Making hay while the sun shines in Fryent Country Park

I had the first class of the Autumn term in Fryent Country Park today.  The Year Ones were studying seeds and seed dispersal and eagerly searched for seeds and fruits in the meadows and hedgerows of the park and found them in great abundance, although the squirrels seemed to have had all the acorns.

They enjoyed watching a pair of kestrels hovering while hunting over Gotsford Hill and were excited by toads, tadpoles and newts as children have been for centuries.

Walking back across the fields from Kingsbury to Wembley I found hay making in progress.  Few realise that Fryent Country Park is a certified organic farm for hay which is sold off contributing to park expenses. Harvest was delayed by bad weather and sodden ground difficult for tractors to negotiate. Hay prices have gone up as a result but today's crop looked in pretty good shape.

Enjoy the pictures below and reflect on how fortunate we are to still have a little Middlesex countryside in our borough.

This is  a black and white photograph of my Aunt Muriel hay making at Bush Farm in 1942 complete with horse and cart. Today's baling machinery is much more advanced than her pitch fork but the hay left to dry before baling would be familiar.

Anyone wanting to book a class or club trip to Fryent Country Park should go to the Brent School Without Walls website HERE

Northwick Park accounts for 92% of all redirected A&E admissions

Doubts about Northwick Park Hospital  A&E Department's ability to cope now, let alone when other NW London A& E departments are closed have been reinforced by data published after a Freedom of Information request.

Between February and August 16th 2012, there were 49 requested redirections of patients to other hospitals. Of these 45 were from Northwick Park, usually to Central Middlesex which is of course ear-marked for closure. In addition Northwick Park transferred to Ealing, St Mary's, Hammersmith, West Middlesex and Hillingdon. 92% of all redirections were from Northwick Park. Hillingdon and West Middlesex had two planned redirections each. Central Middlesex none.

DCMS not to intervene in Brent library closures

Library campaigners will be disappointed to hear the the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has decided not to intervene in the Brent library closures.

The letter can be accessed below:

Navin Shah: Expecting Harlesden people to use Northwick Park A&E is 'absurd' '

Navin Shah, Londoin Assembly member for Brent and Harrow has published this statement on the closure of Central Middlesex Accident and Emerency unit.

I marched on Saturday (15th September) with local residents to keep Central Middlesex Hospital open.

The NHS plans to demote four hospitals in North West London. The proposals recommend the closure of Accident and Emergency departments at Ealing, Central Middlesex, Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals.

This would mean Hammersmith and Fulham, Brent and Ealing will be without A&E departments, and will affect the provision of health care in North West London. Other departments at risk in the affected hospitals include intensive care, emergency surgery, paediatrics and maternity units.

Neither closing A&E at Central Middlesex Hospital, nor restricting its opening hours makes any sense. From personal experience I can vouch for how overwhelmed and over-stretched the A&E at Northwick Park Hospital is.

Since the very restricted opening of Alexandra Polytechnic the demand on A&E at Northwick Park Hospital has greatly increased. It is absurd to expect residents from the Southern parts of Brent like Harlesden to use Northwick Park Hospital given the, very poor public transport links. I would like this ill conceived closure proposal to be withdrawn, until this happens I am committed to fighting the closure plans to save local health services for the local community.

By Navin Shah AM

Without a risk assessment this NHS consultation is nonsense

The Coalition Government's failure to make public a risk assessment carried out on the NHS reforms created a huge controversy.

NW London NHS has gone one step further by refusing to carry out a risk assessment on the changes to the local health service and hospital provision it proposes in 'Shaping a Healthier Future'. Instead they will do so AFTER the consultation, which means of course that individuals, patient groups, GPs and local councils will not be fully informed of the risks when they submit their views.

What kind of democracy is it when you are unable to put forward an informed view because the decision maker won't carry out a vital assessment of the impact of proposed changes?. Changes which could be a matter of life or death

In case you missed it Rob Sale had a letter published in local papers last week about the issue:

We are writing to alert your readers to the way those pushing through the ‘Shaping a Healthier Future’ changes to our NHS, including closure of the four A&E departments, are refusing to produce a ‘risk register’ for the stated options until after the ‘consultation’ finishes on the 8^th October and the decision has been taken.

This became clear at a meeting of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the eight local councils affected by the proposals held on 2^nd August in Harrow. The Vice Chair of this committee is Brent Councillor Sandra Kabir.

Preparation of a risk register, listing key risks with possible mitigation factors in clear tabular form is a standard tool used in assessing the pros and cons of courses of action. Brent Council has such a scheme in its Corporate Risk Register.

By refusing to carry out this process until AFTER the decision has been taken, the authors of these proposals show their unwillingness to consider the severity of the risk posed to residents by their plans, which clearly could be a matter of life or death. We, the people affected, and our elected representatives are to be deprived of this vital information during the consultation period. This must call into question the will for genuine consultation and, indeed, whether the whole process runs the risk of legal challenge, something we would encourage our Council representatives to investigate.

The Chair of the Committee, Cllr Lucy Ivimy (Conservative, Hammersmith and Fulham) made her position clear in an email to a member of the public who attended the meeting:

‘…for the NHS to produce (a risk register) only after the decision has been taken is extraordinary. The committee will be looking further into various aspects of risk. I am personally concerned that the full impact of the proposed changes has not been made clear in this consultation process’.

We therefore urge the Committee to insist upon risk registers for all of the options including 'doing nothing’ to be provided in advance of any meeting to reconsider risk and these documents should be publicly available. Time is running out.

Robert Sale

On Behalf of Brent Fightback

Wembley Stadium Primary Academy/Free School a step closer?

Wednesday's Brent Executive will discuss a recommendation to acquire a site in Fulton Road, Wembley for a new primary school.  The site is next to the retail park on Engineers Way and is currently occupied by industrial units. The report admits, 'While this may not at first sight be the most prepossessing of sites for a junior (sic) school it could over time become a reasonable school site'.

This is because the draft Wembley Area Action Plan envisages changing current uses to mixed development with a large element of 'residential use'.Quintain estates have submitted sketches that show the school could fit on the site with play areas away from Fulton Road, Quintain intend to redevelop the edges of the retail park for different 'non-bulky' retail uses, parents could use the retail park's car parking to pick up and drop off children, and in the longer term the retail park will be replaced by housing and a park giving 'a much better outlook for the school'.

Brent Council is faced with two options regarding the proposal which relate to Section 106 agreements with Quintain signed in December 2011.

The first option proposes that the Council receives two payments of £1.25m in 2013-14 and 2014-15 which, with any interest must go towards education provision in the Wembley area.

The second option is for the Council to 'purchase' the industrial site, which has the same notional value as the Option 1 payments and so they argue, will be at nil cost to the council. Now holding the freehold they would have until 2030 to construct a school. Meanwhile they would gain rents from the industrial units which, apart from paying for any repairs or improvements, must be used for school provision.

The report says that under Option 2 they could choose to clear the industrial site for affordable housing as long as all proceeds go towards providing school places in the Wembley area.

The controversial issue of Brent Council  going into partnership with a free school provider is touched upon. The report states that the government has made it clear that new schools must be either academies or free schools but notes that 'the council has a period to 2030 in which to build a school on terms which it may support'.

There appear to be some risks inherent in the council's approach to the land acquisition.

Will the current occupiers be able to keep up their rents, maintain their tenancy in the current economic conditions? 

How much of the rent will be used up in repairs and improvements? 

How much compensation would they have to pay to the tenants if they decide to build on the site and will there be sufficient funds available for compensation from the rent the council has collected? 

How contaminated is the land from its previous industrial uses - particularly during the Second World War?

Will Quintain's housing development go ahead given the state of the building and housing market and Quintain's recent move into building student accommodation in the area as a more lucrative market?

 Some of these issues are covered in an Appendix 2 which is not available to the public

Natalie Bennett sets out the Green Party's strategy

Brent voluntary organisations invited to apply for grants

Voluntary organisations in Brent have until 3st October this year to apply for the second round of funding from Brent Council's Voluntary Sector Initiative Fund.

Organisations can apply for cash to finance projects that meet one of the council's five priorities. They are:

• community safety
• regeneration
• supporting children and families and enabling young people to thrive
• improving health and wellbeing
• improving the environment and enhancing Brent's cultural offer.

Voluntary organisations can download an application pack with further information about the grants at www.brent.gov.uk/grantap plication.

In addition, they attend a special workshops which Brent Council is organising to give advice and guidance about the grants.

Call 020 8937 3674 or email SPI@brent.gov.uk to book a workshop place or for more information about the grants. The final close date for applications is 12noon on 31st October 2012.