Brent's CIL information deficit

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:

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 23^rd May 2018.

More information about the Community Infrastructure Levy in Brent can be found here and below.

This is your opportunity to tell us about your views, experiences and suggestions for the improvement.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/NeighbourhoodCILReview/

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.

Barry Gardiner condemns Israel's 'calculated & cynical disregard for human life'

Downing Street yesterday evening

Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, and a member of Labour Friends of Israel, issued one of his strongest ever statements criticising Israel yesterday.

He tweeted:

There can be no equivocation. The action of the Israeli government has been brutal and utterly unjustified. This is not merely a disproportionate use of force. It is a calculated and cynical disregard for human life. The UN must act.

If you want to support action to help Palestinian children in Gaza there may be a few tickets left for this event on Friday:

'Wild animal' on the loose near Wembley Stadium

Residents of Quadrant Court have been warned not to approach a Harris Hawk that has been deployed by First Port Property Management Services to 'combat the  current pigeon situation.'

In a letter to resident, First Port say, 'You may see him in the next couple of weeks flying across the courtyard or having a break on your balcony. Please remember this is a wild animal. Please do not approach him without the consent of the handler first.'

First Port add that as an additional deterrent they are installing kite hawks on the roof area. These float around in the wind, you may have seen one on the roof of the Wembley Ark,  and are claimed to deter pigeons.

They may have better luck than Chalkhill Primary School where a model of an owl, installed on the sports hall roof to see off seagulls, now regularly hosts a seagull nest between its feet!

In other news, First Port, who faced sharp criticism from residents over increased services charges recently, say they are reinstating the courtyard water feature, renovating the courtyard including new flower planting and investigating a leak in the car park/gymnasium. They apologise to residents for the latter taking longer than expected because the building 'has a complex plumbing system.'

UPDATE: Butt's power grab confirmed as councillors vote themselves a 17% increase

It was ironic that the public were unable to watch last night's Brent Full Council Meeting as the meeting itself demonstrated how the Labour Council has become inward looking, revelling in the fancy dress pomp of the mayoralty, giving themselves a 17% rise and with Butt's plan to have a guaranteed four years as leader confirmed.  Perhaps it was better that the public were spared the spectacle because they would surely have been reaching for their sick bowls.

The Labour Group has developed self-congratulation and mutual grooming into a fine art and surely any suggestion that robust scrutiny will come from within their own ranks can be consigned to fairy land.

Wembley Matters covered the likely extension of Butt's power on the eve of the local election LINK as well as the appointment of Butt loyalists to Cabinet posts LINK, but even we did not predict the spiteful swipe at the opposition by the slashing of the opposition leader's allowance.

Magnanimity in victory? 'No, my friend...'

With not quite 4 out of 10 registered Brent residents voting, and only 3 out of 10 in Butt's own ward of Tokyngton, the gap between councillors and the ordinary people of Brent is widening. Surely it is time to campaign for more representative and participative local government?

UPDATE allowances at other nearby councils (from Kilburn Times):

Full details of appointments to committees HERE

This is the composition of the Planning Committee:

FURTHER UPDATE: HARROW, WEMBLEY KINGSBURY WATER PRESSURE DISRUPTION

From Affinity Water LINK


UPDATE 22:55 MAY 13th

We have successfully repaired the burst water main and anticipate full restoration of your water supply within the next 1 hour.

Should you experience any discoloured or aerated water which is not uncommon following a mains interruption, we recommend that you leave a mains fed tap running for approximately 5-10 minutes. Discolouration of the water is caused by small particles of iron which are within the mains and disturbed during interruptions.

Cloudy water is caused by air that becomes trapped in the mains, neither of these are harmful to your health. To see more about how to clear discoloured or aerated water why not watch our short video guide here 

Where it has been necessary to excavate the area we will continue to work with the local Highways Authority to return the road surface area to normal and ensure that the road or footway is safe for all vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This may mean that we have to maintain the site and any necessary traffic management until this is the case.

We are sorry for the inconvenience caused by this incident and would like to thank our customers for their patience today.

This message will be removed after 08:00 Monday 14th May 2018

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Update 22.05


UPDATE 18.30

Our repair team are on site, however due to complications with the repair and the need for additional fittings this is taking longer than anticipated. We will provide an update and estimate on when this work should be completed as soon as one becomes available.

We are sorry for the disruption to your supply and thank you for your patience.

We will update this message again after 20:30




UPDATE 16.00 MAY 13TH

Our team remain on site and excavation work continues. The team have worked with the highway authorities to put a full road closure in place from the junction of Kenton Lane & Kenton Road to the entrance of Sedgecombe Avenue. This road closure will remain in place to ensure the safety of our team and road users.

We will maintain access for customers living in Kenton Gardens and Totternhoe Close.
All customers are expected to remain on water until this repair is complete, however there may be periods of lower than normal water pressure.

We are sorry for the disruption this incident has caused, and will provide further updates as they become available



Harrow, Wembley and Kingsbury Area

UPDATE 12.30

In order to restore your supply during this repair, we are diverting water from other areas; however this may be at a lower pressure than normal until the repair is complete. This can take up to 30 minutes to take effect.
We are sorry for the inconvenience caused.
This message will be updated after 14:30

________________________________________________________________________________


Our repair team have arrived on site and are currently working to isolate the damaged section of pipework. The burst water main has been identified as a 12" pipe that supplies the Harrow , Wembley and Kingsbury areas.

Due to the large volume of water on the road surface, the team will need to shut the pipework down completely and pump the water away before they can begin to safely excavate the pipework.
Any customers who are experiencing low water pressure are advised to store water for drinking as supplies will need to be interrupted to carry out this repair work.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused customers, and will update this message further after 12:50

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If you are in the above area and are experiencing problems with your water supply we have received a number of calls which suggests there may be an issue on our network. Our technician is on their way to investigate and a further update will be provided as soon as possible.

During this time we ask you not to use any electrical appliances that require a water supply, for example washing machines or dishwashers and to conserve water from storage tanks during the time your water supply is interrupted.

If you do still have a supply, we would advise you to store some water for drinking, in case your water has to be switched off for a repair to be completed.

We are sorry for the inconvenience caused and aim to restore your supply to normal as soon as possible.

This message was added at 09:50 and will be updated after 11:50

Brent councillors to get £1,800 allowance rise - some responsibility allowances reduced

Brent Full Council will be recommended to approve a rise in each councillor's basic allowance from £10,201 to £12,000 at the Annual Meeting on Monday. The decision, based on an independent review, was held back until after the local elections.

Last year the total paid out on allowances was £1,135111.91. In addition to the basic allowance some members are paid a Special ResponsibilityAllowance (SRA)  with only one payable to any one member.

There are constitutional plans set out on Full Council papers that involve the merging of the Standards and Audit Committees into one, the setting up of a Licensing Committee and a proposal to abolish the Equalities Committee (on the grounds that the Pavery Report has been successfully implemented).

The main SRAs for the leadership team are unchanged and there are some reductions.  Planning Committee members will be paid an SRA of £2,177 (reduced from £3,266), Chairs of Brent Connect forums  reduced from £4,911 to £1,250, Principal Oppositiom leader allowance reduced from £13,042 to £6,000, Chief Whip of the ruling group reduced from £5,639 to £4,000, the Mayor reduced from £9,181 to £7,141 and Deputy Mayor  from £7,141 to £3,234.

The Chair of the new Licensing Committee will be paid an SRA of £3,234 and th Chair and Vice Chair of the merged Audit and Standards Committee £1,500.

Full details HERE (See Appendix 2, pages 71-71)

Butt loyalists rewarded with Cabinet posts

The Brent Cabinet is expanded to nine members in the new administration. Tom Miller loses his place with the Willesden Green election not taking place until June 21st. If elected he could enter the Cabinet at a later date with the Community Safety portfolio currently allocated to Butt. Cllr McLennan appears to have no portfolio at present but the important Finance responsibility is not yet covered despite Butt's statement at the AGM that 'terrible decisions' are yet to come.

Cllr Agha who served as Chair of Planning Committee in a period of many controversial decisions, when Cllr Marquis was on maternity leave,  joins the Cabinet as Lead Member for Schools, Employment and Skills. He is a fellow Welsh Harp councillor of Cllr Mashari who challenged Cllr Butt for the leadership. He was closely involved with pushing through the redevelopment of Chesterfield House, known locally as the Twin Towers development, and a host of the Quintain high rise developments around Wembley Stadium.

Cllr Krupa Sheth (Wembley Central)  joins the Cabinet as Lead Member for Environment and Cllr Southwood moves to Housing and Welfare Reform.

Cllr Farah moves to become Lead Member for Adult Social Care, a new post created by removing it from Cllr Hirani's brief which is now Public Health, Culture and Leisure.

With Cllr Agha leading on schools, Cllr Mili Patel is now Lead Member for Children's Safeguarding, Early Help and Social Care.  The separation of schools from children's social care is significant as the combination arose from concerns that the two aspects of child provision should be integrated for better efficiency as a result of institutional failures in preventing the deaths of children.

Cllr Tatler remains Lead Member for Regeneration, Highways and Planning.

With Cllr Marquis' pre-election announcement that she did not want to stand for Chair of Planning Committee I understand that this most has now gone to Cllr Denselow.

The chairs of the three Scrutiny Committees, Cllrs Kelcher, Ketan Sheth and Long remain unchanged.

Brent Cabinet to reconsider Pedway funding following proposed sale of Wembley Stadium

An urgent item has been put on the Brent Cabinet agenda on May 21st to re-examine th funding decisions for Olympic Way Improvements (including the replacement of the Pedway by steps) 'following the announcement of the possible sale of Wembley Stadium to a private individual/company.'

The £18m allocated to the scheme proved extremely controversial during the recent local election with residents suggesting that the money would be better used to tackle potholes and dangerous pavements throughout the borough. LINK

There have been persistent reports that the Football Association, currently owners of Wembley Stadium, have not been convinced that the replacement of the Pedway is desirable, while Quintain have cited aesthetic reasons for the replacement in the context of their overall Wembley scheme. Quintain would have been the recipient of the £18m.

To comply with the Council's Constitution on urgent decisions notice has been given to Matt Kelcher, Chair of Public Realm Scrutiny, that because of the urgency the usual 28 days notice cannot be given but 5 days will suffice:

Quintain need to continue with design development for Zone C works including the steps to be in a position to award a contract in September 2018 for the manufacture of the precast steps for installation in December 2019/January 2020. This being the only window available for the installation prior to Euro 2020. In light of recent news that Wembley Stadium is proposed to transfer from Football Association ownership to a private individual/company, Cabinet is being asked to re-examine the funding decision made in July 2017 to contribute funding for Olympic Way Improvements to enable the Council to advise Quintain accordingly.

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