Recording of November 10th Public Realm and Resources Scrutiny Commitee
The recent Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee heard a heart-rending story from a local resident about her experience in the recent Kilburn floods and from Brent Council officers about the authority's responsibilities regarding flooding and fluvial and surface water occurrences.
Unfortunately the Council's main partners, the Environment Agency and Thames Water did not attend but will do so in January 2022. The officers' Report can be found HERE.
Ruined household items after the July floods on Westminster side of Kilburn Park Road (My London News)
The importance of hearing directly from Thames Water is highlighted by this extract from the My London News coverage of the July floods LINK:
Speaking to the
subcontractors working for Thames Water attempting to lower water levels in the
drains next to her property, [Aimee] asked about the chances of it happening again,
to which one engineer reportedly told her: “The whole system has been
compromised. Of course it will happen again.”
Aimee, who is
eight months pregnant, claims an engineer employed directly by Thames Water
then took the subcontractors to one side in order to speak with them alone.
The following
day, she says she was visited by a Thames Water employee who 'looked more
senior' and told her the subcontractors 'should not have said that'.
But, when pushed,
Aimee claims the engineer couldn't say the flooding would not happen again.
Post flood 'repair' photographed recently on my visit to South Kilburn Estate
As readers will know Wembley Matters has published a number of articles recently on flooding in the area in the light of the number of increased extreme weather events as a result of climate change. I posed a question to the November 22nd Full Council on this and the question and response are below:
1. Question from Martin Francis to Councillor Krupa
Sheth, Lead Member for Environment
In the light of the increased prevalence of extreme weather events as a result
of climate change and recent flooding in the borough, as well as a large number
of new developments and increasing numbers of paved over gardens, does Brent Council:
(1) Intend to work with partners including the Environment Agency and Thames Water
to review and revise Brent Council’s
(2) Advise property owners and developers on mitigation measures?
Response:
Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, Brent Council is responsible for
reducing the risk of flooding from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses
as a Local Lead Flood Authority (LLFA). To continue to meet our responsibilities
we:
· Develop,
maintain, regularly update and apply a local Flood Risk
Management Strategy. The overarching aim of the strategy is to enable the long-term
management of flooding arising from rivers, surface water and groundwater in
the borough and to communicate the risks and consequences of flooding to our
residents and businesses.
· Maintain a
register of flood risk management assets (structures that have an effect on
flood risk management). This includes all flood risk management assets such as
culverts, watercourses and holding tanks. All drainage assets, including the
Council maintained and maintained by Thames Water and Environment Agency are
logged on Flood Station.
· Provide
overall management for highway drainage (road gullies) on designated public
highway. As Highway Authority, we manage the 20,700 road gullies within the
borough via a cyclical cleansing regime, and also respond reactively to any
defect or blockages on the network.
· Implement
small scale schemes to address localised flooding problems such as broken
gullies or gully pipes, or localised gully capacity problems. Larger scale
capacity problems are within the remit of Thames Water who are responsible for
the main drainage system.
· Respond to
planning applications - As lead local flood authority, we are a statutory
consultee for major developments and in accordance with the GLA plan for
Sustainable drainage we ensure that a significant betterment (i.e. improved
drainage arrangements) is incorporated into new developments.
This in turn reduces the risk of surface water flooding on our public highways.
· Produce and
maintaining a flood risk asset register - All of our drainage assets are
located on an asset register, which includes all non-tributary watercourses,
culverts and attenuation tanks.
· Issue land
drainage consents on ordinary watercourses and carry out enforcement - All
works undertaken non-statutory main rivers must obtain consent form the council
so we are able to oversee and audit all processes to ensure sustainable measure
are undertaken.
· Investigate
significant local flooding events - As a lead local flood authority, we investigate
all major flooding incidences and record the data.
As LLFA the council works in partnership with utility companies, Environment Agency
and others in order to ensure that all appropriate measures are taken to mitigate
flood risk. Plans are regularly reviewed and updated as risks and other factors
change.
As a Category One Responder under the Civil Contingencies Act, the council has a
responsibility to warn, inform and advise the public before during and after emergencies
have occurred. We publicise warnings of severe weather and provide advice and
information for residents on the council website to assist them prepare for
potential severe weather events such as those that may cause flooding. The
information provided also outlines what assistance the council is able to offer
as well as measures that people can take to protect their own homes.
From Camino to COP26 (NB this is a different walk to the one advertised in previous post)
We are delighted to welcome
Day-Walkers. Whilst there may be the odd exception, our plan is to assemble at
9am each morning for any notices, updates and words – perhaps a song or a poem
– before setting off at 9:30am. We would love it if Day-Walkers could
join us for that morning gathering so do try to be with us at or a little before
9am. Monday’s section will start at St Mary with All Souls Church, 134a Abbey
Road, NW6 4SN and finish in Harrow.
This is a walk for everyone, although initiated by XRUK Faith Bridge. We
will be walking from London and Bristol to Glasgow. Leaving London on Sunday
5th September, leaving Bristol on the 9th September and arriving in Glasgow on
30th October.
The purpose of the walk is to build alliances and engage communities along
the route – faith communities and other local communities – and to spread
the word about the urgency of the need for meaningful action to address the
global climate and ecological emergency. This is an opportunity for connection
and outreach and is expressly not a physically disruptive or civilly
disobedient action. Those involved are asked to sign up to this
principle.
We are united by our faith; a
faith that we can advocate and influence and be the change that we want for our
world. We choose to walk to COP26 as a practice of that faith, an act of
connection with the earth on which we walk and the people with whom we walk and
the communities through which we pass; and we make our way in kinship with the
peoples and creatures of the earth who are suffering and displaced by climate
and ecological breakdown. We do so peacefully and lawfully, ready to engage and
learn, because we care and we have hope.
Young Brent people aged 14-16 years old in performed two twenty minute concerts today with musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra after taking part in a 3 day workshop.
The concert was the grand finale of a creative music project which
saw young people from Brent and RPO musicians write brand new pieces on
the theme of ‘Wemba’s Dream’ – a creative project exploring the hopes
and dreams of Brent residents.
Wemba was the name of the tribe or its leader that long ago cleared the local woodland to make an open space in which to live - a lea - hence Wemba Lea: Wembley. It was first mentioned in a charter of 825.
Last week Wembley Park announced the performance of'Wemba's Dream' on September 11th:
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is celebrating its
75th anniversary in September this year by announcing a permanent move
of the Orchestra’s headquarters to Wembley Park. The Orchestra is
delighted to build on more than 20 years of work with Brent Music
Service to make our new home in Brent, and are eager to reach out to
local residents to find out how we can engage in meaningful ways over
the next months, years and decades.
To celebrate our new announcement, the RPO are working with Wembley Park to put on Wemba’s Dream, a fun-filled ‘festival’ of performances featuring RPO musicians and local artists during the weekend of 11 September.
We would love for as many local people as possible to get involved in
the celebration, both as audiences attending the weekend performances
but also as artists, exploring the project theme through various mediums
and sharing their responses with the RPO and the wider community. In
the lead up to the performance weekend, the RPO therefore invites local
residents to create their own artistic responses on the themes of
‘Brent’ and ‘Dreams’ and submit them to be included HERE, to create an
online gallery of local people’s works.
Guest post by Pete Firmin, chair, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenants and Residents Association
Yesterday, across North and North West London we had thunderstorms and torrential rain. And the torrential is no exaggeration.
Areas which don't normally experience flooding got flooded. I'm not claiming any special case for the part of South Kilburn where I live, I know that other areas of Brent (and elsewhere) had it worse. But I want to use the opportunity to show the poor response of those who are supposed to react speedily to such events.
Here, water was gushingout ofseveral manholes, so forcefully that it pushed bricks out of the roadway. While some of the kids enjoyed themselves paddling (and even sitting in) the water, many ground floor residents were concerned that the rising levels of water risked entering their flats (and it did in some cases).
So, who do you turn to in this situation?
Thames Water's website says "problems with flooded roads should be reported to your local council." Not much point in trying them then.
Fire Brigade? When I (and others) eventually get through we're told that the London Fire Brigade is overwhelmed with flooding issues and - understandably - they can only come to you if someone is in danger. Luckily, that wasn't the case, but it doesn't help much either.
Kilburn Park tube station was closed due to flooding (as were other stations on the Bakerloo line), but those attending there were London Transport emergency vehicles and staff, so not able to assist us (and probably had their hands full anyway).
Brent Council website said nothing about flooding emergences (it still doesn't), so I text one of our Councillors, telling her briefly of the situation and asking who we should contact. She says to try Brent's out of hours line, which I do. When I eventually speak to someone, I'm told that their emergency out of hours only deals with emergency household repairs, nothing else. Clearly the many other "out of hours" emergencies that can arise are of no concern to Brent. They suggest I contact Thames Water. Pointing out that their advice is to contact the local Council makes no impression.
Yet the Local Government Association's "A Councillor's guide to civil emergencies" LINK says explicitly:
"If a flood happens, all councils as ‘category one responders’ must have plans in place not only to respond to flooding emergencies, but also to control or reduce the impact of a flooding emergency."
Remember when we criticise the government for not having plans in place to deal with the pandemic, despite having carried out an exercise years ago to test readiness? Well, it seems Brent is equally ignoring its duty.
And this document contains much about the authorities responsibilities after the immediate crisis is over. We'll see.
Residents were left to their own devices, clearing blocked drains with brooms, garden forks and even umbrellas. Eventually much of the water recedes, helped by the rain easing off (though not stopping). Some of the problems are clearly caused by the fact that when grass and shrubs are cut back, most of the cuttings are then left to rot. With rain like yesterday's that means they're swept into the drains.
Eventually, after 2230 some of us got a message that we would get a proper response if we rang Brent's out of hours line. It had been taken over by the "emergency response team". Many hours after that should have been speedily done.
The flooding caused an additional major problem - as noted above, the water gushing out of some of the drains had caused bricks in the road to rise. It meant that some cars were unable to get out of their parking spaces, and two roads had bricks strewn over them (see photos). The roads looked both dangerous for vehicles which drove over them and who knows what further damage might be caused to the road. Several people got on to several services, including Brent, to say something needed to be done, possibly closing roads until proper action could be taken. Eventually a team - presumably from the Council - did come and take a look, but did nothing and didn't block the road to traffic.
Even from our small part of the borough, there must be lessons drawn by the Council. Scrutiny might like to look, for instance, at how well Brent dealt with the situation. Not just the immediate crisis, but its aftermath. And once again, Brent made no attempt to contact our Tenants and Residents Association. Surely they should be a source of information, both about the extent of the problem and what needs to be done.
With so much negative comment about Healthy Neighbourhoods (Low Traffic Neighbourhoods) on social media some Brent residents have hit back with a petition in FAVOUR of them, calling on Brent Council to show determination in seeing the policy through.
We the undersigned demand
that the Council take account of the views of residents and our
families living in and near the Kilburn and Queens Park Healthy
Neighbourhoods and beyond who support the proposed traffic filters,
providing safer and cleaner streets.
We support Brent council policies to:
improve air quality
reduce traffic
increase active travel and provide safer space for cycling
improve physical and mental health
protect children and people of all ages from road danger
reduce noise and air pollution
improve community relations.
We
are all negatively impacted in our local area by the damaging effect
of motor vehicles freely cutting through the residential streets . We
ask that Brent Council address this situation as a matter of urgency
listen to those who support low traffic schemes .
We urge Brent Council to have the determination to follow through and
stand by their own Healthy Neighbourhood schemes and expect our elected
Councillors to take a progressive, forward thinking view of our
environment and communities.
If not addressed now while the resources are available and the
Government supports it, the problems will only get worse as an ever
-growing population in Brent own cars.
Labour promises in 2020 were to make England one of the most
cycling and walking friendly places in the world. Now we expect Brent
Councillors to help make that happen so our lives and our children's
lives aren't blighted by pollution, road rage and car dominance.
The first proposals from the Boundary Commission on revised parliamentary constituencies are published today. The constituencies that will cover parts of Brent are now Kenton and Wembley West, Hendon and Golders Green, Brent Central and West Hampstead and Kilburn. The red lines above are constituency boundaries and green the borough boundary. Only Brent Central is wholly in Brent. We would have four MPs rather than the present 3. A significant part of Kingsbury becomes part of the Hendon and Golders Green constituency. Harlesden becomes part of West Hampstead and Kilburn.
An 8 week consultation period ending on August 2nd starts today LINK
The proposals. Click bottom right square to enlarge.
Transition Town Kensal to Kilburn
(TTKK) is inviting local residents to take part in a competition this spring.
Our volunteer organisation has
created three grants - one £500 grant and two £250 grants.
To enter the competition,
participants need to fulfill the following criteria :
-live in the Kensal
to Kilburn area,
-submit an idea for
a community project that would benefit residents living in the area,
-be ready to turn
the project into action this year.
The projects submitted need to bring
people together and protect the environment. The grants will finance the
material costs of the successful bids.
TTTKK, a local volunteer group
created in 2009 and advocating a transition to an environmentally friendly way
of life, isparticularly keen to get
some young people enter the competition. One
of the £250 grants will be allocated to a resident under 25 years old.
However, the group is generally
looking for new people of all ages and origins to create a more resilient local
community in the face of climate change.
Inject new energy into the group by submitting project ideas
Over the last decade, TTKK
volunteers have made a positive impact in the Kensal to Kilburn area by setting
up community gardens, harvesting fruit every summer, planting trees and organising
regular electric and electronic repair events etc.
Some TTKK members have also created
their own separate organisations to take their project further. For example,
Brent Pure Energy is a community benefit society that has been funding solar
panels for local schools since 2016.
Fruit tree harvesting in Kilburn last summer
“As we are coming out of lockdown,
we would like to inject some new energy into our group of dedicated
volunteers”, says Janey McAllester, one of the fruit picking group leaders.
“Making the most of our local community and environment has brought us a lot of
satisfaction and joy. We want to create more opportunities for fellow residents
to enjoy the benefits of a life deeply rooted in our local area”, adds Amandine
Alexandre, another TTKK volunteer.
People attend our online Zoom meeting on Thursday April 22nd at 7pm (link
here)and by submitting their idea by email before Monday June 7th mail@ttkensaltokilburn.ning.com
Please apply with up to 100 words
about your idea, yourself, the road you live in, how it would work, what help
you would need or like and how long you think it will take for you to complete
the project.
Projects
that meet the criteria will be shortlisted by local people voting at a meeting on June 23rd in the eveningand then Transition Town Kensal to Kilburn
will select the three best projects.
Restart party at The Library in Willesden in 2015
TTKK can help people find others interested in making their idea
happen and help with advice. “We are happy to provide feedback and help develop
and present the project”, underlines Michael Stuart, a founding member of TTKK.
Expenses are reimbursed against receipts or we can pay for items
directly so prize winners are not out of pocket. If your project costs less
than the full amount the money will be reallocated to extra projects.
Unfortunately,
you can't apply if you are:
-an organisation - individuals or small groups of individuals
only please,
-if your idea should be covered by statutory funding (as in
health care and social care funded by the government and local authorities),
I understand that Pete Firmin, chair of Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party has been suspended by the party for the crime of defying the edicts from the Party's General Secretary about what Party members are allowed to discuss.
Pete who lives on the South Kilburn Estate and is a tenant association activist and a member of Brent TUC has contributed a number of articles to Wembley Matters.
He is a man of principle and integrity and I express my solidarity, across parties, at this challenging time.
Thank you for joining me again for the final part
of this Kilburn local history series.
1. New flats in Cambridge Road, opposite Granville
Road Baths, c.1970. (Brent Archives online image 10127)
In Part 6 we saw the major rebuilding that took place, particularly in South
Kilburn, between the late 1940s and the 1970s. Many of the workers on the
building sites were Irish. The new wave of Irish immigration to Northwest
London, which reached its peak in the 1950s, was quickly transforming the area.
As well as abundant work, Kilburn offered plenty of cheap accommodation, and a
bustling High Road with cultural and eating establishments, many of them
catering for the Irish population, who soon represented a majority in the area.
‘County Kilburn’ was dubbed Ireland’s 33rd county
2. Kilburn's Irish culture – an Irish Festival
poster and Kilburn Gaels hurling team. (From the internet)
The Irish community, close-knit and mutually
supportive, hit the headlines in the negative way in the 1970s, when Kilburn
became a focal point for “the Troubles” in London. On 8 June 1974, an estimated
3,000 came out onto the streets of Kilburn for the funeral procession of
Provisional IRA member Michael Gaughan. An Irishman, who had lived in Kilburn,
Gaughan was imprisoned for an armed bank robbery in 1971 and in 1974 died as
the result a hunger strike. Gaughan’s coffin, accompanied by an IRA guard of honour,
was taken from the Crown at Cricklewood through Kilburn to the Catholic Church
of the Sacred Heart in Quex Road, before being flown to Dublin for another
ceremony and funeral.
3. Michael Gaughan's funeral procession in Quex
Road, June 1974. (Image from the internet)
The maximum publicity stirred by the IRA only
confirmed the general belief that Kilburn was becoming a focal point for the
Irish republicans, and their meeting place was Biddy Mulligan’s pub at 205 High
Road. Dating from about 1862, the pub on the corner of Kilburn High Road and
Willesden Lane was originally called the Victoria Tavern. It became Biddy
Mulligan’s in the 1970s, named after the character of a female Dublin street
seller performed by 1930s Irish comedian Jimmy O’Dea.
4. Sinn Fein's Kilburn Branch, marching through
Cricklewood in the 1970s. (Brent Archives image 317)
As claimed by Ulster loyalists later, Biddy’s
attracted ‘militant Irish extremists, far left activists, revolutionaries and
their sympathisers’. Leaders of Sinn Fein in London said they collected about
£17,000 a year in Kilburn – a lot of it came from the pub collections and went
across the Irish sea to fund IRA activities. On 21 December 1975 the pub was
shaken by an explosion from a holdall left at its doorstep by members of the
Ulster Defence Association, who said they wanted to stop the spread of IRA in
England. It was the first time the UDA struck outside Northern Ireland. Out of
90 people who were in the bar at the time, a small number were hurt, but no one
was killed. The perpetrators were quickly arrested and put in prison.
5. The former Biddy Mulligan's pub in 2009. (From
the internet – picture by Ewan Murray, on Flickr)
The pub remained ‘Biddy’s’ for a few years, then it
traded as an Aussie sports bar called the ‘Southern K’. It closed about 2009
and today the building is a Ladbrokes betting shop.
The look and feel of Kilburn is changing fast –
Woolworths, at 100-104 Kilburn High Road, which was a big feature of the area
since 1920s, closed in 2008 and is now Iceland. The elegant 1930s Art Deco
building at 54-56 Kilburn High Road is Primark – part of the usual mix of shops
found on any major high street in the country.
6. The Lord Palmerston in a
c.1900 postcard, and as Nando's, 2017. (www.images-of-london.co.uk/ Anne Hill)
The Lord Palmerston, 308 Kilburn High Road, is
another example of how Kilburn has changed over time. It originally operated as
the Palmerston Hotel when it opened in 1869, and served as a terminus for
several horse bus services. In 1977 the pub re-opened as the Roman Way, in
deference to the road’s historic roots. Now it is a branch of Nando’s. The Cock
Tavern, The Old Bell, the Sir Colin Campbell, North London Tavern, Earl of Derby
and others continue the area’s tradition of historic pubs, which we saw in Part 2, but now alongside
Italian, Japanese, Thai, Afghani, Persian, Turkish, Indian, Moroccan, Burmese
eateries on the High Road.
7.A collage of some of Kilburn's historic public houses. (Photos and
collage by Irina Porter)
From the 1970s onwards the Irish population started
to move out of the area, and immigrants from the Caribbean, Middle East and
Asia started to come in. The area is now multicultural - in 2017 the vicar of
the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart in Quex Road said that he regularly welcomed
64 different nationalities to mass. The Maida Vale Picture House at 140 Maida
Vale (1913) is now the Islamic Centre of England.
“The window logs Kilburn’s skyline. Ungentrified,
ungentrifiable. Boom and bust never come here. Here bust is permanent. Empty
State Empire, empty Odeon, graffiti-streaked sidings rising and falling like a
rickety roller coaster. Higgledy-piggledy rooftops and chimneys, some high,
some low, packed tightly, shaken fags in a box. Behind the opposite window,
retreating Willesden. Number 37. In the 1880s or thereabouts the whole thing
went up at once – houses, churches, schools, cemeteries – an optimistic vision
of Metroland. Little terraces, faux-Tudor piles. All the mod cons! Indoor
toilet, hot water. Well-appointed country living for those tired of the city.
Fast-forward. Disappointed city living for those tired of their countries.”
8. Three scenes from Kilburn High Road in 2020,
still with a W.H.Smith connection! (Photos by Irina Porter)
The 1970s was not all doom and gloom, and music
provided one of the bright spots. The band ‘Kilburn and the High Roads’ (local connection unknown!) and its singer Ian
Dury were one of the inspirations for the later punk rock movement. In a
comment on Part 3, Wembley Matters reader Trevor shared with us his
recollections of growing up in Kilburn and taking part in the The Jam’s video for their song
‘When You’re Young’ in 1979. This was filmed in Kilburn Square shopping
precinct and in Kilburn High Road (with Woolworths!). The bandstand is in
Queen’s Park, and the 12-year old Trevor is wearing a red and blue jacket.
Another famous 1970s singer/songwriter who has
lived locally was Cat Stevens. He became a Muslim in 1977, having found his
spiritual home through reading the Qur’an, and changed his name to Yusuf Islam.
His many charitable works in promoting education, peace and mutual respect
between faiths since then have included setting up the Islamia Primary School
in Salusbury Road in 1982, the first full-time Muslim primary school in
England. For more about musicians and
music businesses in Kilburn, visit North-West London Music Maps, by Dick Weindling.
Kilburn had 10 cinemas in the last 110 years, but
today only one remains, and that is part of the cultural focal point of modern
Kilburn, at 269 Kilburn High Road. The building dates from 1928, when it was
opened as the London headquarters of the Foresters’ Friendly Society, which
provided financial help to members in need. In the 1930s it had a music and
dance hall, on occasions hired by Oswald Mosley’s fascist ‘Blackshirts’, who
used to meet in the area. During the World War II it served as an air raid
shelter and a food distribution point.
9. The Foresters’ Hall and Tricycle Theatre, late
20th century. (Images from the internet)
The Foresters’ stayed in the building until 1979,
when they sold it, and moved into a small office nearby. The building was being
used by local community organisations, when it was discovered by Shirley Barrie
and Ken Chubb, who founded their theatre performance Wakefield Tricycle Company
and were looking for permanent premises. In 1980 Tim Foster Architects
re-designed the theatre, but in 1987 the building was destroyed by fire and the
re-building took 2 years. In 1998 a new cinema was opened next to it, which
also offered extra rehearsing space.
10. The opening plaque on what is now the Kiln
Cinema, in Buckley Road. (Photos by Irina Porter, 2020)
The Tricycle Theatre was
successful and acquired a reputation for political and outspoken, diverse and
innovative plays. One of the best known was the Colour of
Justice (1999), based on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry and directed by
Nicholas Kent who became Artistic Director in 1984. In 2018, after another
re-design project, the Tricycle re-opened as The Kiln, with a new café,
rehearsal rooms, improved accessibility, better sightlines, comfortable seats
and flexible stage. The Kiln has a 300-seat cinema and a slightly smaller
theatre complex.
11. The 60s/70s South Kilburn today, with Crone Court
and the OK Club (left) and Dickens House (right). (Photos by John Hill, and from
Facebook on the internet)
Despite the hopes of planners, and like the Chalkhill and Stonebridge estates elsewhere in Brent, the South
Kilburn estate of typical 1960s brutalist style high density housing, in low
rise flats and 11 concrete tower blocks, did not deliver an ideal
neighbourhood. In 1988, unemployment in South Kilburn was 20%. The estate was
plagued by crime, shootings, gun and drug trade. There was ongoing rivalry with
gangs from the nearby Mozart Estate, just across the borough boundary in
Westminster. Several high-profile police raids in 2007 and 2011 and the
shootings of innocent by-standers as the gangs wage their wars against each
other continue to contribute to the adverse reputation of the area.
12. Network Housing's Kilburn Quarter, in a computer
image and 2020 photograph. (Internet / Irina Porter)
In 2004 Brent Council started working on a 15-year
plan of drastic demolition of much of the estate and creating a new living
environment, at a cost of £660 million. The demolition of the old estate
started in 2014 with two of the 18 storey housing blocks, to be replaced with 4
‘smart’ blocks and amenities for the local community. Several different housing
associations and architects are involved in the project, which so far has
resulted in an overall loss of council housing, as many of the flats are for
private sale. Despite the council’s efforts to improve the quality of the area,
it continues to be plagued by problems connected to its history of gang
violence and drug dealing, as well as issues with maintenance of the newly built homes and
cladding for fire safety regulations.
One effort aimed at engaging with young people on
the fringes was the Signal Project in 2004. The mural they sponsored under the
bridges at Kilburn Station brought together graffiti artists and the local
community. The subjects painted reflected Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, H.G. Wells’s
‘War of the Worlds’, the Gaumont State and Kilburn’s Irish heritage, and it won
Time Out magazine’s best mural award in 2006.
13. Some views of the street art murals under the
bridges at Kilburn Station. (Irina Porterx3/ John Hill)
In recent years Kilburn has been regarded as on the
way up – as have been many London locations which are within easy transport
links to Central London. The long-suffering South Kilburn estate is not without
its crime problems, and occasionally developers cause an uproar too, as in the
case of the Carlton Tavern, a pub in Carlton Vale on the border of Kilburn and
Westminster. This dated from 1921 and was the only building on this part of the
street to survive the Blitz during the Second World War. In 2015 it was bought
by an Israeli property developer and demolished overnight, without permission,
while being considered for Grade II listing.Westminster Council ordered the developer to rebuild the public house,
recreating the exact facsimile, which has been done, but as of October 2020 it
still has not re-opened.
14. The Carlton Tavern, after its 2015 demolition,
and in 2020 after being rebuilt. (Internet / Irina Porter)
Brent was chosen to be London’s Borough of Culture
for 2020, and one of its highlights was to be a summer festival on Kilburn High
Road, with a mile-long street party. Unfortunately this was cancelled due to
the Covid-19 situation. Kilburn does, however, have two Brent Biennial artworks by
British-Filipino artist Pio Abad, just
off the High Road in Willesden Lane and Burton Road. There is also the premiere
of Zadie Smith’s debut play, ‘The Wife of Willesden’ at The Kiln theatre to
look forward to as part of the delayed LBOC 2020 celebrations.
15. Pio Abad's two Brent2020 Kilburn artworks, and a
Borough of Cultures sign. (Internet / Irina Porter x2)
Whatever Kilburn’s future will bring us, I hope you
have enjoyed discovering its rich and colourful past, which this series will
remain as a record of.
A special thank you to local historian Dick
Weindling, co-author of 'Kilburn and West Hampstead Past' and History of Kilburn and West
Hampstead blog
Thank you, Irina, for what has been a fascinating
series on Kilburn. Where will our local history journey take us next? If we
head west along Kilburn Lane to Kensal Green, then up the Harrow Road for a few
miles, we’ll come to …. Find out next week, when another writer joins our
“local history in lockdown” team, with a one-off article for you.
