Wall of Shame around Kensal Rise Library as developer annexes community asset

Gillick's Wall of Shame going up around Kensal Rise Library today

The Bursar of All Souls College, Thomas Seaman, has confirmed that the sale of Kensal Rise Library to developer Andrew Gillick has been completed.

All Souls College therefore has no further role having facilitated Gillick's possession of the site by demolishing the pop up library. They appear to have ignored pleas that the sale should not be completed until police investigations had reached a conclusion.

They have washed their hands of the problem but it won't go away as we wait for confirmation that the police are definitely going to investigate the fraudulent emails in Mr Gillick's previous planning application.

Police may look again at email fraud evidence in Kensal Rise development

The Evening Standard LINK  is reporting tonight that the police are set to launch an inquiry into the fraudulent emails that supported developer Andrew Gillick's planning application for the Kensal Rise Library building.

Hannah Bewley, who reports on Brent for the Harrow Observer, however has uploaded a story LINK that states:

A spokesman for Kensington and Chelsea police, which is dealing with the investigation, said: “Police have been informed that there is further evidence to support the allegation of fraud and are awaiting receipt thereof. A decision whether to progress the allegation will be made after all the evidence has been scrutinised.”

Clearly that raises the question of whether all the information was handed over by Brent Council  or perhaps the 'further evidence' is from individuals whose names and addresses were used without their consent. 

Whatever the case news that the police are now taking the issue seriously after their earlier dismissive attitude is welcome.

Greens: State schools discriminated against by private schools' privileges

Adrian Ramsay, Green Party spokesperson on education has responded to Michael Gove's weekend structures on private schools:

Michael Gove suggests that state schools should try to perform as well as private schools. Has it never occurred to him that the reason why private schools often perform well is that they cream off many of the most privileged pupils, and then provide far more money per head for the education of them than state schools are able to?

Until the injustice is ended of resources being disproportionately directed to the education of the few, in institutions that have tax-privileges, then state schools will never have a level playing-field, and their pupils will always in practice be being discriminated against.

Parents and students join Copland strikers' picket line

Parents demand a voice

Students demand a voice

Photo: Stefan Simms

Parents and students joined striking teachers on the picket line at Copland Community School this morning. Teachers are striking for the 6th time against forced academisation which means a takeover of the school by ARK.

They are calling for an independently supervised democratic ballot over the issue.

Protest: Retired teacher not allowed to help struggling Copland students

Guest blog by ex-student of Copland High School

As an Ex-Copland student, I found it absolutely alarming and ridiculous when I familiarised myself with the manner a previous teacher of mine along with some students are being treated by the senior management of Copland High School. 

Mr. Philip Allman, a renowned ex Politics and Humanities Teacher at Copland High School has been refused the right to voluntarily offer support, help and guidance to struggling  A2 pupils in Year 13. I find it preposterous, that with a challenging Economy, Job Market and ever rising competition in the places at UK Universities, that offering help voluntarily during retirement is neglected by so called caring head teachers. Mr Allman is being  prevented from helping the pupils who had fallen behind offering unconditional support and help in his own time.

His request for access to a classroom on site  has been completely ignored by the management at Copland High School. He has to teach them at another local school 2 miles away !!!!

What I find even more disturbing is that, Mr Allman was a very successful teacher at Copland for the best part of 30 or so years and is now being treated in a disgraceful and disrespectful manner - I have included the email request that Mr Allman sent to Richard Marshall (Current Headmaster of Copland High School), A number of sixth form pupils are having to travel a few miles to the another high school on Friday afternoons leaving them exhausted, mentally and physically fatigued at the end of a long academic week. 

Mr.Allman, retired along with several additional teachers being offered voluntary redundancy last year,He has voluntarily taught a number of Copland students  who had fallen behind in there exams as they had no teacher for over 6 weeks .However he is prevented from providing assistance and support within the school!!!! The Head doesn't seem to care!!

I would strongly request that you email a link to this blog or something similar to as many people as possible, currently at Copland High School, ex-students, teachers in the local borough and senior figures you may know who can make a real influence towards how circumstances such as these, get solved with a positive result. It is of my utmost importance that this issue gets properly resolved, and the management of Copland is exposed to the level that they deserve. 

Yours Faithfully,

Mohammed Fazal Farooq

The emails
 

 As you may know I am  providing  voluntary support and teaching  six Copland Politics A2 students at another location in Brent. I have been doing so following requests from parents and students  on Fridays  since late  October from 3.40-6pm . However, as you can imagine its the end of the week, the students are tired and they have to walk just under two miles to get to the lesson. As a consequence some students do not arrive, depending on the weather,to after 4pm.

I  am now running my own company and thus  have numerous other commitments which prevents me from giving the students any more time other than on Fridays or through email and the phone.

If a classroom could be provided at Copland  immediately after school on Fridays it would save the students a great deal anguish and  hardship and allow me to give them more  supporting time. All I need is a white board  that I can write on and six chairs for the students. Any room would convenient.


Kind Regards

Phil  Allman

Subject: FW: Politics A2 REQUEST

Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2014 10:50:09 +0000

Hi Richard,

I understand you are very busy but I have to assume that your failure to reply to our request via my e-mail below is a no.

That you are not prepared to provide any help or assistance in supporting these students outside your existing commitments and legal requirements.

I hope you will not mind too much if I inform students, parents and interested parties of your non-response as I feel they have a right to know.

Regards

Phil Allman

All Souls shouldn't complete Kensal Rise sale before investigation complete

Guest Post from Meg Howarth

A crucial question now is whether All Souls College (ASC) will proceed to complete its ‘binding agreement to sell’ the historic Kensal Rise Library (KRL) site to Andrew Gillick’s Kensal Properties Ltd (Platinum Revolver in another guise?). Completion of sale was conditional on vacant possession, so once ASC was told the police investigation was off, it appears to have wasted no time in sending in its heavies to demolish the pop-up - thus securing the necessary vacant possession and enabling the sale contract with Mr Gillick to be completed. 

The embarrassment to ASC that will be caused by any re-opening of the fraudulent email inquiry is incalculable, particularly if completion has taken place over the last two days. Already on the defensive because of the adverse publicity surrounding events last Friday, ASC has tried to blame the council for its barbarity, citing a seven-months-old enforcement letter 27 June 2013 to justify its action. LINK

And here’s the text of an even-earlier letter - May 2012 - this time from ASC’s bursar to a horrified newspaper reader who’d contacted the college on hearing of Brent’s own now-notorious dawn raid on the KRL site:

Yes, the College became aware of what happened yesterday and we find it distressing.  We had told the Council that we would have been happy for them to have kept the Library open, possibly through cooperation with the Friends of Kensal Rise Library, who had developed an interesting business plan.

This was not to be however.

The law by which we originally donated the land dictates that the site now reverts to the College’s freehold.  This is not something we ever wanted to see happen, but because it is the law, is something we cannot change either’.

Does this once-prestigious institution, noted for its famous Codrington library, really want to go down in history as the wealthiest of Oxford’s colleges that couldn’t wait to gain vacant possession in a civilised fashion before sealing a deal with its chosen developer who’s not yet been cleared of involvement in the fraudulent email affair? 

‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread’ inevitably springs to mind.

Brent Lib Dems back calls for police to resume Kensal Rise fraud investigation

 Liberal Democrat council group leader Paul Lorber has written to the City of London Police Commissioner, Adrian Leppard , about the failure to pursue the apparently fraudulent emails submitted to Brent Council in support of plans to demolish Kensal Rise Library.

The City of London Police is the lead police force on fraud and works with the National Fraud Authority to deliver the fraud reporting centre Action Fraud, to which the original complaint was directed.

Councillor Lorber said:

“It is in everyone’s interest that attempts to corrupt the planning process are challenged – so we need the truth about these dodgy emails.

“This whole sorry saga – with the all public money it is costing – would never have happened if Labour councillors had not closed Kensal Rise library and then acted to ensure the transfer of the building to All Souls College.

“Brent Council should have kept a community library at Kensal Rise by working with library volunteers and campaigners, as Liberal Democrats said at the time. This would have protected the library from falling into the hands of All Souls College and developers.”

This is the text of Councillor Lorber’s letter to the Police Commissioner:

Dear Commissioner,

As you know, most planning decisions in London are the responsibility of borough councils. These issues are often sensitive and controversial and generate a great deal of interest from the public. It is very important that the process both is and is seen to be open and free from abuse.

If anyone attempts to corrupt the process it is essential that they are taken to task.

It is clear that an abuse of the process happened in the case of the application relating to the Kensal Rise Library building (Brent Council reference 13/2058). Brent Council has gathered evidence and presented it to the police, via Action Fraud, for investigation.

It has been suggested that the police have decided not to take further action because of lack of resources or because this is not their priority.

If so, I consider that this is a wrong decision. Neither local councils nor the police work in isolation. We need to support each other to uphold the law and to eliminate abuses which undermine public confidence in our systems and institutions.

I urge you therefore to ensure that the investigation into the Kensal Rise planning application case is concluded and appropriate action taken.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Councillor Paul Lorber

Lib Dem leader calls for Brent Council to buy back Kensal Rise Library

Councillor Paul Lorber, leader of the Liberal Democratic group on Brent Council, has stepped into the row over the Kensal Rise Library development, pop up library demolition and fake emails.

In a letter to Christine Gilber, Acting Chief Executive, he writes:

Christine

The mess with Kensal Rise was caused by Brent Council firstly by closing the library and then by organising a 2am raid to clear the library of its books.

The local community had the use of the land & building (building paid through donation and local taxation) for over 110 years until closed by Labour Councillors who ignored the views of local people.

Local people asked to be allowed to run their own library this would have been possible while the books were in place and before the building reverted back to All Souls' College Oxford. This was refused and out of spite the Council cleared the books in the middle of the night.

The planning application and the fraudulent emails saga is a consequence of the above and whether the Police investigate or not does not detract from the key issue - which is of course the BUILDING.

It was of course highly irresponsible for the Council to simply 'give away' a FREE building for nothing. The Labour Administration  and your officers have betrayed the Kensal Rise community and let them down.

What Now? The obvious answer and solution is for Brent Council to buy back the property for local community use.

Can you therefore review all available S106/planning gain and other resources available and advise how a repurchase of the property in partnership with local people can be achieved.

I would appreciate an early reply.

Regards

Paul

Councillor Paul Lorber
Liberal Democrat Group Leader