Why Friends of Kensal Rise Library accepted developer's offer of space

In this guest blog the Trustees of  Friends of Kensal Rise Library explain why they they decided to accept the developer's offer of space in the building.

Many of you know that the FKRL Trustees recently decided to support the community (D1) aspect of the library building's re-development. We signed an agreement in good faith with All Souls College and the developer to this effect, trusting this would strengthen our position as future operators of the library and community space.

The proposal provides approximately two thirds (186m2) of the ground floor for community use, with FKRL as the 'preferred' tenants. The London Evening Standard called this: 'a landmark agreement with developers that could save Kensal Rise Library' (25th March 2014).

We feel you should know how we came to make this momentous decision and the factors that we were obliged to take into account.

Throughout almost four years of campaigning and negotiating, initially with Brent Council, and more recently with All Souls College and the developer, FKRL's objectives has been, and will remain, to re-establish a library and community space in the building. We trust and hope that our decision offers the community the best chance of this.

The decision is not without risk. However, there were risks involved in the other options open to us which we ultimately rejected. These included the following:

1. HOLDING OUT FOR MORE SPACE

• The provision of rent-free space is an important factor for the sustainability of a community library. The current proposal is for rent-free community space, as this forms part of the agreement between All Souls College and the developer. Even if further space were to be available for community use, there is no guarantee that it would be rent-free.
• Although the upstairs parts of the library were used for archive and staff purposes until the library closed, the ground floor is the only part of the library that has been accessible to the public in recent years, and planning officers noted and remarked on this when we met them in October 2013.

2. TRUSTING IN ACV

• FKRL worked hard to persuade the Council to protect the entire building as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) in 2012. Just before the Council designated it as an ACV the College and the developer entered into a binding agreement that meant the moratorium period of six months that we might have used to prepare a bid for the building could not apply.
• We may have prepared a bid to buy the building, but there would have been no obligation on the College to accept our bid.
• If change of use from community to part-residential/part-community use was refused and the whole building remained in D1 (community) use as an ACV, the developer could rent it out for other community uses: for example, as a religious place of worship, doctor's surgery, or school. The planning process cannot dictate that the community space must be used as a library.
• There is no guarantee that any of the space will be used for a library or for anything that this community might want or need, nor who will be able to use the space.
• ACV does not determine ownership. The owner remains the same. The community does not own the building.

3.  HOPING THE PLANNING APPLICATION IS REJECTED

• If the most recent planning application is rejected, the developer could go to Appeal or submit another planning application. This could continue for years, during which there would probably not be any community access to the building.

4. HOPING THE DEVELOPER SELLS THE BUILDING

• If the developer decided to sell the building, substantial seven figure sums would be needed not only to purchase but also to refurbish. The developer would be under no obligation to sell it to FKRL or to the community.
• There is no guarantee that any new purchaser would be obliged to grant a rent free space space to the community.

FKRL made their decision after very carefully analysing the risk of losing the space proposed in the latest planning application, We have always endeavoured to act fairly, honestly and openly in our negotiations with the other parties and have entered into this agreement in good faith.

Kensal Rise Library's last librarian - before it was closed - said of FKRL's achievement and of the space currently on offer:

I'm sorry you weren't able to get as much space as you wanted, obviously the more the better. I think though that you've still got enough space to have a really good community library. There are certainly nice libraries that are smaller than the area you've got.

You have done a fantastic job in my opinion in saving the library. I really hope that as a group you don't let any disappointment about not getting everything you wanted overshadow what you have achieved. The odds were stacked against you and the people running Brent Libraries were determined Kensal should close. I'm sure that you will make a success of running the library. It really will be valued by local people after the fight that has been put up to save it.

Karl Hemsley (25 March 2014).

We are encouraged by the support of the Lead Member for Libraries at Brent Council, Cllr Roxanne Tessa Awe, Mashari, and by the present and future backing of Ms Tessa Awe, CEO of Brent CVS (Community, Voluntary Sector). There is tremendous community support for the library and the campaign to save it, and we know local people will embrace a new community library if, as we hope, we are given the opportunity to run it.

(FKRL have not been asked to comment on the whole of the planing application, only on the space proposed for D1 (community) use in the redevelopment. The Council is consulting the local community about the planning application in the usual way and everyone is free to comment on all aspects of the proposal.)

WE TRUST THAT THE ABOVE WILL GIVE ALL OUR SUPPORTERS AND THE PUBLIC AT LARGE, A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE REASONING BEHIND OUR ADOPTING THIS POSITION AND WE VERY MUCH LOOK FORWARD TO OPERATING A COMMUNITY LIBRARY FROM THE D1 SPACE IN DUE COURSE.

Trustees of Friends of Kensal Rise Library

Smog health warning demonstrates need for European cooperation on pollution

The Government is predicting that Southern England will be hit by high levels of air pollution this week.

According to forecasts from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) the levels of pollutants in the air will be at the highest level possible on the measuring scale.

Forecasts, available on the DEFRA website, show that pollution is set to be at ‘level 10’. At this level of pollution the Government advise people to reduce strenuous exercise and those with medical conditions to avoid activity wherever possible.

Last month one of South East England’s Euro-MPs suggested that free public transport should be made available on days with high pollution to cut the number of vehicles on the road. Keith Taylor, the Green Party’s MEP for South East England, made the proposal after the city of Paris provided free public transport to cut smog levels.

Responding to the latest smog wave Mr Taylor said:

These extremely high levels of pollution highlight just how serious a threat bad air is to our health.

Episodes like this often have a number of contributing factors. What seems clear is that towns and cities across South East England need to reduce the level of air pollution in their streets by cutting the amount of traffic. But on top of that it’s clear that our Government must play a role in pushing for stronger air pollution laws from the European Union, rather than trying to water down the rules we already have.

The air in our towns and cities needs to be cleaned up. To do that we need to reduce the amount of traffic and bring in cleaner alternative transport options. 

This smog, which is affecting Northern France as well as Southern Britain, shows just how important it is that we work with out European neighbours in creating laws that protect our environment and our health.

1)      The pollution forecast is available here: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting/ 
2)      Health warnings for air pollution episodes: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi

London Citizen's Assembly in Willesden on Wednesday

SIR ARTHUR ELVIN, INSPIRATION FOR COPLAND’S NEW NAME, GIVES ARK FOUNDERS SOMETHING TO ASPIRE TO

Guestblog from Neonymph

Last week staff at Copland received a message from the proposed new Head saying that she, with a group of students and staff,  ‘together’ had chosen the new school’s name. (This did seem a little premature to some as Mr Gove has apparently not yet signed the Funding Agreement for the school).  Still, it was refreshing to see that, in choosing a new name,  Ark had put its bad old sham ‘consultation’ days behind it and had involved all the stakeholders in the decision-making process. And the extent of that culture-change should not be underestimated. Only a few weeks have passed since Ark’s control-freak nature was revealed in its decision to entrust the running of the new school only to a current employee of Ark working alongside another current employee of Ark who is a product of Ark’s own  Future Leaders processing  system. 

                                                                                                       So letting the staff and students choose the new school name without any guidance from Ark signals a sea-change comparable to McDonalds suddenly allowing its employees to ignore all they were taught at Burger Academy and to start flipping their patties any old way they fancy. (And if  any cynics out there are still sceptical about how democratically the chosen name was arrived at, the words ‘students and staff’ are employed 4 times in the message, along with ‘unanimous’, ‘we’ and ‘together’ in order to set their minds at rest).                                                                                                                                                                        There’s hope for the future too in the aspirational nature of the name Ark have selected. For Sir Arthur Elvin was a man who came from nothing, came to Wembley as an outsider, built up the old Twin Towers stadium, gave jobs to the unemployed, allowed the community to use the athletics, swimming and ice-skating facilities of the Wembley complex, got his hands dirty with his workers picking up litter after an afternoon event in the stadium in readiness for an evening fixture, treated his employees in exemplary fashion and, according to local historians, had their almost universal  respect and affection.  Anyone looking for an aspirational figure would agree that there’s lots here for Ark’s managers, and particularly the hedge fund fat cats, millionaire Tory party donors  and Boris Johnson bankrollers who own it,  to aspire to. (As well as the kids of course).  

                                                 And the names that didn’t make the cut?:  well, The Bob Crow Ark was never really a starter and the long list of names suggested  by Wembley Matters readers here  LINK

probably  wouldn’t have survived the democratic scrutiny of ‘students and staff’ either.       

           Next meeting ‘we’ decide on Ark’s new ‘Ark Elvin Academy’ logo   ‘incorporating some inspirational features of Sir Elvin’s (sic) life’. Any suggestions from Wembley Matters readers would be very welcome . I’m sure that in their new inclusive, democratic and consultative mood, Ark would be delighted to take them on board.

 Meanwhile Hank Roberts of the ATL has written to Annabel Bates (Headteacher designate) about the way the decision was made:

Dear Ms Bates,

You have informed me, as a member of Copland staff, that you have decided on the name of the proposed ARK academy on our Copland Community school site, to be the 'ARK Elvin Academy'.

May I ask on what basis the committee of four staff and six students, that was set up to consider the new school's name, was selected? For example, did you ask for volunteers, was there any particular qualification, were they picked out of a hat?     

Were the committee given one proposed name, a selection of names or did they put forward their own names for consideration?

I also ask, was the Headteacher Dr Richard Marshall and the senior leadership team consulted and if not, why not? Were the Interim Executive Board (IEB) who are the governing body*, consulted? I know that the staff were not consulted, or asked for suggestions or given any options to take part in what you call “an important step forward .. for our school”. But why not? And is your proposed school logo to be decided by the same select committee?

Is this the manner in which you intend to make important decisions affecting the whole school in the future?  There has been no staff 'buy in' to this decision. Even when the name of a pet dog is being chosen, normally the whole family are involved.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely
Hank Roberts  
Joint Copland NUT Rep and ATL Brent Branch Secretary

 * The IEB remains responsible for school decisions until the funding agreement has been signed

Greens: The debate is over-act now on Climate Change

THE Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report’s stark warnings of the dire consequences of our continuing failure to tackle climate change on planet and people must act as a wake-up call, says the Green Party, the only party with workable policies in place to mitigate the threat and adapt for a sustainable future.

Climate change has already cut into the global food supply and is fuelling wars and natural disasters, but governments are unprepared to protect those most at risk, says the report (1) released today (31 March 2014) from the UN's climate science panel. 

Commenting on the publication today, Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said: 

“The scientific debate is over. Climate change is a reality, here, with us today. Its threat is enormous and can no longer be ignored. 

“On climate change, governments are taking too little action too slowly in part because they are overly and unduly influenced by oil, coal and gas big business interests. In Britain, we also have a government that is incapable of understanding that the old economic model is broken and needs to be radically changed, as it is not only incompatible with dealing with climate change, but also failing to meet people's basic needs.

"The Coalition Government’s flag-waving for fracking, which will only accelerate global warming, is the latest in a long line of destructive decisions driven by corporate interest with scant regard for the negative impact on people and planet.

“Climate change and the state of our environment is going to be one of THE issues of the European election on May 22 – and it’s only the Green group, already the fourth largest in the European parliament – who are going to put it truly front and centre.

“Greens are going to hold firm on fighting for a national renewables target for each European state, demanding that Europe provide global leadership in setting a target of provide global leadership in setting a target of at THE VERY least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and demanding high, binding energy efficiency standards.”

A Green government will take bold, responsible and scientifically credible action to avoid catastrophic climate change. We will apply a contraction and convergence strategy to reduce emissions to a safe and equal per-capita level. Pursuing the necessary annual reductions of around 10% will create many jobs. We will provide free monthly carbon emission allowances and people wanting to use more than their fair share could trade allowances. Total emissions will be capped and will reduce each year in line with our 2030 emission reduction target of 90% on 1990 levels.

Katharine Birbalsingh menaces parents as well as pupils

I have already reported on Katharine Birbalsingh's letter to parents and the infamous black and white shoe lace sermon LINK which made some of them refuse the offer of a place at Michaela Free School.

She is at it again this week in a interview with the Kilburn Times LINK. She puts forward her ideas about education which appear to rest on a model of private education which is pre-Dr Arnold LINK and certainly treats pupils as empty vessels to be filled by their superiors.

“Our ethos is very much about teaching children. We do not believe in teachers being facilitators of learning and that’s too often the case.

“We believe in desks being in rows, children looking to the front at their teachers.

“We believe the teacher is a fountain of knowledge who should impart it onto the children.”

In fact the BKT quotes her as wanting to 'install' values in pupils which makes them sound like machines and not people at all.

The school will offer daily behaviour logs on pupils which they will expect parents to check on a regular basis:

“The idea is that if the child has been listening in class, they will get a perfect score, There isn’t just homework for the children but homework for parents too. If they don’t complete their homework, they’ll be hearing from me.”

It looks as if Birbalsingh's missionary zeal and her Thatcher/Gove conviction that she knows best will be targeted at parents as much as pupils.

Watch this space.

Brent Council's ambiguous approach to immigration

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council acted quickly on the 'racist van' issue and UKBA raids on local stations. He appeared in the media to denounce the impact of such strategies on a diverse community and also condemned the estsate agents who were alleged to discriminate against prospective black tenants.

However, the Council also took part in raids on shop premises in Willesden Green alongside the UK Border Agency and have imposed dispersal orders, support by the police and UKBA on workers waiting for a day's labour in the traditional Cricklewood picking up points.

Now the lead member for Crime Prevention and Community Safety, Cllr Aslam Choudry, has circulated his March Report to councillors that states:

I have received complaints from various people in Mapesbury, Dudden Hill and Dollis Hill wards that there are Bulgarian illegal immigrants sleeping rough in Gladstone Park. This is an ongoing issue but has deteriorated recently. brent Safety, Police and Immigrations department are working together to find a solution. Again this will not be an easy but efforts must be made to ensure the safety issues are addressed.

Bulgarians of course have EU rights as I am sure Cllr Choudry  noticed during the recent UKIP induced media panic. Sleeping rough may be unsightly and inconvenient but is there any evidence of any crime result from sleepers' presence in the park - or is there an underlying assumption that they are criminal in the same way that this was applied to Romanians?  There is even some doubt about the extent of the problem and it would be interesting to see some hard evidence.

It was intersting that Cllr Choudry's email was copied in to Lee Skevington who is not a councillor but Brent Labour Party's borough organiser.

'Putting Children First' Manifesto is welcome antidote to current early years proposals

There was consternation over the weekend amongsts early years specialists and parents following the announcement of tests for two year olds.  The tests would be the logical extension of the neoliberal obsession with the grading and rating of children and their teachers as education becomes increasingly linked to purely economic goals. A base for future measurements is established at a lower and lower age as the government seeks to establish data on which to judge provision. The obsessions with data and measurement is at the expense of holistic child-centred early years education.

Formative assessment of a child should be linked to long term goals of health and happiness rather than aimed at predicting future narrow academic performance.

This was announced alongside government proposals on making the emotional abuse of children an offence. I have little quarrel with that but it comes at a time when children are subject to social and economic abuse by the government as their families suffer from benefit cuts and the disruption caused by the bedroom tax.

The Green Party's Education Policy LINK opposes testing of young children and instead advocates an approach that takes into account differing rates of child development and the  important role of play.

The 'Putting Children First' Manifesto issued today by the Save Childhood Movement brings together those concerns in a very powerful document that I welcome as providing the basis for building a consensus against the current proposals. It is certainly a manifesto that the Green Party should support.

This is what the Save Childhood Movement says: 

Across the political spectrum there is now consensus that early years provision is important for children's development and for helping parents - especially mums - into work. As identified by the IPPR the question of 'what is best' for young children is, however, a point of huge contention among researchers, policymakers, commentators and politicians - not to mention parents. Some argue against public involvement in the care of young children in principle, while others assert the importance of parents (usually mothers) being able to stay at home to look after their children (1)

In its manifesto 'Putting Children First' the Save Childhood Movement argues that governments must put the best interests of the child at the heart of all early years policymaking and expresses its concern that this is not currently the case. It calls for a much stronger focus on relationships and the importance of family life, highlights the importance of developmental readiness and confirms the dangers of pushing through universal childcare without the appropriate evidence base and significant investment in improving the current quality of provision.

As stated by the OECD "Expanding access to services without attention to quality will not deliver good outcomes for children or the long-term productivity benefits for society. Furthermore, research has shown that if quality is low, it can have long-lasting detrimental effects on child development, instead of bringing positive effects." (2)

Putting Children First - The 3 Key Elements

1 an integrated, holistic and appropriately financed system built upon
2 an evidence-based understanding of the child as
3 a citizen with developmental rights and freedoms

Developed by the members of the movement's expert Early Years Advisory Group, and with the backing of the larger sector, the manifesto sets out the three key elements and 11 key policy points that should to be taken into account for the development of an appropriate Early Childhood Education and Care System (ECEC). With the 2015 election in mind the movement is calling for all political parties to incorporate the identified elements in their own manifestos and to acknowledge the urgent need for a better balance between economic aspirations and child and family wellbeing.    

The development of a fully integrated system should:

1 respect and support the rights and freedoms of children to be provided with environments that allow them to develop all their natural dispositions and capacities to the fullest potential. This must include regular and open access to the natural world

2 re-instate the importance of early relationships and better support the health and wellbeing of parents and families

3 address inequalities and ensure that every child can develop to his or her full potential

4 ensure that the values we are modelling for children are those that we want to see in a 21st century world

5 ensure that developmentally appropriate play-based care and education governs children’s experiences until at least age 6

6 be evidence-led and have the best interests of the child at its heart. This should not be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution but should be responsive to the diversity of parental and local community needs

7 reverse the existing funding curve so that we prioritise the vital importance of the early years

8 underpin all ECEC services and provision with the latest scientific evidence and global examples of best practice

9 review, consolidate and evaluate all policies and evidence through a new National Council on the Science of Human Learning and Development

10 provide formative assessment and screening of children’s development from birth and ensure that we are measuring what matters for children’s long-term health and wellbeing

11 ensure that the adults working with young children are highly trained, emotionally mature and appropriately valued and remunerated 

Wendy Ellyatt, Chief Executive, Save Childhood Movement says: 

"We are currently very concerned that universal childcare provision is being pushed through in England without due attention to the vital quality of care that includes developmentally appropriate environments, greatly improved parental support and engagement and the training and empowerment of a skilled workforce. One of the key aims of any ECEC system is to allow every child to flourish and to achieve his or her full potential and we feel there is a real danger that without the necessary quality controls English children will be greatly disadvantaged.

With this manifesto we are arguing that the best needs of the child should be at the heart of all future policymaking, that we need to acknowledge and better support the vital importance of family and community life and that there needs to be a national debate about the values that we wish to see nurtured in larger society." 

Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green Children's Commissioner for England, 2005-2010: 

"Children are our nation's most precious resource, and as Neil Postman has said in his book 'The Disappearance of Childhood', 'They are the living messages to a time we will not see.' We ignore their importance at our peril, yet this Manifesto for the Early Years' from the Save Childhood Movement comes at a time of unprecedented financial and political turbulence leading to austerity and cuts to state spending accompanied by zealous reform of education policy. What is in danger of being lost from the debate are the best interests of the child.

'Putting Children First' is an outstanding evidence-based document that should be read by every Parliamentarian and Government Minister as well as those formulating policy, alongside professionals directly involved in the care of young children in partnership with parents and carers." 

Liz Bayram, Chief Executive, Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY):

"We wholeheartedly support the 11 policy points raised by the Save Childhood Movement. They offer a timely reminder to all political parties that a high quality early years experience in its broadest sense supports all children to reach their full potential and that childcare is about far more than just supporting parents to work and children to do well in school."

Neil Leitch, Chief Executive, Preschool Play Association:

"In an environment of continuous change and growing uncertainty, the early years sector is in absolute agreement that one priority never changes, its commitment to giving every child the best experience of care and learning.

As early years policy is increasingly directed at getting parents back to work and competing in the global economy, we need to ensure that our children are not viewed as numbers on a Government spreadsheet or figures in an economic model.  The 'Manifesto for the Early Years - Putting Children First', gives the sector a shared voice and focuses on what's really important - the interests of the child."    

Beatrice Merrick, Chief Executive, Early Education:

'We welcome the Manifesto for the Early Years, which captures what really matters in its title "Putting Children First".  Early years policy must be evidence-based, and the evidence shows us that positive home learning environments and high quality early childhood education are the best ways of giving children a good start in life.  Politicians must not rush to expand the quantity of early years education and childcare without first ensuring that the quality is right' 

1. Double Dutch: The case against deregulation and demand-led funding in childcare, Institute
    for Public Policy Research, 2012   

2.  Starting Strong III - A Quality Toolbox for Early Childhood Education and Care, OECD, 2012

The full Manifesto is HERE