Concern over safety on Olympic Way after last night's match at Wembley Stadium

Photo: Daniels Estate Agents

The photograph above was taken from a high vantage point above Olympic Way at 10pm as fans made their way to Wembley Park station from the Spurs v Manchester United match. As usual stewards held fans back (bottom centre in high visibility jackets) while the station platforms were cleared.

The match had the highest ever attendance at a premier league match which Spurs celebrated:

However, on Facebook others were concerned about such large numbers packed into a restricted space.  One person remarked, 'A tragedy waiting to happen' and another, 'Nothing learnt from Hillsborough it seems.' A Brent resident said, ' Looks scarey to me. Please remind me not to go to Wembley Stadium for an event, or on an Event Day. I forget, most of us residents that can, already avoid the entire area just in case it's an Event Day.'

A year ago today I publicised Spurs application to remove the capacity cap and increase the number of events.

 The next big match,which may record a new record attendance is Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal on Saturday February 10th, kick-off 12.30 pm. 

I advise families not to take their children to change their  books at Wembley Library on that day!

Brent Council apologises for misinformation on Wembley Stadium planning application

I posted a story on Saturday about the incompetence surrounding the management of the Spurs/Wembley Stadium planning planning application to increase the number of events and increase the crowd capacity at the Stadium LINK 

Some residents who had made submissions on the application received the following email from Brent Regeneration and Growth.

You will recently have received two separate pieces of information about the planning application submitted by Wembley National Stadium Limited to vary the cap which restricts the number of major events held at Wembley Stadium. We wrote to you because you commented on the application, and we now want to let you know about the next steps in the process.  

The first communication, sent on 16th March 2017 by either email or letter was a repeat of an earlier consultation letter giving you 21 days to comment, rather than the committee notification letter. I do apologise for this and would like to reiterate that the consultation period has now closed – please disregard this communication.  

 The second communication stated that the Planning Committee will meet to consider the application on Thursday 23rd March 2017 is correct, however, the meeting will COMMENCE AT 6.30pm – not the usual Committee starting time of 7pm, as stated as the default time, in the communication sent on 17th March 2017.  

Please treat this as the correct information:  

That the above application 17/0368 will be heard at Planning Committee on Thursday 23rd March 2017 and the meeting will start at 18:30 / 6:30pm at Brent Civic Centre.

Please accept our apologies for any confusion this may have caused.

This still leaves the problem of the frequency of occasions when the Brent Planning Portal was down and the erroneous classification of Objections to the planning application as 'Neutral' to be addressed.

Incompetence dogs Brent Council's management of Tottenham Hotspur's planning application

Confusion or incompetence has continued to dog the Spur's Wembley Stadium planning application which is due to be heard on Thursday.  Readers will already know that the Council's planning portal for this application has been down several times leaving residents unable to submit their applications, when it was working many 'Object' comments were classified as 'Neutral' by the software and had to be corrected, many residents claimed not to have received letters from the Council about the application.

 On Friday I received a letter from Regeneration and Growth posted on 16th March which told me that planning documents for the application should be available on the Council website by February 7th.  Later that day I received an emailed letter from Regeneration and Growth which included details about Thursday's meeting:

The application will be formally considered at the meeting of the Planning Committee on 23 March, 2017. The meeting will be held at Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ starting at 7.00pm. You are welcome to attend the meeting and listen to the proceedings. It is possible to speak to the Committee subject to the restrictions set out in the Council's Standing Order. These provide for one objector and/or one supporter of the application to speak. The Chair has the discretion to increase this to two people from each side. In doing this, the Chair will give priority to occupiers nearest to the application site or representing a group of people. To address the committee you must speak to Democratic Services at least one clear day before the meeting and arrive at the Brent Civic Centre at least 15 minutes before the meeting starts. Please telephone the Democratic Services Officer, Mr Joe Kwateng, on 020 8937 1354 during office hours. 

On the Council website Planning Committee agenda Mr Kwateng is given as the contact but no email or telephone number is given. LINK

The only problem with all this is that Mr Kwateng is on leave until Wednesday, the day before the meeting. Will a 9am phone call on Wednesday qualify as one clear day?  Additionally the Council website advertises the Planning Committee as starting at 6.30pm not 7pm. There is a pre-meeting for councillors at 6pm. When I emailed the officer named as the author of the letter about this discrepancy on Friday I got this response:

Thank you for pointing this out to me. I need to first identify what the correct time of the meeting is, and we will then send out clarification to all those who have been invited.

I have heard nothing further...

Remember, this is an application involving a Premier League football team and the country's National Stadium which will have a profound impact on the quality of life of local residents. Doesn't look good does it?

It now seems likely that, as with other Wembley planning applications that the Chair, Cllr Sarah Marquis, will step down on grounds of having an interest (Marquis represents residents in Barnhill ward which is close to the stadium) and her place will be taken by Cllr Agha (Welsh Harp ward).

An issue that emerged at today's residents' meeting with Barry Gardiner (MP for Brent North) is the claim that agreeing to remove the cap on attendance at stadium matches will be to the advantage of Brent Council and council tax payers because Tottenham will then be liable to pay for the additional policing and litter clearing involved. If the cap remains those costs for the 22 extra events will remain with the Council.  This is not a material planning consideration so will not come up on Thursday but clearly more detail on this would be of great interest to residents when they weigh up the pros and cons.

I have heard that Cllr Butt, Leader of Brent Council, and councillor for Tokyngton ward in which the stadium sits, wanted events to be capped at 61,000, the capacity of Tottenham's new stadium at White Hart Lane, but this was turned down by Tottenham:

The Council initially suggested that the maximum capacity of the proposed additional event is reduced to 61,000 (the capacity of the new stadium at White Hart Lane). However, the applicant was not willing to propose reduction as this would result in a part-full stadium with only parts of the upper tier being occupied by fans, which they did not consider would achieve an appropriate atmophere(sic). Instead, following discussions with Council Officers, the total number of additional high capacity (up to 90,000 people) events has been reduced from 31 to 22 in order to reduce the number of instances where additional impact will occur.

I understand that the deadline for Tottenham to sign up for the stadium deal is at the end of March so things are looking very tight, especially as the many omissions and claimed lack of due diligence in the officers' report as well as the problems referred to above, could give grounds for the Committee to defer the application.

It is clear that mitigation of the impact on residents will feature on Thursday and there are likely to be demands for strict conditions to be attached to any planning consent regarding crowd control, traffic regulation, public transport over-crowding (including actual trains rather than just station access and egress), effective policing - including enforcement of the drinking ban, provision of temporary public toilets, and clean up of local streets after events (not just those nearest the stadium).

It is interesting to note that the Metropolitan Police made no comment on the planning application but the British Transport Police raised concerns based on the increased number of supporters compared to Tottenham's existing ground. They cited the number of away fans and the potential extra policing requirement was estimated at £58.3k.

Last chance today to submit comments on Wembley Stadium events and capacity increase

Guest blog from Wembley resident Denise Cheong

 I write regarding Wembley Stadium planning application 17/0368, which Martin has covered extensively.

For your information and in the interests of raising greater awareness on the issues residents face, these are the comments I submitted to the Head of Planning, Alice Lester.

"Dear Ms Lester

Thank you for consulting us on planning application 17/0368.

We object to the proposed variation of condition 3 (event cap, to allow 31 additional full capacity events) and removal of condition 33 (temporary traffic management) of planning permission reference 99/2400.

The proposal would adversely affect the quality of life of not only Wembley residents, but also a far reaching radius of other Brent residents (as well as their visitors). Traffic congestion generated on Event Days on local roads is noted to be over 3hrs per Event in supporting documents. Granting planning permission of this would effectively impinge on 1/5 of an average person's day time (based on an average adult sleep of 8 hrs per night) on up to 68 Event Days a year; an Event Day every 5.3 days.

The Stadium is not highly accessible by public transport. The supporting documents note the centre of the Stadium has a mere PTAL rating of 3.

There is no robust plan to safeguard residents (as well as their visitors) from additional litter and public order offenses such as urination generated by such Events. There is no firm plan noting exact monies sought from the applicant or the Stadium user for post Event clean up. There are guidelines and assurances but nothing specific to safeguard Brent residents (as well as their visitors). These issues are the financial responsibility of the applicant and need to be individually addressed.

Whilst we appreciate the many benefits our National Stadium affords us, Brent Council has a responsibility and duty of care to it's residents which it needs to safeguard."

Following on from the above, I was pleased to read on page 4 of the 13th March Brent cabinet report Pilot Paper on Managing Street Drinking that:

"7.1 The introduction of the Met Patrol Plus scheme in May/June 16 will also ensure there is robust policing plan of the PSPO areas in the pilot areas.

7.2 ASB Localities Officers, Local Safer Neighbourhood Teams and Kingdom Officers will also assist with the policing of these areas. There will be discussions with Quintain to address what resources they could contribute to the policing of the PSPO in Wembley Park."

We would like to see the specific details of the precise resources that Quintain will be contributing to the Wembley Park PSPO.

Have you submitted your comments yet? Today's the deadline.

Thanks for reading!
Denise Cheong

Submit on-line comments HERE

In a Tweet this afternoon Cllr Stopp (Wembley Central ward) said he was keen to hear residents views on this issue:  cllr.sam.stopp@brent.gov.uk

Barn Hill Residents comprehensively oppose Wembley Stadium planning application

This is the submission made by the Chair of Barn Hill Residents Association (BHRA) to the Planning Department on the Spurs bid  to hold more events and lift the capacity cap at Wembley Stadium:

Planning Application ref: 17/0368

Wembley Stadium

We wish to make the following comments on this Application:

Proposed variation of Condition 3

Condition 3 of the original Wembley Stadium Planning Consent has not yet been fully complied with.  This Condition restricts the number of full capacity events at the Stadium until various transport improvements have been put in place. These include the upgrade of one section of road within the Wembley Industrial Estate which requires the purchase of a significant amount of land. This purchase has not yet taken place, despite Wembley Stadium having given Brent Council millions of pounds to facilitate these works.

We believe that until such time as these works are completed in their entirety, this Application should be refused.

It is not at all clear why the Stadium feels the need to increase the number of full capacity Event Days. There is no restriction on the number of events using only the lower and middle tiers of the Stadium which can accommodate up to a total of 51,000 spectators. 

The pretext for increasing the number of Event Days is that Tottenham Hotspur will be using the Stadium from 1^st August 2017 until 31^st July 2018 while their own stadium is being rebuilt.

However, Tottenham’s current average home attendance of 36,824 falls well short of the capacity figure of 51,000 for normal Event Days. The 31 additional planned events could therefore go ahead without any variation to the existing planning consent.

Although this proposal purports to be a temporary arrangement to accommodate Tottenham, we strongly suspect that, if approved, it would pave the way for Chelsea Football Club to use the

Stadium for a further three years while their stadium is also being rebuilt.

Proposed removal of Condition 33

We do not agree with the lifting of this Condition as we believe that many fans of Tottenham will travel to Wembley via the North Circular Road despite it already being heavily used and subject to constant traffic jams.

Other issues

We believe that Brent Council is not fully taking into account the detrimental impact that approving this Application would have on the local environment and residents. Even without any increase in the frequency of matches and the numbers of spectators, it is evident that Police resources are totally inadequate when it comes to enforcing the law on match days. 

In flagrant disregard of the regulations in the local Controlled Drinking Zone, there is widespread and excessive consumption of alcohol in the streets, especially when large numbers of fans are turned out of the local hostelries one hour before kick-off, while Police officers look on, apparently powerless to act.

This inevitably leads to the public nuisance of widespread urination not just in the streets but also in residents’ gardens, or even behind the Civic Centre.

The other unwelcome by-product of match days is the sea of litter left behind in the streets.  Fans discard food packaging with impunity, an offence which in other circumstances might attract a fine of £80. Sadly, Veolia (Brent Council’s contractor) are failing to maintain their previous standards of rubbish collection.   

This is to say nothing of the massive disruption suffered by local residents in many other ways on Event Days, what with overcrowded buses and trains making normal travel by public transport very difficult, and parking restrictions inconveniencing family and social events in residents’ own homes. 

Any increase in Event Days would seriously impact the right of residents to the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their properties.  In addition, other local activities would increasingly have to be curtailed at short notice, with venues such as church halls suffering a serious loss of income.

I believe that, before attracting ever larger crowds to Wembley on match days, measures should be taken to alleviate existing problems, whether that involves a large increase in Police resources or perhaps the Council reviewing the licences of local pubs.

Local residents suspect that designating many more match days as full Event Days when this is not warranted by the likely numbers attending, is a kind of 'Trojan Horse' strategy to increase the full Event Days to 68 on a long-term basis, to continue long after Chelsea and Tottenham have returned to their rebuilt stadiums.

If, as we have been told, the local Police already have insufficient resources to enforce the widely-flouted ban on drinking in the streets around the Stadium, what hope is there that they would be able to cope with extra Event Days?

Even if there were to be no increase in Event Days, we strongly believe that extra Policing is essential and suggest that the costs should be borne jointly by Wembley Stadium and the clubs involved.

For the reasons given above, we strongly object to this Application.

Wembley Stadium events consultation deadline extended to March 9th

Brent Council appear to be trawling through submissions on their Planning Portal to correct those clearly against the Wembley Stadium increase in event days and removal of capacity cap, but that have been classifed by the software as 'Neutral'. LINK

There are now 108 on-line submissions.

Many residents have encountered problems posting their comments on line (This is the LINK).  The deadline has now been extended to March 9th, 2016.

As an alternative comments can be sent by email  to alice.lester@brent.gov.uk quoting 'Comment on 17/0368'. Remember to state clearly your position (Support/Object/Neutral) on proposed variation of Condition 3 and removal of Condition 33. Postal comments can be sent to Alice Lester, Planning Department, Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, HA9 0FJ.

Details from the Planning Application:

 CONDITION 3 OF THE WEMBLEY STADIUM PLANNING CONSENT – THE CURRENT EVENT CAP

This condition restricts the number of full capacity events (up to 90,000 people) held at the stadium each year to 37 until certain transport improvements* have been completed. There is no restriction on the number of events that can be held that only use the lower and middle tier of the stadium (up to a capacity of  approximately 51,000). The current restriction allows 22 sporting events and 15 non-sporting events (although 3 additional sporting events can be held provided the number of non-sporting events is reduced by2 for each additional sporting event).

* This restriction falls away once certain public transport and highway works are completed.Most of the works have been completed, including an increase in the capacity of Wembley Park Station and significant road improvements within the Wembley Industrial Estate. However, the upgrading of one element of road within the industrial estate required the purchase of a significant amount of land and this was not completed.

PROPOSED VARIATION OF CONDITION 3 – THE PROPOSED CHANGE TO THE EVENT CAP

The applicant proposes that this condition is varied to allow up to 31 additional full capacity major Tottenham Hotspur Football Club sporting events between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018 (events with a capacity of between 51,000 and 90,000 people).

(NOTE: These additional events could take place without any variation to the planning consent, under the existing cap, where capacity would be limited to up to a maximum of approximately 51,000 people).

PROPOSED REMOVAL OF CONDITION 33

Condition 33 restricts the number of times that traffic management measures can be implemented each year, with specific reference to North Circular Road traffic flow. The applicant proposes that this condition is removed, specifying that TfL consider the traffic management measures to have a positive impact on trafficflow within the North Circular Road.

 

Dodgy goings on with Spurs application to increase events & capacity at Wembley Stadium?

Residents have been in contact about two aspects of the on-line consulation on removal of the cap on the number of events held at Wembley Stadium and more full capacity events LINK.

The first is the fact that on at least two occasions the link has been unavailable clearly affecting the public's ability to comment.

The second is puzzlement that submissions by the public that clearly object to the proposal are classifed as 'Neutral' - see below:

Please see comments below one of which suggest that if you do not choose Support, Object, or Neutral when submitting a comment online the system defaults to Neutral to the Neutral category. If this has happened to your comment it might be worth contacting the Planning Officer to state your position.

4 Park Lane, Wembley, HA9 7RZ (Neutral)

I strongly object to the proposals. It would add to the traffic gridlocks, sometimes hooting of horns late in the evening - not to mention increased air pollution! And difficulty using public transport. Also, residents having the nuisance of having to plan theirs lives around the events. The behaviour of hooligans is also unbearable - I came home once to find a brick had been thrown through my bathroom window! A small tree got broken in half once on an event day - and then there is urinating everywhere. And parking becomes impossible of corse. - As the stadium is a national stadium it should not be used for anything else. - I therefore strongly object to the variation of condition 3 and the removal of condition 33 of 17/0368.

8 Village Mews, London, NW9 8SZ (Neutral)

I strongly object to this and don't think residents have been taken into consideration here.

Roads are already highly congested and Brent should be thinking about minimizing this instead of making matters worse. Whether I drive or take public transport on an event day my journey time is doubled sometimes tripled. I am unable therefore to travel within the local vicinity on event days.

Looking at other comments it is clear there is strong opposition, so it is hoped you take these concerns into consideration and think again of the impact this will have to residents, roads, traffic and the environment.

15 Hillside Drive, Edgware, HA8 7PF (Neutral)

We live and work very near to Stanmore and Cannons Park Underground Station, the A41 and the M1 Edgware exit. Whenever there is any event on at Wembley Stadium, the whole area grinds to a halt. The roads become impassable and journeys around this area almost impossible. There is just not enough space for the amount of cars on the road to travel or the availability of parking places. Together with the noise and nuisance levels of hundreds of various football or rugby fans, the request for additional events is unacceptable for the residents living anywhere near Stanmore or Cannons Park Underground stations or the M1/A41 or A1. If there are visiting fans from the North of England, then the additional traffic on the M1 turns the area to one large car park - absolutely nothing moves and a 10 minute journey can turn into an hour.

We already have to contend with additional traffic and congestion when there are any events on at Allianz Park in Copthall Stadium Mill Hill and any events at The Hive in Edgware.

Therefore we strongly object to any additional usage of Wembley Stadium and to any football club having their games held there or having a residency there.

68 Beverley Gardens, Wembley, HA9 9RA (Neutral)

'Condition 3' was put in place for a reason - to prevent local residents from suffering the great disruption and inconveniences caused to local residents when up to 91,000 people descend on Wembley Stadium. Yet it is now proposed that an extra 31 such events are allowed to take place. And not just any events, but football matches, with their supporters, some of whom have a tendency towards rowdiness, drunkenness and anti-social behaviour.

WNSL has tried to say that it will try to mitigate any problems by 'working closely' with TfL and the Met Police etc. But with a large football crowd those problems can only be 'managed' not removed completely. On match days, residents will still have problems getting home (or leaving it) by train or car, problems picking up their children from school, problems accessing the Civic Centre, or be unable to have friends round.

I therefore object to this application. At the very least, THFC matches should be restricted to 50,000 seats. After all, their existing stadium only accommodates 36,800 and their new one will only be a 61,000 seater.

I also feel that by allowing this application for THFC to use the Stadium, a precedent will have been set that will allow future applications to be 'nodded through'.

49 Linden Avenue, Wembley, HA9 8BB (Neutral)

I feel that the application is not pragmatic to the overall functions of Wembley. I believe that the current situation is bad enough and does not need to be exacerbated any further. There is enough congestion in Wembley on event days. We as residents of Wembley do not feel any benefit from the stadium events. We feel that we are made to surrender our parking spaces to people who do not live in Wembley. We cannot have visitors around because of the congestion. Life in Wembley is already bordering on depressing. Please do not make it worse. I strongly object!

99 Grasmere Avenue, Wembley, HA9 8TG (Neutral)

This area is already very busy and too much traffic.

I object.

DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS THURSDAY MARCH 2ND

Spurs planning application for Wembley Stadium now open for comments

Click on image to enlarge

The application to increase the number of event days at Wembley Stadium and to increase the number of full capacity events has now been published on the Brent Council website.  Full documentation can be accessed and comments made. LINK

I was interested in the fact (see image above) that no local residents in the neighbourhood, nor residents' associations or other organisations, schools etc have been directly written to with a 'unique letter' about the plans.  Consultation with them seems to be limited to a presentation at Wembley Connects, a poorly advertised and attended event at Chalkhill Community Centre on Monday, and an advertisement in the Kilburn Times.

The proposal in summary is:

[Previously] the number of major sporting events held at the stadium in any one year was restricted to no more than 22 (to exclude European Cup and World Cup events where England/UK is the host nation), and the number of major non-sporting events to 15. After this, additional events over and above this were permitted subject to the number of spectators being limited to the capacity of the lower and middle tiers of the stadium.

The proposal would allow for up to an additional 31 major sporting Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) events between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018. A major event (which may or may not include THFC) would be considered to be an event in the stadium bowl with a capacity in excess of 10,000 people.

Spurs set out their responses to concerns about the application in their 'Statement of Community Engagement' which addresses issues such as urinating in public, obscene and racist chants, congestion, pay back for residents. I have embedded it below for ease of reference. In particular see pages 5-9. The current 'standard' expiry date for consultation is February 23rd 2017.



There is an ongoing discussion about the application on the Streetlife website LINK

Demonstrations on September 10th as A&E departments close