Officers recommend approval for Wembley French School swimming pool

Officers are recommending that Brent Planning Committee at their December 16th meeting grant permission for the private French School, now housed in the former Brent (and Wembley) Town Hall, to build a swimmng pool at the front of the site on Forty Lane. This is presently a grassed area with around 18 trees,  including two memorial trees.

The swimming pool building will be lowered by creating a basement and thus not conceal the frontage of the listed town hall building.

It is proposed that two memorial trees will be planted in Chalkhill Park to make up for the loss, and other replacement trees planted in the school grounds. Green space will be lost but the new swimming pool building will have a green roof.

The new build will also affect the current bus stop serving the 83, 182, 206, 245 and 297 buses. The stop will be relocated but the precise site will have to be negotiated with TfL.

As part of the deal the Lycee will provide some community access to the pool which will be managed externally by a facilities company:

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• The swimming pool will be open during the week for use by local schools for four half day sessions 

• Community use of the swimming pool and studio facilities is anticipated to be before school use on 
weekdays, between 7 and 9am, and after school, between 7 and 9.30pm 

• Community access for swimming lessons is anticipated on two early evening sessions per week, as 
well as weekend mornings. General community access to the pool facilities is expected on weekend afternoons and during holiday periods. However, the opening times for the facilities during these periods are yet to be defined. 
  

Details

Update on The Winston Churchill Wembley French School

Living locally I have been following with interest the redevelopment of the former Brent (and Wembley) Town Hall as, what we have been calling locally, the Wembley French School. It is not clear what the new bus destination that will replace 'Brent Town Hall' will be.

The internal works are nearly complete and most activity is now on landscaping works. One can't help but be struck by the high quality of the work for this private fee paying school in comparison with the 'off the peg' cheap new school build in the public sector as well as free schools in converted buildings with little play space: compare these grounds with Michaela's tiny 'car park' play space benath the building and next to the railway line.

Many of the trees on the site have been kept which provides pleasant shaded areas around the buildings and there has been some new planting and landscaping.

The Lycee International Londres Winston Churchill is due to open on Thursday September 3rd to Years 1-11 and applications are open until Wednesday August 26th.

The playground on the space once occupied by the huts of the Town Hall annex - new primary building in background

The front of the building which is to be a running track

Primary building from The Paddocks

Impression of finished building and grounds

Wembley French School fuelling house price inflation?

Work underway to convert Brent Town Hall into a school

The Guardian recently reported that percentage house price increases in Brent were the highest in London, fed by the gentrification of some areas in the south of the borough.  LINK

The lack of affordable housing in new developments such as Willesden Green Library, Bridge Park and Moberly Sports Centre is a real issue. Brent Council have agreed that developers are excused the usual 50% affordable (although there is a debate about what exactly is an affordable rent) allocation in exchange for the 'free' building of community amenities such as cultural centres and sports centres. We need the amenities but we also need housing.

Now it appears that the Wembley French School is contributing to rising house prices in some areas of the borough. Parents of pupils due to attend the private fee paying school have been reported looking for properties in Queens Park, Kensal Rise and Dollis Hill.  One estate agent serving those wards told me that the would be purchasers 'have plenty of money'.  Agents in Wembley Park, close to the actual school, told me that they have not discerned any interest from French purchasers in the local area.

The proposed private sector landlord licensing scheme (to be discussed at the April 21st Executive) may have the unintended consequence of reducing the amount of private rental as the Council acts against over-crowding and illegal conversions in the sector. Again we need to act against exploitative landlords and poor quality housing but also need to be providing alternative accommodation for those likely to be hit.

Against the background of the Panorama programme and the forced movement of families out of the borough into accommodation in Birmingham, Milton Kenyes and Luton it does seem that major demographic changes are in process.