Now it finally looks as if the building, which has a controversial
history, is nearing completion! However, it is not that history, or the
architectural merits (or otherwise?) of the new block in its 1930s suburban setting,
which is the main point of this article. It is the name of the building that I
want to share with you - Henry Cooper House.
Why name the building after a famous British boxer? I’m sure it must be because
he lived in the Preston Road area for fifteen years from 1960 to 1975, a time
which included the height of his boxing career. He is mentioned in Part 4 of The Preston Road Story (published on Wembley Matters in 2020), along with information about the
library and Preston Community Library, which began with the support of the
hundreds of local residents who had objected to Brent Council’s plans to close
six of its twelve public libraries in 2011.
Henry Cooper in 1966. (Photo from
“Henry Cooper – the authorised biography”)
Back in November 2018, Wembley Matters shared the news that a blue plaque
to Sir Henry Cooper hand been unveiled above the shop at 4 Ealing Road, where he’d
owned and run a greengrocer’s shop between 1965 and 1968.
Henry Cooper at his shop, and the blue plaque now above it.
As a result of Wembley History Society being asked to support the
efforts of a local resident, who was successful in commemorating Sir Henry with
this blue plaque, I researched and wrote about his life and local links, and also gave an illustrated talk about them last year, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his legendary boxing
match against Cassius Clay (now better known as Muhammed Ali).
A ticket for the Clay v Cooper fight at Wembley Stadium in June 1963. (Image from the internet)
But Henry did not only live in Wembley, at 5 Ledway Drive, for fifteen
years. With his wife, Albina, they raised a family here. I wonder whether they
took their sons, Henry Marco and John Pietro to their local Preston Road
Library, after it opened in 1964?
Albina and Henry at home with their sons in, late 1960s. (Image from the internet)
The naming of the new building as Henry Cooper House was news to me. I
only found out last week, when a local resident tipped me off about it, but it
came as a pleasant surprise. I hope that all twelve of the new Council homes
there will be let to local people in housing need at genuinely affordable rents!
And I wonder if Brent Council will invite Henry and John Cooper to the
official opening of the building named after their father?
The Barham Park Trust Committee, made up solely of members of the Brent Cabinet and chaired by Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt, took just 7 and a half minutes to deal with the CEO's 'High Level' review report into the accounts and the Scrutiny Committee's Report made as a result of the Call-in of the Barham Trust accounts by backbench councillors.
That evening the CEO of Brent attending Scrutiny Commitete seemed reluctanmt (after a slight panic) to reflect on the content of the report when requested by Cllr Anton Georgiou.
Councillor Butt was not paying much attention while the CEO was speaking!
Cllr Butt refused Cllr Georgiou's colleague, Cllr Paul Lorber's request to address the Trustee's at the Barham Park Trust Committee.
This triumph of open government and transparency resulted in the accounts as originally submitted being approved. There was a short reference to the need to collect rents - an issue that Cllr Lorber had first raised as the amounts shown in the accounts was much lesss than the rents due from the occupants of the Barham Park buildings.
The correspondence below speaks for itself - it all took place on January 23rd :
Philip Grant correspondence
This is the
text of an email that I sent to Cllr. Muhammed Butt just before 5pm today. It
was copied to the other four members of the Barham Park Trust Committee, to
Brent's Chief Executive and Corporate Director of Governance, and to Cllr.
Lorber:
'Dear Councillor Butt,
I have read online that you have refused a request from Councillor Paul Lorber
to speak in respect of items 5 and 6 on the agenda for tomorrow morning's meeting
of the Barham Park Trust Committee. Is this true?
If it is true, I am writing to ask, as a citizen of Brent interested in the
workings of democracy, that you change your mind on this, and let Cllr. Lorber
know, without delay, that he will be permitted to speak to the committee.
What your Committee has to decide is whether to reconsider its acceptance of
the Barham Park Trust Annual Report and Accounts, as it has been requested to
do by the Council's Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee.
Surely it is right that the Trust Committee hears all sides of this matter,
before it makes its decision? That is the essence of openness and transparency
in decision making which underpins our democracy.
Not to allow Cllr. Lorber to speak, as long as he does so respectfully, as
required by the Members' Code of Conduct, would reflect very badly on Brent
Council, and on yourself.
Within 15 minutes of sending
the email in "FOR INFORMATION" above, I received the following reply
from Cllr. Muhammed Butt:
'Dear Mr Grant
Thank you for the email and for trying to make the case.
I respectfully have to say the answer is no and will remain a firm no.
Regards
Muhammed
Cllr Muhammed Butt
Leader of Brent Council.'
I did not find that a
satisfactory response to the points I had made, so I sent the following reply
(copied to the same people as my first email) just after 6pm this evening:
'Dear Councillor Butt,
Thank you for your prompt reply to my email.
As you acknowledge, I made a case for Cllr. Lorber to be allowed to speak at
tomorrow's Trust Committee meeting.
You have said that 'the answer is no and will remain a firm no', but you have
not explained your reasons for that.
I'm aware from watching previous Council meetings that there is "no love
lost" between yourself and the former Lib Dem Leader of Brent Council.
However, personal animosity should not influence your actions as Chair of the
Trust Committee (if that is a factor in this case).
Have you taken advice from the Corporate Director for Governance over whether
to block Cllr. Lorber's request to speak? Although you may have the power, as
Chair, to refuse his request, it could be seen as an abuse of power.
Any councillor, and especially a Leader, is expected to demonstrate leadership
by example. I have to say that this appears to me, as an independent observer,
to set a poor example.
Yours,
Philip Grant.
Further to my two "FOR
INFORMATION" comments above, I received the following email from Cllr.
Butt at 7pm this evening:
'Thank you, Mr Grant.
I wouldn't describe the sharing of these exchanges to the Green Party blog to
be either "independent" nor the definition of the public arena either
- but what you do them with is your prerogative.
Cllr Lorber and I perfectly understand one and other, we have been colleagues
on different sides of the council chamber for two decades and I am grateful as
ever for his continued opinions on the matter, as is his right. It is also
perfectly within mine to disagree.
I am clear there has been ample democratic opportunity and copious officer time
and resource afforded to the matter. This item has been discussed at both the
initial Barham Park meeting and at a subsequent scrutiny call-in meeting where
there was repeat opportunity for all members and members of the public to
contribute.
Given this is a reference back of a decision called in by Cllr Lorber the
meeting will continue as planned.
Best wishes and thank you for your continued interest, please feel free to tune
into the next meeting of the next Barham Park Trust meeting.
I wish you all the best and thank you for your continued interest.'
I sent the following reply to the Council Leader at 7.15pm:
'Dear Councillor Butt,
Thank you for your email, and fuller response.
The point I am trying to make is that, although the matter of the accounts has
been looked at in various ways, the meeting of the Barham Park Trust Committee
tomorrow is meant to be reconsidering its original approval of the 2022/23
Annual Report and Accounts, on a referral back from a Scrutiny Committee.
If the Committee is not allowed to hear both sides of the case before making
its decision (even though your own mind may already be made up?), that does not
reflect well on Brent Council's democratic process. Yours sincerely,
Philip Grant.'
This is the final exchange of
emails between Cllr. Butt and myself this evening.
His email highlighted some of its text, and I will put that section in inverted
commas:
'Dear Mr Grant
I think you have missed the point that I made to yourself, so I have highlighted
it for you for clarity.
"I am clear there has been ample democratic opportunity and copious
officer time and resource afforded to the matter. This item has been discussed
at both the initial Barham Park meeting and at a subsequent scrutiny call-in
meeting where there was repeat opportunity for all members and members of the
public to contribute."
I wish you a good evening.'
This was my reply, shortly afterwards:
'Dear Councillor Butt,
Thank you for your email.
I had noted the point you have highlighted, but feel that you are also missing
the point.
However, as our exchanges are, unfortunately, getting nowhere, I will also wish
you a good evening. Yours,
Philip Grant.'
23 January 2024 at 19:46
Paul Lorber
correspondence
In my discussions with the Brent Chief Executive
and the Brent Director of Finance I made it clear that one of the beneficiaries
of the mistakes made by the Trustees and Council Officers was a charity -
Friends of Barham Library - of which I was a Trustee. I was urging them to
correct their errors in the full knowledge that it will cost Friends of Barham
Library money.
One of the material errors made by Council Officers, which the Trustees, including
Cllr Butt, failed to spot was the failure to implement Rental reviews as set
out om the various Leases between The Barham Park Trust and a number of the
organisation (including friends of Barham Library) who rent premises in Barham
Park.
What is wrong with the Barham park Trust 2022/23 Account No.5 deals with this
point.
While throughout this process Cllr Butt and his fellow Trustees refused to
accept that there was anything wrong at precisely 20.11p.m. (some Council
Officers do work late) an officer from the Council's Property Department sent
me an email to advise me that Friends of Barham Library will be subject to a
rent review under the terms of our Lease backdated to October 2021.
I received this email just 36 hours before the Barham Park Trust Meeting due to
start at 9:30am on Wednesday 24 January and after Cllr Butt refused my request
to speak so that I could explain why the Accounts are wrong and what action was
required to correct them.
Brent Council Officers have been charging the wrong rent to one of the tenants
in Barham Park since 2019. Friends of Barham Library rent has been wrong since
2021. I have been pointing this out to the Trustees and to Council Officers for
a very long time.
Assuming that the other tenant was sent a similar email and demand for back
dated rent the Barham Park Trust will be better off by over £18,000.
To date neither Councillor Butt or the Council Officers have had the decency to
admit that I was right or to acknowledge that as a result of my actions the
Barham Park Trust is at last trying to retrieve some of the losses suffered as
a result of their basic mistakes.
In contrast to the Accounts prepared by Council Officers for the Barham Park
Trust which are wrong - the Accounts for Friends of Barham Library are correct.
We knew what our correct rent should have been since 2021 and provided
(accrued) for the extra rent due in our accounts for the last 2 years.
Councillor Butt may ignore the sensible contribution from Philip grant or
silence me and others. He cannot hide the fact that he is WRONG and we are
RIGHT.
Perseverance pays off (as the belated Council action about the rent reviews
highlights) and the fight goes on.
Next weekend (26 to 28 January) is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, and
a chance for us all to take part in the world’s largest garden wildlife survey.
I’m lucky enough to live in a house with a garden, but you don’t need one to
take part. You can watch, and count, on the balcony of a flat, or in a local
park or other open space that birds visit. It just takes an hour of your time,
plus a bit more reporting your results, and you can find out how on the Big Garden Birdwatch website.
2.Greenfinch and Goldfinches around a seed feeder.
You are likely
to see more birds if you are able to provide them with some food during the
winter. Some types of small birds seem to gather in small flocks at this time
of year, and recently we’ve enjoyed having a mixed group of Goldfinches and Greenfinches
coming to our feeders. Although we have a nest box each for Blue Tit and Great
Tit pairs (at opposite ends of our back garden), they also sometimes come to
the garden with Coal Tits and the beautiful little Long Tailed Tits (I’m sorry
that I don’t have a photograph of these to share – they are rather shy!).
3.Great Tit eating seeds, with inset showing its front markings.
4.Blue Tit and Goldfinch near fat ball feeder.
5.Goldfinches waiting while a Starling feeds on fat balls.
A garden bird
that isn’t shy is the Starling, and they will make smaller birds wait while
they feed. Occasionally only a single Starling will arrive, but usually they
appear in a posse – I think the most I’ve counted at one time during a
birdwatch is seventeen. They may look black, but up close, their markings and
colours are amazing, with greens, purples and lots of little white speckles
across their breasts.
As you can see
from some of the other photos, many small birds have some intricate and
colourful markings too. That even goes for the Robin (only one pair in the
garden, as they are very territorial!) and the occasional Sparrow that we see,
usually on the ground under the feeders, picking up what other birds drop.
Although we had
seen Ring-necked Parakeets flying around the area (particularly on Barn Hill)
for a number of years, it was only in 2020 that the first one landed briefly on
a tree in our garden. Now they are regular visitors, often arriving in pairs,
and the most we have seen at one time is six. They seem ready to wait patiently
for their turn, unless something scares them away first. Sunflower seeds are more
popular, but some will also peck at the fat balls.
6.A pair of Parakeets feeding, while another waits.
7.A Ring-necked Parakeet on the fat ball feeder.
The Parakeets
are very agile for their size. The Feral Pigeons and Wood Pigeons that visit
our garden usually can’t get at the feeders, unless there is a conveniently located
branch next to the fat balls. But when other garden birds are busy feeding, we
often see pigeons on the grass underneath, eagerly making the most of the seeds
or bits of fat ball that are dropped.
One Feral Pigeon,
who like the others was too big to use the small bird perch on the seed feeder,
was so keen to get at the food there that it tried to fly up from the ground
and hover. Over a number of days, it gradually developed this “skill”, until it
could spend a few seconds beside the feeding hole. I doubt whether the seeds it
got were worth the energy used in getting them, but it was interesting to watch
this “humming bird” pigeon!
8.The “humming bird” pigeon in action.
Our local Kingsbury
Feral Pigeons usually spend their time, and get their food, in Kingsbury Road
and Roe Green Park. However, one thing we do provide for the birds all year
round is their other vital need, water. I think all the different types of birds
that visit our garden have drunk from our water bowls, but that is not all they
need them for. And when fresh water is put out, it is often Feral Pigeons who
arrive to enjoy it first.
9.Feral Pigeons drinking and bathing in fresh water.
10.A Jay, with its crest up, enjoying a bath.
Jays are not the
only less usual “garden birds” that we are lucky enough to see. We also have
occasional visits from Green Woodpeckers and Great Spotted
Woodpeckers. Water is especially important during dry periods, like those we
often get during the summer, or when the ground is frozen. One of the first
jobs in the morning, in weather such as we’ve had last week, is to put some
extra water in the kettle, when making a cup of tea, so that there is some
available to remove the ice from the top of the water in our bowls. Having water
to drink, when none is available elsewhere, was probably why we had a rare
visit from a Pied Wagtail, last time we had snow lying.
11.Pied Wagtail walking through the snow, after drinking some water.
I would not have
thought of Crows as a garden bird, until one started visiting us five or six
years ago. Within months, the male’s mate was also coming, and since then they
have been a regular part of our garden bird life. Watching their behaviour has
given us a fascinating insight into crow family life, and I will share a little
of that with you.
12.Mr Crow having a bath.
Crows like to
have a bath, sometimes coming back into the bowl several times and splashing
about. On some summer days, Mr Crow gets so wet that he cannot take off, so
hops down the garden and up into our apple tree to preen and dry off, before
flying away. But drinking and bathing is not all that Crows use the water for.
They have a
varied diet, including making use of dropped takeaways, and food found (from
bins?) behind shops and restaurants. Crows can carry surprisingly large items
in their beaks. Sometimes they bring food to wash if they don’t like something
on it (such as peri-peri sauce on their chicken), or if they have buried it and
then dug it up again. At other times, it is to soften up the food - bread,
pizza, meat on bones and dog biscuits (stolen from a neighbour’s garden) are
some examples.
13.Mr Crow with a chip that needs softening.
14.A Crow washing and breaking up a cooked chicken leg.
Softening food
is particularly important when there are young to feed. Bread or meat needs to
be broken up at the bowl, then swallowed into a pouch in their throats to carry
back to the nest. The young Crows, usually two each year, are dependent on food
provided to them for many months. When they do start flying, we often see them
first in a nearby tree. It will be weeks before they are finally confident
enough to come to the garden, still begging food from their parents.
For the rest of
their first year, the young Crows are steadily educated (and disciplined, when
necessary, to know their place in “the pecking order” over food). They must
learn the skills of preparing food, bathing (watching their first attempts can
be amusing), and what the various calls mean, and how to make them. Mr Crow is
a very patient teacher.
Each year, one
of the young Crows, it can be either a male or a female, is trained to be a
helper. While the other one (or occasionally two) are made unwelcome by the end
of their first year, the helper stays as part of the family, to assist Mr Crow
in bringing food while Mrs Crow is on the nest, and in looking after the next
year’s young Crows during their early months.
15.Mr and Mrs Crow having breakfast, January 2024.
Although the
Crows can usually find their own food, and come to the garden mainly for the
water, we do provide some for them during the winter. As Starlings would take
the opportunity to gobble up any food, if the Crows were not quick enough to
arrive, we’ve started putting it on a plastic plate, with a bowl over it. Mr
Crow has the guile and strength to tip up the plate, so that the food is there
on the grass for the family to eat.
16.A squirrel eating from the Crows’ plate.
While there are few
garden birds who would dare steal the Crows’ food while they are there, a
cheeky squirrel will sometimes have a go (the local squirrels visit all of our feeders!).
While most of the family would not take on a squirrel, we’ve seen Mr Crow creep
up behind one, and dash in to peck its tail! Our garden is certainly part of
this Crow family’s territory, and they can often be seen and heard, cawing as a
group from trees or rooftops to warn neighbouring crows away from it.
I hope this
article has encouraged you to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, but more
than that, to spend more time watching, and feeding if you can, the garden birds
where you live. They can be a great source of natural beauty, interest and fun.
Philip Grant.
A copy of this article can be downloaded from HERE
If Philip's article has encouraged you to take part see the RSPB video below or visit the website HERE
Revised East and South elevation drawings for Brent’s Cecil Avenue
development.
It may not look any smaller, but as disclosed in the Affordable Housing
Supply Update report to December’s Brent Cabinet meeting, the number of homes
to be built on the Council’s Cecil Avenue development has been reduced. The
reason is the need for second staircases, because of new fire regulations
introduced as a result of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
I mentioned this in a guest post last month, Brent’s Affordable Council Housing – open
and transparent?, when I wrote: ‘the report
does not say how many of the new figure of 237 homes will be for private sale,
and how many of those left for the Council will now be for “genuinely
affordable” rent, rather than shared ownership. A lack of openness, which I
will try to remedy!’
I’ve now received a reply to a Freedom of Information request, and can
provide the answer. Cecil Avenue is part of a wider Wembley Housing Zone
(“WHZ”) project, together with Ujima House, on the opposite side of the High
Road. Brent Council’s contract with Wates in March
2023, said each would have half (152
out of 304) of the WHZ homes. However, all of the Wates homes, for private
sale, would be on the more desirable Cecil Avenue site.
The revised split of the Cecil Avenue homes, from Brent’s 8 January FoI
response.
These figures show that although there will now be thirteen fewer homes
on the Cecil Avenue development, those going to Wates will only be 2 less,
while Brent Council loses 11. This is partly compensated for by the revised proportion
of family-sized homes going in Brent’s favour. The Council will now have 71.4%
of the family-sized homes, rather than 68.75%, but the total number
of family-sized homes at Cecil Avenue has been reduced from 64 to 42, as part
of rearranging the unit sizes to fit in the staircases.
Surely these changes would need planning permission? They did! An
application was submitted on 21 August 2023, but Brent’s planners treated it as
“non-material” amendments to the original consent given in February 2021, so
that it was not publicised or consulted on. The application was approved by the
Delegated Team Manager on 30 October 2023.
The heading to the Delegated Planning report, October 2023.
The report on this application (23/2774) makes clear that despite the
WHZ involving two sites and a combined building contract, for planning purposes
the Cecil Avenue application must be looked at on its own. Brent’s planning
policies require that large housing schemes, such as this one, should provide
50% affordable housing. These revised proposals only provide 36.7% (and only
48.5% if the whole WHZ scheme is taken together). If it had been 50% at Cecil
Avenue, there should have been at least 118 affordable homes on the site, not
just 87 out of 237.
Brent’s affordable housing planning policies require a tenure split of
at least 70% of the affordable housing to be “genuinely affordable”. The 56
homes at London Affordable Rent (“LAR”) out of 87 “affordable” Council homes is
only 64.4% (62.4% over the WHZ scheme as a whole). Despite not meeting either
of Brent’s planning policy percentages for affordable homes, the amended
application was accepted.
The only “good news” this time is that 21 of the 28 family-sized homes
for Council tenants at LAR (down from 35 family-sized, on the figures supplied to me last July) will be 4-bedroom homes, with private gardens. There is currently a
desperate need for these large family homes for affordable rent in the borough.
It is unfortunate that, because of more than two years delay by Brent Council,
in going down the “developer partner” route, it will be nearly three years
before these homes are actually available! And LAR rent figures exclude service
charges, which could bring the total bill up to as much as 80% of local open
market rent level.
Extract from the approved documents for the amended application 23/2774.
35.6% of the “affordable” Council homes at Cecil Avenue will be what is
known as Intermediate homes. This is a summary of what these 31 homes comprise:
Extract from the approved documents for the amended application 23/2774.
As shown in the information provided to me above, 28 of these homes will
be for shared ownership (despite there being a surplus of these in the borough,
it not being affordable to most people in housing need – a household income of
£60k a year required to afford a 1-bedroom flat - and shared ownership being a “scam”!). What about the 3 “other affordable” homes? The planning application
documents show that these Brent Council homes are intended to be sold,
by Wates, as Discount Market Sale (”DMS”) homes.
The DMS homes must be ‘offered to Eligible Purchasers for sale at a
price that is no more than 80 (eighty) per cent of Open Market Value, with the
Council retaining and holding the remaining equity under an equitable charge’.
To be an eligible purchaser for one of these 1 or 2-bedroom flats you would (on
current figures) need to have an annual household income of no more than £90k.
Affordable?
It is not just the number of homes (and affordable homes) which has been
downsized in the amended plans for the Cecil Avenue development. In his reply
to an email I had sent him about the Council’s Cecil Avenue development in
February 2022 (that’s nearly 2 years ago!), Cllr. Muhammed Butt spoke proudly of ‘a new
publicly accessible open space during this
latest development. A positive outcome for the residents of Brent.’
My guest post including his reply did concede that: ‘The approved plans
for the Cecil Avenue site include a courtyard garden square. This would mainly
be for the benefit of residents, but there would be public access to it,
through an archway from Wembley High Road.’ All of the tower block developments,
existing and planned, along this stretch of the High Road, will bring thousands
of extra residents within a short walk of this ‘publicly accessible open space.’
However, that too has been downsized:
Paragraph from the Delegated Planning Report on application 23/2774.
The amended external amenity space may just ‘exceed the minimum
requirement’ for play space needed by the reduced number of future occupants at
Cecil Avenue, but there will be little to spare for the other ‘residents of
Brent’.
Delay and downsizing. What more can go wrong for a Brent Council housing
scheme, on Council-owned land, which received full planning consent on 5
February 2021? If only Brent had got on and borrowed the funds to build it, at
the very low interest rates at then, and hired a contractor straight away, they
could have had 250 (or at least 237) affordable Council homes at Cecil Avenue
available in 2024, rather than 87 in late 2026.
