Art Exhibition showcasing work by refugee artists, forced migrants and Brent Youth - Kensal Rise Library until November 18th

 

Refugee Week Event at Kensal Rise Library Sunday June 26th 4pm

 

BRENT SOS: Tribute to Brent library campaigners 10 years after Brent Council closed half our libraries

 In the guest post below Paul Lorber, volunteer at Barham Library reflects on the battle against the closure of six Brent libraries, at the time half of the total libraries in the borough.  There were debates within SOS Brent Libraries over the issue - some wanted to concentrate on maintaining the provision of a locally accessible, properly funded professionally staffed library while others, although agreeing with that as a long-term aim, wanted to safeguard the actual buildings and stocks with  short-term volunteer led provision. Taking the legal route was an option undertaken only after considerable debate and produced national headlines. LINK

Four of the six were 'saved' one way or another but Neasden, despite being in one of the poorest areas in the borough had no high profile backing it and is now a church. Tokyngton Library, across the River Brent from St Raphaels Estate, was sold off to an Islamic Association in which  Muhammed Butt  was alleged to have an interest. LINK On the other hand Kensal Rise campaigners had access to a long list of celebrity authors to back their campaign.

The closures led evetually to the demise of   Council Leader Ann John, and her replacement by Muhammed Butt.  It is interesting to revisit the Open Letter that former Brent Labour councillor Graham Durham wrote to him at the time. LINK 

Brent Council began to give some tentative assistance to the volunteer libraries but with no commitment to full reinstatement of the services, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with them in 2017.  LINK

 Recently Preston Community Library after some internal disagreements, has moved to temporary premises while a block of flats is being built on the  redeveloped site with space for a volunteer library on the ground floor.

 

Guest post by Paul Lorber, library volunteer, Friends of Barham Library

 

he second week of October marks 10 years since Labour Councillors in Brent put the final nail in and closed 6 public libraries in Brent. Libraries in Barham Park, Cricklewood, Kensal Rise, Neasden, Preston and Tokyngton were closed after a long battle to save them.

 

There was massive opposition to the closures proposed by the Labour run Brent Council with large petitions, protests and well attended meetings. Local Campaigners raised over £30,000 and took the Council to Court and it was only after they lost their case and the Judge denied them the right to appeal that Brent Council was finally able to close the 6 public libraries for ever.

 

What Labour Councillors did not expect was the determination of dedicated local people to fight on and establish their own Community Libraries to continue the provision of service to the public.

 

They decided to close 6 local libraries (half the total) to save around £1 million. Around 80% of that cost related to staff costs. Local people asked the Council to hand over the Library buildings so that volunteers could run the Libraries instead. This offer was refused despite the fact that 3 of the Library buildings were gifts to local people - Cricklewood and Kensal Rise from All Souls College Oxford and Barham Park from Titus Barham of Express Dairies.

 

For 10 years dozens of local volunteers have kept the dream of local libraries alive and 4 have survived - Barham Community Library has moved around between Barham Primary School, High Road Wembley and finally Barham Park itself and has been actively providing a service for 10 years. Preston Community Library eventually fought its way back into its own building and while Kensal Rise and Cricklewood Community Libraries had their old buildings sold to developers All Souls College, to their credit, insisted that space was made available to the reborn Community Libraries. Kensal Rise has been operating for some time and Cricklewood is hoping to open soon.

 

While the Community Libraries cannot compete for money and resources with Brent Council funded libraries they compensate for this with the dedication of their volunteers and their ingenuity in providing a wide range of local services. Barham Community Library has put on live theatre, Preston has a Film Club while Kensal Rise has put on Author and Comedy events. They all provide the usual book lending services and a wide range of activities for people of all ages.

 

Some of us have been around right from the outset. Over the past 10 years hundreds of people have helped and volunteered to keep the Community Libraries and the spirit of community service alive.

 

I still think that Labour councillors made a big mistake in closing the public libraries and refusing to work in partnership with local people. It is for Labour Councillors to look in the mirror and admit that they made a big mistake.

 

Today, while remembering the battles of 2010 and 2011, I just want to pay a Tribute to all those dozens of dedicated people who recognised the importance of local libraries and would not allow them to die. And of course the best way of recognising this achievement is by paying a visit and supporting your local Community Library in Barham Park, Cricklewood, Kensal Rise and Preston is by paying a visit and borrowing a book or two.

 

 

Brent campaigners at a national demonstration

 

EDITOR'S NOTE

I would be interested in other campaigners' comments on the campaign and what has eventually transpired. 

 

 

Momentum mounts event aimed at 'transforming' Brent - Saturday October 12th, Kensal Rise Library

Tickets: https://brent-transformed.eventbrite.com

Although I am a Green Party member I certainly agree that Brent needs to be 'transformed' although that has to be in the right direction (remember the Libraries Transformation project in which our Labour Council closed half our libraries!) Ironically the venue, Kensal Rise Library, is one of those the Council closed. It is run by volunteers after a long struggle to safeguard the building and raise funds.

The event has been mounted by Brent Momentum. This is the description of the event on the Eventbrite page. I will be contributing to a panel on the media and politics

An exciting day of interactive talks and workshops discussing the ideas and policies that can transform Brent for the many, not the few.

About this Event

Inspired by ‘The World Transformed’ festival held alongside the Labour Party conference since 2016, Brent Momentum is holding a day of discussion, debate, and organisation on practical ways to make Brent and the wider world more radically equal, just, democratic and sustainable.Brilliant panel members, including...

James Meadway (Former advisor to Shadow Chancellor)
Kerry-Anne Mendoza (The Canary)
Hilary Wainwright (Red Pepper)
Rebecca Newsom (Head of Politics, Greenpeace)
David Wearing (Author of Angloarabia)
Lara McNeil (Labour NEC Youth Rep)
Emma Dent Coad MP (Kensington)

A great set of topics, including...

Climate crisis and climate justice
Workers in the gig economy
Corbynism
Global Brent / Internationalist solidarity
Municipal Socialism
Media and politics
Youth politics
Inadequate, over-priced housing
Standing for office

Kensal Rise Library housing units start at £475,000 for a studio

In the same week that the Kensal Rise Library campaign announced a 'night of poetry and readings' by famous actors and writers to help raise £100,000 running costs for their community library in the Kensal Rise building, a studio flat in the building went on sale for £475.000.

The studio is one of two in the building along with one one-bedroomed duplex and 2 two bedroomed duplexes.

In pre-redevelopment attempts to sell the whole building, prices asked were between £1,150,000 and £1,120,00.

Along with the  Willesden Green Library redevelopment LINK it is clear that the 'Brent Libraries Transformation Strategy'  has been very lucrative for developers.

More information on the studio (bedsitter?)  HERE

This is the floor plan:

Foxtons do not mention the community library space in their property details.

Ark Elvin 'land grab' to be decided at Planning Committee on Thursday

From the planning application

The redevelopment of the Ark Elvin school site (formerly Copland) is coming up at Brent Planning Committee on Thursday October 22nd (7pm Brent Civic Centre) LINK

Residents have been up in arms about what they see as a 'land grab' of the school playing fields to which they have had access for decades. The issue has been covered on Wembley Matters in the past LINK and there is an update on the Kilburn Times website LINK

Local resident Chetan Patel is claiming that the plans are a breach of the 'Public Right of Way':

With respect to planning application (ref 13/3161) for the redevelopment of ARK Elvin Academy formally known as Copland, I believe the proposal breaches the community's 'Public Right Of Way' to access the park in accordance to Highways Act 1980 Section 130A.

The proposed re-development removes all general public access to the park. The community has had access to the entire park without any objections from ARK or from the previous management of Copland Community School for many decades now. The Planning Application removes this general public access to the park.

The school have claimed anyone entering the park are trespassers, and the public don't have authorised access to park. However, the law assumes that if the public use a path/park without interference for some period of time set by statute at 20 years, then the owner (London Borough of Brent) had intended to dedicate it as a right of way. Therefore it is a 'Public Right of Way' by way of 'easement by prescription'.

 Residents appealed to Muhammed Butt, Brent Council leader when he visited the site on Saturday. However Butt is both a member of the governing body of Ark Elvin (representing the local authority), which put the proposal forward and a member of the Cabinet who gave the nod to the plans.

The Planning Committee is statutorily independent of the Council and under Sarah Marquis' has shown some independence.

The issue does of course raise the much wider issue of the handing over of public assets to academy chains.

At the same meeting the planning application for the Kensal Rise Library building is also under consideration. LINK

Kensal Rise Library back on the market after failed auction

Kensal Rise Library is back on the market after failing to meet the £1.25m reserve price at auction last year LINK

More details emerge on Brent Council's investigation into Kensal Rise Library emails

Guest blog by Meg Howarth

New information has come to light about the data Brent Council handed to the police in the case of the Kensal Rise Library alleged fraudulent email affair. In a response to a query about the five ISP addresses used to post the fake comments in support of Andrew Gillick's original planning application, a senior council officer has revealed that 'the Council did provide the Police with all the IP addresses and details of how Council officers had linked these to Mr Gillick or his company via open source research'.

This is the full text of the response:

Dear Ms Howarth

I write further to your previous emails resting with your email dated 16 January 2015 and I apologise for the delay in responding to you.

In response to your query,  Council officers did not obtain the ISP subscriber details. The Council does not have the power to force the ISP Providers to disclose the subscriber details. However, the Council did provide the Police with all the IP addresses and details of how Council officers had linked these to Mr Gillick or his company via open source research.

As for the Police and the CPS, you will need to raise those queries with them.

As I stated previously in my e-mail dated 23 December 2014, if you have any queries regarding the decision of the CPS not to pursue this matter, they should be addressed to the partnership Brent Borough Chief Inspector, Andy Jones.

Yours sincerely

As stated on a previous blog (No prosecution in the Kensal Rise Library case - December  23rd 2014) 'it seems that the key to ultimately tracking back an IP address to a user is to engage with the ISP and get it (or force it via a judge) to release the data showing which client was issued with what IP address at a particular time of day'.  The question is, therefore: did Brent police seek the ISP subscriber details before handing over its dossier to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)? If not, why not? 

It was on 19 December 2014, in the run-up to the Xmas holidays, that the CPS advised Brent's Audit and Investigation Unit that 'there is insufficient evidence to proceed against Andrew Gillick'. In a New Year's Day interview with the Brent and Kilburn Times, a CPS spokesman elaborated: 'Having carefully considered all the material supplied we have decided there was insufficient evidence to support a realistic prospect of conviction in this case. The evidence did not prove this to the required standard and we therefore advised the police that no further action should be taken'.

So if Brent police didn't seek the ISP subscriber details, did the CPS do so instead? If it didn't, how could it conclude that the 'required standard' of evidence for a prosecution in the fraudulent email affair was unproven? A reply from Brent's partnership borough chief inspector and the CPS is awaited. 

Brent library privatisation hits the front page and two men named James disagree about what it means

The Kilburn Times (above) puts the possible privatisation of Brent libraries management on its front page.  Management would be handed over to a charitable trust although details are not clear.

The story was first covered on Wembley Matters on January 4th LINK (Will privatisation of Brent Council's  library management damage the service?)  and I published an extract from a blog by Alan Wylie, veteran library campaigner, who made these points about the leisure companies or trusts:

What a Leisure Trust means in practice:

• Leisure services are outsourced to a separate organisation/company. 
• The Council retains ownership of the facilities, which are leased to the Trust.
• Virtually all the savings come from rate reductions and VAT savings, which are much smaller initially because of the high set up costs. 
• Direct democratic control of the service will cease - elected member representation on a trust is limited to less than 20% of the board.
• Company law requires that Board members must put the interests of the leisure trust before those of the local authority. 
• After a year the Trust will usually cease to use council services and will be responsible its own procurement and contracting or corporate and other services.

The move, ostensibly, is to save £160,000 in rates (trusts get charged 80% rather than the 100% the Council will pay), although this is a loophole that may well be closed.

Margaret Bailey, chair of Friends of Kensal Rise Library, told the Kilburn Times that privatising services often ends up costing more:

Savings made on the 80% (rates) rebate will be minimal   and certainly not enough justification for privatising the service. I wish local authorities would fight these cuts together - and harness the support of their communities to do this.

 I agree.

Cllr James Denselow, now in charge of libraries under his Stronger Communities portfolio claims its a change in management structure, rather than privatisation and  'saves us a huge amount of money with rate changes'.  He recognised the sensitive nature of the changes and said the Council would do 'only if we find it's the right thing for us, for our libraries..and our communities.'

James Powney, whose blog has become a lot more interesting since he left the Council, wrote a article on the issue on Thursday morning LINK

Cllr Powney of course was the lead member when half of Brent's libraries were closed. He said that the wording of the officers' report ('established trust') suggests an existing body and the obvious one is that which currently runs Ealing and Harrow libraries:

The phrase "transfer management" suggests something more ambitious.  Not just founding a Trust but having the management taken over by a private company as in Greenwich or Hounslow.  This would be a lot more complicated.  A full procurement would need specification of a contract and a full tendering exercise for what would be a sizable contract.  In itself that would be a substantial one-off cost.  The Localism Act appears to have made this whole issue even more complicated than it was before.  The redundancy of senior management is likely to make the whole process even more difficult. 

This option was discussed when I was on the Executive, and rejected.  The business rate saving was largely a piece of accountancy smoke and mirrors (I understand that the rules may have been partly changed since then), and it seemed to me that all the things a private firm could do to cut costs could also be done by the Council.  Of course, having direct employees also gives you more control and we wanted to ensure the success of the Libraries Transformation Project by having hands on management.  Therefore we only went for the Sports Centre part of the project. 

The two James clearly have different perspectives and it will be interesting to see how this pans out. Meanwhile library staff are rightly concerned about what these vague proposals mean for them, their working conditions and their pensions.  The public should be concerned about what it will mean for the quality of their library service when the number of libraries has been halved and the council are proposing to cut the amount spent on book stock.

'No prosecution' decision in Kensal Rise Library email fraud investigation provokes anger

--> Brent Council has been informed that the Crown Prosecution Service is to take no action regarding the fraudulent emails sent in support of Andrew Gillick's original planning application for Kensal Rise Library.
Arnold Meagher, Brent Council's Principal Lawyer, Housing and Litigation Team wrote:

I write to advise that the Council has been informed of the outcome of the investigation regarding Mr Gillick and the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Crown Prosecution Service has decided that there is insufficient evidence to support any prosecution against Mr Gillick and therefore, no further action will be taken against him.

The Council has been advised by the Metropolitan Police that the partnership Brent Borough Chief Inspector, Andy Jones, is aware of this decision. The Metropolitan Police has requested that any queries regarding the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service go through Andy Jones.

70 or so fraudulent emails had been sent including one using the name and address of local business woman Kirsty Slattery.

Reacting to the news this afternoon she said:

I think the whole process has been purposely drawn out and detrimental to the people and businesses it affected. 

So somehow no one is responsible for these acts of fraud (?) according to the CPS and at no point has anyone even received an apology from Brent Council. 

The fraud affected my business as it misrepresented my standing in the community. This should never have been allowed to happen, someone ought to have been held accountable for these deceitful actions and the very least I would expect is a sincere apology. 

Kensal Rise Councillor Dan Filson was even more scathing: 

This news seems released by the CPS deliberately at a time when attention is elsewhere. Shame on the CPS.

I am appalled that an attempt - by whoever, though the email thread heading may offer a clue - to pervert the planning process had not resulted in a prosecution. 

It would be useful to know if the reason for this decision is insufficient evidence linking the alleged perpetrator to the offence(s) or an unclear charge upon which a prosecution could be hung? 

A dangerous precedent has been set, that a fraudulent attempt to mislead a planning authority as to the level of support for a planning application from the community and as to who in that community is supporting it by way of impersonation. We don't now know whether this stunt has been pulled in respect of other applications in this or other boroughs.

Questions should be asked in the House of Commons

The issue of the fraudulent emails has been a long and complicated affair. In September 2013 The Save Kensal Rise Library Campaign wrote on their website:

We are expecting the council to pursue the origins of the fraudulent submissions of support for the planning submission as reported in The Kilburn Times and The Evening Standard last week.
We have been promised an investigation and report as soon as possible.

Help us to keep up the pressure on the council to find out where this dodgy support comes from by writing to the Leader of the Council and your local councillors asking them to make sure the council makes every effort to find out who is guilty of this fraudulent support. We can’t allow local democracy to be undermined  by such abuse of the consultative processes of the council.

The police later appeared to have dropped the investigation but after the demolition of the pop up library in February 2014 both the Council and Muhammed Butt made statements to the Willesden and Wembley Observer:

A spokesman for Brent Council said:

The council undertook its own detailed enquiries before referring the matter to the police and provided the police with a summary of the outcome as part of the agreed referral process through the National Fraud Reporting Centre. The council remains very concerned about the way that the planning portal was used on this occasion and has subsequently made changes to forestall future problems arising. The council wants to continue to maintain the highest level of integrity with its planning process, since the authority continues to have statutory responsibilities to consider planning applications that are submitted. 

Labour leader of the council Muhammed Butt said:

It is bitterly disappointing that the police have chosen to ignore the evidence found in the council’s own inquiries and drop their investigation. When the future of the building affects hundreds of Brent residents and the entire Kensal Rise community, any issue of alleged fraud must surely be a priority in order to maintain the trust of local people. 

Whilst I know that this Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government has cut the police force by a fifth in the last three years, I am troubled that this investigation has not been carried out as a matter of urgency. Brent Council will be writing to demand that the police review their original decision and launch an appropriate investigation.

The investigation was reinstated with various sections of the police  responsible at any one time and recently there has been a long silence on the matter despite frequent requests for information.
I agree that the final outcome is far from satisfactory.

Disputing the facts in the Kensal Rise Library case

There have now been 175 comments on the recent blog on the twists and turns of the Kensal Rise Library saga.  It has become increasingly hard to follow the discussion so I asked Meg Howarth to write a Guest Blog on the disputed facts of the matter and what she thinks are the repercussion stemming from this.  I will be happy to publish a similar Guest blog, preferably from a named person, who wishes to counter some of the factual evidence or interpretation.

As once again comments got heated I plead with people making comments to keep personal issues out of it and stick to the evidence and principles involved.

Thanks you

Martin Francis

GUEST BLOG BY MEG HOWARTH

Former Kensal Rise Library (KRL) is listed for auction in two days' time - Wednesday, 17 December. This blog is an attempt to respond to questions, misunderstandings and concerns which are again being raised about the Option Agreement (OA) document to purchase KRL:

- the OA allegedly came in to force on 26 November 2012 between KRL's then-owner, ASC, and property developer, Andrew Gilick; no-one other than the seller (ASC), the buyer (Andrew Gillick) and their lawyers has ever seen the original document. An OA is not a sale contract - it does what it says on the tin: it's an 'option' to buy;

- a contract for the sale of KRL was made only when Andrew Gillick exercised the option to buy contained in the OA; this appears to have been in January 2013, and was conditional on 'vacant possession' of KRL;

- vacant possession was secured by the seller, ASC, only this year, on 31 January 2014, with the demolition of the pop-up library early on the morning of 31 January; 

- the sale of KRL was completed on or immediately after that date;

- any statement that KRL was sold to Andrew Gillick before KRL was listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) on 11 December 2012 is untrue; 

- under ACV regulations, an OA carries the same weight as a sale, ie if an OA is made before a listing, then ACV regulations do not apply. This means that a listed 'asset' is exempt from the moratorium restrictions on its sale. 

Unresolved concerns about the Option Agreement (OA) are its date and whether it was signed off. The Information Commissioner ordered the release of the OA on 4 March 2014 after a successful appeal against then-owner All Souls College (ASC) refusal to publish the document. This was to be redacted for date, names and price only. I was sent a hard-copy redacted copy of the OA on 31 March 2014. There are two problems:

- there are no redactions for the date or the signing off of the document. Any redacted copy of the original OA  should, in my opinion and that of others, have shown clearly where those redactions have been made, just as  redactions for names and price are clear elsewhere in the document. This LINK  is to a scan of the document I was sent It has been posted on  previous WM blogs;

- if the OA was never signed off, then it has no legal status

A request for a meeting with Brent's CE Christine Gilbert has been made to try to resolve these matters. With KRL slated for auction in two days time, it's important that these doubts about the legality of the original sale be resolved. Only a viewing of the original Option Agreement can do this.

Footnote: 

There is no doubt in my mind that the OA was drawn up to bypass the application of the ACV moratorium regulations on ASC's sale of the library. Ironically - or not, depending on legal opinion - paras 6.1/6.2 of the OA state:

6.1 The Seller may not create any encumbrance over the Property at any time during the Option Period without the consent of the Buyer. 

6.2 An encumbrance includes, without limitation, any easement, restrictive covenant, lease or other right of occupation, use or enjoyment of the whole or part of the Property but for the avoidance of doubt any listing of the premises as an asset of community value under the Localism Act 2011 is excluded. 

LATE ADDITION - Letter from Farrers re signing of Option Agreement

Late addition. Brent Council Legal view on auction as sent to Friends of Kensal Rise Library on December 15th:

Missing fortnight and missing documents twist in Kensal Rise Library saga

This is the notice of the Disposal of Land listed as an Asset of Community Value (Kensal Rise Library site).

It was only issued on November 27th, two weeks after Andrew Gillick, the current owner, informed Brent Council of his intentions, so there is some contention over the six week initial moratorium, starting from November 13th. Community interest groups have had public knowledge only from last Thursday.

The auction is to be held in just over two week's time on December 17th.

Meanwhile the  Communituy Infrastructure Levy Liability document and the Deed of Agreement  have not yet been uploaded to the Council's planning portal LINK

And, perhaps needless to say, no more has been heard into the police investigation into the alleged fake emails submitted to Brent Council in support of Andrew Gillick's initial planning application.

Guide Auction Price of £1,150,000 For Kensal Rise Library

Further news is coming in regarding the sale of Kensal Rise Library by Andrew Gillick. The building has appeared on Zoopla LINK for auction on December 17th. It has a guide price of £1,150,000.

This gives very little time for Friends of Kensal Rise Library or any other community interest group to make up their minds and enter a bid.  As there is supposed to be a six week initial moratorium before sale to allow an organisation to signal their intention to bid for an Asset of Community Value the question arises as to when Brent Council were first informed by Gillick of his intention to sell.

Eric Pickles decides NOT to intervene in Kensal Rise Library case

Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has  decided NOT to intervene in the case of the Kensal Rise Library Planning application.  The Brent  Planning Committee decision had been the subject of a call-in request by a member of the public. LINK

The National Planning Casework Unit said:

The Secretary of State has carefully considered this case against call-in policy, as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement by Nick Boles on 26 October 2012. The policy makes it clear that the power to call in a case will only be used very selectively. The Government is committed to give more power to councils and communities to make their own decisions on planning issues, and believes planning decisions should be made at the local level wherever possible.

In deciding whether to call in this application, the Secretary of State has considered his policy on calling in planning applications. This policy gives examples of issues which may lead him to conclude, in his opinion that the application should be called in. The Secretary of State has decided, having regard to this policy, not to call in this application. He is content that it should be determined by the local planning authority.

In considering whether to exercise the discretion to call in this application, the secretary of State has not considered the matter of whether this application is EPA Development for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011.  The local planning authority responsible for determining this application remains the relevant authority responsible for considering whether these Regulations apply to this proposed development and, if so, for ensuring that the requirements of the Regulations are complied with.

In relation to the comments that it is considered the local planning authority of Brent has incorrectly and arbitrarily applied the regulations of the Localism Act 2011 to this proposal and its progression, the Government is concerned that all local authorities should administer the planning system with utmost propriety, However, authorities are independent of central government and are responsible for their actions and decisions to the local electorate, their Auditor and, ultimately, the courts. Ministers have no statutory duty or powers to supervise the general propriety of individual authorities and, therefore, I cannot  comment on London Borough of Brent Council's handling of this matter.

The letter went on to suggest contacting the Council's Monitoring or Complaints officer stating:

It is his or her duty to report to the full council any cases where he or she thinks that the council, one of its committees, sub-committees  or officers is about to or has done something unlawful, improper, or which would constitute maladministration.

They also suggested an approach to the Local Government Ombudsman if this is within 6 months of the original complaint being lodged with the local authority, although they often have more than one stage in their complaints procedure.

Police pass Kensal Rise e-mail fraud information to CPS

Andrew Donald, Brent's Director of Regeneration and Mayor Projects, has told local campaigner Meg Howarth that the Brent police have passed information regarding the Kensal Rise Library Development fraudulent e-mails on to the Crown Prosecution service for their consideration.

It is not known when any further information will be available.

Fruadulent e-mails using the names and addresses of local people were submitted in support of Andrew Gillick's first planning application for the redevelopment of Kensal Rise Librray which was closed down by Brent Council.

Subsequently Brent Legal ruled that the police investigation was not something that the Brent Planning Committee could take into consideration in its decision making and Gillick's second planning application for the library site was approved.

The news comes just as the Guardian publishes a scathing article on the pressures on planning officers and local councillors from ruthless developers LINK:

One former planning officer is frank about the reality of the imbalance in our confrontational system. “If you throw enough resources at a planning application, you’re going to manage to tire everyone out,” he says. “The documentation gets more and more extensive, the phone calls get more frequent and more aggressive, the letters ever more litigious. The weight of stuff just bludgeons everyone aside, and the natural inclination is to say, ‘Oh yeah okay, I’ve had enough of this one,’ and just let it through. It’s like a war of attrition.”

It is a long article but well worth reading for local residents interested in the Quintain-Wembley, Willesden Green Library , Queensbury, Bridge Park, Alperton developments and the failure to build genuinely affordable housing or achieve amenity gains for the community.

Minutes for Brent Planning Committee now available

Following a delay caused by the illness and hospitalisation of the officer concerned, the Minutes of the last planning Committee Meeting, which considered the Kensal Rise Library planning application, are now available in time for tonight's meeting.  LINK

Putting aside the possiblity of the recording of meetings so that such a situation does not occur again, I would like to wish the officer concerned a speedy recovery.

No Minutes for Wednesday's Planning Committee Meeting

The Agenda for the Planning Committee due to be held on Wednesday August 20th states that the Minutes of the previous meeting are not available and will be presented at the next meeting.

The previous meeting on July 16th heard the controversial Kensal Rise Library application and some weighty legal advice was given by officers.

It is very unusual for Minutes not to be available more than one month after a meeting.  Perhaps this underlines the case for the recording of all Brent council meetings.

Missing or delayed Minutes for a school governing body would be an issue of grave concern to Ofsted inspectors or auditors.

Kensal Rise Fake Email Investigation: Brent Council knows about progress but haven't told the public

Regular readers will remember that the Mystery of the Fake E-mails has not been solved. Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council,  having avidly pursued the matter early on seems to have lost his appetite for an answer to the question of who wrote the fake emails and to whose benefit? 

The emails were written in support of an earlier planning application for the redevelopment of Kensal Rise Library. Despite the investigation not being completed Brent Planning Committee approved the  recent planning application by the developer Andrew Gillick.

Now a Freedom of Information request has established that Simon Lane, Head of Audit and Investigations Team at Brent Council was last updated by Brent Police on the investigation on July 16th 2014.

Brent Council had no information on when the investigation was likely to be completed.

Surely it is of the utmost public interest for Brent Council  and Brent police to pursue this matter. An attempt was made to subvert the Council's planning process and in the course of this the identities of Brent citizens were stolen.

Rather than a Miss Marple mystery we now seem to have a rerun of the Hancock classic,The Last Page:

Kensal Rise Library planning application approved with new conditions

Brent Planning Committe tonight unanimously approved the planning application for Kensal Rise Library submitted by Andrew Gillick. The Committee attached new conditions to the application with an amendment on the marketing of the D1 space. Cllr Shafique Choudhary and Cllr Dan Filson declared that they had made previous statements  of opinion about the application and withdrew from the meeting.

Cllr Sarah Marquis, chair, in a statement said that on further legal advice, as requested by the commitee's previous meeting, that they would not take the ongoing police investigation into fraudulent emails into account.

A supplementary report by officers, tabled at the meeting, made several key points:

1. The Heads of Terms would be changed so that instead of saying that if the marketing campaign failed to prduce an occupier of the Kensal Rise Library D1 space Brent Council would be given first refusal, after 'internal discussion' this would now give CVS Brent first refusal to prepare a bid for the space.
2. The naming of Friends of Kensal Rise Library as the 'actual' tenant rather than 'preferred' tenant 'is not an issue the committee should purport to determine as part of the planning process.'
3. The applicant will provide the D1 space as a plastered shell with the main services capped off plus an earmarked sum of £3,000 for the teant to fit out the space.
4. A member of the public had asked that committee members be made aware of the Option Agreement to purchase Kensal Rise Library made between All Souls Collge and the developer when considering the current planning application.

Jodi Gramigni made a representation pointing the the importance of the Asset of Community Value status of the Kensal Rise building. She said that the commitee should take this into account as a material consideration  and called on Brent Council to exercise the political will to make this status mean something.

Stephanie Schonfield for Friends of Kensal Rise Library disputed the supllementary officer's report's comment on the naming of FKRL as 'actual tenant' and said FKRL were 'thrilled and relieved' at the agreement and loked forward to occupying the space and endsing four years of campaigning.

Councillors questions mainly centred around detailed issues arising from their site visit. The Committe eventually voted for a number of conditions including widening the chimney breast entrance space to admit buggies and wheelchairs, increased parking space for cycles, and waste storage space to be provided on the ground floor rather than the basement thus reducing the need to use the list and thus reducing the £2,500 service charge.

Steve Weeks of the Planning Department suggested that due to the 'actual' tenant agreement and the giving of CSV first refusal if marketing failed, that the requirement to market the space could be reduced to a fall-back if agreement was not reached on the initial occupier.

No refence was made during the meeting to the Option Agreement, although it may have been discussed at the pre-meeting.

The meeting was subdued with no triumphalism apparent, and several of the people involved on either aside of the battle made concilatory comments to each other after the meeting.

It appears that after a bruising controversey the community will now try and make the best of what some regard as a not very good deal, and others the best deal available in the circumstance.

Meanwhile the outcome of the police investigation into fraudulent emails is still awaited...

Round 3 of Kensal Rise Library planning debate tonight as FKRL negotiate named 'actual' tenancy

 

-->The controversial Kensal Rise Library planning application returns to the Planning Committee tonight, 7pm Conference Room, Brent Civic Centre LINK
Despite the further legal advice that fraudulent emails submitted in support of the developer's previous application for the site were 'not a material consideration', the application is still the subject of hot debate and there are likely to be further pubic representations tonight.

Yesterday Friends of Kensal Rise Library announced that: LINK

After months of negotiations, the Friends of Kensal Rise Library are to be named as the ‘Actual’ tenants of the new library and community space in the Kensal Rise Library building.

Previously the Friends were named only as the ‘preferred’ tenants, leading many to think that the agreement FKRL had signed with both All Souls College and the Developer was not watertight and carried no legal weight, and, that after years of campaigning there was a chance that other groups might be offered the space. 

Mandip Sahota, Associate planner for the developer stated:

Further to advice provided by the LPA in respect of the Assets of Community Value Regulations 2012, I am pleased to advise that the applicant has today confirmed that he is naming FKRL as the ‘actual’ tenant, as opposed to his ‘preferred’ tenant, subject of course to lease negotiations, management plan etc being satisfactory. 

We trust this goes some way to giving the Council, the FKRL and the local community the confidence to support this planning application. 

As comments on the previous posting on this issue demonstrate LINK there are still concerns about the trustworthiness of the developer.

Other issues relate to the significance of the Option Agreement signed by All Souls College and the fact that it is not referred to in the Officers' Report LINK and the granting of Asset of Community by Brent Council and its significance for the redevelopement LINK
I suggest readers check the comments column below before the meeting as this is very much an ongoing debate.

After months of negotiations, the Friends of Kensal Rise Library are to be named as the ‘Actual’ tenants of the new library and community space in the Kensal Rise Library building.

Previously the Friends were named only as the ‘preferred’ tenants, leading many to think that the agreement FKRL had signed with both All Souls College and the Developer was not watertight and carried no legal weight, and, that after years of campaigning there was a chance that other groups might be offered the space.

Mandip Sahota, Associate planner for the developer stated:

Further to advice provided by the LPA in respect of the Assets of Community Value Regulations 2012, I am pleased to advise that the applicant has today confirmed that he is naming FKRL as the ‘actual’ tenant, as opposed to his ‘preferred’ tenant, subject of course to lease negotiations, management plan etc being satisfactory. We trust this goes some way to giving the Council, the FKRL and the local community the confidence to support this planning application.

- See more at: http://www.savekensalriselibrary.org/2014/07/15/july-15th-update/#sthash.CzlLl6Rn.dpuf

After months of negotiations, the Friends of Kensal Rise Library are to be named as the ‘Actual’ tenants of the new library and community space in the Kensal Rise Library building.

Previously the Friends were named only as the ‘preferred’ tenants, leading many to think that the agreement FKRL had signed with both All Souls College and the Developer was not watertight and carried no legal weight, and, that after years of campaigning there was a chance that other groups might be offered the space.

Mandip Sahota, Associate planner for the developer stated:

Further to advice provided by the LPA in respect of the Assets of Community Value Regulations 2012, I am pleased to advise that the applicant has today confirmed that he is naming FKRL as the ‘actual’ tenant, as opposed to his ‘preferred’ tenant, subject of course to lease negotiations, management plan etc being satisfactory. We trust this goes some way to giving the Council, the FKRL and the local community the confidence to support this planning application.

- See more at: http://www.savekensalriselibrary.org/2014/07/15/july-15th-update/#sthash.CzlLl6Rn.dpuf