VIDEO: 'Protect our Green Spaces' debate at Brent Council

 

Lib Dem motion on protection of green spaces to be debated at Full Council tonight

 

Protecting, preserving and promoting Parks and Open Spaces in Brent

 

This Council notes:

 

Our borough is home to many wonderful green, open spaces and parks that are enjoyed by residents of all ages and backgrounds. From smaller parks like Mount Pleasant Open Space in Alperton, King Edward VII in Wembley, to historical parks like Barham Park and Gladstone Park, larger country parks in Fryent, and thriving open spaces in the Welsh Harp and Northwick Park, to name but a few.

 

These vital spaces must be protected, particularly if they are threatened by development that does not meet local need.

 

In recent years we have become even more aware of how important green spaces are for local people. During the Covid-19 pandemic and periods of lockdown, they became a sanctuary for so many who were able to spend time in them, benefiting both mental and physical health.

 

With ever increasing building works in Brent, particularly of tall tower blocks, it is crucial that new residents are able to access open spaces in the areas they move to. Sadly, most new developments do not incorporate adequate large green space, rather most include only small pocket parks that are not sufficient and often not well maintained by Housing Associations/ Managing Companies.

 

Achieving Climate Emergency targets relies heavily on safeguarding open spaces in our borough, protecting mature trees and important habitats for local wildlife. Without doing so, we risk missing these targets.

 

The decision by the Planning Committee to allow the building of houses located along the north-west corner of Barham Park goes against Brent Council’s long established Core Strategy of protecting Brent parks and open spaces from unwelcome development. The decision also undermines the whole point of local people getting involved in developing Local Neighbourhood Plans. The Planning Committee overrode the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Plan policy BP1 which specifically designated Barham Park as a green space where development or redevelopment of buildings not intended for community uses should be refused.

 

The Barham Park decision creates an unwelcome precedent putting other parks and open spaces in Brent at risk. Following that decision hundreds of local people have signed a petition on the Brent Council website, calling for the protection of parks and open spaces from development, which indicates the strength of feeling on this important issue.

 

Therefore, this Council believes:

 

1. That all of Brent’s parks and open spaces should be valued and celebrated as

vital assets in our community.

2. Parks and open spaces must all be protected from the potential of development, particularly of development that does not meet local need or that is clearly not for genuine community use.

3. The value of parks and open spaces cannot be understated; even more so as increasing numbers of local people have little to no access to their own gardens or green space.

4. The Cabinet should reassure all residents that within its responsibilities it will always prioritise the preservation of our parks and open spaces and promote these assets.

 

This Council resolves:

 

(1) To confirm its longstanding strategic position that it will recognise the value of open spaces and parks in the borough and seek to protect them.

(2) To call on the Cabinet to ensure within its responsibilities there will be no new buildings and no expansion of buildings in parks other than for legitimate  community use.

(3) To seek to strengthen its Planning Policies on protecting public parks and open spaces by confirming the principle that "real harm" would be caused if permission was granted for the building of houses or other buildings within Brent Parks and Open Spaces which were not intended for direct community uses.

(4) To incorporate in all Planning reports the potential environmental impact applications will have on our area, and how they might impact Climate Emergency targets.

(5) To work with partners across the city, from the Corporation of London, other Local Authorities and City Hall to protect, preserve and promote vital green, open spaces in London.

(6) In view of the public concern about intensification of building in Barham Park contrary to the Neighbourhood Plan policy and restrictions imposed in past disposal documents, to call on the Council and Cabinet to support the Barham Park Trust in considering a Judicial Review into the recent decision of the Brent Planning Committee to approve an application for 4 houses located along the north-west corner of Barham Park.

 

Cllr Anton Georgiou

 

Key part of Labour amendment in red - removed words and new words

 

 

More than 400 people have signed petition calling on Brent Council to protect parks and green spaces from development. Please sign and circulate.

 

The petition calling on Brent Council to protect parks and green spaces, launched following public disquiet over the recent Planning Committee decision to approve four 3 storey houses in Barham Park, has reached more than 400 signatures.

As non-party political Philip Grant said in a comment on Wembley Matters:

Although the petition is shown in the name of Paul Lorber, the discussions leading up to it involved people from across political parties.

It was not just Lib Dems who stood up for the importance of the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Plan in considering the application affecting Barham Park.

As well as Cllr. Lorber, the Labour councillor for Sudbury Ward, Teo Benea, also spoke against the application.

The Labour councillor for Wembley Central ward, and former Chair of Planning Committee, Cllr. Ketan Sheth, had a statement read out at the meeting, in support of tje Neighbourhood Plan and the importance of upholding its Local Green Space policies.

A link to the petition has been circulated by Brent Parks Forum, Brent Green Party and Brent Friends of the Earth. 

Meanwhile it has been established that the Covenant on Barham Park is still in place and Brent Council officers are  looking at the process required if it is to be removed, which should include the price developer George Irvin would have to pay. Readers will remember that Brent Council said previously that no steps had been taken to seek a valuation of the Covenant and thus establish the amount George Irvin would have to pay.

The Covenant protection is managed by the Barham Park Trustees, chaired by Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt,  and with a membership consisting only of members of his Cabinet. There is no independent community representation on the Trustees Committee. The Trustees are charged with protection of Barham Park which was left to the people of Wembley for their enjoyment by Titus Barham.

The Barham family made representations to Brent Council opposing the development as against the spirit of the bequest.

I urge people to sign as with an expanding population, and lessons learnt from the pandemic, we cannot afford to lose any more green space. Stonebridge is still smarting from the loss of the green spaces around Stonebridge Adventure playground and outside Stonebridge Primary School.

Signing on Brent Council website is a bit of a palaver but please persevere as loss of space will affect generations to come who will be hit by cliamte breakdown.

SIGN HERE

We the undersigned petition the council to uphold its long standing Strategic Policy of protecting Brent Parks and Open Spaces at all cost.

We are concerned that Brent Council's Planning Committee has ignored Strategic Core Policy of protecting Parks and Open Spaces and also the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Plan, which designated Barham Park as a Local Green Space and developed a specific Planning Policy BP1 which stated that any housing building or redevelopment in Barham Park should be refused. That decision has effectively undermined Neighbourhood Planning, ignored the views of local people and put at risk other Parks and Open Spaces across Brent

Fields in Trust Interactive Map of Green Spaces LINK

 Brent area

 

Brent’s Historic Green Spaces – do you live near one? Make sure it is protected

 Guest post by Philip Grant

In a comment on Martin’s first blog about the planning application to build a block of flats in Barham Park, I said that I had set out the case for the park to be treated as a “heritage asset” in its own right as part of my objections. 

 

 

The site of the Victorian mansion in Barham Park, September 2015.

 

I sent a copy of my case for this to Brent Council’s Heritage Conservation Officer, and his reply was that it already had that status. He said:

 

“I can confirm that Barham Park would be treated as locally designated asset as it is contained on the London Gardens Trust Inventory.  See 10.3 of Brent’s Historic Environment Place-making Strategy.  It states ‘The London Parks & Gardens Trust has identified 38 sites within Brent which have been included on its Inventory of Historic Green Spaces. These sites are treated as Locally listed within the Borough and are identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions.’”

 

The fact that thirty-eight “Historic Green Spaces” in the borough are meant to have the same level of protection as locally listed buildings for planning purposes came as news to me, so I thought that it was something that was worth sharing with you. It is not something that I’m aware of the Council, or its planners, having drawn to public attention. 

 

As “non-designated heritage assets”, any planning application that affects one of these green spaces, or its setting, should include a Heritage Statement, which describes the heritage asset and its level of “significance”, sets out the degree of harm to that significance which the proposals in the application would cause, and anything that the proposals will do to mitigate that harm. 

 

This is certainly something that anyone looking at plans for a development near one of these green spaces in their area should bear in mind, and make sure that it is referred to in any objections they may make. If a heritage statement is not included as part of the application, or is inadequate, this can be drawn to the Case Officer’s attention as grounds for, at least, requiring further information on this heritage aspect of the plans.

 

Here is the list of the thirty-eight Historic Green Spaces, from Brent’s Historic Environment Place-Making Strategy, which is one of the documents (adopted by Brent Council in 2019) which form part of the borough’s “emerging Local Plan”:-

 

Remember, these green spaces are all Heritage Assets, which Brent’s own policies say are a valuable part of our historic environment, and deserve protection!

 

Sadly, as we know from the experience of Brent’s own planning application to demolish Altamira, the locally listed Victorian villa in Stonebridge, the Council and its planners do not always abide by their own adopted policies! But that should not stop us from flagging up those policies, and the level of protection which they are meant to provide, whenever they are relevant to a planning proposal which would have a detrimental effect on one of our Historic Green Spaces.

 

Philip Grant.

Quintain offers public tour of Wembley Park's 'green heritage' Saturday July 28th

Wembley Park 1908

Wembley Park 2018

Wembley Park has certainly changed a lot in 110 years in terms of green space. Quintain has set itself the challenging task of finding some green spaces in what increasingly looks like a concrete jungle. You can judge for yourself how successful they have been by taking part in this tour  on Saturday July 28th, 11am-12.30pm.  I regret that I am not yet well enough to take part but will be interested in a report back from any reader who joins the tour.

This is the information about the tour available on the Eventbrite booking site. I have not edited out the inevitable public relations plug for Quintain:


National Park City Week presents: A Tour of Wembley Park's Green and Open Spaces

As part of National Park City Week, Quintain, the award-winning team behind the £3bn regeneration of Wembley Park, will host a special guided tour, which will allow visitors to discover Wembley Park's rich green heritage - from “Wemba lea” i.e. Wemba’s clearing in the forest to the hedged fields of “Wembly Green” - as well as the long-term environmental vision for the neighbourhood.

Join Tour Leader Julian Tollast, Head of Masterplanning and Design at Quintain and National Park City Foundation Trustee, as he takes you through this fascinating journey through the past, present and future of this 85-acre site around Wembley Stadium, which is rapidly becoming a major new destination and neighbourhood for London. Tour highlights will include: visits to the 22 newly planted trees in Olympic Way, hailing from temperate areas across the world; the new Emerald and Elvin Gardens at Tipi; the secluded landscaped gardens to the rear of Brent Civic Centre; and a stop-over by the interactive masterplan model of the new Wembley Park, where you will be able to have a glimpse of the plans for the 7-acre park and lake being planned for the area.

Tour Leader Biography

Julian Tollast is Head of Master Planning and Design at Quintain with more than 30 years’ experience, including 17 at Farrells, working on significant and varied development projects has given Julian a great breadth and depth of understanding. Leading projects from both the client and consultant side provide him with the ability to rapidly explore and realise the potential of any opportunity and at any scale, “from District to Doorknob”. Julian’s skills in advocacy and communication built consensus to help secure planning approvals for two of London’s most significant developments and many other projects around the UK. His design and development experience coupled with skills in project leadership, management and construction enable him to help create and deliver added value across the Economic, Social and Environmental spectrum; further enhancing the reputation of the projects, companies and organisations he is associated with.

Where will I meet the group?

The orange benches meeting point opposite Sainsbury's

The official meeting point is in Market Square, by the orange benches opposite Sainsbury's at Brent Civic Centre. If you experience any difficulties finding the group, please call tour supervisor 07989 558842.


BOOK  FREE TICKETS HERE - Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult

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What does Barry Gardiner think of environmental cuts in his own backyard?

Guest blog by Scott Bartle, Green Party candidate for Brent North
 

In Brent Labour’s local election  manifesto contract they pledged “better cleaner, greener, healthier spaces’. As Barry Gardiner Labour MP for North Brent is the shadow minister for Natural Environment, Fisheries and Climate Change and signatory to this contract you might have thought he could explain to his local party why this pledge is important to keep. 

As a reminder on the 15^th December the Brent Labour Cabinet will start to consider a set of proposals that includes: 

·         Closing Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre

·         No litter clearing on residential roads

·         No weekend litter service in parks

·         Deleting Environment Projects and Policy Team and

·         Ceasing a grant to Energy Solutions

A public attitudes survey from the Department of Energy and Climate change found that nearly half of people (47%) reported they were fairly concerned about the impact of climate change. The same proportion of people recognise that Climate Change is partly caused by natural processes and partly caused by human activity. Yet the same survey shows that it is near the bottom of people’s priorities list.  It is understandable, that when people’s primary needs are not being met it can be difficult to think about aesthetic and altruistic matters such as climate change and the environment.  However, Greens understand that the world is interconnected and as such believe that there does not have to be a choice of either / or.  Green policies are such that can have a beneficial impact upon our well-being, save money in the long run and create prosperity.

If, as the public attitudes survey shows that unemployment is top of people’s priorities, what sense does it make to close Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre which amongst other courses inspires children about renewable energy and how to conserve it.  It is only the Greens that will kickstart our economy through investing in a renewable energy, creating Green Jobs perhaps for these very children. 

The second highest concern relates to the NHS and it shouldn’t take The Department of Health to run a advertising campaign to reiterate that food scraps and other rubbish have lots of germs and sometimes parasites upon them. The spread of disease can be exacerbated by weather as well as our wildlife creatures and at a time where our local hospitals A&E departments are under increasing pressure it should be clear to most that litter clearing in Brent is a protective factor.

At a time when 10.4% of British Households are in fuel poverty, in a borough that is the 12^th most deprived in London support provided by the council to help people improve energy efficiency, which is a key driver of fuel poverty should only have a beneficial impact on people experiencing inequality.

Whilst the Labour Group makes a choice to implement the cuts, blaming the Tory and Lib Dem Coalition, the reality remains that each of them have pledged to continue the flawed economic policy of austerity. There is of course another way, one where people and the environment take precedence and faceless corporations are made to pay their way when trading in our country. 

For that, you’d have to vote Green.