Brent Council answers WM's questions on Fryent Country Park use as a car park and the July 31st road closures for a procession

Brent Council has responded to questions from  Wembley Matters on the event day car parking in Fryent Country Park. SEE LINK

The questions:

1. Was this arranged as a consequence of the RMT rail strikes?

2. If not when was it decided to use the park for this purpose?

3. What was the reason for installing a car park on Fryent Country Park open space?

 4. Is it intended to do this again and on what basis?

5. Where will the revenue (£25 per car) go?

The answers:

The event field at Fryent Country Park is available for commercial hire and events are very common there. Wembley Stadium approached the council to rent it on the basis the rail strike would create additional parking and traffic pressures in the Wembley area. The council agreed to its rental on the basis this would provide sensible relief across the wider area.

 

As well as a rental income to the council, the parking revenue was agreed to be ring-fenced to improve future event day management arrangements in the Wembley area, for example, more council enforcement, toilets and better fencing.

 

This is unlikely to be a regular occurrence, but the field is available for commercial hire as has always been the case.

 

Organisers make a deposit that can used to reinstate grounds in the event of any damage.

 

 We also asked about the notice of road closures in Wembley Park on July 31st for a 'procession'. SEE LINK

 

 

 

The questions:

 

1. Can you give further information on the nature of the procession and its duration?

2. What will be the hours of the road closure?

3. Will Fryent Way or the Country Park be used for car or coach parking on that day?

 

The answers:

 

The July road closures are to facilitate a fan march on the day of the Women’s Euros Final. It will be a rolling closure to minimise any disruption and is very dependent on which teams compete in the Final. Only two nations have indicated their fans will want to march. It is intended to be a fun and colourful pageant ahead of an important sporting event.

 

As always readers can decide for themselves if the questions have been satisfactorily answered.

Secretary of State refers Wembley Park Station car park tower block development to Planning Inspectorate

The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP, has called-in the controversial Wembley Park station car park development which means he will make the decision on whether it goes ahead rather than Brent Council whose Planning Committee approved the development.

The application will be considered by the Planning Inspectorate at a public inquiry, with recommendations then going to the Minister to decide the outcome.

In a letter to Bob Blackman MP, the Planning Inspectorate said:

The Inspector instructed by the Secretary of State is T Gilbert-Wooldridge MRTPI IHBC and the inquiry will open at 10.00am on 28 September 2021. We have currently scheduled 6 sitting days (provisionally 28 Sept – 1 Oct and 4-5 October).

The Planning Casework Unit cannot forward any correspondence that was submitted to them before this case was called in. Therefore, if there are any matters which you wish to put before the Inspector, you can write to me at this address or email (leanne.palmer@planninginspectorate.gov.uk) quoting reference APP/T5150/ V/21/3275339.

You can also use the Internet to submit documents, to see information and to check the progress of cases through GOV.UK. The address of the search page is https:// acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/

Please submit any representations by 8 July.

The date by when the application will be decided will be published at the time the report is submitted to the Secretary of State.

At the Planning Committee only Cllr Michael Maurice voted against the application and Cllr Kansagra, leader of the Conservative Group said that the Council had been bribed by the developer with flats. (FULL REPORT)

Philip Grant, a regular contributor to this blog, presented a forensic analysis to the Committe based on the Council's own existing Tall Buildings policy which limited developments on the site to 10 storeys. It breached policy that had been made as a result of public consultation.  He concluded:

Committee members, please don’t allow yourselves to be fooled into accepting an application which doesn’t comply with the policies adopted by Brent Council, after consultation with its residents.

This application is a flagrant breach of those policies, and you can, and should, refuse it on those grounds. 

Philip's presentation followed a Guest Post he had written for Wembley Matters the day before the Planning Committee setting out his case in detail.  LINK

Regardless of party politics the Inquiry represents a second chance to stop over-development of the site as well as possibly putting a stop to officer's increasing propensity to make excuses for developers' failure to adhere to the Council's own planning policies and guidelines.

Philip Grant adds this comment:

AMENITY SPACE -

Although my main objection to this planning application was over its breach of Brent's tall buildings policies, there were a number of other failures to comply with planning policies.

When I had a look at the webpage for this application (20/0967) today, I found that although Planning Committee approved it last November, Brent has not yet issued a consent letter, so the application is still "undecided" (although with no mention that the Planning Inspectorate is now involved).

The other interesting thing I noticed was that an extra document had appeared in February 2021, described as a "Post Committee Delegated Report". It's main subject was 'Amenity Space Provision'.

It appears that Brent's Amenity Space policy DMP19 had been the subject of a Judicial Review, and this had found that Brent's planning officers had not been interpreting their own policy correctly! 'The JR judgement has clarified that all 3bed or larger units should be assessed against the 50sqm 
standard.' 

When planning officers had assessed the amenity space required for the 451 homes in the five tower blocks proposed at the Brook Avenue site, they had used 20 square metres as the standard requirement for the larger flats.

This meant that the cumulative private amenity space shortfall for the development was actually 7,498.9sqm, rather than the 6,178.9sqm reported to the Planning Committee meeting. 

[To give an idea of what these figures mean, the standard professional football pitch has an area of 7,140 square metres - so the residents together would be "robbed" of more than a football pitch in size of private amenity space, if the proposals are approved.]

Did the new information make any difference? This is what the planning officers' delegated report concluded:

'it is considered that the scheme would still be acceptable in planning terms, notwithstanding the shortfall against Policy DMP19 as the external amenity space provision remains to be of sufficient size and type to satisfy the proposed residents’ needs. The amount and type of external amenity space proposed was clearly expressed to members, and it is considered that members would not have come to a different view on the proposal had the greater shortfall been reported.'  

 

 

Daily Mail claims Wembley Stadium is being 'hemmed in' by Quintain developments

I don't often quote the Daily Mail but a recent comment by columnist Charles Sale LINK may ring bells with Wembley residents regarding concerns over over-development of the site by Quintain. As a Green I support a mainly public transport venue but it is clear not everyone is happy with current arrangements.

One of the biggest financial blunders in the history of the FA would have been apparent to fans at Wembley on Monday night as the huge car park nearest the stadium is no longer in use.

This is because work has started on the latest building development by all-too-close neighbours Quintain to construct 500 new homes on the site.

Apart from the inconvenience of parking now being further away — which the VIPs will not like — the project is taking place on land that could have been FA property if more vision had been shown two decades ago.

In 1999 the FA only had the funds — courtesy of a £120million Lottery grant from Sport England — to buy land for the stadium but none of the surrounds now being exploited by Quintain. For less than the £35m it cost Liverpool to buy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal, however, the FA could have bought the whole 85-acre site and staged the London 2012 Olympics there.

Instead, one of the world’s great stadiums is hemmed in on all sides by Quintain projects.

Police appeal for witnesses after 2 year old killed in Wembley ASDA car park accident

The ASDA car park slip road blocked by a police car after the accident

Police are appealing for witnesses after a 2 year old girl died following an accident in the  Wembley ASDA car park last night.  Our thoughts go out to the litttle girl's family.

POLICE APPEAL

Incident Location

Asda car park, Forty Lane, Wembley

Description

Officers are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic collision in which a two-year-old girl died
Police were called at 20:40hrs on Thursday, 11 September, to Asda car park, Forty Lane, Wembley to reports of a collision between a car and a child.

London Ambulance Service were called to the scene.

The girl, aged two-years old, was treated at the scene. She was then taken to a northwest London hospital where she subsequently died.

A post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course.

The girl was with her mother at the time of the collision.

The female driver of the car - who is not the girl's mother - was not arrested.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or has information that may assist police is asked to call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit based at Alperton on 020 8991 9555.

'Green' Civic Centre to be surrounded by huge car park

Brent Council has been boasting about the controversial new Civic Centre's green credentials but one green credential - accessibility based on use of public transport - has been unpopular with councillors themselves and with many staff.

Anyone seeing the packed car park at Brent Town Hall for the recent full Council Meeting, and the overflow on King's Drive, could see that it might be hard to prise councillors out of their cars. Watching the area around the Civic Centre being levelled may have aroused suspicions amongst locals.

Muhammed Butt promised grumbling Labour councillors that he would see what he could do and 'Hey Presto!' the council has received a planning application for a temporary 1,350 space car park in the land surrounding the Civic Centre (the unnamed rectangle on Engineers Way below):

 The original plans for Quintain's redevelopment area did include 3,000 plus car parking spaces in the area although the Stadium was sold as a public transport destination. The nearby multi-storey car park is being demolished as part of the Designer Outlet development. The car park above would only be temporary while another parcel of Quintain land is developed and the developers argue that it does not increase the overall number of parking spaces.  Clearly the car park  will occupy a large and lucrative site that Quintain will eventually want to build on.

The plans will keep councillors quiet for a while but they will not be able to get too comfortable with their new parking facility.

Nearby businesses and schools currently make money from event day car parking and this income  is likely to be hit by the new car park which will be much more accessible. It remains to be seen how much councillors and council workers will have to pay for their parking and whether Quintain will offer them a reduction compared with the general public.

The application is dated 27.12.2012 and will be decided no earlier than 17.01.2013 Details: LINK

No right to free parking at Sainsbury's for Cultural Centre users

At last week's Consultation on the Willesden Green Cultural centre plans the Brent Council Mayor Projects and Regeneration representative stated that the Council had an agreement with the nearby Sainsbury's store to provide 2 hours free parking for local residents.  This was in response to concerns about the lack of parking at the new Cultural Centre with the current car park handed over to the developer for the building of flats. It was made clear that there was no room for negotiation on the issue.

A request for clarification from Sainsbury's at national level has produced this reponse:

Thanks for your email regarding the parking limit in our Willesden Green store.

I've spoken with the Store Manager, Jonny Magill, about your query.  He's confirmed the car park is for our customers only, and anyone seen to be using the car park to shop elsewhere will be issued with a ticket.  Jonny has said they'll of course use their discretion when customers are shopping with us and may wish to pop to the High Street for some other items.  I hope you find this information helpful.

We appreciate you taking the time to get in touch with us and hope to see you in store again shortly.

Kind regards

 

Mark Jackson | Customer Manager

Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd | 33 Holborn, London | EC1N 2HT