Stadium Sale: STOP THE STEPS!

Yesterday's news of the possible sale of Wembley Stadium reinforces residents feelings of lack of control over this behemoth that has so much influence on their daily lives.

With the Football Association known to be unhappy about the London Borough of Quintain's plans to replace the stadium pedway with steps, there is no knowing what the view of a new owner might be. As Green Party candidate for Tokyngton ward I have no hesitation in calling for the £17.8m project to be stopped pending clarification of safety issues and the legal basis of Brent Council's decision to spend Quintain's CIL money on a project that is primarily aimed to improve what Quintain has admitted is a project to improve the aesthetic appeal of its multi-million development. The money should be used to repair and improve Brent's crumbling infrastructure instead.

A further issue emerges from the proposed sale to an American billionaire Shahid Khan.  In his statement he made it clear that the purchase would be used to improve Jacksonville Jaguars' revenue stream. Given that England will continue to use the stadium for some games as well as a possibe NFL franchise that can only mean more events at Wembley Stadium.

The sale would mean that the two businesses with the most influence on Wembley would both be American owned and distant from the local community.

If we had a council that would stand up against a billionaire to represent the interests of local residents we might be reassured but that sad truth is that Muhamed Butt and his administration have a sad record of being pally with the 'big boys' and caving in to their demands.  They are likely to approve even more maximum capacity frequent events. Yet another reason for electing a decent opposition on Brent Council.

What all this means for the possible tenure of Chelsea at Wembley while their new development is being built remains to be seen.  It is ironical that Spurs owners wanted their new stadium to be a joint NFL franchise and now they have a Wembley competitior is the sale goes through.

Paul Lorber, ex leader of the Brent Liberal Democrats has written to Brent CEO, Carolyn Downs, chasing a response to email of April 19th:

Now that the Stadium is likely to be sold in a £800 million plus deal it is even more important that the Council cancels their £17.8 million ‘Give Away’ to a company owned by private investors via a Bermuda tax haven.

The £17.8 million of public money can then be spent on much more important works to repair the large backlog of dangerous pavements and potholed roads across Brent.

This is no time to pay for private vanity project that even the FA - the current owner of Wembley Stadium - think may not be safe and do not currently support.

This was Shahid Khan's statement yesterday:

I am very pleased to learn today that The Football Association board of directors received our offer to purchase Wembley Stadium, our home away from home in London, from the FA.

One of the many benefits of the Jaguars’ commitment to London has been our partnership with the FA and Wembley Stadium. Over the past several years, it became clearer to us and the FA that the idea of our purchase of Wembley Stadium made a lot of sense for all of us.

For the FA, it would mean Wembley Stadium returning to private ownership, permitting the FA to direct its full attention to its mandate to develop talent and serve the game with the vast resources it would realize from the sale. For the Jaguars, it would deliver another – and very significant – asset and local revenue source that would further strengthen our investment in London, which as everyone knows is crucial to the Jaguars’ continued sustainability in Jacksonville. In every respect, the Jaguars’ standing in London would be improved and dramatically enhanced if we are fortunate to be approved as the new owner and steward of Wembley Stadium, and that’s good news for the Jaguars and all of Jacksonville.

If you’ve had the occasion to join us for one of our Jaguars home games in London, you know that Wembley Stadium is a very special place. Our commitment to the FA is we will own and operate Wembley with the care and respect it deserves, always being mindful that it is – and will continue to be – the home of England’s national teams as well as the ultimate destination for the world’s top entertainment and sports event, including Jaguars and NFL games. And today’s announcement is additional evidence that we are committed to create and enhance new revenue streams to boost the Jaguars, such as the incredibly successful Daily’s Place and the project we revealed last week with The Cordish Companies on the proposed development around EverBank Field.

Mapesbury hustings: Greens rap Butt

Green Party candidates for Mapesbury Ward, Scott Bartle and Lenia Evans, enlivened an otherwise bland hustings, with a rap inspired by Shaggy's 'It wasn't me', aimed at Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt, who by happenstance, was seated right in front of them.

There was a lot of common ground between the four parties represented at the hustings staged by Mapesbury Residents Association - let's face it no one is going to stand up and say, 'We want more potholes in Brent', or 'We want to make our air even more poisonous.'

The words (apologies to Shaggy)

S: One of the things that really gets us about this council, is that theres been a Labour majority since 2014 yet they just blame the Tories for everything that goes wrong. It's like they’ve gone to international pop sensation Shaggy for advice

L Cllr Butt, Mapesbury caught me

S: You let them catch you?

L: I don’t know what to do…

S: Just say it wasn’t you

L: A Failed waste strategy?

S: It wasn’t me.

L: £200K lost on Kingdom Security?

S: It wasn’t me

L: An £18million giveaway in Wemberly

S: It wasn’t me

L: Potholes make me drive wobbly

S: It wasn’t me.

L: Cutting £1.2Mil from youth facilities

S: It wasn’t me

L but finding £2.3million for CCTV?

S: It wasn’t me

L Developers acting irresponsibly

S: It wasn’t me

L  Trying to demolish the Queensbury?

S: It wasn’t me.

L: Closed 6 of our libraries

S: It wasn’t me

L: Keep on blaming the Tories

S: It wasn’t me

L: You gotta take some responsibility

S: It wasn’t me.

L: The quality of the air we breathe, the condition of the pavements, the state of housing, potholes in the road, vandalism, crime and litter are all environmental issues. If anyone will solve these problems it will be us. We hope to tell you more about this through the course of the evening.

 

BBC reporting FA has received £800m bid for Wembley Stadium

The BBC is reporting that the Football Association has received an offer, believed to be  £800 million, for Wembley Stadium. The offer comes from Shahid Khan, owner of Fulham FC and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Full story HERE

Building plans for Wembley section of the Chiltern line green corridor

HUB developers have issued their early plans for a site alongside the Chiltern railway line in Wembley. They are already developing the former Chesterfield House site on the corner of Park Lane and the High Road.

The HUB website states:

HUB has purchased two pieces of Network Rail land on the Eastern Fringe of Wembley High Road, situated behind its Chesterfield House scheme.

Development of the sites will be carried out over two phases, delivering up to 300 homes, continuing HUB’s involvement in the revitalisation of Wembley High Road.

Glenn Howells Architects has been appointed to draw up plans for the first phase, which will consist of around 200 homes across two buildings.

HUB has been working closely with the London Borough of Brent to help ensure the sustainable and coherent development of the Wembley Housing Zone, within which this newest development will reside.

As its name suggests, the Wembley Link area is the crucial crossover between new developments in the town centre and those emerging in Wembley Park.

Given the height of the 'Twin Towers' that HUB are building on the site of Chesterfield House I asked HUB about the height of their proposed Wembley Link development.

The 'Twin Towers' with Chiltern line in foreground

 HUB responded:

At this point we are at the very earliest stage of formulating the plans for Wembley Link and so don’t have more information that we are ready to share. We will be conducting widespread engagement with the local community in advance of putting in a planning application, in order to ensure that the proposed scheme pays due regard to local aspirations and wider plans for the area. We will get in touch with you as soon as there is more detailed information to share.

Residents have expressed concern about the loss of  part of the 'green corridor' that not only acts as a passage for wildlife and provides a green space in a built up area but also helps alleviate air pollution and muffles the sound of trains to the benefit of residents.

Residents fear that following Network Rail's sell-off of land to HUB that the opposite embankment and that further north could also be sold for development.

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Can we make a Food Forest in Northwick Park?

From Northwick Park Community Garden Team (FACEBOOK LINK)

A Food Forest in our London Park 

What is a food forest, why should we turn our London Park into one and how and when can this be done?

Our local park Northwick Park is a large community park near Wembley in London Brent. There are many playing fields in the park, where men enjoy playing rugby and football and even fly model aircrafts. If you know it, then you know that it is currently a very barren place, with not enough trees, although  some lovely trees are already established there, such as sloe, hawthorn and elderberry, plus hawthorn bushes, which serve the community foragers. 

Foragers can make hawthorn berry jam and elderberry cordial, for example, from the produce. It is a very time-consuming process, a labour of love, because picking these and turning them into food products is a bit fiddly. Yet, we are not able to buy these things in the supermarket. 

Where was the food before the supermarket?

It was on farms, in parks, gardens and larders and on the weekly market. Today, everything the supermarket sells contains plastic packaging. This is a problem for the oceans where this stuff gets dumped. 

We have been dumping so much plastic there that it comes back up and the fish are eating it; in fact, the fish are contaminated with plastic. Some people are already leaving all the packaging at the supermarket and letting the supermarket deal with their own rubbish. 

Why should we pay council tax to remove the plastic we don’t want?

Imagine all the council tax money being put to use for a good cause rather than on pointless rubbish removal. 

Hence, some people have started to reduce the waste they purchase. This is called ‘a journey to zero waste’.  There are many YouTube videos of young women explaining how to be prepared when shopping so that we can leave the plastic packaging behind. 

The Queen has banned plastic straws and plastic bottles from the royal household!

The Queen has banned plastic from the royal household after she saw what happens to the ocean, the beaches and the fish with all this plastic being dumped in the sea. Do you know that plastic never ever decomposes or goes away, that it is a waste which stays there forever? Long after humans disappear from this earth, our plastic waste will still be here.

Zero packaging is the lovely benefit of having food trees in the park. You have a chance to pick fruit for free and you don’t use plastic packaging. Just bring a box, basket or linen bag and pick as much fruit as you can eat. Only take what you need and leave the rest for others. 

Forest Food is better quality.

Forest food is better quality because we refrain from pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer and so on. We are looking for the ecosystem to take care of these things by itself.  The trees form an underground internet together with the mushrooms and provide a lot of nutrients to the ground. Mixing plant species can have a benefit to each plant too.

The problem with modern agriculture is that there are vast fields of the same crop, i.e. broccoli. This broccoli requires the same food and there is no other plant that can supply this food to the broccoli – there is only broccoli and its needs. So, the need for fertilizers arises. 

Then, if the broccoli is afflicted by a pest, there is no other plant that can stop it and no predator pest which can stop its spread. The pest happily munches away on broccoli as far as the eye can see. So, now there is also a need for pesticides. 

In a food forest we are mixing species and plants and the different varieties of wildlife can help each other out. Food will ripen throughout the year; everybody can pick the fruit when they want some. 

When the vast fields of broccoli are harvested, there will huge machines, which require a lot of petrol. Petrol is required again to distribute the broccoli to the distribution centres and then to the individual supermarkets. Oil is also required for making plastic packaging, pesticides and fertilizers. 

When something happens to the oil supply we will be foodless!

Since so much oil is needed to produce and supply this food, imagine something happens to the oil supply chain? We are all foodless.

With food forests in our parks and food in our gardens, we are slightly more resilient to any supply side issues and we are in control of making food healthier by avoiding pesticides, which can contain cancer-causing substances. 

Naturally grown food contains more antioxidants. This is an umbrella term for the good things that keep us feeling and looking young, as well as preventing disease and stress. On the other hand, toxins do the opposite, they make us age faster, cause stress and can lead to disease. 

Naturally grown food is better for you.

And, in case the food is not being picked, it will fall to the ground and the wildlife can have dinner. Did you know that the hedgehog is extremely endangered and that numbers have declined drastically? The latest statistic I heard was that only around a million were left in the whole of Britain. 

This is because of the pesticide use which kills the wildlife, but also because gardens are paved over or have really strong fences so the hedgehogs have no habitat. Make a little hole in your fence and allow hedgehogs to come into your garden. They mainly eat snails and are part of a well-functioning ecosystem. Bats can keep fruit trees healthy by eating moths, which would otherwise nest in the fruit trees. And[RC1]  bees are important for pollinating the plants because without this pollination we would not get any food. All three are endangered species today. A lot of animals and plants are dying out in this world because of the terrible behaviour of our human species. We must do something to rescue the world. 

If you want to join us and want to hear more, find us on Facebook.

We are happy to help you turn your garden into a food producing garden too with the help of our friends at Permablitz and if you feel as excited as we are about food forestry and gardening, then stay in touch. 

Follow us!

https://www.facebook.com/northwickparkcommunitygarden/

We are 4 food and against waste! 

Your Northwick Park Community Garden Team

This is why we don't want Chelsea to follow Spurs to Wembley Stadium

Fans doing battle at Wembley - special report on the cost of policing football in London | By @AmyLewisITV pic.twitter.com/0urhZaf0Og

— ITV London (@itvlondon) April 24, 2018

Harrow Green Party's 5 key election priorities

Some of Harrow Green Party's council election candidates

From our sister party in Harrow, wishing them well in the council elections on May 3rd

Harrow Green Party – 2018 Local elections 

5 key priorities:

Harrow Green Party is proud to claim to be one of the most ethnically diverse branches in the country. In addition we have an equal split of both male and female candidates standing and we also have a disabled candidate who has been selected as one of the 30 under 30 Green Party national members to lead the party of the future.  

1. Affordable and well planned housing

Harrow needs to have a coherent strategy to deal with accommodating its residents. Not only does the council need to provide fit for purpose houses and flats but also an infrastructure that can meet the needs of the residents, young and old. This includes enough affordable housing, schools, medical facilities, leisure facilities such as parks, shops and traffic management including parking. The Green Party would review all elements to ensure that the solutions chosen meet the needs of Harrow's residents. Specific examples to review include the proposed building project at Byron Park, which will reduce the amount of greenery in the only park in the Marlborough ward, as well as the development at the old Kodak site, with the impact on transport and air quality. We would also look to build more than the required minimum number of affordable homes.

2. An effective waste management strategy

Other parties are either singing the praises or bemoaning the current state of Harrow's waste management including the use of wheelie bins and fly tipping. Harrow borough has dropped below previous highs of recycling. Harrow Green Party see the problems as being symptoms of a broken waste management strategy. The council and its residents need to better manage how waste is produced, collected and disposed of. We believe what is needed is a coherent approach that brings together various elements such as education and reductions in the costs of dealing with all our waste, including garden waste, with the aim of removing the extra charge for using brown bins. In addition, better waste management would reduce the weekend queues at the Forward Drive recycling centre, with the knock on benefits of easier access to the Leisure centre and surrounding areas, reduced air pollution and less vermin.

3. Harrow - A safe and happy borough to live and work in

Our borough has been hit hard by the reductions in policing. Crime has become more visible, with a murder outside the old police station in Wealdstone and a machete attack at Harrow & Wealdstone station just being a couple of examples. Changes in the approach to local policing due partly to financial cuts imposed by central government are leading to a lack of visible policing. The proposed Tri-borough consolidation will lead to further reductions of Harrow's police infrastructure. In addition, a lack of 'bobbies on the beat' means a lack of understanding of local issues and slower response times, which all leads to a reduction in crimes being resolved. We want to work with the Met police and the Mayor of London to see officers dedicated to each ward in the borough, developing a more personal relationship with residents, allowing them to be more approachable. However, it is not just the police that can improve public safety, Transport for London can ensure that tube stations are manned for longer periods. 

4. A transport system that works and supports a healthier environment

There are growing concerns with regards to the numbers of cars driving in the borough, especially at rush hour. This causes long traffic jams along major roads and drivers resorting to using smaller roads to get around them. This has a knock on effect in terms of road safety.  For example the queues on Wealdstone High St force cars down Masons Ave and Byron Road. Badly placed speed bumps and either a lack of or inappropriately placed zebra crossings can lead to increased risks of people getting injured. These risks are increased further at the start and end of the school day, with badly parked vehicles. Not only are there risks of accidents but also increased air pollution from idling engines. Pedestrians are even at risk on the pavement, thanks to the increase in the amount of people cycling on the pavement. Air ambulances landing in Byron park is not a sight we want to see. Harrow Green party councillors will look to improve local public transport facilities to aid the move away from car ownership. Lifts at local tube stations such as Stanmore, will make the services more accessible. Our approach will look to resolve these issues, working with TFL to implement cost-effective solutions.

5. Standing up for the rights of all people (including foreign nationals)

The Green Party has a clear position on keeping a strong relationship with the EU, post Brexit. However, there is a lot of uncertainty about what will happen to EU nationals living in the UK. The Green Party is keen to see a second referendum that will give people the opportunity to either accept or reject the proposed solution(s) as to how things will work after we have left the EU. Harrow has one of the most diverse populations in the UK, leading to lots of benefits. What is apparently lacking is any way of supporting all the EU citizens living and working in the borough, who add to the vibrancy and culture of Harrow. We need to ensure that these people are fairly treated during and after Brexit processes are implemented. We need to remove the 'Hostile environment' that has been set up by the current government to deal with immigration. People adding value to Harrow must be supported and protected, no matter where they are from, as long as they are eligible to live in the borough. 

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Brent Council Election Hustings tomorrow at St Gabriel's Church

There will be a Brent local election hustings on Wednesday April 25th at Mapesbury Residents' Association's Annual General Meeting. It will be held at St Gabriel's Church, Walm Lane. NW2 4RX LINK

The hustings will be held after a short AGM with the hustings segment of the meeting running from 8.30pm to 9.15pm. Doors open 7pm, AGM 7.30-7.55pm and stalls, bar and refreshments from 7.55pm to 8.30pm.