Barry Gardiner speaks out on Israel's 'barbaric' actions in Gaza

Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, a former vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, made his most forthright comments on the actions of Israel in Gaza earlier this week.

He said LINK:

Israel’s right to defend itself, of which the Foreign Secretary speaks, is not an unconstrained right, yet Israel’s response has been unconstrained. It has been disproportionate and wrong. Heavy bombing in a densely populated area with 100,000 civilians, causing the death of 170 people, a third of them children, is not self-defence, it is barbarism. What leverage does the Foreign Secretary have and will he now apply it to make the Israeli Government reappraise this barbaric and unproductive strategy?

On Saturday July 19th there will be a 'National Demonstration for Gaza' meeting at 12 noon in Downing Street and marching to the Israeli Embassy. Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign will be supporting the demonstration.

Kensal Rise Library planning application approved with new conditions

Brent Planning Committe tonight unanimously approved the planning application for Kensal Rise Library submitted by Andrew Gillick. The Committee attached new conditions to the application with an amendment on the marketing of the D1 space. Cllr Shafique Choudhary and Cllr Dan Filson declared that they had made previous statements  of opinion about the application and withdrew from the meeting.

Cllr Sarah Marquis, chair, in a statement said that on further legal advice, as requested by the commitee's previous meeting, that they would not take the ongoing police investigation into fraudulent emails into account.

A supplementary report by officers, tabled at the meeting, made several key points:

1. The Heads of Terms would be changed so that instead of saying that if the marketing campaign failed to prduce an occupier of the Kensal Rise Library D1 space Brent Council would be given first refusal, after 'internal discussion' this would now give CVS Brent first refusal to prepare a bid for the space.
2. The naming of Friends of Kensal Rise Library as the 'actual' tenant rather than 'preferred' tenant 'is not an issue the committee should purport to determine as part of the planning process.'
3. The applicant will provide the D1 space as a plastered shell with the main services capped off plus an earmarked sum of £3,000 for the teant to fit out the space.
4. A member of the public had asked that committee members be made aware of the Option Agreement to purchase Kensal Rise Library made between All Souls Collge and the developer when considering the current planning application.

Jodi Gramigni made a representation pointing the the importance of the Asset of Community Value status of the Kensal Rise building. She said that the commitee should take this into account as a material consideration  and called on Brent Council to exercise the political will to make this status mean something.

Stephanie Schonfield for Friends of Kensal Rise Library disputed the supllementary officer's report's comment on the naming of FKRL as 'actual tenant' and said FKRL were 'thrilled and relieved' at the agreement and loked forward to occupying the space and endsing four years of campaigning.

Councillors questions mainly centred around detailed issues arising from their site visit. The Committe eventually voted for a number of conditions including widening the chimney breast entrance space to admit buggies and wheelchairs, increased parking space for cycles, and waste storage space to be provided on the ground floor rather than the basement thus reducing the need to use the list and thus reducing the £2,500 service charge.

Steve Weeks of the Planning Department suggested that due to the 'actual' tenant agreement and the giving of CSV first refusal if marketing failed, that the requirement to market the space could be reduced to a fall-back if agreement was not reached on the initial occupier.

No refence was made during the meeting to the Option Agreement, although it may have been discussed at the pre-meeting.

The meeting was subdued with no triumphalism apparent, and several of the people involved on either aside of the battle made concilatory comments to each other after the meeting.

It appears that after a bruising controversey the community will now try and make the best of what some regard as a not very good deal, and others the best deal available in the circumstance.

Meanwhile the outcome of the police investigation into fraudulent emails is still awaited...

Another Brent primary school's Ofsted rating plummets

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School in Canterbury Road, Kilburn has seen its Ofsted rating drop from Grade 2 'Good' to Grade 4 'Inadequate' and has been put in 'Special Measures'.

The report of the inspection carried out in March LINK gives Achievement of pupils, Quality of teaching and Bhevaiour and safety of pupils a Grade 3 'Requiring improvement' but Leadership and Management is singled out for a Grade 4 'Indequate'.

Under Ofsted guidelines a 4 for Leadership and Management (which includes senior leadership and governorship)  means that the overall judgement on the school must also be 4.

Most worrying from the point of view of Brent Council is that Ofsted report:

The local authority has not provided good enough guidance or support to help the school to improve

The support provided by the local authority was an issue for the Brent Education Commission  that reported last month and should be seen in the context of cuts in local authority funding leading to a reduction in School Improvement Services. Brent Council is due to offer only core support in future with the Brent Schools Partnership taking over many of its functions.

There is a risk attached to this and I would hope that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will have a thorough look at the plans for the School Improvement Service, school-to-school support and the role of School Improvement Partners  to ensure that there is early warning through thorough monitoring and effective action when a school begins to show signs of decline.

Round 3 of Kensal Rise Library planning debate tonight as FKRL negotiate named 'actual' tenancy

 

-->The controversial Kensal Rise Library planning application returns to the Planning Committee tonight, 7pm Conference Room, Brent Civic Centre LINK
Despite the further legal advice that fraudulent emails submitted in support of the developer's previous application for the site were 'not a material consideration', the application is still the subject of hot debate and there are likely to be further pubic representations tonight.

Yesterday Friends of Kensal Rise Library announced that: LINK

After months of negotiations, the Friends of Kensal Rise Library are to be named as the ‘Actual’ tenants of the new library and community space in the Kensal Rise Library building.

Previously the Friends were named only as the ‘preferred’ tenants, leading many to think that the agreement FKRL had signed with both All Souls College and the Developer was not watertight and carried no legal weight, and, that after years of campaigning there was a chance that other groups might be offered the space. 

Mandip Sahota, Associate planner for the developer stated:

Further to advice provided by the LPA in respect of the Assets of Community Value Regulations 2012, I am pleased to advise that the applicant has today confirmed that he is naming FKRL as the ‘actual’ tenant, as opposed to his ‘preferred’ tenant, subject of course to lease negotiations, management plan etc being satisfactory. 

We trust this goes some way to giving the Council, the FKRL and the local community the confidence to support this planning application. 

As comments on the previous posting on this issue demonstrate LINK there are still concerns about the trustworthiness of the developer.

Other issues relate to the significance of the Option Agreement signed by All Souls College and the fact that it is not referred to in the Officers' Report LINK and the granting of Asset of Community by Brent Council and its significance for the redevelopement LINK
I suggest readers check the comments column below before the meeting as this is very much an ongoing debate.

After months of negotiations, the Friends of Kensal Rise Library are to be named as the ‘Actual’ tenants of the new library and community space in the Kensal Rise Library building.

Previously the Friends were named only as the ‘preferred’ tenants, leading many to think that the agreement FKRL had signed with both All Souls College and the Developer was not watertight and carried no legal weight, and, that after years of campaigning there was a chance that other groups might be offered the space.

Mandip Sahota, Associate planner for the developer stated:

Further to advice provided by the LPA in respect of the Assets of Community Value Regulations 2012, I am pleased to advise that the applicant has today confirmed that he is naming FKRL as the ‘actual’ tenant, as opposed to his ‘preferred’ tenant, subject of course to lease negotiations, management plan etc being satisfactory. We trust this goes some way to giving the Council, the FKRL and the local community the confidence to support this planning application.

- See more at: http://www.savekensalriselibrary.org/2014/07/15/july-15th-update/#sthash.CzlLl6Rn.dpuf

After months of negotiations, the Friends of Kensal Rise Library are to be named as the ‘Actual’ tenants of the new library and community space in the Kensal Rise Library building.

Previously the Friends were named only as the ‘preferred’ tenants, leading many to think that the agreement FKRL had signed with both All Souls College and the Developer was not watertight and carried no legal weight, and, that after years of campaigning there was a chance that other groups might be offered the space.

Mandip Sahota, Associate planner for the developer stated:

Further to advice provided by the LPA in respect of the Assets of Community Value Regulations 2012, I am pleased to advise that the applicant has today confirmed that he is naming FKRL as the ‘actual’ tenant, as opposed to his ‘preferred’ tenant, subject of course to lease negotiations, management plan etc being satisfactory. We trust this goes some way to giving the Council, the FKRL and the local community the confidence to support this planning application.

- See more at: http://www.savekensalriselibrary.org/2014/07/15/july-15th-update/#sthash.CzlLl6Rn.dpuf

Gove has gone but we must widen the battle to take on the GERM

There was delight in Brent schools yesterday when the news of Michael Gove's demotion filtered through to staffrooms and classrooms.

It soon became clear that his replacement might well be 'more of the same' but there is no doubt of the personal antipathy that Michael Gove has engendered amongst teachers and many parents.

Now the campaign must move on to challenging the Global Education Reform Movement, more or less supported by the three main parties, which is responsible for the marketisation of schooling. This is a vehicle for the privatisation of schools, giving away public assets to private companies for profit; the harnessing of education to the needs of the market; the conversion of pedagogy into an industrial process of delivery, testing and grading;  teachers' loss of professional autonomy and creativity and the robbing of children of their childhood.

The Green Party understands this and will be part of that campaign.

South Kilburn regeneration amounts to social cleansing, claim residents and tenants

Developer's perspective & that of residents at odds

A head of steam is building up o the South Kilburn Estate about what residents and tenants see as the 'social cleansing' involved  in the Estate's regeneration.

The motion below was passed at a recent meeting of the Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenants' and Residents' Association.

We’ve had enough!

Motion to the AGM of Alpha, Gorefield & Canterbury TRA

This meeting notes that regeneration was sold to residents of South Kilburn on the basis that it would provide improved housing and living conditions for all existing residents.

In fact: 

* There are fewer dwellings at social rent than there were before regeneration;

* Some of the new flats are smaller than those they replaced;

* The new flats have been let at higher rents than was the case. 

Rather:

* Flats are being sold and rented at prices which existing South Kilburn tenants have no chance of affording;

* Luxury flats are being advertised on the Far Eastern market, clearly as an investment, rather than social housing;

* Locked gardens are being created, even though they replace what was common green space. 

This all amounts to a “social cleansing” of South Kilburn, with many residents forced to move to other areas. 

There's so much more to an 11 year old than their Key Stage 2 SAT results

As Year 6 children get their Key Stage 2 SATs score a letter from a teacher that reminds us that there is so much more to a child than how they are graded in a one-off test.

Brent Cabinet will meet next Monday afternoon

One of the many changes instituted by the newly elected Brent Labour adminstration was a change to the schedule of meetings.  The Cabinet, which replaces the Executive, now holds alternate meetings during the day.

The next Cabinet meeing is at 2pm on Monday July 21st at the Board Room, Brent Civic Centre.

The Agenda includes changes to recycling which will see weekly collections of recyclables and the introduction of a £40 annual charge for green waste collection, adoption of the Housing Strategy, and vital updates on the Council's financial position.

The full reports pack can be down-loaded HERE and the Agenda is below: