Pilgrims Way ward 'walkabout' tomorrow

Saltcroft Close this morning

Barnhill councillors will meet up with residents of Pilgrims Way, Summers Close and Saltcroft Close tomorrow for a Ward Working 'walkabout'  to hear views on how the area can be made better. They will be joined by representatives of Brent Housing Partnership, Brent Parks Department and the Safer Neighbourhoods Team.

The meeting place is the Robert Hartley Centre which is between Saltcroft Close and Kings Drive with a 2pm start. If the weather continues to be snowy and cold most of the discussion will take place in the Centre. Tea and coffee with be available.

In Defence of Ward Working

Art display at Chalkhill Primary

The amount of money spent on Ward Working by Brent Council has been attacked a number of times since the council started making cuts. Opponents have argued that the money could be used to retain services that will otherwise be closed, including libraries. Ex Conservative and Democratic Conservative Councillor, Robert Dunwell, renews the attack in the current Willesden and Kilburn Times.

In the absence of a concerted anti-cuts strategy by the Labour Council it is all too easy for divide and rule tactics to pitch groups against each other.

Ward Working enables the local community to decide with their ward councillors what their ward of £20,000  should be spent on and I would argue that it unites rather than divides the community. When it works well it can produce real change in an area and brings councillors and the community closer. With the current cabinet system excluding rank and file councillors it also provides councillors with an opportunity to make a real difference at grassroots level.

The council sets out the remit clearly:

Ward Working operates in every ward in Brent. Every ward has a budget of £20,000 to tackle the top issues of concern. The money is for one-off capital projects. We aim to find new or innovative ways of tackling issues to provide lasting solutions. The money isn't used to substitute for things that should be done anyway.

To declare an interest, I approached Barn Hill councillors on behalf of Chalkhill Primary School  last year for some help with funding the temporary swimming pool installed at the school. This funding enabled people to learn to swim who would not otherwise have had the chance. The Ward Working section of the council website HERE has full details of the projects and is a good example of transparency.

Using Barn Hill ward as an example this is how the money has been spent:

• Chalkhill Primary school swimming pool for £5,000 - installation of temporary swimming pool
• Brent Town Hall library activities for £600 - Manga art sessions
• Kingsbury and Preston Somali youth project  for £4, 000 - support for homework club
• Chalkhill DJ project for £2,170 - support for youth engagement project to engage young people
• Brent Town Hall library homework club for £510 - support for volunteer reading help at homework club
• Chalkhill Wanderers football project for £5,350 - support for pitch hire and other costs for locally-run team
• Chalkhill allotments for £1,000 - gardening and growing project
• burglary reduction initiative for £350 - purchase of security equipment for vulnerable elderly people.

At the other end of the borough in Harlesden ward money was spent on:

• alley-gating scheme at St Thomas's Road for £1,905 - installation of alley-gates to prevent fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour 
• Athletic Football Club (AFC) Wembley football project for £6,500 - contribution towards IT and music mentoring and support towards coaching qualifications. A joint project with Dudden Hill ward
• Harlesden Primary School equipment for £3,726 - contribution towards the cost of media equipment to enhance school provision and for community groups who wish to use it
• Cricklewood Homeless Concern winter night shelter project for £2,000 - support to homeless members of the community who are in need of shelter during the winter at All Souls Church
• Harlesden responsible traders scheme for £200 - support for a pilot a scheme in Harlesden Town Centre paying for boundary markers for shops licensed to trade on the pavement
• Challenge Close soil survey for £4,000 - funding of a soil survey for Challenge Close with a view to assessing the suitability for developing an allotment for community use
• Bang Radio and Harlesden SNT project for £400 - funding towards a partnership radio programme with Harlesden Safer Neighbourhoods Team to raise awareness of community safety issues
• Fortunegate Elders Forum £1,000 - contribution towards a community celebration to bring together elders to combat social exclusion
• energy solutions scheme for £270 - provision of emergency heaters to loan to vulnerable residents whose heating systems have broken down

Both wards have made a comparatively small amount of money go a long way in making a real difference to the quality of life of people in their community.  It would surely be a shame if all these opportunities (there's a list for every ward) were to disappear.

Chalkhill growing its own, but 'Where's our park?' demand the children

Chalkhill allotment raised bed bag

Greens have long pressed for the opening of more allotments on derelict or unused land so we welcome the Chalkhill allotment project initiated by Metropolitan Housing and supported by Brent Council Ward Working.
Allottees have now got their raised beds which are made from builder's type heavy duty bags. The plots are on the old walkway between the Metropolitan railway line just outside Wembley Park station and Chalkhill Road. The project is part of the MHT's 'Grow Local' project. LINK

I spoke recently to some of the new vegetable growers and they were very positive about the experience and told me how excited their children were at growing their own. They have been given free seeds as part of their 'starter pack' and tomatoes, peppers and corn are already in evidence (cross fingers over the possibility of a cold snap!).  One slight drawback at the moment is that there is no piped water on the site so plot-holder have to bring in their own. The combination of the recent very dry spell and the nature of raised beds means that a lot of watering is required at present.

In contrast another green project at Chalkhill seems to have ground to a halt. At the recent Kingsbury and Kenton Area Forum I asked when work would start and am awaiting a reply from the Council.. I was assured last summer that funding for the new park was safeguarded despite government cuts. Work was supposed to start late last Autumn but was delayed, according to the Council, by the unusually harsh weather. When work didn't start in the early Spring I heard that there was a 'labour shortage'.

The site, as you can see below, is developing into quite a wildlife area and fencing has been broken down in places. As with any such site, fly-tipping is becoming a problem and it is rather a dismal sight for local residents whose children have been badgering me asking when they are going to get their park.

Unless something revolutionary happens quickly there will be no park in place for the children's summer holiday which is really a great shame for children in a high density development with many flats without any garden and where the terraced houses have only very small gardens..

Declaration of interest: I am Chair of Governors at Chalkhill Primary School