So what is the Olympic legacy for the people of Brent?

Harlesden street stall

One of many T shirt designs

Kingston

There was a fantastic atmosphere in Harlesden yesterday after Usain Bolt's performance in the Olympics. Along with the recent celebration of 50 years of Independence there was evidence of renewed pride in Jamaican heritage.  Jamaican colours were everywhere in shop windows, street stalls and especially on people,  young and old. Small children carried Jamaican flags and one woman proudly showed me matching green, yellow and black flip flops, t-short and beads.  A grandmother told me how she had let her grand-daughter  stay up to watch Bolt compete and another said that she had recorded everything so that her grandchildren could view the historic moments again and again.

Perhaps what was most impressive was that non-Jamaicans were also celebrating, somehow with Jamaicans such a vital part of Brent's community, we were suddenly all Jamaicans and sharing in the joy.

As last week the euphoria was accompanied by anger by militancy over the potential closure of Central Middlesex Accident and Emergency with many of those signing the petition people who have used the facility and a good few who were also workers at local hospitals.

Mohamed Farah

With daughter Rihanna

 Mohamed Farah's two gold medals are  likely to impact on the Somali community in Brent (putting aside disputes over rival claims from Somalia and Somaliland) and its status in Britain. Farah like many of his generation came to Britain  as a child (at the age of 8) and has built a successful life in London.  Children are likely to identify with his daughter Rihanna as she danced and ran around joyously after her father's victories. Mohamed's self-identification as a UK citizen of Somali origin has significance for the many Brent Somalis who have gained citizenship.

Greeting the Olympic Torch in Forty Lane

When children get back to school in September it will be interesting to see what impact the Olympics have made on them from the initial excitement over the Torch procession (above) through the opening ceremony to the actual events.  I was e-mailed by a German journalist a week or so ago asking about the 'Olympic legacy' in local schools. I am afraid I never replied but I guess the real answer is that it remains to be seen - it is not just the sporting legacy (which must include the success of women athletes) but something much more about children's motivation, how different groups feel about themselves and each other, and the nature of our diverse community.

It is good that these aspects, perhaps sign-posted in advance by the opening ceremony have far out-weighed the impact of the corporate sponsors.

In her poem for the Guardian, Carol Ann Duffy, went further to link the Olympics with broader political issues.

Translating the British 2012

A summer of rain, then a gap in the clouds
and The Queen jumped from the sky
to the cheering crowds.
               We speak Shakespeare here,
a hundred tongues, one-voiced; the moon bronze or silver,
sun gold, from Cardiff to Edinburgh
               by way of London Town,
on the Giant's Causeway;
we say we want to be who we truly are,
now, we roar it. Welcome to us.
We've had our pockets picked,
               the soft, white hands of bankers,
bold as brass, filching our gold, our silver;
we want it back.
We are Mo Farah lifting the 10,000 metres gold.
We want new running-tracks in his name.
For Jessica Ennis, the same; for the Brownlee brothers,
Rutherford, Ohuruogu, Whitlock, Tweddle,
for every medal earned,
we want school playing-fields returned.
Enough of the soundbite abstract nouns,
austerity, policy, legacy, of tightening metaphorical belts;
we got on our real bikes,
for we are Bradley Wiggins,
               side-burned, Mod, god;
we are Sir Chris Hoy,
Laura Trott, Victoria Pendleton, Kenny, Hindes,
Clancy, Burke, Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas,
               Olympian names.
We want more cycle lanes.
               Or we saddled our steed,
or we paddled our own canoe,
or we rowed in an eight or a four or a two;
our names, Glover and Stanning; Baillie and Stott;
Adlington, Ainslie, Wilson, Murray,
               Valegro (Dujardin's horse).
We saw what we did. We are Nicola Adams and Jade Jones,
bring on the fighting kids.
               We sense new weather.
We are on our marks. We are all in this together.

Ed, Dan and Mo and the tale of a library

From the Good Library Blog LINK

A hundred years ago, All Souls College in Oxford, who own land in the area of Willesden in North London, gave a part of it to Willesden Council for the purpose of a public library and reading room

The only condition of the free gift was that the building, which is in Kensal Rise, should remain used in that way.

If it stopped being used like that, then the ownership of building and land would 'revert' to All Souls. The deed which states all this is clear and still exists. The responsibilities that lay with Willesden council have since become responsibilities of the London Borough of Brent 

Earlier this year, in 2012, Brent Council decided - for some reason that is still not completely and properly explained- that it no longer wanted to use this 'Kensal Rise Library' and they removed, in the middle of the night, the council's assets, like books and furniture and art, thus making it, in their eyes, no longer a library.

And so, as the original deed had envisaged, the building 'reverted' to the ownership of All Souls College - who rather to their surprise and astonishment, find themselves with a large building in North London which is currently empty and unused. 

The local people of Kensal Rise in long running despair of the actions of their local council have tried every which way they can to prevent the closure of their library. Their efforts are noble, considerable and now world famous. They include the creation of a community library within the precinct of the building in an attempt to prevent the 'reverter' clause from acting. (the library cat is called Rusty)

One would have thought that the normal response of councillors and highly paid public officials in Brent, to the local people, would have been to be sympathetic, at least, and to explain their reasons and even, if it were possible, to bend their conclusions and plans to try to help meet the desires of the residents.

On the contrary, the constant response of Brent's Labour Council has been to sneer, to deride, to deceive, to dismiss and in the end to behave in the most disgraceful and even disgusting manner possible. The local people in response have only been articulate and polite in their argument for the importance of this and other community libraries.

The council's behaviour indeed, caused sufficient embarrassment in Labour Headquarters, which are not so far away that the waves of public derision passed them by, that both Ed Millband, the leader and Dan Jarvis, the spokesperson for public libraries, weighed in and tried to make it appear all right. They even tried to arrange for some dialogue where very little had taken place beforehand. 

But this has all proved to be water in the sunshine - they were unable to make any difference

To the list of evils for which one must blame all these Labour Politicians and dandies, one must add deep dishonour. 

Brent Council should have returned Kensal Rise Library, if it was going to do that, in at least as good a state of repair as they received it from All Souls 

All Souls are now faced with a repair bill of Five Hundred Thousand Pounds - which is the cost of putting right a building neglected by those people to whom it was given in good faith and trust. 

If Dan Jarvis is to persuade anyone that he is credible in his arguments - and particularly when he accuses others of failing in their responsibilities for public libraries, as he regularly does,- then he and Ed Millband, should tell the Labour Councillors of Brent that good honour and honest behaviour - to say nothing of normal practice in the use of other peoples' property- demands that they immediately make over Five Hundred Thousand Pounds for the renovation of the building that they dilapidated. 

If only all these people were just honest, simple and straightforward there would be no problem with public libraries. Oh I wish

More very large primary schools on their way in Brent

Map of phased developments

Apart from the decision to seek partnerships with free schools and academies (below), another controversial but undebated consequence of the School Review going before the Brent Executive REPORT is to increase the average size of Brent primary schools with some having more than 1,000 pupils (excluding nursery).

I continue with the view that 4-11 year olds need educating in a small and manageable learning community where staff are well-known to them and the geography of the building negotiable.  Such provision will now be rare in Brent with faith schools generally smaller than local authority schools.

There are plans to utilise closed down libraries to form annexes to existing schools, at some distance from the parent school. The Preston Library building will be removed from the Council disposal list to provide extra classes for Preston Park Primary and Kensal Rise Library will be reviewed for additional classes for Princess Frederica Primary.

Following the all-through schools at Ark and Preston Manor primary provision is being considered at Wembley High and Newman College.There is a proposal to co-locate Manor school for special needs pupils on the Braintcroft site where the Braintcroft building would be rebuilt.

The Report does not go into detail about the impact on playground and playing field space available to pupils when the schools are expanded but my Freedom of Information request earlier this year showed a reduction in space per pupil in the recent expansions LINK 

The following details are extracted from the report which includes notes and caveats on each proposal. My capacity figures do not include any temporary bulge classes or nursery classes.

 

Phase 1 by Sept 2013	Current capacity	Future capacity
Barham	630	840
Fryent	420	840
Mitchell Brook	420	630
St Robert Southwell	315	420
Phase 2 by Sept 2014
Wykeham	420	630
Uxendon	420	840
Preston Park	630	1050
Wembley High (new primary on site)	0	840
Vicar’s Green (Ealing)	315	420
Chalkhill	420	840
Harlesden	420	630
St Joseph Primary	420	630
Leopold	420	630
Northview	210	420
Princess Frederica	420	630
Phase 3 by September 2015
Mount Stewart Inf nd Jnr	630	840
Elsley	420	840
Stonebridge	420	630
Malorees Inf and Jnr	420	840
Braintcroft	630	1,050
Carlton Vale Inf and Kilburn Park Jnr	420	630
Oriental City (new primary school)	0	420
Kingsbury Green	630	1,050
Phase 4 between Sept 2016 and Sep 2018
St Joseph Inf and Jnr	420	630
Quintain site-Wembley new primary school	0	420
Our Lady of Lourdes RC	420	630
John Keble C of E	420	630
St Andrew and St Francis	520	630
Newman College (Sec) – new primary school on site	0	420

The report forecasts  a 'significant' shortage of secondary school places by September 2014 and a report on this sector will be tabled in December. This seems rather last minute as the number of pupils in our primary schools has obviously been known for some time.

Brent Council to 'vigorously' pursue free schools

The middle of August is often the time when controversial proposals are published and this August is no exception. The Brent Executive on August 20th will be discussing a major report arising from a comprehensive review of educational provision in the borough.

The issue of free schools has divided Brent Labour Party and the report attempts to satisfy both sides of the debate.

Officers recommend that the Council should 'vigorously pursue' partnerships with free school providers as well as academy providers and notes that any new schools arising from Section 106 agreements with Quintain in Wembley (Fulton Road) and in Oriental City, would, under the current national framework, have to be academies or free schools. Such schools will be necessary because expansion of existing schools is not sufficient to meet anticipated demand and in order to utilise this funding stream to remove the need for prudential borrowing. They say  that the Council would have to be 'extremely careful' about identifying preferred providers and propose the following partnership commitment from potential free school and academies providers:

Academies and free school providers working with the Council will be expected to demonstrate:

1. An absolute commitment to the ethos and values of inclusive education for all Brent’s children and recognition of the positive role schools should play in the wider community.

2. A commitment to a close working relationship with the local authority in order to maintain an appropriate focus on borough-wide priorities, including local authority nomination of a member of the governing body and a commitment to sharing performance information.

3. The ability to deliver school improvement in an urban context.

4. That the establishment of the proposed education provision would be supported by demonstrable parental demand and with a genuine commitment to providing school places for local children.

5. Appropriate staffing arrangements to ensure high quality teaching and learning from qualified staff and good employment practices, including in relation to support and contracted staff.

6. A commitment to meeting the needs of Brent’s diverse community.

7. A commitment to ensuring the future employability of young people (in particular in secondary and 16 to 19) through links with business, industry and higher education.

8. A commitment to community access and use of facilities through agreed extended opening and lettings policy.

9. A commitment to good pupil nutrition and healthy eating.

10. A commitment to inclusive practice and fair access to the school for all pupils as governed by the Admission Code of Practice and the Authority’s Fair Access Protocols.

The partnership commitment clearly addresses concerns over issues such as the employment of unqualified teachers,  working conditions, poor quality school meals and selection. However, Conservative academy and free school advocates are likely to see this as an attempt to get academy and free school funding for 'local authority schools in disguise' - lacking the 'freedoms' that such schools are supposed to enjoy.

Will children lose play and sports space through school expansions and academy conversions?

With the Brent Council Executive due to approve more primary school expansions on August 20th the impact on the amount of play space available to children will be a factor. Some expansions could mean increases in the numbers of children and less overall play space available than at present, while others will add more storeys to existing buildings and maintain existing play space but for increased numbers of children. There has been talk of designing rebuilds with roof top playgrounds that still exist today in some of the Victorian inner city school buildings. It is possible that there will be schemes involving the selling off of existing play space for housing to finance expansion, although that looks less likely following the securing of government funds.

Some secondary schools becoming academies may be tempted to  seek additional capital through selling off some of their land.

School play space and playing fields have become an issue during the Olympics and the Green Party's Children and Families spokesperson has intervened in the debate:

Childhood obesity is linked to a host of illnesses including Type II Diabetes,  Congestive Heart Failure and Cancer. A poor diet and lack of exercise are the main causes of childhood obesity.  Tragically little is being done by the Government to benefit schools in tackling these contributory factors with little spent on nutritious school food and Michael Gove committed to selling off yet more playing fields.

The Green Party believes that it is imperative to preserve children’s playing fields. The Conservative and Liberal Democrats coalition agreed with us in the beginning where they too “pledged to protect these playing fields” .  However, Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove going back on his word and selling these recreational facilities to high paying developers, it is very difficult for children to find an area for them to keep fit.  Ironically only this week  Prime Minister David Cameron expressed concern that too many top British athletes in the Olympics attended private schools, and as a result, we are not as concerned with “sports excellence”   We cannot expect to have children of the future succeed in sports by taking away their venues to practice.

Green Party Green Party Families and Children Spokesperson, Emma Pruen comments:

Sport is essential to the emotional and physical health of the nation, and the well being of children.  Children who participate in sport are proven to be happier and healthier.  Insuring the fitness of our children will save the NHS billions for years to come, yet for all the posturing of our public-school educated government they are still selling off school playing fields and reducing the time available for sporting activities. This is so short sighted it beggars belief.

The rising obesity levels and instances of childhood depression will only get worse if Michael Gove continues with his selfish and short-sighted plans.  Cameron’s pronouncements about public school supremacy are supremely hypocritical when the actions of his education minister will ensure only privately educated children have the teaching and facilities to become our next generation of medal winners.  If we want the playing fields of England to be filled with the next generation of Mo’s and Jessica’s the government must stop selling those fields off to the highest bidder.

 T sign a petition opposing the sell-off of Elliott School playing fields  (where GB women's football star Fara Williams trained) click on this LINK

Stink over Wembley Olympics

We were warned  that clearing the problem at Seneca's Hannah Close Materials Recycling Facility may result in the smell worsening for a short time and that was certainly true this evening.

Olympic passengers on the Jubilee line train I was travelling on sniffed the air as we left Neasden and started giving each other surreptitious  funny looks.  Noses were screwed up, eye brows raised and faces pulled as it dawned on them that perhaps it wasn't a single anti-social individual causing the stink.

Perhaps the driver should have made a public announcement to pre-empt any misunderstandings!

Seneca and parent company were given until tomorrow (Friday) by the Environment Agency to deal with the source of the putrid smell.

Lively consultation on Willesden Green leaves unanswered questions

I started out feeling sorry for Beth Kay from the Brent Council Regeneration Team today as she was once again the council's 'messenger' under fire from many quarters at the latest Willesden Green redevelopment  'consultation'. .This sympathy was reduced somewhat when I heard the presentation and some of her answers to questions.. The Q&A would have gone much better if there had been a neutral chair to keep order and make sure that full answers were provided.

The main feature was the exhibition showing a possible scheme incorporating the 1894 Library. More pictures (above) - more on the Keep Willesden Green blog HERE However Beth gave mixed messages about this. At one stage she had been talkling about dialogue with the community being frustrated by the issue of the the Victorian library and said, "Now the Old Library has been saved we can have conversations about what we want in the new library". However later she said that the retention of the Old Library compromised the scheme, presented challenges and made her nervous in planning terms.

In presenting the results of the top  consultation concerns (Loss of Old Library 45%, Loss of Wiilesden Bookshop 22%, Inadequate parking 18%, Renovation rather than redevelopment 17%, Dislike of design 16%, Insufficient consultation 16%, New building too small 14%, Loss of public space at front of building 14%) she referred to three petitions.  However for the 'Retaining Bookshop' petition and the 'Pause, Listen and Reflect' here presentation only gave the figures for the e-petition, rather than the much larger (sometimes 10 times larger) paper petitions. For the 'Oppose Demolition of the Old Library' petition  the presentation gave both the e-petition and paper petition figures.

I protested that this seriously misrepresented the number of people supporting the first two petitions and she undertook to amend the presentation.

Another conflict arose over the Willesden Bookshop. Beth claimed once again that the bookshop's rent had been subsidised (despite the owner Steve's denial on this blog) and that all bookshops were in crisis. She further claimed that the Bookshop itself had admitted it was not viable. However she said that (yet another) consultant had been appointed to look into the viability of a combined cafe/bookshop.

When it was pointed out that the Willesden Bookshop had now closed despite her presentation stating that the Council was trying to continue non-core services in the interim, she said that the Council was trying to find them premises on the High Road.

Challenged by another member of the audience on the total amount of  money that had been spent on consultants she was unable to provide an answer but implied that Galliford Try was footing the bill.

Questioned about why the planning application had been pulled Beth said this was due to the widespread opposition to the demolition of the Old Library. She did not mention that GLA planners had raised concerns that the proposals did not meet London Heritage policies in meetings with Brent Council officers. With a straight face she stated, "By withdrawing the planning application we have shown it is not a 'done deal' ".

During discussion about why refurbishment of the 1989 hadn't been considered, and when the audience laughed when someone asked 'Who built it if it's no good?" and was answered, to laughter "Brent Council!", Beth claimed that the Chalkhill Estate had been rebuilt and that was the same age as the current library. In fact the old Chalkhill Estate was built in several phases between 1966-70, 20 years earlier than the library.

I did not receive a satisfactory answer to a question about possible conflict over Brent Council's role as instigator of the project, joint partner with the developer, conductor of post partnership public consultation, and decision maker on the planning application. I pointed out that our objections were not just limited to the retention of the Old Library but also concerned the loss of open space, the fact that the housing was unaffordable, loss of bookshop and the provision of council offices, none of which were to be consulted on. Keep Willesden Green had wanted the Council to start again from scratch and involve local people from the start. Beth angrily stated that the provision of council offices was a matter for the council and nothing to do the public, only the Council  knew what they needed.

In the light of the above I asked that Keep Willesden Green be given the space to make their case to the public in the interests of openness and democracy.  To rumbles of disagreement she said that she did not think KWG was representative but added that it had been added to the list of special interest  groups to be consulted in September.   She responded more positively to a suggestion that there should be an ongoing  group to work on the proposals, possibly as part of the Willesden Town Team, or as a separate group.