An evening with novelist Kamila Shamsie Preston Library June 19th

Preston Community Library is delighted to be hosting an evening with British/Pakistani author Kamila Shamsie who will be reading from and talking about her prize-winning novel Home Fire. This will be one of Ms Shamsie's first public appearances since Home Fire won the Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) which is the world's most prestigious award for women's writing. The event is in Preston Library next Tuesday, 19 June, at 6.30pm.

Brent Mencap Open House Friday 22nd June

Support school music in Brent - Brent Makes Music June 27th at the Arena

At a time when high stakes testing is narrowing the curriculum and financial cuts often mean cutting the arts first it is wonderful that the Brent Music Service continues to work with so many children in Brent schools with additional classes at weekends.

An appearance at the iconic Wembley Arena (sorry SSE Arena) will be a memorable event for nearly 1,500 Brent children on June 27th and I hope that as many people as possible can come along and support them as well as reinforce BMS's claim that making music changes lives.

Tickets are available HERE

Paul Fensom, the powerhouse behind Brent Music service who has overseen its survival and transformation will be retiring this summer after 40 years promoting music in the borough and BMS is planning a big and well-deserved goodbye party:

From BMS Facebook:

FAREWELL TO MR FENSOM - Have you got your tickets yet? 7.30pm Saturday 14th July 2018. Book today as spaces are running out: https://farewell-to-mr-fensom.eventbrite.co.uk/

SHOUT-OUT TO BMS ALUMNI - Are you a past student, staff or ensemble member of Brent Music Service? Then join us for this perfect opportunity to offer Paul your best wishes for his retirement and to catch up with BMS friends and colleagues.

Such a special celebration - Paul's 40 years of dedication and commitment to bringing music into the lives of the children of London borough of Brent Council. #MakingMusicChangesLives

Please share so others don't miss this opportunity.

A buffet, music and a cash bar are all available to enjoy, so book your tickets today at: https://farewell-to-mr-fensom.eventbrite.co.uk/

Clean Air for Brent welcomes expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone but North Circular should be included

Reacting to London Mayor Sadiq Khan's announcement about the upcoming expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone, Clean Air for Brent Chair Fiona Mulaisho said:

We welcome this announcement which will help to protect Brent residents in the south of the borough from toxic air from October 2021.  A stronger, larger Ultra Low Emission Zone will go a long way to tackling the currently illegal and harmful levels of air pollution.

However, we are concerned that as the ULEZ will not cover the North Circular itself, more dirty diesel powered vehicles will choose to use this already busy and hugely polluted road.  As hundreds of Brent residents live right by or very close to the North Circular, we will be challenging the Mayor and Brent Council to work together to ensure these people’s air quality does not worsen when the new zone comes into effect.

The Mayor now needs to turn his thoughts to what he is going to do to ensure those who live outside the North Circular can also breathe cleaner air.

Given that there will be no sunset period for people living within the extended zone to change their vehicles, CAfB also calls for strong engagement with residents and through drivers on the practical issues which arise, starting now.

Note from Martin Francis

I feel strongly that the North Circular and beyond should be included.  When I worked at Brentfield Primary School, close to the North Circular at Brent Park, I was very concerned about the number of children with respiratory problems. At the time, 20 years or so ago, about 2/3 of the children in my class had 'pumps.' It was noteworthy that when we went on a residential trip to Brent's Gordon Brown Outdoor Education Centre in Hampshire they did not need to use them but when we returned and approached the outskirts of London they began to ask for them.

Free English classes in Wembley Park - enrolment on Saturday

This is a FREE course - rarely available as such  - and accredited which is an excellent opportunity for those seeking work to improve their English and get better possibility of a job. It is free. Quite a time commitment but maybe a rare opportunity.

Brent councillors' improved Code of Conduct for 'highest ethical standards'

From Brent Council
 
Brent Council is committed to the highest ethical standards in the work of its elected councillors and co-opted members, embodying the principles of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

There's been a Code of Conduct in place for many years to help guide elected members, and Brent's recent full council meeting has just simplified and improved this code so that it is easier to understand and follow and so that it promotes the high standards of conduct expected of Brent members.

Click bottom left corner for full size document:

Public Square section of £17.8m Pedway deal goes through plus estate 'in-fill' housing

It was the first meeting of the new Planning Committee yesterday evening. Members not only had to cope with hefty agenda papers but a detailed late Supplementary Report on several of the items.  Committee Chair Cllr James Denselow pointed out that most of them were new to the job and it was clear throughout the meeting that he was heavily dependent on planning officer David Glover who sat next to him and the pair were regularly engaged in urgent conversation while the meeting went on around them.

Old hands Cllr Maurice (Conservative) and Cllr Colacicco are still on the committee. Of the newcomers Cllr Abdi, Hylton and Sangani were most vocal and Cllr Johnson as vice chair made some useful interventions.

The most far reaching proposal was left until last when most of the public attending had gone home.  This is the proposal for a new public square with colonnade and canopy beside the Civic Centre that Brent Council sought to gain from using £17.8m of Community Infrastructure Levy for changes to the public realm on Olympic Way.  The overall scheme  includes the replacement of the stadium pedway by steps - a matter barely mentioned last night as it will involve a separate application. The proposal involves modifications of the outline planning permission that had already been granted to Quintain for a building on Plot NW04 and the scheme approved last night is dependent on the removal of the pedway.

It was interesting that in the earlier discussion about the Ark Somerville primary school the impression was given that the granting of outline permission earlier for the wider area, but including the school, was pretty well set in stone and could not be changed.

The public were there for much smaller schemes but ones that directly impacted on their homes  and lives in different neighbourhoods.  The proposals were part of the 'in-fill' of estates to provide more 'affordable homes' and affected Kings Drive in Wembley, Carlyon Close in Alperton and Stonebridge Park.  In each  case residents protested loss of amenity - for Kings Drive, parking spaces; Carlyon Close opening up the quiet close to through pedestrian traffic; and Stonebridge Park the impact on green space.

Denselow throughout the meeting kept emphasising that the Council had to meet the target of building 9,000 new homes by 2028 and it was not surprising that all the applications were approved. The loss of amenity for current residents was out balanced by the provision of new homes.

However it was good to see the definition of 'affordable' questioned and the committee were told that this was 80% of market rent (rather than the Mayor's London Living Rent) though that might be reduced for tenants nominated by the Council.  I hope that committee members will continue to plug away on this when Quintain puts in more applications as the assumption appears to be that the 9,000 will help cut Brent's 4,000 strong waiting list - not at 80% of market rent it won't.

The effectiveness of the planning department's consultation and communication with residents came up several times and this desreves further consideration. Residents' accounts of the consultation process suggested major improvement is needed.

'A major mistake on public health grounds' but Empire Way primary school approved

Clean Air for Brent sent the following submission to the Planning Committee today but there was little evidence at the meeting that members had taken it into account.[ UPDATE 17.00 June 7th Joe Kwateng has written to CAfB today to say that the document arrived while he was in the pre-meeting with the Committee which was immediately followed by the Planning Committee meeting itself. He could not access his computer and therefore could not bring it to the attention of the committee. He apologised.]

The Committee decided by 7 votes to 1 to approve the application for a 630 pupil primary school on the York House car park on Empire Way. Well done to Cllr Abdi for taking the concerns seriously and voting against. I was surprised that Cllr Colacicco who has fought so hard against the Cricklewood Aggregate Hub on grounds of air and traffic pollution, not only voted for the application but praised it for meeting BREAM standards. A 'green' building in a heavily polluted area is a contradiction.

The Committee were told by officers that as outline permission have already been granted for a much wider area, but one that included the school site, and it had been found 'suitable for a school' that the hearing was really only about planning matters related to design, school travel plans etc.  Design features to mitigate exposure to air pollution included the positioning of classrooms towards the back of the plot with a school hall and non teaching rooms on the ground floor facing Empire Way and the installation of a mechanical ventilation system. Planning Officer told the committee that the Council had Victorian schools in far worse locations- so that's all right then!

The is CAfB's submission:

Objection by Clean Air for Brent

We apologise for the lateness of this objection, but we only became aware of the application on 1 June and have been in dialogue with planning officers since yesterday about the material considered in connection with the outline application 15/5550.

Summary: Clean Air for Brent considers that it would be a major mistake on public health grounds to proceed with the proposal to site the planned Ark Somerville School and associated Day Nursery on the York House site next to the heavily-trafficked Wembley Hill Road. We urge the Council, Quintain and the Ark Academy Chain to consider an alternative site within the development away from the main road.

Outline permission: We appreciate that outline permission was granted in respect of application 15/5550 and that this includes the siting of the school. The implication of the Head of Planning’s email to us of 4^th June is that the question of siting is done and dusted. We agree that this might normally be the case but with respect we regard this as a technicality compared with the risks of damaging the health and development of future nursery and primary school children. So far no development of the critical site has taken place.

Considerations: The UK and London in particular is in serious breach of legal air pollution requirements derived from EU legislation to which the UK is a party. The main pollutant concerned in the legal breach is nitrogen dioxide, NO2. Most of Brent is declared as an Air Quality Management Area because it is in breach of the legal limit for NO2. This includes the site in question.

The legislation is based on World Health Organisation findings on the impact of various air pollutants on human health. In the UK the official Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP) and the Royal College of Physicians among others have published extensive studies on the various adverse health impacts which include respiratory diseases, cancer, stroke, cardiovascular conditions and possibly neurological morbidities. Children are especially vulnerable, possibly because they breathe more rapidly than adults. It is considered that children badly affected by air pollution can have their lung development restricted by up to 10%.

Since road traffic, particularly diesel-powered vehicles, is a major contributor to NO2 pollution The London Mayor, with wide support, has taken a number of initiatives to address the problem of the hundreds of London schools sited for historical reasons on heavily-trafficked roads. An example is the recently published results of a professional air quality audit of 50 of the most-polluted schools, including two in Brent. It is clear that mitigation measures as so far proposed will have no more than a marginal effect on pollution levels affecting children in these schools.

In this situation CAfB believes that it is seriously irresponsible to site any new school on a heavily trafficked road, such as Wembley Hill Road in the present case.

In the short time available CAfB has investigated whether the issue of air quality in relation to the siting of the school was discussed in the papers submitted with the application 15/5550, eventually decided in December 2016. Although the Planning Officer advises that it was we have not found evidence for this in the 77-page Air Quality chapter of the Environmental Statement sent to us yesterday by the Head of Planning. We note that among the documents listed as relevant is the London Plan, but the salient point in the London Plan in relation to the school is in 7.14. This is not discussed but relegated to Appendix 3.3.1. For reference it reads:

“B  Development proposals should:

a  minimise increased exposure to existing poor air quality and make provision to address local problems of air quality (particularly within Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) and where development is likely to be used by large numbers of those particularly vulnerable to poor air quality, such as children or older people) such as by design solutions, buffer zones or steps to promote greater use of sustainable transport modes through travel plans (see Policy 6.3)”

The relevant supporting paragraph 7.51 begins:

“Increased exposure to existing poor air quality should be minimised by avoiding introduction of potentially new sensitive receptors in locations where they will be affected by existing sources of air pollution (such as road traffic and industrial processes). Particular attention should be paid to development proposals such as housing, homes for elderly people, schools and nurseries.”

Unfortunately the whole emphasis of the Air Quality chapter is on the effect of the development on the environment and not on the effect of subjecting the school and nursery pupils to the pollution effects of traffic on Wembley Hill Road.

We also note from the Master Plan documents associated with 15/5550, section 5.8 about the school site, that during the early stages three alternative locations for the school were considered but not favoured by Ark Academy or Brent officials. In this section there is no mention of air quality issues arising from siting the school on Wembley Hill Road.

Conclusion: While it would be desirable to install air quality monitoring arrangements close to the site in question and other possible sites before a final decision, this is not really necessary since if the choice is between a busy road and a more local or feeder road within the site the answer is obvious. We therefore urge that this aspect of the overall plan be put on hold for further consideration by the parties in the light of the latest understanding of the effect of air pollution on children’s health and development.

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