London deaths from air pollution: the shocking truth

Public Health England has released statistics today on the number of people dying because of air pollution.

Across England it is estimated that 25,002 people died because of air pollution in 2010. In London alone it is estimated that nearly 3,400 died.

Jean Lambert, the Green Party's MEP for London and a clean air campaigner, said:

These new statistics, which show that thousands of people are dying because of air pollution, make it clear that urgent action is needed to clean up our air.

The fact that thousands are dying because of air pollution each year should be a source of shame for Ministers. Yet, despite the mounting evidence of this major public health threat, the Government is doing far too little to reduce air pollution.

David Cameron, who last week flippantly blamed the smog entirely on Saharan Dust, should be ashamed of himself. The Government knows that the smog last week was in part caused by the high levels of pollution we have in this country, yet, shamefully, they refuse to accept responsibility. Now that these stats reveal thousands of deaths are caused by air pollution, it is time for Ministers to take this issue seriously and take urgent action to protect people's health.

In Ms Lambert's London constituency 3,389 deaths in 2010 were associated with air pollution.
Public Health England's report estimates that 7.2% of deaths in London were attributable to air pollution.
Ms Lambert, who is a founder supporter of Clean Air in London (2), went on to say:

With almost one in 12 deaths in my London caused by air pollution it is abundantly clear that action is needed.

We need to radically rethink the way they are dealing with air pollution. To protect people's health we need both the UK Government and the Mayor of London to be bold in tackling air pollution - and stop trying to water down the rules.

We need a 'very low emissions zone' for central London, cleaner buses, a strategy to reduce pollution from taxi exhaust, 20mph speed limits as standard in residential areas, and more steps to encourage walking and cycling.

It's time we recognise that air pollution is a political issue. We can clean up our air, but we need to force politicians to take the issue seriously.

The Public Health England report is available here.
Jean's latest report on London's Air Quality is here .
 More information about Clean Air in London is available here .

Brent approves Moberly Sports Centre development

After extensive discussion, much of it concerned with the lack of affordable housing in the development, Brent Planning Committee approved the redevelopment of the Moberly Sports Centre. A speaker from Wilmott Dixon said that they would not be able to provide a high quality sports centre if they were required to build affordable rather than market housing. He said that Brent and Westminster councils had accepted this.

Cllr Mashari who is responsible for sports told the committee that the new centre was required to give an opportunity to the large number of people in the south of the borough who do not partake in regular physical activity which contributes to ill health. The centre represented a bargain for local people who would benefit from superior facilities at special concessionary rates negotiated for disabled, unemployed and low wage residents.

The application was approved with 7 for, 1 abstention and 1 against.

Approval is subject to any direction by the Mayor of London to refuse the application. He has 14 days to allow the draft decision to proceed unchanged or direct the Council to refuse the application.

Navin Shah issues challenge on A&E pressures

From Navin Shah Labour Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow

New figures have revealed the increasing strain London’s Accident and Emergency departments are facing. The increased pressure on A&Es follows the closure of wards across the capital. In the past year 199,693 people were forced to wait more than four hours at an A&E in London, this is an increase of 18% on the previous year when 168,604 people waited more than four hours.

The local A&E unit at Central Middlesex Hospital in Brent now operates at reduced hours with more suspected cuts to follow. Northwick Park Hospital in Brent, which is on the boundary of Harrow is the nearest A&E unit that is open for a twenty-four hour service. This will put so much pressure on Northwick Park Hospital with people waiting much longer hours at the A&E Department. Both Central Middlesex Hospital and Northwick Park Hospital fall under North West London, which has seen 12,778 people wait more than four hours over the past year.

Overall, two A&E units in London have been closed, two are to be “downgraded”, three are set to be closed and a further three are under threat of closure. In the past year all but one of London’s Hospital Trusts with A&Es failed to meet the key waiting time target of 95% of patients seen with 4 hours. In 15 out of 22 trusts this target was missed for over half of the last year. Navin Shah, local Labour London Assembly Member, is calling on the Health Secretary to urgently review the situation, and for the Mayor to lobby government for the resources that London’s NHS needs.

Navin Shah, local Labour London Assembly Member, said:

We were told that closing A&Es wouldn’t lead to longer waiting times, but the evidence shows that Londoners are waiting longer to be seen. In the past 12 months nearly 200,000 people across London and 12,778 people in North West London have been forced to wait for more than four hours at A&E. These figures are a damning indictment of the failure to properly plan our NHS services. 15 out of 22 Hospital Trusts have failed to meet this key target.

Last year we all celebrated the NHS’ 65^th Birthday, one year on the government’s botched top down reorganisation is putting severe pressure on our local services. Continuing to either close or downgrade London’s A&Es will make the situation even worse. NHS staff work hard to look after us all when we are at our most vulnerable, but they need the resources to be able to deliver the service we all expect. Central Middlesex Hospital now operates an 11 hour A&E service, which adds further pressure to Northwick Park Hospital’s A&E service. I am deeply worried that following these A&E closures, waiting times will continue to be high and Londoners will continue to suffer as a result.

1.    Navin Shah is the Labour London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow.

Figures for 2013/14 taken from here: http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/weekly-ae-sitreps-2013-14/ and for 2012/13 from here: http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/weekly-ae-sitreps-2012-13/

Kensal Rise Library, Copland and Representative Democracy

Guest blog by Guestropod

Anyone following the Kensal Rise Library correspondence on Wembley Matters LINK would be struck by two things:   1. the level of interest in the matter    2. the desire to communicate that interest and the related opinions to councillors, with  the implicit expectation that the elected representatives would respond to them.

A similar level of interest and a similar expectation of a response to their concerns also seems to have characterised  the involvement of Copland students in their opposition to the dismantling of their school and its takeover by the Ark academy business. This opposition was ultimately expressed in a letter which followed up a petition signed by well over 400 students and addressed to Brent Council's Head of Children and Families. Apparently, none of these students had participated in any similar action before and many would have been unaware that it was possible for them to do so. I would imagine that the experience was worth a term's worth of Citizenship lessons.  

The original petition was ‘lost’ by Brent council and further copies had to be provided.  A copy of the follow-up letter went to every Brent councillor. LINK

Out of the 60+ councillors who were sent the letter, I gather that a grand total of 3 (THREE) managed the courtesy of a reply, (2 Lib Dem, 1 Labour).

Anyone teaching in Brent at the 2010 General Election would have been impressed by the level of interest shown by 6^th form students keen to use their vote for the first time. The mock election staged at Copland and organised by Mr Allman was supported by local and national politicians and enthusiasm for the breath of fresh air and honesty which Nick Clegg appeared to be offering was palpable. Within a few months most of these students were in further education. And grants were tripled. A more effective way of disillusioning a generation of new voters is impossible to imagine.

None of those kids who signed the Copland anti-academy petition have the vote, so presumably they can be ignored. Those Copland 6^th formers who voted Lib Dem in 2010 did have the vote, but they were ignored and betrayed anyway. Those contributing to the Kensal Rise Library discussion on Wembley Matters and elsewhere no doubt all have the vote, probably used it last time and are likely to vote again on May 22nd. It’s good to see the faith they seem to still have in the democratic process and in their elected representatives’ responsiveness.

I would hope that Copland's current and past students could share that faith. But I can also imagine (and sympathise with) the reasons why they might not.

Border dispute over Moberly/Jubilee sports centre development to be decided tomorrow

Flyer issued by Kensal Trian gle Residents earlier this year

Controversy over developments on the borders of Brent and other boroughs have been quite a feature recently: Brent Cross: (Brent and Barnet), Welsh Harp-West Hendon Estate (Brent and Barnet), Harlesden Incinerator (Brent and Ealing) and are now joined by the Moberly Sports Centre (Brent and Westminster).

Tonight the Moberly application will be heard by the planning committee and a lobby is planned by the mainly Westminster group, Save the Jubilee Sports Centre, to persuade Brent not to grant planning committee. Brent officers' with some conditions have recommended approving the application.

The Moberly is situated in Brent on the border of Westminster but owned and run by Westminster City Council.

Save Our Jubilee campaign has been given space on the blog  LINK of Westminster Labour councillors to argue their case:

The Save Our Jubilee campaign has been fighting Westminster City Council to keep the much-needed sports facilities at the Jubilee Centre, one of Westminster’s two most deprived wards.

Westminster’s plan for the new Moberly sports centre is part of a wider plan which involves the demolition of the Jubilee centre and its replacement by market housing. The plan involves combining most of the facilities provided at the Jubilee and Moberly now in one new centre.

We think it isn’t a good deal for Brent residents. This is why.

1. No affordable housing will be provided to meet the desperate needs of Brent residents. Brent’s Site Specific Allocations DPD identifies the Moberly site as one that could be redeveloped to improve the existing sports and nursery facilities and in addition to provide 104 housing units. Brent would normally expect half of these to be affordable – a valuable contribution to meeting housing needs in the borough. Westminster are proposing 71 flats (fewer than Brent thought the site might accommodate) and all these will be market housing for sale with no affordable units included.

2. Loss of daylight and sunlight to neighbouring properties. Westminster City Council’s decision to relocate services from the Jubilee to the Moberly site has resulted in a massive new building, seven storeys high at the northern end, which will rob neighbouring homes in Brent of daylight and sunlight. As a result, properties in Chamberlayne Road, City Heights and Noko will experience daylight levels below BRE guidelines, while properties in City Heights and Noko will have no direct sunlight at any time of the day. The Report attempts to justify this on the grounds that the developers of Cityview and Noko should have anticipated the redevelopment of the Moberly site. But they were facing an open space. It was reasonable for everyone to assume that this would be left undeveloped in line with Brent’s planning policies.

3. Loss of outdoor sports facilities. On the north side of the Moberly site there is an 18 x 36 metre floodlit artificial turf pitch used mainly as a football pitch by local youth clubs and adult teams. The report Planning for Sport and Active Recreation Facilities produced jointly by the London Borough of Brent and Sports England in 2008, looked at the distribution of STPs (Synthetic Turf Pitches) across the borough and considered that the south of the borough was adequately served by the pitch at the Moberly. However, if Westminster’s application for the Moberly site is approved, this pitch will be lost and, as a result, wards in the south of Brent will no longer meet minimum standards for outdoor pitch provision. The replacement pitch offered is in Westminster, 1.2 miles away, nearly in Maida Vale – and foreign territory for most of the Brent and Queen’s Park youngsters who use the Moberly now.

4. Replacement, not better provision. Westminster City Council argues that the benefits provided to Brent residents by the new sports centre are so exceptional that Brent’s policies in relation to affordable housing and overshadowing should be set aside We say that, contrary to Westminster’s claims, the benefits offered by the new development are in no way exceptional. The new centre will, firstly, not provide any more usable leisure space than exists now and, secondly, the facilities mainly replace sports facilities already provided in the existing Moberly and Jubilee centres – which include a 25 metre pool, two sports halls, and gym and fitness suites..

For these reasons, we hope that the current planning proposals by Westminster will be refused by Brent Council at the Planning Committee meeting on 9th April.

There were 29 comments opposed to the proposal (along the lines of the above) and 12 in favour on the following grounds:

• The facility will provide excellent sports facilities in an area which does not have easy access to such facilities
• The proposed development will benefit sports provision in local schools
• The proposed development will increase visitors to the area which will be good for local businesses.
•  The proposed sports facility will benefit the health of local residents.
•  The building is of an appropriate size similar to neighbouring City View
• The proposal will be an improvement on the existing dilapidated facilities.
• The cost of the development will not be to taxpayers but the facilities will benefit all residents

Kensal Triangle Residents' Association have maintained a neutral stance on the issue with opinion divided between supporters and opponents.

There will be an arrangement giving Brent residents access to the Centre. The proposed facility would have a floor area of 9293 sqm and would include the following facilities:

•  25m 6-lane swimming pool;
•  8-court sports hall;
•  Boxing hall
• Multi-use sports hall
• Community Activity Room
• Fitness suite
• Three exercise studios
• Health Spa

In its comments supporting the proposals Brent Parks and Sports Department is decidedly bullish:

Brent’s Sports and Parks service feel that the redevelopment of Moberly sports centre will bring fantastic new opportunities for Brent’s residents to take part in a wide range of sports and recreation activities in this state of the art new leisure facility.

Brent has one of the most inactive adult populations in England and the new opportunities that Moberly bring to increase residents ability to become more active is welcomed. Brent has a number of health inequalities across the Borough including high levels of diabetes and obesity and a more active lifestyle through use of this new sports centre will help people lead a healthier life.

The range of facilities is significantly greater than that at the current Moberly centre. 

The inclusion of swimming pools brings a new facility dimension to the Kilburn area and will offer both adults and children the opportunity to learn and take part in swimming. Swimming was the most frequently participated in sports activity across England according to Sport England’s Active People survey and the provision of only a third pool within the Borough of Brent will enable more people to take part in this popular activity.

The range of different facilities spaces available from boxing to 8 court sports hall, studios and community space reflect that a wide and ranging programme will be offered to the local communities. 

From a strategic perspective, the Borough’s Planning for Sport and Active recreation facilities strategy identifies the need for additional publicly accessible fitness stations and upgraded sports hall provision which Moberly will provide.

The Sport and Active Recreation Facilities Strategy has a number of themes which the provision of a new sports centre at Moberly will help to achieve, namely:

Theme 1: Increase provision of appropriate Facilities

Theme 3: Get more people active

Theme 5: Increase sports opportunities for young people

Theme 7: Improve partnership working

It will also help the Council deliver against it’s Corporate priority of ‘a strong community’ and it’s associated outcome of ‘Excellent sports, leisure and cultural facilities used by more people’. Also the priority ‘Improving health and well-being’ and achieving the outcome of ‘More people living healthier and longer lives’.

In the now familiar mantra associated with such developments (cf Willesden Green Library and the luxury flats sold overseas and the upcoming development at Bridge Park complex) Brent Council accepts the view that provision of ANY affordable housing on site is not viable given the developer's provision of the new Sports Centre:

After careful consideration of the viability issues and in light the high quality sports and leisure facility that will be accessible to Brent residents at the same prices as Westminster residents the lack of affordable housing on-site will be acceptable provided there is an appropriately worded clause in the section 106 agreement to claw back any financial surplus that could be used to support the provision of affordable housing elsewhere in the Borough

It should make for an interesting discussion tomorrow night. The lobby/demonstration outside Brent Civic Centre is due to start at 6.30pm.

It may not be too late to apply to speak on the issue:  Contact: Joe Kwateng, Democratic Services Officer  020 8937 1354, Email: joe.kwateng@brent.gov.uk

REVEALED: All Souls/Gillick Kensal Rise Library option agreement

Guest blog by Meg Howarth
 
All Souls College (ASC) has released the Option Agreement (OA) to buy Kensal Rise Library which it signed with Andrew Gillick on 26 November 2012. It was ordered to do so by the Information Commissioner following a successful appeal against its refusal to disclose the document under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request - details of that decision have been published on the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) website.

 Failure to comply with the commissioner's decision could have resulted in ASC being reported to the High Court. Though the college was permitted to redact the names, dates and sale-price from disclosure, ironically it's only the price Andrew Gillick paid for Kensal Rise Library that's still unknown. As of today, the Land Registry records haven't been updated since the sale to Mr Gillick was completed on/after 31 January this year but currently reveal:

'Option Agreement dated 26 November 2012 made between 

(1) Andrew Gillick and (2) The Warden and College of the Souls of All 

Faithful People Deceased in the University of Oxford expiring on 31 

January 2013' 

and that the value of the property 

 'at 5 July 2012 was stated to be under £100,000'. 

Interestingly, the OA shows that Mr Gillick paid a deposit of £105,000 which was to be deducted from the sale-price of the building.

Dated                2012

THE WARDEN AND COLLEGE OF THE SOULS OF ALL FAITHFUL PEOPLE DECEASED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (1)

--------------------(2)

__________________________________

                OPTION AGREEMENT

         to purchase Kensal Rise Library

___________________________________

Brent Fairtrade AGM Tomorrow

 Brent Fairtrade Network is holding its Annual General Meeting at 7.30 pm on Monday 7 April at the Civic Centre. This is a key opportunity for anyone in Brent to influence our plans for the next year and elect members of the Steering Group.  We shall review our progress over the last year too - and toast our successes in Fairtrade wine.

What do Brent councillors think about deferral of Kensal Rise planning application?

A lively and at times passionate debate is taking place on these pages over the redevelopment of the Kensal Rise building.

The article has attracted more comments than  almost any other on this blog and I am posting this to invite readers who may have missed it to join in.

In particular I am inviting councillors and council election candidates to respond to what is clearly an important local matter.

One major theme is whether the planning application should be deferred until after police have completed their investigation into the alleged fraudulent emails submitted in support of the developer Andrew Gillick's previous planning application. LINK

Other matters include whether the space offered to the trustees of Friends of Kensal Rise Library for a community library is sufficient, and how robust that agreement is.

The original article by the trustees of the Friends of Kensal Rise Library and subsequent comments can be seen HERE

Since this was written responses have started coming in via Twitter. I will update here:

1. Martin Francis ‏@WembleyMatters 1h

   .@CllrButt What do you think? http://www.wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/what-do-brent-councillors-think-about.html …
2. Cllr. Muhammed Butt ‏@CllrButt 1h

   .@WembleyMatters we have a statutory responsibility to look at application. 1000's apps in Brent. Do we check the person or application

   
   

    Vicky Zentner ‏@vickyzentner 56m

   @WembleyMatters @CllrButt isn't ignoring the suspicion over fraudulent emails at very least morally wrong and at worst, collusion?
3. Meg Howarth ‏@howarthm 47m

   @CllrButt Both person& app.need flagging up.Planning cmtee statutorily independent&can vote to defer hearing>
4. Alex Colas ‏@AlexWG2014 18m
   

   .@WembleyMatters Planning cmtee should defer decision on this application until investigation into fraud allegations are completed.

@WembleyMatters 1/2 Strongly agree planning app should be deferred until outcome of investigation. Result might invalidate, for example. Alison Hopkins  @Hopkins_Alison   @WembleyMatters 2/2 FKRL know if space enough. I want VERY watertight legal guarantees. I've bad experiences with developers (Brent X!

Tough Times at Copland Today

Guest blog by So Macho

We live in tough times, as the cushioned and the comfortable  frequently remind us, and there can be few more nauseating contemporary  sights than effete middle-class Englishmen like Osborne, Cameron and Gove, with the might of the state at their disposal, boasting of the toughness of the decisions they have to make in order to intimidate, bully or impoverish the vulnerable.  It was tough times too at Copland today as another swathe of teachers collected their P45s, the consequence of the tough decisions the IEB has had to make in order to make Copland into a tempting morsel for Ark Inc. No time for sentiment either as no recognition was made by the tough management of the fact that staff with up to 12 years of  service were getting their dismissal letters. No official farewells, no gathering of the staff for an organised and dignified recognition of colleagues’ contribution and no time for staff to hold even an unofficial goodbye as, contrary to tradition and custom and practice in other schools, they were told toughly that ‘Friday will be a normal day’. 

Not for those being made redundant it wasn't. Tough eh?

BedroomTax: End it Now. Demonstration tomorrow.

From Unite Community

Bedroom Tax - one year on - end it now!

Saturday 05 April 2014 at 13:00-15:00

5 April marks the first anniversary of the hated Bedroom Tax. 

The Bedroom Tax causes misery to 600,000 families, increasing financial pain and contributing to growing food bank queues.

Unite Community believes one year is one year too long. Please join us at One Hyde Park, London’s most expensive residence, to call on Westminster to follow the Scottish parliament in binning the Bedroom Tax.

Join us for speakers, entertainment and sign an alternative birthday card to Iain Duncan Smith.

Event – Bedroom Tax, one year on, end it now
When – 1pm, 5 April
Where – One Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, London SW1X &LJ
Travel Details – Closest tube: Knightsbridge. Buses: 9, 10, 19, 22, 52, 137, 452, C1. For an accessible tube map of london please click here
Speakers – Owen Jones and some of those affected by welfare reforms. 
Contact – Pilgrim Tucker

Potential 'Non-compliance' on 'schoolifying' of the early years

On the day that Michael Wilshaw called for more formal learning for two year olds it was good to see this letter in the Daily Telegraph. Signatories include Dr Richard House who is a member of the Green Party.

GRADGRIND FOR TINY TOTS

SIR – “The erosion of childhood” is becoming a theme of concern to citizens across the political spectrum.

The latest salvo in this “paradigm war” for the heart of childhood has been discharged by the head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw. In a letter to all early-years inspectors, he instructs them to judge nurseries mainly in terms of preparation for school. They must “teach children the early stages of mathematics and reading”.

This utilitarian shift from experience to content betrays an abject (and even wilful) misunderstanding of the nature of early childhood experience. The determination to dragoon England’s young children into unconscionably early quasi-formal learning is catastrophic for their well-being, and is setting up many for failure at a very young age.

England’s early years education and care is safe in the hands neither of Sir Michael Wilshaw nor of the current incumbents at the Department for Education. We urge Sir Michael and the DfE to stop digging in their current “schoolifying” hole, and step back from this misguided drive to over-formalise England’s early-years sphere.

The alternative might be that these policy-makers end up precipitating the first wave of professional “principled non-compliance” with government policy that our education system has known in living memory. Any government that underestimates the strength of feeling on this issue, and the resolve to resist it, does so at its peril.

Letter and full list of signatories HERE 

Greens launch #smogselfie campaign as smog hits London and SE

Today the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a smog warning to London and the south-east as air pollution levels reached the maximum of Level 10 on recording devices.

The Department advised people living in the capital against doing any strenuous activity outdoors.
4000 people die prematurely in London every year and with the Mayor of London failing to take aaction to tackle this massive public health risk, the London Green Party took action with a new campaign - #smogselfie. The Party asked members and supporters and anyone who cares about air pollution in London to use the dust around the capital's roads to send their own messages to Boris Johnson calling for action.

In a statement to accompany the launch of the campaign, Caroline Russell a candidate in the upcoming May elections said:

As London and the South of England are finally given government health warnings about breathing air that is polluted by toxic vehicle emissions, it is time for the government to reconsider its transport policy.  The planning and transport policies that have built in car dependency over many years  are coming home to roost.  

We urgently need to prioritise public transport and make our cities, towns and villages safe and convenient for walking and cycling.  Active travel provides a double whammy solution - reducing air pollution and increasing physical activity, which is an effective cure for multiple health problems.

Why Friends of Kensal Rise Library accepted developer's offer of space

In this guest blog the Trustees of  Friends of Kensal Rise Library explain why they they decided to accept the developer's offer of space in the building.

Many of you know that the FKRL Trustees recently decided to support the community (D1) aspect of the library building's re-development. We signed an agreement in good faith with All Souls College and the developer to this effect, trusting this would strengthen our position as future operators of the library and community space.

The proposal provides approximately two thirds (186m2) of the ground floor for community use, with FKRL as the 'preferred' tenants. The London Evening Standard called this: 'a landmark agreement with developers that could save Kensal Rise Library' (25th March 2014).

We feel you should know how we came to make this momentous decision and the factors that we were obliged to take into account.

Throughout almost four years of campaigning and negotiating, initially with Brent Council, and more recently with All Souls College and the developer, FKRL's objectives has been, and will remain, to re-establish a library and community space in the building. We trust and hope that our decision offers the community the best chance of this.

The decision is not without risk. However, there were risks involved in the other options open to us which we ultimately rejected. These included the following:

1. HOLDING OUT FOR MORE SPACE

• The provision of rent-free space is an important factor for the sustainability of a community library. The current proposal is for rent-free community space, as this forms part of the agreement between All Souls College and the developer. Even if further space were to be available for community use, there is no guarantee that it would be rent-free.
• Although the upstairs parts of the library were used for archive and staff purposes until the library closed, the ground floor is the only part of the library that has been accessible to the public in recent years, and planning officers noted and remarked on this when we met them in October 2013.

2. TRUSTING IN ACV

• FKRL worked hard to persuade the Council to protect the entire building as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) in 2012. Just before the Council designated it as an ACV the College and the developer entered into a binding agreement that meant the moratorium period of six months that we might have used to prepare a bid for the building could not apply.
• We may have prepared a bid to buy the building, but there would have been no obligation on the College to accept our bid.
• If change of use from community to part-residential/part-community use was refused and the whole building remained in D1 (community) use as an ACV, the developer could rent it out for other community uses: for example, as a religious place of worship, doctor's surgery, or school. The planning process cannot dictate that the community space must be used as a library.
• There is no guarantee that any of the space will be used for a library or for anything that this community might want or need, nor who will be able to use the space.
• ACV does not determine ownership. The owner remains the same. The community does not own the building.

3.  HOPING THE PLANNING APPLICATION IS REJECTED

• If the most recent planning application is rejected, the developer could go to Appeal or submit another planning application. This could continue for years, during which there would probably not be any community access to the building.

4. HOPING THE DEVELOPER SELLS THE BUILDING

• If the developer decided to sell the building, substantial seven figure sums would be needed not only to purchase but also to refurbish. The developer would be under no obligation to sell it to FKRL or to the community.
• There is no guarantee that any new purchaser would be obliged to grant a rent free space space to the community.

FKRL made their decision after very carefully analysing the risk of losing the space proposed in the latest planning application, We have always endeavoured to act fairly, honestly and openly in our negotiations with the other parties and have entered into this agreement in good faith.

Kensal Rise Library's last librarian - before it was closed - said of FKRL's achievement and of the space currently on offer:

I'm sorry you weren't able to get as much space as you wanted, obviously the more the better. I think though that you've still got enough space to have a really good community library. There are certainly nice libraries that are smaller than the area you've got.

You have done a fantastic job in my opinion in saving the library. I really hope that as a group you don't let any disappointment about not getting everything you wanted overshadow what you have achieved. The odds were stacked against you and the people running Brent Libraries were determined Kensal should close. I'm sure that you will make a success of running the library. It really will be valued by local people after the fight that has been put up to save it.

Karl Hemsley (25 March 2014).

We are encouraged by the support of the Lead Member for Libraries at Brent Council, Cllr Roxanne Tessa Awe, Mashari, and by the present and future backing of Ms Tessa Awe, CEO of Brent CVS (Community, Voluntary Sector). There is tremendous community support for the library and the campaign to save it, and we know local people will embrace a new community library if, as we hope, we are given the opportunity to run it.

(FKRL have not been asked to comment on the whole of the planing application, only on the space proposed for D1 (community) use in the redevelopment. The Council is consulting the local community about the planning application in the usual way and everyone is free to comment on all aspects of the proposal.)

WE TRUST THAT THE ABOVE WILL GIVE ALL OUR SUPPORTERS AND THE PUBLIC AT LARGE, A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE REASONING BEHIND OUR ADOPTING THIS POSITION AND WE VERY MUCH LOOK FORWARD TO OPERATING A COMMUNITY LIBRARY FROM THE D1 SPACE IN DUE COURSE.

Trustees of Friends of Kensal Rise Library

Smog health warning demonstrates need for European cooperation on pollution

The Government is predicting that Southern England will be hit by high levels of air pollution this week.

According to forecasts from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) the levels of pollutants in the air will be at the highest level possible on the measuring scale.

Forecasts, available on the DEFRA website, show that pollution is set to be at ‘level 10’. At this level of pollution the Government advise people to reduce strenuous exercise and those with medical conditions to avoid activity wherever possible.

Last month one of South East England’s Euro-MPs suggested that free public transport should be made available on days with high pollution to cut the number of vehicles on the road. Keith Taylor, the Green Party’s MEP for South East England, made the proposal after the city of Paris provided free public transport to cut smog levels.

Responding to the latest smog wave Mr Taylor said:

These extremely high levels of pollution highlight just how serious a threat bad air is to our health.

Episodes like this often have a number of contributing factors. What seems clear is that towns and cities across South East England need to reduce the level of air pollution in their streets by cutting the amount of traffic. But on top of that it’s clear that our Government must play a role in pushing for stronger air pollution laws from the European Union, rather than trying to water down the rules we already have.

The air in our towns and cities needs to be cleaned up. To do that we need to reduce the amount of traffic and bring in cleaner alternative transport options. 

This smog, which is affecting Northern France as well as Southern Britain, shows just how important it is that we work with out European neighbours in creating laws that protect our environment and our health.

1)      The pollution forecast is available here: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting/ 
2)      Health warnings for air pollution episodes: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi

London Citizen's Assembly in Willesden on Wednesday

SIR ARTHUR ELVIN, INSPIRATION FOR COPLAND’S NEW NAME, GIVES ARK FOUNDERS SOMETHING TO ASPIRE TO

Guestblog from Neonymph

Last week staff at Copland received a message from the proposed new Head saying that she, with a group of students and staff,  ‘together’ had chosen the new school’s name. (This did seem a little premature to some as Mr Gove has apparently not yet signed the Funding Agreement for the school).  Still, it was refreshing to see that, in choosing a new name,  Ark had put its bad old sham ‘consultation’ days behind it and had involved all the stakeholders in the decision-making process. And the extent of that culture-change should not be underestimated. Only a few weeks have passed since Ark’s control-freak nature was revealed in its decision to entrust the running of the new school only to a current employee of Ark working alongside another current employee of Ark who is a product of Ark’s own  Future Leaders processing  system. 

                                                                                                       So letting the staff and students choose the new school name without any guidance from Ark signals a sea-change comparable to McDonalds suddenly allowing its employees to ignore all they were taught at Burger Academy and to start flipping their patties any old way they fancy. (And if  any cynics out there are still sceptical about how democratically the chosen name was arrived at, the words ‘students and staff’ are employed 4 times in the message, along with ‘unanimous’, ‘we’ and ‘together’ in order to set their minds at rest).                                                                                                                                                                        There’s hope for the future too in the aspirational nature of the name Ark have selected. For Sir Arthur Elvin was a man who came from nothing, came to Wembley as an outsider, built up the old Twin Towers stadium, gave jobs to the unemployed, allowed the community to use the athletics, swimming and ice-skating facilities of the Wembley complex, got his hands dirty with his workers picking up litter after an afternoon event in the stadium in readiness for an evening fixture, treated his employees in exemplary fashion and, according to local historians, had their almost universal  respect and affection.  Anyone looking for an aspirational figure would agree that there’s lots here for Ark’s managers, and particularly the hedge fund fat cats, millionaire Tory party donors  and Boris Johnson bankrollers who own it,  to aspire to. (As well as the kids of course).  

                                                 And the names that didn’t make the cut?:  well, The Bob Crow Ark was never really a starter and the long list of names suggested  by Wembley Matters readers here  LINK

probably  wouldn’t have survived the democratic scrutiny of ‘students and staff’ either.       

           Next meeting ‘we’ decide on Ark’s new ‘Ark Elvin Academy’ logo   ‘incorporating some inspirational features of Sir Elvin’s (sic) life’. Any suggestions from Wembley Matters readers would be very welcome . I’m sure that in their new inclusive, democratic and consultative mood, Ark would be delighted to take them on board.

 Meanwhile Hank Roberts of the ATL has written to Annabel Bates (Headteacher designate) about the way the decision was made:

Dear Ms Bates,

You have informed me, as a member of Copland staff, that you have decided on the name of the proposed ARK academy on our Copland Community school site, to be the 'ARK Elvin Academy'.

May I ask on what basis the committee of four staff and six students, that was set up to consider the new school's name, was selected? For example, did you ask for volunteers, was there any particular qualification, were they picked out of a hat?     

Were the committee given one proposed name, a selection of names or did they put forward their own names for consideration?

I also ask, was the Headteacher Dr Richard Marshall and the senior leadership team consulted and if not, why not? Were the Interim Executive Board (IEB) who are the governing body*, consulted? I know that the staff were not consulted, or asked for suggestions or given any options to take part in what you call “an important step forward .. for our school”. But why not? And is your proposed school logo to be decided by the same select committee?

Is this the manner in which you intend to make important decisions affecting the whole school in the future?  There has been no staff 'buy in' to this decision. Even when the name of a pet dog is being chosen, normally the whole family are involved.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely
Hank Roberts  
Joint Copland NUT Rep and ATL Brent Branch Secretary

 * The IEB remains responsible for school decisions until the funding agreement has been signed

Greens: The debate is over-act now on Climate Change

THE Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report’s stark warnings of the dire consequences of our continuing failure to tackle climate change on planet and people must act as a wake-up call, says the Green Party, the only party with workable policies in place to mitigate the threat and adapt for a sustainable future.

Climate change has already cut into the global food supply and is fuelling wars and natural disasters, but governments are unprepared to protect those most at risk, says the report (1) released today (31 March 2014) from the UN's climate science panel. 

Commenting on the publication today, Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said: 

“The scientific debate is over. Climate change is a reality, here, with us today. Its threat is enormous and can no longer be ignored. 

“On climate change, governments are taking too little action too slowly in part because they are overly and unduly influenced by oil, coal and gas big business interests. In Britain, we also have a government that is incapable of understanding that the old economic model is broken and needs to be radically changed, as it is not only incompatible with dealing with climate change, but also failing to meet people's basic needs.

"The Coalition Government’s flag-waving for fracking, which will only accelerate global warming, is the latest in a long line of destructive decisions driven by corporate interest with scant regard for the negative impact on people and planet.

“Climate change and the state of our environment is going to be one of THE issues of the European election on May 22 – and it’s only the Green group, already the fourth largest in the European parliament – who are going to put it truly front and centre.

“Greens are going to hold firm on fighting for a national renewables target for each European state, demanding that Europe provide global leadership in setting a target of provide global leadership in setting a target of at THE VERY least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and demanding high, binding energy efficiency standards.”

A Green government will take bold, responsible and scientifically credible action to avoid catastrophic climate change. We will apply a contraction and convergence strategy to reduce emissions to a safe and equal per-capita level. Pursuing the necessary annual reductions of around 10% will create many jobs. We will provide free monthly carbon emission allowances and people wanting to use more than their fair share could trade allowances. Total emissions will be capped and will reduce each year in line with our 2030 emission reduction target of 90% on 1990 levels.

Katharine Birbalsingh menaces parents as well as pupils

I have already reported on Katharine Birbalsingh's letter to parents and the infamous black and white shoe lace sermon LINK which made some of them refuse the offer of a place at Michaela Free School.

She is at it again this week in a interview with the Kilburn Times LINK. She puts forward her ideas about education which appear to rest on a model of private education which is pre-Dr Arnold LINK and certainly treats pupils as empty vessels to be filled by their superiors.

“Our ethos is very much about teaching children. We do not believe in teachers being facilitators of learning and that’s too often the case.

“We believe in desks being in rows, children looking to the front at their teachers.

“We believe the teacher is a fountain of knowledge who should impart it onto the children.”

In fact the BKT quotes her as wanting to 'install' values in pupils which makes them sound like machines and not people at all.

The school will offer daily behaviour logs on pupils which they will expect parents to check on a regular basis:

“The idea is that if the child has been listening in class, they will get a perfect score, There isn’t just homework for the children but homework for parents too. If they don’t complete their homework, they’ll be hearing from me.”

It looks as if Birbalsingh's missionary zeal and her Thatcher/Gove conviction that she knows best will be targeted at parents as much as pupils.

Watch this space.

Brent Council's ambiguous approach to immigration

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council acted quickly on the 'racist van' issue and UKBA raids on local stations. He appeared in the media to denounce the impact of such strategies on a diverse community and also condemned the estsate agents who were alleged to discriminate against prospective black tenants.

However, the Council also took part in raids on shop premises in Willesden Green alongside the UK Border Agency and have imposed dispersal orders, support by the police and UKBA on workers waiting for a day's labour in the traditional Cricklewood picking up points.

Now the lead member for Crime Prevention and Community Safety, Cllr Aslam Choudry, has circulated his March Report to councillors that states:

I have received complaints from various people in Mapesbury, Dudden Hill and Dollis Hill wards that there are Bulgarian illegal immigrants sleeping rough in Gladstone Park. This is an ongoing issue but has deteriorated recently. brent Safety, Police and Immigrations department are working together to find a solution. Again this will not be an easy but efforts must be made to ensure the safety issues are addressed.

Bulgarians of course have EU rights as I am sure Cllr Choudry  noticed during the recent UKIP induced media panic. Sleeping rough may be unsightly and inconvenient but is there any evidence of any crime result from sleepers' presence in the park - or is there an underlying assumption that they are criminal in the same way that this was applied to Romanians?  There is even some doubt about the extent of the problem and it would be interesting to see some hard evidence.

It was intersting that Cllr Choudry's email was copied in to Lee Skevington who is not a councillor but Brent Labour Party's borough organiser.