Last week an air ambulance landed at the post demolition library site to take an injured child to hospital
Guest post in a personal capacity by Bastôn De’Medici-Jaguar
Your Community Archer
On April 27th, the South Kenton and Preston Park residents, in a forum organised by the Residents Association (SKPPRA), scrutinised the council candidates for the elections this coming Thursday. The goal, one can infer, was to understand the policy position of the diverse candidates who presented themselves for questioning (democracy lives on).
At the heart of this meeting was the hot topic of the recently passed Brent Council Planning Committee motion for the redevelopment of the Preston library. The issue is a sensitive one for the residents of SKPP – and rightly so. A consultation return indicated that 98% of the residents opposed the development, which Labour insists is to provide homes for people in the Borough. No one doubts that there is a housing crisis in Brent or indeed London. The simple controversy is this – the people do not want this kind of housing – small and exorbitantly expensive. One resident at the meeting “rightly” points out that no one in the community can afford the price tags attached to these properties. This then begs the question: who is Brent building for? The answer is anyone’s guess.
The plot of land for the intending site was once the home of the Preston library. That has now been demolished to put the block of twelve flats on [Ed: a new space for the library will be provided in the block]. The actual bone in this matter is that the proposed infrastructure goes against local planning regulations. But Brent has nonetheless hammered its imprimatur to the deal. The controversy was such that the residents, through the faithful gatekeeper, Doreen Gill, launched a judicial review in the High Court. The High Court held that the proposed development was contrary to the Local Plan and found against the Council. Oh, how could they? The Council sidestepped the ruling of the Court and is pushing ahead with its machination.
At the SKPPRA meeting last Wednesday, residents asked the panel of candidates, “Should the High Court's ruling be respected?” The obvious answer is yes. However, Labour-led Brent Council, represented by Councillor Daniel Kennelly at the meeting, submitted that the ruling is respected. How so? The tactic used to circumvent the Court’s ruling was a piece of legislation from the long laid to rest Thatcherite government, allowing planning regulations to be disregarded. This, Kennelly vehemently advocated and submitted, is a Conservative piece of legislation, and if anyone wanted it to change, the Conservatives are in power and thus have the clout to change it. I suspect this was directed at Cllr. Michael Maurice – a Conservative Councillor who was in the audience. Very well said and indeed correct, Cllr.Kennelly. But there is a mistake. Brent Council is controlled by Labour. And it is this Labour council that has gone back in time to reach for the archaic legislation. This behaviour frustrates the Court’s decision and launches an onslaught on democracy – disregarding the will of the people, and has ripped open the sacred veil of servanthood. Brent-Labour has strapped its hands in the Thatcherite gloves. Brent is now a carved-out autocratic island in a supposedly largely democratic nation. When judiciary rulings are stifled, fundamental rights can do nothing but take flight. With Brent-Labour's punching power amplified by the Thatcherite gloves, it has winded society and flatlined the voice of the people, causing the fundamental right of 98% of SKPPRA's residents to take leave.
Bastôn is the Green Party candidate for Kenton. Read his election statement HERE
