Further reports on Marylebone Boys School applications for tonight's Planning Committee

A Supplementary Report LINK  has been published for tonight's meeting which provides additional information on the two applications from Marylebone Boys Free School.

Further objections have been received regarding the temporary 4 storey modular building the school wants to build in Brondesbury Park LINK :

One additional objection has been received since the publication of the committee report resulting in a total of three objections from residents and an objection from Cllr Shaw.

This most recent objection raises the following concerns:

· Impact of another school on noise, parking and the peaceful enjoyment of the area.

· The proposal does not benefit residents of Brent.

· The distance of the school from Westminster will lead to many more parents dropping their children off and picking them up by car.

· There are existing traffic problems around Mallorees and on Salusbury Road and Brondesbury Park.

·The site offers visual amenity for the local community and sanctuary for urban wildlife.

·Object to any tree being removed or harmed for a temporary development.

· A four floor building will change the character of the site and is too high and dense.

· Cheap modular construction does nothing to ameliorate the aesthetics of our built environment, nor is it environmentally sustainable

· It’s not clear what will happen to the site once the school no longer need the facility which is important as this application could set a precedent for future development.

Officers respond to these objections in the rport. They also confirm that the other application, to fence off space outside the school's current building  LINK at the former College of North West London College building in Kilburn, includes space owned by Brent Housing Partnership.  This is between the school and Ryde House. BHP confirme that haing originally objected to the proposal they have withdrawn their objection following 'negotiations with the applicant.'

The report also lists further objections by resdients'associations to the proposal for the Moberly Sports Centre in Kilburn Lane

The Planning Committee is at 7pm this evening at Brent Civic Centre.  The public may attend and there are likely to be several delegations from local residents and organisations on various agenda items. A major item will be the proposed expansion of Byron Court Primary School. LINK

Wembley French School fuelling house price inflation?

Work underway to convert Brent Town Hall into a school

The Guardian recently reported that percentage house price increases in Brent were the highest in London, fed by the gentrification of some areas in the south of the borough.  LINK

The lack of affordable housing in new developments such as Willesden Green Library, Bridge Park and Moberly Sports Centre is a real issue. Brent Council have agreed that developers are excused the usual 50% affordable (although there is a debate about what exactly is an affordable rent) allocation in exchange for the 'free' building of community amenities such as cultural centres and sports centres. We need the amenities but we also need housing.

Now it appears that the Wembley French School is contributing to rising house prices in some areas of the borough. Parents of pupils due to attend the private fee paying school have been reported looking for properties in Queens Park, Kensal Rise and Dollis Hill.  One estate agent serving those wards told me that the would be purchasers 'have plenty of money'.  Agents in Wembley Park, close to the actual school, told me that they have not discerned any interest from French purchasers in the local area.

The proposed private sector landlord licensing scheme (to be discussed at the April 21st Executive) may have the unintended consequence of reducing the amount of private rental as the Council acts against over-crowding and illegal conversions in the sector. Again we need to act against exploitative landlords and poor quality housing but also need to be providing alternative accommodation for those likely to be hit.

Against the background of the Panorama programme and the forced movement of families out of the borough into accommodation in Birmingham, Milton Kenyes and Luton it does seem that major demographic changes are in process.

Brent approves Moberly Sports Centre development

After extensive discussion, much of it concerned with the lack of affordable housing in the development, Brent Planning Committee approved the redevelopment of the Moberly Sports Centre. A speaker from Wilmott Dixon said that they would not be able to provide a high quality sports centre if they were required to build affordable rather than market housing. He said that Brent and Westminster councils had accepted this.

Cllr Mashari who is responsible for sports told the committee that the new centre was required to give an opportunity to the large number of people in the south of the borough who do not partake in regular physical activity which contributes to ill health. The centre represented a bargain for local people who would benefit from superior facilities at special concessionary rates negotiated for disabled, unemployed and low wage residents.

The application was approved with 7 for, 1 abstention and 1 against.

Approval is subject to any direction by the Mayor of London to refuse the application. He has 14 days to allow the draft decision to proceed unchanged or direct the Council to refuse the application.

Border dispute over Moberly/Jubilee sports centre development to be decided tomorrow

Flyer issued by Kensal Trian gle Residents earlier this year

Controversy over developments on the borders of Brent and other boroughs have been quite a feature recently: Brent Cross: (Brent and Barnet), Welsh Harp-West Hendon Estate (Brent and Barnet), Harlesden Incinerator (Brent and Ealing) and are now joined by the Moberly Sports Centre (Brent and Westminster).

Tonight the Moberly application will be heard by the planning committee and a lobby is planned by the mainly Westminster group, Save the Jubilee Sports Centre, to persuade Brent not to grant planning committee. Brent officers' with some conditions have recommended approving the application.

The Moberly is situated in Brent on the border of Westminster but owned and run by Westminster City Council.

Save Our Jubilee campaign has been given space on the blog  LINK of Westminster Labour councillors to argue their case:

The Save Our Jubilee campaign has been fighting Westminster City Council to keep the much-needed sports facilities at the Jubilee Centre, one of Westminster’s two most deprived wards.

Westminster’s plan for the new Moberly sports centre is part of a wider plan which involves the demolition of the Jubilee centre and its replacement by market housing. The plan involves combining most of the facilities provided at the Jubilee and Moberly now in one new centre.

We think it isn’t a good deal for Brent residents. This is why.

1. No affordable housing will be provided to meet the desperate needs of Brent residents. Brent’s Site Specific Allocations DPD identifies the Moberly site as one that could be redeveloped to improve the existing sports and nursery facilities and in addition to provide 104 housing units. Brent would normally expect half of these to be affordable – a valuable contribution to meeting housing needs in the borough. Westminster are proposing 71 flats (fewer than Brent thought the site might accommodate) and all these will be market housing for sale with no affordable units included.

2. Loss of daylight and sunlight to neighbouring properties. Westminster City Council’s decision to relocate services from the Jubilee to the Moberly site has resulted in a massive new building, seven storeys high at the northern end, which will rob neighbouring homes in Brent of daylight and sunlight. As a result, properties in Chamberlayne Road, City Heights and Noko will experience daylight levels below BRE guidelines, while properties in City Heights and Noko will have no direct sunlight at any time of the day. The Report attempts to justify this on the grounds that the developers of Cityview and Noko should have anticipated the redevelopment of the Moberly site. But they were facing an open space. It was reasonable for everyone to assume that this would be left undeveloped in line with Brent’s planning policies.

3. Loss of outdoor sports facilities. On the north side of the Moberly site there is an 18 x 36 metre floodlit artificial turf pitch used mainly as a football pitch by local youth clubs and adult teams. The report Planning for Sport and Active Recreation Facilities produced jointly by the London Borough of Brent and Sports England in 2008, looked at the distribution of STPs (Synthetic Turf Pitches) across the borough and considered that the south of the borough was adequately served by the pitch at the Moberly. However, if Westminster’s application for the Moberly site is approved, this pitch will be lost and, as a result, wards in the south of Brent will no longer meet minimum standards for outdoor pitch provision. The replacement pitch offered is in Westminster, 1.2 miles away, nearly in Maida Vale – and foreign territory for most of the Brent and Queen’s Park youngsters who use the Moberly now.

4. Replacement, not better provision. Westminster City Council argues that the benefits provided to Brent residents by the new sports centre are so exceptional that Brent’s policies in relation to affordable housing and overshadowing should be set aside We say that, contrary to Westminster’s claims, the benefits offered by the new development are in no way exceptional. The new centre will, firstly, not provide any more usable leisure space than exists now and, secondly, the facilities mainly replace sports facilities already provided in the existing Moberly and Jubilee centres – which include a 25 metre pool, two sports halls, and gym and fitness suites..

For these reasons, we hope that the current planning proposals by Westminster will be refused by Brent Council at the Planning Committee meeting on 9th April.

There were 29 comments opposed to the proposal (along the lines of the above) and 12 in favour on the following grounds:

• The facility will provide excellent sports facilities in an area which does not have easy access to such facilities
• The proposed development will benefit sports provision in local schools
• The proposed development will increase visitors to the area which will be good for local businesses.
•  The proposed sports facility will benefit the health of local residents.
•  The building is of an appropriate size similar to neighbouring City View
• The proposal will be an improvement on the existing dilapidated facilities.
• The cost of the development will not be to taxpayers but the facilities will benefit all residents

Kensal Triangle Residents' Association have maintained a neutral stance on the issue with opinion divided between supporters and opponents.

There will be an arrangement giving Brent residents access to the Centre. The proposed facility would have a floor area of 9293 sqm and would include the following facilities:

•  25m 6-lane swimming pool;
•  8-court sports hall;
•  Boxing hall
• Multi-use sports hall
• Community Activity Room
• Fitness suite
• Three exercise studios
• Health Spa

In its comments supporting the proposals Brent Parks and Sports Department is decidedly bullish:

Brent’s Sports and Parks service feel that the redevelopment of Moberly sports centre will bring fantastic new opportunities for Brent’s residents to take part in a wide range of sports and recreation activities in this state of the art new leisure facility.

Brent has one of the most inactive adult populations in England and the new opportunities that Moberly bring to increase residents ability to become more active is welcomed. Brent has a number of health inequalities across the Borough including high levels of diabetes and obesity and a more active lifestyle through use of this new sports centre will help people lead a healthier life.

The range of facilities is significantly greater than that at the current Moberly centre. 

The inclusion of swimming pools brings a new facility dimension to the Kilburn area and will offer both adults and children the opportunity to learn and take part in swimming. Swimming was the most frequently participated in sports activity across England according to Sport England’s Active People survey and the provision of only a third pool within the Borough of Brent will enable more people to take part in this popular activity.

The range of different facilities spaces available from boxing to 8 court sports hall, studios and community space reflect that a wide and ranging programme will be offered to the local communities. 

From a strategic perspective, the Borough’s Planning for Sport and Active recreation facilities strategy identifies the need for additional publicly accessible fitness stations and upgraded sports hall provision which Moberly will provide.

The Sport and Active Recreation Facilities Strategy has a number of themes which the provision of a new sports centre at Moberly will help to achieve, namely:

Theme 1: Increase provision of appropriate Facilities

Theme 3: Get more people active

Theme 5: Increase sports opportunities for young people

Theme 7: Improve partnership working

It will also help the Council deliver against it’s Corporate priority of ‘a strong community’ and it’s associated outcome of ‘Excellent sports, leisure and cultural facilities used by more people’. Also the priority ‘Improving health and well-being’ and achieving the outcome of ‘More people living healthier and longer lives’.

In the now familiar mantra associated with such developments (cf Willesden Green Library and the luxury flats sold overseas and the upcoming development at Bridge Park complex) Brent Council accepts the view that provision of ANY affordable housing on site is not viable given the developer's provision of the new Sports Centre:

After careful consideration of the viability issues and in light the high quality sports and leisure facility that will be accessible to Brent residents at the same prices as Westminster residents the lack of affordable housing on-site will be acceptable provided there is an appropriately worded clause in the section 106 agreement to claw back any financial surplus that could be used to support the provision of affordable housing elsewhere in the Borough

It should make for an interesting discussion tomorrow night. The lobby/demonstration outside Brent Civic Centre is due to start at 6.30pm.

It may not be too late to apply to speak on the issue:  Contact: Joe Kwateng, Democratic Services Officer  020 8937 1354, Email: joe.kwateng@brent.gov.uk