Mass civil disobedience Fossil Fuel Divestment Event and Rally Sat 4th March. Kings College on the Strand 11am

Arrests Fines and Suspensions and now a Hunger Strike at King’s College London – the fossil fuel divestment campaign
The campaign for total divestment from Fossil Fuels Heats Up. We urgently need your support!

Mass civil disobedience Event and Rally Sat 4th March. Kings College on the Strand 11am.

From King's College Climate Emergency

In developments not seen for decades King’s College London has engaged in a policy chaotic repression in the face of peaceful civil disobedience by students and alumni demanding total divestment from fossil fuels. Campaign group King’s College Climate Emergency was set up to make clear we are out of time on climate change. We need total divestment from all oil and gas corporations to have any chance of avoiding catastrophe. We stand in solidarity with the main poor and marginalised communities all over the world being destroyed by this unchecked corporate greed. We are particularly inspired by the amazing struggle at Standing Rock and believe we have to start making similar sacrifices in this country to make the progress we all want to see.

96% of students in a recent survey support total divestment which is also supported by the vast majority of staff. However the college council is dominated by corporate place people – the vice principal Chris Mottershead, for instance. is ex BP executive. This capturing of our public universities by corporate power has to be challenged by direct action. We have not allowed ourselves to be intimidated by arrests, suspensions, fines, and threats of prosecution by top management but instead upped our escalation with a hunger strike by one student and fasts by others. And we plan to have the biggest collective act so far of civil disobedience for divestment – a celebration of life over death - decorating the dull frontage of Kings with flowers, balloons, statements, teddy bears, and colourful poster paints at 11am Saturday 4th March.

If you could come to the event yourself that would be great (it is an hour before the NHS demo which starts only 15 minutes walk away). Or people can email the top guys to tell them to do the right thing:

The Principal Edward Byrne: Principal@kcl.ac.uk

The Vice Principal Chris Mottershead: Chris.Motershead@kcl.ac.uk

See our latest video which promotes the 4th March action HERE – please share as widely as you can.

For more details see the FB page: King’s College Climate Emergency.

School and road closures today as army tackles the Willesden bomb

Extended cordon area

The following schools will be closed all day today:

• Brondesbury College For Boys
• Al-Sadiq and Al-Zahra
• Christ Church CofE Primary School
• Islamia Primary School
• Malorees Infant School
• Malorees Junior School
• North West London Jewish Day School
• Marylebone Boys' School
• Salusbury Primary School
• Islamia Girls' Secondary School

This is the list of roads within the cordon that will be extended today.

• St. Hilda's close
• Manor House Drive south
• Christchurch Avenue between St Hilda's Close and Mowbray Road
• The Avenue between Tiverton Green and Mowbray Road
• Brondesbury Park between Coverdale Road and Chevening Road
• Wilesden Lane between Coverdale Road and Winchester
• Avenue Mowbray Road between Chevening Road and Willesden Lane
• Winchester Avenue between Chevening Road and Willesden Lane Dyne Road between
• Willesden Lane and Torbay Road Cavendish Road between The Avenue and Mowbray Road
• Mapesbury Road between Willesden Lane and Mowbury Road

The bomb  by torchlight (Brent MPS)

The Army bomb disposal squad will be continuing their work today and this will mean extending the cordon to around 300 metres. At the moment it looks likely that this will happen from around 9am this morning. The police will be knocking on the doors of those who will be affected.

Barn Hill Residents comprehensively oppose Wembley Stadium planning application

This is the submission made by the Chair of Barn Hill Residents Association (BHRA) to the Planning Department on the Spurs bid  to hold more events and lift the capacity cap at Wembley Stadium:

Planning Application ref: 17/0368

Wembley Stadium

We wish to make the following comments on this Application:

Proposed variation of Condition 3

Condition 3 of the original Wembley Stadium Planning Consent has not yet been fully complied with.  This Condition restricts the number of full capacity events at the Stadium until various transport improvements have been put in place. These include the upgrade of one section of road within the Wembley Industrial Estate which requires the purchase of a significant amount of land. This purchase has not yet taken place, despite Wembley Stadium having given Brent Council millions of pounds to facilitate these works.

We believe that until such time as these works are completed in their entirety, this Application should be refused.

It is not at all clear why the Stadium feels the need to increase the number of full capacity Event Days. There is no restriction on the number of events using only the lower and middle tiers of the Stadium which can accommodate up to a total of 51,000 spectators. 

The pretext for increasing the number of Event Days is that Tottenham Hotspur will be using the Stadium from 1^st August 2017 until 31^st July 2018 while their own stadium is being rebuilt.

However, Tottenham’s current average home attendance of 36,824 falls well short of the capacity figure of 51,000 for normal Event Days. The 31 additional planned events could therefore go ahead without any variation to the existing planning consent.

Although this proposal purports to be a temporary arrangement to accommodate Tottenham, we strongly suspect that, if approved, it would pave the way for Chelsea Football Club to use the

Stadium for a further three years while their stadium is also being rebuilt.

Proposed removal of Condition 33

We do not agree with the lifting of this Condition as we believe that many fans of Tottenham will travel to Wembley via the North Circular Road despite it already being heavily used and subject to constant traffic jams.

Other issues

We believe that Brent Council is not fully taking into account the detrimental impact that approving this Application would have on the local environment and residents. Even without any increase in the frequency of matches and the numbers of spectators, it is evident that Police resources are totally inadequate when it comes to enforcing the law on match days. 

In flagrant disregard of the regulations in the local Controlled Drinking Zone, there is widespread and excessive consumption of alcohol in the streets, especially when large numbers of fans are turned out of the local hostelries one hour before kick-off, while Police officers look on, apparently powerless to act.

This inevitably leads to the public nuisance of widespread urination not just in the streets but also in residents’ gardens, or even behind the Civic Centre.

The other unwelcome by-product of match days is the sea of litter left behind in the streets.  Fans discard food packaging with impunity, an offence which in other circumstances might attract a fine of £80. Sadly, Veolia (Brent Council’s contractor) are failing to maintain their previous standards of rubbish collection.   

This is to say nothing of the massive disruption suffered by local residents in many other ways on Event Days, what with overcrowded buses and trains making normal travel by public transport very difficult, and parking restrictions inconveniencing family and social events in residents’ own homes. 

Any increase in Event Days would seriously impact the right of residents to the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their properties.  In addition, other local activities would increasingly have to be curtailed at short notice, with venues such as church halls suffering a serious loss of income.

I believe that, before attracting ever larger crowds to Wembley on match days, measures should be taken to alleviate existing problems, whether that involves a large increase in Police resources or perhaps the Council reviewing the licences of local pubs.

Local residents suspect that designating many more match days as full Event Days when this is not warranted by the likely numbers attending, is a kind of 'Trojan Horse' strategy to increase the full Event Days to 68 on a long-term basis, to continue long after Chelsea and Tottenham have returned to their rebuilt stadiums.

If, as we have been told, the local Police already have insufficient resources to enforce the widely-flouted ban on drinking in the streets around the Stadium, what hope is there that they would be able to cope with extra Event Days?

Even if there were to be no increase in Event Days, we strongly believe that extra Policing is essential and suggest that the costs should be borne jointly by Wembley Stadium and the clubs involved.

For the reasons given above, we strongly object to this Application.

UPDATE: Army at scene of WW2 bomb alert in Brondesbury Park - info for residents affected

Photo by Aparna Maladkar (via Twitter)

Photo  (Brent Council)

From Brent Council

2nd March 2017 

Brent Council are advising people who live within the cordon above to not return home. List of addresses affected HERE  Rest Centre St Martin's Church on Mortimer Road. Helpline 020 8937 5788

UPDATE 2 March 2017 19.22 Work in the area is likely to go on until at least Friday afternoon.

 

UPDATE 2 March 2017 - 17.25pm: The army have now arrived on the scene. We will update you as soon as they finish making their assessments. #brentalerts

Emergency services have been called to 3-6 The Avenue in Brondesbury Park NW6, near the junction of Willesden Lane, to a suspected unexploded WWII bomb. Officers from the Police, Fire Brigade and Council are all on the scene.

A 200 metre cordon is in place and two schools within the area - Malorees Junior School and Marylebone Boys' School – have been evacuated.

There are road closures in the area which are causing disruption and residents are advised to avoid the area.

Due to the nature of the bomb, only the army are trained to deal with it and a team is currently on their way to the site.

The council's emergency planning team have set up a rest centre at St Martin’s Church on Mortimer Road, Kensal Green, with buses ready to transport residents should it be required once the army has evaluated the situation.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, says:

Council officers are currently making arrangements for our residents in the Willesden Lane area to make their way to a rest centre where they will be looked after until it is safe to return to their homes.

I would like to thank these residents who have shown great patience during this time. We will continue to provide updates on the situation as soon as they come through.

Search #brentalerts onTwitter for updates

Cllr Duffy's view on Spurs Wembley Stadium application

Back in December 2016 Cllr John Duffy warned fellow councillors about the Wembley Stadium planning application that would increase the number of events and lift the capacity cap.

All Brent Councillors,

I am very concerned that the Wembley Stadium and Spurs planning application is being guided and manipulated by both officers and Cabinet members.It would seem they seek a solution, that will not fully benefit Brent residents . 

All Councillors are Independent on this issue and Councillors should not be influenced by either Cabinet members or officers on a pre-agreed application and should seek to ensure and maximised the benefits for Brent.

Firstly you have to consider does Brent want Wembley Stadium to be a home ground for a Premier League Club and do we want the extra congestion, nuisance and general disruption. Unless we get real investment  from the FA, Premier League and Spurs, I believe the answer is NO.

It is clear that the Cabinet are unaware of the potential of ensuring the investment to alleviate the problems caused by Wembley hosting Spurs and have not negotiated a reasonable deal for the residents…..I am tired of Brent residents being short changed, therefore I  believe Councillors should oppose the application as it stands.

Earlier Duffy had written to Labour Group councillors in more detail:

As it is 99% definite,Tottenham Hotspur will be moving to Wembley and its also likely that Chelsea (they may go to Twickenham)will moving in the following year.Its time we sorted out a strategy to protect and improve our Environment, Sports Education , parking ,community and employment strategy, together with compensation for Brent  residents.

As Chair of planning when we knocked down the old Wembley stadium and a member of the Task force for Wembley Stadium regeneration I have seen negotiations close up with the FA and they will be tough and we need a clear strategy.

From memory Wembley were allowed 22 sporting advents and they were no envisaged to be the home venue for any football club.Therefore at this point I would advise not to accept a season long deal but to treat every game as a FA cup Final and expect resources to reflect this .There Are many safeguards we  need for residents.I will outline the basics without the detail.

(1) Environmental improvement.
I would expect extra resources( to many options to go into) plus investment into plant. I have not looked at other Boroughs but I am aware of some who get a massively enhanced service for match day.

(2) Parking.
Increased protection/enforcement of the neighbouring area.

(3) Sports Education.
Ensure Investment in equipment and sports teaching in our schools including visits from football stars.Its important both the FA and PremierLeague show their commitment to grass roots football.

(4) Community Support .
Financial support for community activities,including , local R/As ,St Patricks day,Eid and Navratri and maybe support for local group who participate in the Notting Hill Carnival.

(5) Employment strategy.
Ensure that Brent residents get their fair share of any new jobs/ training arising from  the extra games. Also local firms should get a fair share of the increased supply chain for contracts

(6) Compensation for local Business and residents.
Whereas the some businesses will benefit many other will lose (who would travel to Wembley to shop on a match day) so its important we look at high street improvements. The new games coming to Wembley will not only be on a Saturday they will included Sundays and weekdays at various kick off times.

There are many ways to negotiate and you should not look at only the time the football club is there, you should seek a 2/3 year deal on things like sports education and community support.I think you should have a local councillor on the negotiations ( seems unlikely as the leadership reject a task force for Kilburn Regeneration and now all decisions are made by the Lead member ) so local input will be represented.In my opinion we should not over engage in the - presentations- Vol-au-Vonts  and vanity projects system which some members of the Cabinet prefer. We should also not going in asking for jobs at LLW ( getting employers to pay LLW is a failure ) we should be looking better jobs in supervision and management training. Finally do not over rely on Officers who will seek a deal that suits them as administrators.

It would seem that some of the cabinet wish to treat the FA, The Premier League and Tottenham Hotspur  as " partners" whereas I see them them as people who wish to make a lot of money while using the facilities of  Brent which I have no problem with. However I believe this should be reflected in how we support our residents.So hopefully the cabinet have an agreed strategy about what we need from the richest sport in the world and the most famous football venue in the world.

    And Brent should not be short changed for all the inconvenience 

Wembley Stadium events consultation deadline extended to March 9th

Brent Council appear to be trawling through submissions on their Planning Portal to correct those clearly against the Wembley Stadium increase in event days and removal of capacity cap, but that have been classifed by the software as 'Neutral'. LINK

There are now 108 on-line submissions.

Many residents have encountered problems posting their comments on line (This is the LINK).  The deadline has now been extended to March 9th, 2016.

As an alternative comments can be sent by email  to alice.lester@brent.gov.uk quoting 'Comment on 17/0368'. Remember to state clearly your position (Support/Object/Neutral) on proposed variation of Condition 3 and removal of Condition 33. Postal comments can be sent to Alice Lester, Planning Department, Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, HA9 0FJ.

Details from the Planning Application:

 CONDITION 3 OF THE WEMBLEY STADIUM PLANNING CONSENT – THE CURRENT EVENT CAP

This condition restricts the number of full capacity events (up to 90,000 people) held at the stadium each year to 37 until certain transport improvements* have been completed. There is no restriction on the number of events that can be held that only use the lower and middle tier of the stadium (up to a capacity of  approximately 51,000). The current restriction allows 22 sporting events and 15 non-sporting events (although 3 additional sporting events can be held provided the number of non-sporting events is reduced by2 for each additional sporting event).

* This restriction falls away once certain public transport and highway works are completed.Most of the works have been completed, including an increase in the capacity of Wembley Park Station and significant road improvements within the Wembley Industrial Estate. However, the upgrading of one element of road within the industrial estate required the purchase of a significant amount of land and this was not completed.

PROPOSED VARIATION OF CONDITION 3 – THE PROPOSED CHANGE TO THE EVENT CAP

The applicant proposes that this condition is varied to allow up to 31 additional full capacity major Tottenham Hotspur Football Club sporting events between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018 (events with a capacity of between 51,000 and 90,000 people).

(NOTE: These additional events could take place without any variation to the planning consent, under the existing cap, where capacity would be limited to up to a maximum of approximately 51,000 people).

PROPOSED REMOVAL OF CONDITION 33

Condition 33 restricts the number of times that traffic management measures can be implemented each year, with specific reference to North Circular Road traffic flow. The applicant proposes that this condition is removed, specifying that TfL consider the traffic management measures to have a positive impact on trafficflow within the North Circular Road.

 

Demonstrate for #OurNHS on Saturday - we have too much to lose if it goes

Unfortunately I will be unable to attend this demonstration as I am currently unwell but I  hope as many Wembley Matters readers as possible will attend. Our NHS is worth saving.

My current illness has enabled me to see the NHS at first hand as my condition was investigated. Doctors, nurses and auxillary staff in Northwick Park A&E, Ambulatory care, Ultra Sound and CT departments have been amazing. They take care to ensure that procedures are as painless as possible and they gave full explanations of what they were doing, giving me a chance to ask questions.   Appointments were made quickly and communication between the deparrttments and with my GP was excellent.

All  this is under threat, not just from funding cuts and closures, and privatisation, but from the impact of Brexit.  Northwick Park has an extremely diverse staff who work smoothly together as a team.

The i reports a TUC analysis today that one 4.5% (54, 985) NHS workers are from the European Economic Area (EAA) while 90,200 (7%) of adult care workers are from the EAA. In London  9.8% of NHS staff and 18% of the adult social care workforce are from the EAA.

TUC General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, condemned the uncertaintly being created by the government:

It's a terrible way to treat dedicated public servants. And if Brexit means they have to leave our health and social care services will struggle to cope.

She called on the Prime Minster to guarantee EU citizens living and working in Britain  the right to remain and to do soe ahead of negotiations.

Unfortunately there is no Metropolitan Line services between Baker Street and Aldgate and no Hammersmith and City Line service between Edgware  Road and Barking on Saturday.

'Foster carers are already professionals, it's time they were treated as such,' GMB union tells select committee

GMB Foster carers who are members of the GMB union met with MPs today to demand proper recognition for dedicated members who look after vulnerable children.

Rachel Harrison, GMB lead officer on Foster Care, gave evidence to the Fostering Inquiry at a Select Committee.

The delegation of carers also met Labour MPs following the hearing, including Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.

Disturbing new figures show just 42% of foster carers felt their allowance met the full cost of looking after fostered children.

This compares to 80% in 2014, showing huge cuts in local government funding are badly hurting our foster carers.

GMB foster carers made the following demands:

· Nationwide standards and funding

Foster carers have vastly different experiences across the country - there needs to be a more consistent approach to foster care

· Professional recognition and respect

A lot is expected of foster carers, with increasing demand and fewer local government resources. Only a third (32%) felt that children's social workers treated them as equal.

· A national register of foster carers

This would allow for foster carers to look after children from other areas, cut red tape, remove local barriers, provide greater stability and save on costs of private care.

Figures from the Fostering Network show 49% of foster carers did not have an agreed training plan for the next year and 75% of those who had taken a child from outside their approval range received no additional training or support.

Rachel Harrison, GMB Lead Officer for Foster Carers said:

We're proud to be the union to represent foster carers. 

These people give their all to look after the most vulnerable children in society and it was vital we got across to MPs today the challenges faced by our members and how we can work with others to push for improvements in the foster care system, for the benefit of both the children and carers.

Colleen Callaghan, Foster Carer and GMB member, said:

It was fantastic to see MPs listening to our trade union really represent foster carers and give us the opportunity to tell it like it is - explaining to politicians what's needed to improve foster care in this country, for us and the children we care for. 

It was a welcome opportunity to see how politics can actually relate to us and hopefully change things for the better.