What do Brent councillors think about deferral of Kensal Rise planning application?

A lively and at times passionate debate is taking place on these pages over the redevelopment of the Kensal Rise building.

The article has attracted more comments than  almost any other on this blog and I am posting this to invite readers who may have missed it to join in.

In particular I am inviting councillors and council election candidates to respond to what is clearly an important local matter.

One major theme is whether the planning application should be deferred until after police have completed their investigation into the alleged fraudulent emails submitted in support of the developer Andrew Gillick's previous planning application. LINK

Other matters include whether the space offered to the trustees of Friends of Kensal Rise Library for a community library is sufficient, and how robust that agreement is.

The original article by the trustees of the Friends of Kensal Rise Library and subsequent comments can be seen HERE

Since this was written responses have started coming in via Twitter. I will update here:

1. Martin Francis ‏@WembleyMatters 1h

   .@CllrButt What do you think? http://www.wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/what-do-brent-councillors-think-about.html …
2. Cllr. Muhammed Butt ‏@CllrButt 1h

   .@WembleyMatters we have a statutory responsibility to look at application. 1000's apps in Brent. Do we check the person or application

   
   

    Vicky Zentner ‏@vickyzentner 56m

   @WembleyMatters @CllrButt isn't ignoring the suspicion over fraudulent emails at very least morally wrong and at worst, collusion?
3. Meg Howarth ‏@howarthm 47m

   @CllrButt Both person& app.need flagging up.Planning cmtee statutorily independent&can vote to defer hearing>
4. Alex Colas ‏@AlexWG2014 18m
   

   .@WembleyMatters Planning cmtee should defer decision on this application until investigation into fraud allegations are completed.

@WembleyMatters 1/2 Strongly agree planning app should be deferred until outcome of investigation. Result might invalidate, for example. Alison Hopkins  @Hopkins_Alison   @WembleyMatters 2/2 FKRL know if space enough. I want VERY watertight legal guarantees. I've bad experiences with developers (Brent X!

Tough Times at Copland Today

Guest blog by So Macho

We live in tough times, as the cushioned and the comfortable  frequently remind us, and there can be few more nauseating contemporary  sights than effete middle-class Englishmen like Osborne, Cameron and Gove, with the might of the state at their disposal, boasting of the toughness of the decisions they have to make in order to intimidate, bully or impoverish the vulnerable.  It was tough times too at Copland today as another swathe of teachers collected their P45s, the consequence of the tough decisions the IEB has had to make in order to make Copland into a tempting morsel for Ark Inc. No time for sentiment either as no recognition was made by the tough management of the fact that staff with up to 12 years of  service were getting their dismissal letters. No official farewells, no gathering of the staff for an organised and dignified recognition of colleagues’ contribution and no time for staff to hold even an unofficial goodbye as, contrary to tradition and custom and practice in other schools, they were told toughly that ‘Friday will be a normal day’. 

Not for those being made redundant it wasn't. Tough eh?

BedroomTax: End it Now. Demonstration tomorrow.

From Unite Community

Bedroom Tax - one year on - end it now!

Saturday 05 April 2014 at 13:00-15:00

5 April marks the first anniversary of the hated Bedroom Tax. 

The Bedroom Tax causes misery to 600,000 families, increasing financial pain and contributing to growing food bank queues.

Unite Community believes one year is one year too long. Please join us at One Hyde Park, London’s most expensive residence, to call on Westminster to follow the Scottish parliament in binning the Bedroom Tax.

Join us for speakers, entertainment and sign an alternative birthday card to Iain Duncan Smith.

Event – Bedroom Tax, one year on, end it now
When – 1pm, 5 April
Where – One Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, London SW1X &LJ
Travel Details – Closest tube: Knightsbridge. Buses: 9, 10, 19, 22, 52, 137, 452, C1. For an accessible tube map of london please click here
Speakers – Owen Jones and some of those affected by welfare reforms. 
Contact – Pilgrim Tucker

Potential 'Non-compliance' on 'schoolifying' of the early years

On the day that Michael Wilshaw called for more formal learning for two year olds it was good to see this letter in the Daily Telegraph. Signatories include Dr Richard House who is a member of the Green Party.

GRADGRIND FOR TINY TOTS

SIR – “The erosion of childhood” is becoming a theme of concern to citizens across the political spectrum.

The latest salvo in this “paradigm war” for the heart of childhood has been discharged by the head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw. In a letter to all early-years inspectors, he instructs them to judge nurseries mainly in terms of preparation for school. They must “teach children the early stages of mathematics and reading”.

This utilitarian shift from experience to content betrays an abject (and even wilful) misunderstanding of the nature of early childhood experience. The determination to dragoon England’s young children into unconscionably early quasi-formal learning is catastrophic for their well-being, and is setting up many for failure at a very young age.

England’s early years education and care is safe in the hands neither of Sir Michael Wilshaw nor of the current incumbents at the Department for Education. We urge Sir Michael and the DfE to stop digging in their current “schoolifying” hole, and step back from this misguided drive to over-formalise England’s early-years sphere.

The alternative might be that these policy-makers end up precipitating the first wave of professional “principled non-compliance” with government policy that our education system has known in living memory. Any government that underestimates the strength of feeling on this issue, and the resolve to resist it, does so at its peril.

Letter and full list of signatories HERE 

Greens launch #smogselfie campaign as smog hits London and SE

Today the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a smog warning to London and the south-east as air pollution levels reached the maximum of Level 10 on recording devices.

The Department advised people living in the capital against doing any strenuous activity outdoors.
4000 people die prematurely in London every year and with the Mayor of London failing to take aaction to tackle this massive public health risk, the London Green Party took action with a new campaign - #smogselfie. The Party asked members and supporters and anyone who cares about air pollution in London to use the dust around the capital's roads to send their own messages to Boris Johnson calling for action.

In a statement to accompany the launch of the campaign, Caroline Russell a candidate in the upcoming May elections said:

As London and the South of England are finally given government health warnings about breathing air that is polluted by toxic vehicle emissions, it is time for the government to reconsider its transport policy.  The planning and transport policies that have built in car dependency over many years  are coming home to roost.  

We urgently need to prioritise public transport and make our cities, towns and villages safe and convenient for walking and cycling.  Active travel provides a double whammy solution - reducing air pollution and increasing physical activity, which is an effective cure for multiple health problems.

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