Community Channel airs Brent Libraries report on Monday

London 360 airs on Community Channel Monday 16th January - 7am, 12pm and 7pm.

The Community Channel will be airing a report on Brent Libraries on Monday just before the Council considers the Willesden Library Regeneration report.  The Community Channel team of young volunteers were unable to interview Cllr Lesley Jones when they attended the demonstration at Willesden Green Library last week because she was 'too tired' after her morning surgery to talk to them.

Programme Notes: Libraries
There’s been some controversy around the state of local libraries all over London. With several under threat due to redevelopments and budget cuts. Christinah Adegasoye went down to the borough of Brent to investigate what impacts these cuts are having on local residents.

The Community Channel is available on Freeview Channel 87, Sky 539, Virgin 233 and BT Vision

Let's see Michael Gove teach this!

There are certain topics in primary teaching that can leave both us and the children floundering in a morass of mutual incomprehension. Explaining the movement of the earth around the sun and its relationship with the seasons is one - another is telling the time (analogue). I often refer to Dave Allen's sketch about this when talking to teachers about the difficulties and pitfalls of primary teaching. Always watch out for the deceptively simple topic and even worse the deceptively simple question, "Why?" particularly when being observed by Ofsted!

This sketch still makes my head start aching after a couple of minutes as I relive some similar experiences.

Chalkhill kids let down yet again by park delay

The park site - no 'New Dawn' here

Cllr Powney has accused me recently of being 'grumpy' but the latest news from Brent Council has transformed me into the full Victor Meldrew: 'I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THE NEW CHALKHILL PARK HAS BEEN DELAYED YET AGAIN.'


In October 2011 I blogged LINKthat after a meeting with Cllr Powney (lead member for the environment)and Gerry Kiefer, head of Sports and Parks, we were assured that the delayed Chalkhill Park would be ready by May 2012.  Earlier in the year children from Chalkhill School Council had lobbied ward councillors after repeated delays and this was taken up by the wider community of children and youth on the estate during the summer holiday. They were all angry that once again Chalkhill young people had been deprived of a park during the long summer holiday. They were determined that they would have a park by Summer 2012.

When I saw that no work had started after the forecast delay of 4-6 weeks I started nagging the ward councillor in my role as Chair of Governors of Chalkhill Primary School. 

Chris Walker, head of planning wrote to all the interested parties yesterday to say that it had been anticipated that work would start in December 2011/January 2012 (more than 4-6 weeks behind) but that now the contract will be not be awarded until March 2012 with a six month contract to completion. On my reading this means that the park will not be completed until at least September 2012 leaving the local kids with no park for yet another summer.

Mr Walker explains that this is because all the tenders submitted in the autumn were unaffordable without reducing the park specification and that it became apparent that they did not fully comply with the Council's internal standing orders - so they are going out to tender again 'and hope that this time we will receive affordable and suitable tender submissions'. Even that sounds pretty uncertain...

Chris Walker  says he realises the situation will be a big disappointment but says that the Council is doing all it can to minimise delays.

All sorts of questions are raised by this debacle, not least over whether the Parks Service itself, if it hadn't been drastically cut, could have got a park up and running but also what this means for the Council's current Parks Review which, amongst other options, is looking at the possibility of privatisation of the Service.

After last summer's events across the nation Brent Council had better takes positive steps to ensure it is not a long hot summer on Chalkhill. They could at least get the BMX track cleared at St. David's Close and fast-track plans for a possible skateboarding installation.

The councillors who represent Chalkhill (which is part of  Barnhill Ward) can be contacted via their website BARNHILL-NEW DAWN (sic). No mention of this news there.

You can write direct to the councillors at their e-mails below:

 cllr.abdifatah.aden@brent.gov.uk; cllr.judith.beckman@brent.gov.uk; cllr.shafique.choudhary@brent.gov.uk;

Teachers-inspire your kids on Martin Luther King Day with these songs

Monday is Martin Luther King Day in the US. As a gift to all my primary teacher colleagues out there here is a great link which Nick Grant of the NUT drew to my attention.The Nation has uploaded songs (some with visuals) of the 10 Best Civil Rights Songs. Save yourself a bit of planning, load them up on your whiteboards and inspire the kids!

LINK

Brent IS London's Dirtiest Olympic Borough

When street sweeping was cut I predicted the Brent could become 'London's Dirtiest Olympic Borough' and sadly my prediction appears to have come true. Alongside the litter there appears to have been an increase in the number of mattresses dumped on the street. I suspect that some of these may be the result of evictions from short-term property lets. All these images were taken recently.

Brent CAB appeals for Winter Warmth donations

Brent Citizens Advice Bureau, in conjunction with the Tricycle Theatre and with the support of Joanna Lumley, is asking generous Brent pensioners to donate their winter fuel payments to the CAB’s Winter Warmth Fund.

This year, Brent pensioners aged over 80 will receive a winter fuel payment of £300, while those aged under 80 will receive £200. The payments are not means-tested, so go to all pensioners, irrespective of their wealth.

Brent CAB’s Winter Warmth Fund has been running since 2008 and helps vulnerable Brent CAB clients each year with by giving them a donation of up to £200 directly payable to their fuel supplier.

Over a period of three years the bureau has allocated a total of £7,300 to 38 families and individuals in need.

The beneficiaries are people who are affected by fuel poverty: in particular those with a long-term illness, elderly people and families with young children. Brent CAB assesses the impact the money will have on their financial difficulties before choosing a client to donate to.

Nationally, celebrities such as Sir Terry Wogan and Helen Mirren are supporting a similar campaign – the Surviving Winter appeal - which calls on those who do not need the money to donate it to a fund for those in greater need over the winter.

Fuel poverty (people spending 10% or more of their income in heating) is a growing concern in Brent. Every year 50 people die in Brent because of the cold weather. This is more than three times the national average. This is why Brent CAB has opened their Winter Warmth fund for a fourth year running and is urging Brent residents for donations.

You can donate by sending a cheque payable to “Brent Citizens’ Advice Bureau” to Winter Warmth Fund, Brent Citizens Advice Bureau, 270-272 High Road, Willesden, London, NW10 2EY. Alternatively you can contact Fernando Ruz on f.ruz@brentcab.co.uk or 0208 438 1214.


A Brent student with a young child who received a Winter Warmth donation last year said, “The grant was extremely helpful as I live on a ground floor flat with my child and it is very very cold. Without the money I would not have been able to pay my heating bills”.

Another recipient last year had been waiting 4 months for HMRC to pay her owed Child Benefit and Tax Credits and was in severe financial difficulties. She said, “I would like to thank you for helping me pay my gas bill, it is great that people in need can turn to you. I am very happy that I could pay for heating for me and my seven children.”

One recipient of the award last winter was a single parent working part-time supporting three young children including a baby. He had a fuel bill of £745 which he was finding very difficult to pay and was therefore very grateful for the grant. Another recipient had a 7 month old baby and had no money for her prepayment meter to heat her flat. So she was immensely grateful for the £200 grant, which was paid directly to the meter, as otherwise she would have had no heat.

Save Willesden Bookshop - sign this epetition

Waiting for the bulldozers

Readers will be aware that Brent Council is planning to redevelop the Willesden Green Library Centre and has allocated no space in the new development for the Willesden Bookshop which is the gateway to the present site.

I will be speaking on the issue at the Brent Executive on Monday and have set up an epetition calling for Bookshop, who have been given notice to quit by April 17th, to be allocated pace in the new development.

Signing the petition is an easy process - just follow this LINK

We the undersigned petition the council to to include retail space for the Willesden Bookshop in the proposed Willesden Green Cultural Centre which is to replace the Willesden Green Library Centre.

Plans for the new centre make provision for a cafe so why should there be no space for a bookshop? Alongside any proposed café this would provide a similar mix on a smaller scale to that provided at the South Bank Centre.

The Willesden Bookshop is:

• A successful small business with an excellent record in serving the needs of the local community and providing employment.
• An invaluable resource and support to local schools with nationally recognised expertise in catering for a diverse pupil population
• A positive cultural force in the borough through its encouragement of local authors and events such as Black History Month
• Able to enrich activities at the Cultural Centre, linking its stock with particular events and reflecting the diversity of the local community. 
• An exemplary long-term tenant of Brent Council.

Started by: Martin Francis

This ePetition runs from 12/01/2012 to 21/02/2012.

Green Party Slams HS2 Decision

John Whitelegg, Green Party spokesperson on sustainable development, has posted this on the Huffington Post:

The government has finally announced its decision to proceed with a new high speed railway line between London and Birmingham known as HS2. This is a brand new railway line that is designed to run at 250mph/400kph and because of the high speed which means the need for straight sections and avoidance of curves it is especially destructive of the countryside though which it passes. This remains the case in spite of additional tunnelling.

The whole project is characterised by overblown rhetoric about economic growth, reducing the north south divide and making the nation more prosperous. It is of course nothing like this at all. It is a very expensive, very environmentally damaging, very badly thought through transport project. It is one of the most expensive transport projects supported by any government over the last three to four decades and has the weakest justification, business case and rationale.

The project relies on the incredible notion that the time savings for high income passengers translate into huge economic gains and in some mysterious way propagate prosperity and happiness along the viaducts, through the tunnels and along the 75 metres swathe of concrete, overhead wires, access roads and electrical gear that race though Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.

Credibility levels are under more pressure still when it becomes clear that the monetary value of time savings amounts to such a big number because of the assumption that the time spent on these trains is non-productive time. In the parallel universe of high speed rail no one uses lap tops, mobile phones and other technology to get on with work. The forecasts of future demand levels for business travel take no account of the rapid spread of video-conferencing and other technologies that substitute electronic communication for physical travel.

The deeply offensive consultation on HS2 gives the game away. The most important things were not consulted on at all. The massive scale of the environmental damage caused by HS2 is the result of a design that specifies 250mph/400kph running. Faster running requires more engineering and straight lines than a lower design speed. We were not consulted on the route when there are other options that could be used e.g. following motorways. We were not consulted on more fundamental options e.g. if we want to create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions then how does a complete electrification of the UK railways system stack up by comparison?

Supporters of HS2 have linked the project to a low carbon transport future and then revealed the true nature of the project which is simply about encouraging more long distant travel and more carbon emissions. HS2 sits alongside an assumption that long distance car travel will increase 44% by 2033 and air travel by 178% by the same year. The new line will produce an 8% shift away from air and the same away from car. This is just not good enough for such an expensive project and does not deliver climate change or sustainable development objectives.

The starting point for any large transport investment is how it sits within a vision of what kind of society and economy we are trying to shape. The Green Party is very clear on this and we want strong city regions with highly integrated transport systems as good as Zurich or Basle or Frankfurt stretching for at least 50kms around all our major cities. We want excellent inter-city linkages between places like Liverpool,Manchester and Leeds, Liverpool and Glasgow and Exeter, Bristol and Birmingham.

We want excellent rural public transport so that there is a real choice between the car and its alternatives. We want a transport system driven by social justice and fairness and providing high quality choices to all income groups and all localities. HS2 is a rich person's railway and the government knows that spending public money on something that simply will not be used by the bottom 50% of income bands is a reverse Robin Hood strategy. It is a socially regressive project.

At a time of massive cuts in public expenditure and a desperate need to upgrade our big city public transport systems so that they can stand comparison with Frankfurt, Zurich and Vienna the support given by labour, conservative and lib dem politicians to this large scale vanity project is obscene. I challenge all those politicians who support HS2 to go out onto the streets and ask real people to choose between spending £17 billion on reducing the journey time for wealthy rail passengers between London and Birmingham by 23 minutes and all the other things we could do for that pot of money.