Councils can waive Council Tax if people left without 'reasonable' amount to live on

As odium descends on Brent Council over its Council Tax summonses and a recent attempted eviction, Sarah Cox has circulated some useful advice from Tax Payers Against Poverty LINK

Councils can exercise discretion to waive Council Tax payments if people would be left without a 'reasonable' amount to live on - but Councils don't appear to tell the people affected that this is the case. Full details are on the website above but here are the main points:

The Council will not tell you:

1. That they have the discretion to write off the tax for vulnerable and impoverished people  under clause 10 (1) 13A (1) of the Local Government Finance Act 2012. It is necessary for the council tax benefit claimant to write a letter to the council setting out their financial circumstances, all debts, and all relevant information such  as health/disability. Payment of the bedroom tax, rent due to the overall benefit tax and the rent due to the housing benefit tax would be relevant.

2. That the bottom line is the income left after rent and council tax needed for food,  fuel, clothes, transport and other necessities; that has to be a reasonable amount if councils (and jobcentres) abide by the Wednesbury Principles as required by law and endorsed by coalition ministers.

3.That page 9 of the National Standards for Enforcement Agents, published by the Ministry of Justice in 2012,  sets out a procedure for bailiffs to return vulnerable cases from the door step to all creditors, including councils for council tax and courts for fines. A change of circumstances since the debt, fine or council tax arrears were incurred is another reason for applying page 9 procedure.

This should get Chalkhill residents on their bikes!

The site plan

The BMX track

The scooter track

The planning application for a family cycling facility at St David's Close (Chalkhill Sports Ground) has now been posted on the Brent Council website LINK and it looks well thought out and very exciting. A lot of thought has been put into making the facility both safe and challenging and the noisiest track is well away from the houses next to the railway track.

 The initial deadline for comments is November 20th 2013 and the planning officer is Matthew Harvey: matthew.harvey@brent.gov.uk

Only two comments so far appear on the website. One is a simple objection while the other states:

Support: I currently live in a neighbouring borough and would be prepared to cycle 3 miles here to use this facility. I have grown up riding BMX in East London and moved to North London recently I have seen the benefits first hand of what places like this can do for local kids and communities. I've seen kids from all kids of backgrounds become friends, avoid turning to crime and help stay healthy because they had somewhere to go and something to do on the weekends.

I hope there will be similar positive comments from local residents including children.

This is a summary of the facilities from the Planning Application:

Family Cycle Trail

The Family cycle trail will be a ‘Green Grade Trail’ based on the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s (IMBA) grading of routes/trails. The difficulty level of the proposed trail equates to ‘Leisure and Easy’ and will be built to IMBA Standards for Green Grade Trails. 

The Family Trail (Green Trail) will snake its way around the Sports field as indicated on the design. Boulder stones will be placed to add features to the trail and help create a natural segregation from riders and pedestrians. Best possible use will be made of existing land forms and features onsite. All aspects of the trail will be integrated into the exiting land forms as much as possible for example elevations and deviations of the existing parkland.

BMX Track

The proposal relates to the creation of a BMX Track facility to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) and British Cycling standards. Further, a post installation inspection will be carried out before the facility is handed over to ensure it meets the standards and safety parameters set by British Cycling and ROSPA

The proposed design has been created to suit all abilities of riders from beginners to experts as all obstacles are to be 'rollable', meaning not so confident riders can roll over each obstacle and still carry sufficient speed for the next. The nature of the obstacles and angle of the berms will allow more experienced riders to carry further speed and negotiate the obstacles in a number of different ways. Each element of the track will be progressive and allow riders to increase their skill level during each visit.

The Start Hill has been positioned to be easily accessible from the entrance to the area. This helps to reduce conflict between riders as well as other users of the sport ground as the easiest way to the track

start it the most desired route. 

The position of the Start Hill also helps to reduce the possibility of riders crossing the track as the Start Hill is the area riders congregate and when positioned as close to the entrance as possible riders are magnetized towards the correct starting position before riding the track. The Track start slope is low to help control the speed of riders entering the first straight. This will give less skilled riders the confidence to try the track as they will not be entering th e obstacles at great speeds. The obstacles have also been designed low. This keeps the speed controlled by not allowing riders to gain lots of speed from long down slopes which high jumps would allow. 

Inexperienced riders can roll each obstacle safely whilst still carrying enough speed to negotiate the next. The track will also be of interest to more experienced riders as they can try to ride the track in different combinations and carry extra speed round the berms. 

Scooter Track

The Scooter Track will be placed at the end of the asphalted access path to the area to allow for ease of access by the users such as young children and families. 

These asphalted access paths will allow users of scooters and other small wheeled bikes ease of access to the Scooter track as they will be of a smooth finish.

The access path will cross over the start or return of the family cycle trail. this will be negotiated with the use of stone boulders to slow both riders on the family trail and users of the scooter track by means of a squeeze area. 

The Scooter Track itself will consist of small low obstacles linking from one to another. There will also be a low start hill to allow riders to gain sufficient speed to negotiate the obstacles along the Track. The entire Scooter Track will be finished in asphalt to allow a smooth finish for the small wheeled Scooters and Bikes. The smoother the finish the easier smaller wheels will be able to travel over the surface. 

Storage Container

The storage container will be supplied to provide a future cycling club valuable storage space for equipment such as bikes, helmets and other safety equipment.

Floodlighting is not proposed and the lack of this provision should minimise recreational noise during the hours of darkness.

Sabina Khan and Zaffar van Kalwala move ahead in the Brent Central race

Sabina Khan has overtaken Dawn Butler in the number of ward nominations for Brent Central tonight having been chosen by both Welsh Harp and Dudden Hill.  Zaffar van Kalwala got the male nomination in Dudden Hill and Dr Sundar Thava the Welsh Harp. Kalwala now has four nominations, equal to Dawn Butler, with Sabina Khan one ahead on five.

Patrick Vernon was a strong runner up in both Mapesbury and Dudden Hill.

Kingsley Abrams has been nominated by the GMB Central London Branch.

Tony McNulty and Sabina Khan were nominated by the Cooperative Party.

Ward Nominations Complete List
.

Ward	Female nomination	Male Nomination
Tokyngton	Dawn Butler	Zaffar Van Kalwala
Stonebridge	Butler	Kalwala
Harlesden	Butler	Kalwala
Willesden Green	Sabina Khan	Imran Ahmed
Kensal Green	Khan	Parmijit Dhanda
Dollis Hill	Butler	Liaquat Ali
Mapesbury	Khan	Mike Katz
Dudden Hill	Khan	Kalwala
Welsh Harp	Khan	Dr Sundar Thava

Cooperative Party nominates Khan and McNulty for Brent Central

Away from the ward nominations Labour Party affiliates also nominate their preferred candidates for the Brent Central parlimentary candidature.

The Cooperative Party has nominated Sabina Khan and Tony McNulty.

'Consultation': An Anthropologist Explains

Guest Post from 'Malinowski'

From today's Wembley and Willesden Observer

As Copland Community School begins its Academy 'Consultation', interested parties, or anyone with a passing interest in cultural relativism, might like to know what this 'consultation' business is all about, and in what ways it differs from  our everyday, common-sense understanding of what consultation might mean.

The first thing to remember is that, in certain advanced societies, 'consultation' is a word with a specific cultural meaning. Put simply, it describes a period of time which begins at a certain point and then ends some time later. The period in between these points is called a 'consultation period'. (Indeed, the ancients used to measure time and age in 'consultations' and would refer to an elder of the village as 'a wise man of four score consultations').

Current custom demands that the 'consultation' must not begin unless and until its subject's outcome has been decided; (and commonly,as in the case of the current Copland 'consultation',  not until the outcome has actually been announced and published to those affected by it). 

 The 'consultation' itself involves various traditional 'consultative' activities and behaviours which are of no more than ritual significance  but which are nevertheless strictly observed, especially by those who have previously decided or approved the outcome, (invariably those of higher status within the group's power hierarchy).

Those occupying lower positions in the  pecking order are also encouraged to take an active part (or 'participate') in these ritual behaviours as tradition has it that this gives them 'ownership'  of the pre-ordained outcome.

As 'ownership' of any kind (especially 'private') is a high-status concept in such groups' belief-systems, this can be seductive to the more suggestible members of the group and conformity is further reinforced by the fact that  to point out the fatuity of the 'consultation' is regarded as taboo within the community and can lead to the disapproval or opprobrium of the community elders and their more compliant subjects.

In societies which practise it, the 'consultation' phenomenon is most commonly observed during what is called the 'planning' period, (named thus because it occurs after all the plans have been made).  Members of the public who unexpectedly come upon a group engaged in a 'consultation exercise' ( so called because it involves the expenditure of a great deal of energy to no particular purpose )  are advised to remain at a respectful distance from the participants but can be confident that they are perfectly safe.

Despite the solemnity and sometimes alarming  vigour with which the 'consultation exercise' is apparently being performed, the moment it is over observers may rest assured that life will calmly carry on as if the whole process had never ever actually taken place.

Further advice for travellers likely to be visiting communities where 'consultations' are prevalent can be found at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.

Hey Mr Boris - Brent Elders rap the Mayor over road crossing times

4 OUT OF 5 OLDER PEOPLE CAN'T CROSS THE ROAD AT THE LIGHTS? IT'S TRUE!

"'Most Older Pedestrians are unable to cross the road in time: a cross-sectional study', has compared the walking speed of the older population in the UK (aged 65 and over) with the speed required to use a pedestrian crossing. Currently, to use a pedestrian crossing a person must cross at a speed above 1.2 metres per second. 76% of men and 85% of women age 65 and over have a walking speed that is well below the required speed of 1.2 metres per second. "

From Science Daily 14 June 2012, (study originally published in Age and Ageing June 2012). Research led by Dr Laura Asher of the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health at UCL (University College London)

HEY MR BORIS is one of the many projects run by Elders Voice. We believe that using music and humour has been an excellent way of highlighting society's neglect of this life-or-death issue for older people. We run projects in Brent and beyond with and for older people. eldersvoice.org.uk.

Lyrics and music Clair Chapwell

Mapesbury go for Katz and Khan for Brent Central Labour nomination

Th provisional ballot results for Mapesbury ward's nomination for Brent Central Labour Parliamentary Candidate  are Sabina Khan for the female candidate and Mike Katz the male candidate.

This leaves Dawn Butler one ahead of Sabina Khan across the wards and Zaffar van Kalwala as the only male candidate backed by more than one ward.

Dudden Hill and Welsh Harp decide tomorrow.

Angie Bray MP supports Brent's concern over Harlesden Incinerator pollution

Angie Bray, Conservative MP for Ealing Central and Acton has spoken out against the proposed 'Harlesden Incinerator' LINK

Following the deferral of the item which was due to be discussed in about an hour at Ealing Planning Committee she publishes the speech she had prepared to deliver:

I have been keeping a concerned eye on some of the pollution issues affecting the different parts of Acton for some time. These include the pollution generated by the Horn Lane site, the problems emanating from the Powerday site and the natural concerns that local residents have around the fact that five sites have been identified for waste disposal around Park Royal.  Clean Power's application comes on top of all of this.

My first concern was immediately created at the meeting I had with Clean Power in Parliament, when they came to brief me on their proposals. I asked whether their application was to run one of the five waste sites whose location had been identified by the Council around Park Royal, as part of the Mayor's London Waste Plan. Imagine my surprise when they clearly had no idea what I was talking about. Later it transpired that they were actually proposing to establish potentially a sixth waste site in this corner of my constituency. Obviously, no one expects that the five sites identified by the Council will all be used, but this addition to those that may be would still add substantially to the problems that would be faced by the community - not least: pollution, odours, transport congestion and noise.

My next concern, following on from what I've just said, is that the residents' community in North Acton, who are living alongside Powerday, would, were this application to succeed, find themselves literally wedged between two major waste disposal sites. I don't think any of us would disagree that Powerday is the source of continual problems for local residents, however much the management say otherwise and indeed work to ameliorate the odours and general pollution. There have been times in particularly hot weather where residents are unable to open their windows - such is the stink caused by the site. And then of course there are rats and do I need I go on...

So is it reasonable to expect residents to have to live with yet another waste disposal site - anaerobic digestive or otherwise - just to the other side of them?

Obviously too there will be the nature of the waste traffic. Residents have had to get used to the traffic generated by Powerday's and the Freightliner site's existing operations, but is the Council really going to expect them now to tolerate even more waste lorry traffic that will inevitably arrive as a result of the operations by Clean Power? How much more heavy traffic is this part of North Acton able to sustain without an intolerable impact on the lives of the local residents?

What has been striking to many of us, which I list as my third concern, is the lack of evidence that Clean Power is able to produce to demonstrate how well their operations work on other sites. Clearly, if we had been able to see happy residents close by to a Clean Power site, then that might have helped to allay fears.  But when I go on their website, all I see is a list of would-be sites, which they hope to develop in the future.  Surely the Council will require better evidence than that?

My fifth and final question is about the choice of the site itself. As I understand it, this site is currently safeguarded for HS2.  Now I recognise that there has been much debate about HS2 - and there may have been some who thought that the cross-party support for the project was breaking down - however, last week in Parliament all parties lined up with very few dissenting members, to support the HS2 project going forward. It strikes me that this site will remain HS2's as the project is unrolled. 

So why is Ealing Council even taking time to consider this proposal when we all know that the safeguarding by HS2 remains firmly in place, as does the project itself? As things stand, there is no site for Clean Power to develop, so can we just recognise reality and put a stop to any further blight of this kind on local residents? I notice Brent is focusing very hard on the pollution aspects of this proposal, and both Brent and Ealing pollution experts are calling for rejection of the plan.  I would like to add my voice to theirs.”