Millennium Business Centre application deferred. South Kilburn vent approved.

 Brent Planning Committee last night deferred a decision on a planning application for a new warehouse building at the rear of the Millennium Business Centre site in Humber Road NW2.

Alison Hopkins representing local people described the Centre as 'bad neighbours' and shared a number of examples of their detrimental impact on the area and fears that the new facility would worsen the situation. 

A speaker from Henfield who presently run a warehouse on the site opposed the application and described the state of the premises and the problems of parking and the blocking of fire exits if the plans went ahead. He thought it might be better to demolish the lot and rebuild or re-develop.

The agent for Millennium Business Centre said that they recognised that the 'type of tenant'  they'd had was 'not conducive' to the area and that they had 'got rid of them.' He accused Henfield of wanting to purchase the site themselves.

Challenged on the traffic survey Brent Highways said that it had been conducted before the introduction of LTNs and to some incredulou social media comments suggested that overall traffic on Humber Road would be reduced.

It was revealed that the applicant had not submitted a compliant D012 Fire Report and that this was still required.  Cllr Dixon was not reassured that traffic issues that had led to previous applications being rejected had been addressed and was concerned that vehicles would get stuck in the narrow road. The Highways officer remarked that the road was 'not ideal' for an industrial site but 'It is what it is.'

His words did not appear to persuade councillors who rejected the application with only two for the application. Initially they were ready to reject it outright but were persuaded by their chair, Cllr Kelcher, and intervention by officers , who cautioned againt going against officers; recommendation, to defer the decision to allow the applicants to come back with further information. Cllr Dixon was initially not happy to defer rather than reject.

Councillors cited traffic generation, highway safety, HGV problems, parking problems, inmpact on the wider local road network and lack of information as reasons to defer. In  addition there was the lack of a compliant Fire Report.  

The chair suggested a site visit and the Highways officer said he would request a Travel Plan from the applicant.

The HS2 South Kilburn vent application was dealt with quickly as there was little the Committee could do about it. A suggested that the block should have green growing walls was not possible because the vent had a slatted exterior. HS2 made much of the triangle of green space they were providing between the site and St Mary's Primary School and the 'learning opportunities' it would offer pupils. They would offer road safety and skills training to the school to ensure safety during construction. A Schedule 17 lorry route would be in place during construction and traffic, once the vent was in operation, would be minimal.

If you think Kilburn needs a true opposition voice on Brent Council - Peter Murry is your man

Pete Murry protesting at plans to build on green space at B&Q Cricklewood

Regular readers will know about the apparent problem that Kilburn's Labour councillors and residents have had with the Labour ruling group on Brent Council.  This has meant that Cllr John Duffy was sidelined for challenging the Council to raise Council Tax last year to help fund vital services including Stonebridge Adventure Playground. In addition he has acted as a one man Scrutiny Committee on the Veolia waste contract and the out-sourcing of litter enforcement LINK.

Residents of the South Kilburn Estate, undergoing regeneration with a substantial degree of gentrification, have been fighting the Council on the issue of the HS2 vent to be situated next to St Mary's Primary School on the Estate LINK Again they have received an unsympathetic response from the Council. Cllr Duffy had his own difficulties in trying to involve residents in discussions with the Council. LINK

The Green Party is opposed to HS2 in its totality and in a recent posting on their blog LINK has set out their Kilburn by-election candidate's platform:

Peter Murry will be standing in this Council by-election caused by the death of a Labour councillor.

PETER MURRY has been a Brent resident for over twenty years and during many of these he worked in Kilburn as a lecturer at the College of North West London. He worked for the College in Harlesden, Kilburn and South Kilburn, where he taught on Access and Information Technology courses.

He was an active Trade Unionist in the Universities & Colleges Union (UCU) and is currently the Green Party’s London Trade Union Liaison Officer.

He took early retirement from the College in 2006 for ill health reasons, partly because he suffers from arthritis, which has meant that he has been disabled for almost a decade. This has given him first hand experienced of the problems that disabled people are forced to cope with, especially those faced by people with impaired mobility in using public transport and gaining access to some buildings.

He is also an artist and member of Brent Artists’ Resource.

The key points that he is campaigning on are

• ·       A cleaner greener Kilburn
• ·       No more council cuts
• ·       Defend trade union rights
• ·       Campaign against climate change

He thinks that the environment and quality of life in London in general, and Brent in particular, need many improvements. More housing at prices that people with average and low incomes can really afford is urgently needed and Brent council should be working to provide this. Its “regeneration” schemes, such as the one on the South Kilburn estate, should produce homes for people not business opportunities for property profiteers. 

It should also take whatever steps it can to drastically reduce the air pollution that causes huge health problems in Kilburn.

As an Eco-socialist, Pete believes that ecological damage and the free market economic policies of British governments are the basic causes of problems such as these. These are not problems caused by local government, or the people of Kilburn, but they have to deal with the consequences.

Attacks on Trade Union rights, such as those currently planned by the government, just make workers into scapegoats for government mistakes.

Climate change needs to be stopped and the quality of life needs to be improved; even local councils can do their bit, instead of just making life worse by cutting services.

Brent Council needs an opposition voice. This is a task that the Green Party can do for the people of Kilburn.

POLLING TAKES PLACE ON MAY 5TH ALONGSIDE THE MAYORAL AND GLA ELECTION

South Kilburn residents vent their opposition on HS2 - next stop Parliament!

Select Commitee Visit Photo: Arantxa Arranz

Guest blog by Pete Firmin, chair, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenants and Residents Association

Bad news for those who hoped that opposition to the HS2 LINK vent shaft being sited in the middle of a residential area and next to a primary school in South Kilburn would go away once Brent Council had persuaded HS2 of the wisdom of this.

On the contrary, campaigners turned out to lobby the parliamentary select committee when they visited the proposed site on Monday 9th November. Although it was meant to be a flying (5 minute!) visit, the visitors were persuaded to stop and briefly listen to us spelling out the problems with the site, LINK some of them also engaging in one-to-one conversations as well. One of the Brent Councillors and a lead officer looked none to pleased at this. Campaigners in many other places on the proposed  HS2 route also turned out to lobby at proposed sites.

A stark illustration of the problem was given to the select committee when they got stuck in traffic on Albert Road, the route down which they want to send 80 heavy lorries a day! But such irony is probably lost on Brent Council which the same week chose to announce that work was starting on Woodhouse Urban park on the same road. No doubt a highly relaxing place with lorries going past every few minutes.

Before and after the visit, local campaigners were out collecting signatures against the siting of the vent shaft here, from residents, parents of children at the school and a local business. It was impossible to find anyone in favour of the vent shaft being sited here, something which the Council has steered clear of mentioning. Indeed, while the Council website says “we are in dialogue with HS2, the school and local residents to discuss the proposed change and suitable mitigation measures”, a Freedom of Information request as to what this dialogue consists of has been refused.

Petitions had to be submitted to parliament by Friday 13th November, and on the day before our MP, Tulip Siddiq, brought all her staff to the area to assist in ensuring the petitions were in order, not an easy task. At least 6 different petitions have gone in, together with hundreds of signatures. Incidentally, in Camden the Council put council facilities at the service of petitioners. Brent, of course, has done the opposite.

What happens now? We will get letters from the select committee in the next few weeks responding to the points raised in the petitions, after which, if we are not satisfied – highly unlikely – we will get the opportunity to address them at a hearing in Westminster. Watch this space.

Kilburn councillor launches blog with email revelations over Brent HS2 vent meeting

Cllr John Duffy, Labour, Kilburn ward has launched a blog site this morning, Kilburn Calling,  LINK which states as its intention 'A blog that speaks out about the issues and concerns of people who live in the Kilburn area of the London Borough of Brent'.

Cllr Duffy attempted to persuade the Labour Group to raise Council Tax during the pre-budget consultation, arguing that to do so could prevent some of the worse of the cuts, particularly the ending of funding to Stonebridge Adventure Playground.

At the last full Council Meeting (there is another tonight) he protested that Kilburn had become disenfranchised because none of its councillors had been allocated places on Council committees.

In a posting today LINK he reveals what he claims to be an attempt by a senior Brent officer to stop him informing residents about his attendance at a key meeting on the controversial HS2 vent issue.

This is what he says:

A funny thing happen to me over the weekend, I received a email from a senior officer in Brent council, telling me about a meeting to discuss the HS2 train link running under Kilburn and the placing of the vent shaft.

The email said:

“Please accept this meeting request for discussions on the HS2 Vent Shaft issue that has arisen.
XXXX has called this meeting to ensure you all have the opportunity to be factually briefed on the issue, especially from the South Kilburn Regeneration perspective.
The meeting will be held at xxxxx. xxxxx (full address below). Please ask for XXXX XXXX upon arrival”.

I accepted the invitation to the meeting and believed I should inform the Chair of the local residents to highlight the fact that I was attending and therefore assuring them that their voice was being heard. So I forwarded the email to the Chair of the local residents a Mr F and merely added “FYI”. Believing that I had acted as a good councilor, I then prepared to enjoy my weekend. 

However on Friday night I received this letter from a Senior Director, which he had cc the leader of the council. Saying that he noticed I had forwarded his email stating.

Dear Councillor Duffy,

This is a private briefing for the new MP, the Leader, and relevant Lead Members from the cabinet and ward councilors only. It isn't an open meeting for members of the public or wider party members. I would wholly expect one outcome of the meeting to be wider consultation and engagement on the issues and we can discuss the approach to this at the meeting.

Can I leave you to inform Mr F of this situation please?
 
Thanks - see you next week
 
I was initially taken back by what I saw of an invasion of my private correspondence with a Constituent. However it would seem that Brent council operate a system that traces any person to whom they have sent an invitation to and any other person that the recipient forwards it onto. This despite the fact that the email did not state it was private or secret.

Because of my concern about this I then forwarded this note to two other colleagues asking them to advise me about what I saw as intrusion into my private email correspondence with my constituents.
To my amazement I received another email from the Director, which was sent to all of the three of my constituents I had emailed. Which said:

Dear Mr P, Mr G, MR K,

I understand that you have been forwarded a notification of the above meeting by Cllr Duffy.
Regrettably this meeting is a private briefing for local politicians and therefore attendance is restricted and I am afraid that you won't be able to attend.
One of the purposes of the meeting is to discuss how we best engage and consult with the many different residents and partners who have an interest in this issue with a view to ensuring that everybody's voice is heard.  I will make sure you are all notified of the relevant consultation meetings when they are set up.

Many apologies for the misunderstanding.”

Summary


It is clear the officer involved believes he alone controls the meeting; his way of dealing with councilors is by dictating to them and believes he can instruct councilors to obey him, because presumably he is an officer.

The way the officer has handle this situation and the tone of his emails is of great concern to me, it reeks of “big brother ” and his interference by directly emailing my constituents is frankly unbelievable. It is as if I had been a very “ bad boy “ and he is telling me off. It is condescending and I believe undermines the respect officers should show to elected representatives.

I am sure there are many Cabinet Members and Councilors, who believe they should just obey officers’ instructions and do what ever they say, and do not stand their ground. This officer seems to have confused me with one of them. 

I was quite happy to attend the meeting itself. I never invited anyone else contrary to the officer’s wild allegation. This meeting is about the vent shaft for HS2.  There are two options being discussed: one in Queens Park  (next to the station) and the other in South Kilburn next to St Mary’s RC School in the middle of the regeneration area that has been blighted as a building site for the last nine years.
I however do not accept the implicit suggestion from these officers that this will be sited (as indicated in their first e-mail) in the South Kilburn regeneration area. These residents have lived on a building site for last 9 years and have been shafted by the Tory government over the years by cuts in services, the bedroom tax and family credits etc. So I will attend the meeting to do my best to ensure the residents of South Kilburn are not literally “Shafted” again by both the Tory Government and over zealous Officers.