Is Brent's gift of £17.8m to Quintain and the F.A. a step too far?

The steps that will replace the ramp - courtesy of Brent Council Tax payers

Last summer on July 24th a decision was made by the Brent Council Cabinet to spend £17.8m of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) monies on 'Strategic Infrastructure improvements' on Wembley Stadium and Olympic Way. Although I reported this on Wembley Matters at the time LINK under the headline 'Is £17.8m spend on Wembley Stadium public realm a good use of CIL cash?' the decision caused little discussion at the time. It was Item 24 on the Cabinet agenda and it was the beginning of the summer holiday.

Now Paul Lorber, former leader of Brent Liberals on the council, and others are querying the expenditure.  It is worth recalling the original Quintain statement about one part of the expenditure, the replacement of the stadium entrance ramps with steps:

No mention in 2007  that Brent Council would end up paying for the 'world-class entrance to the world-class Stadium.'

The Minutes of the Cabinet meeting of July 24th records Shama Tatler's justification for in effective giving back to Quintain and the Football Association (owners of Wembley Stadium) a significant amount of the CIL raised Quintain's development.  Part of the motivation to handover the cash was to get an assurance that the area outside the Civic Centre (the library entrance side) would not be built up with yet another high rise development. Brent Council had previously given outline planning permission for the site.

Councillor Shama Tatler, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Growth, Employment and Skills, introduced the item and spoke about the regeneration of Wembley and the need to support the ongoing transformation of the area into a thriving, attractive environment. Councillor Tatler informed Cabinet there was scope to use some of the strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds which had been raised as a consequence of development in the area, to invest in the public realm along Olympic Way. She said that enhancing the public realm was a key element in a step change of the positive experience the Council was aiming to achieve for residents and visitors, including an environment which would encourage people to dwell both before and after events. In addition, the arrangement would also ensure that the space outside the Civic Centre, currently subject to a planning permission which could be implemented, was used to contribute to the proposed educational quarter and provide more of a public square. Councillor Tatler said that this would be a joint project with Quintain and the Stadium and referred to a letter from Quintain (see Appendix 1 to the report on page 605 to the Agenda pack). She added that the report sought the approval for funds up to £17.8 million to accelerate the delivery of the public realm in two zones – B and C, with public realm works Zone A being entirely funded by Quintain (see page 594-602 to the Agenda pack).

Councillor Miller commented that the proposal was focused on a concentrated area, but it would have significant national impact. In relation to the rest of the Community Infrastructure Levy contribution, Councillor Tatler confirmed that options to spend it across the Borough would be considered.   

Zone A is Olympic Way, Zone B the area around the ramp from Olympic Way up to Bridge Road and Zone C the stadium ramp.

Brent Council made the following responses to Paul Lorber's request for further information on the plans:

“By copy perhaps the Chief Executive can explain why at a time when basic services to local residents are being starved of money the Council could possibly agree to hand over £17 million of CIL money to one entity - Quintain - a company owned mainly by an equity fund based in Bermuda. Were the Cabinet Members aware that they were handing public money to a company owned from a Tax Haven?”

The decision was made by Cabinet, to support the regeneration of Wembley Park and the role that the Stadium has not only in that, but as a piece of national infrastructure. The Cabinet report is available here (see item 24).

The decision builds upon the existing partnership between the council, Quintain and the FA to enhance Wembley Park, and must be considered not only in terms of the economic benefit which the regeneration brings to Wembley and the wider borough, but also in terms of the international reputation and national benefit associated with the location of the Stadium – which necessitates appropriate investment to create a world class public realm to go alongside it. 

The location of the ownership of Quintain was not relevant to decision, which was focussed on public realm improvements and the enhancement of Wembley Park. Cabinet resolved that the contribution is contingent on Quintain fulfilling a number of requirements for the public benefit:

a)       Not pursuing development of site NW04 adjacent to the Civic Centre to the extent currently permitted in the parameters plans associated with outline planning permission 10/3032.

b)       Working with the Council to deliver a development that better complements the role and setting of the Civic Centre, in particular creating a significant new square outside the Civic Centre Library.

c)       Agreeing a business plan and heads of terms, between Quintain and the council, for the future sharing and reinvestment of net income generated through assets on Olympic Way.

Paul Lorber replied:
 

I note that the CIL money will be used for “strategic infrastructure projects” and the Council is considering which ones. How did it come about that £17.8 million was allocated to one project before the process of considering which projects to fund have been listed or even consulted on?

As you know Councillors (including members of the Cabinet) receive hospitality from both Quintain and the FA and it seems odd that a decision on one project was made in such a rush without being assessed against a list of others.

It also seems very odd that part of this substantial sum seem to be a ‘bribe’ to persuade Quintain not to build a large building next to the Civic Centre - why would this be such an important priority for millions of public funds?

As you know many residents around Wembley and Alperton are very concerned at the height of some buildings given planning permission. In view of the approach in respect of the site next to the Civic Centre why would it not be appropriate for residents of Alperton to ask that the developer of the site on the corner of Ealing Road/Bridgewater Road to be paid a chunk of CIL money to persuade them to reduce their tower from the 26 Storeys to say a more reasonable 12?

 I hope that the priority for the £17.8 million decision has nothing to do with the fact that the Stadium is in the ward of the Leader of the Council.

In any case the report clearly does not identify other priorities in Brent in need of substantial funding. The Budget report for example identifies £300,000 shortfall of funding from the Mayor of London and of course CIL money could be allocated to Bridge this gap. 

My biggest issue is of course public money being handed over to a private company which is owned by Investors who are based in Bermuda for obvious tax reasons - when there is such a desperate need for cash to deal with the massive backlog of work to Brent’s crumbling roads and pavements. 

If the Council had consulted properly local residents would have made their views very clear. Every time they ask for anything to be done in their street - pavements, roads or verges - the answer is always the same “there is no money”.

That answer is of course not true as a staggering £17.8 million is being spent on something that most people in Brent do not regard as a priority.

in my view a wrong decision was made and Councillors were not given the right advice or proper options before making their decision. Sometimes officers advising should put themselves in the shoes of local residents - this might help determine local spending priorities.

Mayor's £6m for water fountains, refill & deposit return bottle schemes, improved green spaces

Press release from the London Mayor's Office
 
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a further £6 million injection of further funding for protecting the environment and improving green space in the capital.

The fund will deliver the roll-out of more new public water fountains - on top of the initial 20 the Mayor announced recently.

It will also create better local green spaces including in areas with little access to parks and community spaces.

Sadiq wants Londoners to help protect the environment by introducing changes that will have a big impact on reducing the amount of single-use plastic bottles and cups bought daily across the capital.

With many Londoners enjoying refreshments on the go from retail outlets and cafes, the amount of single-use plastic waste is huge.

The Mayor is working with Thames Water and City to Sea to introduce a Refill scheme so that Londoners can reuse their bottles and cups to top up free tap water from local shops and businesses.
He has also announced plans for the installation of 20 new public water fountains in busy areas.

Sadiq has already allocated £750,000 in his draft budget over the next three years to cut plastic waste, including helping launch a pilot Refill scheme with retailers in five districts and installing 20 new fountains. He is working with the #OneLess campaign, led by the Zoological Society of London to find suitable fountain sites and the first ones will be installed this summer. He has today announced increased funding.

The Mayor has committed to working with manufacturers and supply chains to trial coffee cup collection schemes where businesses and retailers provide easily accessible recycling facilities for the separate collection of coffee cups.

He is also considering the potential for a plastic bottle deposit return scheme that gives Londoners money back for recycling bottles. ‘ Bottle banks’ or ‘reverse vending’ schemes where consumers get a voucher when they return bottles, could be placed across London. Other countries who have adopted similar schemes have seen plastic bottle recycling increase up to 90 per cent. This work is part of the Mayor’s ambition for London to send no biodegradable or recyclable waste to landfill by 2026.

The funding will also help support the Mayor’s ambition to make London the world’s first National Park City by engaging Londoners to help create and improve green spaces and plant more trees, helping make London a healthier and greener city.

It will also help pay for local measures to tackle toxic air pollution including schemes in and around schools and in partnership with local businesses, and installing green infrastructure that benefits air quality and reduces exposure.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said:

I’m committed to helping Londoners reduce plastic bottle use and help cut the amount of plastic ending up in our oceans and in landfill.

This increased funding is matched by ambitious plans which aim to help the public easily cut their use of plastic by offering water refills, delivering more public drinking fountains and simple recycling schemes that will help cut the purchase of single-use plastic bottles.

This extra funding will also help us race towards my goal of London becoming the first National Park City, by funding more tree planting and green spaces, especially in areas so that everyone in London can benefit from an easily accessible park, play space, or community garden. 

Greenpeace campaigner Elena Polisano said:

Public water fountains, and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers, are both key practical steps to reduce the flood of plastic waste endangering our oceans. Water fountains help us to reduce plastic waste by making reusable containers more convenient, and a DRS will help us to recycle the plastic waste we do produce. Beyond that, they are useful ways of reminding consumers and more importantly businesses that there is no ‘away’ where things can be casually thrown without consequences.

Fiona Llewellyn, #OneLess project manager, Zoological Society of London:

This new investment by the Mayor will help transform London from a throw-away plastic city into a city that refills; good news for Londoners and for the ocean. #OneLess is excited to be part of the Mayor’s drive to make London an ocean-loving city and the first capital that’s free from single-use plastic water bottles.

The Mayor's draft London Plan highlights the importance of protecting London’s green spaces and creating new, accessible open space, particularly in areas with little access to parks. The new funding will deliver more Greener City Fund grants to local projects, helping improve parks, design new green spaces, green school playgrounds, plant trees and restore waterways.

Graham Duxbury, national CEO of Groundwork said:

We know the valuable role that greenspaces play in ensuring a better quality of life for local communities in order for people to live happier and healthier lives. We have seen first-hand that local people are committed to improving their surroundings and local provisions and it’s important that they have the right support and tools in order to be successful. We are delighted that more resources are going to be provided to help communities get involved in making positive changes to their local greenspaces as well as tackling the important task of reducing our plastic consumption. We look forward to seeing the positive results.

The Mayor recently awarded £1.1m from the first round of his Greener City Fund Community Green Space grants to 55 local groups, with 60 per cent of projects in areas with poor access to green space, and 14 are based in schools, including a new community garden next to the temporary site of a school relocated following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower.

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.

Share this page

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.