Willesden Town Square Inquiry to be held by independent Inspector

The French Market on part of the proposed Town Square

Brent Council has decided to to appoint an independent Inspector to conduct a non-statutory local inquiry in the application for the plaza between the current library and  the now closed bookshop, and the Victorian Library, to be designated a Town Square.

The decision was made on the basis that it will be a simpler and clearer process if the Town Green/Square application was decided before the library redevelopment planning application goes to Planning Committee. If  planning permission had been granted before a successful Town Square registration then the planning consent could not be implemented. This is because the plans submitted by developers Galliford Try build on the space concerned to make room for  the building of flats to the rear of the new building.

An Inspector has been appointed and is expected to hold the local inquiry in the week commencing 17th December 2012. Currently the closing date for comments on the planning application is December 6th 2012 but this is subject to revision.

Planting started in Chalkhill Park as it nears completion

Planting of trees and shrubs has started at Chalkhill Park which is due to be completed this month. However some residents have expressed concern about ground conditions with signs of depressions where the top soil has settled and flooding in the area of the children's playground. This along with the need for grassed areas to be completed and robust enough for thousands of little feet, may delay the opening.

The park notice board is now in place and some park seats have been installed. Although there is great excitement about the park some people are worried about it being treated properly by residents and fear for  the survival of young saplings. Obviously the local community has  a vital role to play in ensuring that the park is respected. In the longer term a proper maintenance plan by the Parks Department or out-sourced gardeners, will be essential.

Johnson: Bring London fire engine contract in house after PFI failure

Darren Johnson, Green Party Assembly Member for London has called for the London fire engine contract to be brought back in house as a ‘sensible long term solution’. He was esponding  to news that the private company which owned the contract for London’s fire engines has been put into administration. A temporary arrangement for the contract with a new company is in place for the next 18 months.

Darren Johnson said:

The sensible long term solution is to bring the contract in house and scrap the PFI arrangement. Many other fire authorities have a straight forward leasing arrangement. I hope that both the Mayor and the Government will see sense and recognise that the experiment with PFI has failed. We shouldn’t be taking financial risks with something so essential as our fire engines. Government funding guarantees for PFI credits could be better spent on developing an in house contract.

Pop idol banished from Wembley's Arena Square

 The planning application by a group of Norwegian fans to have a 2 metre high statue of Cliff Richard erected in Arena Square has been withdrawn. LINK

Only one objection had been received which read:

Objection: Why do we need a statue to Cliff Richard in Wembley? What connection does he have with Wembley or Brent? The applicant doesn't even live in Brent, but Norway. If the Council really wish to erect a statue to someone who has contributed locally, then they could do far worse than erect a statue to the late Jayaben Desai, the most prominent of the Grunwick strikers who has had little recognition.

There were emotional scenes at Brent Town Hall when the news was released. Many Brent Council workers had looked forward to gazing at a two metre high bronze Cliff smouldering  in the Wembley sunshine as they  lunched on the Civic Centre steps.