Community Library Strategy promise welcomed and discussions requested

Philip Bromberg of Preston Community Library (PCL) has written  to Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, following Tuesday's Cabinet Meeting:

I said I would put in writing the point that I failed to make at last night's (Tuesday)  meeting. Your announcement of a new Community Libraries Strategy is very welcome. So, given your emphasis (both last night and in private conversation) on the importance of collaborative working, can we - PCL and the other three library groups - expect to be involved in discussions about this as early as possible?

I do not, of course, know how much, if any, work has already been done on this, and three months is quite a short time to develop a potentially significant change of policy. But experience suggests you will get better policy decisions if you can involve those affected at a formative stage.

It does appear that the Cabinet is now genuinely committed to the future of PCL. That is progress.

Brent Cabinet decision on Preston Library site - official Minute

The official account of Cabinet decisions taken has now been put on the Brent Council website. This is the Preston Park Annex/Preston Library site decision.

RESOLVED:

(i) Cabinet agreed Option 2: to purchase the adjacent land to deliver 19 new homes and D1 community use space.  

(ii) Cabinet allowed a 3 month period for the Council to negotiate with the adjacent landowner(s).

(iii) Cabinet delegated authority to the Strategic Director for Resources  in consultation with the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Finance Officer in respect of awarding any professional services contracts for developing Preston Park Annexe scheme proposals.

(iv) Cabinet agreed that officers, within a three month period, would bring back the results of negotiations, and a draft community library  strategy.

(v) Cabinet indicated its support for the redevelopment process.

(vi) Cabinet agreed that this further report would set out detailed plans, outcomes of consultation and investment requirements and the support to be given to PPCL (sic) during the period of development. The  report would also outline how D1 use will be secured in the development.

(vii) Cabinet indicated its clear commitment to weight procurement processes to social value rather than financial value

Granville Plus Nursery parents appalled at being left out of Brent's South Kilburn deliberations

The Council has managed to achieve some good public relations with architects over its redevelopment of South Kilburn but it doesn't seem to do as well at handling good relations with the public who live on the estate and use its facilities.

Parents of children at Granville Plus Nursery School are very concerned about the future of the nursery, the lack of information provided to them about the plans and shortage of time to comment on proposals.

The nursery,  funded by Brent Council via various funding streams and where all staff are Brent employees, provides additionally resourced provision for children with autism as well as places for children with significant special needs deemed Outstanding by Ofsted. All these placements are made through a borough-level panel.

The school provides approximately 65 places for vulnerable 2 year olds, extended provision for working parents (open 8am to 6pm, 48 weeks a year).

All extremely valuable and a model of social inclusion so it is not surprising that parents are appalled by the fact that they were not told about the proposal until just before the start of this term with a closing date of September 27th

A glaring problem is that nowhere in the consultation LINK is the Nursery School explicitly mentioned so parents and others making a submission will have to find a way of shoehorning comments in. The process is already complicated enough, without parents, who are often speakers of English as an Additional Language, having this as a hurdle:

The process started when the Brent Cabinet in late July (after schools finished) signed off a scheme to demolish the Carlton and Granville Centres and bring the site into the SK Masterplan as an enterprise hub and community space, plus housing.

Misleadingly the report stated:

Who is affected by the proposal?

The proposal is relevant to residents in South Kilburn, small businesses in the area and the South Kilburn Trust.  As the premises proposed for re- development are largely unoccupied and will shortly be vacated by the remaining users, there is no impact for existing users

The new build purpose built nursery space (half the school) occupies  the premises and are not vacating it. Clearly there is a major impact.

In the main body of the report, section 7 states:

7.0 STAFFING/ACCOMMODATION IMPLICATIONS

7.1 There are no new staffing or accommodation implications for Brent staff. However there will be a need to consider the relocation of the Children’s Nursery and Barnardo’s Children Centre as part of the phased redevelopment of the Carlton and Granville Centres.

The Nursery School workers are Brent employees so 'no implications' is clearly  wrong and 'considering re-location' is more than a little vague.

The tentative possible inclusion of the Nursery School in rebuild and expansion plans following the merger of Carlton Vale Infant and Kilburn Park Junior (Foundation) school appear to be dead in the water as they both appear to be against a merger.

With no Council notice to parents and staff  or discussion with them before the July Cabinet decision this gives the impression of yet another 'done deal' and constitutes another unnecessary failure in communication leading to distrust in the Council.  It has echoes of the situation that occurred with Stonebridge Adventure Playground.

In fact there is a 'presumption  against closure' of Maintained Nursery Schools and it would be difficult for Brent Council to fulfil the clear criteria that have to be met in the Granville Plus Nursery School's case.

If the Council is to avoid another clash with residents it should at least set about improving communication, starting with reviewing and revising the consultation proposals, giving clear and specific assurances on the future of the school, and extending the consultation deadline.

Refugees Welcome 2016 - March on Saturday Park Lane to Parliament Square

Click on Image to enlarge

From Amnesty International

Why are we marching?

Women, men and children around the world are fleeing war, persecution and torture.
They have been forced into the hands of smugglers and onto dangerous journeys across the sea in rickety old boats and dinghies. Many have lost their lives. Those who have made it often find themselves stranded in makeshift camps in train stations, ports or by the roadside.
And still, politicians across Europe fail to provide safe and legal routes for people to seek asylum.
Meanwhile, ordinary people have responded with extraordinary displays of humanity and generosity. They've been moved to act after seeing thousands of people drowning in the Mediterranean, the continuing misery of camps in places like Calais, and images of the brutal conflicts across the world.
We need to tell the Prime Minister Theresa May that we want to help.
The UK government must do more - let's call on them to:

• Lead the way towards a more human global response to the millions fleeing conflict
• Offer safe passage to the UK for more people who have been forced to flee their homes
• Do more to help refugees in the UK rebuild their lives

Join us

Date: Saturday 17 September 2016

Start: We will be gathering from 11.30am outside Green Park station, south side. Amnesty staff and volunteers will be there to meet you - look out for the Amnesty placards!
We will then head to Park Lane to join the march meeting point at 12.45 on the southbound carriageway on Park Lane. From there the march will begin to move towards Parliament Square, with music and speeches taking place there at around 3pm until 5pm.
The nearest tube stations are Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch.

Finish: The route will take us to Parliament Square, where there will be speeches and performances.

Plans for Press House, Neasden to be decided at Planning Committee tonight

Press House (via StreetView)

Proposed replacement

Plans for Press House, Press Road, Neasden will be the main item at tonight's Planning Committee LINK

Press House stands out from the mainly two storey suburban housing that surrounds it and has always been a significant local landmark.

Officers argue that the replacement building, despite the height of one of the towers, would fit in better with the surrounding area.

They also argue that the accommodation offered is superior to that provided by the current 51 short-term accommodation units.  37 of the 74 planned units are claimed to be affordable - 26 affordable rent and 11 shared ownership.

The table below shows the proposed housing mix. This comprises 18% of the total number of units as 3-bed family accommodation, representing a significant increase in family accommodation when considering that none of the existing 51 flats on the site have 3 or more bedrooms. In addition, a proportion of the 2-bed units accommodate 4 persons which represent a significant delivery of family accommodation to meet identified local need. 


Unit Type	Number of Units	Percentage of Units %
1Bed 2 Person	33	44%
2Bed 4 Person	28	38%
3Bed 5 Person	13	18%
Total	74	100%

Preston Library wins 3 month licence extension and Council community library strategy

 Statement by Cllr Butt  (Leader) & submissions by Cllrs Harrison, Hossain & Warren*



Submissions by Michael Rushe & Philip Bromberg, statements by Cllr Pavey & Cllr Southwood*
 


Cabinet discussion and decision

Brent Cabinet agreed to a 3 month extension of Preston Community Library's licence tonight to enable the Council to formulate a Community Library Strategy which would cover all Brent community libraries. The situation will be reviewed in January 2017.

The Cabinet was addressed by Michael Rushe of SKPPRA and Philip Bromberg of Preston Community Library. They presented a closely argued evidence based case for the continuation of the library and for rejection of the officers' report.

Cllrs Harrison and Hossain, Preston ward councillors, spoke on behalf of the library with Harrison calling for the Council to keep its promises to the Preston volunteers. Hossain spoke of the library's key role in facilitating a place for the area's diverse community to meet and socialise.

Cllr Pavey, lead member for Stronger Communities and Libraries rejected the report's terminology of a 'pop up library' to describe Preston Community Hub.  The bookcase at Willesden Green station was a 'pop up' - Preston with its shelves of books, classes and cinema was much more than that. He argued for the primacy of social value in any procurement process rather than financial value. The financial equivalent of the volunteers' efforts should be included in a calculation of social value. Pavey suggested that in any design for the new building the library space shoudl come first and the flats second.

Cllr Muhammed Butt said that the group, if it got part of the redeveloped building, would  not be expected to pay the £51,000 commercial rent mentioned in the officers' report but he did not specify a peppercorn rent either.

He emphasised that he did not want to be in a conflict situation with the volunteer libraries but wanted to work with them. The libraries complemented the six Brent Council libraries and did not replace them.

During the discussion it was clarified that the report granted the Council permission to start a dialogue with the owner of the garage neighbouring the site about possible purchase to develop the garage's corner plot alongside the library. No approach had been made as yet.

There was a cautionary note from Gail Tolley, Strategic Director for Chldren and Families. She said that although the possible provision of a Primary Pupil Referral Unit on the library site was being dealt with separately and there were enough spaces for Reception pupils in the area, the Council were still getting 'in year' demand from families moving into the area from other parts of London, the UK or elsewhere. There was particular pressure on Years 3 and 4. There was no way of predicting the numbers or age groups of children who would arrive between now and next July.  More would be known by the end of the 3 month period,  in terms of the possible use of the site for bulge classes for those children,  but beyond that was still unpredictable.

* Video date should be September 13th NOT August 13th. The hottest September day for a century got me confused!

'Transformation' of health & care in Brent - Public Meeting

From Brent NHS Clinical Commissioning Group

You are invited to a public meeting and workshop to discuss our plan to transform your health and care system. The five year plan is a collaboration between Brent CCG, Brent Council and NHS providers in the borough.

This event will take place on Monday 26 September from 6.30pm at Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ

Last year the government outlined a new approach to help ensure that health and care services were built around the needs of local populations. To do this, every health and care system in England was asked to produce a multi-year plan.

To develop and deliver plans locally, 44 'footprint' areas throughout the country were established. Brent sits within the North West London (NWL) footprint which is being coordinated by the NWL group of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). The plans are being developed in partnership with the eight Local Authorities and NHS providers in the area.

Cllr Krupesh Hirani, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing said:

Residents' opinions' are absolutely key to the successful development and delivery of Brent's plan, especially in delivering the long-term outcomes we want to achieve for our patients and the wider public. The development of future services that will better enable this vision to become a reality will rely on strong and consistent patient and public engagement throughout the process.

In order to hear your views, we encourage you to come along to the event on Monday 26 September.

Dr Ethie Kong, Chair of Brent CCG said:

Join our conversation in making health services work in a sustainable and efficient way across the borough. We are committed to an NHS that fits residents' needs, so come along and tell us what you think of the work we have done so far. We look forward to working with the patient and public to continue to shape our health strategy over the coming years. 

  Register your interest HERE

Help bring in the Brent fruit harvest

Last year's mulberry harvest

Fruit picking groups in Brent have started harvesting local fruit that would otherwise go to waste in local gardens. Two Transition Town groups (Kensal to Kilburn Fruit Harvesters and Willesden Fruit Harvesters) along with Mapesbury Residents' Association (MapRA) pick fruit which they share with local schools and community groups.

Last year the three groups between them collected over three tonnes of apples, pears, elderflowers, plums, grapes, blackberries, mulberries and medlars. The fruit is given to local schools and charities including the MS Society, the Salvation Army, Mayhew Animal Home, St Mungo's, Brent Food Banks, and church homeless groups, and is made into delicious juice, chutney, jam, jelly, cider and wine.

Kensal to Kilburn Harvesters are gearing up for their showcase stall at Queens Park Day on Sunday 18th September, where they make and sell hundreds of glasses of fresh apple juice using a traditional fruit press.

Janey McAllester from Kensal to Kilburn Fruit Harvesters says, It's such a great feeling to lead a pick of fruit that would otherwise rot on a lawn and give them to our friends who cook for and run the local food bank - feeding those in need from local trees!

“We'll be juicing local apples and selling chutney made from them at Queen's Park Day, and hope to meeting people who would like to join us picking or have us pick their trees - it's always such a great way of introducing what we do.”

Viv Stein from “Willesden Fruit Harvesters” says, “Picking fruit is great fun for people of all ages, it helps out tree owners with too much fruit, and is much appreciated by local community groups. So far this season we've had a fun day out blackberrying, picked a hundred and fifty kilos of fruit from local gardens, and are making jam from our local bounty.”

Gerry Weston from MapRA says, “There seems to be plenty of fruit this year; we are looking for more people to get involved.”

Local Fruit Harvesters was set up in 2009 by Brent residents Michael Stuart and Viv Stein, and has become part of the borough's two Transition Town groups - Kensal to Kilburn and Willesden, and taken on by MapRA in Mapesbury. The Willesden group pick fruit in Willesden, Dollis Hill and Cricklewood. The award-winning project is part of the national Abundance Network. The fruit gets shared out between garden owners, volunteer pickers and distributed to local schools, charities, restaurants and shops on a non-profit basis. The projects have also trained over seventy people to prune fruit trees. To get involved email kensaltokilburnharvesters@gmail.com, willesdenharvesters@gmail.com, or gerry@mapra.org.uk.