Given the controversy over the allocation of Brent's Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) I have contacted Brent Council today over two issues.
Firstly the Cabinet will be discussing a review of the £17.8m allocated to Olympic Way public realm improvements, including the replacement of the Stadium pedway by steps, at their meeting on Monday. The review is in the light of the possible sale of the stadium. This is an enormous amoutn of money and of great public interest but there are no details on the Cabinet agenda - a report is promised but not yet published. How can the public make any representations if there is no infomation available? The full agenda, including reports, should be available 5 working days bfore the meeting. A similar issue arose with the first full meeting of the council.
Secondly there is currently a consultation on the Neighbourhood CIL underway. I have received several reminders about this and have responded asking for details of the second round of allocations - only round one is available in the council website. The council responded that there were last minute agreements to be signed off but the closing date of the consultation is now only a week away (see consultation notice below) - surely we need this information to provide a context to any consultation response. Consultation without information is meaningless.
It would have been useful to have the information available before the local election as the Neighbourhood CIL is one of the few areas where the public and local councillors can have any influence.
I have asked for an extension to the consultation if the information is still not available.
Brent Council's message today:
Firstly the Cabinet will be discussing a review of the £17.8m allocated to Olympic Way public realm improvements, including the replacement of the Stadium pedway by steps, at their meeting on Monday. The review is in the light of the possible sale of the stadium. This is an enormous amoutn of money and of great public interest but there are no details on the Cabinet agenda - a report is promised but not yet published. How can the public make any representations if there is no infomation available? The full agenda, including reports, should be available 5 working days bfore the meeting. A similar issue arose with the first full meeting of the council.
Secondly there is currently a consultation on the Neighbourhood CIL underway. I have received several reminders about this and have responded asking for details of the second round of allocations - only round one is available in the council website. The council responded that there were last minute agreements to be signed off but the closing date of the consultation is now only a week away (see consultation notice below) - surely we need this information to provide a context to any consultation response. Consultation without information is meaningless.
It would have been useful to have the information available before the local election as the Neighbourhood CIL is one of the few areas where the public and local councillors can have any influence.
I have asked for an extension to the consultation if the information is still not available.
Brent Council's message today:
The online survey for the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Review is open for just one more week. The survey will be closed on the 23rd May 2018.
This is your opportunity to tell us about your views, experiences and suggestions for the improvement.
The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. If you have any questions or would like further information please do not hesitate to contact us via CILadmin@brent.gov.uk.