Crucial Libraries Appeal hearing Thursday - Try and Get Along

The Brent Libraries appeal hearing will begin tomorrow in the Court of Appeal at 10.30 am in Court 63, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London. Please try and come along for the hearing: the physical presence of those who case about cases like this makes a real difference.

The hearing will last 1 ½ days, possibly extending a little into Friday afternoon. The Appellants’  new QC, Dinah Rose, will open and close the case with the Council’s QC making her own submissions half way through. Dinah will argue the Council:

• did not appreciate the likely impact of its plans to close libraries on particular groups in the community, such as Asian people, and without understanding this impact properly could not make a lawful decision compatible with its Equality Act 2010 duties to eliminate discrimination;

•  did not assess need for local library services, especially that of children; and

• was unfair to community groups who put forward proposals to save the threatened libraries.

The legal team cannot be sure when the judgement will be forthcoming but it is likely to be speedy as the Court appreciates the importance of the case.

Evening Standard covers library distance row

Follow this LINK for the story

Barry Gardiner MP to speak out against the threat of climate change at Chalkhill meeting

Brent North MP Barry Gardiner is one of the speakers at a public meeting on climate change on Thursday 10th November at Chalkhill Community  Centre in Wembley. The meeting, “Food, Floods and Climate Change:  Pakistan, Africa, Britain” is organised by Brent Campaign Against Climate Change and starts at 7.30pm.

The full list of speakers is: Barry Gardiner MP, Cllr Jonathan Essex: Green Party and Glen Hart: Rail, Maritime and Transport union .

Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says,

The return of devastating floods to the Sindh province of Pakistan may be further evidence that man-made climate change is already a  life-threatening reality to millions of people around the world. The  terrible drought in East Africa, floods in Thailand, the drought that  has killed huge tracts of Amazonian rain forest, are the kind of extreme weather events that scientists predicted would occur with global warming. Although the poor in developing countries are bearing the main costs, droughts and floods in countries like Russia and Australia are pushing up food prices for us in Britain.

“This meeting will discuss the extent of the problem, what action Governments should take at the forthcoming climate talks in Durban, and what we can do to press for climate justice and future food security for ourselves and our children.”

Jonathan Essex says,

It is not the financial crisis that is the issue most visibly affecting millions of the most vulnerable across the world - but food and oil price hikes and floods - already a result of the clash of climate change with business as usual.

A global agreement and action on this issue is not a luxury item but a basic need for many - vital for our wellbeing and that of future generations.'

Don't doubt that together when we stand up for justice it makes it difference - we can act ourselves to live within our planet's limits and raise our voices to start making a diference now. '

This is one of a series of public meetings organised by the Brent Campaign against Climate Change. The free event will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 10th November 2011 at Chalkhill Community Centre, 113
Chalkhill Road, Wembley, HA9 9FX, across the road from Wembley Park tube station. All are welcome.

Willesden Green Library Report Now Going to December Executive

The Brent Executive will now consider the report on the redevelopment of Willesden Green Green Library at their December meeting. The item was originally tabled for discussion at Wembley's meeting but no report was available on the Council website.

Redevelopment would involve the demolition of the existing building and a rebuild that would include flats and possibly retail outlets. The Council is searching for developers interested in such a scheme. The delay may indicate that the proposals are hitting problems in the current economic climate but could also be linked to the High Court appeal being heard on Thursday and Friday of this week.

If the development were to take place the library would be closed for two years with only minimal alternative facilities and would add a further library to the six already closed by the council.

Central Middlesex Overnight A&E Closure Protest

The Accident and Emergency department at Central Middlesex Hospital is due to close at night from next Monday, 14th November.

An emergency protest has been called for outside the hospital at 12.15pm on Tuesday November 8th.

Please come along if you can to show we are opposed to the run down of our NHS facilities.

Caroline Lucas Speaks At St Paul's Anti-Capitalist Camp

Food, Floods and Climate Change - Public Meeting

Click on Image to enlarge

 

Willesden Green Library Report Missing From Executive Agenda

It appears that officers are going right up to the line over the proposals for the redevelopment (and thus a two year closure) of Willesden Green Library. The Executive Agenda lists the item and states:

This report summarises the procurement process undertaken by the Council to procure a developer partner to redevelop the Willesden Green Library Centre site and requests delegation to the Director of Regeneration and Major Projects in consultation with the Director of Legal and Procurement to award and enter into a Development Agreement with the preferred developer partner.

No report is attached despite the meeting only being a week away.  Other councillors and the public will have little time to peruse the document and prepare any submissions they might wish to make to the Executive. At the same time delegation to officers means little further involvement by our elected representatives.

Dogs not consulted on new Control Orders

Details of the proposals on Dog Control Orders have now been published. They will be going to the Council Executive for approval on November 14th.  There has been some opposition from professional dog walkers to the restriction on the number of dogs walked to six per person, with some walkers and the people who employ them arguing there should be no restriction at all. However other respondents suggested a limit of four dogs per person.

The document notes that this is not the same as a limit on the number of dogs walked together. This means that several individuals walking together could have a combined total of more than six dogs. There is a possibility that professional dogs walkers could avoid the restriction if they got a friend or two to accompany them. Clearly this will need to be monitored but overall the restriction seems to be sensible and a way of maximising the enjoyment and safety of open spaces such as Fryent Country Park and the Welsh Harp.

The control order instructing that dogs be kept on a lead in some areas mainly applies to children's playgrounds, sports areas and special areas such as the Roe Green Walled Garden. The report makes it clear that dogs do not have to be kept on a lead in the whole of Gladstone Park s some had claimed.

There is a lovely straight-faced sentence in the consultation report:

It is not possible to consult directly with dogs that may be affected.

The Impact Needs Assessment, including details of the consultation response can be found HERE and a list of the parks and playgrounds where dogs will be required to be kept on a lead in part of the space or the whole area can be found HERE

Save Treetops and Harmony Nurseries

SIGN THE PETITION HERE (More than 160 signatories so far)

FA offer cheap tickets for England v Sweden to Brent residents

The Football Association are pleased to announce an offer to Brent residents to purchase special price tickets to see England take on their UEFA EURO 2012 rivals Sweden at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday 15 November at 8pm.

Brent residents can purchase tickets at a special price of £20 for adults and £10 for children.

How to claim this offer

To claim this offer, Brent residents should bring a Council Tax or utility bill such as gas, electric or telephone, which shows their address in Brent to the Wembley Stadium ticket office between Wednesday 9 November and Sunday 13 November.

The ticket office will be open each day between 10am and to 7pm and this offer is available to personal callers to the stadium ticket office only.

The Long March to Kingsbury Library Plus

Library campaigners from a few months old to people in their 80s took part in a long march from South Kenton to Kingsbury Road today to demonstrate how far they had to go to a library now that Preston Library has been closed. Liberal  Democrat and Conservatives councillors were on the march along with Green Party candidates and dissident members of Brent Labour Parry but the majority of people were simply residents furious at losing their valued local library and incensed at how they have been treated by Brent Council.

The march took about an hour, excluding a short refreshment stop.  As one of the slower ones said, "By the time we get there our books will be overdue!"

International solidarity at South Kenton

Pause at the boarded up Preston Library 'Wall of Shame'

A message for councillors on the 'Wall of Shame'

Children are one of the groups most affected by the closures

We stopped for refreshments....

...and caught up on the latest campaign news

Even the famous suburban privet came out in sympathy!

Kingsbury Library at the end of the long march

When we got to the Kingsbury Library some campaigners popped in to look at the facilities. Many were surprised by how small it was and it certainly looked crowded with just the addition of a few of us. One campaigner fondly remembered the 'long table' at Preston Road library which fostered conversations and community solidarity.

A mother with two young sons said it just didn't feel like her 'local library'. At Preston she had known all the staff and felt comfortable to let her children explore the library without close supervision. She had known most of the users by sight.  Localism and feelings of safety and ease would be missing if she had to use this library.

The Transport for London Journey Planner gives two routes from South Kenton to Kingsbury Library Plus. The first is a train to Kenton and then a 183 bus and the other a 223 bus to Wembley Park and then the Jubilee line to Kingsbury. Not exactly user friendly.

Should we de-designate industrial area around Wembley Stadium?

The industrial area around Wembley Stadium

 The consultation on the future of the industrial area around Wembley Stadium ends on Monday. The document is HERE and the consultation website is HERE . The consultation includes the possibility of restricting the number of waste management facilities in the area.

Key points from document re waste management (NB there are also sections on transport etc) SIL=Strategic Industrial Location):

Whilst it is acknowledged that there will be a continuing need to retain the vast majority of SIL in the borough, it should also be recognised that the de-designation of some employment land could be beneficial in promoting jobs growth locally if land is redeveloped for mixed use development, as with key parts of the regeneration area to the west. In addition, there are concerns that the proximity of industrial sites, and associated bad neighbour uses, to key regeneration sites is harming their development prospects because of the potential environmental impacts upon them. There is a particular concern that the juxtaposition of the industrial estate with proposed sensitive uses, such as a proposed new primary school on Fulton Road, will have an impact on the attractiveness of the school.

Options BIW 1

1. Leave the extent of the SIL as currently defined.

2. Introduce policy whereby development proposals adjacent to SIL should have regard to the potential effectiveness of these locations

3. De-designate SIL immediately adjacent to key sites identified for regeneration which will include residential or other sensitive uses.

4. De-designate substantial part of the SIL to facilitate wider regeneration and environmental improvement

There is a general view that if a significant proportion of land is occupied by uses such as open storage, aggregate depots and waste management, this will have a negative impact upon the regeneration potential of the wider area and will provide only a limited number of jobs. One way of dealing with the problem, especially to prevent it getting any worse,is to put a limit on the amount of land devoted to such uses.

Options BIW 2

1. No limit on the proportion of the SIL devoted to waste uses or open storage.

2. Allow no further waste management or open storage uses in the SIL.

3. Consider individual proposals on their merits and only restrict such uses if  evidence of detrimental impact.

4. Actively promote the re-location of existing, badly located waste management sites.

De-designation could mean that the West London Waste Authority's ear-marking of a site in the area for waste processing (technology unstated but incineration feared) will not succeed.

More on Cliff's Statue, because......"he deserves it"

I am going to resist having a giggle about this proposal for a statue of Sir Cliff Richard at Wembley Arena but enjoy one of your own by looking at the document yourself HERE

Conversations on Making and Saving Energy

Transition Town Kensal to Kilburn and 

Brent Friends of the Earth

present

        Energy conversations:

how to make it and how to save it

 

3 Great Speakers: 3 Great Conversations

Armstrong Yakubu, Foster and Partners: Sustainable Cities

Tom Pakenham, Green Tomato Energy: Passivhaus and Solar PV

Sarah Nicholl, Transition Belsize: Draught Busting

Monday November 14^th 2011, 7.30 – 9.30pm at the Rotunda,

St Anne’s and St Andrew’s Church,

125 Salusbury Road , NW6 6RG

Please bring food and drink to share

Transition Kensal to Kilburn – Growing a Greener Community.

Find out more at: http://ttkensaltokilburn.ning.com/

Lies, Damn Lies, and Library Transformation

The quote in the November Brent Magazine

Brent Council's dismal record of misinformation and disinformation over public libraries, which started of course with the misleadingly named 'Transformation Project', has been highlighted again today.

The Brent Magazine, which is still flopping through letter boxes, claimed that all Brent residents were 1.5 miles from a library. Toni McConville, Director of Customer and Community Engagement for Brent Council said:

The information about the 1.5 mile distance that residents would need to travel to a library was provided by the Library Service. An assumption was wrongly made that this meant one of the council's remaining libraries rather than a library in the vicinity.

I'm sorry for the error and have pointed it out to the communications team so that the mistake is not repeated.

Graham Durham,Secretary of Save Cricklewood Library Campaign,  said:

This is the latest in a series of misleading information on library cuts.Throughout the consultation and in endless meetings Annjohnette has stated it will be 1.5 miles to a Brent library - it is now clear that this claim was utterly untrue.Any resident of Wembley or Willesden could have told the council this.

Preston Library campaigners are marching from South Kenton to Kingsbury Library on Saturday afternoon to demonstrate the distance to their nearest library following the closure of Preston Library.

Willesden Green Library to close for 2 years - 0nly 5/12 Brent libraries will be left

Library campaigners have reacted angrily to the admission by a senior Council officer that Willesden Green library, including the archive collection will be closed for two years from April 2012.

Writing to Brent SOS Libraries on 3 November 3rd, Jenny Isaac, Assistant Director (Neighbourhood Services) confirmed that only a side hut in Grange Road will be left open.  It will have study space for only eight people, six computers, and only a very limited supply of books will be available. This news comes on top of the closure of half the borough's libraries last month.

Graham Durham ,Secretary of Save Cricklewood Library Campaign, said:

The boarding -up of nearby Neasden and Cricklewood Libraries - and the stripping of all books from Cricklewood - before the legal case was completed has already shown the contempt Brent Council has for local people in the area. Although  Councillor James Powney and library chiefs Sue Harper and Sue MacKenzie have refused to meet Cricklewood residents for over eight months now, they did promise that a wonderful facility would be available at Willesden Green.

This promise has now been shown to be a complete lie. In fact study opportunities and access to the internet, as well as local research and book lending, will be virtually non-existent. In their  discussion of 'pop-up' libraries  the range of overpaid Council officers and Labour Cabinet members are having a really bad taste joke at the expense of young and old who cannot afford to travel even further afield to Harlesden and Kilburn.

It was already a very difficult and expensive journey for parents with small children from Cricklewood and Neasden to Willesden Green - now that option has been destroyed for a generation of children.

The Brent Executive is due to consider a report on the redevelopment of Willesden Green Library at their meeting on November 14th at Brent Town Hall.

Further details HERE

March on Saturday to the Democracy Wall and Kingsbury Library

Preston Library Campaigners will be calling in at the Democracy Wall (also known as the Wall of Shame) when they march on Saturday from South Kenton Station to Kingsbury Library. They will leave South Kenton at 1.30pm and will call in at the Democracy Wall about 1.50pm.

You are invited to join in and dress up as your favourite story character.

Lucas to speak at Occupy LSX tomorrow - "this is real politics in action"

The UK's only Green MP Caroline Lucas will speak out in support of the "real politics" of protest at the 'We are the 99%' rally taking place outside St Paul's Cathedral on Saturday 5 November.

The MP for Brighton Pavilion, who pressed David Cameron to support a 'Robin Hood Tax' on financial trading during Prime Minister's Questions earlier this week, will join with protesters to show support for the Occupy movement against economic injustice.

Saturday's rally, taking place from 2pm, will be followed by a march on Parliament from St Paul's.

Caroline Lucas, one of the few MPs to have visited the Occupy LSX encampment, said:

"As the public becomes more aware of the injustice and unsustainability of our economic system, more and more people are taking to the streets for a different kind of society - one which puts the interests of the many before those of a powerful minority.

"That the leaders of the mainstream political parties have completely failed to engage with what is happening down at St Paul's and at protests across the country shows just how painfully out of touch they are with the public mood for change.

"This is real politics in action - and the voices of those ordinary and extraordinary people who want a fairer, greener system to replace the stocks-and-shares house of sand that sustains corporate capitalism must now be heard.

"The global financial crisis and billion-pound bailouts have exposed the plain truth that the entire economic system is rigged against the hard working majority. As a first step towards mending the damage wreaked on our society by reckless financial gambling, the Government must back a Robin Hood Tax at the G20 Summit in Cannes - with the revenue ear-marked to address sustainable development and the growing climate crisis."

Greens ahead of Lib Dems in London Mayor Poll

These are the latest figures in the London24 on-line poll on the London Mayoral election:

London Mayor poll

Who would you be voting for if the London mayoral election was taking place today?

Boris Johnson 36 %

Ken Livingstone 31 %

Brian Paddick 5 %

Jenny Jones 21 %

Someone else 5 %

Would not vote 3 %

Equalities Commission gets involved in Brent libraries appeal

In a significant new development in the Brent Libraries Appeal,  I understand that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has now got involved. The Appeal decision is likely on Thursday/Friday of next week,

The Commission have attached themselves to the Appeal on issues relating to the Council's Equalities Act duties and will be sending their own QC to assist Brent SOS Libraries legal representatives.

This could pave the way for investigation of other matters relating to the council cuts where campaigners have questioned whether the council has fully carried out their responsibilities under the Act.

Library Campaigners Make Their Case to Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary

Brent Library campaigners spoke out about the imnpact of library closures when they presented letters to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP. Video from YourNewsUKTV.

Campaigners are calling for a public inquiry into the closure of six out of 12 libraries and claim that Brent Council is no longer meeting its statutory obligation on library provision.

Many characters in search of a library - March on Saturday

Preston Library campaigners are staging a protest march on Saturday to draw attention to the distance residents will have to travel to their nearest library now that Preston has been closed.

The march will begin at South Kenton station at 1.30pm and go to the 'Wall of Shame' at the boarded up library to arrive around 1.50pm. It will then proceed to Kingsbury Library. 

The campaign says:

We’re going to walk to our "nearest library" - Kingsbury.  Join us and show the politicians just how close it really is. Everyone is invited - come dressed as your favourite book. there will be water stations and helpers along the way. See how far you get!

Show Jeremy Hunt why Brent’s 21st Century library service is miles out. Kenton, Preston and Barn Hill ward councillors have been invited – let’s hope they join us and show where they stand/walk!

Campaigners have been infuriated by the chutzpah of Brent Council's statement in the current magazine that every resident lives within 1.5 miles of a library.  It is a measurement that only seems to apply to bats, birds and Brent councillors.

Petition lauched on £1000 councillor ACF expenses

Following revelations in the Brent and Kilburn Times that Brent councillors who chair  Area Consultative Forums ( held 4 times a year) receive more than £4,700 a year for doing the job, a petition has been launched on Brent's e-petition website. It calls for the payments to be reduced to £100 per session. The recent forums had low attendance following the council's decision to stop sending out postal reminders to residents as a cost-saving and environmental measure.

The petition can be signed HERE

It says:

We the undersigned petition the council to reduce the allowance given to chairs of Brent's Area Committee Forums to no more than £100.

At a time when the people of Brent are:
- Having to accept reduction in services such as street cleaning
- Having to accept losing half their libraries
- Having to (accept) a fall in real terms wages because employers either give below inflation pay rises, or no pay rises at all

It is not fair that chairs of area committees continue to receive large sums of money for chairing these forums. Some reports have claimed that chair people receive £1000 per session.

One would think that these individuals would be happy to carry out this important public service for free. Indeed I'm sure that a lot of residents would be happy to do so for no more than their bus fare.

Upcoming Brent Executive Decisions

Somewhat surprisingly, given the need for proper scrutiny of Executive decisions, the Call In and Scrutiny Overview Committee due to be held this evening has been cancelled.

The Executive meets again on November 14th and the most controversial item is likely to be consideration of options for the redevelopment of the Willesden Green Library Centre site. No details of proposals are available as yet but I will try to publish them as soon as possible. There has been only internal council  consultation on this so far. Redevelopment would mean the closure of the library for at least two years and thus will add to the impact of the recent closures of  six of the borough's 12 libraries.

There may be organised protests by dog walkers against the Dog Control Orders due to be approved that night. Dog walkers will be limited to a maximum of six dogs per person. Dogs will be excluded from playgrounds, multi-use games areas, tennis and netball courts and bowling greens. Other areas will be specified where dogs must be kept on a lead. (See my earlier post LINK)

The Executive will be asked to approve the awarding of a Design and Build Contract to rebuild the Girls' and Boys Crest Academies and a joint procurement of council Human Resources through the Oracle system led by Lewisham and Lambeth.  This aims to rationalise back office support systems within London's local councils.

The December 12th Executive will be presented with the Quarter 2 2011/12 - Performance and Finance review which may have repercussions for spending for the remainder of this financial year. The same meeting will consider alterations in fees and charges for council services,  The most controversial decision at the January 16th 2011 meeting will be over the future of children's centre childcare provision.

JOIN THE FIGHT FOR A FAIRER TAX SYSTEM

A message from Caroline Lucas MP

Everyone understands the relationship between public spending and tax. The taxes we all pay are spent on the public services we all benefit from. But do enough people understand the relationship between public spending cuts and tax avoidance, tax evasion and unpaid tax?

It's pretty straightforward. People and companies that fail to pay the full amount of tax that is expected of them are starving our public services of funds. If we want to fight spending cuts, we must tackle that failure to pay the right amount of tax.

That's why, earlier this year, I tabled the Tax and Financial Transparency Bill in Parliament, which is due to have its second reading in the Commons on 25 November. The main aim of the Bill is to require banks, companies and trusts that operate in the UK to publish details of how much tax they pay in all the jurisdictions where they operate.

That means requiring them to reveal what use they make of offshore tax havens. Full transparency will enable the tax authorities (and the public) to make sure that these companies are paying the right amount of tax, and make it easier to close loopholes and crack down on tax avoidance. Who could argue with that?

Well, just because it's fair and it makes sense, doesn't mean it won't need a huge amount of campaigning momentum and political will to challenge the vested interests that do so well out of tax dodging. To help channel that momentum, I've set up an e-petition on the Government's website  that echoes the demands in the Bill.

Everyone who's opposed to cuts in public services, and who thinks the same rules should apply to everyone when it comes to paying tax, should sign it. It's another way to push tax justice up the agenda in Parliament - e-petitions that gather more than 100,000 signatures have to be considered for debate in the Commons.

A recent example was the e-petition to release documents relating to the Hillsborough disaster, which successfully secured a debate, and prompted the Government to agree to petitioners' demands.

Even with enough signatures, e-petitions are not binding for the Government, but as Hillsborough shows, they can achieve a lot by helping to build pressure for change. Please do sign the petition and keep circulating the link. With a coordinated effort, we can reduce tax avoidance and reduce the terrible harm it does to our vital public services.

Caroline Lucas MP

SIGN THE PETITION HERE 

New Brent Cross planning application would scupper light rail

We, the Brent Cross Coalition, bitterly criticise the just-released planning application by the Brent Cross Cricklewood developers, Hammerson (Brent South) Ltd. and Kleinwort Benson (Channel Islands) Corporate Services Ltd. It intends to build on top of yet another of the possible light-rail corridors at Brent Cross, despite the threat of massive road congestion. 

We believe that the developers must rethink their 14-million-square-feet, 20-storey, incinerator-fuelled, car-choked scheme, and we believe general political support for their current plan is leaking away – yet Barnet Council is currently encouraging them to go ahead, regardless. The Channel Islands low-tax company now wants new development to jump from the stalled ‘Phase One’ Brent Cross plan to build on Phase 7 land.

Various transport solutions at Brent Cross remain possible, but we think that passenger numbers would be high enough for a new “Docklands Light Railway” here. This could then be expanded, as an east-west rail line across the whole of outer London, from west London, to Brent Cross, then via Colindale, Mill Hill East and Finchley Central, to New Southgate and Arnos Grove. It would be “off-road”, so no high streets would be dug up.

Any new Thameslink station would certainly mean closing Cricklewood and maybe Hendon stations, since they would be so close together on a very busy main line. Temporary work from the developers at Cricklewood would not change that.

In doing this, it would destroy the only feasible light-rail route into the site from Cricklewood station that avoids Phase One buildings. It could also bring into Brent Cross thousands of passengers from the planned “High-Speed-Two” and Crossrail stations in west London, via stations on the Bakerloo and Jubilee Lines in neighbouring Brent.

Dollis Hill campaigner Alison Hopkins  says:

“The Brent Cross developers surprise us. We keep pointing out that car grid-lock will not be a ‘plus point’ in their future marketing, and will not enhance the future profitablity of their development. That is why we keep suggesting a viable alternative. Perhaps we need to set up tents in the Brent Cross car park to finally get through to them.”

We, the Brent Cross Coalition, point out that Barnet Council’s web site still predicts over 29,000 extra cars every day in the Brent Cross area, if development goes ahead. Later, lower car estimates totally lack credibility.

We know that the developers are planning to physically raise the Brent Cross development "ground level" by three or four metres above the current ground level, so a light railway on the EXISTING level of land could be built around, in due course.

Lia Colacicco, Convenor of the Brent Cross Coalition says:

“Due to the arrogance of the developers, we are unable to stop them going after their quick profits, but they have never properly consulted local people. Many house-owners remain in fear of compulsory purchase of their perfectly adequate homes, many of which have gardens.

“Overall, we are opposed to the current complete, off-shore-funded Brent Cross plan.

"Development should be exciting. It should be designed with local people and the environment in mind. The developers are no better than greedy bankers. We need to work on a new master-plan for a sustainable development fit for the 21st century, not one that is twenty years out-of-date.”

We, the Coalition, accept that the new planning application is for only a small (catering) building on the Phase Seven land, but it is the thin end of the wedge, and it could be proposed elsewhere instead. 

The light-rail line is needed at the start of Phase One, certainly not as late as Phase Seven! We will continue to fight for a sustainable development that will improve the needs of the residents and local town centres, while improving the transport network over much of west and north London.

Readers can go to the web site of another Conservative Council, Hammersmith and Fulham, and search for “Old Oak Video”.
 

They will see an alternative, brighter future – large-scale, high-density development that is properly designed around public transport, not Barnet Council’s apology for the concept.

If the government backs the “High-Speed-Two” railway between London and Birmingham in the next few months, the proposed “DLR light railway” shown on the video at Old Oak may well be built. Will extensions of that light-rail line merely permanently stop at the borders of Barnet?

http://brentcrosscoalition.blogspot.com/2011/10/hammerson-and-kleinwort-benson-ood-make.html

How I Saved Our Local Nursery

This is a guest post on UK Uncut by Lucy Reese, mother of Angus (6), Stanley (2) and Max (6 months)
A few years ago, like all good New Labour voters, I was obviously all for public services, but other than the bins and the NHS had very little need for them. Then I had kids. And everything changed. I’d always worked and was determined to do so after I had kids. My job as a TV producer paid quite well, but even so forking out nearly £400 a week in childcare – for a fairly bog standard private nursery – was pretty eye-watering. It was much more than my mortgage. By the time my lovely son was two and a half I knew I couldn’t carry on working the hours I did without going completely bat-shit mental. A ghastly programme about The Spice Girls was the tipping point. I had no work life balance and had to change the way I worked.

Fortunately, by this time my son had moved to a brilliant council run nursery called Caversham Children’s Centre, in Kentish Town, North London. I loved everything about it and it was affordable – the fees were about half what we’d been paying before. It gave me the breathing space to work out how I could change direction. I found I could do some TV stuff from home and also began to pick up work in F.E colleges, which I loved. I had another baby, started a PGCE and got more hours in the college. Throughout all these changes the nursery was a constant – our second boy went there too.

Since both my husband and I are self employed – he makes websites – we can’t afford to turn down work just because it doesn’t fit in with school holidays. I got work teaching summer schools so we started using the brilliant holiday play schemes run out of Camden Square Playcentre. It may sound cheesy, but these services are like extended family for millions of people like us. We can’t plead abject poverty, but to keep working, we need good quality affordable childcare. We want to spend some time with our kids and provide them with emotional security – we just couldn’t do this and pay private sector childcare fees.

Fast forward to the 2010 election. THEY got in and I remember saying to my husband that I reckoned the nursery and the playcentre would be for the chop. People like Cameron have never needed public services and think only lazy scroungers use them. By the end of 2010, it was announced that the playcentre would close in 2012 – then we found out in January of this year that the nursery would be closing in August.

When I got the letter about the nursery closing I burst into tears. Pregnant and hormonal, I just couldn’t handle the news. But I refused to go down without a fight. Fortunately all the other parents felt the same and to cut a long story short we worked together and although the nursery did close in August, it has recently reopened as the Caversham Community Nursery after we convinced the council to transfer management to a local community association.

The campaign was draining and involved dozens of meetings, hassling local councillors, standing in the street outside the Co-op and making a series of deputations to Camden Council. I gave birth in the middle of the campaign – baby Max has been to more council meetings than you could care to mention, both in and out of the womb.

So why did the campaign work? First off, we decided to work with our local Labour councillors, rather than harangue them for closing the nursery. We also pooled our skills. One of our group was a management consultant and produced an amazing business plan. Another mother is a PA and a brilliant organizer – with access to free printing facilities for leaflets! I used my contacts in local politics and media and gave the campaign focus with a Facebook group. The group’s leader, another TV producer, created amazingly convincing documents and sat up till the early hours refining our deputations to the council. It was bloody hard work but it paid off and though the process was at times frustrating, it was also incredibly empowering and shows what can be done if you work collectively. It made me understand the importance of local government and the experience has made me keen to stand as a local councillor – something that previously would have had about as much appeal as drinking a bucket of cold sick.

I’m now back on the campaign trail again and have started an action group to save Camden Square Playcentre – yes, it is just down the road from the Amy shrine. This is a truly amazing place that provides holiday play schemes, after school clubs, breakfast clubs and under 5s drop ins. Black kids play with white kids, posh kids play with poor kids and disabled kids play with able bodied kids. The brilliant staff are trained in everything from child protection to child psychology – the idea that they could be replaced by some “Big Society” volunteers is frankly insulting. The playcentre keeps single parents off benefits and keeps stay at home mums with toddlers sane. It gives boisterous six year old boys somewhere to let off steam after school and kids in wheelchairs the chance to make friends with kids from mainstream schools. If this sounds like utopian bullshit, sorry, but it’s the kind of service that actually makes the world a better place.

We’ve had our first meeting and are hopeful that there is a chance that we can do what we did with the nursery and get a voluntary sector provider to take over the running of the service.

Please sign our petition - http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-camden-square-playcentre.html - we still need all the help we can get. Thank you for reading.

This post represents the views of the writer and does not necessarily reflect my views or those of Brent Green Party. It is posted as clearly of great interest in light of the closure plans for Treetops and Harmony nurseries.

Weighty message delivered to Jeremy Hunt

From Save Preston Library Campaign:

At 10 am, on October 26th,  we went to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in central London to present 12,000 signatures and hundreds of letters to the Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt.  400 were by kids alone. We demand he fulfil his responsibility to.investigate whether Brent’s new library service is “comprehensive and efficient” (as it should be under Museums.and Libraries Act 1964).

He met the council in June, but has he heard our side? Nope. The sheer volume of complaints to him should persuade him to do so.

Empower the Youth: Power the Change

Brent Youth Parliament have launched a campaign to get young people to register to vote:

Since deciding on our main campaign which is to ‘Empower the Youth, Power the Change’. BYP members are planning and hosting a youth conference on November 23rd 2011.

The aim of the conference is for BYP to raise awareness of our campaign ‘Empower the youth, Power the Change’, which is about increasing political knowledge amongst young people.

The conference will also showcase the wide range of positive activities offered in Brent.

BYP members have developed a survey finding out young people’s views on voting, the recent riots and national cuts to youth services.

 What can I do?

If you are a young person aged between ten and 24, please complete the survey and if you answer the question at the end correctly you can choose to be entered in a draw to win £30 Brent Cross vouchers.

• Complete the survey now

Brent Youth Parliament website is HERE

Now Brent nurseries face closure

The Council is currently consulting on closing Treetops Children's Centre nursery in Doyle Gardens, Willesden and Harmony Children's Centre nursery in Bridge Road, Neasden. In addition they propose to restructure the recently built and state of the art Willow Children's Centre in Chalkhill to make it mainly a nursery for children with special needs and disabilities.The closures would take place in March 2012.

Councillor Mary Arnold, Brent's lead member for children and families, told the Brent and Kilburn Times that this was a 'genuine consultation..we have to consider making difficult decisions and ways to prioritise funds for vulnerable children'. However the consultation paper (see below) seems to indicate that there are no viable alternatives to the proposals.

The definition of 'vulnerable' appears to be changing as the council faces cutting more and more services. Early intervention would indicate provision for economically deprived, ethic minority and refugee children. The proposals narrow this down to children with special educational needs and disability. Of course they need to be catered but so do other children in our deprived areas. Making the Willows mainly for such children raises issues about integration of such  children into mainstream provision. (click on image to enlarge)

The full Council briefing for parents and carers is available HERE
The consultation is at www.brent.gov.uk/consultations
A Save Treetops and Harmony Nurseries Facebook page is HERE

Parents have set up a petition HERE

I welcome these restrictions on professional dog walkers

Dog walker van parked at Fryent Country Park*

The November 14th Executive will be asked to agree the introduction of the Dog Control Orders in parks. The Orders would limit to six the maximum number of dogs that may be taken onto land by one person; exclude dogs from playgrounds, multi-use games areas, tennis and netball courts and bowling greens; and specify certain areas where dogs are to be kept on leads.

I welcome the limitation on dog numbers being walked by one person. Professional dog walkers have increasingly been using Fryent Country Park as other boroughs have introduced limits in their parks. The walkers, who charge up to £10 an hour for each dog, sometime have very large numbers of dogs off their leads in the park. I have counted 15 with one walker.  The dogs act as an excitable pack, often rampaging well ahead of the walker, and clearly not under immediate control. It appears to be impossible for that person to be able to pick up all the excrement deposited. In the summer I saw several dogs from a large group rushing around the pony paddock at Bush Farm with the walker nowhere in sight.

I take classes of primary school children to Fryent Country Park for nature walks with Brent School Without Walls. Generally dog walkers are sensitive and put their dogs on a lead when approaching their children, or take a route to avoid them. However, I have had encounters with the large groups of dogs when the  front-runners, off their leads, see the children, or smell their picnic lunches, and rampage around them, often frightening those children not used to dogs. Again the dog walker is well behind the leading dogs and thus not available to intervene. The mix of excited dogs and scared children is potentially dangerous.

From my chats with local people walking their companion dogs I think the Orders will be generally welcomed.  One issue on which the orders are silent is more than one person walking with a large group of dogs. Two people could have 12 dogs between them

* The criticism of professional dog walkers in this posting are not aimed specifically at the owners of this van.

Fly-tipping on increase

There appears to have been an increase in incidents of fly-tipping recently. It is unclear why this is although there have been suggestions that it is linked to fortnightly collections of residual waste and bins being full. This may account for some of them but much of it seems to be linked to builder's rubbish and house clearances. Two huge dumps near Willesden New Cemetery were left by two large lorries in the early hours.

This is what I saw today while walking from my home near Barn Hill to Birchen Grove and back

Barn Hill, HA9

Deanscroft Avenue, NW9

Old Church Lane, NW9

Birchen Grove, NW9

Footpath behind St Andrew's Church, NW9

              

   Dunster Drive, NW9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Co-mingling muddle

When Brent's new waste strategy was first mooted, Brent Friends of the Earth made powerful submissions to Council committees, LINK raising questions about 'co-mingling', the mixing of all recyclables in one container rather than separation at the kerbside. They suggested that because of the resulting contamination the recyclables would be of less value to waste processing firms. Unsaleable recyclables would end up in landfill or be exported to third world countries, perhaps for sorting by child labour.  FoE raised concerns about the end destination of the waste but the council responded that this was not their concern - their responsibility ended once the waste had been collected by Veolia.

Recently Channel 4's Dispatches raised some of the same issues in their recent programme 'Britain's Waste'. It can be seen HERE

Meanwhile Lorraine Skinner has uploaded a new video about the blue bins:



This has produced a pithy comment from Ian Saville:

In my street, neighbours are still quite confused about what needs to go where, and some people are clearly just using the blue bin for everything. It seems therefore that the level of contamination is going to be considerably higher than it was before, especially since those collecting the waste now have much less opportunity to check that the bins are being used correctly. Before we are told that this has enormously increased the rate of recycling, we need some way of estimating the extra cost of sorting, the contamination from material that should go into residual, and the difficulties caused by broken glass in the paper. Does anybody know how this is being monitored?

'Living Doll Cliff ' to be immortalised in Wembley

Some people think he is in immortal anyway but a statue of Sir Cliff Richard is due to be erected at Wembley's Arena Square. The 2 metre high bronze statue has been commissioned by Thank You For The Music of Oppland, Norway.

A Council insider said, 'Moscow has Lenin's tomb and soon Wembley will have Cliff's statue.  We expect this to become a major tourist attraction, if not a shrine. Its positioning close to the new Civic Centre will answer critics who have called the Council philistines because we have closed half the borough's libraries. This statue will restore our cultural credentials.'

Okay, I made the Council's comment up but if YOU want to comment on the planning application follow this LINK. The decision will be made by November 24th.