A Brent treasure: Roe Green Walled Garden Open Day Saturday September 10th

There will be an  Open Day at Roe Green Walled Garden in Kingsbury on Saturday September 10th from 10.30am until 4pm. This is another Brent resource, passionately supported by volunteers of the Barn Hill Conservation Group, that deserves to be better known. To whet your appetite here is some background from the Group:

Roe Green Walled Garden

The little known oasis is located within Roe Green Park, Kingsbury next to Kingsbury Manor House.

In order to locate the garden start opposite the junction of Kingsbury Road with Valley Drive and follow the road into Roe Green Park, bear left at the fork and continue to the Walled Garden. Buses 183 and 204 stop by the junction; and Kingsbury tube station is nearby.

History

The garden was originally part of the estate of the house now called Kingsbury Manor. The house was built in 1899 for the Duchess of Sutherland and her third husband Sir Albert Kaye Rollit, who was M.P. for Islington from 1886 to 1906. It was then a country house, surrounded by farmland, and was called 'The Cottage'.

By 1909 the house was occupied by Countess Bubna, daughter of the Duchess; it later changed hands several times. In 1929 George Cloke bought the house and changed its name to 'Kingsbury Manor'. He sold the house and grounds to Middlesex County Council in 1938, and the house become a home for elderly people, while the walled garden was part of a Council Depot used for the training of Parks staff. 

John Logie Baird, inventor of television, rented the nearby Coach House in 1928. It was there that he received the first television signals from Berlin. The concrete bases of his two television masts can still be seen near the building, which is now used by the Nursery. 

In 1989 Barn Hill Conservation Group were offered the use of the facilities, including the workshop, greenhouse and cold frames, and agreed to look after the garden. It was then in a rather neglected state, and members of the Group worked every Thursday morning to tidy and improve it. 

The Group's tree nursery was established just outside the garden, growing trees from seed collected in Fryent Country Park. The young trees have been used to replant some of the old hedgerows there. 

Several new features were introduced, one of the first being the organic vegetable garden. Compost containers were built to recycle the weeds that seem to grow everywhere. Another recycling project was the dry-stone wall, constructed in the traditional way, but from rubble instead of stone. 

A new pond was dug to encourage wildlife - frogs, toads and newts - while the old round pond was left for the fish. Homes, from recycled wood, for a variety of creatures, can be seen in one corner, and birds are encouraged by nest boxes and feeders. 

Awards and Financing

The Green Flag Community Award (formerly Green Pennant Award) recognises high quality green spaces that are managed by voluntary and community groups. The Award is part of the Green Flag Award scheme (Keep Britain Tidy), the national standard for quality parks and green spaces. Each site is judged on its own merits and suitability to the community it serves. Awards are given on an annual basis and winners must apply each year to renew their Green Pennant status. Roe Green Walled Garden has won this award each year since 2005. 

Barn Hill Conservation Group have received a number of grants through the years to improve the garden - one to pave the area outside the workshop, another to re-point the East wall; but our largest grant was for our new Conservation Centre building (now named 'The Cottage' after the name of the original manor House). This new building is proving to be a great asset, and for which we give many thanks to the National Lotteries Charity Board.  The Group have also been given a grant from Brent’s Ward Working which was used to part finance a gazebo, and more recently a grant form Santander which will be used to help finance a greenhouse/classroom.  In addition to grants and donations the group are also financed from sales of bric-a-brac, books, plants, logs and wood-craft.

Current details

The Walled garden, has been maintained by the Barn Hill Conservation Group (a completely welcoming and inclusive group) since 1989, is a wonderful tranquil and peaceful area to sit, walk and browse with free entry open every Tuesday Thursday and Saturday between 10 and 2. 

The gardens enjoys visits from the local schools and other community groups

It is home to Great Crested newts, a Bee Hive and a constructed home for bugs and insects 

 

Events 

The group host several open days during the year and two years ago hosted a Russian Tea Ceremony which was presented from a Russian Group that made Kolomna Pastila using British apples to discover the tastes of the time of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. 

Our next open day is Saturday 10^th September 2016 between 10.30 and 4, but is also open for visitors on Tuesday’s Thursday’s and Saturdays between 10 & 2.

Further Information

The group also do conservation every Sunday on Fryent Country Park a list of meeting places and events can be found on our website http://www.bhcg.btck.co.uk/ or contact can be made by phone on 020 8206 0492 or email barnhillconservationgroup@gmail.com

Brent plans to take bailiff service in house but with a twist or two

The Brent Cabinet will consider taking debt enforcement in-house as out-sourced contracts end. The aim is for the Council to retain the fees generated by each enforcement warrant issued.

The report suggest that a fairly conservative 17.5% collection rate would cover the costs of the service:

Parking would not be incorporate into the scheme at present.

The first twist is that the Council wants to employ its Enforcement Agents outside the usual borough employment terms and conditions which is something local government unions are likely to oppose. The report argues that other Councils, in order to compete with private debt enforcement firms, employ their workers on a low flat base salary, topped up with performance related pay, which is the industry norm. They argue that one one borough, Lewisham, which offered standard conditions on PO3, lost agents to Croydon when it offered performance related pay.

The second twist is that the agents may not be directly employed by the Council but by an independent trading entity which will be a pilot for changing terms and onditions for other Coucnil workers:

2. It is also important to note that there is a strong likelihood that as part of the Council’s wider commercialisation agenda, an independent trading entity would be created at some point. If such a structure were created, it would be able to recruit staff on different terms and conditions than those used by the council, and as such may be an ideal vehicle for testing a model such as this, especially in light of the fact that there is no immediate urgency to move the enforcement function in-house. It will also be useful to consider the timing of this; if staff are initially employed by the council and later transferred to a separate entity, the situation is considerably more complex than if they are employed by a trading arm in the first instance. 
   
   

The report puts forward  a number of principles for debt collection:

Principle 1 – Clear charges and recovery processes

●  We will make debtors aware of the value and nature of debt they owe to the council, and the potential implications if the debt is not paid

●  We expect customers to contact us as soon as they receive notification if they wish to dispute a charge or feel unable to pay. 

Principle 2 – Easy and flexible payment

● We will accept a range of payment methods and frequencies, and will endeavour to ensure that making payments is easy for customers, aiming where appropriate to prevent arrears occurring by encouraging payment in advance, or Direct Debit payments.

● We expect customers to take advantage of the range of payment methods available in order to pay on time, and to contact us quickly if they need to request additional flexibility. 

Principle 3 – Early intervention

●  Where practical we will seek to prevent enforcement by notifying customers who fall into debt at an early stage to ensure they are aware that debt has accrued.  

●  We expect customers to respond promptly to any contact we attempt to make with them. 

Principle 4 – Clear communication

●  We will use a range of communication methods to ensure that debtors know how to make payments, and how to contact us if they are struggling to pay

●  We expect customers to tell us promptly if their contact details change, and to be courteous to our staff 

Principle 5 – Support for individuals who demonstrate that they can’t pay

●  Where an individual is identified as being in financial difficulty, we will ensure they are referred both to relevant internal departments and appropriate sources of independent advice and guidance. In specific circumstances we may consider setting aside a portion of an individual’s debt in order to prevent exacerbating severe indebtedness

●  We expect customers to take ownership of their finances, to engage positively with any support provided, to provide any requested information within the specified timescale, and to comply with the terms of any agreement made. 

Principle 6 – We will take enforcement action where individuals “Won’t Pay”

●  We will use a variety of debt recovery methods to collect debts from those that can, but won’t pay, and wherever enforcement becomes necessary, any costs incurred will be passed on to the debtor.

●  We will ensure that all enforcement action taken is proportionate, and complies with relevant legislation; but to be fair to those who do pay, and to try to deter wilful non-payment, we will always seek the maximum penalty where an individual commits fraud.

The report considers 'vulnerable debtors' who may be:

●  Disabled people, including those with learning difficulties - where theirdisability specifically affects their ability to deal with their financial affairs 
●  People suffering from serious illness, including mental health conditions - where their disability specifically affects their ability to deal with their financia affairs 
●  People who have difficulty communicating in English – translation servic are available for interaction with the Council, but where someone does not have the support of family members who can speak and read English, they may be more broadly financially excluded, and may be considered vulnerable in some cases 
●  People who have difficulty reading and writing – which is likely to prevent them from being able to read notices or warnings in relation to their debt, and may have caused broader financial exclusion 
●  People undergoing significant changes in circumstances – such as being recently bereaved, or having recently lost their job or their home

The report states that vulnerability does not excuse a person paying a debt but the Council will provide support to avoud undue distress.

The full report to be discussed on September 13th can be found HERE

Will children return to school healthier after Pokemon Go summer craze?

Just before children broke up before the summer holiday I wrote about the Pokemon Go craze that was just developing here in Brent. LINK

I thought there was a plus side in getting them away from indoor computer games and outside getting some exercise.

Yesterday's Evening Standard reported that young women between of 15 and 24 years old hunting down Pokemon characters in London were taking 9,000 steps a day compared with the British average of 3,000-4,000 steps.

I am not sure why only girls were surveyed but it would be interesting, when children go back tomorrow or Wednesday, for teachers to see whether there is any discernible weightloss or improved fitness levels.

Have any parents noticed a difference?

A message to tonight's meeting of Brent Labour Group from a local resident re Preston Library

The Labour Party presentation making their promise to Preston Library

The Labour Group is meeting tonight and will discuss Preston Library.  This is a letter to them from a local resident:

Dear Brent Councillor,

I know that tonight the labour group are meeting to discuss the future of Preston Library, and of the Community Library that has been providing services to local residents for the past year.  Whatever is decided will go to Cabinet next week. You are considering using the site to provide five small flats, with some community space to the rear of the property.

You may not all be aware of the loss to the community that could arise because of these plans.  The original Council run library closed five years ago and a great service to local people was lost..  For the past fifteen months Preston Community Library has provided a range of services for local people, and has become an indispensable resource.

In case you don't all know, the services are as follows:
1.    Adult lending library with fiction, non fiction and reference sections.
2.    An attractive children's library with books, displays and activities to match.
3.    Computers and free computer classes for local people
4.    ESOL [English as a Second Language] classes for residents who need to learn or improve their English
5.    Newspapers [often used by Esol Students to improve their reading]
6.    A community cinema showing films for both adults and children, often with speakers. We are grateful to Brent for Ward Working funds to purchase our professional equipment.
7.    A range of classes, which have included yoga, keep fit, knitting and others.  More can be arranged if we have a longer licence [such as Arabic, Spanish and Farsi]
8.    The Summer Reading Challenge for children, supported by Brent library service
9.    A range of individual events such as talks on mental health [from CNWL], play readings, story telling, author visits, story writing, creative writing and scrabble group meetings.

Local people have come into the library to access services and to meet people.  Many of our customers are elderly or vulnerable, and many customers tell us that they feel much less alone since we opened.  We are entirely run by volunteers and from donations, so we have provided these services at very little cost to the Council.

At a public meeting attended by both local people and Brent Councillors, we were promised that the building would be offered to the community as a library, at a peppercorn rent, subject to the need for school places.  There are no schools using the building at present [we have shared with them], and we have occupied the building on a proper licence agreement in a fully responsible manner.  We are a registered charity.  We were very shocked to learn that you are considering 'marketing' this community space to 'other community groups' in the area.  This seems to be a breach of the promise that was made.

It is essential that this facility is kept open for local people, who have little else nearby.  I hope that councillors will remember this when discussing the development proposals this evening and at Cabinet next week.

yours sincerely,
Linda Green
Preston Community Library and local resident.

The ethnic diversity deficit in the Green Party

In a post just before the results of the Green Party leadership election were declared I predicted that we would have a more homogenous leadership - white, middle class and London/South East based.  LINK

The co-leader victory of Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley meant that there was only one deputy leader post available and this went to Ameila Womack. Shahrar Ali, the first BAME deputy leader of a major British political party, lost his position, although he remains Home Affairs spokesperson for the Greens.

On Facebook he wrote about the issue:
 
A lot of us are very frustrated about the implications of the leadership outcome on our external facing appearance. Let’s not shoot the messenger who told the story about what would happen if we didn’t take BME representation seriously. Instead look at ‘Our People’ the party website today:

What a relief that forward thinking people like Clare Lorraine Phipps and Matt Hawkins were instrumental in providing us with a more diverse team on the national spokespersons last year. 

Maybe we could find a way of merging those pages to address the faulty appearance we are projecting.

Or maybe we should be honest about our problem and leave it as it is? Serious question.
Worse would be we haven’t considered it.

What about a group shot with all leadership team, elected and spokespersons together, that would make a better image and would still be true.
  
And just in case we thought the problem was only external facing, what about representation on bodies such as GPRC and GPEx. At a recent GPEx meeting I was the only BME face around a table with sixteen persons (some of whom were also staff, admittedly). But that situation hasn’t improved since the election with other BME candidates like Benali Hamdache not having got elected either.

Here’s a group pic from July 2015 of a national strategy awayday, with the great and the good so called of the party machine. I would no longer be in that picture if taken today and nor would Sahaya who has since left the party.

In some ways this is even more alarming than the above as it suggests the problem of lack of integration is quite entrenched.

Shahrar Ali’s outgoing deputy leader speech, given at conference on Sunday, can be seen HERE 

Clearly emotions are a bit raw at the moment but this is an issue that won't go away.

In the easily overlooked Equality and Diversity report for the Green Party Conference, the coordinators' write:

The lack of diversity in the leadership and Green party executive (GPEx) elections has been incredibly disappointing, and something we must acknowledge as a failure. We need to look again at where we are going wrong and how we can improve the diversity of candidates. This is also true in our wider internal and external elections and candidate selections, and we need to look at mechanisms for encouraging marginalised groups to come forward.

...We have set up a working group with monthly meetings, including representatives from Greens of Colour and staff looking at how best to progress. To begin with we are looking at creating regional equality and diversity champions, supporting the growth of Greens of Colour and getting better at diversity monitoring as a whole.

"Dear Mo, we feel political parties ought to keep their promises..."

Letter to Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council. from Philip Bromberg of Preston Community Library

Dear Mo,

I hope you're well. I write, as ever, as Chair of Preston Community Library (PCL). The report on the future of the Preston Library site was discussed at our committee meeting yesterday. I have some more detailed questions which I will send later this week, but I wanted to send you our initial thoughts as soon as possible. You will not be surprised to hear that we are very unhappy about some of the report's recommendations.

You will recall that in May 2014 Brent Labour Party promised, if elected, to "offer the building at a peppercorn rent to any local community group who can provide a sustainable  community library... that is our pledge. We will not open to competitive tender in order to give preference to local groups" At the time you were happy to sign up to this pledge.

Can I draw your attention to para 3.3 of the report, which is, I'm afraid, a gross misrepresentation of recent history. We set up the library in April 2015 at the invitation of members of the then Cabinet; I assume you were involved in that decision, and also in the decision to continue to charge us a peppercorn rent. The library has operated continuously in the building from then until today. There has never been anything irregular about our presence in the building, and the suggestion is, frankly, offensive.

PCL's strong preference is to continue to run the library from the existing building. If, however, the Council decides to re-develop the site, then it needs to do so in a way consistent with promises made two years ago. In practice this means that you need now to guarantee that any new community space must contain a library at least as large as at present, which must be offered at a peppercorn rent. This is no more than you promised two years ago.

Why do we say this? Well, as a matter of principle we feel that political parties ought to keep their election promises. The report mentions (para 3.9) fairness to other community groups, but what about fairness to the dozens of Preston and Barnhill residents who have given thousands of hours to create and run a library, on the basis of promises made by you in 2014?

But there is a bigger issue than mere fairness or broken promises. The fact is that from a standing start, and in very trying circumstances, we have built a fully functioning public library. We offer a wide range of classes and activities for adults and children, and have (with your support) established a much-loved community cinema. We have just received a two-year grant (from Brent!) to improve - in partnership with your Library Service - the service we offer. All of this has been achieved at minimal cost to the Council, and all of it is now at risk.

We urge you to ensure that Preston Community Library is able to continue its work for the foreseeable future.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Philip

Broken promises threaten future of Preston Community Library

From Philip Bromberg of Preston Community Library

On September 13, Brent Council's Cabinet will consider plans to re-develop the Preston Library site. The intention is to build flats and a new 'community space'. These plans are a serious threat to the existence of  Preston Community Library, and we need to act now.

As most of you will know, in May 2014 Brent Labour Party made an election promise to "offer the building at a peppercorn rent to any local group who can provide a sustainable community library. We will not open to competitive tender in order to give preference to local groups". But, under the current plans, the new community space will be offered for open market tender, with an anticipated rental income of £51,000.

Please write now - today or tomorrow - to Mo Butt, the Leader of the Council, cllr.muhammed.butt@brent.gov.uk . Please tell him that we wish to continue to operate in the existing building, and ask him to guarantee that any new community space will contain a library at least as large as the current library, and that it will be offered at a peppercorn rent as he himself promised two years ago. If you prefer to phone him, his mobile number is 07867 169 879.

Please also contact your local ward councillors. For Preston ward, these are Matt Bradley,    cllr.matthew.bradley@brent.gov.uk  Jean Hossain,    cllr.jean.hossain@brent.gov.uk and Pat Harrison, cllr.patricia.harrison@brent.gov.uk .

With your support over the last five years (and, incidentally, with the support of several sympathetic councillors), we created Preston Community Library, and that's something we should all be immensely proud of. At the moment, despite considerable obstacles caused by our licence, we continue to run a fully functioning public library at virtually no cost to the Council. Our English classes, our IT classes, our art class, our storytime sessions for children, our wonderful community cinema - all of these and more are now under threat.

I urge every single one of you to contact our councillors today to ask them to protect our library. Please copy me in to any correspondence. If any of you want to read the report, it is HERE

With thanks,

Philip,
Chair, Preston Community Library,

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