WEMBLEY MATTERS: Zerine Tata

Showing posts with label Zerine Tata. Show all posts

Thursday 23 November 2023

LETTER: Putting the plight of rough sleepers in context - for the majority it is just circumstances

Dear Editor,

Despite these war-torn unprecedented times, I appeal to you as winter draws in, to spare a thought for Homeless Rough Sleepers, the Forgotten Ones.

These desperate people do not deserve to be neglected and we should not forget that for the majority it is just circumstances, falling on hard times, which can happen to any one of us.

Their stories are similar. Most of them have contributed to society and had good jobs, a family, a home. Then they lose their job and cannot find another. Bills start piling up, the Bailiffs are at the door, and their house is repossessed. Many then eventually end up living on the streets.

Please, if you see a homeless person on the street, just stop and have a chat. It is heartbreaking to be told just how much it means to them when someone stops and says hello! Perhaps give them some food and money.

They have to pay at least £15 to get a bed for one night in a hostel. They cannot get a job, cannot get benefits, all because they do not have an address. Some may drink or take drugs, but perhaps even you would, if you found yourself on the freezing, lonely streets, so desolate, you just want to die. This is not a lifestyle choice!

Often due to violence or sexual abuse at home, young women and men are the most vulnerable. They have been forced out onto the streets with no help or support and nowhere else to go. Ex-servicemen are also amongst rough sleepers. They have fought for this country, surely they deserve better?

As for the council's responsibility, it states that councils have no obligation to house homeless rough sleepers, until the temperature falls to below zero! I do not have to tell you how cold it can get well before the temperature falls to zero.

We do little to stop increasing poverty, with thousands of people destitute and suffering and having to remain on the street, with no realistic hope for any permanent home any time soon. Your donation to homeless charities this winter will help, as the government has once again cut funding and these charities rely mainly on the generosity of the Public. So please, give as much as you can to any homeless charity this winter. (The Salvation Army; St Martin's in the Field; St Mungo's; Crisis; Big Issue; Streetlink; Centre Point; Shelter.)

Yours,

Zerine Tata

Tuesday 19 July 2016

Residents prepare to fight Heron House development on Wembley Hill Road

When high-rise redevelopment began around Wembley Station it was clear that it would impinge on the bordering suburban residential areas and particularly the main thoroughfares of Empire Way, Wembley Hill Road and Bridge Road.

Local resident Zerine Tata is drawing residents' attention to a proposed development at the Heron House site at 109-115 Wembley Hill Road:

"The Wembley Residents Pressure Group Against The Large Redevelopment of Heron House" are preparing to fight this and we really need your support to sign our petition, which will be emailed to you in due course.

zerinetata@hotmail.com

I will send you the petition to sign, after the developers apply for planning permission. This will be at the end of this month. (Their usual ploy to do it in high holiday season!) We will then only have 21 days to object, so we need to be prepared.

Zerine

THE HIGH RISE DEVELOPEMENT OF HERON HOUSE, WEMBLEY HILL ROAD, WEMBLEY

Those of us who live in Wembley can expect 11,000 high rise dwellings in the regeneration of the Stadium and High Road Areas. As this regeneration was planned many decades ago, it is a "done deal" and their progress will continue and we can only hope that it will be of benefit to all the residents of Brent.

But, there are still the smaller high rise developments, which are intrusive and are creeping into residential streets, completely destroying our way of life. One of those is the proposed redevelopment of Heron House on Wembley Hill Road, into expensive high rise flats and commercial businesses.

Wembley Hill Road and all the street off it are totally residential and the existing Heron House was built in the '60s and is not as intrusive, overbearing or dense as the new development will be. The new development is much larger and certainly not in keeping with the character of the streets on and off Wembley Hill Road, which consists of houses, bungalows, small blocks of flats and gardens.

As the Stadium and High Road regeneration has already planned 11,000 dwellings, any more high rises in the very near vicinity would have an negative impact on the area with loss of light, privacy and the existing outlook.

It is very unlikely that there will be enough parking space for all the vehicles from the flats and the commercial businesses. This will be putting even more pressure on the streets around Wembley Hill Road, where there is already a huge demand for parking spaces and it is almost impossible to find one.

If this large high development is allowed, it will also set a dangerous precedent and before long more developers will want to do the same. This will completely destroy our residential areas, which we are all trying to hold onto, despite the looming high rises of the Stadium and High Road areas.

These same developers have already expressed an interest in purchasing St Joseph's, the land opposite Heron house, with a view to building yet another high rise block! We cannot just sit back and do nothing. The more signatures we can get on our petition, the better our chances of stopping these high rise buildings, which are so out of character for Wembley Hill Road and the streets off it.

Due to the height and proximity of this development, it will also devalue our properties, most of which were built in the 1930's and were part of conservation areas before the law changed.

There are many brown-field sites in Brent, where this part/commercial development can be situated and these should be used before encroaching onto our streets and furthermore, what provision has been made for the infrastructure needed?

I am trying not to be too pessimistic, but these smaller high rise dense developments, which are causing great concern amongst residents, could happen anywhere and before you know it the whole of Brent could become a concrete jungle! I wish I could say with certainty that this will not happen, but the speed with which these smaller high rises are going up, I am truly fearful.

I love where I live and have lived in the same area for almost 60 years. I know things have to change and progress, but do we have to lose our precious existing residential areas for even more high rises? Surely Brent Council should be aiming for both?

We of course appreciate that more houses are needed, so we propose and would be happy to support lower level affordable family accommodation perhaps some with small private gardens, as this is just the sort of dwelling which is in very short supply

Friday 12 June 2015

Quintain's exhibition at Wembley Park opens - but do people know about it?

Quintain's exhibition on the next phase of the Wembley Park regeneration opens today at The Yellow Pavilion, Olympic Way, Wembley HA9 0FA

Local residents are not convinced that the PR agency organising the exhibition have done enough to contact local people. This is what one residents' association wrote to them:

Is this the minimum time for exhibitions/consultations you have to give to residents who are directly affected by this development?

We are very upset and disappointed that you have not advised every resident who will be directly affected, in good time, i.e. all the residents who live in the areas around the Stadium development. Even residents at Raglan Court have not been advised and they live right opposite the development! Why wasn't the whole area, which is directly affected, leafleted?

Now that the Wembley Observer is no longer published and only on line, even if you had mentioned this exhibition, many would not have seen it.

Many of us are already personally affected, as we now have no privacy, as our bedrooms are overlooked and it can only get worse!

Please advise why all the residents were not advised well in advance, as you must have known about this exhibition/consultation a long time ago? Perhaps you really did not want all of us to attend and make our comments and objections? This is totally unacceptable and we really need some answers and for you to extend the time of the exhibition, so that more people can be advised and attend.

We are very sorely aware that Quintain has all the power and finance to influence Brent Council and when there is a huge development with huge profits involved, obviously the residents wishes and needs tend to be ignored.

There is nothing wrong with making huge profits, money makes the world go round, but not at the expense of the existing residents, who feel we are not getting anything in return! You should be putting back much more and also be far more considerate of the feelings and needs of the existing residents, who are very side-lined.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Zerine

Zerine Tata, Chair of Hillcroft Crescent Residents Assoc. & Co-ordinator of the Neighbourhood Watch.