Wembley Housing Zone – Brent’s latest “spin” versus the facts!

Guest Blog by Philip Grant in a personal capacity    

 

 

 Zephaniah House under construction in Wembley High Road (with “The Pages” opposite).

 

On 24 February, Brent Council issued a press release: “More affordable homes coming as Zephaniah House reaches key milestone”. Its content has already been shared by websites including Kilburn Times, Harrow Online and Construction News. Like most stories from Brent Communications, it tells a positive tale, including “quotes” from Cabinet members, to give the impression that all of this “good news” is the work of our local Labour councillors. [What would you expect, when the Cabinet Lead Member for Communications is Cllr. Muhammed Butt?] 

 

“Topping out” at Zephaniah House (image courtesy of Brent Communications)

 

The news item this time was the topping out ceremony at Zephaniah House (on the former Ujima House site in the High Road), part of the Brent Council/Wates Residential Wembley Housing Zone development. The press release says that this is ‘an important step toward delivering 54 new affordable homes on the former Ujima House site in Wembley.’ As you can see from my opening photo, there is still a lot of work to do on the building before the homes there will be ready for occupation, which is supposed to be by 31 December 2026. But with local elections in just over two months, I’m sure they would like you to think it would be sooner!

 

“Quote” attributed to Cllr. Teo Benea (from Brent’s press release)

 

The featured “quote” in the press release is from Cllr. Teo Benea, as the Wembley Housing Zone is a Regeneration project which she inherited from her predecessor in that Cabinet role, Cllr. Shama Tatler. There is also a “quote” attributed to Cllr. Fleur Donnelly Jackson, the Housing Lead, which includes the lines: ‘… our ambition is to deliver as many affordable homes as we can. Zephaniah House will help reduce our waiting list …. This is what it looks like when a council commits to tackling the housing crisis head on.’ I don’t know whether Cabinet members really compose these “quotes” themselves, or whether someone at the Civic Centre writes them. I will share this guest post with them, so they have the chance to reply!

 

I agree that building genuinely affordable Council homes for the people on the waiting list (around 34,000 is the most recent figure I’ve read from Brent Council) should be a top priority, so the 54 homes at Zephaniah House will go a small way towards ‘tackling the housing crisis’. But, yet again, the Council is using the term “affordable homes” to cover more than the genuinely affordable homes (that is, either at Social Rent level, or the slightly higher London Affordable Rent – “LAR” - level), which its 2020 Poverty Commission Report showed was all that most Brent residents in housing need could afford.

 

The start of my first Wembley Housing Zone guest post, in August 2021.

 

The most recent information I have on the 54 homes on the former Ujima House site was from a Freedom of Information Act request in 2023. These were originally all meant to be for rent at the genuinely affordable LAR level, but this had been changed to 32 (including all eight family-sized flats) at LAR, and 22 for shared ownership. If that has changed, I hope the relevant Lead Member can update us.

 

I have been writing about the Wembley Housing Zone since August 2021 (see illustration above), when I highlighted the fact that the proposals going to Cabinet ignored the Brent Poverty Commission’s housing recommendations, which they had accepted less than a year before, writing:

 

‘If the Council is going to undertake and manage the construction on the two sites, why not make ALL of the homes it builds “affordable housing”, providing 304 Council homes for people (especially families) on its waiting list? Ideally, these should all be for social rent, for those most in need, as recommended in Lord Best’s report. If that is not financially viable, an alternative could be 50% let at social rent levels, with the other 50% (presumably the better ones on the Cecil Avenue site, which a developer would have wanted for “private sale”) at London Affordable Rent.’

 

A pdf copy of my guest post was sent to all Cabinet members a few days before the 16 August 2021 meeting, at which they formally decided to go down the “development partner” route. I received no response, and my views were ignored. When I later emailed the Lead Member for Housing, asking why they were not building more homes for genuinely affordable rent, she replied that as this project was under her colleague, the Lead Member for Regeneration, she’d forwarded the email to Cllr. Shama Tatler, who would respond to me. (She didn’t!)

 

I later discovered, through FoI requests, that this ‘preferred delivery option’ had already been informally agreed at an unpublished Policy Co-ordination Group meeting in July 2020. That followed on from a previous “go ahead” for the option, by as few as two Cabinet members (the Council Leader and Lead Member for Regeneration?), in 2019. As a result, there had been at least two “soft market testing” exercises, in February 2020 and April 2021, which were used to justify the recommendation to Cabinet in August 2021. You can read the details in my January 2022 guest post “Brent Council, the developer’s friend – the proof in black and white”, and its December 2021 prequel.

 

My November 2021 “parody” Brent Council “publicity photo” for its Cecil Avenue housing scheme.

 

The Zephaniah House press release also refers to the larger Wembley Housing Zone development, across the High Road on the Cecil Avenue site, which it says ‘will bring 237 new homes, including 84 affordable homes.’ As shown in my “cartoon” above, when this received full planning consent in February 2021, it was intended to include 250 homes. The August 2021 Cabinet decision meant that only 98 of these would have been “affordable”, and only 37 at the genuinely affordable LAR level. Big posters on the hoardings around the site now claim that Brent is “delivering new Council homes” there, but the reality is that 150 of them will be for private sale by Wates.

 

 

Two signs from the hoardings round the Cecil Avenue site (with my linking comment).

 

Of the 84 “affordable” homes, information from an FoI request, which I shared in January 2024, shows that 56 (that’s just 23.6% of the 237) would now be for rent to Council tenants at LAR level, while 28 would be for shared ownership. The drop in the “affordable” figure (87 to 84) must be the three which I was advised would be for “discounted market sale”, a form of so-called “affordable housing” available if your annual income is no more than £90k!

 

It was claimed in the press release that Brent Council’s ‘ambition is to deliver as many affordable homes as we can.’ But is that what they have done with the Wembley Housing Zone? They already owned the former Copland School site at Cecil Avenue, and had previously used money provided by the GLA to purchase the Ujima House office block. Without having to incur the cost of purchasing the land, Brent should have been able to build all of the homes there as Council housing. That would particularly have been the case if they had got on with the scheme in 2021, when interest rates on loans from the Treasury were lower, and building costs had not risen as much as they have now.

 

A sign on the hoardings at Cecil Avenue, about Brent’s WHZ “Vision”.

 

So why didn’t they? That must be down to the Council’s Wembley Housing Zone “Vision”, driven by the then Lead Member for Regeneration and supported by the Council Leader. It was clearly their wish to make it a joint venture with a “developer partner”, which led to a delay until early 2023, when they awarded the building contract to Wates Residential (agreeing to pay them £121,862,500). And although Cllr. Tatler posed for this photo with Wates on the Cecil Avenue site in March 2023, for a press release announcing the contract award, it was February 2024 before construction began.

 

Cllr. Shama Tatler and Wates officials, from a March 2023 Brent press release.

 

Cllr. Tatler’s “vision” for the Wembley Housing Zone can be summed up in this sentence from her Cabinet Member Foreword, in a report to a Cabinet meeting on 8 April 2024 (which approved ‘up to £11.23m Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy to deliver a new publicly accessible courtyard garden’ on the Cecil Avenue site):

 

‘The regeneration that underpins the Wembley Housing Zone, is exactly that – an effort to build a better Brent, a place where home ownership is a reality, not just a dream.’

 

That is NOT a vision to build as many homes as possible, for genuinely affordable rents, in order to reduce the number of local people in real housing need on Brent’s waiting list!

 

As early as January 2022, I was calling for proper scrutiny of the August 2021 Cabinet decision, with a view to increasing the number of genuinely affordable homes in the Wembley Housing Zone scheme, but all my efforts were thwarted by councillors or Council Officers. It was only at a Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee meeting on 23 April 2024 that Cllr. Tatler was finally asked to explain why Brent had not delivered more genuinely affordable homes as part of that project. When I watched the webcast of that meeting, I could not believe what I was hearing, so I played it through several times, and this is the answer Cllr. Tatler gave:

 

‘'With the Wembley Housing Zone, we didn't own the land. We had to purchase the land. That impacts viability as well. And we are looking at how we deal with affordable housing on the scheme. Ideally we would want to deliver 100% social housing on any of our land ....'

 

What she publicly told the Committee was untrue, as recorded on “Wembley Matters” at the time. I wrote to Cllr. Tatler, with a copy to the Scrutiny Chair, but she never replied to me, and as far as I am aware she never apologised to the Committee for misleading them.

 

If you want facts about Brent’s affordable housing, rather than “spin” or misinformation, I suggest you read Martin’s blogsite, and don’t rely on what you hear from the Council!

 

Philip Grant.

Towerblock loses Tatler nickname

 

Cllr Shama Shilesh Tatler was introduced and took the oath in the House of Lords on Tuesday having been created Baronness Shah of Wembley. She was supported by Lord Evans of Sealand and Lord Katz (formerly Mike Katz and now Baron Katz of Fortune Green.)

 Shah was the councillor's family surname before her marriage.

'Towerblock' Tatler elevated to the heights on Starmer's recommendation and is joined by ex-Brent MP Sarah Teather

 

Cllr Shama Tatler becomes a Life Peer, a baroness in the Political Peerages announced today and will take a seat in the House of Lords. Known for her fondness for tower blocks that have changed the face of Brent, she cares little for the fact that most Brent residents cannot afford them, as long as they pile up the numbers to meet targets.

Cllr Tatler is also a main force behind the 'Labour YIMBY's' (Yes, in my backyard) as well, allegedly, a prime mover in the recent deselection of many Labour councillors through her role in the upper echelons of the London Labour Party. The deselected councillors' support for Palestine was allegedly frowned upon by Tatler. 

On the national political stage she rushed to replace  Labour Candidate Faiza Shaheen when she was sacked as a General Election candidate by Keir Starmer. Tatler lost to the Tories.

 

 

Keir Starmer, who made the recommendation is clearly impressed by her. 

Above is my personal view, below is the official citation:

Cllr. Shama Tatler - Brent Councillor and Vice-Chair of the London Labour Regional Executive, Patron of the Labour Housing Group and Head of the Labour Group Office at the Local Government Association. 

Shama Tatler was first elected to Brent Council in 2014 representing Fryent ward, and re-elected in 2018, she now serves the residents of Kingsbury ward. Shama was appointed as Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Planning in Brent in December 2016. Under her leadership, thousands of new homes have
been delivered alongside progressive planning policies. 

Shama currently serves as Vice-Chair of the London Labour Regional Executive, Vice-Chair of Labour Indians, and Patron of the Labour Housing Group. She is a graduate and mentor of the Fabian Women’s Network mentoring scheme. Shama was also a Labour Party Parliamentary candidate in 2024. Shama began her career as a secondary school History and Humanities teacher and she is a life member of the Children’s Cultural Organisation, Shishukunj. She now works as the Head of the Labour Group Office at the Local Government Association (LGA), supporting Labour councillors and councils.

 

Also nominated for a peerage is Sarah Teather, former MP for Brent East, who won the  seat when Labour voters revolted over Labour support for Blair's Iraq War. Her recorded was tarnished over her support for Coalition policy to impose student fees after she had spoken against them in the Commons. On 6 January 2006, 25 Liberal Democrat MPs signed a letter drafted by Teather and fellow frontbencher Ed Davey, indicating their unwillingness to continue working under party leader Charles Kennedy opposing the Tory-Lib Dem welfare reform. She went on to work with refugees.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey nominated her for the peerage.

The official citation:

 Sarah Teather - Charity leader, former MP for Brent East and Brent Central and former Minister of State at the Department for Education Sarah Teather is a charity leader, experienced Board member and former government minister and MP. She is currently interim Chief Executive of a national children’s charity that helps young people, families and schools to tackle bullying. She also serves on the boards of Barts Health NHS Trust and Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust as a non-Executive Director. 

Previously, she led JRS UK, a charity providing support, legal advice and accommodation to refugees. She was the Minister of State for Children and Families from 2010 to 2012. She served in Parliament for 12 years as MP for Brent East from 2003 to 2010, and then as MP for Brent Central following boundary changes. She stood down from Parliament in 2015

Shama Tatler ends her Brent Cabinet career speaking about the troubled South Kilburn Regeneration - video

Brent Cabinet rejects residents' petition calling for wider discussion of the impact of additional Wembley Stadium events. Planning Committee decision tomorrow.

 

The petition calling on Brent Council to hold a wider consultation on Wembley Stadium's application to hold more large events was presented to the Cabinet yesterday. Presenting the petition Cllr Paul Lorber first declared an interest in having received tickets for events at the stadium that he had then passed on to residents. At the beginning of the meeting Cllr Muhammed Butt asked his Cabinet colleagues if they had any interests to declare and they remained silent - as did he.

 The petition has been added to the end of this post. It points out the impact of events on residents and asks for a public meeting where residents can express their views and the Council respond accordingly. Cllr Lorber pointed out that two representations at tomorrow's decision making Planning Committee, of only a few minutes each, was not sufficient to represent the widespread concerns.

There was no direct response to that request from the Cabinet.

Cllr Shama Tatler, lead member for Planning and Regeneration was  circumspect in her answer, acknowledging the potential for a contribution to be seen as predetermination of the application. She spoke of the need to balance the interests of residents with the economic drive that the stadium gives to Wembley. She said she did not want to comment any further as the planning application is live.

Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt showed no such inhibitions:

The stadium has been here longer than all of us have been born and makes a significant contribution, not just to Wembley but to the UK. The various events adds to the value of what we plan to do with working with the stadium, for it to be the great stadium it is, and also to make sure we keep our commitment and support for our residents as well.

The applications goes to Planning Committee tomorrow (Wednesday) at 6pm. Apart from the 274 signature petition there are 166 objections and just six in support. However, planning officers recommend that the Committee approve the application alongside various mitigations LINK:

The proposal is considered to accord with the development plan, having regard to material planning considerations. While there will inevitably be some additional impacts associated withan increase in the number of higher capacity non-sporting events, a range of mitigation measures are proposed and some benefits are also anticipated. The proposal is, on balance, recommended for approval

THE PETITION

We the undersigned petition the council to Consult and to Listen to concerns of local residents and businesses about the impact of increasing the number of "Large" Events at Wembley Stadium

 

Plans for the new Wembley Stadium were approved in 1999 with a limit of 37 Large Events per year. A few years later Brent Council allowed an increase to 46 Large Events per year. The Stadium owners have now applied for planning permission to increase this by another 8 to 54 Large Events per year.

 

Large Events at the Stadium have a major impact on the lives of local people and business - especially when as many as three events are held on 3 successive days.

 

We call on Brent Council (jointly with representatives of the FA) to carry out an extensive public consultation with Brent residents and local businesses on the social and economic impacts of Wembley Stadium Large scale events before the Planning Application is considered by the Brent Council's Planning Committee.

 

We believe that local people and businesses have the right to be properly consulted and informed about these possible changes and for their views to be assessed and documented before any decision is made.

 

Director of a Vistry Group subsidiary is associated with social media attacks on Shama Tatler during the Chingford & Woodford Green election battle

 There was considerable controversy when Brent Cabinet Lead Member for Planning and Regeneration, Shama Tatler, was parachuted into the Chingford and  Woodford Green  General Election battle  after the Labour Party's ditching of popular and very local candidate Faiza Hassan.

The move led to resignations from the local Labour Party. Faiza Shaheen stood as an independent and the marginal seat was held by Conservative Ian Duncan Smith with a reduced majority.

It was not just disgruntled Labour members who campaigned against Shama Tatler. The Guardian's political media editor  Jim Waterson, drew attention on Twitter LINK to an attack campaign run by a local Tory councillor, John Moss, and Conservative  cyber campaigner Thomas James Robert Borwick.

 

The Facebook attack ads were posted by  3rd Party Ltd of which Thomas Borwick is a director. The Waltham Forest Echo carries some background on the company. LINK

 So far this may be what you would expect from a Conservative  intervention, just staying on the right side of electoral law by not openly campaigning for a specific candidate. It could be argued that it might even help Faiza Shaheen's campaign.

But there is more to it and motivations get rather murky.

Thomas Borwick has multiple director interests SEE LINK that include a directorship along with his father, Lord Geoffrey Robert James Borwick, of Countryside Properties (Bicester) Ltd.

 

Countryside Properties (Bicester) Limited is a joint venture company in which Countryside Properties (UK) Limited has an interest. Countryside Properties (UK) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vistry Group PLC. There is another 'Countryside' entity - Countryside Partnerships.

The Vistry website tell us:

Countryside Partnerships is Vistry Group’s business to business (B2B) brand. This is the partner-facing brand used when delivering mixed-tenure developments. This covers all types of homes from social rent to private sales on the open market – and everything in between, often all on the same site.

 In April 2021 Countryside received approval for all four phases of the Peel project in Brent LINK.

In May 2023 a press release from Countryside Homes announced that Brent Council has selected Countryside Partnerships as preferred bidder to build 200 homes in South Kilburn. It included a quote from Shama Tatler:

Cllr Shama Tatler, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Growth at Brent Council, said:

"We’re now almost halfway through our 15-year regeneration programme for South Kilburn and can’t wait to get started on the next phase with Countryside Partnerships. Right across the country local authorities are grappling with spiralling inflation and building costs, but despite the challenges, we are really delighted to be able to deliver this brilliant scheme for residents. This project will create more than 200 much-needed new homes, almost half of which will be for existing South Kilburn residents. Not only will local families be given the keys to safe and secure homes, they will also enjoy a healthier environment, with more greenery and trees on their doorstep and a revamped local park.”

 Another press release in March 2024, this time from Vistry itself proclaimed construction starting at the South Kilburn site:

 In the north of Brent, Countryside, has signed up with the Sovereign Network Group (formerly Network Homes) to build 654 homes and commercial premises in Northwick Park. The full transformation of Northwick Park is being delivered through a partnership between Network Homes, London North West Healthcare NHS Trust, Brent Council and the University of Westminster.

It is a scheme with not a few of the tower blocks featured in the Facebook campaign against Shama Tatler.

 

 By now you are probably as puzled as I am.

Why did Thomas Borwick, a director within Vistry Group's several companies, launch a campaign against Shama 'Towerblock' Tatler who leads regeneration in Brent, on the basis of her support for highrise, when one of the companies is the preferred bidder for lucrative contracts in the borough for middle and highrise developments?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call for direct meetings between Wembley Stadium and affected residents over increased events rejected in favour of 'improved collaborative work'

 Cllr Anton Georgiou followed up his question to Cllr Shama Tatler (Regeneration and Planning)   LINK on public consultation about extra Wembley Stadium events at last night's Full Council Meeting.

He said he had asked four questions and the answer to all of them was effectively 'No'.

No to further consultation led by Brent Council.

No to a detailed impact assessment by the Council.

No to an assessment by planning officers of the social impact on the lives of local people of extra events.

No to any direct compensation or benefit to local people impacted by the increased number of event days.

The applicant (Wembley National Stadium Limited)  had said they met with both the leader and Chief Executive of the Council in relation to the application and that they were favourably received. 

Cllr Georgiou asked, 'Why can't the applicant meet with the people who are going to be directly impacted by ever increasing events at Wembley Stadium?'

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, replied in the absence of Cllr Tatler.

For the most part the events at the Stadium are a success, but it would be remiss of us not to recognise the disruption that Event Days can have on Brent residents.

It is imperative that any application from the Stadium, by means of mitigation, strikes a balance with the community. Let's not forget the disruption stretches wider than the Stadium itself. Chiltern Railways recently admitted they didn't have the staff or the capacity throughout the summer.

Brent Council will continue to work in partnership with everyone involved so I will be calling for improved collaborative with residents and stakeholders alike as we negotiate any future terms with the Stadium going forward.

Revised Brent Cabinet portfolios and maternity leave cover. Cllr Tatler takes on New Council Housing Programme

 Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt has published revised Brent Cabinet portfolios included maternity cover for Cllr Promise Knight. Cllr Butt takes on Housing Services, Corporate Landlord Performance, Homelessness and Rough-Sleeping, Private Rented Sector and Housing Associations. 

Cllr Shama Tatler adds the New Council Housing Programme and the Brent Council arms length housing organisations 14B and First Wave Housing to her Regeneration portfolio.

New Cabinet member Cllr Jake Rubin's role is more fully described and includes the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy.

Cabinet Portfolios

 

Councillor Muhammed Butt – Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing

 

Cross-cutting

* Communications

* Borough Plan 23-27

* Strategic change programme

* London Councils and partnerships

* Brent Black Community Action Plan

 

Housing Services (Maternity Cover from June 17th)*

 

* Corporate landlord performance

* Housing Services

 

Housing Needs and Support (Maternity Cover from June 17th)*

 

* Homelessness and Rough-Sleeping Strategy

* Private Rented Sector and Strategy

* Liaison with Housing Associations

 

Councillor Mili Patel - Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources

 

Finance & Resources

 

* Capital Investment

* Pensions

* Shared IT Service with London Boroughs

 

Organisational assurance and resilience

 

* Health and Safety

* Emergency Planning

* Counter-Fraud and Investigation

 

Governance and Legal Services

 

* Democratic Services

* Legal Services

* Complaints

 

Human Resources

 

* Workforce and Equalities

* Organisational Development

* Diversity Ambassador

Property

 

* Property and assets Strategy

* Income generation

* Facilities Management

 

Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson - Cabinet Member for Resident Support and Culture

 

Residents Services

 

* Customer accessibility

* Customer services

* Citizenship and Registration

* Welfare support

* Debt support

* Council Tax and Business Rates

* Brent Community Hubs

* Brent Libraries

* Heritage and Culture Services

* Mortuaries, Bereavement services and Cemeteries

 

Councillor Harbi Farah - Cabinet Member for Public Safety and Partnerships

 

Public Protection

 

* Community Safety and Anti-Social Behaviour

* Liaison with Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

* Prevent

* Noise Nuisance

* Violence against Women and Girls

 

Communities and Partnerships

 

* Community Engagement

* Community Grants

* Voluntary sector

* Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (external)

 

Councillor Gwen Grahl - Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools Early Help & Social Care

 

* Early Years Learning

* Family Wellbeing Centres

* Children’s Safeguarding

* Children’s Social Care

* Looked after Children and Corporate Parenting

 

Education, Partnerships and Strategy

 

* Youth offending

* Brent Youth Strategy

* Brent Youth Parliament

* Pupil referral units

* SEND provision and Strategy

* Brent Family of Schools

* School Admissions and school place planning

* Schools Forum and schools’ improvement

 

Councillor Neil Nerva - Cabinet Member for Community Health and Wellbeing Adult Social Care

 

* Safeguarding

* Supported living

* Adaptation and support

* End of life care

* Carers support

* Dementia

 

Public Health

 

* Brent Health Matters

* Mental Health

* Substance Misuse

* Healthy Start

* Vaccination campaign

* Food justice

* Sport, physical activity and leisure facilities

 

Integrated Care Partnership

 

* Liaison with health partners

* Health and Wellbeing Board

 

Councillor Jake Rubin - Cabinet Member for Employment, Innovation and Climate Action

 

Insight, Innovation and Priorities

 

* Transformation, digital, IT, data, and innovation

* Corporate performance

* Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy

 

Strategic Commissioning and Capacity Building

 

* Community Wealth Building and Inward Investment

* Procurement strategy

* Social value

 

Employment and Skills

 

* Brent Starts and Brent Works

* Economic Development

* Good work standard and London Living Wage

* Apprenticeships

 

Councillor Krupa Sheth - Cabinet Member for Environment and Enforcement

Public Realm

 

* Trees and Ecology

* Parks and green spaces

* Clean Air

 

Transport planning, strategy and operations

 

* Roads and pavements

* Waste and recycling

* Street cleaning

* Waste enforcement

* West London Waste Authority

* Parking, Street Lighting

 

Regulatory Enforcement

 

* Building Control

* Regulatory Services and Trading Standards

* Pest Control

* Planning Enforcement

 

Councillor Shama Tatler - Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Growth

 

Inclusive, Regeneration and Planning

 

* Estate Regeneration

* Planning

* Local Plan

* Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

* High streets and town centre improvement

* Strategic growth

* Affordable workplaces

* West London Economic Prosperity Board

 

Strategic Housing (Maternity cover from June 17th)

 

* New Council Housing Programme

* I4B/First Wave Housing

Brent General Election Results & Queens Park By-Election result. Shama Tatler loses in Chingford and Woodford Green

 

Dawn Butler (Brent East) and Barry Gardiner (Brent West) have been elected as Members of Parliament (MPs) after winning seats in yesterday's General Election.

The turnout for Brent East was 49.06% and the turnout for Brent West was 51.95%.”

Brent East

Dawn Butler, Labour Party, has been elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent East.

The results in order of votes for each candidate are:

• Dawn Butler, Labour Party (19,370 votes ELECTED)
• Jamila Robertson, Conservative Party (6,323 votes)
• Nida Alfulaij, Green Party (3,729 votes)
• Jonny Singh, Liberal Democrat (2,635 votes)
• Zbigniew Kowalczyk, Reform UK (2,024 votes)
• Aadil Shaikh, Independent (1,846 votes)
• James Mutimer, Workers Party (1,052 votes)
• Amin Moafi, Independent (654 votes)
• Jenner Clarence Joseph Folwell, Independent (169 votes)

Brent West

Barry Gardiner, Labour Party, has been elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent West.

The results in order of votes for each candidate are:

• Barry Strachan Gardiner, Labour Party (17,258 votes ELECTED)
• Sushil Gangadhar Rapatwar, Conservative Party (13,465 votes)
• Paul Lorber, Liberal Democrat (3,013 votes)
• Baston Anthony De’Medici-Jaguar, Green Party (2,805 votes)
• Nadia Klok, Workers Party (2,774 votes)
• Ian Collier, Reform UK (2,061 votes)

Queen’s Park and Maida Vale constituency

Turnout: 38,618

Total votes cast: 51.11%

Surname	First names	Party	Votes
Baxter	Helen June	Liberal Democrats	3,417
Carter - Begbie	Angela Michelle	Reform UK	2,106
Dharamsi	Abdulla Janmohamed	Independent	601
Gould	Georgia	Labour Party	20,126 (ELECTED)
Hersi	Samia	The Conservative Party	5,088
Lichtenstein	Vivien Aviva	Green Party	5,213
Menabde	Irakli	Workers Party	1,792

QUEENS PARK COUNCIL BY-ELECTION

Leslie Anne Smith, Labour Party (3,038 votes ELECTED)

Virginia Leslie Bonham Carter, Liberal Democrat  (1,462 votes)

Ricardo William Davies, Green Party (1,329 votes)

Emily Julia Sheffield,  Conservative Party (1,138 votes)

CHINGFORD AND WOODFORD GREEN

Of interest as Cllr Shama Tatler was standing after the removal of the Labour candidate. In the event just 79 votes separated Tatler and the former candidate Faiza Shaheen who stood as an independent. Tory Ian Duncan Smith held the seat.

SEE LINK 

 

Brent Council turn down request for public consultation meetings on Wembley Stadium's application to hold up to 54 'Large Events' a year with crowd theshold increased from 51,000 to 60,000. Decision expected in August

 

 

Cllr Anton Georgiou has tabled a question to Brent Council over Wembley Stadium's controversial application to increase the number of events and the crowd threshold at the stadium. The council reject a request to hold public consultation meetings on the proposal and suggest the application will go to Planning Committee in August when many residents will be away.

The question and response:

Question from Councillor Georgiou to Councillor Tatler (Cabinet Member for Regeneration Planning & Growth):

 

Large scale events at Wembley Stadium, especially when held on three successive days, have a major impact on the ability of thousands of Brent residents to go about their everyday activities.

 

In 1999, planning permission was granted allowing the Stadium to hold 37 'Large' events, which has subsequently been increased to 46 'Large' events. Now the stadium wants this increased again to 54.

 

Can the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Growth advise:

 

1. Will Brent Council hold consultation meetings to hear first hand the impact the ever increasing number of Large-scale events have on the lives of local people?

 

2. Has Brent Council carried out a detailed impact assessment of how Large Event days affect the lives of local people?

 

3. Will due regard in the planning officers assessment be given to social impacts on lives of local people and not simply financial benefits for the Stadium?

 

4. What direct compensation or benefits can local people expect if the changes proposed were to be approved?

 

Response:

 

The Stadium has applied to vary a condition on their planning consent to allow them to hold up to 8 additional stadium events each year. They are also applying to increase the threshold above which the event cap applies from 51,000 to 60,000 people and to change the distinction between sporting and non-sporting events.

 

Events at the stadium been an important feature of Brent life for over 100 years bringing both benefits and impacts to our residents and businesses. There were no restrictions on the number of events at the previous stadium but an “event cap” was introduced for the new stadium. As you are aware, this started at 37 events and is now at 46 events following previous applications to increase the cap.

 

The Stadium have submitted supporting information with their application which examines the implications and potential impacts of the proposal, and this is available on our website.

 

We are currently consulting on this application, with letters sent to over 50,000 properties in the Wembley Event Day Zone and site notices put up around the stadium. Over 100 comments have already been received and these will all be considered.

 

We are not intending to hold a public meeting prior to the Planning Committee meeting for the application and it’s important that comments on the planning application are provided in writing.

 

Impacts to local residents and businesses are being carefully considered. We do not consider profits for individual organisations such as the stadium, but we do take the wider benefits that a proposal may bring to the local economy into account.

 

We secure measures and obligations that are required to mitigate impacts of a proposal but are not able to secure compensation for local businesses or residents. We must also look at the difference between what can happen now and what could happen if the application is approved.

 

We encourage residents and local businesses to let us know what they think about the Stadium’s proposal. We are still out to consultation, and it is likely that the application will be considered by the Planning Committee in August