Fo! about FoI to Brent Council results in no information held!

It is rather odd that a Brent Labour councillor has to resort to a Freedom of Information request to his own Council about their performance regarding Freedom of Information requests. This is what Cllr Dan Filson did on Thursday. He got a response the next day which is amazing, However he did get fobbed off like the rest of us often are:

I am still waiting for the answer to an FoI request made on November 28th 2014. I hasd heard that the maintenance of large trees had been left out of the Publc Realm contract in which Veolia took over parks maintenance. It had been suggested to me that this was an oversight that would result in additional expenditure.

This is the  response to my intial request:

 1. State who is responsible for safety checks, maintenance, felling and replacement
of trees in Brent's parks, open spaces and cemeteries.

The Contractor is only responsible for minor tree works which can be carried out
whilst working at ground level. The Council is responsible for major tree works.
Grounds maintenance staff from Veolia and the Council’s monitoring officers
(horticulture) would look at trees when they are working in the park or carrying out
monitoring visits. The Coucnil would then engage specialist contractors to carry out
the major works.

My follow-up which is still awaiting a response:

-->

1.     Is the cost of major tree works by a sub-contractor included in
the Public Realm budget out-sourced to Veolia?

2.    If not, what is the expected annual cost of this sub-contracted
work (recognising it might vary considerably due to major weather
events such as storms)?

BREAKING NEWS: Having posted this article at the weekend I got this answer about 9.30am this morning:

 1: No
2: The Council’s street trees maintenance contractor is Gristwood & Toms. The budget for street tree maintenance works was £500,000 in 2014/15, but this is expected to fall to £450,000 in 2015/16.


 

Walkers get active in Fryent Country Park via Streetlife

It has been great to see local people organising various walking groups in Fryent Country Park  on Streetlife this week. One group is walking in the park as I write this. LINK

Since I made the above video celebrating the park's Green Flag Award, Brent Council has withdrawn from the award and has privatised parks maintenance in the borough. Veolia has taken over the role as part of the Public Realm contract.

I hope that these two decisions do not signal any deterioration in the care of our park.  We are lucky to have the volunteer work of the Barn Hill Conservation Group who are out in the park most weekends clearing litter, maintaining footpaths and enhancing its unique landscape.

Fryent is a wonderful resource and deserves to be better known. With the pressure on green spaces for development it is vital that it is used and valued by local people.

I run nature walks and activities in the park for Brent School Without Walls LINK and many parents accompanying school groups are amazed to discover it for the first time.

On Saturday September 6th Willesden Harvesters, Kensal and Kilburn Fruit Pickers, Mapesbury Pickers the Conservation Group are joinign together to harvest fruit from the 900 or so small trees in the park.

If you are interested in joining them contact: Michael.Stuart6@gmail.com