf of Brent was approximately 1,228 SEND children and 119 adults.

Brent Cabinet LINK did not consider going out to procurement for an alternative provider for the £43m over 3 years contract,

The estimated value of the proposed Inter Authoirty Agreement ( IAA) for the initial 3 year term is £43,000,000 and therefore it is classed as a High Value Contract for the purposes of the Council’s Contract Standing Orders. Contract Standing orders require that High Value Contracts are ordinarily procured via a tender process. However, Contract Standing Order 84(a) provides that subject to compliance with procurement legislation, Members may agree an exemption from the requirement to procure in accordance with Contract Standing Orders where there are “good operational and/or financial reasons”.

For the reasons detailed above, it is not considered that there is a breach of procurement legislation as Regulation 12(7) permits the joint collaborative partnership proposed between authorities. Furthermore, Officers consider that there are good operational and financial reasons for entering into the IAA with Harrow as set out in paragraph 3 of this report.

Ominously the report notes:

The significant financial pressures relating to this operation and the demand for the service will be addressed through the separate service transformation review that is underway.

Meanwhile parents are left grappling with a transport service that to many of them doesn't see as fit for purpose in addition to their struggles to get their children an EHCP and a suitabler school placement.

Advice re school transport is available from SENTAS - Special Educational Needs Transport Advocacy Service HERE

At the Brent Fights Back! meeting parents and carers agreed that they needed a collective voice to overcome the isolation of just protesting as individuals and needed to make clear and specific demands over a communication system, more respectful treatment and shorter journeys. 

The first step is supporting a petition going to the Cabinet on Monday December 11th at 10am LINK:

 

 "Special Educational Needs and Disability School transport buses

We the undersigned petition the council to Review the current home to school travel assistance offer for eligible SEND families in Brent and to urgently provide more school buses to reduce the journey times for children on the current routes to and from school."


The ePetion was signed by 123 people, and the deadline has now passed for additional signatures.

Information:

Zaynab Alfadhi is scheduled to speak for 5 minutes regarding the petition.
 

Parent carers and supporters, will attend the Cabinet meeting to support Zaynab and the ongoing campaign to secure safe and appropriate SEND transport for all eligible children and young people in Brent.

If you are available, please attend the meeting.

It is essential to hold Brent Council accountable for their decision-making and future policies on school travel for compulsory-age children. Our collective advocacy for the safety and appropriate support of our children and young people is crucial so that they can fulfil their potential.

The meeting starts at 10 am so everyone needs to arrive and be seated before it starts.

*Meeting attendance
Monday 11th December 2023 at 10.00 am, Cabinet
Venue:   Conference Hall - Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ*

The meeting can also be viewed online via the below link.

https://brent.public-i.tv/core/portal/home

 

Public Meeting: CEASEFIRE NOW-SAVE GAZA 31st October, Harrow with Jeremy Corbyn

 

Thousands say ‘No to Tesco Towers’ in Harrow: Read the petition

 The proposed development (image from developers and only shows one tower)  and protesters

 

From No To Tesco Towers Campaign

 

More than 2,000 Harrow residents have signed a petition opposing the development of multiple tower blocks on the Tesco site on Station Road in central Harrow. 

 

 

 

The current Tesco store from Hindes Road (Credit: Google Streetview)

 

Greenmead Place would see 559 new flats across ten blocks up to 15-storeys high, 155 residential parking spaces, a 20% smaller Tesco store and a third less customer parking,

 

The tallest block is 15 storeys, one at 14 storeys, one at 13 storeys, one at twelve storeys, one at 11 storeys, two at seven storeys, one at six storeys and two at five storeys.

 

Local residents and residents associations have joined forces to protest the plans, launching a petition and website, nototescotowers.com. To date, more than 1,800 residents have signed online with hundreds more signing the paper petition.

 

 

Concerns include the scale of the development, a lack of truly affordable housing and the impact on local infrastructure, such as roads, public transport, schools and health services.
 

While housing association Notting Hill Genesis claims 32% will be “affordable housing”, two thirds will be shared ownership - increasingly criticised for its unaffordability -  and only 55 flats (9.8%) will be social housing. The vast majority - 380 flats - will be sold at market prices.    [Q&A on Shared Ownership]

 

At a recent Harrow Council meeting, the developers admitted that reducing the height of the towers would reduce the amount of affordable housing, including social housing.

 

Cllr Marilyn Ashton, responsible for Planning and Development, referred to residents’ anger over the proposal and urged the developers to take on board the meeting’s feedback.

 

One local resident posted on Facebook:

 

I live near the Kodak site. The original plans included a primary school and community centre. The reality is that those vital facilities do not exist on the developed site and the surrounding roads cannot cope with the increased weight of traffic.

 

The roads around the Tesco site were not built for such heavy usage so traffic chaos will be inevitable. There is no justification for this site other than profit for developers. We need affordable social housing. Not luxury flats only a few can afford. The system is very broken.

 

Pamela Fitzpatrick, Director of Harrow Law Centre, a charity providing free legal support, and a former Harrow councillor said: 

 

Housing is one of the biggest problems we see in Harrow. There’s enough housing in Harrow for everyone but it’s all largely unaffordable.

 

Housing associations no longer do what they were set up to do - provide low-cost, secure rented properties - so many people can’t even afford to live in housing association homes. The proposed Tesco site development appears to simply add to the problems and will do little to alleviate the housing crisis.

 

Tesco and Notting Hill Genesis are expected to submit a formal planning application to Harrow Council in early 2023.

 

THE PETITION WORDING  (SIGN HERE)

 

Residents Say No to Tesco Towers and Notting Hill Genesis Development in Harrow

This petition is to object to the proposal by Notting Hill Genesis and Tesco to turn the store on Station Road Harrow into a high-rise development called  Greenmead Place– Notting Hill Genesis ‘Tesco Towers’ including a 15 storey building.

We ask Harrow Council to consider why the community objects:

• The proposed development is overbearing and will dominate the surrounding homes of mainly two-storey houses and low-rise flats.
• The development design totally ignores the surrounding community.
• There are no infrastructure improvements, no additional GP surgeries, capacity at Northwick Park Hospital, improvement to public transport links, roads, water supply or sewage disposal.
• The increased congestion and pollution from high density housing on one of the busiest roads in Harrow, adds 155 cars to a road where two schools are within a few metres
• 20% reduction in the Tesco store size and 33% less parking spaces for Tesco customers yet further increasing congestion on the roads and less jobs for residents in a smaller store.
• NHG says ‘35%’ of the new accommodation will be ‘affordable’ but this includes shared ownership which is anything but affordable with prices in Harrow.

This development does not benefit the community and would be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the area.

We ask Harrow Council to not approve the application of this development.