A new Blue Plaque in Wembley – remembering Henry Cooper

Guest post by Philip Grant

For the past 40 years, Wembley has only had one Blue Plaque commemorating a famous former resident*. This week it got its second!

Thanks to the efforts of local resident, Tony Royden, the plaque was installed on the wall above a shop at 4 Ealing Road, near the junction with Wembley High Road:

        A new Blue Plaque in Wembley – remembering Henry Cooper

Photo of the plaque, courtesy of Tony Royden

As well as fighting some of his most famous boxing matches in Wembley (at Wembley Arena, and most memorably against Cassius Clay - later known as Muhammed Ali - in front of 55,000 people at Wembley Stadium in 1963), Henry Cooper lived at 5 Ledway Drive (near Preston Road) from 1960 until 1975.

He is probably less famous for his three years as a greengrocer (while still British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion), at the shop which he opened on 9 November 1965. His former home is a bit off the beaten track, so the plaque above the shop is a much better location to publicise this famous Wembley resident.

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Cuttings on the shop’s opening from the “Wembley Observer” and “Wembley News”, November 1965

* If you don't know who Wembley’s first blue plaque commemorates, or where it is, you can find the answer on the Brent Archives website LINK .

Philip Grant

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Community shows up in force to back Northwick Park Community Garden

The site beside the main railway line at Northwick Park

The Community Garden will run in a strip parallel to the railway line

The local community came out in force last night to puts its weight behind plans for a Community Garden in Northwick Park.  The idea hatched up initiaally by a group of  Northwick Park dog walkers has gathered support from local residents, professional gardeners and Brent Council.

After a presentation on developments so far and an explanation of the principles of forest gardens residents fed-back on the plans and made their own suggestions for what the garden should contain.

The group is a registered charity and has its own Facebook page HERE. One of the essentials is that in order to get funding for the project it needs local people to indicate their support - the more the better.

The project introduces itself:

In a special area of Northwick Park we are planning on creating a naturalistic green space where local residents, schools, visitors to the area including Northwick Park Hospital can unwind, learn about trees, plants and wildlife, and harvest seasonal produce. The produce will be organically grown without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizer.

The garden design will be based on the permaculture concept. Permaculture mimics natural patterns within ecosystems. The ecosystem will take care of the garden in the long term. It will be a self-sufficient and sustainable natural development.

Fruit and nut trees, shrubs with edible berries, herbaceous perennial with edible leaves, flowers and herbs may feature in the garden design. It’s also important that we provide places for people to sit within the community garden and enjoy the natural surrounding.

The charity called ‘Northwick Park Community Garden’ was established in October 2018 to put all this in place. We are going to apply for Community Infrastructure Level (CIL) funding in December 2018. We’ll keep you updated on progress.

The construction of the garden will be done via the permablitz process where volunteers gather together to build the garden LINK. This is usually done in one day but a bigger project will need several phases.

Fascist graffiti removed from railway footbridge at Gladstone Park

The fascist graffiti that was painted on the railway footbridge bridge linking Kendall Road and Gladstone Park has been painted out ahead of the community 'paint out' that had been planned for 5pm this evening.  LINK

As I understand it Network Rail had also undertaken to remove it but a local resident beat them to it.

A clear message to  fascist individuals or groups that they are not welcome here.


UPDATE FROM  A READER November 14th:  A resident had done the initial paint-out and then Network Rail followed overpainitng not just the area of fascist graffiti but all the other graffiti too, in regulation green. Yesterday evening  a number of Brent residents and councillors gathered at the bridge in a gesture of solidarity with the people of Dollis Hill.

Have you say on how Brent Council allocates social housing to those on the waiting list

King's Drive Estate, Wembley this morning

Brent Council is consulting on how social housing is allocated to people on the housing waiting list. This is what they say:

Residents are being invited to have their say on how the council allocates social housing in Brent.

The council is launching a consultation that asks people to give their views on the criteria for distributing the limited number of social houses currently available.

Brent is proposing changes to ensure that social housing is shared out fairly to people in need. These changes include a proposal to give residents in temporary accommodation priority for social housing that becomes available on the estate where they are living, so that they don't have to move neighbourhoods. Another change looks at giving priority to homeless families living in temporary accommodation on an estate that is being regenerated to move into social housing within the same area.

The full list of proposed changes is available online here. The consultation will end on 22 January 2019, ahead of the Cabinet decision's in March with the agreed changes then set to begin in April.

Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, said: "It's really important that social housing is distributed fairly given the chronic shortage of genuinely affordable homes in Brent. We are asking for as many views as possible. These changes impact everyone on the waiting list.

"We do have ambitious plans to build more homes in Brent, but these changes work with the limited supply of homes that we have available to us right now."

Brent last reviewed how it allocated social housing in November 2014 and made changes to its scheme in January 2015.

Detailed proposals are not available until you actually start the process of filling in the on-line consultation AVAILABLE HERE  so I have reproduced them below:

To see all the options click on 'read more' below.

The stress & strains of being a GP - 'Who would be doctor?' Brent Patient Voice Debate November 15th 7pm Learie Constantine Centre

Dear Brent Patient Voice members and friends
“Who would be a doctor?” is the topic of our public meeting and debate on Thursday 15^th November next at the Learie Constantine Centre, 40-47 Dudden Hill Lane, NW10 2ET at 7pm (refreshments from 6.30)

We are focussing on the strains and stresses facing GPs. They are our first and principal port of call when we need to access NHS services. Yet

• Practices are merging or closing;
• Workload problems are leading to burnout or early retirement;
• The NHS wants GPs to do more to relieve the load on hospitals;
• Plans to boost GP numbers are way off target;
• Few GPs welcome extra admin and new organisational structures.

What are the answers?

• Will switching to digital help reduce workload?
• What does Primary Care Home mean for doctors and patients?
• How do new roles such as healthcare assistants, community pharmacists and nurse practitioners fit in?

We are fortunate to have recruited highly qualified speakers to lead our debate. They are Dr MC Patel, new Chair of Brent Clinical Commissioning Group, and long-serving Brent GP, and Dr Pauline Foreman, Medical Director for Practice Support at the Royal College of General Practitioners, and also a GP in Hertfordshire.

We look forward to seeing you on 15^th November. Please take this as notice of our AGM from 7 to 7.20pm that day, including reports, minutes and elections to the Steering Group. We urgently need someone to manage our communications and mailshots like this one. Please contact me at robisharp@gmail.com if you can help. I can also supply a flyer for this meeting if you can put up one in your surgery etc.

With best wishes

Robin Sharp
Chair BPV

Respond to Barnet's plans for West Hendon Playing fields at consultation meeting tomorrow

Although in Barnet the West Hendon Playing Fields are also a resource for Brent residents. You may wish to contribute to the consultation.

HAVE YOUR SAY – THE WEST HENDON PLAYING FIELDS DRAFT MASTERPLAN

Public drop-in session at the West Hendon Community Hub Tuesday 13th November. You can come and look at the draft masterplan and provide feedback. The session times are:

10.30am – 12.30pm
3.15pm – 7.00pm.

Address: 

Gadwall House, Perryfield Way

Hendon, Barnet,
The Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy (SLC) has been appointed to undertake an appraisal of the options available to Barnet Council for the development and creation of a sports hub with associated community facilities at West Hendon Playing Fields

From Barnet Counci:

In line with the strategies' recommendations, the council has appointed The Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy (SLC) to undertake an appraisal of the options available to the council for the development and creation of a sports hub with associated community facilities at West Hendon Playing Fields.

Give us your views
Please give us your views on the options by completing the online questionnaire(External link). We welcome responses from everyone including organisations interested in the future development of these sites. We would also like to hear the views of people from outside the London Borough of Barnet area.

To request a questionnaire in an alternative format, please:

• email: nicola.cross@barnet.gov.uk,
• telephone 020 8359 7404, or
• write to us at: Greenspaces, London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London, N11 1NP.

How we will use your feedback

SLC will use the results of the engagement to inform the development of an options appraisal report for consideration by the council. This will lead to the development of a draft master plan for the delivery of the preferred option, which will be the subject of further engagement later in the year. Amendments will be made as necessary to the draft master plan following this further engagement, and it will be brought to a meeting of the Environment Committee. Subject to the outcome of this meeting a full public consultation on the final master plan will then take place.

Detailed information HERE

Your neighbourhood turned upside down? Have your say on new Brent Local Plan

Brent Council has opened cosultation on the Brent Local Plan Preferred Options. It is a highly detailed document detailing possible developments  in Brent divided into stages of 0-5 years, 5-10 years and more than 10 years.

The borough is divided into 7 'places' (Central, North, North West, South, South East, South West). The main growth areas with far-reaching proposals are in Central (Wembley Central and Wembley Park). South East (Cricklewood, Willesden Green, Kilburn, South Kilburn) and North West (Kenton, Preston and Northwick Park).

Wherever you live in Brent you may be surprised that redevelopment of familiar buildings or areas is on the agenda. For example in Central (Wembley) ASDA, Kwikfit and The Torch pub on the corner of Forty Lane and Bridhe Road are included. Both sites of the College of North West London in Wembley Park and Dudden Hill will be freed up by a move to a new building in Wembley. Along with the college in Wembley Park the shopping centre next door (Curry's etc) and McDonalds are due for redevelopment. In South Kilburn the sites of Carlton Vale Primary and Kilburn Park Primary will be up for development if the schools move to a new site as well as all the planned redevelopment of the remaining blocks on the estate.

The document gives a list of developments that are on stream as well as possibilities. This is a list of residential developments in Wembley Park already given planning permission.

Northwick Park (above) is the main development site in North West Place:

There is potential for some tall buildings, subject to being a high quality design. These should respond to the height of the existing hospital buildings, stepping down towards the MOL (Metropolitan Open Land) and areas to the north. The appropriate height, extent and location of buildings will be identified within a masterplan for the site. Consideration will need to be given to the site’s location next to MOL to ensure that there is no inappropriate impact on its setting. Part of the site also falls within the Ministry of Defence (MOD) safeguarding zone for RAF Northolt, in which the MOD will need to be consulted if development is over a certain height
– 15.2m for development that occurs within the boundaries of the University of Westminster Campus and the majority of the hospital campus, and 45.7m for the hospitals eastern car parks and residential accommodation.

Furthermore, there is an area of green space located to the rear of the student accommodation, which has an open space designation. Whilst it might be appropriate through the masterplanning and development process to relocate or disaggregate this open space, overall no net loss will be acceptable. This will be in addition to satisfying the urban greening requirements and providing sufficient children’s play space, in line with London Plan policies G5 and S4. Running adjacent to the site’s southern boundary is the Capital Ring. Development should not impact upon the functionality of the Capital Ring, and should seek its enhancement wherever possible.

Interestingly Chancel House, the former DWP building in Neasden Lane, is ear-marked for a 6 form entry secondary school and college.  As the local authority is not allowed to provide new schools this will be a free school unless a Labour government, committed to not creating any new academies or free schools (policy is not absolutely clear), is elected.

I do urge readers to look at the document in full because it is impossible to cover all the details in this article. These are proposals that will transform your neighbourhood over the next 10 years.

Consultation events (Booking required unless drop-in)
 

Venue	Date
Brent Civic Centre, Engineer’s Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ	Tuesday 20 November, 7pm-9pm
Bridge Park Leisure Centre, Harrow Road, NW10 0RG	Thursday 29 November, 6.30pm-8.30pm
Kingsbury School, Princes Avenue, NW9 9JR	Wednesday 5 December, 6.30pm-8.30pm
Willesden Green Library, 95 High Road, Willesden Green, NW10 2SF	Thursday 13 December, 6.30pm-8.30pm

Drop-in Session

Venue	Date
Granville Centre, 140 Carlton Vale, , NW6 5HE	Monday 26 November 2018, 12noon-4pm
Brent Civic Centre, Engineer’s Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ	Tuesday 4 December, 11am-3pm
Ealing Road Library, Coronet Parade, Ealing Road, Wembley, HA0 4BA	Monday 17 December, 4pm-8pm
Kingsbury Temple, Kingsbury Road, London, NW9 8AQ	Wednesday 19 December, 4pm-8pm

The quickest way of giving your comments is by completing the online survey. HERE
Alternatively you can email us or send Brent Council your comments by post by using the addresses below. When responding by e-mail or post, please use the Local Plan Consultation Response Form (.docx, 19.4kB) and set out clearly the page number, paragraph, policy, figure or image your comment relates to.

Email: planningstrategy@brent.gov.uk

Post: Paul Lewin, Team Leader Planning Policy, Brent Council, Engineers’ Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ
The deadline for responses is 5pm on Thursday 3 January 2019.

 Full Option document. Click on bottom right corner for full size version.

Fascist graffiti reappears near Gladstone Park - help community paint it out!

Graffiti on the railway bridge linking Kendal Road and Gladstone Park

Ariel view of the bridge

Local residents spotted fascist graffiti today on the Kendal Road railway bridge that crosses over into Gladstone Park.

This follows an earlier episode when racist and fascist graffiti was found near Jewish homes in the area. LINK

That graffiti was removed by loacl people in a clean up and similar action will be taken regarding the swastika above.  On Tuesday evening at 5pm local people and anti-racist actvists will don rubber gloves and bring paint and brushes to get rid of this unwelcome sign of the presence of fascist sympathisers in our midst. Meet at the bridge.

An organiser of the 'paint out' said:

Our community is saddened and angered that fascist graffiti has again appeared in our happy multicultural area. We are going to paint it out in a show of our strength. We won’t be divided by hate!

These stickers have also appeared in the area:

The NSZ (Narodowe Siły Zbrojne - National Armed Forces)  was an anti-Nazi and Anti-Soviet Polish resistance movement often accused of anti-Semitism although that has been challenged as Soviet propaganda. After a split in the organisation in 1944 NSZ-ZJ (the Lizard Union) was formed which appeares to have been a more extremist wing.  LINK