London Welsh School seeking new home in King Edward VII Park, Wembley

The Bowling Green Pavilion, King Edward VII Park

The London Welsh School, currently housed in a building close to Stonebridge Primary School, is looking for new premises due to the proposed expansion of that school.

Stonebridge Adventure Playground, as readers know, is fighting its proposed closure as a result of the Stonebridge School expansion as well as Council proposals to end its funding.

The Welsh School (Ysgol Gymraeg Llundain), a registered charity, is a bilingual primary school of currently around 30 pupils. Wembley Matters visited the school when it was first threatened in 2013.
LINK

 It had its second application  to become a free school turned down by the DfE earlier this year. LINK

Ariel view of Pavilion

After an exhaustive search the Welsh School governors and parents see the only option as building in the currently disused Bowling Green in King Edward VII Park, in Park Lane Wembley.

The plans are for a new building between the pavilion and the bordering back gardens in Princes Court. Some of the residents have objected on grounds of noise, additional traffic and loss of parkland. The Pavilion would also form part of the school with a possible dual use for the Freinds of King Edward VII Park.

The new building planned would be single storey and the Welsh School, following objections, has moved the building 4 metres away from the garden boundary which will be planted with dense shrubbery and trees. They have also agreed to retain a large Norway Maple and other specimens on the site but the revised planting shows the removal of  3 Irish Yew trees and 1 Monterey cypress. They are identified as category B trees which I believe are trees identified as of moderate quality or value capable of making a significant contribution to an area for 20 years or more.

Proposed land swap

The proposed land swap to make up for the loss of public park space is perhaps the most
controversial part of the proposal. The proposed land is next to Collins Lodge, which is currently temporarily occupied to safeguard the building. Some park users claim that the land, currently registered as residential, is already part of the park, at least visually, as it is a lawned area surrounded by low railings. The removal of the railings would be all that was required to make it formally part of the park.

Abandoned area next to Collins Lodge

Arguing that this is not a sufficient land swap to make up for the loss, attention has shifted to land on the other side of Collins Lodge which was previously used for storage and maintenance but now, as can be seen from the photograph, in a very sorry state.

It is an eye sore that would improve the park considerably if it was reclaimed as parkland.


Others have suggested that this could be a better site for the proposed school building.

Another issue that the Planning Committee would need to consider is vehicle access to the proposed new building. There have been problems in the past, including collapsed drains,  with access to Park Lane Primary School, which is closer to Park Lane itself but where vehicles have to access the school through the path into the park.The park gates are locked at night.

The path to the Bowling Green

Access to the proposed Welsh School would be through the same gate but would carry on through the park on what is little more than a footpath.

Large delivery vehicles, waste collection vehicles and emergency vehicles would all have to access the school along the path which is used by pedestrians  including children and their families enjoying the park.

Clearly there is a safety issue here and the path itself may need to be reinforced and perhaps widened affecting the amenity value of the park.

The full details of the planning application can be found HERE

Wembley Central Councillor Sam Stopp has asked for the views of Wembley residents on this proposal. Contact details:
Bus. mobile:  07721 233 038
Bus. email:  cllr.sam.stopp@brent.gov.uk


The Planning Committee will visit the site about 9.35am on Saturday January 10th and the application will be decided by the Committee on Tuesday January 13th, 7pm, Brent Civic Centre.

Stonebridge speaks Truth to Power over Adventure Playground closure

'THIS IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR COMMUNITY'

Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt meets local people from the Stonebridge Estate who are fighting to keep their Adventure Playground open.

Stonebridge Adventure Playground is NOT SAVED yet - fight goes on

Rumours are apparently going around Stonebridge Estate saying that the Adventure Playground has been saved. This is not true. The Council's granting of Asset of Community Value status helps but on its own will not stop the redevelopment.

What will stop it is a determined campaign by the whole community united in protecting this asset and using every peaceful means necessary to bring the message home to councillors:  THIS PLAYGROUND MUST STAY!

Last night amid the fireworks I seemed to be the only person who turned up for the consultation meeting at the Hub. Unsurprisingly for a day when children and their families are busy having fun.

Either the timing was deliberate to discourage attendance or the Communications Team at Brent Council are extremely poor at their job.

We will need a huge turnout of the generations of Stonebridge and Harlesden people who want to keep the playground at the next consultation meeting which is on November 12th 5-7pm at Stonebridge School.

If you are unable to attend fill in the consultation form here: www.brent.gov.uk/stonebridgeconsultation

or email your response to stonebridge.consult@brent.gov.uk
 

The consultation closes on November 17th

I told the consultation team:

• Stonebridge and Harlesden children need a playground in a high density area to provide space to play, experience challenge and develop physical and teamwork skills
• They need a staffed playground so they and their parents know they are safe
• The playground is a place where parents and carers mix and get to know each other
• Children from many different primary and secondary schools mix happily at the Centre
• The staff are known and trusted by the community and have their respect
• In turn the staff know several generations of local people and have seen them grow from children into youth and adulthood
• This makes a unique contribution to the stability of the area
• The Council is in danger of concentrating on the 'accountancy' in housing and school place provision and missing the social value of what Stonebridge Adventure Playground provides
• Increased density of housing with no 'safety valve' such as the Playground provides will build up potential trouble for the future (more flats are to be built on the site of Bridge Park and Wembley Point across the North Circular Road may be turned into flats)
• The kickabout area (see illustration below) is next to the main road posing a danger both from traffic accidents and traffic pollution
• The Playground's holiday and weekend provision for children with special needs and disabilities is unique and its record of integration very positive
• The Playground also contributes to the mental health and well-being of children and young people through the care and support it offers
• Any Equalities Impact Assessment would have to recognise that in closing the Adventure Playground the Council would be depriving an already disadvantaged community further as well as removing support from children with special needs, disabilities and mental health problems

Stonebridge School and Our Lady of Lourdes next door - kickabout area next to main road and NO Adventure Playground

It is worth noting that the Brent Council website  consultation page introduction does not mention the plans involve the closing of the Sdventure Plkayground ad it merits just two sentences on page five of the consultation booklet.

From the Council website:

We are consulting on the redevelopment of Stonebridge Primary School between 6 October and 17 November 2014.

The current proposals are for the redevelopment of the Stonebridge Primary School site and the area around it.  This site is located off Hillside and is bordered by the canal off Johnson Road, Milton Avenue and Our Lady of Lourdes RC School.

The redevelopment includes the site currently being used as the Stonebridge Primary School annexe on Twybridge Way.

Stonebridge is your community, so it’s important that you tell us what you think of these plans.

These are proposals and no decision has as yet been taken.

Not very transparent is it?

Brent's closure of Stonebridge Adventure Playground would renege on HAT regeneration agreement

The Trustees of Brent Play Association (of which I am one) have sent the following letter to Brent councillors as the fight to save the Stonebridge Adventure Playground continues:

Following our previous correspondence regarding the Stonebridge Adventure Playground I am responding to the consultation document in which the Adventure Playground is replaced by a small ‘kick about’ play area situated adjacent to the Hillside / Harrow Road.

I cannot believe that everyone concerned with this proposal has completely lost touch with the current situation regarding the day-to-day lives of our children outside of school hours.

Whatever school representatives may say, even primary schools now employ classroom assistants who are directed to supervise play times, with particular regard to curtail fighting and bullying. This is an area of concern that has increased in recent years. Can you imagine parents, or Ofsted’s response to a school, which allowed the children out at playtime with no adult supervision whatsoever? Recently we have heard many serious concerns from parents about the large unsupervised play area in Lawrence Road, which included a deputation of parents asking us how to go about closing it down. Why?

·      it is dark after school for more than 3 months of the year,

·      rain, with no indoor facilities

·      the area is often used as a meeting / hanging out place for older teenagers

·      there have been shootings and other gun-related issues in and around this playground

·      used syringes can be found there

·      dogs are exercised there

·      no supervision leads to anti-social behavior  including bullying, swearing, smoking, drinking alcohol, and  vandalism .

·      no access to toilets or drinking water

Due to all of the above parents tell their children that if they are allowed to play out they must avoid this playground. The days of parents letting their children go out to play unsupervised are over. 

Where unsupervised playgrounds of this kind are used it is always with a parent being present. We therefore believe that the new children’s play space within the proposal to expand Stonebridge school will be a danger to children and young people.

When the redevelopment of Stonebridge began the Housing Action Trust (HAT), Brent Council officers, and selected residents agreed that due to the huge amount of 4-19 year olds in this ward there would need to be two separate facilities offering supervised indoor and outdoor opportunities. The Pavilion was built for older teenagers and upwards, and it was agreed by all that the Adventure Playground was already providing the appropriate facility for the younger age group, so a new premises was not needed. The proposed closure of the Adventure Playground is reneging on this agreement, and leaves the children with nothing.

Save the playground for him and other children growing up in Stonebridge & the surrounding area

We have been the custodians of this very special place for over 40 years.

It is the only one of its kind, dedicated exclusively to children and young people, in Brent, involving them directly in the decision-making, and day-to-day management of the Centre. It is therefore highly valued by its users past and present, and has contributed to their development in all areas of life.

Stonebridge Adventure Playground should therefore be, as promised, kept and improved for future generations of children and young people.

On behalf of the BPA Trustees

Doug Lee

Brent's own Welsh village school is determined to survive redevelopment plans

Nestled between Stonebridge Primary School and Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School on Hillside, Stonebridge, and easy to miss,  lies one of Brent's hidden gems.

Ysgol Gymraeg Llundain (London Welsh School) has occupied the site since 2000 after its move from a Welsh Chapel in Willesden.

Now there are concerns about its future following the Brent Council Executive's approval of plans to expand Stonebridge Primary School, sell off its current Annex for housing and reconfigure Stonebridge Adventure Playground and the adjacent open space.

The school is a Welsh village school in the heart of London. Although the Executive report said that the number of pupils  was 'well below the maximum of 30' there are in fact 36 full-time statutory age children  attending and 41 if you include the nursery.

The school receives a grant from the Welsh Government and charges fees of £800 a term. However parents' ability to pay is means tested and the Chair of the Board of directors, Eleri Brady said they 'pay what they can afford to pay and we never refuse a place to a child'. The school has to find the difference and is involved in lots of fund raising. An earlier application to become a free school in  order to secure the school's future was not approved.

At present the premises are leased from Stonebridge Primary and the arrangement goes back to a period when Stonebridge was a one form entry in a cavernous building. The council report says that the arrangement needs to be 'regularised', and the lease 'put on a commercial footing or terminated'.

Eleri Brady at the school entrance

A commercial rent or termination would see the school looking for new premises or ending its existence although there is a ray of hope in the report where it states the council should 'carefully consider any impact on the Welsh language community' going forward. Certainly there is a determination on the part of the Chair of the Board of Directors to keep the school open: 'We want to keep it special'.

The bilingual school follows the Welsh curriculum and the children do not take SATs tests, although the school does follow theEarly Years and Foundation Stage curriculum.

When I visited today the atmosphere was relaxed but purposeful with very positive relationships between children and between children and teachers. The headteacher Julie Sullivan described how the children developed confidence quickly in the school with everyone from Nursery to Year 6 able to participate in presentations and productions because of the low numbers involved.  The school is regularly visited by the Welsh media and children participate in the annual St David's Day Service Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster.

Parents choose the school because they wanted to preserve their children's Welsh language and cultural identity and often because are were only working in London for a few years and want to ensure the continuity of the child's education. About half the children go on to an English secondary school and the others return to Wales for a Welsh secondary education as there is no equivalent Welsh secondary school in London. The children are drawn from across London by some families move closer i9n order to attend the school.

Clearly there are pressures on school places that have to be addressed but it would be a pity if the London Welsh School became a casualty of regeneration in a similar way to the fate of the much missed Willesden Bookshop. Cllr Pavey, lead member for children and families, referred at the Executive meeting to Cllr Crane's description of him supporting the Welsh School as an eccentricity. Crane is the lead member for regeneration and major projects. It would be a terrible pity if a place so unique were to disappear when the bulldozers move in and I hope a means will be found to help it survive.

Celebrating victory in an earlier threat to the Adventure Playground

Alongside the proposal for the Welsh School are plans for the Stonebridge Adventure Playground.  Presently run by the Brent Play Association, a charity of which I am one of the trustees, the report points to the possibility of reorganisation and resiting. At the Executive meeting Cllr George Crane spoke of the ' need to consult further and review the management and operation of the playground'. The Adventure Playground was funded by the Big Lottery and recently campaigned to maintain its council funding.

The report mentions the possibility of the Adventure Playground being used by Stonebridge Primary School during the day and the community after school and at weekends.

Neither the Welsh School nor the Adventure Playground seem to know much about what is planned for them so it is important that there is a full and transparent consultation about their future.

London Welsh School Contacts:

headlondonwelsh@hotmail.com
www.ysgolgymraegllundain.ik.org
Tel: 0208 965 3585