Willesden Green police houses development - the mound likely to go but so is the affordable housing

The new housing development of 25 units and the retained police station

 

Brent Planning Committee last night unanimously approved the application for 25 flats on the site of police houses and police station outhouses on the Willesden High Road. The police station itself is retained for commercial purposes.

This was despite representations made by the adjacent property in Huddleston Road who in just 3 minutes was able to demonstrate the many ways in which the application did not meet the council's own guidelines or address the concerns of the Planning Inspectorate.

However, the developer, at Planning Committee for the third time, said that Brent planning officers agreed that they had met the Inspector's concerns and officers recommended that 'on balance' the benefits of the development outweighed issues such as poor amenity and lack of quality children's play space.

The  developer announced that the 'moud' in the green space, much derided by residents' comments on the planning portal, could be dropped. The developer expressed satisfaction that out of 1,000 residents contacted, 25 had attended a consultation meeting.

 The Huddlestone Road resident made it clear that they wanted to see the site redeveloped, there has been problems with squatters etc but that it should meet the guidelines set out by the council.

Theoretically the council expect 50% of developments to be 'affordable' although that term has itself become almost meaningless with the variou s different interpretations, Brent Council is willing to go down to 35% affordable but in practice at Planning Committee the proportion is much lower as the result of financial viability assessments.

 Last night Cllr Liz Dixon asked how the 7 affordable units Brent Council has claimed were possible, was somehow reduced to four (16%),  or possibly none with a £1.1m contribution from the developer instead.  It is worth asking if that amount could fund the building of 1 three bedroom dwelling and 3 two bedroom.

 Officers undertook to try and find a Registered Provider to manage the social homes but said that RPs were not usually interested in such a small number. Brent Council could also consider being the RP but failing that the contribution would be requested.

As affordability is such an issue locally and nationally, I have included a video of the planning officer's explanation below. 

As the police are part of the public sector I do wonder if when their property becomes redundant, rather than being sold off privately, it should not become part of the One Public Estate and used for council housing.

Of limited historical value only perhaps, this is a document produced I think around 2016 (like many Brent documents it is undated) that provides some explanaion regarding affordable housing. LINK

"Police! Fire!! Ambulance!" - not in Willesden...

 Muhammed Butt's office has released the following press statement:

Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt has urged the government to reconsider its plans to close Willesden Police Station as part of a dramatic programme of cuts as Cllr Butt has grave concerns that this will endanger thousands of residents.

The station, which is one of only four in the borough, will be sold off as part of the government’s 12% cut to The Metropolitan Police, which has already seen 1,777 police officers and 1,800 PCSOs lost across the capital in the past two years.

The news of the station closure was announced despite figures that show that burglaries in the borough have already increased by almost 15% since the beginning of this year despite a reported average fall across the capital.

Metropolitan Police figures also reveal that over the last 12 months, there has been more than double the number of crimes in Brent than in the neighbouring borough of Harrow. 

Cllr Butt criticised the government’s reckless approach to cutting the emergency services back too far and too fast, noting that the announcement about the police station closure comes less than a week after leaked documents revealed that two of the three fire stations in the borough could face closure as result of a severe 25% budget cut to fire services.

This is in addition to the swiftly announced plans in 2010 to close a quarter of London’s 24 A&Es, forcing each of those remaining to cater for an average of 120,000 extra residents with little time to plan how to implement the changes without endangering lives.

Cllr Butt said, ‘Thousands of people requiring the vital help of the emergency services are having their safety compromised and lives endangered. The closure of Willesden Police Station, one of the busiest in the capital, will have devastating consequences for a community that still suffers from high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour. The fact that Sarah Teather and Nick Clegg are supporting this is a disgrace. Brent residents deserve to have their local MP on their side.’

Brent North MP Barry Gardiner said, ‘This is just one more example of the strain this government is placing on local services. Police numbers have declined and our Neighbourhood teams in Brent have lost 60 officers and PCSOs. Our police do a great job. We should be supporting them not cutting off all support.’

Navin Shah, Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow, said: “We’re seeing the unacceptable and dangerous face of deep cuts. The Mayor has tried to duck and dive when questioned directly about cuts to the NHS but he has direct responsibility for the fire and police services so has to take responsibility for the closure of fire and police stations.’