Parents and children speak out to save Stonebridge Adventure Playground

Not for the first time Stonebridge Adventure Playground, which has sertved generations of children in one of the most disadvantaged areas of Brent  since 1976, is threatened with closure.

Children and parents speak out in this impromptu video, recorded on Friday, about what the playground means to them.

Sign the petition to save the playground HERE

Brent Council calls for modification of Mayoral Development Corporation' for Park Royal/Old Oak while Hammersmith & Fulham opposes in principle

Brent's Cabinet which meets tomorrow afternoon, will be considering its response to the proposed Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) that would take control of the regeneration of Old Oak Common and Park Royal. It would cover parts of Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham and Ealing.

Stephen Cowan, leader of  Hammersmith and Fulham Council, came out strongly against it in July, calling it a 'land grab'.

This council objects to an MDC at Old Oak and Park Royal. We are concerned about the Mayor of London’s record on delivering truly affordable homes for Londoners and do not believe he should be entrusted with sole responsibility on a scheme of this importance.

We are committed to changing housing policies so that we build homes for residents rather than investment properties for overseas speculators and look forward to working with Ealing and Brent councils to do that. There is no good business case for the Mayor to step in.

In fact, the move in government over the years has been to devolve more powers to local communities not take them away. The Mayor’s proposed organisation is a throwback to decades long gone, it would be undemocratic and unnecessarily takes away powers from local residents and local businesses and essentially hands them over to developers and unelected bureaucrats.

There is little information on Ealing Council's  response but Brent Council LINK does not follow Hammersmith and Fulham in opposing the MDC in principle:

To support delivery on the scale required there is no doubt a delivery body  with a strong regeneration focus is required. Without such a body there is a real risk that the opportunity HS2 and the Old Oak interchange presents for Brent will be missed. Arguably an MDC gives Brent greater influence over the proposals that will come forward at Old Oak as the Council will have representation on the decision making bodies.

The report goes on to seek some changes in the MDC brief..

In fact, when the Ealing Officer's report LINK sets out their demands if the MDC goes ahead despite their opposition, there is little difference between the two Councils.  Both seek changes in the borders of the MDC zone.  Both seek greater representation on the MDC and quote the Localism Act in their support. Both also seek assurances on the availability of genuinely affordable housing. Brent is also concerned about the CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy).

Countering the MDC proposal Hammermsith and Fulham call for a Joint Area Action Plan:

The Council has also discussed the potential for a joint Area Action Plan that would include land from LBs of Ealing and Brent as well as LBHF. Officers from the three Boroughs have been working well together on this project for a considerable period of time meeting weekly with the GLA and TfL as a JointProject Team and reporting up to a Project Strategy Board. LBHF has resourced the project with key staff who have led on and significantly progressed the project. This process could continue (subject to discussion and agreement with LBs of Ealing and Brent) and a cross borough Area Action Plan could be progressed by the three boroughs without the considerable expense and administration involved insetting up an MDC.

This is not mentioned as far as I can see in the Brent report - Brent offers no alternative, just a modification of the MDC. It is surprising that in dealing with a Tory mayor that three Labour boroughs have not cooperated more on their response.

Brent Officers call for the following local benefits:

Brent 'Local offer' service for parents of children with special needs and disabilities goes live

From Brent Council

 

Information and advice for parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is now easier to access thanks to the launch of Brent's Local Offer.

Developed with the help of a parent support group and pupils from Brent special schools, the Local Offer is a single point of contact for families who want to find out about services and support for children and young people with SEND from 0 to 25.

Statutory services like education, social care and health are included, as well as information about leisure, transport, money advice and independent living, all of which can be searched for by area or age range.

Further work to review and enhance the information available on our Local Offer will take place with parents over the coming months so that we can ensure it is responsive to what you want and need.

Find a service in the Local Offer

Brent's Shahrar Ali pushes the diversity agenda in first speech as Green Party deputy leader

Shahrar Ali, the Green's Brent Central candidate at the 2010 General Election and a candidate for the GLA and European Parliament, was elected Male Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales earlier this month.

This is his first speech as Deputy Leader recorded at our Birmingham conference last weekend:

Amelia Womack, elected Female Deputy Leader, and an experienced member of the Young Greens also made her first speech at the Conference. Together with Natalie Bennett they are the team that will take the Greens into the General Election in May 2015 where Greens hope to retain Caroline Lucas' Brighton seat.

Update on Ashley Gardens Primary PRU closure

I understand that the closure of the Primary Referral Unit (PRU) at Ashley Gardens, near Preston Road, Wembley is to go ahead at the end of the month and the current staff will lose their jobs.

The Council has had discussions with the parents of the children who have been excluded from mainstream school. Some will be bussed daily to the Anna Freud Free School in Islington.  Anna Freud has a therapeutic approach to education.The total cost, including transport, is £18,500 annually  per child which the Council claim is cheaper than other placements.  Others will be integrated back into mainstream school.

Although this settles things for the moment, there is still no long-term solution to the problem of primary age children excluded from school. More children are likely to be excluded in the future, particularly with the 'too much, too soon' curriclum changes that come into effect this academic year.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Year 1 boys in particular find the demands of a 'sit down, sit still, and learn' approach difficult and react against it - sometimes getting labelled as a behaviour problem or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) in the process.

Brent Council has a statutory responsibility for the education of excluded children.

Dave Wetzel of Fares Fair fame leaves Labour for the Green Party

Ex public transport lead for the Labour Greater London Council (GLC), Dave Wetzel, has announced on Facebook that he has joined the Green Party.

Wetzel said: 

As a new Green Party Member I consider all Government cuts are unnecessary and left the Labour Party this year because the Labour Front Bench intend to continue with cuts. This is totally unnecessary as instead we could adopt the Green policy and introduce an annual Land Value Tax so that rich landowners like the Duke of Westminster repay the land wealth we all create.

Wetzel alongside Ken Livingstone introduced the Fares Fair policy of low
transport charges which contributed to Labour's 1981 GLC election victory.

The popular policy went all the way to the Law Lords and was eventually over-ruled leading to a massive increase in fares.

Following the introduction of the new fares structure and the travel card car usage in London dropped by 10%, tube travel went up by 44% and bus by 14%.

In retrospect many saw the policy as ahead of its time and it certainly puts the current high fares into  perspective. LINK

A battle with the Tory government led eventually to the abolition of the GLC and the Inner London Education Authority.

Dave Wetzel is the President of the Labour Land Campaign and CEO of the consultancy Transforming Communites.

It will be interesting to see how his thinking influences the Green Party.

West Hendon Estate battles Barratts and Barnet

Cross-posting from Shahrar Ali's blog - edited version. Full version with more photographs and interview HERE

On Saturday 13 September, residents came out in force to assert their claim to be able to live in a peaceful, clean neighbourhood, without the noise and pollution impact of construction work on their doorstep. The neighbourhood was West Hendon estate on the bank of the Welsh Harp nature reserve. The contractor was Barratts Homes, determined to extend its real estate with prior permission of Barnet Council and with all the nods and winks that came before that.

Brent and Barnet Greens have been active on the campaign to preserve the habitat of Welsh Harp for several years, against the threat from over development on both sides of the council boundary and were visible at this protest. Discussion of the impact of this latest development on current tenants in social housing came to the fore last summer at a public meeting hosted at Brent Council (Brent Unites against Welsh Harp overdevelopment). Unfortunately, despite the approval from Barnet, Brent did not mount a judicial review and it was unlikely residents would be able to afford to do so.

I lent my megaphone to a resident who was driven around the estate to drum up a bit more people power. We began obstructing the main gate to the construction site, as dozens of contractors started to arrive. Our spirits were up as we sang, “Aint gonna do no work today”.  A couple of vehicles were mounted up against the hoarding at the critical entrance and banners and placards were mounted around.

Site managers came to speak to us and we entered into a conversation about the impact of their construction on the neighbours and the prospect of worse to come with the demolition of a tower block on the opposite side of the street, with residents still living a stone’s throw away. We conveyed our mission not to allow construction trucks into the site and the managers were turned back. Minutes later we were joined by police asking who was in charge. They entered into a diffuse conversation with our flat hierarchy, followed by a visit to the site office. They returned to announce that they “would allow” our presence there so long as we did not impede emergency vehicles.

Minutes later, came the highlight of the action – a concrete truck performed a U-turn mid-way up the road. The small crowd was jubilant and time to take a group picture.

Further actions are planned – please follow on facebook or @ourwesthendon #ourwesthendon

Birbalsingh's 'high standards' do not to appear to apply to the Michaela building

Katharine Birbalsingh's strictures on school uniform (sturdy black traditional shoes - send us a picture for approval before purchasing if you are not sure), haircuts (must 'comply' with school policy, presumably nothing expressing any personality or ethnic identity allowed) and umbrellas (only black or blue - nothing colourful) have been received with some amusement LINK

However, Birbalsingh's 'high standards' on uniform and behaviour do not seem to apply to the school building where pupils will start at 11am on Monday.

The pupil entrance is through a builders' door and along a wooded boarded narrow passage way that separates pedestrians from building equipment on one side and stacked cabins on the other. The whole of the area beneath the school appears to be covered in building equipment apart from this passage way.  As far as I could see this morning there is no play area at all at the moment and more importantly nowhere for the children to assemble in the event of a fire.

They would have to evacuate the building along the wooden boarded narrow passage way and assembly outside on the pedstrianised road.

This morning there was a lot of work going on inside the building but what appeared to be  classrooms had no equipment apart from tables and chairs. There may be other rooms hidden from view.

120 excited children, who have waited an extra two weeks for their school to be opened, may well be rather disappointed by what they find when they enter the building for the first time. 

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN EARLIER TODAY

CLASSROOM?

 

KITCHEN

GROUND LEVEL

GROUND LEVEL - HOARDING PROTECTING PEDESTRIANS (FAR RIGHT)

PEDESTRIAN GATE (WHITE) FOR PUPILS (EXTREME RIGHT)