Call for volunteers to help green spaces near Willesden Junction Station

 

Energy Garden is a community run volunteering programme that empowers local communities to enhance biodiversity and cultivate food in community spaces close to tube and train stations.

 

They are currently looking for local people to participate in greening local spaces near Willesden Junction station. 

 

Email callum@energygarden.org.uk to register your interest and find out more about Energy Garden and their work here

TfL proposals for a new high-quality Cycleway between Wembley and Willesden Junction

 From Transport for London

Since April 2019, we have been working closely with Brent Council to develop a scheme that would make it easier for local people to walk and cycle between Wembley and Willesden Junction.

Our proposals for a new high-quality Cycleway between Wembley and Willesden Junction would make streets in the area safer and more pleasant by enabling people to walk and cycle more and drive less. This would help us to reduce air pollution, carbon emissions and congestion in the area.

The proposals would support local businesses by keeping existing loading and parking bays and introducing new and improved pedestrian crossings over Harrow Road. Better street lighting and more trees and plants will help make the area feel safer and more welcoming.

An update on previous engagement

From January to March 2020, we spoke with communities in the Wembley, Stonebridge, and Harlesden neighbourhoods to help us develop our proposals so that they meet local priorities. We have now published a detailed report on this engagement. The report details who we spoke with, what we found, and includes actions and recommendations that we have taken forward. The pandemic delayed the publication of this report and the project overall until now as we were forced to pause work on some of our walking and cycling schemes.

Phase 1: Wembley Central station to Harlesden station

In Autumn 2022, vital investment was secured as part of TfL’s funding agreement with Government to take forward our key priority Healthy Streets schemes to make the capital's roads safer and more attractive for those walking and cycling.

We and Brent Council have since agreed to progress the first phase of walking and cycling improvements between Wembley Central station and Harlesden station. 

 Frequently Asked Questions

Why have you chosen this area of Brent for this scheme?

Cycling in London has grown significantly over the past 15 years. There are now more than 670,000 cycle trips a day in London, an increase of over 130% since 2000. 

In 2017, TfL published its latest Strategic Cycling Analysis (SCA) - the latest datasets, forecasts and models showing potential locations across London where cycling demand, current and future, would justify investment.

The SCA identified the Wembley to Willesden Junction corridor as being on one of the top six routes in London with the greatest potential future demand for cycling, but only if we provide new facilities to help and encourage people to cycle.

A fully segregated cycleway was originally considered on main roads between Wembley and Willesden Junction. In light of local concerns around road congestion this has since been scaled back to a less intrusive scheme based mostly on quiet residential back streets, with some main road segregated sections where impacts on traffic are expected to be low.

Work on this scheme was paused in March 2020 due to the pandemic and resumed in autumn 2022 following our financial settlement with Government, which provides us with funding to spring 2024. 

What benefits does this scheme aim to bring to the local community?

Seven people tragically lost their lives while cycling in London in 2022. That is simply unacceptable.

Between 2015 and 2018, 24 collisions on between Wembley and Willesden Junction involved cyclists. In the same period 93 collisions involved pedestrians. One person sadly lost their life. 

Between 22 January 2018 and 28 December 2020, 90 collisions occurred on Harrow Road (where we are proposing to build a section of segregated cycle track and improve pedestrian crossings) resulting in 109 casualties. Nine of these casualties were cyclists. Fourteen were pedestrians, two of which sadly suffered serious injuries.

We would improve this by providing a safe cycle route connecting Wembley Central and Harlesden stations. Crossing the A406 north circular is particularly perilous and puts many would-be cyclists off getting on a bike in the first place. 

Our proposals will provide a fully segregated cycle track over the north circular, giving cyclists of all confidence levels a safe route between communities on the north and south of this busy junction for the first time. Making cycling a safe, attractive, genuinely viable alternative to completing local journeys by car would decrease the reliance on driving, reduce congestion, make the area more walkable, and improve air quality.

What is Vision Zero for London?

Vision Zero represents our aim to eradicate deaths and serious injuries from our roads and make London a safer, healthier and greener place by 2041.   

Major cities around the world are taking a stand to end the toll of deaths and injury seen on their roads and transport networks by committing to Vision Zero. London is at the forefront of this approach and the Mayor's Transport Strategy sets out the goal that, by 2041, all deaths and serious injuries will be eliminated from London's transport network. 

It is neither inevitable nor acceptable that anyone should be killed or seriously injured when travelling in London. When we leave our homes each day, we should feel safe and confident about the journey ahead. 

The proposals for a safe walking and cycling route between Wembley Central and Harlesden stations are part of the work we are doing towards meeting the Vision Zero.

Will this scheme cause more congestion in the area, especially on Wembley Stadium event days?

The first phase of the scheme - between Wembley Central and Harlesden stations - will run mostly along quiet residential streets. The only section of the scheme currently proposed on main roads is the section on the A404 Harrow Road/Brentfield which crosses the north circular between Sylvia Gardens and First Drive. 

We continue to engage with Brent Council and The Football Association / Wembley Stadium about post-event traffic arrangements. As we are not proposing to reduce road capacity on Harrow Road southbound towards the north circular (which is the main exit route for most traffic after events) we do not anticipate the scheme will increase congestion. This is something that we, The FA and Brent Council will continue to monitor very closely.

Will the residential streets you are proposing to run the scheme along be able to cope with the predicted number of cyclists using the scheme?

• North side of A406: London Road, Tokyngton Avenue, Sylvia Gardens
• South side of A406. First Drive, Stonebridge Park, Albert Terrace, Milton Avenue, Shelley Road, Mordaunt Road

We are confident that these streets will provide more than enough safe space for cyclists without impacting on residents who will continue to be able to access and park outside their homes.

In the future, should the scheme prove popular enough that cyclist numbers increase to a level where these streets can no longer safely accommodate them, we will consider bringing forward  proposals for a fully segregated cycle track along main roads between Wembley Central and Willesden Junction stations. 

In spring 2023 we plan to launch a public consultation on proposals for this first phase.

If you want to find out more about this project, email us at: localcommunitiesandpartnerships@tfl.gov.uk(External link) and quote “Wembley to Willesden” in the subject line.

 

Let us Breathe!!! The Harlesden incinerator video

'Let us breathe!' Kids plea at Harlesden Incinerator protest

Between 250 and 300 residents and their supporters from the Labour and Green parties massed on the narrow Channel Gate Road, which is flanked by streets of terraced railway cottages, near Willesden Junction this morning to greet councillors on the Ealing Council planning committee.

As we stood there heavy trucks trundled by at regular intervals, sometimes 2 or 3 nose to tail, making the crowd wonder just what kind of hell they will face in the future if the new plant is built in addition to the Powerday facility which already causes them much suffering.

Their message was clear - we want clean air to breathe and safe and pollution free streets for our children. The protesters were able to put their case to the councillors and will be attending the Planning Committee at Ealing Town Hall on Wednesday November 6th, assembling outside from 6.30pm. The application will be first on the agenda at 7pm.

Urgent call to stop the Harlesden Incinerator

Urgent message from The Island Triangle Residents' Association (TITRA)  

STOP THE DUMP!

Planning Decision

Wednesday August 14th

EALING COUNCIL ARE 

RECOMMENDING APPROVAL

• The incinerator will burn 198,000 tonnes of  waste every year, just 200  yards from TITRA home
• Smelly waste will arrive by road (130 lorries per day) along Old Oak Lane,Channel Gate Road

PROTEST Outside Ealing Town Hall at 6.15pm on Wednesday August 14th

ATTEND The Planning Committee immediately afterwards, Ealing Town Hall 7pm

COMPLAIN CALL: Ealing Planning 020 8825 6600
email: planning@ealing.gov.uk

Clean Power's application:  PP/2012/3267 'Planning Application for Energy Recovery Centre, Channel Gate Road, NW10 6UQ'

Harlesden Incinerator: Action Tomorrow and Wednesday

Local residents are being urged to get down to Channel Gate Road in Park Royal LOCATION for 11am tomorrow (Saturday) morning when there is a visit to the proposed Harlesden Incinerator site by Ealing Planning Committee. Opponents of the incinerator want a massive turnout to show councillors the strength of feeling in the area.

This will be followed by a demonstration and lobby outside Ealing Town Hall LOCATION at 6.15pm on Wednesday August 14th before the Planning Committee meets to make its decision.

Details of the planning application Reference PP/2012/3267 can be found HERE

The campaign can be followed on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Harlesden incinerator plans put on hold

The Brent and Kilburn Times is reporting that the application for an incinerator at Willesden Junction have been put on hold by Ealing Council. This follows a letter from HS2 regarding their need for the proposed site.

A new dangerous neighbour in Kensal Green

Brent Greens oppose Harlesden incinerator plans

The site

Brent Green Party has joined opponents of the Energy Recovery Plant (locally known more directly as the Harlesden incinerator)  proposed for the Willesden Junction site on the borders of Brent.  They have sent the following objection to Ealing Council Planning Committee  LINK

CONTEXT

Brent Green Party is concerned about the negative environmental impact of the major part of the planning application, relating to the pyrolysis plant. We do not have equal objection to the anaerobic digestion part of the plant, since we recognise the potential benefit of utilizing CH4 released by biomass for energy rather than putting it in landfill, where it would be released anyway, contributing to climate change.

However, we cannot support the application taken as a whole and state our OBJECTIONS here:

AIR QUALITY

-         Insufficient modelling of potential air quality impacts and their assessment and foreclosure of the need for additional health impact assessments in line with Environmental Agency stipulations.

-         Insufficient assessment of the need for appropriate mitigation measures in light of potential air quality impacts at the planning application stage in line with EA stipulations.

CO2

-         Pyrolysis produces bio-oil and syngas which when combusted for energy, produce vast amounts of CO2, wholly inconsistent with the achievement of EU emission targets.

WATER COURSES

-         Contamination of London canals from run off pollutants during construction, not sufficiently mitigated by drainage measures.

-         Region is water stressed in terms of supply of mains water and site water demand will exacerbate this, in excess to the rainwater-harvesting techniques designed to reduce onsite mains water demand.

PEDESTRIANS

-         During construction, adverse effects on users of playground in Harley road, residential properties and pedestrians in Old Oak Lane Conservation Area, users of the Grand Union Canal and pedestrians walking through Metro Multi Trading Estate.

CONSTRUCTION

-         Adverse noise pollution during construction.

-         Medium to low risk impact of dust generated during construction.

-         Potential for ground contamination during construction period.

-         Potential for ground contamination from storage/handling of oils, chemicals & waste materials from the new plant, not met by proposal to place in storage facilities.

For these reasons we strongly object to the proposal in its current form.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Shahrar Ali, Spokesperson for Planning and Environment
Brent Green Party, PO Box 54786, London NW9 1FL
Contact shahrar.ali@greenparty.org.uk

Harlesden Town Team call for informed debate on Willesden Junction waste plant

The Harlesden Town Team issued this statement today:

A Statement on the Proposed Energy Recovery Centre at Willesden Junction

Harlesden Town Team were disappointed to learn about the proposed Energy Recovery Centre at Willesden Junction only after formal consultation by LB Ealing had ended. Although the site is closer to many more Harlesden residents than Ealing ones, Harlesden Town Team were not formally consulted. Brent Council planning officers were notified.

At this stage Harlesden Town Team has no view for or against the energy recovery centre. What we seek is an informed debate so that all Harlesden residents who could possibly be affected by the development are informed and their views sought. We expect that this number of households is considerably more than the 1,000 leafleted in the consultation, as the majority of Harlesden (Town)'s 10,000 households are directly down-wind.

We recognise the danger of much ill-informed comment that is starting to circulate and we therefore believe that wider explanation and consultation is urgently required.

To this end we shall discuss the development proposals at the next Harlesden Town Team meeting on Monday 12th November (Salvation Army Hall, 6.30pm). We expect representative of the developers, Ealing and Brent Council planners and local councillors from East Acton, Kensal Green and Harlesden to attend as well as those Harlesden residents that actually live in Ealing.

If, at the end of the meeting, a majority of our members consider it appropriate for the Town Team to take a position, then we shall do so.

It is worth noting that, earlier this year, Harlesden Town Team helped facilitate a consultation on changes to Harlesden High Street which covered over 10,000 households and achieved a 10% response rate.

Brent Council wields its cudgels over Harlesden incinerator

A Harley Road back garden - sitting out amongst waste smells soon?

 Brent Council has told Ealing Council that if they go ahead with  the plans for an energy from waste facility ('Harlesden incinerator') on its border at Willesden Junction  it will 'object strongly to the proposals until satisfactory information has been provided to enable an accurate assessment of the implications of the proposal on the Borough of Brent and its residents'.

The plans are due to go to Ealing Planning Committee this month but have recently been modified to increase the volume of waste processed at the site from 148,000 tonnes per annum to 195,000. Brent's comments relate to the original proposal and so they have requested that 'an additional re-consultation exercise be undertaken to notify all local residents of the changes and to allow for additional time to review and comment on the implications of the increase'.

One of Brent's key objections is that the proposals don't comply with the West London Waste Plan which set out potential sites a year ago LINK . The proposed site was not listed then and Brent argue that the Willesden Junction site should  be refused planning permission as it has not been demonstrated that the other approved sites are unsuitable.

Brent argue that residential properties in Harley Road, Harlesden are down wind from the site under prevailing weather conditions and thus the  plans would have an impact on residents in terms of air quality, odours, operational noise and site traffic.

A full copy of Brent Council's response can be found on the excellent Harleden Town blog HERE

Residents blockade road in incinerator protest

Local News By James Cozens from the Ealing Times

 

 RESIDENTS blockaded the road on Saturday morning as they stepped up their efforts to stop the development of a waste incinerator plant. 

The Triangle Island Residents’ Association protest aimed to highlight the disruption that Clean Power’s lorries would cause them along Old Oak Lane, Acton, near Willesden Junction. Their temporary blockade ended around midday.

TITRA Chairman Toby Bolland, 40, of Goodhall Street, is concerned the Environment Agency has no control over the transport of waste to the plant.

He said: “They give no thought whatsoever to the fact that trucks have to drive through the middle of the community.

“It’s basically industrial waste they will be processing.”

Entran, an environment consultancy hired by Clean Power, has predicted a reduction in lorry movements from current levels at the site.

However, Mr Bolland claims present movements are unusually high due to a temporary tunnel-digging project taking place He says there would be a reduction with or without the plant once this project ceases.
A surveyor himself, Mr Bolland said: “I know how these documents are produced. It’s all about making the results fit what you want.”

The plans call for access 24 hours a day and TITRA say they are already kept up at night by lorries passing their cottages and causing the buildings to shake.

“It’s just awful,” said Marie Somerville, of Crewe Place. “They go through at night. They’re very noisy and we don’t get any peace”

Daniel Jones, also of Goodhall Street, said: “It’s literally on the doorsteps of these homes.

“Have they provided enough evidence to say whether access is suitable to the site? We don’t think they have. “

TITRA is particularly concerned with potential odour problems from the plant, which will also include four anaerobic digestion tanks.

Clean Power says the site will be kept under negative pressure to prevent odours escaping and that it has an odour management plan.

However, the nearby Powerday recycling plant has long caused neighbours problems, they say.

“We live with the smell of rubbish on a regular basis. We can prove already that odour management plans don’t work,” said Mr Bolland.

“Technology breaks down,” said Mr Jones. “When you’ve got tons and tons of putrid organic waste on a site and anything happens to the negative pressure system, then it is going to stink!”

Flaming Hell! We don't want this up our Junction!

Photo: Ealing Times

Residents from Harlesden in Brent and Park Royal in Ealing converged on Willesden Junction station on Saturday to protest against plans to build an incinerator/anaerobic digester at the Willesden Junction Freightliner Depot.

The Ealing Times LINK reported that residents were opposed to Clean Power's plans, especially as they have already been fighting for clear air since the nearby Power Day Recycling Waste plant opened.

The Ealing Times reports:

Mark Walker, 48 of Stoke Place Road, said: “It’s only over the last couple of years, with the Environment Agency working with Powerday’s management and local residents, reporting smells and incidents, that we’ve got anything like acceptable levels of odour. People aren’t happy about it.”

He is concerned the area will face a further problem of unwanted smells from Clean Power’s development, on the opposite side of Old Oak Lane to the recycling plant.

“People feel like they are hemmed in, like we’re almost a dumping ground for these big factories,” he said.

Despite the short period before the plans go to Ealing Planning Committee in November, Brent Council has said that it will review the environmental impact of the proposed plant on Brent residents; its impact on road conditions particularly in and around Harlesden town centre, and its strategic impact on the regeneration of the wider Park Royal/Old Oak Area in relation to the possible HS2 link station. Following the review they will send a response to Ealing Council.


.

The 'lost' letter that lost Harlesden its voice on incinerator

This is the letter that Brent Planning Department lost over the summer and did not find until it was too late for the Council, or residents, to have a say in Ealing Council's consultation on an incinerator/anaerobic-digester at Willesden Junction Freightliner site.

We need to know urgently what the Planning Department will do to ensure that it fulfils its duty to represent the interests of Brent residents over such a controversial proposal.

Harlesden residents left out in the cold over new 'energy recovery centre' neighbour

Harlesden residents got a shock last night at the Harlesden Connects forum when they heard of plans to build an 'energy recovery centre' (is this a controversy avoiding term for an incinerator?) at Willesden Junction. It is in Ealing borough but but very close to Brent residents Apparently Ealing's  notification to Brent Council was 'mislaid' so hardly anyone who might be affected had a chance to comment before the conusltation closed last week. Addresses in Ealing and handful of streets in Harlesden received a notification letter in which the development is described thus:

NOTIFICATION OF A PLANNING APPLICATION

Ealing Council has received an application under the Town and Country Planning act 1990 (as amended) which may affect you. I am writing to inform you and invite you to comment on it.  If you do not own the property this letter is addressed to please pass it to, the owner and/or anybody else you think will be interested.

Location:  ENERGY RECOVERY CENTRE CHANNEL GATE ROAD,  PARK ROYAL,  NW10 6UQ

The proposal: Construction of an energy recovery centre comprising a single purpose designed building to provide an advanced conversion technology facility and an anaerobic digestion facility with an integrated education/visitors centre, and four 25-metre high flues; four external anaerobic digestion/digestate tanks; associated access, parking and landscaping;  gas holder tank; emergency gas flare; electrical substation; two weigh bridges; wheel washing apparatus and a security house building

Further information:

You may see further details of the application, case officer, plans and other documents on the council’s website at http://www.pam.ealing.gov.uk/portal/servlets/ApplicationSearchServlet  (please note that access is unavailable daily from 11:30pm – 1:00am); or by visiting: Customer Reception, Ealing Council, Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Rd, Ealing W5 2HL

A location map can be found on the council website click on ‘contact us’ then ‘how to find us’.  You are welcome to visit between 9.00am to 4.45 p.m. (the office closes at 5.00pm) Monday to Friday.

One resident commented:

I am reminded of the change to Crossrail construction (a H&F decision?) when the canal-transportation of concrete sections was ditched in favour of road. Now Brent residents suffer as every concrete section gets a tour of Harlesden shops and shoppers before being buried forever at Paddington!

Possibly the most informative document for anyone interested in their new neighbour is this one LINK  I have just tried for 30 minutes to get through to a real person in Ealing Council to ask them about the consultation details  and closing date. I have been driven mad by the automated telephone system and its many options, none  of which include human contact! I have given up in disgust. This is the e-mail address of Peter Lee the planning officer handling the case: LeeP@ealing.gov.uk

Clearly the first thing to say to him is: Please suspend the application until Brent residents have been consulted.