Kilburn Labour Party Party steps into Duffy dispute

Reliable sources inform me that Kilburn (Brent) branch of the Labour Party agreed at its meeting on Thursday to write to to the Leader, Muhammed Butt, and the Chief Whip of the Brent Council Labour Group,  condemning the way proceedings are being taken against Cllr John Duffy.

Duffy had complained in a letter to Labour Group members about the way Cllr Kabir, the Chief Whip, had threatened him with disciplinary action without giving him details of the charges or hearing his response. LINK

Brent Council has destroyed Stonebridge Adventure Playground but not the spirit that made it unique

The remains last night

This morning

Stonebridge Adventure Playground is no more.

A place and staff that made all the difference to so many young people in Stonebridge and Harlesden has now been demolished by Brent Council in an action which is so short-sighted as to defy logic and certainly against the professed values of the Labour Party.

The destruction included the demolition of £700,000 play equiment funded by the National Lottery.

The playground Facebook site is beginning to get reactions to the demolition. Glynis Lee wrote:

STONEBRIDGE ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND....as the bulldozers roll in to raise it to the ground...after many years of love, play, freedom, friendship, kindness, creativity, and above all FAMILY...because everyone who came through those gates became a part of the Adventure Playground family.....even those ********* who are now demolishing it .....Time alone will tell.....

And others followed

• Glynis Lee We are sad, but Stonebridge lives on in the lives of everyone who has used this beautiful place...the people destroying it should feel shame, but probably don't...

  
  
• Joseph Daniel How they sleep at night springs to mind but at least Team Stonebridge Adventure Playground created a Legacy and put our youths on the right path. Manners Discipline Peace and Love.
• Glynis Lee Spot on Mr Daniel....Stonebridge has spread all over the world now....thats a great thing...so much positivity to come from such a small place...'cos you guys came through tougher times, learned all those important things... Manners Discipline Peace an...See More

  
  
• Karin Giles You done a great job xx

  
  
• Ro Rosenkranz It should be the topic of a bbc documentary

  
  
• DjTterry Bee Where is the public rage that took place for the Carlton Tavern pub in Kilburn when the developers demolished it? Where is the outcry, the multiple news bulletins on London tonight? Features in the evening standard? Why are children from urban sink estates not regarded as much to warrant a dedicated free space with decent adult supervision to be nurtured into adulthood? Why does everything have to be about commerce? Brent council, WILL eventually see the fallout from their corporate greed, you all know what they say about idle hands!

  
  
• Dorota Staniak They even continue the job Sunday morning!!! Its looks like they want to hide what they doing

This is what Brent Council has destroyed:

Fighting for our Future: The Alternative to Austerity, Humanitarian Disaster & Market Meltdown

Book tickets HERE

Brent Council reiterates objections to Brent Cross Cricklewood scheme ahead of Thursday's Planning Committee Meeting

Although the item on the Cricklewood Green Space will no longer be heard By Barnet Council the whole  controversion Brent Cross Cricklewood Regeneration scheme will be discussed on Thursday. (Planning Committee, 6.30pm, Hendon Town Hall,  The Burroughs, NW4 4BQ Items 7, 8, 9, 10 AGENDA)

On August 14th Aktar Choudhary,  Operational Director of Planning and Regeneration
 for Brent Council, wrote to Barnet reiterating Brent's objections which appear to have been ignored by Barnet. The full four page letter is posted below but here is a summary of Brent's objections:

In summary, we maintain our objection as the following still have not been addressed:

·      Lack of mitigation measure proposed for the junctions within Brent

The methodology used provided very limited opportunity for mitigation to be required. As such no reasonable mitigation is proposed for junctions within Brent. The development partners are suggesting that as junctions are already operating over capacity the traffic generated from the development will not further negatively impact performance. This is not acceptable, as existing queues will be extended through the development traffic generated.

  Lack of mitigation proposed for the A5 itself
 There is an assumption that everyone near to the shopping canter will walk and cycle. This is not realistic and the proposed modal shift from private car to other sustainable modes is not evidenced a achievable.

·      Parking pressure in the Dollis Hill Area


We have received a verbal agreement to address this through provision, including funding for consultation and implementation, of a CPZ. This offer is not reflected in the current study and therefore a written undertaking is required which also includes the level of funding to be provided specifically for the CPZ to remove this specific objection.

·      Measures proposed within the AWWACS will not increase walking and cycling


Two proposed cycle routes in Brent were submitted to the developers which Brent believes will provide an increase in cycling to the shopping centre. However, these proposals have not been referenced in the main text of the AWWCS study or indication as to how they have been taken into account to gain increased modal shift to cycling. In addition, the level of funding/funding mechanism to deliver one or both routes is not clarified.

I would again stress that the above objections are supported by both officers and members within Brent and have been our objections from the outset. We look forward to Barnet initiating positive actions to provide satisfactory responses to our objections and to be kept up to date regarding timescales for presenting the applications to Planning Committee. In the event that Brent’s view/requirements are not satisfactorily addressed, we will be considering appropriate recourse.

2015-08 Brent Cross Cricklewood Consultation

Petitioners call on Brent to home 50 refugee families

A petition has been set up asking Brent Council to home 50 refugee families in Brent. The justification for the request states:

Why is this important?

Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety.

Yet our prime minister has just said ‘we won't take any more refugees’. He thinks that most of us don't care. But 38 Degrees members do care. We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria.

So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need.

The petition can be found HERE

50 families is a comparatively modest request compared with the thosands of Ugandan Asians admitted in 1972 as Iain Roxburgh reminded us in Friday's Guardian (and Ken Livingstone on BBCR4 'Any Questions?'):

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We don’t have to look as far back as the kindertransport to find an example where we have done it before and welcomed large numbers of refugees in a short space of time and on a far greater scale. I was a councillor in the London borough of Brent and vice-chair of the housing committee when the borough received over 10,000 Ugandan Asian refugees in under six weeks in 1972. Similar numbers went to Leicester, also with a settled East African community. With the settled East African Asian community and local voluntary organisations, Brent council worked up a plan for coping with the influx, including a shopping list of demands, which we presented to the Heath government. After a meeting with ministers, chaired by the home secretary, all these demands were met, including houses in multiple occupation and immediate funding for new schools, local health, social services and local advice and community support services.

Perhaps most challenging, then and now, is handling the politics of migration and harnessing the generosity and human empathy of our settled communities. After consultation and with the cooperation of the local media, we took an openly welcoming approach to the borough’s new citizens, who have gone on to contribute so much to the economy, culture and vibrancy of the borough over the last four decades.

Police 'call-in' of South Kilburn youth seen as threatening and undermining justice principles

The above letter written to some local young people by the Metropolitan Police Brent Borough Commander has unsurprisingly caused them and their parents considerable alarm as well as raising the issue of civil liberties and what appears to be an undermining of the principle of 'Innocent until proven guilty'.

Particularly disquieting is the last paragraph which appears to contain a threat of continuing police harassment if the recipient does not comply. It has also given rise to fears that this constitutes another example of racial profiling by the police when their are concerns about disproportionality regarding Stop and search in the local BME community (see table at the end of the article).

The apparently template letter contains no evidence that the recipient is involved in criminal activity.

The Guardian has covered the issue in detail LINK.  Cecil Gutzmore who attended the meeting as an observer from the London campaign Against police and State Violence said that the two recipients and their mothers who attended the meeting were 'very strong' and that the police conceded that the tone of the letter was wrong.

The Guardian article reports:

Roy Croasdaile, chairman of the Brent Stop and Search Monitoring Group, who saw the letter in advance, said he was not comfortable with its content, although he supported the meeting’s aim. “I was the first person to amend and send feedback from the young man I spoke to and [his] solicitors to the police with regard to the ambiguity and offence that was taken,” he said. 

“After all, it was meant to be an invitation to obtain support and was received as threatening. We have all learned lessons from this for the future and I would like to think that this will not be repeated.”

Croasdaile added that the two young men who did attend proved to be “the stars of the meeting”, making a big impact on how it progressed and engaging with the charitable groups that had come to help them

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said that the letter was deliberately strongly worded to ensure gang members were in no doubt about what awaited them if they continued with their 'current behaviour'.


Giovanna Midgeley of StopWatch said

It is bewildering that Brent police will be considering non-responses from households an admission of criminal activity. Guilt is proven by good police work, not by whether someone attends a meeting or not.

The 'call-in' strategy is similar to that used in the Operation Shield pilot in  Lambeth. A critique of the strategy has been submitted by the organisation London Against Police Violence and can be found HERE

From the Brent Stop and Search Equality impact Assessment: LINK

One month to comment on Old Oak-Park Royal Development objectives

The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) is consulting on the Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) Scoping Report for the forthcoming OPDC Local Plan.This huge development covers parts of the London boroughs of Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith and Fulham and includes issues concerning housing, transportation, air quality, sustainability, health and the local economy.

The IIA Scoping Report is now out for consultation and available for download from OPDC’s website. LINK

OPDC is also seeking comments on the Scoping Report from the public and other stakeholders.

Hard copies will be made available at the address below.

Please note all comments, suggestions and responses should reach OPDC by 5pm 9th October 2015 and be sent by email to info@opdc.london.gov.uk or by letter to:

Local Plan IIA Scoping Report Consultation
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation
City Hall, The Queen's Walk,
London SE1 2AA

This extract gives a flavour of the ground to be covered:

OBJECTIVES

1.     To enhance the built environment and encourage ‘place-making’ 


2.     To optimise the efficient use of land through increased development densities and building heights, where appropriate 


3.     Maximise the reuse of previously developed land and existing buildings, including the remediation of contaminated land 


4.     Minimise the need to travel and improve accessibility for all users by public and non- motorised transportation methods 


5.     Improve access to well designed, well-located, market, affordable and inclusive housing of a range of types and tenures, to meet identified local needs 


6.     Improve climate change adaptation and mitigation, including minimising the risk of flooding and addressing the heat island effect 


7.     To minimise contributions to climate change through greater energy efficiency, generation and storage; and to reduce reliance on natural resources including fossil fuels for transport, heating and energy 


8.     To minimise production of waste across all sectors in the plan area, maximise efficiencies for transporting waste and increasing rates of re-use, recycling and recovery rates as well as composting of all green waste 


9.     Improve the quality of the water environment 


10. Create and enhance biodiversity and the diversity of habitats across the area and its surroundings 


11. To minimise air, noise and light pollution, particularly for vulnerable groups 


12. To conserve and, where appropriate, enhance, cultural heritage 


13. Increase community cohesion and reduce social exclusion 


14. Improve safety and reduce crime and the fear of crime 


15. Maximise the health and wellbeing of the population, reduce inequalities in health and promote healthy living 


16. To improve the education and skills levels of all members of the population, particularly vulnerable groups 
 

17. Maximise the social and economic wellbeing of the population and improve access to employment and training 


18.To encourage inward investment alongside investment within existing communities, to create sustainable economic growth.

 

Brent Council to debate call for Independent Inquiry into Rosemarie Clarke case on Monday

The Brent Conservative Group motion on the Rosemarie Clarke case has been redrafted LINK and accepted by Fiona Alderman Brent's Chief Legal officer. It will now be circulated for debate at Monday's Full Council Meeting (7pm Brent Civic Centre).

The motion now reads:

This Council agrees to an independent inquiry into all aspects of the Rosemarie Clarke Employment Tribunal case.

This Council agrees that the inquiry shall commence at the conclusion of the Tribunal remedy hearing.We further agree that the inquiry costs shall be funded from reserves and that the new Chief Executive shall be charged with setting up the inquiry panel.

The new Chief Executive will have overall responsibility for setting the terms of reference,but this Council agrees that the following questions will be included in the terms of reference.........

1.What was the rationale behind the Council initially bringing disciplinary action against the claimant and was it fair and reasonable?

2. Why did the Council pursue this matter so vigorously through the Tribunal......and was it fair and reasonable?

3. What part,if any ,did this case figure in the departure of senior management from Brent?

4. What were the financial arrangements behind the second respondent's departure from Brent,including any indemnity given in respect of Tribunal costs awarded specifically against the second respondent?

5. What role did Cllr. Butt play throughout this case?

6. What were the total costs in this case ......and was it a fair and reasonable way to spend Council taxpayer monies?

7. What reputational damage, if any, has this case done to Brent Council?

This Council believes that this is an important independent inquiry, and that both Brent Council staff and Brent residents would support such an inquiry.