Dr Laptop session June 4th at 'Fixing Factory' Abbey Road Reuse & Recycling Centre

 From West London Waste Authority

Laptop on its last legs? Tablet playing tricks? Don’t chuck it - #FixIt!. 70% of discarded laptops are reusable and need only basic repairs. 

 

Pop along to one of our #FREE Dr Laptop sessions (4th June) at #FixingFactory Brent, where our friendly Fixers will diagnose your digital difficulties and provide expert advice to get you back online.

 

Book a timeslot early to avoid disappointment: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dr-laptop-tickets-334483237367

 

 

Location: Abbey Road Reuse and Recycling Centre, Brent, London NW10 7TJ

#GetFixed #MakeItLast #FixingFactory

How to get here:

Stonebridge Park (Overground) - 10 min walk

Hanger Lane (Piccadilly line) - 20 min walk

By bus: 440 or 224 to Tudor Estate, or 112 to Abbey Road

If arriving on foot please stick to marked crossings and footpaths.

If arriving by bicycle, there are secure storage racks next to the Fixing Factory

If arriving by car, the car park is the first on your left as you drive in

(You must be over 18 to attend - please note that anyone under the age of 18, including accompanied minors, cannot attend due to site health and safety policy)

UPDATE: Brent's pothole and pavement repairs under scrutiny tonight

I get a lot of emails from residents about the state of Brent's potholes and pavements often with accompanying photographs.  I am sure local councillors also get loads of complaints with residents baffled about how works are prioritised and why their streets appear to be treated differently than those a few metres away.

Concrete block paving at a corner in Mallard Way, Kingsbury - also used for dropped crossings

Brent's decision to lay asphalt rather than paving stones, when resurfacing the pavement in a whole street, has already raised ire in some residents LINK Although it was announced some time ago it is only when it happens outside your front door that it really hits home.

The Council argue that asphalt is 'more flexible than slabs and less likely to crack' but at the same time drop crossings (to drive ways) are to paved with block paving on the basis that these are more resilient and  durable. It seems to some that cars are getting better treatment than pedestrians - and surely block paving is more labour intensive and this expensive?

The patching of potholes by Conways the contractor when they reach a certain depth, while others nearby are ignored although the lorry has all the gear and labour available to fill them, has been the subject of several emails. Commonsense seems to indicate that it is more efficient to do it there and then rather than wait for it to deteriorate further until it reaches the required depth.

Apparent DIY work in Shaftesbury Avenue

The report to be considered by the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee  on September 6th goes into all this in great detail LINKand I have to warn you, it is not an easy read.

The report states:

There needs to be a balance between reactive repairs (e.g. repairing potholes) which are required to keep the highway safe, and planned works which are needed to preserve and extend the life of the road or pavement. Reactive maintenance is inherently inefficient and more expensive than planned maintenance and so, whilst there will always be a need for it, ideally the amount carried out should be minimised. 


The reactive repair of pavements amounts to patching with tarmac and there are some dreadful examples around the borough which are both ugly and still not safe.  Other dangerous pavements have been left for some time without any repair - an example of minimising work?

Raised pavement trip hazard outside Wembley Park Station

Smashed pavement in King's Drive, Wembley - caused by heavy lorry during building work

A botched and still dangerous repair - also in King's Drive also caused by a heavy lorry

This is Brent's system as described by an officer from the Highways and Infrastructure Service:

We have a prioritisation system in place for conducting repair works on damaged pavements in our network within the limited budget and resources available to us, which is briefly described as follows: Once pavement defects are identified, either through our regular inspections across all our network or by receiving reports from members of the public, we allocate defects into five categories by using a risk assessment exercise which takes into account the severity of the defects as well as their potential impacts on the pedestrians. For the very high priority category the temporary and permanent repair works are usually conducted within a few hours, whilst for lower level categories the permanent repair works can take between 24 hours to 28 days. For the lowest level category of defects usually no repair works are undertaken

Comment received from Paul Lorber with this picture:

A photo highlights this better than words. In many places the inadequacy of crossovers and the Council's failure to take action when owners demolish walls and clearly drive and damage pavements is the main problem.

Often, with ever bigger and heavier cars the crossovers and not ride enough and cheap & weak slabs crack when driven over.

Inevitably the much heavier cars and 4x4s are driven over the pavements destroying them. The photo shows just one of many examples in Station Approach Sudbury.

The Council should carry systematic inspections and take action to require owners to pay for strengthened crossovers and nearby pavements if they want to be allowed to access their front garden parking areas.

At present with the Council refusing to act we are left with damaged pavements left often in dangerous condition for months and with the local taxpayers paying for the damage.
 
Paul Lorber

'Help us help the environment' Harlesden business plea to Brent Council

The owner of Jai Electronics at 155 Harlesden High Street, has written to Brent Council complaining that his request for a loading bay outside the shop, so that customers can unload their heavy electrical equipment, has been ignored.

Instead customers have been given  parking tickets when bringing in TVs for repair or collecting them.

Mr Mehta of Jai Electronics wrote:

We have been a local small business fore over 30 years and provide a valuable service to the community helping repair electronic items to stop them being thrown away and thus helping the environment. 

You as a council are trying to promote how green you are and spending millions on promoting environmental issues; yet when a simple and genuine way to help with the environment comes up, you do nothing to help.

I am not sure if this is because you feel you profit from handing out these parking tickets at no extra cost to the council or you genuinely do not care about helping the environment and people within your borough?

He calls for a written response in the timescale set out by the Council's Customer Charter so that a quick resolution can be achieved.