No 'even playing field' when it comes to the Welsh School's bowling pavilion planning application

Tonight's Planning Committee will decide on the planning application from the London Welsh School to take over the Bowling Green Pavilion and build an adjacent single storey classroom in King Edward VII Park. The application is supported by planning officers and the Council has gone to considerable lengths in smoothing the application's passage, even to the extent of putting S106 money aside for landscaping of the bowling green which is next to the proposed school.

This is in stark contrast to the obstructiveness of the council regarding Stonebridge Adventure Playground which is also due to be displaced from the Stonebridge site to make room for the expansion of Stonebridge Primary School and the building of new houses. They have been offered no help at all to find a new site and Cllr McLellan  made an untrue statement to the local paper suggesting that the Playground had refused an alternative site.

It is not to disparage the Welsh School, which I admire, to point out that it has 30 pupils whilst hundreds of Stonebridge and Harlesden children from many schools, use the Adventure Playground particularly at holiday times and weekends when other facilities are not open.

The motivation behind this is a mystery to me.

At the same time it is worth considering the precedent of giving an approval to the building of a school in the park, albeit a small one, when there are extant free school proposals elsewhere in the borough, one of which, Gladstone, proposed to building on playing fields next to Gladstone Park.

Looking at the papers for tonight it appears that the officers' despite being reminded of the Qiueen Elizabath II Fields in Trust Agreement LINK have not fully informed committee members of the content of the  agreement it. Instead they have merely stated that negotiations about that would be a separate process. They do not warn the Committee that in addition to the S106 costs of landscaping the bowling green that Fields In Trust may seek financial investment from the Council in the remainder of the park.

The Trust said:

I can confirm that Brent Council did submit a formal request to Fields in Trust with regards to granting a lease on the disused bowls pavilion area to the London Welsh Language primary school on a 15 year term, and in addition to erect a single storey classroom block and convert the paved hard landscape area to an all weather playground. 

  We were advised that the bowling green and Pavilion are unused and the area fenced off, furthermore there was no bowls interest. 

I can confirm that the Council’s request was rejected by our Trustees in January 2015 because the site is protected for recreational purposes and the proposed new use would be outside the objects of the Deed of Dedication.  In order for the matter to even be reconsidered by our Trustees the Council would need to offer up for protection a replacement site of at least the size of the land being lost or provide a payment which is to be made available for investment in the facilities within the remainder of the site.  To date we have not received a revised application, which I believe would only be forthcoming should planning consent be granted."

60 local residents have indicated to the Council that they would be interested in resurrecting the Bowling Club but the Council gets round that by saying that they are prepared to subsidise existing clubs but not a new one.

Can you talk about 'even playing fields' regarding bowling?

Suggestions that Collins Lodge could become a school building, initially claimed to be unsuitable, are now answered with the statement that the Council wants to retain the currently empty Lodge as a possible cafe/toilets in the future. The barely used dilapidated space next to the Lodge is claimed to be needed by Veolia.

The Friends of King Eddie's Park petition has been signed by all three Preston Ward Labour councillors, Sam Stopp (Wembley Central), Cllr Wilhemena Mitchelll-Murray (Wembley Central) and Ernest Ezeajughi (Stonebridge).

The application is the first item on the Agenda after formalities. The meeting begins at 7pm at the Civic Centre  (Conference Hall).

South Kilburn Hustings on Thursday - Granville Community Centre

Limited Eventbrite tickets available: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/skvoices-husting-2015-tickets-15583908891?aff=efbevent

Join the 'Time to Act 2015' Climate March on Saturday

Join us on March 7 to bring a message of urgency which cannot be ignored. Form blocs or join with others from your area to show solidarity and strength.

Join Brent Friends of the Earth and other activists. Meet outside Kilburn Park tube station at 11.45am, to join up with the march in Central London at 12:30 pm (Metropolitan and Jubilee lines have closers)

And together let's continue to power up and celebrate our movement – locally, nationally and internationally – throughout 2015, and beyond

Cllr Butt urged to 'be a real inspiration and turn the tide' following Stonebridge decision

Letter to Councillor Butt posted on Malcom Boyle's Facebook Page and shared on Brent Fightback

Dear Cllr Butt

I am writing to register my dismay at Brent Council's appalling decision to close Stonebridge adventure playground. I don't even need to enunciate the harm you and your fellow councillors have done to the childhood prospects of every child growing up in that area. Play is what builds childhood intelligence in the early years above all else, and it helps build communities. To choose the easy temptation of more money from development over preserving the quality of life of local children demonstrates that Brent Labour Councillors have abandoned both the principles of the Labour Party and the responsibility of local government.

I shall not be voting Labour at the next council election and will be advising all my friends and colleagues to vote Green. I have always traditionally voted Labour and should you and your fellows decide to support the community over this after all I will happily vote for you.

I was also dismayed at the state of the flower garden in Gladstone Park this weekend. It appears to be neglected and growing wild. The next step will be it becoming a venue for those with substance issues and could well even see the linked issue of teenage prostitution. I can only assume a cut has been made to gardening services.

I entreat you to resist these government cuts as Labour Councils nobly did in the 80s. You have an opportunity to be a real inspiration here and turn the tide. Don't waste it.

Regards

Malcolm Boyle

Chaos as Gladstone Free School defers opening yet again. Time to call it a day?

Just the day after Year 6 children in Brent primary schools recieved their first offer of a secondary school place, the controversial Gladstone Free School has announced that for the second time it is deferring its opening as it has no school building or site.

This leaves the 120 11-12 year olds due to start Year 7 in September 2015 without a place. A writer on this blog last week unearthed some facts about the school and associated business interests, as well as the amount it has already received without educating a single child. LINK

The question now, surely,  must be should the DfE withdraw support for this school in ortder to safeguard public money as well as stop the confusion and disappointment suffered by Brent children as a consequence of this shambles,

This is the statement put up on the school's website today:

Gladstone School, the New Free School approved to open to serve NW2 and NW10, is today announcing that the Department for Education (DfE) has been unable to secure permanent premises in time for a September 2015 opening, and as a result the school has no alternative but to delay its opening for a second time.

Gladstone School Trust, the parent-led community group behind the school, are profoundly disappointed that the DfE have confirmed this position, and  that their hopes to secure a school site for their opening in September 2015 have been dashed. 

The school was previously forced to defer in June of 2014, disappointing nearly 100 pupil who had been offered provisional places at the school.

Plans for the new school, expected to take in 120 girls and boys, have been developed in detail since the approval for the school was granted in 2013. The Trust has been waiting ever since for news that the DfE and the Education Funding Agency, (EFA), have secure temporary and permanent sites for the school.

The DfE have been advising since August 2014 that certainty on a permanent site was imminent, but this afternoon admitted that negotiations to confirm a site in time for September 2015 had failed.

Paul Phillips, Principal Designate, said today, “This will be hugely disappointing news for pupils and parents hoping for places for this September. Governors have worked tirelessly for years now on plans for what promises to be a truly exceptional school. The DfE and Brent Council recognise the growing need for school places, and have already requested an increase in the size if Gladstone School for September 2016 to help ease the pressure in Brent. We will shortly be meeting as a Trust with the Department to agree what happens next”.

Chair of Governors and founder parent Maria Evans said: “This is heart-breaking news for us all. The loss of these 120 places will increase pressure on all Brent secondary schools to expand to accommodate the growing numbers. The fact is that spiralling London property prices are putting the needs of education beyond the reach of the public purse. We will of course continue to work with Brent Council and the EFA  to identify alternative premises to help relieve this problem and get this visionary school back on track for a September 2016 opening”.

I advise any parent offered this school yesterday to contact Brent Council Admisisons Service as soon as possible.

Further comments on Welsh School planning application to build in King Eddie's Park

Denise Cheong has submitted the following additional comments regarding the Planning Applciation to convert the Bowling Green Pavilion in King Edward VII Park Wembley to a classroom and build an additional classrook nearby. This will be used by the London Welsh School, displaced from Stonebridge, along with Stonebridge Adventure Playground, by the expansion of Stonebridge Primary School. The Adventure Playground has not been offered an alternative site  or any other help by Brent Council, indeed its Council  funding has been cut.

The below additional comments are in relation to planning application no. 14/4208:

The council has a duty of care to Brent residents when providing pre-application planning advice, during the planning process and when deciding on planning applications.

The historic value of this parkland is worthy of preservation: King Edward VII Park was bought by the council in 1913 (and opened in 1914) to compensate the residents of Wembley for the loss of Parkland at Wembley Park, which was being developed as a high class residential garden suburb.   
Cllr Stopp mentioned the possibility of a disconnect arising in his committee speech on 13th January. Now is the time for Brent planning officers and planning committee members to take serious note of the Brent residents this application will affect. The residents who actually are neighbours of King Edward VII Park (affectionately known as King Eddie's Park), the residents who actually use King Eddie's Park, residents who grew up in Brent and or actually live in Wembley and the London Borough of Brent.

The additional documents submitted fail to provide an area of land (for the proposed landswap) that is of equal or better quality as per paragraph 74 of the National Planning Policy Framework, as highlighted by Sport England. The documents propose that residents sit or lie down on what was completely waterlogged grass yesterday (18th January 2015), beside the traffic fumes of the frequent tail backs of stationary vehicles on Park Lane whilst enjoying a beverage and the views. I noted the predominant view from the steep bank yesterday as being of a couple of leafless trees. In addition, opening that land up to public use would put the striking London Borough of Brent landmark, that is the mock tudor Collins Lodge, in danger of vandalisation and arson.

The community have expressed a willingness to provide a community hub, which will truly enable the wider Wembley, Brent and a broad spectrum of the population to make use of it. Furthermore, they will re-open Wembley Bowls Club with the Council's permission and have 60+ happy to be fee paying members provisionally signed up to date.

Under these community proposals:
1. No park trees would be unneccesarily cut down. i.e. the 4 category B trees (a Monterey Cypress Tree and 3 Irish Yew Trees) proposed to be removed, which have the ability to contribute to the quality of an area for up to 20 years (and even if proved to be diseased through probe testing, rather than merely showing signs of disease, could live on for a many years),
2. No land within the bounds of our King Eddie's Park would be built on
3. No children would be put at risk through misguided planning advice and inexperience of actual life in the Wembley area

Whilst planning application number 14/4208 does not comply with paragraphs 74 and 123 of the National Planning Policy Framework, as well as CP18 of the core strategy and the All London Green Grid, our Community Business Proposal would comply with all the aforementioned planning policies.

Please acknowledge receipt by return reply. Thank you.

Pain and anger as news of Stonebridge Adventure Playground closure spreads

Audley Harrison and children fight for the playground

Following Brent Council's vote to close Stonebridge Adventure Playgroubnd after nearly 40 years of serving generations of children in one of London's poorest areas comments are pouring into the playground's Facebook page:

One of the most galling aspects of the campaign is the contempt that councillors have shown to campaigners not hesitating to lie when it suits them:

Six Green Brighton councillors vow to vote against cuts budget: enough is enough

After last night's  fizzling out of a Brent Labour rebellion over Council Tax (apparently Cllr Duffy saw little point in a rebellion of one and subsequent disciplinary action) attention turns to tonight's budget meeting of Brighton Council.

In contrast to the massive Labour majority in Brent the Green adminstration is a minority one. There has been fierce debate about the budget in the local party and the Green group of councillors.

Today six Green councillors issued the following press release:

Six Green cllrs today have vowed to continue to vote against any budget containing cuts at today’s reconvened budget council following failed attempts to agree a budget for 2015-16 last week.

Cllr Philips stated "With women facing 85% of the ConDem Government's cuts, and vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities being disproportionately affected, it is time to say enough is enough and to refuse to implement further cuts coming down from central government".

Cllr Buckley said “Homelessness has risen 50% since Cameron has been prime minister, austerity has seen violence against women rise, suicides increase and parents having to face the stark choice to heat or eat at a time when corporations pay no tax. Many residents don’t agree with austerity measures and as such we are exercising our democratic mandate to say no to these savage cuts.”

Cllr Wakefield "As teacher for over 30 years, putting funding into provision for our next generation has to be the right forward-thinking approach. Cutting children and youth budgets is depriving our young people of much needed support, guidance and help'"

Cllr Jones added "Services provided by local government and the NHS are being undermined and dismantled by stealth because of the funding cuts and outsourcing favoured by this Conservative and Lib Dem Coalition government."

Cllr Mac Cafferty said "These cuts hurt the most vulnerable members of our society. As local Councillors we have a duty of care to our residents to reject further cuts to public service funding."