How to make Green Party communications relevant to working class voters

https://campaigns.greenparty.org.uk/executive-elections-2018/

Green Left, the eco-socialist group within the Green Party, invited members to submit questions to candidates for the Green Party leader and  deputy leader positions. There were 15 questions in all and candidates' answer can be found HERE

The Green Party is often seen as white and middle class although, helped by the campaigning of Green Left, its anti-austerity and social justice policies should appeal to both white and black and ethnic minority working class voters. My question focused on this issue:

How can Green Party communications of their policies be made more relevant to the working class (White and Black Minority Ethnic)?

Shahrar Ali (leader candidate)

Let’s make our own-branded campaign materials more representative of society. See our current spokespersons page. There is no visible ethnic diversity – which is frankly laughable, despite the brilliant people who could fill those roles (https://bit.ly/18QFrOS). You also have the opportunity to elect the first BME leader of a UK party.

Jonathan Bartley & Sian Berry (Co-leader job-share candidates)

We think it’s real Green action on the issues that matter to these groups that will win trust, not just communicating our policies. It’s vital that we are strong allies to campaigners on issues that matter to working class and BAME voters, and we should be enthusiastically backing them when they ask for our help, and seeking out ways to help them if they aren’t asking us yet. Our record of action and campaigning shows we are serious about this.

In London, Jonathan and Lambeth Greens went from one to five councillors due to their fierce campaigns supporting estate residents against demolition and fighting for public libraries that many residents depend upon. In the London Assembly, Sian has fought hard to defend injustices that particularly affect people of colour such as getting the Mayor to use name-blind recruitment to cut down on biases, and calling out the police on tactics such as stop and search, spit hoods, tasers and draconian automated facial recognition that disproportionately target Black people.

We also need to be supporting BME candidates to get elected. Jonathan just launched in Lambeth (in Brixton at the Black Cultural Archives in Windrush Square) the Deyika Nzeribe Fund. This was named after our party’s Manchester Mayoral candidate who died tragically on New Year’s eve 2017. We welcomed at that launch the first Green Mayor of Sheffield – Magid Magid and the new Green Mayor of Bristol Cleo Lake a proud Bristolian of African-Caribbean heritage. The fund – overseen by Greens of Colour - will support, engage and develop Green candidates of global south heritage.

Aimee Challenor (deputy leader candidate)

Our communications are relevant to the working class, we see mass engagement with our working class members, this should be celebrated and the hard work continued.

Jonathan  Chilvers (deputy leader candidate)

Great question. We need to be a lot better at this. By listening to residents on the doorstep, putting our principles into practical action so people can see the impact. Give people a voice when they feel powerless and make sure it’s their voice not ours.

Andrew Cooper (deputy leader candidate)

We need people to be familiar with the Green Party as part of their everyday lives. Taking up the issues and problems of working class people instead of just talking about them. Growing our Councillor base is a good way of building strong roots in communities and making ourselves relevant to people who often have challenging lives with limited incomes. I work a lot with the Muslim community in Huddersfield and it is by close contact with communities and taking up their concerns that helps build support.

Rashid Nix (deputy leader candidate)

The fact this is the 13th question shows what a priority this is! I’m dismayed at how Greens view working class and bme’s. It’s like we (I am black) are an alien species with peculiar habits and tastes. That’s prob why we lost 25,000 members! They probably joined Labour... TALK IN PLAIN ENGLISH WITHOUT TECHNO BABBLE!

Leslie Rowe (leader candidate)

By listening. When a democratic decision is made, respect it. That migration is not the problem but businesses addicted to a never ending supply of cheap labour not willing to pay the market rate for jobs is. Minimum wage too low, not enough minimum wage inspectors and we need to vastly increase vocational training.

Amelia Womack (deputy leader candidate)

Making sure we’re delivering our message into publications that are relevant to different groups. It’s no good simply getting our message in the Guardian and on Daily Politics as we simply talk to our bubble.

In the past I’ve worked with the Mirror and even Stylist Magazine to make sure our message reaches as broad a community as possible.

Also, it’s vitally important to be on the doorsteps with working class communities with a relevant message that will make a difference to the lives of people in their community. A large part of this is overcoming the rhetoric that migrants are what’s failing the NHS, housing, jobs etc and ensure we stop our government and other parties scapegoating from the issues caused by Westminster

GREEN PARTY ELECTIONS OFFICIAL INFORMATION

'Talk & Walk' urban food growing spaces with Granville Kitchen today

'Talk and Walk' event at Granville Community Kitchen Urban Food Gropwing is holding this event today as part of London National Park City Week:

28 July 2018 2pm – 3.30 pm

Meet at the Granville 140 Carlton Vale, NW6 5HE

Granville Community Kitchen invites you on a tour of three inner city growing spaces where you will be able to get involved in growing activities. Granville Community Kitchen is a community-led initiative for the South Kilburn community to access healthy, affordable and sustainable food and grow community!

Mrs Plug may get Willesden Green Library re-opened 'towards the end of next week'

The latest from Brent Council on the closure of Willesden Green library because of water supply problems:

The Library at Willesden Green is still closed. New parts are currently being fitted to repair the water tank. If all goes well the engineers say we will be able to reopen towards the end of next week. We will keep you informed as we get further updates. @Brent_Council

Butt's crocodile tears on South Kilburn

The Brent and Kilburn Times has a story about the recent public meeting on South Kilburn and the impact of regeneration and HS2. LINK  One resident has said disruption was so bad that he wanted to move away. The Kilburn Times reports:

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, felt he “had to step in” on hearing residents wanted to move away.

He said: “I’m edging on the side of residents. 

“There’s a lot of regeneration taking place for the next 15 years or more and we must do all we can to safeguard the residents. “If he’s talking about moving out the area, we need to have a serious conversation.”

However, he was later challenged on why he petitioned HS2 to move the vent shaft from its original spot in a Queen’s Park car park in Salusbury Road

Cllr Butt has absoutely no excuse for not being aware of the issues as this blog has brought it to attention several times in posts from Pete Firmin, a resident and tenants represenative and a member of Kilburn Labour Party.  This is one blog that Pete wrote on May 26th 2015  LINK about the HS2 shaft that Brent Council asked HS2 to put next to Canterbury Works and a primary school on the estate, rather than the  council owened site next to Queens Park station which at the time was away from any residences. Brent Council has now given planning permission for flats on that site. Pete Firmin's post received 53 comments which are worth reading.

Guest blog by Pete Firmin, South Kilburn resident
 
On Friday 22^nd May, pupils, parents teachers and local residents held a protest at the gates of St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School in South Kilburn against the proposal from Brent Council that the ‘ventilation shaft’ for HS2 be sited right next to the school and close to flats.

Apparently such ventilation shafts are necessary at certain distances along the line in order to get rid of the air pushed in front of the speeding trains, otherwise they would slow the trains down. Such vent shafts are not a small thing, being usually about 25 m by 25 m and 2 storeys high – the size of a small block of flats. Such an enterprise is calculated to take up to 6 years building work, involving movement of over a hundred lorries a day to and from the affected area at peak times, with the association noise, disruption and dust...

HS2’s current proposal is that this be sited close to Queen’s Park station, but Brent Council is pressing that it be on the Canterbury Works site next to St Mary’s school instead. Some studies suggest a ventilation shaft is not essential at either site.

Brent Council’s proposal ignores the pleas from local residents and school staff and users and is putting its regeneration scheme above any concern for the health and wellbeing of students and residents. They have the support of Queens Park residents in this, who feel the vent shaft would be a “blight” on their community, despite the disruption and siting being much further from their homes and schools than is proposed for South Kilburn. As so often, South Kilburn is seen as the dumping ground for things that Brent and its middle classes regard as ‘undesirable’.

The issue of Brent and HS2 has a background. The local Tenants and Residents Association has been asking Brent Council about HS2 and how it will affect us for years, ever since we discovered it is due to run underneath (or very close to) our flats. Unfortunately, unlike Camden, Brent Council didn’t seem to be looking at this at all, its only comments being that HS2 offered great ‘business opportunities’ for Old Oak Common. Even when we got letters from HS2 saying they may want to Compulsorily Purchase our properties we got no support from Brent. We’ve all had at least 2 such letters now, and, despite our urging, Brent Council appears to have done nothing to get proper answers from HS2 on this. Some people have been told verbally that this is just something that HS2 has to do and they will not be wanting to CPO our properties, but we have never had such a commitment from HS2 in writing.

Then, despite us asking for years that Brent take up our concerns and nothing happening, we discovered from a third party that a report on HS2 was due to go to Brent Council  in March last year. This was the first we knew about proposals about the siting of the vent shaft, when the report argued for its siting in South Kilburn rather than next to Queens Park station. We asked that we be allowed to address the Council when it discussed the report, but this was refused. Instead we were given a commitment that our concerns would be taken on board. Given our concerns included opposition to the Council’s push for the vent shaft site to be adjacent to the school and our flats, this was clearly not the case.

Then this year we saw by chance an email from a Council officer to one of our Councillors which said “HS2,  we continue to lobby for this to be relocated from the Council owned site at Salusbury Road car park to the rear of Canterbury Works. Various professional studies have been commissioned which support this Full Council approved stance and have been recently submitted to HS2 for their consideration.”

Around the same time the headteacher of St Mary’s school came away from a meeting with HS2 and Council officers convinced the vent shaft was going to be put next to the school. Soon after leaflets were put through our doors campaigning against the vent shaft being sited there. This came from people associated with the school, and since then they have had a meeting for all parents, produced petitions and initiated the protest outside the school. 

Local residents support the opposition from school users to the siting of the shaft here, but there is an added complication. The leaflets put through every door and the drive behind the school campaign come from a PR company employed by the property developers building luxury flats (no social housing) at Canterbury House (also next to the school and a block of flats) and property developers hoping to build a ten-storey block of flats on the Canterbury Works site (currently a vehicle repair site, and the site where Brent wants the vent shaft site to be). 

Many of us are opposed to both the siting of the vent shaft next to the school and our flats and ANY further development of the site. We think that having been living on the middle of a regeneration building site for the last 3 years (with the myriad of complaints that has involved, about which Brent has done nothing), we should have respite from any further development and the disruption, noise and dirt involved. Added to which, the Canterbury House development is luxury flats only (advertised as in Queens Park, even though in the middle of South Kilburn), and development on the Canterbury Works would probably be similar, or at the very least the low proportion of social housing we are now seeing in SK ‘regeneration’), this would only add to what we have called the ‘social cleansing’ taking place with regeneration. SK is also already one of the most densely populated parts of Brent. 

We have lost some our little green space through regeneration, we would like to get some back rather than further development. So, as well as opposing the siting of the vent shaft here, we would oppose planning permission for further flats on the site too. Some of us joined the protest outside the school with placards opposing both the HS2 vent shaft and the property developers.

Just to be clear, the PR company’s employee working with the school put on the “No to HS2 at Canterbury Works” Facebook page “We do not want to see a ventilation shaft at Canterbury Works, we are protecting the interests of Canterbury House and a ventilation shaft would be detrimental to this development and to its future residents who will be part of the South Kilburn community.” 

Protecting the interests of Canterbury House means the property developers, it couldn’t be more explicit. Future residents seem to take precedence over current ones too. When they started work on Canterbury House (the building has been empty for years, even though planning permission was obtained some time ago), they knew that HS2 was going through the area and people had been served with potential CPO orders. Our belief was that they were hoping for maximum compensation (unlike us!) and that was why they pressed ahead.

We are hoping we can have one united campaign involving both school and local residents against the siting of the vent shaft here. There does seem to be an attempt to keep us at arms length from the school campaign, given our critical stance.

As so often, Brent Council has spent years ignoring the concerns of local residents and is now intent on pressing HS2 to trample on the interests of both school pupils and residents.

This letter from Pete Firmin to Scrutiny Committee provides detail on residents’ concerns about the South Kilburn redevelopment in general as well as the shaft: LINK

Brent Council issues parks and allotments fire warning

BBQ at Barn Hill Open Space at the weekend

Scorched grass after fire at the Open Space (not caused by above BBQ)

Brent Council has now put out the following announcement:

Due to the very high temperatures we have been experiencing over the last month, the London Fire Brigade have issued a temporary ban on all BBQs in parks across London. This is due to the risk of fire if they are left unattended. 

In Brent, we already have a complete ban on BBQs in our parks, however this is an opportunity for us to remind residents about the increased risk of fire due to the hot weather.

We appreciate that residents will want to enjoy the hot weather, however please remember your safety at all times. Perhaps you may consider alternatives such as arranging a picnic instead.

We would also like to request that allotment holders do not burn any green waste during this heat wave, to reduce the possibility of fire spreading.

If we are to have regular hot summers it may be worth the Council considering installing stone/concrete 'fire places' in its parks such as those found in North America and Australia but there are issues of air pollution to consider. LINK

-->

Quintain offers public tour of Wembley Park's 'green heritage' Saturday July 28th

Wembley Park 1908

Wembley Park 2018

Wembley Park has certainly changed a lot in 110 years in terms of green space. Quintain has set itself the challenging task of finding some green spaces in what increasingly looks like a concrete jungle. You can judge for yourself how successful they have been by taking part in this tour  on Saturday July 28th, 11am-12.30pm.  I regret that I am not yet well enough to take part but will be interested in a report back from any reader who joins the tour.

This is the information about the tour available on the Eventbrite booking site. I have not edited out the inevitable public relations plug for Quintain:


National Park City Week presents: A Tour of Wembley Park's Green and Open Spaces

As part of National Park City Week, Quintain, the award-winning team behind the £3bn regeneration of Wembley Park, will host a special guided tour, which will allow visitors to discover Wembley Park's rich green heritage - from “Wemba lea” i.e. Wemba’s clearing in the forest to the hedged fields of “Wembly Green” - as well as the long-term environmental vision for the neighbourhood.

Join Tour Leader Julian Tollast, Head of Masterplanning and Design at Quintain and National Park City Foundation Trustee, as he takes you through this fascinating journey through the past, present and future of this 85-acre site around Wembley Stadium, which is rapidly becoming a major new destination and neighbourhood for London. Tour highlights will include: visits to the 22 newly planted trees in Olympic Way, hailing from temperate areas across the world; the new Emerald and Elvin Gardens at Tipi; the secluded landscaped gardens to the rear of Brent Civic Centre; and a stop-over by the interactive masterplan model of the new Wembley Park, where you will be able to have a glimpse of the plans for the 7-acre park and lake being planned for the area.

Tour Leader Biography

Julian Tollast is Head of Master Planning and Design at Quintain with more than 30 years’ experience, including 17 at Farrells, working on significant and varied development projects has given Julian a great breadth and depth of understanding. Leading projects from both the client and consultant side provide him with the ability to rapidly explore and realise the potential of any opportunity and at any scale, “from District to Doorknob”. Julian’s skills in advocacy and communication built consensus to help secure planning approvals for two of London’s most significant developments and many other projects around the UK. His design and development experience coupled with skills in project leadership, management and construction enable him to help create and deliver added value across the Economic, Social and Environmental spectrum; further enhancing the reputation of the projects, companies and organisations he is associated with.

Where will I meet the group?

The orange benches meeting point opposite Sainsbury's

The official meeting point is in Market Square, by the orange benches opposite Sainsbury's at Brent Civic Centre. If you experience any difficulties finding the group, please call tour supervisor 07989 558842.


BOOK  FREE TICKETS HERE - Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult

-->

Brent Council to approve 'biggest financial transaction for a generation'

The Brent Audit and Standards Committee LINK will tonight consider a paper going to Cabinet in September LINK which would give the go ahead for the Council to borrow c£230,000,000 to fully meet its commitments on its already approved£800m capital investment programme.

The paper sets out detailed  borrowing options that balance risk and cost of borrowing. The amount required in 2019-20 is £62.4m and 2020/21 £166.6m.

As indicated in the diagram above the Council can only meet day to day costs from its Revenue account so the investment programme is aimed at 'invest to save' by for example buying housing and using revenue from rents to meet day to day costs of providing services.

Brent Council: Willesden Green Library unlikely to open again before next week

In case you missed yesterday's announcement. The prolonged closure has resulted in the cancellation or postponement of some events - not great for the children's school holidays and the Reading Challenge either.

Harrow Crown Court to close?

Harrow Crown Court

I understand that staff at Harrow Crown Court were told yesterday that it might close. The proposal is at the consultation stage.

Cases currently take up to a year to be heard. Closure would mean that local victims of crime would have to travel to other parts of London for their cases to be heard.

I have asked the Court for a comment.

Brent Council needs to publicise parks barbecue ban & step up patrols to avoid fires

This was Barn Hill Open Space yesterday after an apparent fire. Luckily the grass had been cut recently otherwise it could have been more serious.  50 yards away a family had lit a barbecue.

It is clear, not withstanding the controversy over parts of parks remaining uncut as part of the Council's meadows policy, that Brent Council needs to step up publicity over the danger of fire and especially a ban on barbecues. At present there is no warning on its website. In addition it should consider asking Veolia to re-deploy some of its staff to patrol parks to enforce the ban.

Fun and Buns at Preston Community Library August 12th

Family Funday 12 noon to 4pm Sunday August 12th at Preston Community Library, nearest tube Preston Road (Metropolitan line)

Hammerson put Brent Cross expansion on the back burner

Hammersons have announced that its £1.4bn Brent Cross Shopping Centre development has been put on the back-burner, perhaps until 2023, reflecting the current poor performance of the retail sector.

The proposals are now more than 10 years old and throughout the period have been hotly opposed by the cross-party Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Development.

Doubts have emerged over the viability of the scheme following many recent failures in the retail sector and the public's move to on-line shopping.

Shareholders' basic earnings per share was 7p in June 2018 and 36.2p in 2017 - a reduction of 81%.

Hammerson said:

Given the current turbulence in the UK retail markets and whilst alternative uses of capital offer higher short-term financial returns, we have decided to defer the start on site at Brent Cross.

Whilst we have decided to defer the start on site of the scheme, it remains an important strategic project and we continue to recognise its role as one of London’s leading retail destinations.

It also forms part of the wider Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration plans encompassing improved road and rail infrastructure and significant residential development and we remain engaged with retailers and stakeholders towards the future delivery of the scheme.

Andrew Dismore, Labour Assembly Member for Camden and Barnet said:

 Due to the nightmare market conditions for retailers, the developers for Brent Cross- Hammerson and Aberdeen Standard Investments- say they need more certainty before they can commit to going ahead with the project. Brexit and the possibility of leaving the EU with no deal is a genuine fear for businesses.

This delay is also a disaster for the local community, as it delays the creation of much needed jobs, and will have an impact on the rest of the huge regeneration scheme.  More immediately, given Barnet Council’s reliance on projected business rates in its future budgeting, this decision could really impact on  the Council’s solvency.

Company press release HERE

Hello Barnet Council, anyone there? Can you hear us? Do you keep your promises? Yes, we're from Brent but we also matter...

Ex-Liberal Democrat councillor, Alison Hopkins, has written to Barnet CouncilChief Executive after officers and others have failed to keep their promises to makie contact:


Dear Mr Hooton

I am writing to you as a former Brent councillor and organiser of a major residents organisation in Dollis Hill in Brent. I am also Co-ordinator of the Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Regeneration. 

Over the past several years, I and many other residents have attended consultation and engagement meetings about the Brent Cross redevelopment, as many of us are seriously worried about its impact here. 

On each occasion, we have raised concerns and issues, and then followed those up in writing. Each time, we have been faithfully promised contact by officers from Barnet, and staff from Capita and G L Hearn. Most recently, we attended a session at Crest Academy, were we were told contact would be forthcoming within days. Despite numerous phone calls, emails and contacts with Barnet, Soundings, and G L Hearn, there has been NO engagement from yourselves. 

We simply want answers to the questions we have repeatedly raised and we want officers to meet with us and explain why certain decisions have been taken. Frankly, Barnet’s attitude comes across as dismissive of a neighbouring borough and its people at the very least. It is discourteous and shows no empathy with how deeply worried people here are for their future wellbeing and our environment. 

Can you please ask your officers to make contact, and keep their many promises over the past years? I do intend to raise formal complaints if needed, as well as utilising those contacts I have within the London Assembly, as well as local and national media. However, I would like to offer Barnet a chance to put matters right.

Alison Hopkins

-->

Sneaky government statement reveals lack of action on Carillion

I receive regular updates from Construction News and felt this editorial was woth sharing:

The Carillion story so far… Liquidated with debts of more than £7bn. ‘Catastrophic losses’ passed on to 30,000 subcontractors. Stalled work on more than a £1bn-worth of major projects. And an estimated £200m cost to the taxpayer. MPs on the inquiry into the liquidation recommend an overhaul of the regulatory tools that let this happen, and suggest throwing the book at those responsible. The government’s response… A nine-page document published at 4:30pm on a sweltering Friday afternoon. This was the definition of sneaking something out. As if attempting to bury its response on the eve of the school holidays wasn’t shameful enough, the content was scant and was effective only in passing all responsibility to the regulators. For example, on the topic of director liability and punishment for failure, the government said the Financial Reporting Council, Insolvency Service and Financial Conduct Authority were working “to improve their current practices”. On the committee’s recommendation that it should beef up the FRC’s powers, the government’s response was that a memorandum of understanding had been agreed between the three regulators. But perhaps this should come as no surprise. Our leaders in Whitehall were all too happy to offer bold statements about Carillion and how its failure exposed poor corporate governance and inadequate accountancy checks. But when it comes to action? Well, apparently that’s for the financial watchdogs. It’s unlikely that the £16.8m in wages that Carillion directors pocketed will ever be recovered, although the government has the power to do so. But at the very least it could make an effort to stop another such fiasco happening again. What Carillion exposed was that there is barely anything to stop executives of failing construction firms paying themselves huge bonuses. Nor are there sufficient deterrents to the use of accountancy tricks to obscure huge debts – often affecting thousands of suppliers. The government seems happy to close its eyes and hope nothing like this happens again. It makes you think: what would it take for them to actually take action? Another Carillion? Another four Carillions? On the evidence of Friday’s response, you could have a hundred Carillions and the politicians would still refer you to the FRC.  Zak Garner-Purkis, news editor, Construction News

Willesden Green Library will remain closed until Thursday at least

From Brent Council

The Library at Willesden Green remains closed due to loss of water supply. The earliest we will be able to reopen is Thursday 26 July. We will keep you informed and post any updates as soon as we have them. 

It will take more than PR to restore faith in Brent's planning process

The above video has been issued by Brent Council titled 'Watch video of the Committee decision' - I expected to see footage of members of the Planning Committee asking  informed and pertinent questions, seeking further details of the application and its impact on the local area. I was interested to hear what Planning Officers had to say about the application and even state what definition of that slippery concept 'affordable' had been used.

No such luck!

Unfortunately this turns out not to be a genuine attempt to increase transparency and accountability at a time when the sacking of Cllr Abdirazak Abdi from the Committee LINK  continues to reverberate around both Hampstead and Kilburn CLP  LINK and Brent Central CLP. There are still many unanswered questions, including why official Council papers stated that Cllr Abdi had resigned when this was not the case.

Instead the video turns out to be soft soap public relations with no record of the deliberations of the Committee that would help the public understand their decision.

As it happens the proponents of the scheme have made much more effort to involve the local community than other developers and there are positive aspects to the development but this does not take away from doubts about the integrity of the planning process as a whole.

The Council issued the following press release with the video:

A proposal to redevelop an industrial estate in Alperton and build thousands of new homes, new business space and new community facilities has been approved by Brent Council’s planning committee.

Property firm St George’s Developments have been given unanimous approval to redevelop Northfields Industrial Estate in Alperton, which will see the remaining buildings removed and replaced with new workspace, retail premises, restaurants, a community centre, health clinic, children’s nursery, public open space and 2,900 new homes - 1,015 of which will be affordable - all on the twenty-one acre site, which is located just off the A406 North Circular Road, by the Ace Café.

Under the plans, the Grand Union Canal-side of the site will be developed first, with new homes and buildings ranging between one and eight storeys in height along with improvements proposed to the public realm along the waterside.

The rest of the brownfield site extending to Beresford Avenue and the River Brent, which is ten minutes from Alperton and five minutes from Stonebridge London underground stations, will be developed in later stages, where the maximum height of the scheme will be 25 storeys, on the north-eastern corner of the site.

The plans also include public transport improvements with new bus routes, improvements to Beresford Avenue and better-lit pedestrian and cycle routes through to Stonebridge Underground station.

Employment workspace will be enhanced and will also include a new multi-storey building called ‘The Generator,’ south of the River Brent.

Cllr Shama Tatler, Brent Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Highways and Planning, said:

This scheme will breathe new life into a worn-out and redundant industrial estate and transform the area between Alperton and Stonebridge while bringing new homes, jobs, and improvements to the public realm and local transport networks.

It’s brilliant news for those looking to start-up a business or those looking for work, not to mention it being fantastic news for those needing a place to live, with nearly three thousand new homes to be built, over a thousand of which will be affordable.

It’s a great scheme and one that through the extensive consultation work that the applicant has undertaken, is one that carries the support of local residents, businesses, politicians and now, the council’s planning committee. I very much welcome the committee’s decision to grant approval to this scheme.

EXCLUSIVE: Brent Council says residents' needs should be taken into account

Okay, the headline is a tad sarcastic considering Brent Council has been often accused of ignoring the interests of local residents over various planning issues including developments around Wembley Stadium but Brent Council last week issued a call for the needs of local residents to be taken into account by any new owner of Wembley Stadium. Brent Council did of course allow an increase in the number of events and a lifting off capacity controls despite local opposition when Tottenham Hotspur moved into the stadium.

In a press release Brent Council said:

Any new owner of Wembley Stadium needs to remember that the iconic home of English football is in the middle of a highly populated residential area and therefore residents' needs should be taken into account.

Brent Council's submission to the Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) Committee calls on any new owner of the stadium to work closely with local residents, businesses and the Council to ensure investment in the local area continues, noting that £1.5billion has been ploughed into the area since 2002.

The Council highlights the importance of working with the local voluntary and community sector to ensure that money donated to community projects goes to the right places and benefits those who need it most.

The DCMS Committee [met] on Wednesday 18 July at 2pm for a public hearing on the future of Wembley.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said:

Brent is proud to be the home of the national stadium. Our job as the Council is to fight residents' corner. The Council is a key stakeholder in relation to events at the stadium and has followed the recent news of a potential sale closely.

It is essential that whoever owns the stadium understands the importance of working closely with the Council and the local community to ensure that the benefits of the national stadium are widely experienced by local residents.

We want to make Wembley a fantastic place to live and work for all its residents. We believe new plans for the stadium must be beneficial for residents and in turn, the economic and regenerative success of the local area will supplement the commercial success of Wembley.

At the hearing LINK former England player Gary Neville strongly opposed the sale and suggested there were alternatives to the Football Association's claim that the sale would release funds to support grassroots football. He said the proposed sale wasa short term plan that 'we would regret forever.'

It is likely that any new owner would seek to maximise the number of events held at the stadium.

Wembley Matters off-line

I am going into hospital for an for an operation  so Wembley Matters will be off-line for a while. I have certainly had cause to appreciate the NHS as a service over the last 18 months or so! Long may it continue.

Summer holiday nature activities at the Welsh Harp, Kingsbury