Council tenants' fury as water bills soar after Thames Water take over billing from Brent Council

Reports are reaching me of massive increases in water bills as Thames Water takes billing over from Brent Council. Water bills used to be incorporated into rent paid to Brent Council and then passed on to Thames. Now Thames are billing each dwelling for direct payment and some residents are reporting substantial increases.

The information coming is is from is from CAMS, which is Comber Close, Ainsworth Close, Banting Close and Mackenzie House in Dollis Hill.

One tenant said they were now paying £47 a month to Thames having previously paid Brent Council £6 a week as part of their rent. Local activist Alison Hopkins said that a tenant of a 2 bedroomed flat was paying more than she did for her three bedroomed house and garden.

To add insult to injury another tenant hoping to install a water meter to reduce bills was told that one might not be possible to fit as the flats are old:

I’ve just spoken to [Thames Water], they claim it’s worked out on the chargeable value of my property (which I don’t understand what that is) and waste water charge. I asked why has it almost tripled they said if you have a view etc or a big garden then that’s how it’s worked out???They said they don’t know if a meter can be fitted here either so I’m waiting for someone from Thames Water to call me back, Sod’s law being these blocks are old etc I won’t be able to have one fitted! Then the only option is to continue with the large payments per month! I’m still waiting for my new rent charge letter to come out from Brent, I bet it won’t be any different even without the water charge.

It appears that the problem may be to do with a miscalulation of the chargeable value* of the council properties and tenants have been urged to contact Thames Water to complain and seek a review of their bills. LINK

This is what Thames say about chargeable value:

What is chargeable value?

Bills for unmetered properties, built before 1989, are based on the chargeable value of the property (also known as the rateable value).

The chargeable value was set by the Valuation Office at the Inland Revenue and represents the potential annual rent for your property. This is not related to your council tax banding.

Rateable Values were based on the size, location, access to local facilities and desirability of your property. For example, if your property had double glazing and the identical property next door didn’t your home would have been given a higher rateable value. This charge isn’t calculated from your actual water use.

We apply this value to calculate your water charges. There is one rate for water services and another for wastewater services. The rates you pay depend on where you live. You will also pay a fixed yearly charge.

You can find out more about your rateable charge in our charges leaflet.

Please let me know if your water bill has suddenly soared.

UPDATED: Celebration as Bridge Park case referred to Attorney General

Campaigners to stop Brent Council from selling off the Bridge Park Complex won a round of the battle today when Brent Council's attempt to thwart the campaigners through a summary hearing at the High Court failed. The campaign has won the right to go to full trial over their claim that the Complex is protected by a covenant.

The judge referred the matter to the Attorney General and denied the Council the right to appeal. This does not mean the campaigners have won the battle to retain control of the site but it is a step forward. The community deserves recognition for their tenacity and resourcefulness. 

I was unable to attend the hearing as I was speaking at a meeting about climate change so please see the Kilburn Times website for full details. HERE

James Mastin's statement after the hearing on video HERE

Read the Judgment HERE  

Full report on the Guardian website HERE

UPDATE

Today, Friday, Dawn Butler MP for Brent Central told the Kilburn Times that she would not like to see the case go to full trial and would like to facilitate a mediation between the campaigners and Brent Council. She hopes to arrange an informal meeting next week. LINK 

There is no information on how much Brent Council has spent on the case so far but it must be considerable (see comments below). If the case can be solved through mediation it would save Brent council tax payers a lot of money that could be used for the benefit of the community.

Donoghue 'Dust and Danger' protest Friday: Time for Donoghue to move on'

Join Brent4Europe on the People's Vote March on Saturday

Brent4Europe has invited Brent residents to join them on Saturday March 23rd for the People's Vote March, demanding that the People must have the final say in the Brexit debacle.

Details:


The march will assemble on Park Lane southbound, north of the Hilton Hotel.

If travelling to the march via the Jubilee line, please change at Bond Street station and proceed to Marble Arch station before exiting and joining the assembly area. Be prepared for crowd issues which may make Bond Street easier to exit.

To take part in the accessible march / shorter march, please assemble on the marked point at Trafalgar Square.  The shorter march will filter in behind the front of the march as it passes, giving priority access to the accessible viewing area with step-free access next to the statue of Gandhi. WE  ADVISE ALL PEOPLE WITH ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS TO TAKE PART IN THE SHORTER MARCH.

Stewards will be located near Westminster Tube Station street level lift exit to provide direction or assistance to people who will be attending the rally but not the march. They will be stationed here for a limited time only – times TBC – for more information, please see the accessibility policy for the event at www.peoples-vote.uk/march

NOTE – stewards will be in green hi-vis jackets, not yellow ones.

Brent4Europe teams will meet up in advance on Saturday 23rd March.

Join up with our teams at:

11 am at Wembley Park, on Southbound met/Jubilee line platform

11 am outside Kensal Green station [Bakerloo line]

11.15 am outside Willesden Green station

Scrutiny to consider Carlton-Granville proposals after 7 councillors call-in the Cabinet's decision

Leader of Brent Council, Cllr Butt, confronts David Kaye who was making representations

 about the proposals

The Cabinet decision of 11th March 2019 on South Kilburn has been called in. The Cabinet had approved a scheme to allow 23 social homes to be built on Granville Carlton site and The South Kilburn Trust to be given management of the entire site.

A special meeting of the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee will be held on Wednesday April 3rd at 7pm to consider the call-in. 

Seven councillors made the request for a call-in, including the three Kilburn Councillors, Cllr R Connelly, Cllr F  Hussain and  Cllr A Abdi.

In his request for the call-in Cllr Abdi said:

I would like to suggest that we do not part develop this site. The population of South Kilburn is increasing and this decision risks the future use of the site as a community facility. I am in favour of option 4 of the report presented to the cabinet. 

Any shortfall of social housing can be put right by increasing the number of social homes on the Peel site, which is approximately 20/30 metres from the Carlton-Granville Centre. The proposed number of homes on the Peel site is 308, of which 42 properties  are at social rents.

I suggest that we find alternatives ways of investing and making the Carlton and Granville Buildings fit for purpose.

Residents and campaigners  working to keep Granville Carlton as multi purpose community space run by an Alliance of community organisations have welcomed the  opportunity to present their full arguments against the Cabinet decision to the Scrutiny Committee.

Leslie Barson who has worked in Granville Carlton for over 26 years said:

We are very pleased this decision has been called in with the support of our three councillors. With the population of South Kilburn planned to more than double  and with no new multi purpose community spaces planned  we are determined to keep Granville Carlton site for the community.

Brent Council to consult on revoking byelaw that prohibits cycling in parks & open spaces

General Purposes Committee on Tuesday will consider a proposal to consult on revoking a byelaw that prohibits cycling in 55 out of 90 of our parks and open spaces.

The consultation will be preceded by a survey of parks and open spaces to assess suitability and mitigation measures that will be required to protect other park users, a speed limit of 5 mph is envisaged.

Brent Cyclists, the local branch of the London Cycling Campaign had raised the issue and pointed out how it contradicted the Council's policy to encourage cycling and exercise.

Other byelaws would still be available to deal with people who cycled dangerously.

A final decision on revocation would be made at the July Full Council meeting.

DETAILS

Greta Thunberg responds to the critics: '...Please stop asking your children for the answers to your own mess.'

Following Friday's world-wide schoolchildren's strike Greta Thunberg has responded to her critics on Facebook. This is what she says:

On Friday March 15th 2019 well over 1,5 million students school striked for the climate in 2083 places in 125 countries on all continents.

The favorite argument here in Sweden (and everywhere else…) is that it doesn’t matter what we do because we are all too small to make a difference. Friday’s manifestation was the biggest day of global climate action ever, according to 350.org. It happened because a few schoolchildren from small countries like Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland decided not to go to school because nothing was being done about the climate crisis. We proved that it does matter what you do and that no one is too small to make a difference.

People keep asking me ”what is the solution to the climate crisis.” And how do we ”fix this problem”. They expect me to know the answer.

That is beyond absurd as there are no ”solutions” within our current systems. No one ”knows” exactly what to do. That’s the whole point. We can’t just lower or heighten some taxes or invest in some ”green” funds and go on like before.

Yes there are many many things that are very good and necessary, and improves the situation. Such as solar- and wind power, circular economy, veganism, sustainable farming and so on. But even those are just parts of a greater picture.

We can no longer only focus on individual and separate issues like electrical cars, nuclear power, meat, aviation, bio fuels etc etc. We urgently need a holistic view to adress the full sustainability crisis and the ongoing ecological disaster. And this is why I keep saying that we need to start treating the crisis as the crisis it is. Because only then - and only guided by the best available science (as is clearly stated throughout the Paris Agreement) can we together start creating the global way forward.

But that can never happen as long as we allow the ”yeah-but-what-about-nuclear-power-then-debate” to go on and on and on. This is wasting our time. This is climate delayer-ism. We need to keep a great number of thoughts in our head at same time and yet move forward with the changes at unprecedented speed.

Nuclear power, according to the IPCC, can be a small part of a very big new carbon free energy solution, especially in countries and areas that lack the possibility of a full scale renewable energy supply - even though its extremely dangerous, expensive and time consuming. But let’s leave that debate until we start looking at the full picture.

Some people seem so desperate to go on with the comforts and luxuries of their every day life that they tell others to not have any children. As children, speaking for our little sisters and brothers, we don’t find that very encouraging. It is not us or future generations who have created this. And yet - once again - you blame us.

If not even the scientists, politicians, media and the UN currently can speak up on what exactly needs to be done to ”solve” the climate crisis (in other words, dramatically lowering our emissions starting today) , then how could we, some schoolchildren, know? How can you leave that burden to us?

Once you have done your homework, you realize that we need new politics. We need a new economics, where everything is based on our rapidly declining and extremely limited carbon budget.

But that is not enough. We need a whole new way of thinking. The political system that you have created is all about competition. You cheat when you can because all that matters is to win. To get power. That must come to an end. We must stop competing with each other. We need to start cooperating and sharing the remaining resources of this planet in a fair way. We need to start living within the planetary boundaries, focus on equity and take a few steps back for the sake of all living species.

We are just passing on the words of the science. Our only demand is that you start listening to it. And then start acting.

So please stop asking your children for the answers to your own mess.

Brent Council v Bridge Park judgment expected on Thursday

The judgement in the case that has galvanised the Stonebridge and Harlesden communties  in the defence of Bridge Park Complex will be announced at the Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday.

The 'Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Brent versus Leonard Johnson (Trustee of Harlesden People's Council) and the Stonebridge Community Trust' is timetabled for 11am on Thursday 21st March and will be held in Court Room 15, 7 Rolls Building, Royal Courts of Justice, Fetter Lane, EC4A 1NL before Deputy Master Rhys.

It is expected to last 2 hours.