Costa vs Customer Centre:? Willesden Green Cultural Centre: Have your say on Monday

The saga of the Willesden Green Library redevelopment continues.  Another promise made to sell the redevelopmet appears to have bitten the dust. Here is an update fron Make Willesden Green LINK

Last month we blogged about the rumours that there would be no Customer Services (previously known as the One Stop Shop) at the new Willesden Green Cultural Centre and that, despite several enquiries from both Make Willesden Green and from individual residents, there was little knowledge of the plans from our councillors although they did promise to keep people informed if, or when, they found out more.

Having not heard anything further we were surprised to see the issue on the agenda at Brent Cabinet last week, hidden within a long document on Community Access Strategy. Two local residents spoke at the Cabinet meeting and raised several queries and objections but the document was approved unamended. There were no representations from any local councillors at the meeting.

The document presented a case to say that, since more residents were using the online service rather than seeking face-to-face contact, there was no longer a need for a dedicated Customer Services space within the Cultural Centre. Instead, self service computers and telephones with a direct line to the Wembley Civic Centre would be placed in the library and a weekly "by appointment only” surgery would be held (in an unspecified space within the Cultural Centre) for those who could not travel to the Wembley Civic Centre. 

The (approx 210sqm) space on the first floor that was to have housed Customer Services is now subject to a “local dialogue” about its alternative use but that use, says the council, will need to be both "of public benefit” and “income-generating”.

It’s a great shame that while the strategy document contains some positive proposals to improve the quality of the council’s online service to residents it seems to have come at a high cost, both to those who are unable to use that mode of communication and to library users who will see their facility further reduced.

Some of the points raised by residents at the meeting were:

• a significant proportion of people still do not have online access, they are most likely to be poorer, elderly, disabled and more vulnerable residents. These are the very people who have complex needs that need to be dealt with face-to-face, rather than via a self-service computer or on the phone.
• the majority of the council’s high need residents live in the south of the borough.
• the housing of the Customer Services self-service computers and telephones within the library will represent a further reduction in the actual library facility – library users will be jostling for space with self-service customers and librarians will be expected to facilitate both sets of users.
• the redevelopment of the library site was “sold” to residents on the basis that the old building couldn’t house an enlarged Customer Services facility, yet we are now going to end up with less than we started with.
• there has been no consultation with local residents on what they feel their needs are relating to Customer Services provision.
• how will the "alternative use" of the space be determined? Is there a contradiction between the need for it to be both “of public benefit’ and “income-generating”? Will the “local dialogue” be nothing more than giving us a choice between a Costa and a Starbucks?

Despite these concerns the proposals were nodded through. The broken promise that the Cultural Centre will mirror services at the Wembley Civic Centre  leaves us yet again feeling like the south of Brent is the poor relation of Wembley and that we are subject to a two tier service when it comes to council provision.

Having made this decision without any reference to residents views, Brent Council is hosting a meeting next week, the agenda is to include:

• An update on progress with the building and services
• A presentation from the building designers and a chance to take part in design workshops for the interior
• A chance to give your views on how the community can be involved and put this building at the centre of life in Willesden

Monday 27 October 2014  6:30-8:30pm
St Andrews Parish Centre, 2 St Andrews Road, NW10 2QS

All residents are invited to attend and we encourage you to do so.

The original Brent Council offer for the Cultural Centre is worth revisiitng ahead of this meeting. It can be found in the Equality Impact Assessment HERE

How the Greens performed in the Brent local elections

The Green Party stood one candidate in every Brent ward except for Willesden Green, which was where we put in most of our campaigning, where we stood two candidates. We left the third slot free so as to make space for Alex Colas the independent Make Willesden Green candidate.  In the event many voters voted two Green plus MWG . MWG were the single choice of some voters and shared with parties other than the Green Party  in other cases.

The combined percentage vote of the three candidates in Willesden Green was 21%: Make Willesden Green 9%, Sharara Ali 6% and Martin Francis 6%.

The Greens beat both Tory and Lib Dem candidates in Harlesden, Kensal Green and Kilburn. We beat all the Lib Dems in Dudden Hill, Fryent, Kenton, Northwick Park, Preston, Queen's Park, Queensbury and Welsh Harp. We beat all the Tories in Mapesbury and Willesden Green.

Greens were ahead of two out of the three Lib Dem candidates in Barnhill, Brondesbury  Park and Willesden Green and two out of three Tories in Queen's Park.

Our highest percentage votes were in Brondesbury Park, Kensal Green, Mapesbury, Queen's Park and Willesden Green.

Brent Green Party has limited financial and human resources compared with the other parties and therefore had to concentrate on a few wards. However, it is clear that there are many potential Green voters in the borough if only we can reach them through leafleting and personal contact. Our aim must be to substantially increase our active membership and network of supporters while at the same time maintaining and improving our campaigning record.

The Euro election results later today should give us further indications of our potential support.

Looking forward to the General Election in 2015 the 'Vote for Policies' website  LINK shows Greens ahead of the other parties in Brent Central. People vote purely on policies without knowing which party they emanate from until completion:

Green Party 25.95%
Labour 23.07%
Liberal Democrats: 17.47%
Conservative 14.77%
UKIP 10.51%
BNP 8.23%

The figures for Brent North also put the Greens ahead LINK

Green Party 24.01%
Labour 22.74%
Liberal Democrats 16.13%
Conservative 15.12%
UKIP 12.48%
BNP 9.52%

Meanwhile, for any individual their political party  affiliation is a matter of 'best fit'  rather than 'I agree with every item in the manifesto'. I hope that some Wembley Matters readers will take note of this election result and come and join us.

More than ever, we are the alternative.

Independent performs well as Labour vote strengthens in early Brent results

The first results of the Brent Council elections only began to emerge as dawn broke over Wembley Stadium.  The first result in Kensal Green surprised many with a Labour win but the Greens beating the Lib Dems and Tories.  The Labour vote was generally strong but Brondesbury Park bucked the trend returing three Conservative councillors where only one had existed before. The one iscolourful Carol Shaw who is recognised as being extremely strong on casework.

In the eagerly awaited Willesden Green contest Labour won all three seats but Alex Colas, the Independent Make Willesden Green candidate gained 846 votes, more than the Greens, Lib Dems and Tories.  The Greens beat all the Tories and two of the Lib Dems.

The Lib Dem vote appeared to be crumbling but some of their stronger wards had yet to declare at the time of writing.

Make Willesden Green helps reinvigorate local democracy

Shahrar Ali, Alex Colas and Martin Francis - Willesden Green, Saturday (I've forgotten the joke...)

By chance Make Willesden Green and Brent Green Party were the only campaigners outside Willesden Green Sainsbury's on Saturday where this picture was taken.

A passerby stopped me to say how glad she was to have a real choice on the ballot paper this time round and promised that her three votes will be dividided between votes for the two Green candidates and a vote for Alex Colas. She was not the first person to signal this intention and it is clear on the Willesden Green streets that Alex is winning the poster war.

Make Willesden Green invited us to their picnic on Villiers road that was held to celebrate the completion of canvassing and to thank the 24 or so local supporters who have been working for the campaign.

Alex Colas generously acknowledged the contribition I had made to the Willesden Green Library, Willesden Bookshop and Gladstone Park Primary school campaigns. Make Willesden Green had emerged from those campaigns as a way of local residents using the strength they had gained from those struggles to attempt to reclaim a voice in their community and to hold the council to account.

A former Labour Party member told me how much she had enjoyed working with Make Willesden Green. She had left the Labour Party because 'I could not stomach the idea of campaigning for  Dawn Butler'.

Whatever the outcome of Thursday there is no doubt that Make Willesden Green has already gained a victory of sorts in showing that an independent, broadly based grouping, can mount a highly professional and impassioned campaign.

They have contributed much to reinvigorating local democracy and giving the community a positive focus.

Crowds turn out to save the Queensbury Pub

Young people make their view known

 Members of the Brent Planning Committee were left in no doubt how much local people value the Queensbury Pub whene they were greeted be a great crowd on their site visit this morning.

Local people expressed concerns at losing a pub which provides a social hub for the area which is safe for women to visit on their own and a base for the Busy Rascals pre-school group and the National Childbirth Trust. Tom Miller, a prospective Labour candidate in the local elections, said it was a valued meeting place for young professionals like himself to meet.

Alex Colas of Make Willesden Green

Alex Colas, the independent Make Willesden Green candidate, asked searching questions about the lack of affordable housing in the developer's plans. Only 18% of the proposed housing would be affordable against the recommended 50% and he demanded to know why the Council had not insisted on more. He was told that it was a matter of financial viability.  Around the corner Brent Labour were campaigning outside Sainsbury's on the housing crisis.

 

Other residents focused on the proposed 10 storey block and how it would not fit in with the townscape and completely contradicted the Conservation Area status of its surroundings. One resident said, 'If I wanted to paint my house red you wouldn't allow it but you allow this monstrosity to be put up!'

Concern was also expressed about the provision of interim accommodation for Busy Rascals with recent proposals dismissed as cosmetic.

The decision about the future of the Queensbury will be made at the Planning Committee meeting which takes place at 7pm at Brent Civic Centre (directions here) on March 12th . Again your presence is needed.

Anyone wanting to travel together to the Planning Committee meeting on 12th March should meet at Willesden Green station at 6.15pm.

Applications to speak on the issue at the Planning Committee should be made to:
Joe Kwateng, Democratic Services Officer  020 8937 1354020 8937 1354, Email: joe.kwateng@brent.gov.uk

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4,000 petitioners demand that the Queensbury Pub be saved for the community

Busy Rascals Mums and toddlers wait to present the petition

Local residents, especially parents from the Busy Rascals group, came along in strength this week, to present a 4,000 plus petition to Cllr Michael Pavey to save the Queensbury Pub from developers. Pavey is Brent Executive member for children and families so may seem a strange choice, but that is because the Queensbury is no ordinary pub - it is now recognised as an 'asset of community value' not just as an exellent pub but as the base for Busy Rascals, a parent and toddler group and National Childbirth Trust meetings.

Pavey received the petition, not in his official role, but as a councillor committed to the interests of children. Independent Make Willesden Green Candidate, Alex Colas (on the left of Michael Pavey) was there to show his support, as was I for the Greens and there were several prospective Labour Party councillors present, but the real message was that this was a non-politically aligned community campaign that intends to fight on for the common good.

Willesden Green has lost too much in the last year or so and cannot afford to lose any more community assets. The Queensbury campaign deserves all our support.

Greens back independent grassroots candidate for Willesden Green

Several members of Brent Green Party attended the Make Willesden Green campaign's policy discussion on Saturday as observers. The participants were local activists and residents, mostly non-party but with some disillusioned Labour supporters, who were concerned about their lack of say in local issues, poor consultation, the loss of some key local amenities, and the feeling that Willesden Green was being changed into a featureless dormitory which would squeeze out poorer people.  The Council was seen as remote and unresponsive.

The meeting was highly positive and very participative and people left determined to exercise some People Power at the local elections in May 2014.

Alex Colas is standing as an independent grassroots candidate in Willesden Green ward. He has worked alongside Green Paty members in several campaigns including the Keep Willesden Green campaign over the redevelopment of the Willesden Green Library and the loss of the Willesden Bookshop and the open space, as well as the continuing campaign against the forced academisation of Gladstone Park Primary School which serves many children from Willesden Green,

Alex wrote a Guest Article in the last edition of Brent Green Party's Willesden Green News.

At the beginning of the well-attended  meeting Alex explained the relationship between MWG and the Greens. MWG is standing on an independent platform and is not a political party and welcomes support from supporters of all parties and none. The 'Green' in Make Willesden Green stands for the place and not the party.

However, the Brent Green Party believe that an independent grassroots councillor for Willesden Green would enhance local democracy and has issued the  following statement:

Brent Green Party welcomes the candidature of Alex Colas who is standing as an independent on the Make Willesden Green platform in Willesden Green ward in the local elections.

We believe that the election of Alex Colas, arising from his principled participation in local campaigns, would be healthy for local democracy.  In recognition of this we will stand only two candidates in the ward and recommend that our supporters give Alex their third vote.

Further information on the Make Willesden Green campaign can be found HERE

Queensbury Campaign invites your caption competition entries

Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt in Willesden Green

Brent Council is carrying out a Week of Action in each ward where ward councillors and officers seek to engage with local residents about local issues.

Willesden Green has been on the receiving end of this initiative where local people are particularly sore at losing the Willesden Bookshop, the open space outside Willesden Green Library (which has just been demolished); the threatened loss to developers of the popular community hub pub, the Queensbury; luxury flats being constructed on council land that has been given to developers being marketed in Singapore with the guarantee that there are no affordable homes or key worker homes on the site; and the failure of  Brent Council to mount a  campaign against the forced academisation of Gladstone Park Primary School.

The Week of Action does not of course have anything to do with all this and neither is it a reaction to the recent launch of the Make Willesden Green election platform LINK where independent candidate for the 2014 council election, Alex Colas, has high-lighted the 'democratic deficit' in the area.

The Queensbury Campaign invites your caption for the above photograph. Post your entries for the caption competition as comments below or tweet to .@QueensburySOS

Wit appreciated and there is a meal for two as a prize.

Make Willesden Campaign hits the ground running

Willesden Green residents active in campaigns over the Willesden Green Library redevelopment, the Willesden Bookshop, Gladstone Park Primary School, council cuts and the Queensbury pub gathered together last night at the launch of the Make Willesden Green local election campaign.

Alex Colas, the candidate for MWG, spoke about how residents felt unrepresented and unsupported by local councillors and others talked of Willesden Green becoming a backwater as Wembley became the focus of the borough. There were fears that Willesden would lose its sense of community as the public realm was degraded and housing became unaffordable for ordinary  families. Recent developments were reducing the area to a dormitory.

Alex said that his campaign would be carrying forward values which had started with the library campaign but would look at the bigger and broader picture in order to influence the council. He said that it would be a local campaign but not a parochial one. The Coalition clearly had a major responsibility for the current situation but the campaign would not let the Council off the hook.  We must fight for a democratic, representative Council.

Alex's agent said that Labour were trying to distance itself from the present administration, which began with Ann John's library closures by choosing new, young candidates for 2014, but the policies remained the same. In Willesden Green, Cllr Lesley Jones, who was part of the Ann John regime, was standing again.

The Make Willesden Green campaign has people responsible for four main areas of policy: education, housing, public realm and local democracy and is welcoming policy ideas from supporters.  It was hoped that people would come forward as 'street reps' to further the campaign.

The Make Willesden Green blog is HERE   Twitter @AlexWG2014

Independent Alex makes grassroots bid for Willesden Green council seat

Willesden Green has had a battering from Brent's Labour Council over the last few years but as a result the community itself has become stronger uniting to try to save its bookshop, the Victorian Library and more recently the Queensbury pub. The much loved and respected Gladstone Park Primary School attracted a determined and imaginative parent campaign when it was faced with forced academisation by Michael Gove with the Council seeming to stand by and do little to help. 

Although some of the causes have been lost and others are yet to be won the legacy is that local residents want to see change. Local resident, parent and anti-cuts activist Alex Colas has decided to champion that change by mounting an independent campaign for the Council under the slogan Make Willesden Green.

He has issued the following invitation:

We will be launching  Make Willesden Green on Wednesday 23 October, from 6-7pm at the Queensbury Deli,  68 Walm Lane, NW2 4RA (the tube station end of the High Road). This will be an informal gathering where you can come to hear more about the campaign, as well as offering your support and ideas. The launch is open to all residents of Willesden Green and neighbouring wards, and children are very welcome.

 The 'Green'  in Make Willesden Green does not refer to the Green Party but to one of a series of demands as Alex explains on his blog: LINK

The ‘Make’ in Willesden Green is all about emphasising the participation of ordinary residents in the public life of our neighbourhood. There is plenty of community activity in Willesden Green – some of it political; other less so. But it tends to be ignored by Brent Council and by our elected officers.

Make Willesden Green was set up over the summer by residents who feel unrepresented by local Councillors and mainstream parties, and who want to redress this imbalance. Our  aim is to make connections between local campaigns like Save the Queensbury, Save Gladstone Park School or Keep Willesden Green, and give them an electoral voice at the Council elections next year. This electoral platform emerges directly from the energies and ideas expressed around these campaigns, but it does not claim their exclusive representation. Instead, Make Willesden Green seeks to continue highlighting the democratic deficit in our Borough by  putting issues of  democracy, equality, sustainability, the defence of public realm and public services at the centre of the electoral campaign.

I have worked closely with Alex on some of these campaigns and along with others in Brent Green Party I am sympathetic to his decision to stand as an independent grassroots councillor. Indeed he wrote a guest column for us in the current edition of our Willesden Green News.  We have yet to finalise our candidates for the local election and decide our strategy in each ward but obviously we will take into consideration our respect for Alex and the platform he represents in Willesden Green ward. For his part Alex says in his guest column:

The Greens are the only local party to have consistently supported grassroots campaigns for democracy in our neighbourhood.

We have a positive record of working with independent campaigns and individuals, as well as other parties, on specific issues such as the Welsh Harp or the recent racist lettings agency issue.

This is the column Alex wrote for Willesen Green News: