South Kilburn a yuppie dreamland 'Manhattan style'?

Queens Park Place from Londonewcastle on Vimeo.

Estate agents are well known for renaming neighbourhoods to make them more socially acceptable - Shepherd's Bush as Holland Park West springs to mind.

Now a corner of South Kilburn, the wrong 'side of the tracks' from Queen's Park is being marketed as Queen's Park Place:

Queen’s Park, an urban village in North West London, is one of the capital’s better-kept secrets. Looking at its amenities and ambiance, it’s no surprise local residents like to keep the place to themselves. Just 7 minutes to Paddington and 15 minutes to Oxford Circus by direct Underground line, the area has a bustling High Street and an historic 30-acre park named in honour of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The vibrant community spirit is evident in the eclectic shops, park, gastropubs, restaurants and especially in the weekly farmers’ market, voted the best in the UK.

Now, the secret’s out, as a new residential development is putting Queen’s Park on the map. Just a minute’s walk from the local Underground and Overground station, Queen’s Park Place is a collection of 116 contemporary apartments and penthouses designed for metropolitan living in a Manhattan style. With private balconies or roof terraces overlooking private courtyard gardens, secure underground parking and an impressive lobby with 24-hour hotel-style Concierge services, the development sets new standards in contemporary design and quality.

Beneath the super-sell is the reality of the gradual gentrification of London. The removal of poor people as developers build for the rich, especially overseas investors,  property prices and rents rise, and housing becomes increasingly unaffordable.

Just look at the video and see if it reflects the reality of Brent.

Barnet planning email fraud allegation withdrawn

Barnet Today LINK reported yesterday that a woman and her husband had their identities stolen in fake emails sent in support of a planning application for a development by Bespoke Solutions.

The case bears a strong resemblance to the Kensal Rise fraudulent email issue and raises a concern that this may be a more widespread tactic that anyone has realised. It certainly suggests that the police should give a higher priority to the Kensal Rise investigation.

STOP PRESS The report has now been removed so the link above will not work. North London Press said:

 The woman retracted the allegation and requested the story be removed

This is all very strange as the woman's allegation was specific and detailed saying that her address and email had been used in support of the development, as well as the work address of her husband, in submissions that they had not sent.

There's only one thing for it: call Miss Marple

Kensal Rise Library development decision deferred pending legal advice on fraud

The planning application by Andrew Gillick  for the redevelopment of Kensal Rise Library, closed by Brent Council, was deferred tonight at a dramatic meeting of Brent Planning Committee,

Committee membership was reduced by two members when Cllr Shafique Choudhary and Cllr Dan Filson withdrew on the basis that they had expressed strong views prior to joining the Committee.
This left 5 members, including the chair Sarah Marquis, to make the decision.

It had seemed that the fraudulent email investigation had been ignored when the meeting went ahead without any statement about deferment pending the outcome of the current police investigation into fraudulent emails that had supported Mr Gillick's last application.

Karl Abeyasekera, speaking as a member of the public drew members' attention to the fraudulent email issue saying that the 'guilty party' could benefit materially from this application. He called for the Committee to defer pending the outcome of the police investigation.

Stephanie Schonfield of the Friends of Kensal Rise Library spoke in support of the application  and said they had put their trust in All Souls College and the developer and hoped they would reciprocate by supporting FKRL to manage the community space. She regretted that they were only the preferred bidder and not the named occupant.

Horatio Chance, the Committee's legal adviser  told members that the 'binding agreement' with All Souls College was excempt from the Localism Act and had no relevance to the Kensal Rise building's Asset of Community Value status.

Following other contribututions, including a question from Cllr Amer Agha about the email investigation, and the developer's agent saying the community space had to be offered to other voluntary organisations  and ot resreved for FKRL, it looked as if the Committee was about the vote when chair Sara Marquis dropped her bombshell. She made a statement from the chair. She said that despite legal advice to the contrary she could not see why an ongoing police investigation into the previous application could NOT be a material consideration.

There followed a potentially testy but lawyerly interchange with Horation Chance, the Committee's legal adviser, on whether the Committee were legally bound to make a decision on the application on purely planning grounds, ignoring the email investigation. Chance in near exasperation declared that the legal advice  was clear and had come from no less a person than Fiona Ledden.

Marquis insisted the Committee needed further legal advice on whether the fraud investigation should be taken into account and when Chance could add nothing further she said that the Committee should vote on deferment. Various officers warned that the applicant might appeal to thre Secretary of State over the delay and seek compensation.

Cllr Roxanne Mashari, a Cabinet member and former lead member for Environment, who played a large part in brokering the deal with FKRL, made a late attempt to speak. Cllr Marquis rejected the request as the section for contributions had finished and she pointed out that the councillor had had the chance to put in a request to speak with the two days notice required of councillors.

The Committee voted on whether to hear the planning application, and only Cllr Kasangara, perhaps reflecting Conservative values, said that fraud was of no account and the vote on the application should go ahead.

The Committee then voted 3 for  (Cllrs Marquis, Agha, Hylton), 1 against  (Cllr Kasangara)and 1 abstention (Cllr Lia Colacicco) on the motion to defer the decision on the application until further legal advice had been obtained. This will mean the application  returning on the next cycle to the Committee that meets on July 16th.

This was not a vote to await the outcome of the police investigation but to decide if the investigation was something that the Committee should take into account.

It was also clear from the councillors' questions, or lack of them, that they were only concerned about minor aspects of the application itself, so it looks likely to eventually go through given the number of supporting letters. Unless there are further developments...

Cllr Sarah Marquis deserves credit for showing the sort of independence and toughness that one should expect from a Chair of Planning.

Marquis is a lawyer and specialises in fraud and white collar crime.

As a newly elected councillor, chairing her first committee, she has already made her mark.

Call to help family resist eviction tomorrow morning

A call has gone out to local housing actvists to help the Caridades family who are faced with eviction. Supporters should go to 4A Harrow Road (close to junction with North Circular) HA9 6PG at 8am tomorrow.

Kazuri Properties, a social housing group, have launched a crowd funding initiative on IndieGOGo LINK to help the family.

According to Kazuri Properties this is the background:

 Kazuri Properties came across the Caridade family after one of our Directors, met the teacher of one of Ms Caridade's children at a Mindfulness event in London. She was deeply upset and moved by their plight, so we at Kazuri stepped in to help by finding sustainable housing. Our main focus is defending the disadvantaged and speaking up for women who have no voice; raising our words, when no one will listen. We now need your help to secure this family's future, they are currently being evicted under an ‘Order for Eviction’ on Wednesday 18^th June at 08 00 hrs. To make matters worse, the Local Authority has refused to help and blocked two previous housing solutions. 

The Caridade family came to London in January 2014 from Portugal, where Mrs Caridade was promised a job in catering by her traffickers, who encouraged her move with her three children; 28, 19 and 15 in order to run away from domestic violence and a dangerous environment. Ms Caridade is now a desperate single mother of a 28 year old with Down's syndrome, a 15 year old who is now eight months pregnant and a 19 year old struggling in work at a supermarket trying to keep the family afloat.

Now Mrs Caridade is being asked to pay back  her family's passage   by being a prostitute. There was no job in catering, she is the victim of human trafficking and now subject to being sold as a sex object.   
 
The London Borough of Brent which has statutory responsibility for this vulnerable family, with many diverse needs, has done all that it can to exclude, alienate and force them to return to Portugal, by systematically neglecting their basic needs for the past five months. Brent has jeopardised their health by forcing them to live in an unhygienic environment due to   low income, ignoring the basic needs of the disabled and thus creating a hostile environment for a 15 year old pregnant child. To further make matters worse, the social worker assigned to this case has put aside all of the above, and has instead offered to pay for the family return to Portugal and falsely offering help to re-house them in Portugal.

 LB Brent should, according to their statutory duty to this family, provide a deposit and the first month's rent so this family can move safely out of the borough and start to rebuild  their lives. They are refusing to do so, for technical reasons and because they claim a License to Occupy is not a valid lawful agreement between a landlord and a tenant. 

The social worker asked why Brent should help this family. We say, because that is what you are supposed to do. She asks, “What about all the other homeless families in Brent facing homelessness?” We say, we can only change our corner of the world and Caridade has become part of that.

The housing officer tasked with disposing of this family does not consider Mrs Caridade's employment bona fide, although she has a cleaning contract with the southeast's largest lettings agency. He is deliberately misstating the DWP's own policy on employment and self-employment. This is an abhorrent misuse of power and lack of knowledge of the law, where an official can adapt and pervert the law in order to avoid supporting families in need.

 Your support will mean Mrs Caridade can start to build a brighter future, one she can control and in which she can build some security. Safe and secure housing is a huge advantage for women who have suffered trauma and violence. She's not asking for a handout, your support will help her to build her own cleaning company and stick it to The Man.

Old Oak and Park Royal Mayoral Development Corporation proposed

The boundary of the Old Oak Mayoral Development Corporation

The Mayor of London is inviting comments on the creation of a new mayoral development corporation covering Old Oak and Park Royal. It would cover a substantial area of south Brent.

This consultation will run for 14 weeks from 18 June to 24 September 2014, following which the Mayor will review all comments received and will consider how best to proceed with setting up the new Mayoral Development Corporation.

You can provide your comments via this link or alternatively you can directly email OldOakMDC@london.gov.uk with your comments and/or questions.

 

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 The aims of the MDC:

“Deliver the physical, social, economic and environmental regeneration of Old Oak and Park Royal. To secure maximum benefits from the newly planned transport improvements. To plan for the transformational change at Old Oak and at the same time work to protect and regenerate the industrial areas of Park Royal. A central objective of the Corporation would be to secure high-quality sustainable development and investment for the benefit of the area and the communities that surround it.”

What powers would a Mayoral Development Corporation have?

The Corporation would be responsible for planning the regeneration of Old Oak and Park Royal comprising powers relating to infrastructure, regeneration, land acquisitions including Compulsory Purchase Orders, streets, business and financial assistance, preparing local plans (including Community Infrastructure Levy) and determining large planning applications.

The London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham would continue to perform all other functions, including services related to: environment, health, social services, housing, leisure, culture, community, childcare, crime prevention, safety, education, highways, business and job support, licences, town centre management, Council Tax, student benefits and grants

When responding please indicate if you would like to be contacted about the preparation of future

plans for Old Oak and Park Royal and also provide your preferred contact details.

Brent Council spends £15m on temporary staff & £5m on interims & consultants

In the light of discussion on this blog over the payment and conditions of service of 'interim' Brent council staff, readers may be interested in the Council response to an FoI request:

Agency workers are recruited via our managed vendor Reed Global Limited.In the last financial year (01/04/13 to 31/03/14), expenditure on agency temporary staff was £15million.

In the same financial year, expenditure on interims or consultants was £5million. At 31st March 2014, we had 44 interims / consultants and an average of 308 agency workers. Depending on the role’s requirements and the skill-set of the interim or consultant, the average daily rate was £414.

The details of monthly expenditure of over £500 are regularly published on
the Council’s website, at the following link:

[1]http://www.brent.gov.uk/your-council/tra...

Group of 8 decide Brent's future

The small size of Brent Council's main decision making group was brought home last night when the Cabinet met for the first time: 8 councillors flanked by officers.

There was more discussion than usual in the Executive with new deputy leader Michael Pavey asking exploratory questions of other Cabinet members but unfortunately their comments were often inaudible. Contributions emphasised the need for provision of school places to be the responsibility of the whole education community and the LA to be the champion of all children and young people whatever the type of school they attend.

Christine Gilbert emphasised the need for the Council to be in close collaboration with schools rather than schools feeling that thatwere having things doen to them by the Council.

 The 34 recommendations of the Education Commission were noted and the report will go to Scrutiny in August - unfortunately when schools, teachers and parents are on holiday. An action plan on implementing the recommendations will then be devised.

New arrangements for helping rough sleepers were approved with much of the work being undertaken by Ashford Place with other partners. Cllr Krupesh Hirani said that he was pleased that the Council were working with the UK Border Agency. He remarked that some Eastern Europeans ended up rough sleeping when they found they could not earn enough here and wanted to return home: 'It is better to work cooperatively with them to help them go home rather than have something like the racist "Go Home" van.'

I would like to have heard more about how this help would avoid coercion or harassment.

The Cabinet approved plans to let two of the Civic Centre's 8 adminstraive office floors to a commercial company with whom they are in negotiations.

British Empire Exhibition at Wembley: An Imperial celebration or an urgent makeover? Talk on Tuesday.

Historian Denis Judd will give a talk on this subject at Wembley Library tomorrow (June 17th) from 6.30pm until 7.30pm.

Denis Judd is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Professor Emeritus of History at London Metropolitan University, and currently Professor of History at New York University in London.
He has reviewed and written extensively in the national and international press as well as writing several programmes for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service.

He is also an occasional adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is often interviewed for national and international television and radio, including BBC TV's 'Newsnight'.

His published work includes over 25 books covering a variety of historical and military subjects, stories for children, and two novels. Among his most recent books is the highly praised and best selling Empire: the British Imperial Experience from 1765 to the Present (new edition 2011), which will provide the focus for this talk.