Deluded Fascists, coming to Cricklewood again on August 30th, will again be opposed by NW London United

The SEA (South East Alliance - AKA Silly Extremist Amateurs) have announced that they are coming to Cricklewood again on August 30th.

Despite being told by police, local residents and shopkeepers that the offices above the modest Cricklewood Broadway shop that they have targeted never did belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, and that the tenants have moved away, the SEA still claim they are protesting against the MB.

Really they are trying to sow seeds of division and mistrust  in a community that on the whole gets along well together and can do without daytrippers from Essex ,with nothing better to do on a Saturday, stirring things up.

Their last outing was opposed by the local community with Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt present, alongside Dawn Butler, Labour's General Election candidate for Brent Central.

On that occasion the SEA Alliance  mustered, at the outside,  only 15 supporters and despite their bluster were clearly embarrassed at their lack of support. When they tried to characterise being kept in their 'pen' surrounded by police as a victory even one of their own supporters suggested on Facebook that they weren't facing up to their failure.

So why organise united community support against such a small,  rather pathetic and deluded group? 

The answer from North West London United is that despite this all being true, they represent a dangerous set of ideas and assumptions as can be seen on their Facebook site LINK  They are vehemently anti-Muslim and  have links with extreme groups such as as the English Volunteer Force and the Scottish Volunteer Force.

From the SEA Facebook site

The local community and tradespeople on Cricklewood Broadway have felt threatened and trapped in their homes and shops when the SEA came to Cricklewood before. That it is why it is important to stand up to them and thus also stand in solidarity with the local community.

Say No to Divide and Rule.

Minutes for Brent Planning Committee now available

Following a delay caused by the illness and hospitalisation of the officer concerned, the Minutes of the last planning Committee Meeting, which considered the Kensal Rise Library planning application, are now available in time for tonight's meeting.  LINK

Putting aside the possiblity of the recording of meetings so that such a situation does not occur again, I would like to wish the officer concerned a speedy recovery.

£3,000 prize opportunity for effective anti-poverty project

From the All Party Political Group on Poverty

The APPG on Poverty is honoured to announce the Paul Goggins Memorial Prize. Paul Goggins MP was the Secretary of the APPG Poverty and a strong voice for the anti poverty campaign in and outside of Parliament.

The prize will be awarded to the best civil society initiative that can demonstrate that it has reduced poverty in a tangible way.

The prize, worth £3000, will be given jointly by the APPG on Poverty and the Webb Memorial Trust.

We welcome nominations on behalf of local community projects and are looking for innovative and engaging ideas that have worked effectively in and with local communities.

Submissions can take any form, and creative ways of expression are particularly encouraged.  Photographs, videos and other visual supporting evidence will be welcomed.

To enter, the organisation or project will need their local MP to nominate them before 5^th October 2014. MPs of shortlisted projects will be invited to present the proposals in parliament in the autumn, at an awards ceremony to be hosted by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow.

You can find out who your local MP is by following this link and typing in your postcode: http://www.parliament.uk/about/contacting/mp/

 

MPs should submit their nominations to Roxanne Mashari at  info@appgpoverty.org.uk

Solidarity as more Brent residents are summonsed by Brent Council for non-payment of Council Tax

Members of Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group, Brent Trades Council,  Ealing Housing Co-op, Unite Community, Brent Fightback and Brent Green Party stood outside Willesden Magistrates Court today when a new tranche of Brent residents appeared in response to summonses issued by Brent Council for non-payment of Council Tax.

Following Council Tax benefit changes many residents who previously did not have to pay the full amount, and in some cases any, now have to pay. Brent Council's scheme expects more in payment than many other local authorities, some of which have chosen to maintain 100% council tax benefit.

Speaking to local residents as they arrived it became clear that these weren't the 'idle and feckless scroungers' as stereotyped by ConDems and the media.

They were often people on low pay or zero hours contracts who found themselves having to choose between paying their rent or paying the Concil Tax. Needless to say they opted to pay rent to keep a roof over their heads.

Previously Muhummed Butt, leader of Brent Council,  has justified the summonses as the only way to force residents to engage with the Council about their arrears. Today a Brent Council officer was in court to give advice before any formal proceedings and some residents came out having settled terms for payment or been referred for further help with benefits. One resident was complimentary about the helpfulness of the officer.

It does seem a pity that residents had to go to court at all, with all the associated worry and stigma, and I hope backbench councillors and the Opposition will explore with the Cabinet how to better enagage people before matters reach this stage.

Preferably of course it would be best to revise the scheme so that people are not faced with the unpalatable choice of having to choose between payment of Council Tax and payment of rent or purchase of food.  However, the Council approved the scheme earlier this year with only slight modifications, despite protests.

Contacts:
www.unitetheunion.org/community   Pilgrim.tucker@unitetheunion.org
http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.com/  kilburnuwg@gmail.com
Zacchaeus 2000 - Justice for Debtors http://z2k.org/

Residents summonsed to Magistrates Court Tuesday for non-payment of Council Tax

Brent Council has summonsed residents to appear at Willesden Magistrates Court on Tuesday August 19th for non-payment of Council Tax.


Many hard-pressed households now expected to pay Council Tax are already finding it hard to pay rent and buy food for the family. They are likely to be charged £90 court costs on top of their arrears.

In November last year Brent Council leader Cllr Muhammed Butt was challenged by demonstrators outside Willesden Magistrates Court when the first of over 3,000 summonsed for non-payment  were due to appear LINK

A demonstration  will take place on Tuesday from 9.30am at Willesden Magistrates Court, 448 High Road, NW10 2DZ (260, 266, 297 bus or Neasden/Dollis Hill on Jubilee line)

No Minutes for Wednesday's Planning Committee Meeting

The Agenda for the Planning Committee due to be held on Wednesday August 20th states that the Minutes of the previous meeting are not available and will be presented at the next meeting.

The previous meeting on July 16th heard the controversial Kensal Rise Library application and some weighty legal advice was given by officers.

It is very unusual for Minutes not to be available more than one month after a meeting.  Perhaps this underlines the case for the recording of all Brent council meetings.

Missing or delayed Minutes for a school governing body would be an issue of grave concern to Ofsted inspectors or auditors.

Too much concealed in Copland plans to make a judgement

The Brent Cabinet on August 26th will receive an update on plans for a new school on the Copland site following its takeover by Ark Academies.  Frustratingly, many of the references in the report to detail in appendices are unavailable due to the following statement:

Note for publication ('below the line')
Appendices 2 (EFA option plan), 3 (Brent option plan) and 4, 4A and 4B (commercial matters) are Not for Publication.

The EFA Option (Appendix 2) is the plan for a new school from the Education Funding Agency and Appendix 3 is Brent Council's own plan.

The fact that they are confidential means that backbench Labour and opposition councillors are unable to compare the plans and reach an informed view, and the same goes for local residents, the local press and this blogger.

The report states that a new school could be provided within the current school's footprint but claims, 'this could result in a sub-optimal solution and will entail considerable disruption to the learning environment during the two year construction period'.

It adds, 'The EFA's objectives have firmly focused solely on delivering a new school at minimal development costs, whereas Brent officers have been keen to ensure delivery of the Wembley Area Action Plan and a sustainable locally well integrated new school design with connectivity to the local community'.

Officers claim that the EFA design option (which we are not allowed to see) is inferior to the Brent Council option (which we are not allowed to see) because it ignores the 'financial benefits of an improved regeneration area'.

The Brent design would mean loss of playing field space which would require the approval of the Secretary of State and relocating a public right of way that currently dissects the school playing fields.

The report says that the EFA option would result in a reduction of redevelopment/regeneration land at the High Road and claims that the Brent option would give the benefit of a..

...new and expanded (additional one form of entry) secondary school and an expanded primary school (Elsley will double in size to 4 form entry) along with new homes (including affordable housing) retail, commercial and community floor space in line with the ambitions of the Wembley area Action Plan. The transactions may generate a capital receipt that will help offset the costs of this proposals as outline in appendix 4 (which we are not allowed to see), some of which will be incurred irrespective of whether the freehold transfer proceeds or not.

A new school building is certainly required at Copland, and has been for at least a decade,  and so of course is affordable housing. However the link with commercial development, office and retail along the High Road, leaves me a little uneasy. Is the commercial tail wagging the educational dog?


Full report on Cabinet Agenda HERE

Kensal Rise Fake Email Investigation: Brent Council knows about progress but haven't told the public

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? 

The emails were written in support of an earlier planning application for the redevelopment of Kensal Rise Library. Despite the investigation not being completed Brent Planning Committee approved the  recent planning application by the developer Andrew Gillick.

Now a Freedom of Information request has established that Simon Lane, Head of Audit and Investigations Team at Brent Council was last updated by Brent Police on the investigation on July 16th 2014.

Brent Council had no information on when the investigation was likely to be completed.

Surely it is of the utmost public interest for Brent Council  and Brent police to pursue this matter. An attempt was made to subvert the Council's planning process and in the course of this the identities of Brent citizens were stolen.

Rather than a Miss Marple mystery we now seem to have a rerun of the Hancock classic,The Last Page: