Brent S.O.S, - Donate for the legal challenge

The campaigns to Save Brent Libraries have joined together to mount a legal challenge to Brent's widely criticised closure decision. They are now seeking funds from the public to help mount the campaign. Full details are now on this blog HERE

They deserve your support.

Brent Save Our Six Libraries website HERE

More' YES to AV' votes in Brent than nationally

The result of the referendum on AV in Brent was YES 25,551 (45%), NO 30,941 (55%) compared with 31% and 69% nationally. The turnout in Brent was 31%.

In our neighbouring boroughs only Camden had a majority in favour of AV:

Camden YES 51%  NO 49% Turnout 37%
Harrow  YES 31%  NO 69% Turnout 38%
Ealing     YES 43%  NO 57% Turnout 36%
Barnet    YES 35%  NO 65% Turnout 39%

Brent Battles to Save the NHS

We had a very positive reception from the public at Northwick Park Hospital when leafleting about the public meetings and demonstration in  support of the NHS  (see below). Those most concerned were the elderly, who stopped to talk to us about their concerns that some services would be cut and waiting times  increased, and parents of whose young children needed high quality treatment and continuity of care. The role of private companies, 'they are only in it for the money and not for us' was one comment, was a major focus.

It was significant that the elderly had been around before the birth of the NHS and recognised its achievements. They also acknowledged the gains that had been made in terms of waiting lists and quality of care over the last decade or so and knew what they might lose. When they saw 20-30 year olds refusing the leaflets they remarked that they were a generation that took the NHS for granted and didn't realise what things used to be like and what they stood to lose.

 Click on image to enlarge

Brent Fightback will be leafleting in Central Square, Wembley (next to Wembley Central Station)  this afternoon between 1pm-3pm and will organise further leafleting for the demonstration at the public meeting on May 12th.  Further information from: brentunited@gmail.com or check out Brent Fightback on Facebook.

Chalkhill growing its own, but 'Where's our park?' demand the children

Chalkhill allotment raised bed bag

Greens have long pressed for the opening of more allotments on derelict or unused land so we welcome the Chalkhill allotment project initiated by Metropolitan Housing and supported by Brent Council Ward Working.
Allottees have now got their raised beds which are made from builder's type heavy duty bags. The plots are on the old walkway between the Metropolitan railway line just outside Wembley Park station and Chalkhill Road. The project is part of the MHT's 'Grow Local' project. LINK

I spoke recently to some of the new vegetable growers and they were very positive about the experience and told me how excited their children were at growing their own. They have been given free seeds as part of their 'starter pack' and tomatoes, peppers and corn are already in evidence (cross fingers over the possibility of a cold snap!).  One slight drawback at the moment is that there is no piped water on the site so plot-holder have to bring in their own. The combination of the recent very dry spell and the nature of raised beds means that a lot of watering is required at present.

In contrast another green project at Chalkhill seems to have ground to a halt. At the recent Kingsbury and Kenton Area Forum I asked when work would start and am awaiting a reply from the Council.. I was assured last summer that funding for the new park was safeguarded despite government cuts. Work was supposed to start late last Autumn but was delayed, according to the Council, by the unusually harsh weather. When work didn't start in the early Spring I heard that there was a 'labour shortage'.

The site, as you can see below, is developing into quite a wildlife area and fencing has been broken down in places. As with any such site, fly-tipping is becoming a problem and it is rather a dismal sight for local residents whose children have been badgering me asking when they are going to get their park.

Unless something revolutionary happens quickly there will be no park in place for the children's summer holiday which is really a great shame for children in a high density development with many flats without any garden and where the terraced houses have only very small gardens..

Declaration of interest: I am Chair of Governors at Chalkhill Primary School

Greens now largest party on Brighton Council

The Green Party is now the largest party in Brighton, with 23 seats. It's still five seats short of a majority, but the city that chose Caroline Lucas as the UK's first green MP last year has cemented its support for her party at local level. FULL RESULT

This is the first time a local council in the UK has elected the Greens as the largest party. Brighton and Hove Green convenor Bill Randall said,

The city has listened to the Greens and we have listened to the city.

Greens would now sit down and plan how to take the city forward in these difficult times This is the first time the Greens have been the largest party on any council in the UK and people seem to be  genuinely enthused by the option of a Green-led council.

It's a great result for the city and a huge vote of confidence in the Greens. People went Green across Brighton & Hove. We held all our seats and gained 10 more. We now have 23 Green councillors, making us the largest Green group of councillors in the country.

The next step is for us to talk to other parties about how we will work with them and implement our manifesto pledges at a very challenging time for local government budgets.

We can't say how this will work until we have entered into discussions.
 

Library Consultation Whitewash

To misquote, there are lies, damn lies and Brent Council PR. The May edition of the Brent Magazine contains an article on Brent libraries. In contrast to its coverage of the 'Transformation' consultation it does state clearly that six libraries will be closed but it is the final paragraphs on consultation that will get library campaigners seething:

The consultation ended on 4 March and since then the council has been carefully analysing the results and has taken on board many of the suggestions and views of both library users and non-users.

As well as inviting comments, the council also made it clear that it would be open to any suggestions from groups interested in taking over the control from the council of any libraries threatened with closure.

The council did not of course take on board the views of 82% of consultees that the libraries should stay open and did not publish its criteria for community take over until after bids were submitted. Cllr Powney eventually made it clear that any takeover require the community campaigns to purchase the buildings from Brent, rather more that is implied by 'taking over the control'.

A Cat's Guide to the Referendum

Fur will fly on AV in Mapesbury Tomorrow

Mapesbury Residents Association holds its AGM tomorrow and top of the bill is a debate between Cllr Ann John, Labour leader of Brent Council and Cllr Paul Lorber, leader of the Lib Dem councillors, on Alternative Voting. Ann John and most of her colleagues have rejected Ed Miliband's stance in favour of a YES vote in Thursday's referendum and have publicly urged residents to vote NO. Little has been heard of any Labour dissenters from the John line - she is not well know for letting a hundred flowers bloom!. List of Labour Councillors opposing AV HERE

The current London Green News which we are distributing locally, urges people to 'Vote YES to fairer votes' with a message from Green MEP Jean Lambert saying 'This is an opportunity to move away from our out-dated unfair voting system'.  Greens are in favour of proportional representation and we were frustrated when the other parties blocked our proposal to have PR included in the referendum. At our autumn conference last year members voted to support a YES vote on the basis that AV was an improvement on the present first past the post system, albeit not our first choice.

The argument is that AV will enable people to make a positive vote for the party that they really support. This is a message from Caroline Lucas, Green MP and leader of the Green Party:

Under AV, voters rank candidates 1, 2, 3, etc. People can vote 1 for their first choice candidate, safe in the knowledge that their vote can still count just as strong for their second choice if their preferred candidate is not successful.

AV will therefore reduce tactical voting. This would be a good thing for the Green Party and for our democracy as a whole. It could have a significant impact on the way the big parties and the media approach elections. If people are voting positively, rather than negatively, parties and the media are likely to focus more on ideas rather than the political 'race'.

A Yes vote will also send a clear message to the Government that people want political reform. It will make further reforms, such as an elected upper chamber and voting reform for local elections, more likely. A No vote could set back political reforms by decades as the political establishment would be able to claim that there is no public appetite for reform - which we know is not true.

A No vote is primarily being pushed by the Conservatives, the right of the Labour Party and the BNP. Let's be on the side of progress in this referendum. Let's take the opportunity to make this small but important change to the voting system and send a clear message that we need political reform.

We urge you to vote Yes on Thursday and spread the message to your friends, family and collagues.

We had a good discussion on AV at a recent Brent Green Party meeting and although there was no 'split' there were inevitably differences in terms of enthusiasm for the option being offered. Central to the discussion was a concern that AV could lead to a soggy consensus politics that would blunt the cutting edge of the radical policies needed to combat the real issues facing us such as the need to restructure the economy and to combat climate change. On the other hand increased Green representation would mean that the arguments on these issues could reach a wider audience and our support in a finely balanced result could be decisive.

I will be voting YES on Thursday but won't be cartwheeling into the polling booth!