Alperton Global Teacher finalist tells it like it is on the housing crisis impact on pupils

Ms Zafirakou with Alperton students (Photo: BBC)

Sourced from BBC LINK

Andria Zafirakou  an art and textiles teacher at Alperton Community School in Brent is a finalist in the Global Teachers Prize sponsored by the Varley Foundation. She has been nominated for her work with deprived pupils, working with their families at home as well as in the classroom.
She told the BBC that  some pupils at her Brent secondary school have to do their homework in the bathroom, because their housing is so overcrowded.

She said:

By getting pupils to open up about their home lives, I discovered that many of my students come from crowded homes where multiple families share a single property. In fact it’s often so crowded and noisy I’ve had students tell me they have to do their homework in the bathroom, just to grab a few moments alone so they can concentrate. 

I also found that some were being forced to play truant to cook meals in the allocated time slot they were permitted to use their shared home kitchen. 

Others could not participate in extra-curricular activities after school because they had to take on parental responsibilities like collecting their brothers and sisters from other schools.
In response, she organised extra lessons during the day and the weekend, including giving pupils a quiet place to work.

She had learned basic phrases in the 35 languages spoken by pupils at the school and helped teachers work with other services, such as local police and mental health specialists.

Have your say on Brent's new Local Plan

Readers may well be cynical about another consultation from Brent Council when 'consultation' has often meant commenting on what has already been decided, the Council ignoring widespread local opposition to planning applications, and London and Brent planning guidelines ignored for spurious reasons.

However, for those who hold out some hope for local demoracy and planning for people and not for profit, here are the details:

The council has started work on a new Local Plan which will shape how the borough is developed in the future. There are key challenges for the Plan to address including:

• How do we ensure there is enough housing to meet everyone’s needs?
• How do we create employment opportunities and promote economic growth?
• What infrastructure and community facilities do we need to support new?
• What is the future role of our town centres?
• How do we create places that promote health and well-being?
• How do we ensure development is sustainable, high quality and protects the environment?

Why get involved?

Have your say on the issues that affect how you live, work and socialise in Brent.

Issues and Options Consultation

From August to December 2017 we undertook engagement events.  These sought to capture the views of a variety of people and organisations that have an interest in Brent’s future development. The events and a summary of responses are set out in the Brent Local Plan Consultation Summary document

We are now consulting on an ‘Issues and Options’ document.  This sets out more detail on the key challenges set out above and how we might address them.  It asks a number of questions.  The consultation period is from 8 February to 22 March 2018. 

• Brent Local Plan Issues and Options Document (.pdf, 10.75MB)
• Brent Local Plan Integrated Impact Assessment (.pdf, 4.59MB)
• Brent Local Plan Consultation Summary Document  (.pdf, 7.78MB)

Take the Commonplace Survey on specific places in the borough

Take the Smart Survey on issues and options

To respond to the consultation we would prefer if you answered an on-line version of the questions.  This will make it easier for us to collect and analyse responses, saving time and allowing us to take forward the Plan quicker. Alternatively, you can respond by e-mail, or by post.
Email: planningstrategy@brent.gov.uk

Post: Paul Lewin, Team Leader Planning Policy, Brent Council, Engineers’ Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ
If not completing the consultation questionnaire, please make it very clear which part(s) of the document you are commenting on, ideally referencing by paragraph and question number.

If you require any assistance or want to get in contact about the consultation then please send an e-mail to planningstrategy@brent.gov.uk or via Twitter @Brent_Council using #shapebrent.

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FAIR TRADE: A PALESTINIAN PERSPECTIVE - February 26th London Interfaith Centre

From Brent Fair Trade Network

Monday 26th February 7.30pm-9pm 

London Interfaith Centre,

125 Salusbury Road, NW6 6RG

What difference does fair trade really make? 

 To celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight, come to hear Bassema Barahmeh (pictured), olive farmer and board member of the Palestine Fair Trade Association, and Taysir Arbasi, Zaytoun's Director in Palestine, talk about the impact of fair trade on their lives. There will be time to discuss their presentations and to buy fair trade products from Zaytoun and Traidcraft. All are welcome: entrance is free. Fairtrade refreshments will be served. 

London Interfaith Centre, 125 Salusbury Road, NW6 6RG

Transport: Brondesbury Park (Overground), Queen's Park (Bakerloo, Overground) and Bus 206 (Brooksville Avenue).

Register HERE (free)

Further details: petermooreconsulting@hotmail.com.

Be ready to help fund the HDV appeal as legal action continues

From Stop the HDV Campaign


Most readers will now know about the judgement handed down by Justice Ouseley on 8 February which of course disappointed us in this first outcome, in refusing to find in favour of our four grounds against the HDV. However it is clear from the judgement that not only are there strong grounds for going to the Court of Appeal but that much of our argument, on consultation for instance is fully justified, and the judge admits that had Haringey consulted directly on the HDV its ability to be continued may well have been quite different.

Rowan Smith of Leigh Day says “This judgment, although bitterly disappointing, is very timely, given the recent controversy surrounding the involvement of private companies in the delivery of public services. The headline point is that the court agreed with us that the Council was under a duty to consult the residents of Haringey about the establishment of the HDV, and just as importantly that such a consultation would have made a difference. Seemingly, it is a technicality around the date when that duty arose which has deprived those residents of the opportunity to express their views, which are likely to have been overwhelming against the proposals. The judge also recognised the merit in, and gave extensive consideration to, our argument concerning whether the Council has the legal power to set up the HDV as an LLP. Our client, the Stop HDV campaign group, will appeal this judgment against the political back drop of the resignation of the Council's leader, the Labour Party's [NEC's] recommendation that the plans are halted, as well as the opposition party's call for a vote to stop the HDV. Our intention is to now write to the Council to ask for confirmation that contracts with Lendlease will not be signed until the conclusion of the appeal.” 

The appeal is now being prepared for submission in seven days, and it is vital for other places as well as Haringey that the higher court can examine how a Cabinet can get away with such a blitzkrieg approach to redevelopment, undisclosed financial risk, and sale of local authority assets, without due consideration by its own Council, and proper involvement of local residents in their own future. 

There will very shortly then be another round of crowdfunding required as costs of the first action have been met, and lawyers have worked very hard as their main impulse to help this case. So please be ready for this and let others know when it comes. The political battle has of course come round very much in favour of stopping the HDV, but it remains really important for the future of social housing and of Councils decision-making - local democracy in fact - that this goes the legal distance  to reverse this means of destroying communities.

 

Superhub approved by Barnet - what's next?

From NW2 Residents' Association

Barnet’s planning committee approved the application for an aggregates/spoil road/rail site at 400 Edgware Road, after hearing the planning officer recommend approval, residents, the Barnet & Camden London Assembly member and Barnet, Brent and Camden councillors speak against it and DB Cargo’s executive speak for it. Speakers were questioned by the committee but the chair, having announced that there would be no deferral, moved to a vote without further discussion. Six voted in favour and five against, apparently dividing by political party.

The application now has to be referred to the Mayor of London “for his final decision, known as a Stage 2 referral. The Mayor has 14 days to make a decision to allow the local planning authority decision to stand, to direct refusal, or to take over the application, thus becoming the local planning authority.” The last option is known as “calling in” the application and can take a while; the Mayor would hold a public hearing and issue a decision then or later. That initial 14-day deadline for the Mayor to decide whether to intervene starts from the formal referral to him by the borough. We don’t know how long that will take; we’ve heard of it taking up to six months but it might be that Barnet were ready to refer it immediately.

We hope the Mayor will engage and we will write to him.

Hurray! London on course to be first National Park City by 2019

Having just had a very pleasant walk in Fryent Country Park I am pleased that it will soon be part of London National Park City- via Time Out


Our city is one of the greenest in Europe, and for the last few years a small group of campaigners has been working to publicise that fact by turning London into the first ever National Park City. Their ambitious plan aimed to connect Londoners to the natural world all around them, create more green space across the capital, and show our city leading the way on sustainability, biodiversity and the environment.

Slowly but surely, Londoners joined the bid. We lobbied our local councillors to come out in favour, and Sadiq Khan and members of the London Assembly also lent their support. And today the campaign has finally declared victory. The majority of council wards – 53 percent of the capital – have backed the idea. London will become a National Park City!

Now the campaigners will start working with the Mayor and others across the capital, aiming to declare official National Park City status in 2019. (Find out here if your local decision makers have backed them yet.) There’s a long way to go, but we’re one step closer to a greener, greater London.

Sign up here to get the latest from London straight to your inbox – or discover London’s best parks.

Welsh Harp Half-Term activities

'Go and play on the roof my dear, but please don't breathe' - new primary school for Wembley

 You do wonder sometimes...

A planning application has been lodged to build a three form entry primary school in the York House car park fronting the busy Empire Way main road which connects Wembley Central and Wembley Park.  The artist's impression of course shows very few cars.

The school, which when full would have 630 children plus nursery, is the Ark Somerville and would be funded directly by the government with no oversight from Brent Council. It would have rooftop play space.

It is close to Elsley Primary School which has recently doubled in size from two forms of entry (240 children) to four forms (840), round the corner is Ark Elvin Academy and along the road at Wembley Park the all through Ark Academy (3-19 years), Michaela Academy and the Lycee.

That's an awful lot of child journeys by bus and car. It will of course be argued that children will walk from the new build Quintain developments but these are not exactly family-friendly developments. Theye are likely to come from further away.

Just imagine parents dropping children off on this busy road!

Elsley Primary has not filled up and there is a danger that Ark Somerville could cream off pupils from Elsley and other nearby primary schools.  After years of rising school rolls some Brent primaries are now experiencing reduced waiting lists and even falling pupil numbers in the wake of Brexit and movement of housing capped families out of London.

 The application is HERE. A date has not yet been fixed for it to go to Planning Committee