Slow progress on Kings Drive 'shoe box' bungalows

2017 proposal amended Deccember 2018

Plans June 2019

October 2021

Yesterday May 18th 2022

Bemused residents of Kings Drive, Wembley, have been watching the extremely slow progress of Brent Council's building of four estate 'fill-in'  bungalows on the former garages and car park site on the Kings Drive estate. Glimpses of what is going on are quite rare as often there are no workers on site.

Older residents remember the prefabs that were on nearby Pilgrims Way and some compare the bungalows unfavourably with those designs. They also ask why no attempt was made to match the new build to the  red brick of the buildings on either side of the site.

Pilgrims Way Prefabs c1950s (Brent Archives)

When I was a child when one of us had a new pair of shoes we would fight to keep the shoe box so that we could make a 'house', cutting away at the box to make windows and a front door. 

The new bungalows bring back childhood memories...

Kings Drive resident protests to Barry Gardiner over Brent Council's council estate parking plans and raises safety fears

 

The bungalows on the former garage and car park site

Dawn Condouriodise,  a long-term resident of the Kings Drive council estate has turned to Brent North MP Barry Gardiner, in a desperate attempt to draw attention to the problems posed, especially for the elderly and lone women, by the removal of parking places on the estate:

 You may remember back in 2017, myself and all the residents here opposing Brent Council’s plan to demolish our garages and car park (Your ref. MB/ZA23665), to replace them with ‘affordable bungalows’, although when my neighbour enquired about putting her name on the list for one at a Brent Housing Partnership meeting, she was told by a representative, that she couldn’t afford one.

Firstly, they sold our Grade II Listed Town Hall to the French school at the bottom of what was our relatively quiet road, and Kings Drive has been lined with parked cars connected to it ever since.  Despite the council’s own parking survey confirming 100% occupancy, and a petition signed by all the residents (council and private), they went ahead and bungalows (with parking and gardens) are now being completed.

I was evicted from my garage of 15 years and 6 weeks later, after parking my car where Brent Council suggested; Greenhill, a quiet turning off Kings Drive, and where a man was previously found shot dead in his car, my car was stolen, and I’m forced to continue parking there every night when I return from visiting my mother in a nursing home, as there is no space closer to home.

All the residents here are resigned to the fact that Brent Council has no concern for residents but what they are planning to inflict on us this time, is the most stress inducing yet.

Kings Drive parking spaces marked in green

All Kings Drive residents have received a letter informing us that, not content with taking away our main car park, Brent Council now intend painting double yellow ‘no waiting at any time’ lines throughout the area, which according to their plan will leave approximately 12-14 parking spaces for 114 flats. Their letter also states that there will be no parking for visitors. Of course, that will include carers, district nurses, deliveries, services. The list goes on, and would halt visits to elderly or disabled who rely on their children to take them out. Those that do drive will be hesitant to venture out because they won’t be able to park when they return, which would force them into isolation. I wouldn’t even be able to stop outside to bring bags of shopping up, before driving back out into the night in search of somewhere to park, so would have to carry it all back, and I don’t know if I could with my painful arthritic hips.

You may remember I previously mentioned that we live at the top of one of the steepest hills in Wembley with our closest public transport a long steep hill down one side to the main road, and a steep walk the other side down to the end of this large cul-de-sac and a quiet bus stop, where residents don’t like to go because of previous muggings there; and at one end of Fryent Country Park, where 2 sisters were found murdered last year.

As you can imagine, everyone here is shocked and worried, because if this plan goes ahead, it will leave all of us (but 12-14) forced out onto the streets beyond to search for somewhere to park (where most streets already have yellow lines).  We have all seen the horror stories on TV News and in the newspapers about women being attacked walking home at night. Being forced to park away from home would put our safety at risk, and mine already is.

Brent Council have brought more traffic here and the residents, some who have lived here for over 50 years like me, are suffering as more and more space is taken away.

Apparently, they are engaging with a parking enforcement agency in order to fine us if we do park on the yellow lines and plan to charge us for parking permits for 12-14 spaces?  If they want to fine people for parking irresponsibly, then so be it, but to even consider forcing residents (many of them elderly) and myself, a lone woman, out into the abyss to search for a place to park without a yellow line is despicable.

We could get another petition opposing this plan signed by everyone here, although we know from past experience that it would be completely ignored by Brent Council. They will go through the motions of surveys and consultations, but residents know that they have no interest in our views, will overrule any opposition, and it seems, will go to any lengths to build and increase the coffers, despite the consequences and safety of the residents they are supposed to be responsible to/for.

Is this what we pay Council tax for? To make our lives as miserable as possible?

 

Parking chaos in Kings Drive will worsen when new bungalows replace garages

Kings Drive is a pleasant council estate in Wembley with a mixture of blocks of flats, town houses and terraced houses. It has many mature trees and grass verges. Apart from Kings Drive itself (a dead-end road) it consists of cul-de-sacs including one which at present is for car parking only, but where four bungalows are due to be built.

Parking problems have increased recently with more tenants having cars. The curtailment of the estate's already unreliable 206 bus route on the increased number of Wembley event days has unfortunately served an incentive to car ownership.  Residents argue that the removal of parking spaces and the addition of 4 bungalows when the garage site off King's Drive is redeveloped LINK will mean more parking problems.

Padlocks have appeared on the garages that are presently on the site and residents have been told it will be cleared ready for demolition by March 22nd.

When the planning application to demolish the garages currently occupying the car park site and build bungalows instead was made, the Council argued that the garages were under-used. Residents responded that they had been deliberately run-down and not let.  The Council argued that spaces on Greenhill Way, off Kings Drive, could be used for parking but that is some distance from the estate and is often full of cars, partly by council workers who park there to avoid parking charges and walk to Brent Civic Centre.

At present residents in Saltcroft Close suffer frequent missed waste collections because the bin lorries are unable to access the close because of parked cars.  Grass verges have been turned into mud when cars mount it to gain access or to actually park their cars when no other spaces are available.

King's Drive resident Dawn Condouriodise has protested to Brent Council CEO Carolyn Downs and councillors about the issue:

Dear Ms. Downs,

Despite a petition signed by 100+ concerned residents against losing our garages and car park, and confirmation that Kings Drive was/is indeed full to capacity by parking surveys carried out by Brent Housing Partnership/Council, during the planning process, planning permission was still granted to eliminate our garages and car park and replace them with 4 bungalows with gardens and parking spaces.

Kings Drive is lined with cars head to tail every day and after 6.00 the small car parks throughout the estate are packed with cars, double parked, treble parked and in desperation, on the grass.

We all know about the increase in knife and gun crime around London and Wembley is no different. Only recently a man was found shot dead in his car in Greenhill Way, a distance away from our estate, and the police have now placed signs ‘Criminals Beware’, on the very street that Brent council suggested residents park after our car park is demolished.

Is that where I should look for a car space at 9.00 every night when I return from visiting my mother in a nursing home? That’s if there is a space after all the cars that line the car park every night are forced out onto the road. If not, how far from my safe zone will I have to go.

As well as many young families, there is an ageing community up here and we’ve always felt safe in the confines of our estate until now, with the prospect of being forced out to roam the streets for a parking place.

Is Brent Council really willing to put the safety of residents, some who have lived here for over 50 years at risk, in their quest to build these 4 bungalows, that we were lead to believe were affordable housing, but which we discovered were not, as confirmed when my neighbour requested being put on the waiting list for one, and was told by Brent Housing Partnership at an estate meeting, that they were to be private and she couldn’t afford it.

Use London Transport? This is a no through road with a bus stop at the bottom of one side of the steep hill we live on, where 2 elderly women were recently mugged in daylight and another bus stop at the bottom of Kings Drive where gangs congregate at night and mugged my neighbour as he was walking up the road and incidentally also where my mother was mugged years ago twice, in broad daylight. Would you want your mother or daughter to walk up from there? or to be searching there for a car space after dark?

We all know about the need for more housing to accommodate the increasing influx of people to our area and around Wembley Stadium thousands of homes are being built continuously.  Isn’t that enough without destroying our safe area.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Brent Council was responsible for the safety and welfare of its residents, or is empire building their only concern now, whatever the consequences.

The worrying question is what is more important to Brent Council, the safety of its residents or 4 bungalows ? I fear the latter.

I can only hope I am proved wrong for the sake of my safety, the safety of all the anxious families involved with that petition and everyone in this area who use the car park.

Brent Council's Operational Director of Housing, Hakeem Osinaike  replied:

Thank you for your email of 19 February, which has been passed to me for a response. I am very sorry to hear about your concerns and hope that the contents of this email will go some way to allay some of your concerns.

You are right, the Council has granted planning permission for four bungalows on the site you refer to, following the statutory consultation process. This project is part of the Council’s new affordable home programme, in conjunction with the Mayor of London’ Building Council Homes for Londoners programme. The programme’s main objective is to increase the supply of good quality and affordable homes for the residents of Brent. 

London has a housing crisis and Brent has been hit hard by this. Currently in Brent, we have 3,397 households on the Waiting List who have been identified as being in priority need for housing and more gets added every day. From our current stock and supply from Housing Association partners, we currently let about 600 homes a year. It is therefore clear that we need to do something significant to address this issue, which is why we have started a programme to build over 800 new homes across the borough. Land as you may already know is in short supply in London and Brent in particular. Brent has therefore targeted sites which are under-utilised and in our ownership in the first instance, because this minimises the build costs and enables us to start work solving this crisis as soon as possible.

As part of the planning process, parking will always be part of the consideration for a new development and due regard will be given to the needs of current occupants and the households who will live in the new homes. Having said that, whilst we do not wish to trivialise the impact or give undue consideration to the problems caused by reduced parking, we have to consider a balance between parking and our ability to deliver solutions that go in some small way to solving the very real housing problems that people on low incomes are now facing.

I am sorry to hear that you feel frightened and unsafe in the area and I am truly sorry to hear about the bad experiences that you have had in the past. I would however suggest that should you be concerned about your safety in future, you should report this to the Police in the first instance.

I apologise if this is not the response you wanted to hear, however the need to supply more council homes is now a priority for the London Borough of Brent.

This is clearly a problem with no easy answers: we need more council housing but not at the expense of existing tenants, we need fewer cars on the road but must have viable and safe public transport alternatives, and the council should recognise that 'car-free developments' often result in transferring additional parking demand to nearby roads.

Commenting on this article, Michael Pavey, Labour councillor for Barnhill ward said:

"It is ludicrous to remove garages when the parking in an area is already overwhelmed. We absolutely need new homes in Brent, but this cannot be at the expense of our existing communities. Residents have been crystal clear in their opposition to this scheme from the very outset but sadly the Council has consistently ignored their concerns." 

Public Square section of £17.8m Pedway deal goes through plus estate 'in-fill' housing

It was the first meeting of the new Planning Committee yesterday evening. Members not only had to cope with hefty agenda papers but a detailed late Supplementary Report on several of the items.  Committee Chair Cllr James Denselow pointed out that most of them were new to the job and it was clear throughout the meeting that he was heavily dependent on planning officer David Glover who sat next to him and the pair were regularly engaged in urgent conversation while the meeting went on around them.

Old hands Cllr Maurice (Conservative) and Cllr Colacicco are still on the committee. Of the newcomers Cllr Abdi, Hylton and Sangani were most vocal and Cllr Johnson as vice chair made some useful interventions.

The most far reaching proposal was left until last when most of the public attending had gone home.  This is the proposal for a new public square with colonnade and canopy beside the Civic Centre that Brent Council sought to gain from using £17.8m of Community Infrastructure Levy for changes to the public realm on Olympic Way.  The overall scheme  includes the replacement of the stadium pedway by steps - a matter barely mentioned last night as it will involve a separate application. The proposal involves modifications of the outline planning permission that had already been granted to Quintain for a building on Plot NW04 and the scheme approved last night is dependent on the removal of the pedway.

It was interesting that in the earlier discussion about the Ark Somerville primary school the impression was given that the granting of outline permission earlier for the wider area, but including the school, was pretty well set in stone and could not be changed.

The public were there for much smaller schemes but ones that directly impacted on their homes  and lives in different neighbourhoods.  The proposals were part of the 'in-fill' of estates to provide more 'affordable homes' and affected Kings Drive in Wembley, Carlyon Close in Alperton and Stonebridge Park.  In each  case residents protested loss of amenity - for Kings Drive, parking spaces; Carlyon Close opening up the quiet close to through pedestrian traffic; and Stonebridge Park the impact on green space.

Denselow throughout the meeting kept emphasising that the Council had to meet the target of building 9,000 new homes by 2028 and it was not surprising that all the applications were approved. The loss of amenity for current residents was out balanced by the provision of new homes.

However it was good to see the definition of 'affordable' questioned and the committee were told that this was 80% of market rent (rather than the Mayor's London Living Rent) though that might be reduced for tenants nominated by the Council.  I hope that committee members will continue to plug away on this when Quintain puts in more applications as the assumption appears to be that the 9,000 will help cut Brent's 4,000 strong waiting list - not at 80% of market rent it won't.

The effectiveness of the planning department's consultation and communication with residents came up several times and this desreves further consideration. Residents' accounts of the consultation process suggested major improvement is needed.

Plans for bungalows on Kings Drive garage site to be decided on Wednesday

The trees behind the garages are in the gardens of Barnhill residents

The car park, eventual access to the bungalows

The 'poor quality' trees on the boundary

3D view of the development, note the absence of the Barnhill garden trees behind the bungalows

Ariel view. Expensive private Barnhill houses on left, Kings Dricve council estate on the right

Site at present with garages

Proposed site plan

I have to state an interest on this issue as I am a resident on the King's Drive/Pilgrims Way estate although not in the immediate vicinity of this planned development. The proposal to build four affordable bungalow homes on the current garage site is part of a Council strategy to find space for new homes on Brent estates on under-utilised or redundant areas. Details of schemes across the borough can be found HERE.

This scheme aroused a lot of opposition on the estate and hence the referral to Planning Committee for their consideration. The issue is one of balancing the need for new affordable homes with potential loss of amenity to current residents. In particular estate residents felt that the garages had been deliberately run down and not marketed for rent which enabled the Council to declare them not needed.  There was also concern at the potential loss of parking spaces and the loss of the trees. The garages form a sort of barrier between the expensive private houses of Barnhill and the council house blocks with the mature trees in the Barnhill gardens screening the view of the blocks.

There was no detailed survey of the Barnhill garden trees but the report, answering concerns about the trees overhanging the bungalows, says that under common law they can be cut back to the boundary.

A parking space will be provided for each bungalow and an additional 25 'communal' parking spaces will be provided. When I visited this evening there were 25 cars parked on the site.

A potential problem is difficulty of access. This is already a problem on the estate's cul-de-sac roads with parked vehicles blocking access to delivery lorries. Residents on Saltcroft Close suffer from many missed blue and grey bin collections because of this issue. They were not collected this week.

Full report HERE

Revised plans for replacing King's Drive estate garages with bungalows

£

The plan - trees to be removed in red

Proposed bungalows

The site at present

 Brent Council (formerly BHP) have been seeking areas of the borough's council estates to build new homes in its Refill Development Programme in an attempt  to build more affordable homes to alleviate the housing shortage in the borough.

Modified plans have been published to replace garages on the King's Drive Estate (between Barn Hill (the road) and King's Drive. After initial consultation the plans were put on hold due to the surprise General Election but attracted local opposition include a 100 signature petition.

Opposition came from residents of the large private homes on Barn Hill whose gardens back on to the estate and residents of the blocks on the estate. The former concentrated on the loss of trees that screen their gardens from the estate and the latter on the loss of car parking, citing shortage of parking as a continuing problem on the estate. The revised plan includes re-provision of 25 parking places for residents

Objections have also been made to the design of the proposed 4 flat-roofed bungalows and the fact that vehicular access will be restricted which is a problem on the closes on the estate with large refuse lorries often encountering problems.

King's Drive residents have accused Brent Council/BHP of deliberately running down the garages that will be replaced by the bungalows and allege that tenants were not given sufficient notice of eviction. Similar allegations have been made on other estates. 

A King's Drive resident's submission on the Planning Portal:

I have resided at the above address for over twenty years. It is a ground floor flat with the rear elevation backing onto the said garages. My living room and main bedroom overlook this view, which I would describe as quiet, with a pleasant aspect of trees, grass and wildlife. Since 2017 it has however been in a state of ‘limbo’ since myself and other residents were (with very little notice) rudely EVICTED from these garages. 


This has resulted in people from outside the estate ‘dumping’ vehicles and rubbish in front of the garages. In fact, one of the garages has been forced open and filled with car tyres. Most unpleasant environmentally? and a fire hazard! One of my main objections to the proposal is that after the recent introduction of increased parking restrictions to our area there is already a shortage of parking for the tenants and visiting tradesmen to the estate. This will only be exasperated if the building of the bungalows goes ahead. The proposed plan for extra parking provisions for existing  tenants has not been properly thought through, and could only ever be achieved with the wilful destruction of more trees and foliage to the rear of my property.

If this building goes ahead the noise, dust and vibrations will be intolerable whilst under construction. Upon completion my ‘block’ of flats will be in very close proximity to the bungalows. In fact, my ground floor flat is at the bottom of a grassed slope, which is below the projected level of the new builds, so the occupants and their vehicles will face directly down into my living room and bedroom areas leaving me with a loss of privacy, light and what was a ‘green’ outlook. The pollution of noise and dust from further occupants and their vehicles is not something that my husband and I look forward to as we are both pensioners in our seventies. We, like all the other residents enjoy the open environmental character of the area, in particular as we are on the edge of Fryent Country Park, but I fear that this is just the beginning of an erosion of this irreplaceable treasure.

In conclusion, the garages have been deliberately allowed to decay through lack of maintenance as an excuse for demolition!  

Although myself and other residents use public transport whenever practicable, Brent have a duty of care to their existing tenants to provide reasonably safe and secure parking facilities rather than misappropriate them.

Please do not allow this to happen.

Clearly the needs of people on the housing waiting list have to be balanced with the quality of provision for those living on the estate and environmental issues but the council seems not to have helped themselves win over people  through clumsy consultation that residents allege has used misleading photographs and statistics.

A report to Housing Scrutiny Committee LINK puts the building costs of the 4  units at a total of  £1,950,000 which seems quite steep considering the quality of the buildings shown in the artist's impression above.

They even managed to get the date of the amended description wrong on the Site Notice:

Further details can be found on the Planning Portal (Ref 17/5416) LINK

 Details of the Infill Development proposals across the borough are in the document below:

Exhibition on King's Drive 'garages into homes' exhibition postponed

Brent Housing Partnership has postponed the Exhibition due to be held on May 9th about the proposal to build bungalows on the site of King's Drive garages. LINK

This is a result of Brent Council deciding that all public consultations on new developments should be postponed until after the General Election.

Council bid to turn garages into homes

The site in King's Drive, Wembley

Brent Housing Partnership is to hold a Public Exhibition on the King's Drive Estate, Wembley on proposals to build bungalows on the site of garages just off King's Drive.  The proposal is similar to the one at John Perrin's Place LINK and a consequence of Brent Council seeking sites in the borough to build much needed affordable housing.

Parking is a problem on the estate and although the garages are under-used  the access road is used for car parking by people who live in the blocks of flats.

The Exhibition will be held at the Robert Hartley Centre on Tuesday 9th May from 4.30pm - 7.30pm. NOW POSTPONED DUE TO THE GENERAL ELECTION

Declaration of interest: I live on this estate

Sharp surprise in store for bottoms relaxing on a Wembley street

Fed up with people sitting on their boundary wall and dropping litter into the grounds, landlords of Kings Court, Kings Drive, Wembley have turned to nature for a remedy.

Planting of pyracantha shrubs all along the low street wall has now been completed. Pyracantha is known for its sharp thorns so once the shrubs have grown a little more anyone sitting on the wall will get a sharp jab up the backside.

Meanwhile just around the corner, the Winston Churchill Lycee, occupying the old Brent Town Hall, has planted the more benign English privet along its boundary wall with Forty Lane.

Community Day - Kings Drive - Saturday

Brent Council to act on pedestrian safety in Forty Lane traffic corridor

Bird's Eye view of the two junctions (photo taken before Asda petrol station was constructed)

Local residents,  have been in contact with Brent Council to express concern about pedestrian safety at the Bridge Road/Forty Avenue/Barnhill junction and the junction of Forty Lane/Kings Drive and the Asda petrol station and car park. LINK

Children from The Ark Aademy (Primary and Secondary), Michaela Secondary, Lycee de Londres (Primary and Secondary) and Chalkhill Primary all use these crossings.

Brent Council has now sent this response:

Thank you for contacting us with your concerns about pedestrian safety at the junction of Kings Drive and Forty Lane.

I can assure you that pedestrian safety, particularly for vulnerable pedestrians such as children, is a high priority and we are active in introducing road safety measures for the benefit of all road users. Funding has been prioritised for road safety and accessibility improvements to the Forty Lane Corridor between Bridge Road and The Paddocks through our 2016/17 Local Implementation Plan (LIP) submission. A transport study is currently in progress to develop designs to improve pedestrian accessibility and safety, and congestion along this corridor with improvements to the Forty Lane/ Forty Avenue/ Bridge Road / Barnhill signal junction envisaged to commence from Summer 2016, subject to consultation. 

I acknowledge the need for immediate action to discourage motorists contravening the traffic regulations at the junction of Kings Drive and Forty Lane. We shall therefore review the existing signage and road markings to improve compliance and this will include the introduction of camera enforcement signs along with increased enforcement during peak hours to target habitual offenders.

Regards,

Sandor Fazekas
Project Development Manager
Transportation
Community Services

Extract from LIP report to be discussed at the Brent Cabinet Meeting on Monday. Child pedestrian traffic has increased considerably since April 2012 with the opening of new schools and expansion in the immediate vicinity.