Brent Council to act on wild animal abuse

Brent Council will adopt a formal policy regarding the use of animals at events in the Borough's parks and open spaces in a report going before the Executive on May 21st is approved. The policy reflects current concern, spear-headed by the RSPCA, about the use of wild animals in circuses and other events. The report states:

In the past the Council has received requests to hold events in its parks from circuses with performing animals as well as events which have included animal rides, dog shows and falconry displays. More recently there has been a significant increase in the number of events which local community groups want to organise and host on Council owned land. In 2011 the Parks service received a request to have elephants, tigers and camels included in large community events.

 

The Report suggest a policy that:

a.  Does not permit animals that come under the Schedule ‘Kinds of Dangerous Wild Animals’ in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (Modification) (No.2) Order 2007, to be allowed to be part of any event including circuses and funfairs on the Council’s parks and open spaces.

b.  Does not permit the provision of live creatures as prizes at any event including circuses and funfairs on the Council’s parks and open spaces.

c.  Does permit animals that do not come under the Schedule ‘Kinds of Dangerous Wild Animals’ in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (Modification) (No.2) Order 2007 to be part of an event including circuses and fun fairs on the Councils parks and open spaces. This would therefore allow for example dog shows, performing horses and falconry displays to take place.

Three weeks to save Willesden Green. Meet May 15th

Leafleting Licensing Scheme Call in on Wednesday

The Call In Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be hearing a motion on the proposed leafleting licensing scheme on Wednesday May 17th, 7.30pm at Brent Town Hall.

The Minutes of the February 1st Call In on the Willesden Green Redevelopment are now available. LINK

Begone you pesky petitioners! Brent downgrades petitioner power.

In a constitutional change to be discussed at the Council meeting on May 16th Brent Council is proposing that petitions of 5,000 or more valid signatures should no longer be debated by full Council and that those containing 2,500  valid signatures should no longer require a senior Council officer to give evidence at an overview and scrutiny committee.

Although the Council says its proposal is  a result of the Localism Act 2012 repealing the requirement for councils to adopt a petition scheme and leaving it to the discretion of each authority, there can be little doubt that the Labour Council has been irritated by the petitions organised by the Hindu community over festival funding, library campaigners over the closure of half of Brent's libraries and Keep Willesden Green over the Willesden Green Library Regeneration proposals. The latter was particularly controversial when Democratic Services  refused to hold a Full Council meeting on the issue.

The Council argues that this change will 'make the process more transparent' and will 'direct petitions to the decision maker as set out in the current Standing Order 68(e).

That Standing Order refers to petitions with 50 or more signatures and refers the petitions on upcoming decisions  to the Executive or the General Purposes Committee who can 'make recommendations concerning the petition to Full Council'.

As far as I can see this continues the erosion of democracy in Brent Council removing further citizen's ability to make representations to Full Council rather than the rubber-stamping Labour Executive.  If I was a backbench councillor of whatever political party I would be asking some awkward questions on the issue.

Old Willesden Library demolition proposals published

The proposed development

Most of the planning documents for the proposed Willesden Cultural Centre are now available on the Brent Council website.  They are numerous and will need careful study. There is a main planning application for the demolition of the Victorian Library, 1980s Library, bookshop etc and the building of 92 flats and the Cultural Centre and an application relating to the Conservation Area. Most of the documentation is replicated on both sites.

Main Planning Application HERE

Conservation Area Application HERE

The future of the Old Willesden Library is of particular interest to many and the Heritage Statement is available below.

One key section states:

The loss of the Old Library is to some extent mitigated through ‘preservation by record’ and the undertaking of the historic buildings survey to English Heritage Level II standards, and which has been used in this report to understand the building’s significance. Should consent be granted for this or future schemes affecting historic fabric, it is recommended that additional recording be undertaken during demolition in order to supplement this report with further details of the building’s history.

It is also recommended that specific elements of the architectural fabric are retained, and where possible, reused within the new building as architectural details, art installations and/or exhibits within the museum space. While it is recognised that the scheme represents the total loss of the Old Library, the retention of certain elements would evoke the cultural memory of the building and help preserve the historic narrative of development on the site. Those pieces that should be considered for retention are as follows, though further elements may be revealed during the demolition process:

· Shell-hood above the former entrance way on the north elevation;

· Parge work on the north elevations and around the tower;

· Plaque commemorating the building on north elevation; and

· Weather-vane on summit of the tower

The remaining historic fabric and fixtures such as window frames should be considered for salvage, and where suitable, deposited in a suitable store such as the Charles Brooking Collection currently housed in Surrey.

Lucas: "I completely support today's strike action"

Caroline Lucas MP,  speaking at a Brighton union rally at midday today in support of today's public sector strikes, said:

"As Vice President of the Public and Commercial Services group in Parliament, I completely support today's strike action.

"This Government's drive to slash jobs, slash pay, and now slash pensions as well  is both socially devastating and economically illiterate.

"The best way to tackle the deficit is to invest in jobs, not to destroy them - and the fairest way to do it is to make those responsible for the financial crisis pay the highest price.

"It cannot be right to demand that ordinary workers up and down the country pay more, work longer, and get less in their pensions.

"The cynical changes to indexation from RPI to CPI inflation means pensions fall by up to 20%.

"Equally worrying, this indexation change will also apply to a number of important benefits, including Disability Living Allowance and Incapacity Benefit.

"That's why it's so important that civil servants, lecturers and other public sector workers come together today to defend each other, demand real negotiation with Government, and to demand no more cuts."

Children's play sliding down the agenda

 

In the wake of cuts to local government budgets, play is sliding down the agenda in many London councils, a survey by London Play has revealed. In the past year over 70 per cent of London's local authorities have either cut play provision - or do not have any play budget left to cut. And there are fears that the worst is yet to come. 

As the scramble for primary school places highlights the rate of growth in London's young population, it has emerged that opportunities for play are becoming fewer and further between. Despite pupil numbers in the capital being predicted to rise by more than nine per cent over the next three years, play facilities are being downgraded and cut back.  Of the 22 councils which responded to the London Play survey, 10 had made cuts to their play services in the past 12 months. Perhaps more worryingly, six had no budget left to cut. Only one council was making modest expansions to its service.

Having slashed its play budget by a massive 66 per cent, Camden stands out as the borough making the biggest reductions. Yet it remains one of the biggest spenders on play in the capital, with a budget of £1.5m - which will now be used to commission play services from the voluntary sector. In comparison, six of the local authorities responding to the survey had no revenue budget for play at all.

Many authorities have worked hard to limit the impact of the cuts on frontline services, and in some cases have developed innovative solutions to enable them to continue to support play. Some play services are linking up and pooling resources with housing providers or other partners who through play are able to engage better with groups they might otherwise have found difficult to reach.

Others are increasing income-generating activities. For example, in Richmond, play workers are being paid to run sessions in schools; the funds raised will support more open access play in future. Richmond's play development manager Barbara Morton explains: "Whilst charging for play ranger services may be controversial, developing a business model has been crucial in order to sustain the service for the future and to continue to offer play provision for the children in the borough." More controversially still, others are exploring the possibility of charging for services, as in the well-publicised case of Wandsworth council and its Battersea Park Adventure Playground.

London Play chair Melian Mansfield commented: "At a time when the number of children in London is rising dramatically, play is being cut. Play is crucial for the health and development of both children and London's communities and these cuts will have a disproportionate effect on both. Councils need to recognise this and treat play as a priority.  All children need to have access to opportunities to play, especially out of doors."

Nicolas Kent to receive Freedom of Brent honour

Nicolas Kent

The Honorary Freedom of the London Borough of Brent will be conferred on Nicolas Kent, the retiring director of the Tricycle Theatre at a special meeting of Brent Council on May 16th

Kent retired as a consequence of Arts Council, Local Council and Brent Council cuts to the theatre's budget. His decision received wide coverage and stimulated debate about the Coalition's attitude to the arts in general and its reliance on philanthropy rather than national and local government funding, as well as the role of the Tricycle Theatre in particular.

Brent Council's Minutes for its January meeting records Kent's swansong: on the Tricycle's contribution:

Nick Kent spoke to the meeting referring to having worked in the borough since 1984.  He expressed his love of Brent and his passion for the Tricycle Theatre.  The theatre was housed in a relatively small building but undertook many activities.  He stated that since 1984, 4.5 million people had visited the theatre as audiences, most of which were from the local area and over 36 million people from around the world had seen productions that had begun at the Tricycle Theatre.  This translated into audiences of around 185,000 a year with many dignitaries also visiting the theatre.  Nick Kent stated that the theatre employed 19 full time staff and 57 part time staff and 50% of the front of house staff came from Brent.  The work of the theatre was designed to promote community spirit and it was proud to represent the borough.  He felt the most important work the theatre undertook was with children and young people.  The Council grant last year of £218,000 was wholly spent on activities for young people and amounted to half the total cost of the programme.  The activities carried out each year involved about 40,000 children, with many being helped to learn English through drama and art.  Nick Kent stated that the theatre attracted £3.3 million into the area and given his role he had been asked by Brent and Camden Councils to get involved in the regeneration of the area and it had been a role he was proud to take on

 The report going before the Council for approval states:

Conferring the title of Honorary Freedom of the Borough is the highest honour that the Council can bestow and so should not be taken lightly. However, it is considered that the retirement of Nick Kent provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate his time at the Tricycle Theatre during which he has placed the theatre on the nation and international map out of proportion to its modest 235 seat size. One of the UK's longest serving and most respected artisticdirectors, he has run the theatre for 28 years and built it into a successful theatre known particularly for its political plays and culturally diverse work.

Brent refuses permission for French Restaurant in Wembley Park

Campaigning outside Montparnasse

It seemed a good sign during the recent election when the Montparnasse Cafe reopened in Bridge Road, Wembley after being closed for several months - I had feared it had gone for ever. I had missed the delicious cakes and excellent coffee.

However, chatting to the owner it was clear that all was not well. After customers had said they would welcome the cafe's development into a fully fledged French Restaurant the owner applied for planning permission. This would involve change of use from Class A1 premises to Class A3 enabling cooking to take place on the premises.

Despite the fact that such a restaurant would enhance the quality of the offer in this area, amongst the betting shops and fried chicken shops, the Planning Committee turned down the application.  This was done on the grounds that it would  increase the proportion of non-retail premises on the parade and increase the number of 'dead frontages': 'Overall. it is considered that the proposal will further impact on this vitality and viability of this primary shopping parade and is considered unacceptable'.

There are no other restaurants (apart from a chicken shop with a couple of tables) on that parade except the Torch and Crock of Gold pubs. A French Restaurant would be distinctive and the only one for miles.

In pursuit of this 'vitality and viability' Brent Council recently approved the replacement of a bar/restaurant on the corner of Bridge Road and Chalkhill Road by an enormous Paddy Power betting shop, the third betting shop in the immediate area. This double frontage shop has a blank frontage.

Montparnasse has organised a petition in support of its application which can be signed at the counter. I urge you to pop in and sign it and sample the coffee and cakes at the same time.

Change of tactics on Wembley drinking ban

The Kilburn Times reported yesterday LINK  that it would be difficult to enforcing the public drinking ban for the FA Cup Final today:

With up to 90,000 fans arriving often with their own drink, it is clear that the street drinking ban cannot be fully enforced with the resources we have.

In this first year it is more about education of the local alcohol industry, football fans coming to Wembley and those officers policing the event. It will take time to eradicate these issues.

We will take action were appropriate.

 When I walked around Bridge Road and Olympic Way today it was clear that the strategy was different compared to the semi finals. There was still plenty of public drinking in evidence but police were confiscating alcohol as people left the Torch Pub...

 and again before they entered Olympic Way...

and at the foot of the steps.

However it was clear from the evidence that by 4.30pm an awful lot of street drinking had taken place:

 And I did see someone urinating on the pavement outside the Torch.

Believing James Powney...

I wrote recently LINK that in my experience Cllr James Powney, despite our differences, has always posted my comments on his blog, but it seems that others have not been so fortunate.

Pete Firm, who is secretary of Brent Trade Union Council and a Labour Party member, posted a comment on the leafleting licence issue some time ago. The comment was about James Powney's suggestion that the campaign around the issue had been 'invented'

Cllr Powney had written:

The mischief started with the Willesden and Brent Times leading with a story that gave the impression that this was an entirely new set of rules, and glossing over the exemptions.  What is striking is that I personally spoke to the reporter and told her that "political purposes" meant a variety of political campaigns, not just political parties

Firmin's comment pointed out  the  Editor's note in the subsequent WBT , at the foot of a letter from Michael Read clarifying exemptions to the licence requirement, which said:

Brent Council's communication team has issued an apology to the Times for issuing an inaccurate statement on which our original report was based.

In other words, as I have also pointed out, LINK the Willesden and Brent  Times story was based on an e-mail from the Council itself.

 The comment was never published on Cllr Powney's blog and Pete wrote on April 30th asking why.

James, Can I ask why you haven’t published my comment (submitted last Thursday or Friday) to you blog post “How To Invent A Campaign”? Pete Firmin

 Firmin has has received no response.

 Coincidentally the latest post on James' blog is pertinent. LINK He is concerned that people don't believe him:

All this helps to create an atmosphere where anything that a Council officer or councillor says is disbelieved.  I have had this many times over the libraries issue, when I have pointed out that an assertion is not true, only to be told that it must be, and to have my interlocuter refuse to believe me even when I refer to documentary proof. 

Pete Firmin and I have both pointed to the 'documentary proof' in the Council e-mail and the Editor's note, that Cllr Powney's accusation about an invented campaign was wrong.

Time to publish Pete Firmin's comment, James?

Green progress in London elections

Green candidate Jenny Jones has come third in this year’s London Mayoral elections.

The Green vote on the London Assembly was also the third highest, meaning the party has overtaken the Liberal Democrats to become London’s third party.

The Greens also finished in the top three in five constituency elections.

Jones said: “This is a wonderful day for Green politics. 

“The almost exclusive focus on the two frontrunners in the Mayoral election meant that any other result was very unlikely, but our resolutely positive campaign has stuck to the issues affecting Londoners and the policies to address them.

“I am over the moon that these messages have resonated. We’ve been able to dispel the myth that when times are tough, green politics are a luxury. More and more Londoners are realising that social and environmental justice are tied together inseparably, and with more Assembly members the Greens can help ensure that the Mayor is held to account on his promises and that City Hall can help create a city more equal, affordable, healthy, and safe for everyone.

“And we know that this campaign has attracted some wonderful bright, dedicated and loving young people to the party, who will pick up the torch and carry it forward in the interests of London’s future.”

Jones received 98,913 votes compared to 91,774 to Brian Paddick in fourth place. 

 

On the Assembly, the Greens received 189,215 votes compared to the Liberal Democrats on 150,447.

The Greens came third in Barnet and Camden, City and East, Greenwich and Lewisham, North East and South West constituencies.

Shahrar Ali, the Green Party candidate in Brent and Harrow, said: "I thank the 10,546 Green voters of Brent and Harrow. We have increased both our vote and vote share across the electoral constituency and we will be back for more. I look forward to receipt of the detailed results in a few days, which I think will show even big advances in places where we campaigned hardest."

Shahrar Ali continued, "I congratulate Navin Shah on his excellent win, where he will be joined by our two London wide Assembly Members Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson. Across London, the Greens came third and we have overtaken the Lib Dems in London for the first time in electoral history."

Commenting on the prolongation of the count for Brent and Harrow, Shahrar Ali said: "I was an observer at the Brent and Harrow count throughout the day, from 8am to 11pm. From the outset, I found I had to make several complaints about what I witnessed as sloppy handling procedures. I think the discovery of two thousand ballot papers whose votes had not initially been recorded, and the need to rectify this, was partly a result of poor handling processes. Whilst I have every confidence in the result, I shall be raising my concerns with the requisite authorities."

Election of Johnson a disaster for the excluded

As the dust settles on the GLA election results my main concern, despite the good news that Greens are now the third party across London, is the disastrous re-election of Boris Johnson as Mayor. In line with London Green Federation policy I voted second preference for Ken Livingstone as a progressive candidate with many faults but one who in terms of policies shares our concerns about social justice and the environment.

The domination of personality over policy involved in the Mayoral system means that at a time when London is facing unprecedented pressures over employment, housing, school places and deteriorating air quality impacting on the elderly and children,  we have a Mayor who has no strategy - just bluster and boorishness concealing a policy vacuum.

I ask anyone who voted for Johnson to consider what he has achieved for ordinary Londoners.

The message his aides are feeding to the media that he represents a more right-wing, muscular Conservatism that the Lib Dem infected Coalition government bodes ill for the future of London and its citizens - particularly the excluded.

There has been much discussion of the limited powers of London Assembly members in terms of scrutiny but they can reject the Mayor's budget. Labour with a gain of 4 places now have 12  assembly members against the Conservatives nine  (a loss of 2 including the reviled Brian Coleman) so now have an overall majority. Greens are unchanged at 2 on a par with Liberal Democrats who lost one seat.

How this pans out will be interesting.  Despite the policy vacuum it is possible that Johnson will be granted more powers by central government and given his lack of attention to detail there may be opportunities for the opposition to step in with well-researched suggestions on how these could be used.

Green votes by GLA constituency

Constituency	2012 (%)	2008 (%)
Barnet and Camden	10.72	9.50
Bexley and Bromley	5.48	4.63
Brent and Harrow	7.27	6.54
City and East	6.37	6.26
Croydon and Sutton	6.69	5.17
Ealing and Hillingdon	6.64	7.28
Enfield and Haringey	8.49	7.88
Greenwich and Lewisham	9.43	10.63
Havering and Redbridge	3.67	5.54
Lambeth and Southwark	11.51	11.04
Merton and Wandsworth	7.48	8.44
North East	15.46	13.34
South West	9.84	6.78
West Central	8.74	10.40

Jenny Jones thanks Londoners for Green's third place

Mayoral Election Results for Brent and Harrow

Candidate	Party	1st pref votes		2nd pref votes
Siobhan Benita	Independent	5,152		13,691
Carlos Cortiglia	BNP	1,405		3,367
Boris Johnson	Conservative	58,777		20,466
Jenny Jones	Green	4,370		19,835
Ken Livingstone	Labour	67,083		26,961
Brian Paddick	Liberal Democrats	5,810		23,554
Lawrence Webb	UKIP	2,231		8,915

Brent and Harrow GLA Election Result

Lab Maj: 29796 (20.54%)

Navin Shah	Labour	70,400 (48.53%)
Sachin Rajput	Conservative	40,604 (27.99%)
Charlotte Henry	Liberal Democrat	15,690 (10.82%)
Shahrar Ali	Green	10,546 (7.27%)
Mick McGough	UK Independence Party	7,830 (5.40%)

Turnout: 37.06% (change: -5.09%)
2008

Navin Shah	Lab	57,716 (37.27%)
Bob Blackman	C	56,067 (36.21%)
James Allie	LD	19,299 (12.46%)
Shahrar Ali	Green	10,129 (6.54%)
Zena Sherman	CPA	4,180 (2.70%)
Sunita Webb	UKIP	3,021 (1.95%)
Pat McManus	Left List	2,287 (1.48%)
Arvind Tailor	Eng Dem	2,150 (1.39%)

Barnhill By-election Result

Michael John Charles Pavey - Labour - 2326 votes - 56% (elected)
Kanta Ratna Pindoria - Conservative Party - 1180 votes - 29% (not elected)
Martin Francis - Green Party - 457 votes - 11% (not elected)
Venilal Vaghela - Independent - 156 votes - 4% (not elected)

Number of ballot papers rejected 77
Turnout 38%

Many thanks to all those who voted for me and supported my campaign. Pushing above 10% is a move in the right direction but Brent Greens are still waiting for the breakthrough.  Thanks to the other candidates for their straightforward campaigning.

Ultimately the national mood swing against the Coalition and towards Labour was the default position for many people I spoke to when campaigning. National issues rather than local issues such as the closure of libraries were cited as their reason for voting Labour.  Nonetheless I congratulate Michael Pavey on his election and will be in touch over Barnhill and Chalkhill issues regularly in the future.

I think it would be misguided for Brent Labour to take this result as a vote of confidence in their policies and continue to ride roughshod over local residents.

Call In on Leaflet Licensing Thursday 17th May

I understand that the meeting of the Call In, Scrutiny and Overview Committee that will hear the Liberal Democrat motion on leaflet licensing will now be held on Thursday 17th May at 7.30pm, Committee Room 3 at Brent Town Hall.

Vote for the real alternative this evening!

Thanks to Coalition of Resistance

Brent library visits and issues plummet

The results of a Freedom of Information request by library campaigners on the number of visits and issues at Brent libraries since the closure of six of them have now been released. 

The March figures fit very squarely into the pattern which library campaigners described at last month's meeting with civil servants - usage rose (compared with March 2011) at the two libraries (Kilburn & Town Hall) with increased opening hours, but actually fell at all the other libraries. Total visits and issues at all Brent libraries both fell by some 30% compared with March 2011.

Campaigners now have figures for six months since the closures in October 2011. In those six months, Brent libraries had 20% fewer visits and 21% fewer issues than in the preceding six months. From October 2011 to March 2012 there were 18% fewer visits and 26% fewer issues than in the same months of 2010/11.

Click on righthand bottom corner to see full table Kilburn Library will soon close for 16 weeks for refurbishment at a cost of £650,000.

Ann John cleared of misconduct

The following statement was issued by Brent Council today:

Councillor Ann John OBE, Leader of Brent Council (Lab) was yesterday (2 May 2012) given the all clear by the council's Standards Committee. This follows her exoneration by an independent investigation looking into an allegation that she breached the council's code of conduct on a planning issue.

A formal complaint and request for the Committee to investigate Councillor John was made last January by Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Paul Lorber (Lib Dem). This followed his receipt of a leaked email from Labour Councillor Dhiraj Kataria sent to Councillor John and others.

In the leaked email, Councillor Kataria alleged that Councillor John had attempted to interfere with the council's planning process by seeking to influence a planning decision.

A detailed investigation into the allegation was conducted over a 12 week period by independent solicitor, and former Director of Casework for the Standards Board for England, Hazel Salisbury.

A report detailing Ms Salisbury's findings was presented to the council's Standards Committee yesterday (2 May 2012) for consideration. Ms Salisbury's report states that she found no evidence to corroborate any of the allegations made against Councillor John.

The council's Standards Committee was satisfied that Councillor John had not breached the council's code of conduct and unanimously agreed to release the report.