Haringey Council's subsidy to Spurs revealed as Brent Council leader meets concerned residents

Wembley Champions, the residents and small businesses umbrella group that fought against the 'Twin Towers' that is to replace Chesterfield House at the junction of Park Lane and Wembley High Road and also opposed the increase in full capacity events at Wembley Stadium, are to meet with the leader of the Council and senior officers about their concerns about developments in Wembley with a vew to a public meeting later. LINK

Wembley high rise building from the stadium ramp

 Meanwhile Spurs has been given an extension of the deadline to sign up for the Wembley Stadium and must now agree the deal by April 30th. Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, has suggested that due to delays in getting the construction of the new Spurs stadium underway that the team may play their home games at White Hart Lane next season.  Chelsea waits in the wings...

During the planning application debate the applicants stressed the financial advantage to local businesses of more high capacity events (not shared by the High Road Business Association) and there were suggestions that the deal would also be advantageous to the Council and thus to council tax payers.

However a Freedom of Information request to Haringey Council suggests that the traffic is not all one way LINK:

Public Subsidy to Tottenham Hotspur:

In February 2012, Cabinet approved a £27m Funding and Investment Package for North Tottenham. The funding comprised of £18m of funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA) and £9m funding from the council. This included a decision to allocate £8m of funding for ‘public realm and heritage improvements’ linked to the Northumberland Development Project (the new stadium and associated development currently underway by Tottenham Hotspur) scheme.

Via a Cabinet Member Decision to be taken in April 2017, we will be seeking approval to enter into formal grant agreements with THFC to contribute £7.5m (£500,000 of the £8m funding has previously been used to contribute to the North Tottenham Heritage Initiative) for the public realm and heritage improvement works Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) will be undertaking as part of the NDP scheme.

Since February 2012, the Council has also undertaken the following funding transactions with THFC:

§  £32,898 to THFC for services such as room hire
§  £644,215 to the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation (THFC’s charitable
foundation)  for the delivery of programmes relating to health, social
care, community development, education and employment
§  £4,000 to Tottenham Hotspur Ladies Football Club for sports and activity programmes

You can access a copy of the original 2012 Cabinet report in the Cabinet meeting pack here:
[1]http://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/docum...
The report specific to the funding package for Tottenham Hotspur can be found on page 143 of the document (page 149 of the pdf)

Wembley Stadium 'Goliath' wins against local residents

Rob Davies did not receive notification that his request had been granted. The Chair refused a substitute from the same residents' association

Despite some excellent well-researched speeches by supporters of local umbrella group 'Wembley Champions', Barn Hill Residents' Association and Wembley High Road Traders' Association,  Brent Planning Committee tonight approved Wembley Stadium/Spurs planning application for 22 additional full capacity (91,000)  events per year with only one councillor voting against.

Earlier it had looked more evenly balanced when councillors asked some searching questions about the application and mitigation measures with Wembley Stadium often floundering in response. Councillors appeared to be very  doubtful of the benefits for local people and concerned about a capacity increase of some 60,000 spectators and the subsequent impact on traffic, train and bus over-crowding, littering and anti-social behaviour.

However after another confusion over whether the Committee could defer the decision, with the wrong legal advice being given at first to say they couldn't, there was a short break.  After the break they were informed that they could defer after all (this after a member of the public showed them a copy  of the law), but no councillor moved a motion to do so and a straight vote was taken  for or against the officer's  recommendation of approval.

Cllrs J Mitchell-Murray, Moher, Maurice, Long, Kabir and Agha all voted for the increase in the number of events and increased capacity despite all their early scepticism. Outgoing Kilburn councillor Cllr Pitruzzella, who had asked some challenging questions of the stadium team, was the only one to vote against. She will be a great loss to honest Brent politics.

Unusually written statements were read out from Cllr Muhammed Butt (he'd decided not to attend the meeting) and Cllr Ketan Sheth. Butt claimed that on balance the application would be good for local people.

Usually when non-committee councillors make representations, as was the case with Cllr Stopp and Cllr Choudhary, they are asked to declare any interest and reveal any approaches that have been made to them - this was not the case with the written statements.

Wembley Champions turn to poetry to make their point about 'Twin Towers'

Wembley Champions website LINK has published this poem about the Wembley 'Twin Towers' - it is not quite John Betjeman but shows how much they care for where they live. They are asking the Mayor of London to call in the application which was approved by Brent Planning Committee with 4 votes for, 2 against (including the Chair) and two abstentions.

King Eddies campaigners bowled over by all the support they have had

Guest blog 

On 4th March representatives from Friends of King Eddies Park LINK  and Wembley Champions LINK  went to Planning Committee to object to planning application number 14/4208 pertaining to King Edward VII Park.

This was for: Change of use of the bowling pavillion and adjoining land (Use class D2) into a primary school (Use class D1) also including the erection of a single storey classroom block, and part change of use of the land adjoining Collins Lodge (Use class C3) into parkland (Use class D2)

Speech:

Whilst the re-consultation has been carried out, the committee's request for an alternative land swap site selection in accordance with National Planning Policy and Sport England's comments has not been adhered to. 

Are the committee satisfied that you've seen a comprehensive spreadsheet of sites considered? Have you been given detailed information as to how the other sites were discounted? Has a detailed and robust assessment of alternative sites with fully justified reasons been presented? 

The proposed landswap is sloping, waterlogged on recent visits with restricted views across the park. Several trees beside the footpath obstruct the views across the park. The land is not functional and usable. No replacement building is proposed, there will be no indoor community space. Not only is it not a comparable land swap, it is actually an inferior replacement. 

King Edward VII Park was bought by the council in 1913 (and opened in 1914) to compensate the residents of Wembley for the loss of Parkland at Wembley Park, which was being developed as a high class residential garden suburb.

The park is afforded a level of protection under the Fields in Trust award should planning permission be forthcoming. Fields in Trust rejected the London Welsh School's [The Head of Planning, Steven Weeks, corrected this later. He said to the Chair, Cllr Sarah Marquis, that he believed it was Property Services [i.e. Brent Council] who applied to Fields in Trust] proposal in January. 

The community have come together to provide an enhanced bowls offer and community space. They have a willingness to secure complementary uses for the space for a robust community asset.

Whilst planning application number 14/4208 does not comply with paragraphs 74 and 123 of the National Planning Policy Framework, as well as the Council's own CP18 of the core strategy and the All London Green Grid, our Community Business Proposal would comply with all the aforementioned planning policies.

 Paolo Di Paolo's speech:

(Huge thanks Paolo for being our second resident speaker again) 

This proposal in effect takes away a community sporting facility from local residents and seeks change of use to replace it with a private business operating as the London Welsh School.

There is no parking provision within this application. Neither is there a travel plan. It's been mentioned that the school will use the car park. The lower car park is used by groups playing cricket who I've spoken to, who said they would oppose the proposal.
The idea of compensating for the loss of the open space adjacent to the pavilion with the steeply sloping bank next to Collin's Lodge is not comparable and unusable. Supporting documents propose that residents sit or lie down on what has been completely waterlogged grass on recent visits, beside the traffic fumes of the frequent tail backs of stationary vehicles on Park Lane whilst enjoying a beverage and the views. In fact this will make Collin's Lodge vulnerable to vandalisation and arson. As an attractive notable architectural feature of the park and the wider Wembley area this would be tragic. 

The Tree Officer's report has not been submitted with the documents. As no tree survey was provided, and, no reference is made in the committee report to the trees being felled, there is a real need for formal proof before the category B Monterey Cypress tree and 3 Irish Yew trees can be removed. Category B trees have the ability to contribute to the quality of an area for up to 20 years. Granting permission without such proof would be a travesty against nature. 

Child safeguarding is important. The location is too exposed to the public being in the middle of the park. Any CCTV & lighting would be subject to additional planning permission.

We urge our elected planning committee members not to permit the taking of parkland and a recreational facility from the people of Wembley and Brent. Please consider the limited evidence base, misguided supporting documents, limited re-consultation time, alongside the case officer committee report, to refuse this flawed proposal.

 Cllr Sam Stopp  has kindly noted my dedication to this campaign in his article "King Eddie’s is saved – now let’s make Wembley greener, cleaner and united. LINK

He states: "A brilliant campaign led by local resident, had gathered momentum in recent weeks to tip the balance decisively in favour of rejection. In the end, 6 members of the committee voted against the application, while one abstained. No members voted in favour."

The Local Press, Brent and Kilburn Times, published an article about the decision too LINK:

I would like to say massive thanks again to all of the team who have supported me throughout this process. You have each helped to protect King Eddie's Park for the people of Wembley and Brent.

We are all appreciative of the support of our Preston and Wembley Central Ward Councillors: Cllrs Matthew Bradley, Patricia Harrison, Jean Hossain, Krupa Sheth, Sam Stopp and Wilhelmina Mitchell-Murray.

We will continue to work in partnership with our ward councillors.

We love King Edward VII Park and the community has shown us that they too love their local park.

We are seeking permission from Brent Council to lease the Bowls Pavilion and both Bowls Greens to us.

We will do our best to make a reality of our vision of a Community Asset, and Wembley Bowls Club, that Wembley and Brent can be proud of.

Thank you too Wembley Matters Readers.