Cllr Shafique Choudhary (Barnhill ward) denounces his 'deselection' and cites 'nepotism' as a factor

 

Cllr Shafique Choudhary, currently a councillor for Barnhill ward, has taken to the community site Next Door to correct what he says are being told about him on the doorstep, as Labour campaigns for the upcoming Council elections.

He says that it is not true that he has retired as claimed but in fact he was 'deselected' by the Labour Party. In the recent boundary revision Barnhill was allocated only two councillors having previously had three representatives.  As Labour Party rules say that one must be a woman it meant that there was only one  male position.

I understand that all positions were contested this year so Cllr Choudhary could not have expected automatic re-selection for the post he has held for two years. Furthermore, selections are made by rank and file members at a special ward selection meeting and not by the 'Labour Party'. It appears that he was 'not selected' rather than deselected.

His claim that  'Nepotism is one cause' is an interesting suggestion. Neither of the new Labour candidates, Robert Johnson and Kathleen Fraser, are related to senior Brent councillors  as far as I know, although there were at one time unsubstantiated rumours that the other current male Barnhill  councillor, Mansoor Akram, was related to Council Leader Muhammed Butt.

Robert Johnson is a former Brent officer who was involved in the redevelopment of the Chalkhill Estate and Kathleen Fraser is a former Labour councillor and Chair of Chalkhill Residents Assoication.

 

 Cllr Choudhary flanked by Barry Gardiner MP, Cllr Muhammed Butt (Brent Council Leader), David Lammy MP and London Mayor Sadiq Khan at the Barn Hill Memorial for murder victims Bibaa Henry and Mina Smallman.

 

I live in Barnhill ward so Cllr Choudhary is one of my local councillors and he has been responsive on many issues I have raised.  We worked together for some time in the cross-party and non-party Brent Cross Coalition that opposed the redevelopment  on the borders of Brent Cross shopping centre. A search on this blog will give you the background.

Recently I have worked with Divest Brent on persuading Brent Council to divest its pension fund from fossil fuels. Cllr Choudhary is chair of the Pension Fund Committee as well as Kingsbury Brent Connects.

On Next Door Cllr Choudhary tells readers that the situation is not reversible and goes on:

I am using this media to say all of you thank you from bottom of my heart. Your community is an intelligent community prefer to live kind of of united Group. Also, you know well that you are the custodian of your area, you have a positive vision for both community enhancement and welfare of Barnhill. You have extraordinary strong and intelligent community representatives - nothing matching anywhere in Brent. I have with your kind help and generosity laid strong foundations for further future to build upon and carry on with the progress so far achieved. Please carry on with no hesitation.

 

Kensal Rise Library development decision deferred pending legal advice on fraud

The planning application by Andrew Gillick  for the redevelopment of Kensal Rise Library, closed by Brent Council, was deferred tonight at a dramatic meeting of Brent Planning Committee,

Committee membership was reduced by two members when Cllr Shafique Choudhary and Cllr Dan Filson withdrew on the basis that they had expressed strong views prior to joining the Committee.
This left 5 members, including the chair Sarah Marquis, to make the decision.

It had seemed that the fraudulent email investigation had been ignored when the meeting went ahead without any statement about deferment pending the outcome of the current police investigation into fraudulent emails that had supported Mr Gillick's last application.

Karl Abeyasekera, speaking as a member of the public drew members' attention to the fraudulent email issue saying that the 'guilty party' could benefit materially from this application. He called for the Committee to defer pending the outcome of the police investigation.

Stephanie Schonfield of the Friends of Kensal Rise Library spoke in support of the application  and said they had put their trust in All Souls College and the developer and hoped they would reciprocate by supporting FKRL to manage the community space. She regretted that they were only the preferred bidder and not the named occupant.

Horatio Chance, the Committee's legal adviser  told members that the 'binding agreement' with All Souls College was excempt from the Localism Act and had no relevance to the Kensal Rise building's Asset of Community Value status.

Following other contribututions, including a question from Cllr Amer Agha about the email investigation, and the developer's agent saying the community space had to be offered to other voluntary organisations  and ot resreved for FKRL, it looked as if the Committee was about the vote when chair Sara Marquis dropped her bombshell. She made a statement from the chair. She said that despite legal advice to the contrary she could not see why an ongoing police investigation into the previous application could NOT be a material consideration.

There followed a potentially testy but lawyerly interchange with Horation Chance, the Committee's legal adviser, on whether the Committee were legally bound to make a decision on the application on purely planning grounds, ignoring the email investigation. Chance in near exasperation declared that the legal advice  was clear and had come from no less a person than Fiona Ledden.

Marquis insisted the Committee needed further legal advice on whether the fraud investigation should be taken into account and when Chance could add nothing further she said that the Committee should vote on deferment. Various officers warned that the applicant might appeal to thre Secretary of State over the delay and seek compensation.

Cllr Roxanne Mashari, a Cabinet member and former lead member for Environment, who played a large part in brokering the deal with FKRL, made a late attempt to speak. Cllr Marquis rejected the request as the section for contributions had finished and she pointed out that the councillor had had the chance to put in a request to speak with the two days notice required of councillors.

The Committee voted on whether to hear the planning application, and only Cllr Kasangara, perhaps reflecting Conservative values, said that fraud was of no account and the vote on the application should go ahead.

The Committee then voted 3 for  (Cllrs Marquis, Agha, Hylton), 1 against  (Cllr Kasangara)and 1 abstention (Cllr Lia Colacicco) on the motion to defer the decision on the application until further legal advice had been obtained. This will mean the application  returning on the next cycle to the Committee that meets on July 16th.

This was not a vote to await the outcome of the police investigation but to decide if the investigation was something that the Committee should take into account.

It was also clear from the councillors' questions, or lack of them, that they were only concerned about minor aspects of the application itself, so it looks likely to eventually go through given the number of supporting letters. Unless there are further developments...

Cllr Sarah Marquis deserves credit for showing the sort of independence and toughness that one should expect from a Chair of Planning.

Marquis is a lawyer and specialises in fraud and white collar crime.

As a newly elected councillor, chairing her first committee, she has already made her mark.

Brent Labour's new cabinet announced

The new Cabinet

A challenge to Cllr Muhammed Butt's leadership by Cllr Neil Nerva was beaten at today's Labour AGM when Butt won 75% of the votes.

Cllr Michael Pavey narrowly beat Cllr Ruth Moher for the Deputy Leadership. Pavey told Labour councillors that he would devote all his energy to supporting Cllr Butt's reforms, freeing the leader to 'lead from the front'. His precise brief in addition to being deputy has not been decided but a source said that he was likely to be a 'more political' deputy.

Cllr James Denselow beat Cllr Aslam Choudry  by three votes for the Stronger Communities portfolio. This will make him responsible for community and voluntary sector engagement, libraries  and crime reduction.

Cllr George Crane stood down from the Executive and Cllr Margaret McLennan will take on regeneration policy, Crane's former portfolio,  as well as housing.

Cllr Roxanne Mashari will take on a new portfolio for Employment and Skills  and newly elected Cllr Keith Perrin will become lead member for the Environment.

Cllr Krupesh Hirani will continue as lead member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing and Cllr Ruth Moher will take over Michael Pavey's position as Lead Member for the renamed Children and Young People portfolio.

The Cabinet will consist of 8 members compared with 10 on the previous Executive.

Cllr Pat Harrison continues as Labour Group chair and Cllr Sandra Kabir replaces Cllr Shafique Choudhary as Labour Chief Whip.

Cllr Kana Naheerathan will be Labour's nomination for Mayor and Cllr Lesley Jones deputy,

The proposal that the Labour leader should only face re-election every four years, instead of annually, will be decided later. It has proved controversial with Cllr Butt  apparently claiming that he cannot keep looking over his shoulder every year.

Chairs of Scrutiny, Planning and other committees will be decided on Monday.

Councillors back Asda petrol station despite local opposition

Pedestrian routes at Forty Lane/King's Drive/Asda junction

Brent Planning Committee last night unanimously approved plans for a new petrol station at Asda's Wembley Superstores despite objections from ward councillors, residents and the governing body of Chalkhill Primary School.

Planners admitted that the nearby road junction at Bridge Road/Forty Avenue/Forty Lane/Barn Hill was operating at full capacity but claimed that 100 yards down the road the Forty Lane/King's Drive/Asda junction (above) had spare capacity.

Cllr Shafique Choudhary (Labour -Barnhill) drew attention to the health hazards posed by petrol fueling stations to nearby residents and foodstuffs at the store, less thyan 100 metres from the proposed fueling station..He particularly focused on the carcinogenic properties of benzine. Steve Weeks of Brebt Planning said these dangers were known about but that the problem was being addressed nationally through redesign of petrol. Cllr Ann John remarked that many petrol stations had food stores and nearby flats without any problems.

Cllr Michael Pavey, the Labour winner of the recent Barnhill by-election, lambasted the planning officers'; report for being base don old data, lacking specific figures and being based on trip figures submitted by Asda and accepted by officers without an independent check. He said that the business model submitted by Asda which claimed that it would not be in 'aggressive' competition with other petrol providers lacked credibility - in fact Asda prides itself on low prices and will draw in additional customers. A check revealed that current Asda prices at their petrol stations were 3-5p cheaper that other local facilities and he could not see Asda charging higher prices in Wembley than it did elsewhere.   The 2009 traffic figures did not take into account school expansions in the area.  He concluded that the application should be rejected on the grounds that the officers' report was unsubstantial, unanalysed and untrustworthy.

Rachel McConnell for the planning department said that the trips data was based on national data as well as Asda's own experience of their other petrol stations. The peak flow was 2,300-2,400 cars and there would be only 43 extra trips caused by the petrol station, and this did not take into account trips that would be made to the store anyway.

Earlier I had made a presentation on behalf of the Chalkhill Primary School Governing body. I noted that we had not been formally consulted about the plans despite the school being close to the proposed site - we had only heard about the application through our community contacts.

As a governing body we are responsible for the safety of pupils both in school and on their way to school. In line with Brent Council policy, for environmental and health reasons, we encourage children to walk to school.  However, in the case of this development there appeared to be a conflict with our duty of care to keep children safe and implementation of the walking to school policy. If the petrol station were to be built increased traffic (at the 7 crossing points marked in blue - two not pedestrian controlled) would put children walking to school in more danger.  There were already problems with people avoiding the multiple blue crossing points by walking straight across Forty Lane from the Town Hall bus stop (red line on map) to the chestnut tree lined avenue leading to Chalkhill Estate and the school. There had been traffic accidents at the junction and injuries to pedestrians at the unofficial crossing.

I further contended that the planners' report did not take into account the increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic which would result from the expansion of schools places in the area. Ark Academy (secondary)  is due to add a further 540 secondary school places over the next 3 years, Ark Academy Primary 180, Preston Manor Primary 180 and if plans to be discussed by the Executive on August 20th go ahead a further 210 or 420 at Chalkhill Primary. This amounts to more than 1,000 extra journeys when planners admit that the morning peak is already higher than in 2009. Overall the report focused on vehicles and not on pedestrians.

In addition when Brent Town Hall is sold off next year, depending on its new use which could be retail or hotel, further journeys may be generated. Surely planners should take into account future pressures as well as the current situation?

The lone voice that spoke in favour of the proposal was that of former Independent Conservative Group councillor Robert Dunwell. Speaking on behalf of Ban Hill Residents Association (2004) he supported the application 'in principle' as being a good amenity for the store and for the surrounding community. He suggested that there could be a delay while the problem of capacity at the Bridge Road/Forty Avenue was dealt with.  Barn Hill Residents Association (without the 2004 in brackets!) has opposed the proposal on grounds of increased traffic.

I have to record that the points I raised were not addressed by planning committee councillors or officers. I remain seriously concerned about the safety of children walking to school from King's Drive and Pilgrims Way estates (bottom right of map) as well as those using the Town Hall bus stop.

Officers recommend go ahead for ASDA petrol station

The planning application for the building of a petrol station in the car park of the Wembley ASDA store was called in by Barnhill councillors Michael Pavey and Shafique Choudhary.  It will be considered by the Planning Committee on July 25th.

The officers reject objections that have been made on grounds of increased traffic congestion, increased danger for children and the elderly at the Forty Lane/King's Drive/ASDA intersection, and noise and nuisance to neighbours. They say that it is not within the planning system's purview to consider whether this would lead to over-provision of petrol stations in the vicinity.

On the capacity of the ASDA entrance road, Forty Lane and King's Drive intersection the report says:

Previous capacity analysis carried out for the signalised junction at the Asda entrance onto Forty Lane suggests there is plenty of spare capacity at this particular junction, so the predicted increases in flows are not considered likely to give rise to any junction capacity problems at the site access

The photograph below, taken recently, shows traffic at the intersection:

Traffic at ASDA entrance road/.Forty Lane/King's Drive

Work on Chalkhill Park to start on Monday?

The site of the new park

 Cllr Shafique Choudhary reports on his Barnhill New Dawn blog that work is to start on the Chalkhill Park on Monday to be completed by mid-November.


I can hardly believe it after all the delays and there are many doubters on the estate who are still convinced the site is earmarked for housing,

I look forward to seeing rapid progress and hope that the giant rats rumoured to have made their homes there don't hold things up.

Chalkhill Primary School pupils will be jubilant when they see work has started

Pupils press for work to start on new park

Plan for the new park (March 2011) Click on image to enlarge

Chalkhill Primary's Pupil School Council lobbied ward councillors recently when they held a walk-about on the estate.

The children presented councillors with a letter that asked when work would start on the park and when it would be finished. They stressed that local children needed a park and how awful the site looks at present. They finished by asking if the Council really did want to build the park.

Cllr Shafique Choudhary, on behalf of the three Labour councillors, promised to keep writing to the Council until something was done.

The new park will be built on the site of the old Chalkhill Health Centre between the ASDA car park and the Metropolitan railway line. Work was expected to start last Autumn but was delayed, according to the parks department, because of severe weather. A Spring start didn't take place, this time because of 'staff shortage'. Top soil was recently brought to the site, raising the hopes of local residents, but no further work has taken place.