The famous Wembley Stadium Pedway has gone

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 Following labour and machine  intensive demolition over the last few days the Pedway is no more! 

Thanks to Daniels Estate Agents for the video.

End of an era as Wembley Stadium Pedway demolition begins

The demolition of the famous pedway link to Wembley Stadium from Olympic Way began today and should be finished over the weekend.  There were only a few spectators there today who seeemed to have been caught by surprise as the noise of demolition echoed across the area and reverberated in the nearby Sainsbury's store.

Opinions vary on whether the replacement steps will be an improvement on the pedway ramp with some concerned about steps either end of Olympic Way - at Wembley Park station and the stadium.

Initially the case for replacement was based on the aesthetic benefit to the area of the steps, expanded to them representing an iconic gateway to the Quintain estate attracting more visitors to the area and providing additional public space for visitors and commercial opportunities.

In exchange for the £17.8million of Community Infrastructure Brent Council agreed to pay for the Olympic Way improvements, Quintain agreed not to build on the plot next to the library entrance side of the Civic Centre. LINK Apparently Brent Council were concerned that their flagship building would be hemmed in by all the high-rises surrounding it.

The £17.8m could of course have been spent on improvements to local infrastructure of more immediate and practical benefit to local residents.

 

Works on Olympic Way Bridge Rd/North End Road connection and Stadium Steps underway

Access ramp from Bridge Road to Olympic Way and North End Road on bottom left 

 

 

View of North End Road, Michaela School, Victoria Tower from access ramp (Olympic Way

Notice closing pedestrian access to ramp and stairs

Works started on Monday on the construction of the new access road and footpath connecting North End Road with Bridge Road, Wembley Park.  The notice said that the stairs and ramp would be closed to pedestrians from  yesterday but they were still open today.  The works are due for completion in April 21st 2021.

 

The view of the steps from the far end of Olympic Way

Work in progress

A view of the new steps was also available today.  They will replace the pedway as part of the £17.8m 'improvements' to Olympic Way approved by Brent Council, paid from Quintain's  Community Infrastructure contribution.

There's more to Quintain's Wembley Stadium steps than meets the eye

There is rather more to the triumphant tweet by Quintain that yesterday announced the start on work to replace the Wembley Stadium pedway with steps.  Before Quintain was taken over by the American Lone Star company in 2015 LINK , the replacement of the pedway project was announced in 2007 as (para 3) 'One of the largest pieces of privately funded public spaces in the UK.'

By the time it got down to Planning Permission, Brent Council had agreed to use Community Infrastructure Levy money, paid by developers for infrastructure improvements, towards the costs of the new steps and other Olympic Way improvements.

 Iconic?

Brent Planning Officers waxed lyrical on the benefits:

To assist in achieving the vision for Wembley, a significant element in terms of place making is the provision of new and substantial steps to the stadium to replace the pedestrian way (‘pedway’) and works to the public realm between Wembley Park underground station and the National Stadium Wembley: Olympic Way. This will enhance the area, both from an aesthetic and functional requirement.

Olympic Way as a piece of public realm is showing its age. It does not present the type of quality considered consistent with the environment necessary for a world renowned iconic venue and the wider Wembley Park development. In the context of other pressing infrastructure needs and other Council revenue spending requirements, a response might be that a significant Council funding contribution 
towards these changes should be a low priority. Nevertheless, this would be a simplistic and does not take account of all factors, including limitations associated with funding streams generated from development.

CIL funding attained by the Council is specifically related to infrastructure and is not available to support Council general revenue spending. In addition this proposed change in public realm should be seen as part of a wider picture about what will be achieved in Wembley which will have far reaching positive impacts for Brent and its prospects.

As we argued at the time there are many improvements that need to be made to Brent's infrastructure that would benefit local people more. The aesthetic argument is weak and the functional one unpersuasive - are the steps really more functional (and safer) than the pedway?

But there was something else, Brent Council did a deal with Quintain as part of the scheme, whereby Quintain agreed NOT to build on the land next to Wembley Library/Civic Centre:

Cabinet were asked to:

Confirm or otherwise the contribution of up to £12.1 million +VAT towards Zone 
 C improvements, such contribution being contingent on Quintain: 

a.     Not pursuing development of site NW04 (see plan above) adjacent to the Civic Centre to the extent currently permitted in the parameters plans associated with outline planning permission 10/3032 


b.     Working with the Council to deliver a development that better complements the role and setting of the Civic Centre, in particular creating a significant new square outside the Civic Centre Library 


c.      Agreeing a business plan and agreement, between Quintain and the council, for the future sharing and reinvestment of the net income generated through assets on Olympic Way in Zones A, B and C. 


d.     Securing up to one third funding contribution from Wembley Stadium owners. 


So Quintain got the money partly because Brent Council did not want its building hemmed in by high rise flats.  Many councillors and staff were peeved about the high rise flats between them and the stadium., spoiling the view. 

The other part of the deal was that Brent would share in the income generated by shops, bars etc that would be built in the undercroft of the steps. Somehow or other it was thought that the steps themselves would make the estate more attractive to visitors and provide an economic bonus.

The plans hit a problem when it was announced that the owners of the Stadium were putting it on the market and it was not clear if the new owners would cough up their shares of the funds LINK  . Things were further complicated when Quintain attempted to sell off its estate LINK.

The steps were not ready as promised for Euro 2020 and did not get started but Quintain's press release promises that the steps will be ready in time for the deferred matches:

Quintain, the developer behind Wembley Park, has today started the final upgrade works to Olympic Way with the project to replace the pedestrian walkway (known as the ‘pedway’) with an iconic new entrance to the National Stadium. The centrepiece of these works is the Olympic Steps, which form the final stage of a wider package of upgrades to the length of Olympic Way. The steps will be operational in time for the Carabao Cup Final in 2021 and the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, which will be held in June and July 2021 and hosted at Wembley Stadium.

Such speed, in the face of possible future Covid19 second and even third wave, seems optimistic, particularly when you factor in the previously published schedule of works:

The delivery of the project can be split into three main construction phases:

•       Phase 1 – Site Preparation and Substructure Works; 


•       Phase 2 – Pedway Demolition and Construction of Steps; 


•       Phase 3 – Landscaping and Fit Out. 


.        6.62  Phase 1 - The initial work activity will focus on clearing the site below and around the Pedway of those utilities and other items that will obstruct the Pedway demolition and subsequent staircase construction. As areas become clear, works to the foundations and substructure of the steps will commence.

•       6.63  The foundations to the steps will be constructed in and around the existing Pedway structure in advance of its demolition. Therefore, there will be a need to utilise small/specialist plant, such as restricted access piling rigs that will be able to access the low headroom areas beneath the existing Pedway to construct the piles. 


•       6.64  Phase 2 - This phase will commence within an agreed window of time to minimise the impact to WNSL. The first stage of demolition will focus on removing the Pedway structure from the area of the new staircase construction. Once this is removed, the demolition will focus on removing the remainder of the Pedway (as it runs across Engineers Way towards Olympic Way and Wembley Park station north of the Stadium). A road closure of Engineers Way will be required whilst the Pedway is removed across the carriageway area (details as to the number and timeframes required for the road closures are not yet available but will be agreed, at the proper time, with the Council). 


•       6.65  The construction of the staircase is anticipated to be a combination of pre-cast and cast in- situ concrete. It is anticipated that the bridge podium section that will connect to the Stadium will be cast in-situ and the staircase will be formed from precast structural elements. The staircase is of a modular construction and will follow a step by step process that will be prescribed by the designer and supplier. Throughout this phase of heavy lifting it may be necessary to have lane closure on Engineers Way to facilitate easy delivery and unloading of the precast elements. Pedestrian management will be a key feature of this phase to maintain safety exclusion zones around the works. 


•       6.66  Phase 3 - The fit out of the staircase undercroft will commence as soon as all overhead working is complete and it is safe to do so. The final landscaping will be constructed during the WNSL events season. Ahead of this phase there will be agreed processes and access routes to limit the level of non-working and disrupted time (as has been managed through the delivery of the Olympic Way Zone A works). 


•       6.67  The construction of the landscaping and public realm works will be undertaken in two sections that will run concurrently: Olympic Way (from the boundary of the Zone A works) to Engineers Way and the Olympic Steps area comprising land south of Engineers Way to the Stadium. 


Back in 2018 Wembley Matters considered how much disruption would be caused by the works LINK

There is more to the Olympic Way improvements that just the steps, although Brent's Infrastructure Delivery Plan for 2020-2014 only refers to the step,s a total of £40m is to to be spent  with a funding gap of £17m ,

There is of course another major project that has been delayed and for which no start or completion date has been confirmed.  That is the reconnection of North End Road to Bridge Road. The plan was regarded as  important to allow buses to avoid the stadium on event days and to make up for the loss of the road that currently runs beneath the pedway. Earlier plans appeared to envisage the removal of the ramp down to Olympic Way from Bridge Road but this illustration appears retains them. The Michaela School would now be on a through road rather than the present pedestrianised section. New high rise buildings are planned for the site presently occupied by the College of North West London and the Wembley Retail Park and temporary theatre on the former TV studio site.

The North End Road connection

 It is not clear from the documentation whether the £40m includes these plans. I wrote on July 1st 2019:

The works to reconnect North End Road, Wembley with Bridge Road (presently connected by steps and a ramp) were due to start today but Brent Council informs Wembley Matters that they have been postponed but are still due to be finished for January 2020.

In May Brent Council announced on its 'Current Wembley Regeneration Projects' page LINK:

The council will soon start work on connecting North End Road to Bridge Road. This will benefit existing residents by providing an alternative route across Wembley Park to access the North Circular Road, improving the traffic flow in the area. This route will not be affected by event day closures, enabling an available vehicular route at all times - particularly useful for residents of North End Road, who are impacted by the road closures on event days, and bus users.

The contractor delivering the works

VolkerLaser is undertaking the works at North End Road on behalf of Brent Council.

A VolkerLaser team will be on site from June 2019 to start the works, and the project is expected to be completed by early 2020. During this time, the team will endeavour to undertake the works with as minimal disruption to local residents and businesses as possible.

VolkerLaser is part of VolkerWessels UK and are one of the UK’s leading multi-functional contractors. They have a proven track record of success within the highway sector, completing some award-winning civil engineering projects across the last 25 years.

The original timetable published on  24.6.19 in the Brent Council 'Works Bulletin' listed works on Bridge Road for reconnection starting on May 20th 2019 and finishing on June 30th 2019, lasting 42 days. Associated works for reconnection at North End Road, including the road closure, were to last for 222 days from May 13th 2019 to 20th December 2019.  Clearly Brent Public Realm Scrutiny Committee will want some explanation for the delay and completion for January 2020 looks a real challenge.

There was some fumbling around on the site  but certainly nothing substantial and no completion in January 2020.

I wonder if the Public Realm Scrutiny Commitee could investigate?

UPDATE-STEPS PASSED Revealed - the consequences of removing the Wembley Stadium Pedway

UPDATE WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH

Brent & Kilburn Times‏Verified account @bktimes 31m31 minutes ago

Brent’s planning committee unanimously approve that the Wembley Stadium pedway ramp is demolished and replaced with steps

The footage above shows fans exiting Wembley Stadium via the soon to be replaced pedway. It is a foregone conclusion that tomorrow (Wednesday) Brent Planning Committee will approve plans to demolish the pedway and replace it with steps - after all the plan was approved by the Brent Cabinet using £8.4m of Quintain's infrastructure payment to the council for a project which will benefit Quintain who claim steps will be more in keeping with their multi-million high rise empire.

The new steps will be of little benefit to Wembley residents who may well prefer the monies to be spent on repairing the borough's crumbling infrastrucure away from Wembley.

Apart from the steps themselves the project will also involve cutting in two the unadopted road, Perimeter Way, that runs beneath the pedway as the space beneath the steps, the under-croft, will be used for other purposes.

Two new roads, legs of Perimeter Way, will join up with Engineers Way:

Quintain will be pleased with the officers' report which states about the pedway  (note passive voice):

It is considered to exhibit poor design and does not contribute positively to the character of the area and is therefore contrary to DMP1 of Brent’s Development Management Policies 2016. As such, its removal is considered acceptable in design terms.

They quote DDA requirements but of course it was not built when these were current:

The existing Pedway structure does not meet the principles of inclusive design, nor would it comply with current building regulations or the previous guidance as contained within the Disability Discrimination Act due to an unacceptably steep gradient.

Responding to claims that the pedway is safer than steps for those with restricted mobility they state:

An application for an additional 4 lifts has previously been approved (reference 18/1634). These additional lifts are expected to alleviate queuing pressure before and after an event. In the event the application to demolish the Pedway is approved a condition will be attached to any subsequent approval to ensure the additional 4 lifts are installed prior to the demolition work commencing.

The Crowd Movement Report is quoted as improving crowd control:

The report demonstrates that all current access is maintained and ease of movement at ground level (Level B2) is improved. The Olympic Steps work safely and efficiently for access, egress and evacuation from the Stadium. The assessments undertaken have shown that there is the capability to maintain the overall capacity of the system during ingress, egress and evacuation even with the reduction in the number of available channels at the stairs and head of stair barriers from 16 to 12, or an operational scenario where the Spanish Steps and Ginnels are unavailable. This is considered to be acceptable, and appropriate in the context of the application currently under consideration. 

The proposed Olympic Steps would provide more resilience than the existing arrangement where it may be necessary to close all or part of the ramps to manage a situation where this is necessary, for example crowd separation or crowd control. There are also potential operational benefits in terms of ease of access and ability to segregate the incident from the remaining and/or other crowds. In summary, the replacement steps have been designed to maximise the safety of users of the staircase and is best suited to accommodate the arrival and departure of high pedestrian flows on event days.

The replacement of the pedway with steps will mean the closure of Engineers Way for two hours before and after stadium events:

The removal of the Pedway and its replacement with steps on the southern side of Engineers Way would mean that in future all pedestrians travelling to and from the Stadium on an event day would need to cross Engineers Way at carriageway level. This would in turn require Engineers Way to be closed for about two hours before all events as well as after events, as is currently the arrangement with Fulton Road. 

This would result in all east-west routes across Wembley Park being closed for significantly longer periods of time than the current arrangement on Stadium event days. At present, the closure of all three east-west routes is only required at the end of events (except for NFL American Football events). In general, this is for a 60-90 minute period towards the end of the afternoon at weekends (for afternoon sporting fixtures) or at night for evening sporting fixtures or concerts.

More inconvenience for residents but the report promises respite when North End Road is eventually reconnected with Bridge Road:

The transport infrastructure improvements proposed are a new road connection between the western end of North End Road and Bridge Road (opposite Wembley Park station) for use by traffic and pedestrians. This would be achieved by removing pedestrian steps and ramps between North End Road and Bridge Road and by raising the level of the road over a distance of about 60m. 

The future proposed scheme means that on Wembley Stadium event days there would be a replacement east-west route across the Wembley Stadium area that does not cross Olympic Way and therefore would not need to be closed to maintain pedestrian and crowd safety.  

Brent Council has financially committed to delivering an east-west route through the North End Road connection which would therefore further support the road network on event days. 

Local residents and businesses would therefore have an alternative route that could remain open throughout an event day to allow them access to and from their properties. In addition to this, bus routes 92 and 206 would not need to divert completely away from Wembley when events are taking place. The applicant has confirmed that there will be ongoing communications with Transport for London to facilitate where the diverted buses will alight.  

It is worth noting that if there are possible delays with the delivery of the North End Road connection, the modelling that has been provided demonstrates a worst case scenario of a weekday evening peak hour. The road network would be less affected at the weekend as the volume of traffic associated with businesses in the Wembley Industrial Area would be far lower and the residential traffic would naturally be more evenly spread across the day.

North End Road may be a bit of a nightmare on event days for residents of Empire Court and Danes Court so what will all this do for/to other local people as they try and move around the borough on event days?

The Forty Lane corridor modelling shows that the corridor would experience a greater increase in flows, however, the modelling shows that it has sufficient spare capacity to accommodate this without significant detriment to travel times or delays. 

The modelling demonstrates that the delay between the Forty Lane corridor, North Circular Road and

Bridge Road would amount to less than 30 seconds, whilst along Harrow Road between North Circular Road and Wembley Hill Road a delay of between 45 seconds to 1-1⁄2 minutes would be added to journey times. This is not expected to cause detrimental inconvenience to residents or drastically increase the potential traffic.

Following the submission of the addendum to the modelling, the impacts on Harrow Road and Forty Lane corridors are likely to be less pronounced than had previously been assumed, partly due to traffic being delayed along the Great Central Way corridor and partly due to traffic redistributing itself over a wider area to avoid congestion close to the Stadium. 

Flows along Harrow Road are therefore forecast to barely change, largely due to the road being congested already. Traffic diverted away from Engineers Way looking to travel to the southwest would therefore look for a less congested route.  

The modelling also shows that roads to the west of the Stadium would experience a reduction in traffic flows and an improvement in traffic conditions as a result of the closure. Most notably, Empire Way and Wembley High Road would see significant falls in traffic flow as traffic cannot travel west from Engineers Way and this would cut journey times along the Empire Way corridor by up to 30 seconds. 

The North Circular Road corridor including Great Central Way and St Raphael’s Way would experience temporary congestion and delays on event days, however, the proposed North End Road connection would alleviate any concerns over traffic in these areas.  

The Head of Highways & Infrastructure has accepted that the predicted additional disruption to the highway network on Wembley Stadium Event Days can be accepted for the temporary period before the delivery of the North End Road connection. The road network will be managed as well as possible during the interim to minimise inconvenience and delay to local residents and businesses, until such time as the North End Road scheme is delivered.

Let's wait and see...

Public Square section of £17.8m Pedway deal goes through plus estate 'in-fill' housing

It was the first meeting of the new Planning Committee yesterday evening. Members not only had to cope with hefty agenda papers but a detailed late Supplementary Report on several of the items.  Committee Chair Cllr James Denselow pointed out that most of them were new to the job and it was clear throughout the meeting that he was heavily dependent on planning officer David Glover who sat next to him and the pair were regularly engaged in urgent conversation while the meeting went on around them.

Old hands Cllr Maurice (Conservative) and Cllr Colacicco are still on the committee. Of the newcomers Cllr Abdi, Hylton and Sangani were most vocal and Cllr Johnson as vice chair made some useful interventions.

The most far reaching proposal was left until last when most of the public attending had gone home.  This is the proposal for a new public square with colonnade and canopy beside the Civic Centre that Brent Council sought to gain from using £17.8m of Community Infrastructure Levy for changes to the public realm on Olympic Way.  The overall scheme  includes the replacement of the stadium pedway by steps - a matter barely mentioned last night as it will involve a separate application. The proposal involves modifications of the outline planning permission that had already been granted to Quintain for a building on Plot NW04 and the scheme approved last night is dependent on the removal of the pedway.

It was interesting that in the earlier discussion about the Ark Somerville primary school the impression was given that the granting of outline permission earlier for the wider area, but including the school, was pretty well set in stone and could not be changed.

The public were there for much smaller schemes but ones that directly impacted on their homes  and lives in different neighbourhoods.  The proposals were part of the 'in-fill' of estates to provide more 'affordable homes' and affected Kings Drive in Wembley, Carlyon Close in Alperton and Stonebridge Park.  In each  case residents protested loss of amenity - for Kings Drive, parking spaces; Carlyon Close opening up the quiet close to through pedestrian traffic; and Stonebridge Park the impact on green space.

Denselow throughout the meeting kept emphasising that the Council had to meet the target of building 9,000 new homes by 2028 and it was not surprising that all the applications were approved. The loss of amenity for current residents was out balanced by the provision of new homes.

However it was good to see the definition of 'affordable' questioned and the committee were told that this was 80% of market rent (rather than the Mayor's London Living Rent) though that might be reduced for tenants nominated by the Council.  I hope that committee members will continue to plug away on this when Quintain puts in more applications as the assumption appears to be that the 9,000 will help cut Brent's 4,000 strong waiting list - not at 80% of market rent it won't.

The effectiveness of the planning department's consultation and communication with residents came up several times and this desreves further consideration. Residents' accounts of the consultation process suggested major improvement is needed.

Is this worth £17.8m of our CIL money? Proposals for Olympic Way.

The new public space

The Agenda of the next Planning Committee LINK contains plans for the space next to the Brent Civic Centre/Wembley Library. Readers will recall that modification of the original outline permission for this site was what Brent Council hoped to gain from their decision to use £17.8m CIL money, contributed by Quintain, to replace the Pedway to Wembley Stadium with steps, along with other improvements to Olympic Way.

The planning application for the Pedway is separate, and commitee members are told that  this decision can be made independently of that application. However, the area included in the application overlaps the Pedway (NW04) below, so depends on its removal. If the Pedway is not removed some parts of the propsoed building on the plot will not go ahead.

A further condition is changes in the height and length of the new building adjacent to the space. The height is raised from 88.5m to 100m and the length is shortened from 57m tp 41m as seen from Olympic Way. The gaps between the new building and the one to its north will be reduced from 21m to 12m.

The plan includes a canopy/colonade along Olympic Way and a single storey pavilion building. The report mentions a potential bridge to the Civic Centre but does not provide any detail.

The new square with the replacement steps

The design brochure is posted below: (Click bottom right for full size)

Cabinet 'review' leaves £18m Olympic Way proposal unchanged

If you'd had a fit of sneezing at the Brent Cabinet meeting yesterday you would have missed the decision to go ahead with the £17.8m public realm improvement to Olympic Way using Community Infrastructure Levy monies.

The officers' report included the phrase 'Re-examine the funding decision for Olympic Way improvements.' There was no re-examination in the meeting just a reiteration of the report's recommendations in the event of new stadium owenership and a 2 minute address by backbencher Cllr Shafique Choudhary (Labour, Barnhill) who asked why the Council had to spend the money to the benefit of  Quintain and not to the that of the majority of Brent residents.

It is hard to believe that he was the only one of Brent's 57 Labour councillor with doubts about the scheme and willing to represent residents who would rather have the money spend on much needed improvements to Brent's deteriorating roads and pavements

Cllr Tatler, Lead Member for Regeneration, Highways and Planning, (Labour, Fryent) said that the scheme was not just about the replacement for the pedway but for the whole walkway from Wembley Park station and that the business plan involved would involve Brent Council benefiting from a share of the net income generated by the scheme.

The contribution is contingent on:

Quintain not pursuing development of the site next to the Civic Centre to the extent previously given outline permission by the council. Instead the council want Quintain to help 'deliver a development that better complements the role and setting of the Civic Centre, in particular creating a significant new square outside the Civic Centre Library.'

A business plan between Quintain and the council (as above) for future sharing and reinvestment of the net income generation through 'assets' on Olympic Way.

Securing up to one third funding ccontribution from the Wembley Stadium owners.

Rather than coming back to Cabinet  a decision on the adequacy of the level of funding from the Wembley Stadium owner was delegated to the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment in consultation with the Cllr Tatler. It is significant that despite this attempt to secure funding the report notes that 'it is confirmed the total contribution to Olympic Way improvements will be up to £17.8m. Caolyn Downs, Brent CEO, confirmed that this amount was inclusive of VAT.

The whole cabinet meeting, including other decisions  on appointments to committees, NNDR rate relief, introduction of a flexible car club to Brent (cars can be left anywhere rather than designated spaces) and a contract for children's mental health services, took only 20 minutes in total.

It seems clear that the new cabinet will have even more of a role rubber stamping decisions made elsewhere than even the previous ones. The holding of the meeting at 4pm on a Monday afternoon reduced the possibility of any significant public attendance.

The decisions notice for the meeting is HERE

The landslide local council election victory has clearly given the cabinet, to paraphrase the slogan on the stadium above, the go ahead to 'dare to do', whatever residents may think.

On a related matter I have been in correspondence with Cllr Tatler about Neighbourhood CIL, monies that community groups can apply for to improve their area. A consultation about CIL ends tomorrow and I have been pressing the council for details of the schemes that were awarded grants in Round 2 of applications. A process that has been completed but the results not published. The reason given for the delay is that the final agreement for one project has still to be drawn up:

From Cllr Tatler:

The survey went out on 9 May.  The survey will close on 23 May.

The list of round 2 projects shouldn't  really have any bearing  on the survey (round one is currently available on the web) - we ask if the priorities are correct, feedback on the application process, feedback on the criteria etc vs have we funded the right projects.

In any case, the list of projects should be published now. We were waiting on one organisation to complete the legal paperwork.

I replied:

Thanks for your response.  I think the Round 2 list is pertinent to the survey. As you say yourself 'feedback on the criteria etc have we funded the right projects.’ To see whether the right projects have been funded we need to know what projects have been funded and whether Round 1 is representative of future funding. Round 2 would provide that evidence.

I have checked the CIL website and Round 2 has not yet been published.

Cllr Tatler asked me to let her know if there are any groups that need extra time.

I am concerned that the Round 1 list of projects funded include many that are really internal applications from Brent Council or semi-independent bodies partly funded by the council or working in close partnership with them, rather than autoomous communoty groups. See the list HERE

Has the £17.8m stadium steps question already been answered by the Brent Cabinet?

Brent Council today rather belatedly published the Officer's report for Cabinet LINK on the review of the decision to spend £17.8m of CIL money on Olympic Way improvements with the majority of the money going to replace the current Wembley Stadium pedway with steps.

The Olympic Way improvements are divided into 3 zones: Zone A is the area between Fulton Road and the foot of the pedway. Zone B is from Wembley Park station to the norther edge of Fulton Road. Zone C is the pedway replacement and public works from the foot of the pedway to the stadium.

The report recommends that Cabinet members:
 

2.1  Re-examine the funding decision for Olympic Way improvements in the light of the possible change in ownership of Wembley Stadium and confirm that funding from Quintain and the Stadium owners forms a three way funding stream for Zone C. 


·      2.2  Confirm or otherwise the contribution of up to £12.1 million +VAT towards Zone 
 C improvements, such contribution being contingent on Quintain: 

a.     Not pursuing development of site NW04 (see plan above) adjacent to the Civic Centre to the extent currently permitted in the parameters plans associated with outline planning permission 10/3032 
 LINK

b.     Working with the Council to deliver a development that better complements the role and setting of the Civic Centre, in particular creating a significant new square outside the Civic Centre Library 


c.      Agreeing a business plan and agreement, between Quintain and the council, for the future sharing and reinvestment of the net income generated through assets on Olympic Way in Zones A, B and C. 


d.     Securing up to one third funding contribution from Wembley Stadium owners. 


2.3  Confirm the decision to contribute up to £5.7million+VAT for works to Zone B including Fulton Road Crossing, such contribution contingent on Quintain completing Zone A works and agreeing a business plan and agreement, between Quintain and the council for the future sharing and reinvestment of the net income generated through assets on Zones A and B of Olympic Way. 


      2.4  Note that if item 2.2 is confirmed the total contribution for Olympic Way improvements will be up to £17.8 million plus VAT. 


       2.5  Delegate agreement of the Business Plan and entering into an agreement for the future sharing and reinvestment of net income generated through assets on Olympic Way to the Strategic Director Regeneration and Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member of Regeneration, Highways & Planning. 


       2.6  Subject to the level of funding contribution from Wembley Stadium owners for Zone C improvements as detailed in recommendation 2.2 (d), delegate to the Strategic Director Regeneration and Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member of Regeneration, Highways & Planning authority to agree the adequacy of such contribution secured. 


 The report reveals the existence of a 'Statement of Common Ground' with Quintain:

 A “Statement of Common Ground” dating back to 2010 exists between the council and Quintain that allows for the application of CIL funds by LBB for the delivery of strategic infrastructure as identified in policy and the Infrastructure and Investment Framework (IIF). The above projects are within the IIF. The strategic CIL collected across the Borough, as a consequence of new development, is intended to be spent on infrastructure projects to support the ongoing development of the area, enhanced public realm falls within this, and it is proposed that a contribution from CIL to the costs of the works is appropriate.

I have requested a copy of this document. I did have access to the Section 106 agreement made between the council and Quintain but my latest search LINK returned a 'document unavailable' message. Perhaps it will reappear.

The report documents how far the work has gone so far including the reorientation of the NW04 building next to the Civic Centre which was sought by the council in exchange for funding the Olympic Way works:

Quintain have secured planning consent for Zone B works and have started 
works in this Zone at their risk as a result of the July 2017 Cabinet decision; 


Quintain and the Council have substantially agreed a draft Memorandum of Understanding for the mechanism for releasing the funding for Zones B and C and the principles of the Business Plan under which any net income sharing between Brent Council and Quintain will apply; 


WNSL/FA and Quintain have undertaken considerable technical and modelling work to validate the operational efficiency and safety of the proposed steps replacing the pedway; 


A planning application has been submitted for the reorientation of the NW04 building which will better complement the role and setting of the Civic Centre, and create a significant new square outside the Civic Centre Library; 


A planning application have been submitted for the removal of the pedway and installation of the steps and all Zone C improvement work; 


To date Quintain have spent in excess of £1m and are anticipating spending a further £1.5m to £2m (subject to Brent’s confirmation of the funding contribution and WSNL/FA or the new owners agreement to the removal of the pedway) on design fees alone related to Zone B and Zone C. 


 If officers seem to be representing Quintain in the above the following passage gives a further nudge in the direction of the Cabinet confirming the decision to fund the pedway from CIL funds:

As indicated in the Cabinet report of July 2017, the intention was to seek contribution from the Football Association towards Zone C works. Officers have been advised there has been a positive indication that the potential new owner may be willing to contribute towards Zone C works. 
In the event Zone C improvements do not proceed, the pedway will remain in place, the new NW04 building orientation and public square is not likely to progress with the existing NW04 consent taken forward to implementation and the public realm from the foot of the pedway to the stadium will remain unchanged providing an even more uninspiring and disappointing “front door” for the stadium against the new public realm in Zones A and B.

Is it the council's task to provide an 'inspiring front door' to what will be a private stadium?

Interestingly the original 2010 planning application for NW04 LINK contained the following:

.        Proposed Plot NW04 cannot be constructed in full until the existing Pedway is demolished. The eastern base of NW04 will not be commenced until the Pedway has been removed. Similarly, the eastern element of the SE Pocket will not be delivered until the Pedway has been removed. However, funds for the removal of the Pedway are not available through the Development Proposal forming part of this Application.

Remember that Press Release from Quintain that said they would pay for the 'Olympic Steps?'

The Cabinet report does not mention that and certainly does not explore all the other possible uses that the £12.1m allocated to the pedway removal and replacement could be spent on to address our crumbling roads and pavements.

The Cabinet meeting is due to last just one hour on Monday and there are other items on the agenda: hardly enough time to carefully consider the issue. I suspect the decision has been made already...

Brent's CIL information deficit

Given the controversy over the allocation of Brent's Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) I have contacted Brent Council today over two issues.

Firstly the Cabinet will be discussing a review of the £17.8m allocated to Olympic Way public realm improvements, including the replacement of the Stadium pedway by steps, at their meeting on Monday. The review is in the light of the possible sale of the stadium. This is an enormous amoutn of money and of great public interest but there are no details on the Cabinet agenda - a report is promised but not yet published.  How can the public make any representations if there is no infomation available? The full agenda, including reports, should be available 5 working days bfore the meeting.  A similar issue arose with the first full meeting of the council.

Secondly there is currently a consultation on the Neighbourhood CIL underway. I have received several reminders about this and have responded asking for details of the second round of allocations - only round one is available in the council website. The council responded that there were last minute agreements to be signed off but the closing date of the consultation is now only a week away (see consultation notice below) - surely we need this information to provide a context to any consultation response.  Consultation without information is meaningless.

It would have been useful to have the information available before the local election as the Neighbourhood CIL is one of the few areas where the public and local councillors can have any influence.

I have asked for an extension to the consultation if the information is still not available.

Brent Council's message today:

The online survey for the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Review is open for just one more week. The survey will be closed on the 23^rd May 2018.

More information about the Community Infrastructure Levy in Brent can be found here and below.

This is your opportunity to tell us about your views, experiences and suggestions for the improvement.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/NeighbourhoodCILReview/

The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.  If you have any questions or would like further information please do not hesitate to contact us via CILadmin@brent.gov.uk.