Claremont 3G Pitch noise may exceed WHO guidance residents claim as application goes to tonight's Planning Committee

Campaigners against the proposed 3G pitch at Claremont High School which is going to Planning Committee tonight have written to Brent Planners pointing out the lack of a proper noise impact assessment by the applicants.

There are just 2 sentences included in the report without any accompanying professional assessment:

This is the letter from the Wealdstone Brook Residents' Association which they hope councillors will read before reaching a decision.

We have written to you on several occasions asking for a professional noise assessment to be made available.

We have asked you how Brent has arrived at the statements about noise that it has made in its report to the Planning Committee when no single noise assessment has ever been conducted at the site.

We have still not had any explanation from you.

Would it not be fair to say that any statements made about the perceived noise impacts could be considered 'baseless' when these are not being backed up by factual evidence?

We believe that there is no evidence to support the statements on noise made in the report to the Planning Committee. We therefore demand that these statements be struck from the report.

We have taken advice. We are convinced by the facts and find that the most basic estimates of the predicted noise impacts readily show that the noise created will likely exceed WHO guidance as has been demonstrated below.

We therefore remain resolute in requesting that the applicant provides a professional noise assessment prepared by an acoustic consultant.

Kind regards 

Wealdstone Brook Residents Ass. (Secretary).

---

A recent report by the acoustic consultancy firm Bickerdike Allen Partners submitted to Brent Council on another 3G based planning application states the following:

Based on a review of sports noise surveys and similar sports noise impact assessments, a value of 73 dB LAF,max at 10 m from the edge of the pitch has been used to assess noise maxima. This value is considered representative of sounds including shouting from players on the pitch, referee whistles and ball strikes on mesh fences.

So, assuming that this is a reasonable general starting point, then it would seem reasonable to expect that the new installation at Claremont High School would equally exhibit 73 dB LAF,max at 10m from the edge of the pitch.

Some of the windows in Chapman Crescent are barely 25 metres away from the edge of the pitch.

Using basic modelling of sound attenuation it is estimated that residents in Chapman Crescent could thus expect 66 dB LAF,max at their windows.

Such noise maxima levels readily exceed WHO guidance and would create unacceptable noise impacts.

The delegated report to this planning application only makes a fleeting reference to the noise impacts. In fact, it consists of two sentences that suggest that the noise created by this application 'would not be to an extent that would warrant resistance to the proposal’.

There does not appear to be any evidence in the application to support this statement. 

However, it seems evident that the noise created by this application will in all likelihood exceed WHO guidance. There also appear reasons to suspect that the existing pitch (Ref 08/1968) may be creating noise that exceeds WHO guidance.

Rising Covid19 cases in Brent - Public Health Consultant: 'Coronavirus has not gone away and it is still killing people'

Via Brent Council Website

Covid-19 cases rising in Brent: A message from Dr John Licorish, Public Health Consultant

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Brent and some other parts of London are rising again.

In the week ending Sunday 6 September 2020, there were 40 confirmed Coronavirus cases in Brent. People aged between 20 – 50 years old are the most affected group.

Brent’s rate is below the figure where a local lockdown would be considered, but we are concerned and we do all need to take action now to protect our family, friends and neighbours.

Of-course, we all want to go about our daily lives and return to some sort of normality but as we leave our homes more the risks increase.

Put bluntly, coronavirus has not gone away and it is still killing people.

Therefore, we all need to take extra care as how we behave is currently the only way to limit the spread of the virus.

You are most at risk when in busy crowds, confined spaces or close contact with others.

You are safest when you follow this advice:

• Wash hands, or use hand sanitiser, regularly and for at least 20 seconds
• Cover face, when using public transport or in busy spaces like high streets or shops where it may be more difficult to keep your distance
• Make space, try to stay 2 metres away from people you don’t live with – including in pubs and restaurants.

If you develop symptoms of the virus, please immediately self-isolate and book a free test online at or call 119.

More information, advice and support is available on the dedicated section of the Brent Council website. Residents can sign up for e-newsletter updates or follow us on Twitter @Brent_Council and Facebook.

We all need to take responsibility and follow the guidelines if we want to avoid a situation where we cannot visit each other’s homes or shops and other businesses need to close again.

 

 

Planning award for Brent’s 1 Morland Gardens scheme?

Special Guest Post by Philip Grant  

 

It appears that Brent Council may have won an award, that it nominated itself for, in a Planning competition. The winning entry in the mixed-use development category was its 1 Morland Gardens scheme in Stonebridge, the subject of a controversial “victory” at the Brent’s Planning Committee meeting on 12 August.

 

While the Council and its architects have been quick to celebrate the granting of planning permission for their proposals, with computer generated images of how marvellous the building will look, Brent’s new Strategic Director for Regeneration is investigating serious concerns which have been raised. These include whether there was improper conduct by Council Officers in putting forward proposals which went against Brent’s adopted policy on heritage assets, and whether Planning Officers misled the committee over those policies, in order to get the Council’s scheme approved.

 

 

The report in “Planning Resource” says: ‘The project is aiming for BREEAM “Excellent” certification, with excess energy produced by the adult education building powering utilities in the homes.’ Whether that system works remains to be seen. One of the drawbacks of the proposed building is how close it will be built to the busy junction of Hillside and Brentfield Road. There will not be room for the trees shown on the left of the artist’s impression above, and they have yet to submit details of how they will provide fresh air to the college and the two floors of homes above it, which would suffer from harmful levels of Nitrogen Dioxide if the windows are opened.

 

According to the report, the proposals for 1 Morland Gardens include ‘a community garden’. I don’t remember seeing anything of that description in the plans! Perhaps someone from Brent Council can explain where that community garden will be. I do know that their scheme is designed to be built out over the existing open space in front of 1 Morland Gardens, and over part of the existing Harlesden City Challenge community garden.

 

 

The report goes on to say: ‘The judges praised the use of a local community steering group to contribute feedback from hard-to-reach groups ensuring the building reflects local needs and aspirations.’ Brent has made much of its claims that the development proposals were guided by this “community steering group”, but it only met twice before the planning application was submitted in February 2020. At the start of its first meeting, on 20 August 2019, the members from the community were told by a Council Officer that the development would consist of ‘up to 65 new homes, a new adult education centre, café, and affordable workspace.’ As that is what was proposed after their “feedback”, it is difficult to see what the steering group’s role actually was, other than to sound good in Brent’s “spin” about the scheme.

 

 

I may be proved wrong, and the 1 Morland Gardens scheme, IF it ever gets built in place of the existing locally listed Victorian villa on the site, may prove to be a wonderful modern building. In which case, let's see whether, a few years down the line, the families who live in the flats and affordable homes it provides are happy in this “award winning” development. Or whether, as we have recently seen from South Kilburn, their dream homes turn out to be a nightmare.

 

Philip Grant.

VIDEO: How government changes to planning laws will impact on your right to have a say

Poor Matt Kelcher, just off to Chair the Brent Planning Committee and government legislation looks likely to drastically reduce the Committee's role.

Although produced by a countryside charity this is an excellent summary of what the changes will mean to residents' right to have a say as well as undermining the role of local councillors.

You may think, as I do, that the Quintain development in Wembley Park is a mess - just imagine what these changes will do there and to many other places in Brent.  It is not for n othing that the changes have been called a developers' free for all.

Make sure you respond to the consultation, even if you doubt it will make much difference!

LINK TO CONSULTATION

Quintain's Build to Let estate rebadged as 'Quintain Living'

The initial 'revolutionary' marketing strategy.

Quintain, the major developer of Wembley Park, has announced that from October 5th its Build to Rent properties will be marketed as Quintain Living, rather than  Tipi.

Its image thus moves more towards selling a life style rather than independence from dodgy private landlords.

The life style approach can be seen here:

At the same time Quintain announced the appointment of a new chief operating officer for their estate. She is Danielle Bayless who is the vice president of operations for California based Essex Property Trust which has 23,000 properties.

In a further and perhaps relevant development reliable sources have told Wembley Matters that the new properties at Brent House in Wembley High Road appear to be unoccupied.  Just up the road are the many properties in the 'Twin Towers' which the developer is attempting to market under the friendly sounding 'Uncle' name.

UPDATED WITH LATEST CHANGES Brent Cabinet changes see Cllrs Agha, Miller and Hirani replaced by Stephens, Knight and Nerva

Brent Council has updated its website with new Cabinet appointments.

Cllr Neil Nerva replaces Cllr Hirani as Lead Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure. Cllr Hirani is the Labour Brent and Harrow Constituency candidate for the May 2021 GLA Election (deferred from May 2020). Hirani lost little time in publishing a video congratulating himself on his performance in the Cabinet, which served the twin purpose of promoting his GLA campaign. LINK

Cllr Promise Knight replaces Cllr Tom Miller as Lead Member for Community Safety and Engagement

Cllr Thomas Stephens replaces Cllr Agha as Lead Member for  Schools, Employment and Skills.  Cllr Stephens was the main author of the recent report on democracy which was criticised as not going far enough by Cllr Gill LINK









The other Cabinet positions that remain unchanged according to the website are:

Cllr Muhammed Butt (Leader)
Cllr Margaret McLennan (Deputy Leader and Member for Resources)
Cllr Harbi Farah (Lead Member for Adult Social Care)
Cllr Mili Patel (Lead Member for Children's Safeguarding, Early Help and  Social)
Cllr Krupa Sheth (Lead Member for Environment)
Cllr Eleanor Southwood (Lead Member for Housing and Welfare Reform)
Cllr Shama Tatler (Lead Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning)

I understand that Cllr Roxanne Mashari becomes  Chair of Resources and Public Realm Committee following the decision to have male and female chairs. Cllr Ketan Sheth continues as Chair of Communitu and Wellbeing Scrutiny.

Cllr Matt Kelcher leaves Scrutiny to become Chair of Planning and Cllr James Denselow takes on the lesser role of Chair of Licensing.

Brent Cabinet discusses vital report on implementing plans to tackle Black inequality in Brent

At 10am today the Brent Cabinet has a very important item on the Brent Black Community Action Plan.  It constitutes 10 detailed work streams on all aspect of the Council's work: 

1.    Early intervention: children, young people and families 
2.   Enabling and strengthening community leadership through capacity building  
3.   Developing community spaces – run and managed by local communities 
4.   Supporting the black community and voluntary sector - grant funding and procurement 
5.   Support for employment and enterprise 
6.   Accountability and engagement 
7.   Internal review of processes within the Council  
8.   Homes and homelessness 
9.   Tackling health inequalitieS
10. Embedding equality and diversity within the council workforce.

 Unfortunately there is a possibility that most publicity will be given to a parallel plan to review the names of  places in Brent associated with people involved in the slave trade, including Gladstone Park.  Although symbolically important and perhaps an 'easy win' the resulting furore may drown out the vital and more difficult work involved in tackling current inequalities in education, work, health and housing to name just some of the work streams.  As a veteran of the anti-racist campaigns in education in the 1970s I remember how the work we were undertaking in schools was derailed by rows about whether 'Baa, baa black sheep' should be banned. Slave trade names are important but have to be kept in perspective.

As an example of the detailed work this is Workstream 1 - Early Intervention: children, young people and families:

1.Working with schools to influence school curricula to:

·      support young black boys with developing self-esteem, self-worth and confidence in the classroom, and through coaching and mentoring in schools

·      ensure positive Black History is being taught.

School Effectiveness officers will continue to work with schools to encourage the teaching of black history. Good practice examples in Brent include schools, which have been awarded the United Nations ‘Rights Respecting Schools Award’, reducing inequality and promoting inclusive societies.

Officers will ensure schools maintain a focus on the progress of priority groups & will continue to support the ‘Raising Achievement of boys of Black Caribbean heritage’ project, building on the success in improving outcomes in Year 1/2 of the project.

2.Recruitment drive for black school governors. This includes encouraging schools and Governor training to include unconscious bias and anti-racism training. Recruitment processes for school governors are ongoing. A recent focused campaign resulted in 25% of recruited governors identifying as being Black/Black British. The governor training offer will be developed to include unconscious bias and anti-racism training.

3.Creating an assured way of life for young black people by enabling them to fulfil their ambitions and aspirations relating to education and work through:

• enabling young people to explore and express their aspirations, which will include making them aware of opportunities available to them. This could also include confidence-building and making them feel ‘accepted’ and that
• they do not have to work twice as hard as their non-black peers to achieve the same levels of positive outcomes for themselves
• supporting parents with their own aspirations and to understand the aspirations of their families and children, and how they can enable their children to thrive
• institutions, including FE colleges, reviewing their support to ensure it is enabling young black people to discover and achieve their aspirations and removing structural racism and unconscious bias and barriers.

Looking at the pinch points in a young person’s life (birth, starting school, transitioning from primary to secondary school, selecting GCSE subjects and beyond) we need to look at ensuring:

•  that the institutions and individuals who are influencers in a young person’s life at various stages possess the cultural competence to understand and respond to the context, pressures and barriers young black people can encounter at every critical stage in their lives. Training will be essential.
• young people are enabled and given the ability to prepare for and handle situations. This includes developing personal resilience skills and creating spaces to have difficult conversations, possibly in school. These conversations could be trauma felt or experienced, directly or indirectly
• that institutions deploy trauma training for professionals working with young people to support them with trauma and other issues faced
• space and opportunity for young people to act as leaders and influencers
• opportunities for young people to learn about black history which can enable self-worth and aspirations to grow
• opportunities to celebrate achievements, for example, through an annual Youth Pride of Brent Awards evening hosted by the Council.

Actions in this section will align with actions in work stream 5 regarding support for employment and enterprise. Parents will be supported to access early years entitlements and the 30 hours free childcare offer through the Progress for All project.

Family Wellbeing Centres will provide parents and carers of 0-18 year olds with access to support services and programmes to develop their confidence and life skills.

Trauma-informed practice training will continue to be provided for professionals working with young people. Schools and colleges will be supported to access training in areas of cultural competence, unconscious bias and anti-racism.

Working with YBF and the Beckmead Trust, integrated youth activities will be provided around the new Alternative Provision school at the Roundwood Centre from January 2021. Youth engagement through a series of podcasts exploring issues and concerns for young people.

With The Beat London, the council recently commissioned a special 

• ‘Time to Talk Covid-19’, phone-in to discuss why the BAME community is disproportionately affected by Covid-19
•  Brent Youth Parliament gives young people who may feel marginalised the opportunity to have a voice.

Alll the work streams can be accessed by following these LINKS

Community skips in all Brent wards during September - up to 5 bulky items with proof of Brent address

In honour of the Great British September Clean, happening over the month of September, the Community Skip will be touring the borough and stopping in every ward.

Drop up to five bulky items free of charge, with proof of a Brent address. Representatives from Veolia will join the council’s Neighbourhood Managers to help sort items and ensure they are recycled and reused wherever possible.

To ensure everyone can maintain social distancing, you may be asked to queue. Hand sanitiser will be available.

Dates and locations are as follows. Please note that events may be cancelled or postponed at short notice. We advise that you check back. Restrictions apply, please see below (ward in brackets).

• 11^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Bramshill Open Space (Harlesden)
• 11^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Elmstead Avenue junction Preston Road (Preston)
• 12^th September 2020, 8am-10am, Townsend Lane (Fryent)
• 12^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Woodside Avenue near junction Woodside Close (Alperton)
• 14^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Tubbs Road outside the Pocket Park (Kensal Green)
• 15^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Henderson Close (Stonebridge)
• 16^th September 2020, 10am-midday, St Gabriels Road near the junction of Walm Lane (Mapesbury)
• 17^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Chalkhill Road (Barnhill)
• 18^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Gooseacre Lane (Kenton)
• 18^th September 2020, 8am-10am, Peel Road Ada Road (Northwick)
• 19^th September 2020, 9am-11am, Queensbury Parade junction with Winchester Ave (Queensbury)
• 19^th September 2020, 8am-10am, Chaplin Road near junction with Farm Lane (Sudbury)
• 19^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Burton Road near Waterloo Passage (Kilburn)
• 22^nd September 2020, 2-4pm, Quainton Street (Welsh Harp)
• 23^rd September 2020, 10am-midday, Christchurch Avenue near junction of Chatsworth Road (Brondesbury)
• 23^rd September 2020, 2-4pm, Cooper Road (Dudden Hill)
• 24^th September 2020, 2-4pm, Randall Avenue (Dollis Hill)
• 25^th September 2020, 2-4pm, St Pauls Ave (Willesden Green)
• 25^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Monks Park between the shopping parade service roads (Tokyngton)
• 26^th September 2020, 10am-midday, Kingswood Avenue junction of Harvist Road (Queens Park)
• 26^th September 2020, 8am-10am, Rosemead Ave close to number 20 (Wembley)