From Brent Housing Action
DEMONSTRATION:
The
Grange, Neasden Lane, NW10 1QB between 5pm and 6:15pm
Monday 11th
August 2014
Tomorrow, Monday 11th August, marks the due date for the first tranche of households to leave the Barham Park Estate under the
premature Notice to Quit orders issued by Brent Community Housing (BCH).
It also marks the two week anniversary of the initial meeting between
Senior Council Officers and BCH to negotiate an extension of the
tenancies for the 42 affected households which would comply with the
Council’s regeneration plans.
 |
| Phase
2c of the Barham Park Estate regeneration last week. This is where the
remaining council tenants are due to move in “early 2015″ prior to
demolition of remaining properties. |
In an
email to a resident dated 4th August, Cllr Margaret McLennan, Lead
for Housing and Regeneration said:
As previously stated, our senior Officers
are in discussion with BCH. They know the Members view on this and have stated
our grave concerns at their unilateral action. Nothing will happen while we are
in discussion or beyond this. I promised I would update you once I had firm
confirmation, and I shall.
This
is a very positive statement, and the residents of Barham Park gratefully
acknowledge the efforts Cllr McLennan has put into resolving the situation.
Regrettably
it does not allay the concerns of those who are due to move out: they have two
primary issues:
1) That if they DO
move out on the NTQ due date (s) they become “intentionally homeless”, and will
lose any potential assistance from Brent’s Housing Options Team to find
alternate accommodation;
2) If they DO NOT move out, and so engage
in the legal eviction process to give them access to assistance from the
Borough, under their current contracts BCH have no obligation to rehouse them.
The
tenants have therefore sought clarification, asking if the NTQs have been
suspended pending the outcome of the negotiations, and requesting
“non-prejudicial” access to rehousing via BCH in this instance. This last point
is particularly contentious as some of those involved in organising, and merely
signing, the earlier petitions have reputedly been verbally informed they will
not be rehoused.
In fact to date none of the affected 42 households has been
offered alternative accommodation.
It
has been decided therefore to call a demonstration outside the BCH Offices to
show the level of solidarity between the affected tenants, their neighbours and
supporters with the intention of getting BCH to re-examine their current
stance.
The demo will take
place outside The Grange, Neasden Lane, NW10 1QB between 5pm and 6:15pm on
Monday 11th August 2014. The Grange is located on the central
roundabout at the top of Dudden Hill Lane and Neasden Lane (google maps shows
the wrong building!). Nearest tube is Neasden on the Jubilee Line, a three
minute walk away, and all bus routes through Neasden Junction stop nearby (182,
297).
Please
do try to attend, but if you can’t you may wish to contact BCH with your
thoughts by calling 020 7624 3168 or emailing info@bchcoopha
Regular readers will remember that the Mystery of the Fake E-mails has not been solved. Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, having avidly pursued the matter early on seems to have lost his appetite for an answer to the question of who wrote the fake emails and to whose benefit? 
