Forget the KFC crisis - new healthy cafe to open in Roundwood Park

Roundwood Park

 There was dismay in Harlesden and Willesden when the well-loved community cafe in Roundwood Park closed its doors last year.

Now with Spring on its way it has been announced that a new cafe will open in mid-March.

JSS Catering made a successful bid to run an environmentally friendly cafe in the park. The Roundwood Lodge Cafe will offer a wide range of dishes exemplifying its 'farm to table' ethos. A family-friendly atmosphere will make it an ideal meeting place for local people and their children.

The cafe will also offer cooking classes showing visitors how to prepare their favourite dishes from the menu.

The cafe will add to the facilties in the park which include an aviary, bowling green, outdoor gym and children's playground.

A cafe with a lovely park attached - what's not to like? I wish them well.

Academisation battle: Village School staff strike for another 3 days this week and withdraw goodwill

From the NEU


As staff in the NEU at The Village school in Brent take three more days of strike action this week (20^th, 21^st and 22^nd) they are also withdrawing goodwill. Every non-strike day between now and the 28^th February when the Governors meet to make their decision as to whether to convert to an academy or not, they will only “work your proper hours”. Usually they work many extra hours of non-directed time every week. 

Cllr Jumbo Chan, said “I am very proud that many of my Brent Labour Group colleagues, including the leadership, are supporting the teachers and support staff of The Village School, who are being forced again this week to take action to stop their school being academised. I do hope the governors finally acknowledge this move as unpopular and unnecessary, and to immediately halt the misguided move towards academisation.” 

As part of their action staff will be holding a letter writing session to Governors on Tuesday after the early morning picket on the steps inside the Brent Civic Centre. On Wednesday, they will return to protest and sing songs to highlight their campaign. They have also been trying to organise one to one meetings with Governors over the three strike days. Gail Tolley, Strategic Director for Children and Young People has agreed to meet the strikers on Wednesday. 

Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North has written further to the Head, Kay Charles following the public meeting on 8^th February. In a detailed letter outlining arguments that called into question the depth of the consultation and the one-sided view given, he urged her to, “convey to all Governors ... the absolute opposition that was expressed by parents, teachers, staff, local council representatives and other fellow citizens of the Borough.” 

He concluded warning Governors that taking what would be “an irrevocable decision” would cut the school off from the “democratic accountability of the local authority” an authority that had given The Village school “the extraordinary endowment of £29 million”. He hoped the Governors would “decide to keep the school as part of the Brent family of schools and decide not to become a Multi Academy Trust” rather than rely on a “potentially distant and hostile secretary of state”. 

Martin Powell-Davies, London Regional Secretary NEU, NUT Section said, “It is astonishing that Governors should be considering academisation of this school in the face of overwhelming evidence that the academies system is failing to improve pupil attainment but, instead, is resulting in an expensive, unstable, inefficient and undemocratic mess.”

Doru Athinodoru, Regional Official NEU, ATL Section said, “Public money, Public ownership, public accountability.” 

These comments mirror the conclusions of the very well attended meeting organised by Barry Gardiner on 8^th February. Staff and others are lobbying for the Governors meeting on 28^th February to be open to the public as Barry Gardiner had urged the Chair to do so. There has been some movement on this but the lobbying continues.

So where has Brent Council's CIL cash gone?

The £17.8m Community Infrastructure Levy allocated to infrastructure improvement by Brent Council to the area around the stadium, including the replacement of the ramp by steps, has rightly caused considerable controversy. 

Quintain's total CIL liability to date is  £31.8m of which £11.4m has been paid. Add in the £17.8m and there isn't a lot left.

Of the total CIL monies 85% is alllocated to major infrastructure projects and 15% to Neighbourhood Projects.

These are the allocations for Round 1 of the Neighbourhood CIL projects. Around £250,000 went to projects in the Wembley area (Click square on bottom right to enlarge):

Another round of applications closes in June 2018.

In addition  Quintain and its development partners Wates, McLaren, Jon Sisk and Son, McAleer and Rushe have set up the Wembley Community Fund for projects in Wembley Park and 'the surrounding area'. Grants are betweem £1,000 and £10,000.

These are its allocations so far:

Brent reveals its property and assets - look out for some surprises

There's an intruiging item on the agenda for the Public Realm and Resources Scrutiny Committee meeting on Wednesday February 21st.

The Committee had asked for a list of all Brent properties and assets. In the past the Council has been quite vague about its property ownership and seemed to be surprised at times to find it owened properties such as the Boxing Club at the  old Teachers Centre in Brentfield Road (now the Leopold Primary Annex). Sometimes this resulted in tenants being suddenly asked for substantial rents rather than previous peppercorn rents.

Although the list is an attempt to get things in order the Committee may well want to question some of the valuations in a list of assets that range from crematoria to children's centres, from public toilets to schools, community centres to libraries - as well as the income generated by the assets. Some of the map references are completely wrong.  If I were a member of the Scrutiny Committee I would be inclined to refer the list back to officers for correction and further  thorough research, particularly on some of the extremely low valuations of some of the properties.

The List (Click on bottom right square to enlarge)

Revised plans for replacing King's Drive estate garages with bungalows

£

The plan - trees to be removed in red

Proposed bungalows

The site at present

 Brent Council (formerly BHP) have been seeking areas of the borough's council estates to build new homes in its Refill Development Programme in an attempt  to build more affordable homes to alleviate the housing shortage in the borough.

Modified plans have been published to replace garages on the King's Drive Estate (between Barn Hill (the road) and King's Drive. After initial consultation the plans were put on hold due to the surprise General Election but attracted local opposition include a 100 signature petition.

Opposition came from residents of the large private homes on Barn Hill whose gardens back on to the estate and residents of the blocks on the estate. The former concentrated on the loss of trees that screen their gardens from the estate and the latter on the loss of car parking, citing shortage of parking as a continuing problem on the estate. The revised plan includes re-provision of 25 parking places for residents

Objections have also been made to the design of the proposed 4 flat-roofed bungalows and the fact that vehicular access will be restricted which is a problem on the closes on the estate with large refuse lorries often encountering problems.

King's Drive residents have accused Brent Council/BHP of deliberately running down the garages that will be replaced by the bungalows and allege that tenants were not given sufficient notice of eviction. Similar allegations have been made on other estates. 

A King's Drive resident's submission on the Planning Portal:

I have resided at the above address for over twenty years. It is a ground floor flat with the rear elevation backing onto the said garages. My living room and main bedroom overlook this view, which I would describe as quiet, with a pleasant aspect of trees, grass and wildlife. Since 2017 it has however been in a state of ‘limbo’ since myself and other residents were (with very little notice) rudely EVICTED from these garages. 


This has resulted in people from outside the estate ‘dumping’ vehicles and rubbish in front of the garages. In fact, one of the garages has been forced open and filled with car tyres. Most unpleasant environmentally? and a fire hazard! One of my main objections to the proposal is that after the recent introduction of increased parking restrictions to our area there is already a shortage of parking for the tenants and visiting tradesmen to the estate. This will only be exasperated if the building of the bungalows goes ahead. The proposed plan for extra parking provisions for existing  tenants has not been properly thought through, and could only ever be achieved with the wilful destruction of more trees and foliage to the rear of my property.

If this building goes ahead the noise, dust and vibrations will be intolerable whilst under construction. Upon completion my ‘block’ of flats will be in very close proximity to the bungalows. In fact, my ground floor flat is at the bottom of a grassed slope, which is below the projected level of the new builds, so the occupants and their vehicles will face directly down into my living room and bedroom areas leaving me with a loss of privacy, light and what was a ‘green’ outlook. The pollution of noise and dust from further occupants and their vehicles is not something that my husband and I look forward to as we are both pensioners in our seventies. We, like all the other residents enjoy the open environmental character of the area, in particular as we are on the edge of Fryent Country Park, but I fear that this is just the beginning of an erosion of this irreplaceable treasure.

In conclusion, the garages have been deliberately allowed to decay through lack of maintenance as an excuse for demolition!  

Although myself and other residents use public transport whenever practicable, Brent have a duty of care to their existing tenants to provide reasonably safe and secure parking facilities rather than misappropriate them.

Please do not allow this to happen.

Clearly the needs of people on the housing waiting list have to be balanced with the quality of provision for those living on the estate and environmental issues but the council seems not to have helped themselves win over people  through clumsy consultation that residents allege has used misleading photographs and statistics.

A report to Housing Scrutiny Committee LINK puts the building costs of the 4  units at a total of  £1,950,000 which seems quite steep considering the quality of the buildings shown in the artist's impression above.

They even managed to get the date of the amended description wrong on the Site Notice:

Further details can be found on the Planning Portal (Ref 17/5416) LINK

 Details of the Infill Development proposals across the borough are in the document below:

Free English classes in Brent

 Free, open to all, no papers needed, drop-in ok
For more information call Robin 07974 331 053.

Intermediate Classes:

Sundays 11am -1pm
Apollo Club, 375 Willesden High Road, NW10 2JR
Enrolment: 18 February
Start: 25 February
Finish: 22 April

Monday 6pm -7.30pm:
Kilburn Library, 42 Salusbury Road, NW6 6NN
Enrolment: 26 February
Start: 5 March
Finish: 26 April

Tuesday 10am - 12pm
Apollo Club, 375 Willesden High Road, NW10 2JR
Enrolment: 20 February
Start: 27 February
Finish: 24 April

Wednesday 1pm - 3pm
CVS Brent Training room, 7 Rutherford Way, Wembley, HA9 0BP
Started already, new people welcome
Finish: 28 April

Beginner Classes:
Thursdays 7pm - 9pm
Harlesden Salvation Army, 32 Manor Park Road, NW10 4JJ
Enrolment: 22 February
Start: 1 March
Finish: 19 April

Talk: Kingsbury's aircraft industry - Barham Community Library February 28th

Quintain euphoric after Brent approves the biggest yet Boxpark in Wembley

It appears that what Quintain wants, Quintain gets, although their and Brent Council's vision for Wembley may not be shared by all residents.

This is Quintain's unedited press release about the Planning Committee's approval of the planning application for a Boxpark to be situated for 10 years at the junction of Olympic Way and Fulton Road.

Boxpark and Quintain last night secured planning permission for the largest Boxpark to date. The London Borough of Brent granted permission for Boxpark Wembley, a 10 year joint venture between Quintain and Boxpark Ltd. to bring forward a brand-new casual dining and event destination, located directly on Olympic Way (known to fans around the world as the iconic Wembley Way).

Set to open in late 2018, Boxpark Wembley will be positioned in the heart of Wembley Park – an area which is being transformed into a new creative district for London. The arrival of Boxpark, home to some of the UK’s most innovative street food operators and cutting edge events, further cements the area’s emergence as one of London’s most exciting new locations.

Boxpark Wembley will house 27 food and beverage operators, a 20,000 sq ft dedicated events space and 300 capacity venue. Boxpark Wembley has been designed to cater for the millions of visitors who come to the area every year for world class sport, music and shopping, as well as the growing community in Wembley Park, with over 7,000 new homes, 500,000 sq ft of retail and leisure and 630,000 sq ft of Grade A office space being delivered. It is anticipated that 20,000 people will call Wembley Park home by 2027.

The events space will provide a year round cultural destination, creating and hosting a diverse and dynamic events programme for up to 2,000 people. Working together with emerging local artists and established talent from across the capital, Boxpark will further enhance Wembley Park's reputation as a vibrant, connected and emerging neighbourhood.

Speaking about the submission, James Saunders, Chief Operating Officer of Quintain (delivering Wembley Park), said:

“We’re thrilled to be able to say that Boxpark is now officially coming to Wembley Park. The opening will mark as huge step change in the transformation for the area, adding to the growing offer of shops, homes and activity already here. Set to open later this year, Boxpark Wembley will be a new destination for local people and the growing number of visitors to the area, to experience some of the best street food London has to offer. Boxpark is officially coming home, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Roger Wade, Founder and CEO of Boxpark, said:

“I’m delighted that the Boxpark Wembley planning has been approved. We are looking forward to working closely with our Development Partner Quintain, Brent Council and Wembley Park stakeholders Wembley Stadium, SSE Arena and LDO to deliver a world class fan village and street food destination.” 

Gavin Elliott, Chairman of BDP, said:

“We’re really thrilled and excited that Boxpark Wembley has been granted planning consent. The scheme is a big step forward in terms of the design thinking, while still maintaining the core attributes of being a great place to eat, drink and play.”

Boxpark Wembley unit sizes will range from 500 sq.ft to 1,800 sq.ft, Boxpark is set to announce specific tenants in the coming months, ahead of the opening in autumn 2018.
For more information about Boxpark please visit: https://www.boxpark.co.uk/wembley/

Brent Council also issue their own press release with this statement from Shama Tatler, lead member for regeneration:

Cllr Shama Tatler, Brent Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Employment, Skills and Growth, said:

Wembley's already known the world over but this news from Boxpark shows how far the area has come in becoming so much more than a match-day destination.

There's a real buzz being generated about the place and Boxpark's arrival in Brent will not only be good news for start-ups looking for space or for artists looking for somewhere to perform, it will also help to bring more people to the area which will be a boost for other local businesses too.