 |
| Author Zadie Smith (Left) spoke up for the Granville in November 2016 LINK |
These are interesting times in Brent as 'People Power' is exercised in Stonebridge/Bridge Park, St Raphael's Estate and South Kilburn. This is the letter about the Granville Centre plans as featured in this week's Brent and Kilburn Times. LINK
To
Brent Council Cabinet:
Please keep the Granville/Carlton
site for use by the community and run by the community
The Granville Carlton buildings
were built for the purpose of serving the South Kilburn community. The Carlton
as a school in 1910, which later became an adult education centre and closed in
Spring 2017.
The Granville was built in
1888 as a community centre and place of refuge, respite and learning for
the poor of the area. The Granville had a strong arts direction from
the 1980s. It was well used as part of Brent Youth and Community Service
hosting over 800 children and young people a year in arts activities. This
service was closed in March 2016.
The building was left to The
Otherwise Club and The Granville Community Kitchen to steward. It was filled
with community and educational activities, exercise classes, award winning food
related activities and fun. In August 2017 the South Kilburn Trust took over
responsibility for running the Granville. After renovations, the
building re- opened in May 2018 as an enterprise hub and community
centre.
South Kilburn itself is
in the throes of major changes with huge building works with Gloucester site
being built, the Peel site about to be started, the Winterlees site in
consultation and work on the HS2 vent started. The new buildings do not have
community meeting spaces in them as the buildings being demolished
did. This leaves Granville/Carlton as the only non-denominational
community buildings in the area.
There are 2400 plus new homes
planned to be built in South Kilburn. Where are these people going to do an
exercise class? Where will they hold their parents 50th wedding
anniversary party? Where can children and young people outside of school
go to socialise and learn in a space that’s safe? Where will marginalised
groups of people go to a place where they feel welcomed and not judged because
they have been in prison, or mentally ill or because they are poor or hungry
? You can see the need for the community space.
The building already functions as
a community hub offering social and welfare services which will be greatly
affected or lost.
In this new plan you are being
asked to agree to there is a slight increase in square footage but that is a
nod to new community space being built, with the 3 community spaces separated
by some distance. Nor does it take into account the community hall lost in
2018. The housing aspect of this plan is said by the Regeneration team to be
minimal (25-30 homes)and cannot be guaranteed to be social or even affordable housing
as there are so few planned now. The cost of building may necessitate that they
all be sold on the open market.
How will these two necessary but
incompatible uses of these spaces play out into the future? Already South
Kilburn Trust, who manage The Granville, have had numerous complaints from
residents of Granville New Homes on Granville Road about the noise from the
community centre. The community activities had to quieten down as the residents
have priority now. Do you believe the needs of community groups using
community spaces on the site will be prioritised above the needs of home
owners?
We see this site as a place for
community activities only and exclusively. In fact we argue that given the
number of new people moving into the area and the loss of community rooms this
community space is even more vital.
This housing is likely to be
the beginning of the end of community use on the site. If you agree to this
plan you are going against a decision you took in December 2016 only two
years ago when you voted to save Granville/Carlton as spaces used for
the community.
The Granville/Carlton site must be
kept solely for the community in perpetuity. For this reason we would like to
present a different scenario for the Granville/Carlton site.
We would like to ask that the
Cabinet support the local community and community groups to establish a
Granville/ Carlton Alliance run by the community and stakeholders in South
Kilburn to oversee these buildings for the community in perpetuity. This would
be a self financing organisation which is viable, credible, transparent and
accountable to the South Kilburn community. There is precedent for this in
other communities.
We would not tear down the wing
of Granville built in 2005 that is still perfectly viable with happy tenants.
We would not build housing on 2/3 of the Granville building going against
cabinet promises made to safeguard Carlton and Granville in 2016. We would
return the Granville hall to its rightful place as the centre piece of both
these buildings. We would ensure the use of these buildings will support a
community to feel proud about itself and glad to be a part of.
We ask you to please reject this
plan and work with the communities of South Kilburn towards a long lasting
legacy, by preserving the Granville/Carlton site as the heart of the South
Kilburn Community.
Yours sincerely,
Leslie Barson
The Otherwise Club and Granville Community Kitchen
Deirdre
Woods The Otherwise Club and
Granville Community Kitchen
Cllr A
Abdi , Kilburn, Brent
Sara
Callaway, BAME officer, Hampstead & Kilburn CLP
Pete
Firmin, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenant’s and Residents Association.
David
Kaye , Chair Kilburn (Brent) Branch Labour Party
Carlton
& Granville Centres Site – South Kilburn Development Options 1-4
1.0
Option 1
53 units
provided meeting a mixture of housing tenure to meet a section of the community
which may not be catered for in the existing South Kilburn programme this would
include:
9 Family Homes. Affordable Housing for medium to large
families
18 units
for the New Accommodation for Independent living initiative for those who have
extra care or support needs, arranged in 3 co-living clusters.
15 Move-On Homes for single people who are homeless or
on the housing waiting list
11
Down-size/accessible homes aimed at elderly residents already in South Kilburn
wishing to down-size.
2.0
Option 2
53 units
provided all of one tenure.
Having
met with the Operational Director for Adult Social Care to discuss the NAIL
programme in further detail this site could be ideally suited to accommodate
the biggest demand in this service from older people needing extra care.
This
NAIL programme is still to deliver 400 of the required homes in a bid to
provide a replacement for residential care. This is known to be the biggest
revenue savings programme at Brent Council, and something we could accommodate
on this site.
External
community activity is an excellent fit for these residents and there would be
an excellent blend of services in the activities already happening in The
Granville for older people and the day time services sought by this section of
the community. Benefits may also be found between this and the children’s
services on site.
The
minimum number of units this scheme would need to provide is 40 plus accommodation
for care staff to cover the night time care required.
3.0
Option 3 (Recommended)
Approximately
23 units delivered in response to some of the consultation responses. This
option endorses the principle of a less dense scheme whilst still achieving the
benefits housing provides on a site, specifically community safety with 24
hours passive surveillance of the outdoor spaces below.
A
reduction in housing presented on this option will responds to the community
concerns on scale of development and residential impact on this community site.
It also resolves technical issues regarding the build and management of the
space and should provide a more acceptable level of development as the taller
housing element is removed from this option
It
should be recognised that viability will have to be worked through and some
private housing may be required however the preference is for affordable units.
4.0
Option 4
No
housing delivered as part of the longer term plans this option would still
require refurbishment of the existing buildings for community and enterprise
use. Financial impacts would need to be further considered.
FULL REPORT TO CABINET HERE
-->
