Learning from the recent past on how to live sustainably in the 21st century

Rob Hopkins, co-founder of the Transition Network, will be attending a special open meeting of “Transition Kensal to Kilburn” on Wednesday January 20th at 7.30pm at Willesden Green Library, as part of an exhibition on sustainable living.

The exhibition “Old Stories for New Times” has hosted a series of events at the Library in Willesden Green. This special open meeting on the 20th January will focus on what we can learn from the recent past to live more sustainably in the future. Transition Kensal to Kilburn will draw on the exciting research for their exhibition, which gathered stories from people who've lived in the area from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Carol Low, Kilburn resident, who organised the exhibition, says, “We now want to hear from community members and from Brent Council about actions that residents would like to be part of to build a sustainable future locally.”

The evening will start with drinks and nibbles from 6.30pm on the 2nd floor in the Education Room, when people will be able to view the exhibition in the Gallery and visit stalls run by Transition Kensal to Kilburn and Transition Willesden. On the night there will also be an opportunity to buy "21 Stories of Transition", the latest book by Rob Hopkins, and have a copy signed by the author himself. The meeting itself will start at 7.30pm until 9.30pm and will be held downstairs in the Performance Space. The aim is to identify new projects on sustainability and deepening community connection.

The exhibition, “Old Stories for New Times”, which ends on 24th January, is dedicated to day-to-day life and community life in Kilburn, Kensal Green, Brondesbury and Mapesbury before cheap oil and consumerism took the world by storm. More details of the exhibition  which was put on in partnership with Brent Museum and Archives are HERE .

TfL consults on 83 bus route changes - route would stop at Alperton rather than go through to Ealing Hospital

Transport for London is consulting on changes in the 83 bus route which currently runs from Golders Green to Ealing Hospital via Wembley and Alperton. Along with the 182 and 297 it is a link between Wembley Park Station (Jubilee and Metropolitan line stations and Wembley Central Station (Bakerloo, London Overground and Southern Rail).

TfL Announcement

The London bus network is kept under regular review. We have developed proposals to change route 83 to improve reliability and provide more capacity as passenger demand grows in the area.
Route 83 is a 24-hour service that runs daily between Golders Green and Ealing Hospital serving Hendon, Wembley, Alperton, Hanger Lane and Ealing. Buses run approximately every 8 minutes during the day Mondays to Saturdays, every 10 minutes during the day on Sundays and every 12 minutes on all evenings. The overnight service runs every 30 minutes on all nights of the week.

What are we proposing? 

Route 83
We propose to shorten route 83 so that it would run between Golders Green and Alperton station only, and not continue on to Ealing Hospital as it does now. The frequency of this service would remain unchanged.  It would no longer be a 24-hour service; however new route N83 would continue to provide the night service covering all stops served by the current 83.

New route 483
We propose to introduce a new bus route, numbered 483, between Harrow town centre and Ealing Hospital. The proposed new route would start at Harrow bus station, and then run via College Road, Station Road, Kenton Road, Watford Road and East Lane. Buses would go along Wembley Hill Road and then follow the line of the existing route 83 from Empire Way and Wembley Stadium station to Ealing Hospital.  Buses would return over the same roads.

Buses would run every 8 minutes during the day Monday to Saturday, every 10 minutes during the day on Sundays and every 12 minutes all evenings.

The proposed new route would introduce a bus service to a 400 metre section of Wembley Hill Road between Empire Way and Wembley Park Drive for the first time. We are working with the London Borough of Brent to determine whether bus stops could be introduced here.

Our proposals would provide many new direct links between places in North West London not currently possible and give additional capacity between Wembley, Northwick Park and Harrow supplementing route 182. For some though, who currently travel on route 83 between places north of Wembley and south of Alperton, a change of bus may be required to complete their journey. This would affect approximately 1,680 passengers a day, about five per cent of passengers currently using route 83 on weekdays.

Route N83
Route 83 is currently a 24-hour service.  Therefore to ensure all current stops retain a night service we are proposing to introduce a new service, N83, running between Golders Green and Ealing Hospital via the current 83 route. The frequency of this service would remain at a bus every 30 minutes on all nights.  There would be no separate night service on route 483 but route N18 will continue to link Harrow and Wembley at night via Watford Road and Harrow Road.

Drop-in sessions
You can discuss these proposals with staff from Transport for London at the following times and locations:

Thursday 21 January 2016 from 4pm to 7pm at:
Harrow Bus Station
81 College Road
Harrow
HA1 1BA

Monday 25 January 2016 from 3pm to 7pm at:
Brent Civic Centre
Engineers Way
Wembley
HA9 0FJ

Have your say
We would like to know what you think about our proposals for route 83 and the introduction of new route 483. Your comments and suggestions will help inform our final decision making.
Please give us your views by completing the online survey below by Monday 22 February 2016.
Alternatively, you can:

• Email us at consultations@tfl.gov.uk,
• or write to us at FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS

Junior doctors accuse Hunt of gambling with lives: 'Jeremy's Punt' stunt

A faux betting shop storefront has been erected outside a London hospital and the Palace of Westminster by the junior doctors campaign group, ahead of the first planned strike on Tuesday January 12, to represent how Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plans to introduce radical reforms to doctors’ contracts could gamble with the public’s health.

The betting shop, dubbed “Jeremy’s Punt” was launched as the Government's continued failure to address doctors' concerns that no proper safeguards have been put in place to prevent hospitals from forcing them to work dangerously long hours.

Junior doctors are worried that the new contract will lead to increasingly unsafe working patterns without adequate rest and recovery, as well as changes to the definition of ‘office hours’ weekday and weekend working.

The fake betting shop was offering ‘Money Back’ if Hunt re-negotiates, ‘Evens on being treated by an overworked doctor’ and ‘3/1 on reforms causing a preventable medical error’ as a way to get the message across.

The monitoring system that protects the number of hours junior doctors can work has been in place for over 15 years, but now, under the proposed reforms, faces a drastic alteration that could put the public’s lives in danger, doctors say.

Following a freedom of information request, doctors have received confirmation from the Department Of Health that there has been no specific assessment into modeling patient safety under the new contract, showing that Hunt’s actions are a gamble.

Doctors’ fears carry merit as the most recent study into fatigue and medical errors, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September 2009*, revealed that fatigue could see an increase of medical error rise by 15%. 

Dr Nadia Masood, an anaesthetic trainee in London said:

We work hard to keep our patients safe and want to continue doing so.  You wouldn’t drive for 13 hours without proper breaks, yet the government want to remove vital safeguards in their version of the new contract. Tired doctors make mistakes, this contract doesn’t protect patients or staff adequately.

We chose this profession because of an innate passion for the care of people, but these reforms are showing a lack of that for both the public and us. We cannot gamble with people’s lives, plain and simple.

Initially the government was content to remove the safeguards entirely, but under pressure from the BMA (British Medical Association), created the role of ‘guardian’ to protect junior doctors from working unsafe hours. However, the Government is insisting that hospital trusts make this appointment, without input from the BMA, leading to a conflict of interest where junior doctors believe the guardian’s true agenda will be helping the overstretched hospital trusts to cut costs, not ending unsafe practice.

The proposed contract will also mean that doctors working shifts as late as 1.59am, which are not classified as night shifts, will not receive the necessary protections (breaks and rest periods) before being back on duty.

Dr Marie-Estella McVeigh, a junior doctor in London said:

For all of us, the strikes, planned to start on Tuesday, are the last resort to make Jeremy Hunt listen to the issues that we face on the front line of patient care. This is not about getting more money; the Government and BMA have agreed right from the start that the total cost of changes remains neutral, there’s no increase in the pay bill.

As doctors we are deeply concerned about safety. We feel the Government are not listening to our concerns and are playing games by ignoring 50,000 junior doctor whistle-blowers.

The current dispute centres on the Government’s new contract offer, which focuses on changes in working hours, patterns and conditions as well as restructuring and distributing pay within a neutral pay package.

Paris Climate talks: success or failure? Discussion next week

A climate change campaigner will talk about the Paris Climate Change Conference at Brent Friends of the Earth's (Brent FoE) January meeting. This will be at Watling Gardens Community Meeting Room in Kilburn on Tuesday January 12th at 7.30pm. DIRECTIONS

Aaron Kiely, Climate Change Campaigner from Friends of the Earth, who was in Paris for the negotiations, will speak about the talks and their outcome and discuss how we can work for a safe climate.

Pam Laurance, a Co-ordinator of Brent Friends of the Earth says, “Many opinions have been expressed about the outcome of the talks; some optimistic and some pessimistic. Clearly we need to continue to press the UK government to reduce our contribution to climate change. This is a chance to hear in more detail about the agreements made and to think about what we should do next.”

Everyone is welcome to attend this free event, and stay for the rest of the group meeting. Light refreshments will be available.

The talk will start at at 7.30pm, and will be followed by Brent FoE's monthly meeting. The meeting will be at Watling Gardens Community Meeting Room, 97/135 Watling Gardens, Shoot Up Hill, NW2 3UB (5 mins. from Kilburn tube/buses on Shoot up Hill). For more information see http://www.brentfoe.com or email info@brentfoe.com.

Brent Labour urges school governing bodies not to convert to academy status

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council and Cllr Ruth Moher, lead member for Children and Families have written to Brent primary school governing bodies, on behalf of the Labour Group,  putting the case against academisation. This is at a time when Sudbury Primary School Academy is experiencing difficulties and the  Oakington Manor Primary/Furness Primary Federation governing body is moving to convert to an academy.  At the same time in policy adopted last year the Council is looking to academies and free schools to provide additional secondary school places.

Dear Governors,

We are writing to you on behalf of Brent Labour's leadership, following the announcement on the future of schooling by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Without any regard to the wishes of local parents and communities,m the government has announced that it intends to see an end to schools operating within local authorities and become academies.

We urge you to ensure your school remains part of the local council.

While it is critical that schools teach the academic basics to our children, we know that they do so much more.

They are places where young people learn the meaning of being a friend, a team-mate and a citizen; where they find out more about their fellow pupils and themselves than they ever realised there was to know; where they discover the interests and develop the skills that will make them happy, well-rounded an, fulfilled human beings. In short, they prepare our young people for life in the broadest sense,

Such a broad preparation for life requires not a business, but a community. A community of teachers, parents and pupils can go beyond their contractual commitments, to provide the activities that help broaden our children's horizons: After school activities, appropriate extra support for some pupils and teaching beyond the test.

But a community cannot be run for profit. Hours of volunteering can not be given, if they will be exploited for the bottom lines. Currently academies in the borough are not for profit, and collaborate well within the Brent Schools Partnership. They work hard to give their pupils the roundest possible education.

But once out of local authority control there is no guarantee that a school will not eventually become for profit. Michael Gove, the former Education Secretary who promoted much of the academy agenda, has gone on record as saying that he is 'open' to businesses running schools. This Conservative majority government is at liberty to make that happen. A current academy headteacher can be against a school being run for profit, but there is no guarantee what the stance of their successor will be.

The only way to ensure that our schools remain communities, and do not becomes businesses, is for them to remain under the control of Brent Council. On behalf of Brent Labour's leadership, I urge you to do all you can to ensure that they do.

Cllr Muhammed Butt
Cllr Ruth Moher

Note: I have not edited this letter (MF)

Unions call for removal of uncertainty at Sudbury Primary School and look forward to positive working relationship

Officers of the Brent Association of Teachers and Lecturers and National Union of Teachers met with Ian Phillips the new Chair of Governors of Sudbury Primary Academy School yesterday. They said that they looked forward to a positive  working relationship with him and the new governing body.

Staff at the school have voted for strike action if the suspended headteacher returns. The unions anticipate that the imminent Ofsted report will criticise the management of the school but give it a 'Good' grade in other areas.

The unions said:

The governing body will have up to two months to resolve the situation before any action would have to be taken. The Headteacher been suspended since  early November. We are confident that staff and unions working together with the Governing body will mean that the school will thrive and continue to give the children the excellent teaching that Ofsted recognises in their report. In the interests of the staff and pupils, the matter needs to be resolved as speedily as possible to remove this uncertainty about the future. 

Staff and the unions wish to make it clear to parents, the public and Ofsted that strike action will only happen if absolutely necessary to protect staff and children. Further, neither staff nor their unions have any complaint or concerns about any other members of the senior leadership team (SLT). They have done and are continuing to do an excellent job.  SLT are now able to work well with all the staff and there is a new purpose and direction, ably led by Kamini Mistry the acting headteacher.

Frustration over worsening situation in King Edward VII Park

The above scene was what confronted parents yesterday morning when they attempted to take their children to Park Lane Primary School, Wembley, via the St Johns Road entrance to King Edward VII Park, instead they had to take a detour to avoid the pond.

Since Wembley Matters first raised the issue of the works going on in the park LINK  a notice has been put with a telephone contact for information but a resident contacted me yesterday to say that a promised call back had not happened.

The drainage works on the playing field that started last August were supposed to take just 5 weeks at a cost of £350,000. Residents point out that the cost of fencing hire alone must have significantly increased that expenditure and of course a large part of the park is now inaccessible and the drainage is worse than ever.

Inevitably they ask how a cash-strapped council can let this situation continue.

Scrutiny Committee delves into green bins

Some of the issues raised on Rik Smith's guest blog on the green bin charge LINK came up at the Brent Scrutiny Committee last night.

Cllr Duffy expressed doubts about the report's claim that the charge had not resulted in more garden waste going into grey bins but Chris Whyte, head of Environment Management, said that this had been confirmed by 'visual inspections', officers would take it up if it became apparent there was a problem.

Duffy said that he would expect weekly, rather than fortnightly, collections of the blue bin dry recycling, should have resulted in less going into the residual grey bins, but this had not been the case. Whyte said this could be accounted for by an increase in the borough's population, an explanation that Duffy did not accept.  Former environment lead member Cllr Keith Perrin asked if the council were collecting enough dry recycling now to merit weekly collections.

Dumped Christmas trees in Chalkhill Friday January 8th 2016

Officers were urged to do more to increase take up of compost bins by residents. Fly-tipping was a major concern with the report claiming that after an initial surge there had been no substantial increase in the fly-tipping of garden waste but Cllr Southwood conceded that the council needed to be more pro-active regarding the collection of Christmas trees. Chris Whyte said that the council had an obligation to pick up any tree left in the street and did not want residents without green bins to put them into blue bins as this would encourage them to use them for organic waste throughout the year.

There was close questioning on contamination  of dry recycling by organic waste and of the additional cost of fly-tipping. Although fly-tipping came under a single contract charge by Veolia, so there was no additional charge for any increase in fly-tipping, it did cost in terms of an increase in landfill tax.

There was extensive discussion on making the 'Cleaner Brent' smart phone app LINK more widely known and it was agreed that it could be demonstrated at Brent Connects meetings.

On missing statistics for Q3 in the report Chris Whyte explained that the figures would be available but there was a lag in gathering the data from various data points.

The Committee agreed a recommendation from Cllr Nerva that the council consider distributing organic waste collection bags at libraries and other centres (he suggested five bags for £10) so that residents without green bins or compost bins could recycle at kerbside.

The issue of dry recycling and organic waste collections from flats and multi-occupied houses continues to be an issue and there were calls for enforcement of an obligation via the licensing scheme for landlords to ensure efficient recycling.

Cllr Duffy asked why Veolia had retained £40,000 of the £120,000 additional revenue from the better than expected take-up of the green bin charge. He had fought for the council to retain the whole amount. Chris Whye said that this had been reinvested by Veolia in an additional vehicle to cope with the 3,000  extra green bin customers. Duffy was not satisfied with this, suggesting that Veolia's initial costing must have included some leeway for extra capacity.

Intervening Cllr Perrin said he was concerned that there didn't seem to have be a mechanisom for the allocation of the £120,000 including the retention of £40,000 be Veolia. Was it a one off payment or an annual charge?

The chair, Cllr Kelcher, allowed me to ask a question from the public gallery. I asked about the claim in the report (6.1) that 35% of the reduction in green waste collected would be because it 'would no longer be produced'. I suggested that there was a wider environmental consideration here including the paving over of front gardens to reduce vegetation or the burningof garden waste affecting already poor air quality in the borough.  Chris Whyte had no information on this but said it was a consideration.