LETTER: So much for reducing the Wembley High Road's street furniture

 

 

Dear Editor,

You have to post this, whilst you were away this new street furniture/signage appeared all along the Harrow Road and High Road. 17 years after the new stadium was opened and when installing the new paving the council made a point about reducing the street furniture. 

Clearly they are struggling to get it right. The first photograph the corner of  the High Road and Ecclestone Place, and the second shows one bang slap on the narrow footpath on the central High Road shopping area, you just couldn't  make this up.

A Wembley Resident

Who's kidding Brent Council? Signage mystery deepens

These signs appeared in the north of the borough  out of the blue a while ago but seem to have  suddenly disappeared.

Their positioning seemed quite random, a Salmon Street slip road had 6 or 7 over a short distance and they were often fixed facing the wrong way. I drew Brent Council's attention to the fact that they were so poorly fixed that they often slipped down to the base of the post and suggested that they get the contractor back to attach them properly. They said they would do so. Nothing happened and they were blown in all directions, broken and dangled forlornly to much derision.

Most seem to have been removed as suddenly as they appeared leaving just a few remnants apart from the lone survivor above. Is there is a market for stolen skid signs?

But seriously, several questions arise, this is all money that could be spent elsewhere:

1. Why was it deemed necessary to install these signs and was there any consultation on their installation and the speed limit imposition involved?

2. How much did it cost to buy and install them?

3. Was the contractor asked to put poor installation right or had their fees reduced because of poor performance?

4. How much did it cost to remove them?

4. Are they going to be replaced?

If only we had an opposition on Brent Council to ask such questions...

Note: all pictures taken today.

UPDATE: A reader has sent in the following comment which seems to solve the mystery:  

My impression is that these signs are put up by the company which has the new pothole injection-filling contract - there is an online map which shows that they have indeed been filling holes in the Salmon Street service road.

Brent Council claim Cappagh failed to put up promised Advance Warning signage on Wembley High Road works

In correspondence with a local resident regarding the lack of advance notice road signs of regarding major work on the Wembley High Road following a sewer blockage, Brent Council today responded:

With regards to signage, Cappagh, who are undertaking these works on behalf of Thames Water informed Brent Council that they had placed Advanced Warning Signage on the highway. However, when officers attended the location today, they found that was not the case. We have not been given an explanation as to why this signage was not in place but have been given assurance that they will be in place by 4pm today.  

Officers will monitor the site on a daily basis to ensure works are progressing according to plan. We have asked that working hours be extended to reduce the period disruption period. We are fully aware that these works will cause disruption especially on Wembley Event Days and are doing all we can to mitigate the congestion caused.

We have placed information on our website and will update the information as required.

I can only apologise for the disruption these Emergency/Urgent works have caused.

Civic Centre shenanigans

Shanice the £12,000 hologram assistant installed at the new Civic Centre has received widespread publicity and not a little controversy. Some have hailed it as a 21st century innovation while others said if Brent Council was really concerned about local unemployment rates they should have employed a real person - and not on a zero hours contract.

Others have been scathing about the basic lack of signs at the Centre. On Monday evening strategically placed security men had to guide us to the boardroom where the Executive meeting was being held. There are no signs to these rooms where meetings, ostensibly opn to the public to ensure transparent democracy, are held.

Every new building has its teething problems and the  Brent Civic Centre is no exception.

Unusually you are instructed to keep your finger pressed on the button to summon the lift and once inside you must kept your finger pressed on the button to ensure you stop at the requested floor. I am not sure what happens if you lift your finger off - perhaps the lift stops between floors or whizzes back down again.

Staff have complained of feeling hot and cold due to what appears erratic climate controls and the automatic  ambient light sensors don't always give enough light to enable comfortable reading.

The one fault that has resulted in farcical scenes is the poor mobile phone signal (staff are equipped with mobiles for their hot-desking). This has resulted in the open plan offices in a cacophony of shouted telephone conversations reverberating around the room leaving staff with splitting headaches at the end of the day.

Not to mention the IT...

But the restaurant does now serve tap water, albeit slightly warm if they don't run the tap first.