Don't miss Brent Trades Council'smeeting onWednesday 23rd September at 7pm
WE WILL NOT PAY FOR THEIR CRISIS, WE WILL FIGHTBACK
Sarah Woolley, Gen Secretary of the BFAWU and Vic Paulino, Unite Community Coordinator for LESE, will attend our meeting and will tell us about developments in their unions and their take on the developing situation. We welcome union reports from delegates.
COVID 19 infections are on the rise in schools, the hospitality industry,and communities resulting in new restrictive measures being imposed by a negligent government could mean more deaths, unless proper protective gear is available and testing, tracing and isolation isgiven to all those who need it. The government's testing programme is on the brink of collapse asprivate companies fail to provide. Risk Assessments in the workplace become more urgent than ever to ensure there are no loss of lives.
The crisis will deepen with the end of furlough and the rise in demand for Universal Credit caused by the rapidly rising unemployment are calling for fightback from all unions and trades councils.
Brent Trades Council has been campaigning for public measures in Brent to be systematically applied by the Council, met with community groups and workplace union reps and continues to work with unions to ensure health and safety measures are in place and agreed by employers. Not always the case.
I have sent agenda and minutes to delegates, but friends of our trades council are welcome to attend and contribute.
A topical one-off “special” local
history article by Philip Grant.
As part of Brent’s London Borough of Culture 2020,
and “Brent Biennial”, a 9-metre high mural by the artist Dawn Mellor is due to
be unveiled in Kingsbury Road on Saturday 19 September. It will celebrate the
life of the singer George Michael, who lived and went to school in the area. Many
people may not know much about his early life, and this seems a good time to
share what I know about his Kingsbury connections. As George said himself, in a
line from a song he wrote about growing up “Round Here”: ‘So come with me, let me show you where
I've lived.’
1. Three images of work in progress on the
George Michael mural, and its location, 13 September 2020.
It was not just people from the Caribbean (“the
Windrush Generation”) who came to live and work in this country following the
British Nationality Act, 1948. Britain’s labour shortage in the post-war years
meant that anyone with the newly created status of ‘citizen of the United
Kingdom and Colonies’ could do the same. In 1953, young Kyriacos Panayiotou and his cousin left their village
in Cyprus, and came to London for a better life. He worked as a waiter in a
restaurant, and through a shared love of dancing, married Lesley in 1957. Some
people thought it was wrong for an English girl to marry a Greek Cypriot, but
love is stronger than prejudice.
2. Holmstall Parade, Edgware Road, 2019.
Kyriacos and Lesley
already had two daughters before their son, Georgios, was born at their flat in
East Finchley in June 1963. Within a year they had moved to a larger home at 3a
Holmstall Parade, above shops on the Edgware Road, close to Burnt Oak, in what
was then still the Borough of Wembley. Kyriacos Panayiotou, commonly known as
Jack Panos, worked in a Greek Restaurant in Edgware, becoming a partner in the
business. Although Holmstall Parade looks similar now to what it did in the
1960s, the Asda superstore and Capitol Way just down the road were then a
Frigidaire factory, on a site first used by the Aircraft Manufacturing Company,
“Airco”, during World War One.
3. The Redhill Drive street sign, at the corner with
Holmstall Avenue.
By 1967, the
Panayiotou family had their own semi-detached suburban home, nearby in Redhill
Drive, then part of the recently formed London Borough of Brent. No.57 was
where Georgios (or George as he would become known) lived for about ten years.
He soon had friends to play with, and his best friend was David, who lived just
up the road, and was a year older than him.
4. 57 Redhill Drive, Burnt Oak, in 2019.
When it was time for George to start school, he
went to Roe Green Infants, then the Juniors, in Princes Avenue, the same as his
sisters (and David), as that was the local state school. In those days, that
was what most children did. They probably walked to school.
Figure 5. Roe Green Infants and Junior Schools,
Princes Avenue, Kingsbury, in 2019.
Years later, George wrote in a song: ‘And I remember my, my first day at
school. And I remember trouble and thinkin' I was so cool.’ Whether this was
about his very first day at school at Roe Green, or when he went on to
secondary school, I’m not sure. You wouldn’t think this young Georgios would
get into trouble, would you? Or perhaps you would.
6. Georgios Panayiotou, at primary school
age. (Image from the internet)
Trouble or not, he must have been
quite a bright student, although having encouragement from a good creative
writing teacher at school (probably Ian Greenwood then) must have helped. Only
just eleven years old, two of his poems were included in Roe Green Junior
School’s end of year magazine in July 1974. How these came to light, shortly
after George’s death in 2016, is a story in itself. A girl who knew him at the
school had kept her school magazines. Years later, her older sister met a
former classmate, Melanie, at an awards ceremony – and Melanie was with her
brother, Georgios, better known by then as George Michael. The sisters had
never guessed that the music star was the quiet boy they knew at Roe Green
Juniors!
7. The cover of the Roe Green Junior School
magazine, July 1974. (Image from the internet)
The first of the poems, ‘The Story of
a Horse’, appears above the name Georgios Panayiotou, 4S, but the second
reveals his nickname. Whether this was one he invented for himself, or what his
friends decided to call him (because he was brainy?), Professor Whatsisname
(alias G. Panayiotou, 4S) was the author of this imaginative piece, ‘Sounds in
the Night’.
8. "Sounds in the Night" by
Professor Whatsisname, from "The Junior", July 1974. (Image from the
internet)
From junior school, George moved on to the local
secondary school in September 1974, again just as most eleven-year olds would
have done then. Kingsbury High School had become a comprehensive in 1967, when
the grammar school in Princes Avenue merged with the Tyler’s Croft Boys and
Girls secondary modern schools in Bacon Lane. The lower years of the High School
were housed in the Tyler’s Croft buildings, which had opened in 1952.
Twenty-two years before George walked through that school’s gates, the first
boys to start at the school when it opened had included a young Charlie Watts, from Fryent Junior School, who also went on to
become a famous pop musician.
9. Kingsbury High School's Tyler's Croft
buildings, beside Roe Green Park, 2019.
The photo above shows that Kingsbury
High’s Lower School is next to Roe Green Park, and there’s no doubt that George
spent some time there after school. In one verse of his song about growing up,
he sings:
‘I hear my mama call
in Kingsbury Park Just me and David and a football that glowed in
the dark Waitin' patiently to make my mark, round here.’
10. Roe Green Park, towards the school, and a wild flower
meadow that wasn't there in George's time!
Life sometimes takes an unexpected
turn, and it was not in Kingsbury that George made his mark. His father’s
restaurant business was doing well, so he decided to move upmarket. He found a
house he liked in Radlett, and around 1976 the Panayiotou family moved out of
Redhill Drive. As their new home was not quite ready, they lived above the
restaurant in Edgware for several months, before George left Kingsbury High
School, looking something like this.
11. Georgios Panayiotou in the mid-1970's. (Image
from the internet)
The move to Radlett meant changing to a new school,
Bushey Meads School, which took students from much of the western side of
Hertsmere District, just north of London. One of his new classmates was Andrew
Ridgeley, and they were soon friends. The two teenagers shared a love of pop
music, and a desire to make a that their career. The result, in 1981, was Wham!
12. Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael as the
duo, Wham!, mid-1980's. (Image from the internet)
From then on, Georgios Panayiotou would be known as
George Michael, and you can read about his musical career, his generosity and his
sometimes troubled private life, online, or by borrowing a
copy of the biography “George”, by Sean Smith, from your local Brent Library
(ref. no. 782.421 on the adult
non-fiction shelves).
Although no longer
living in Brent, George’s career brought him to Wembley on a number of
occasions. Wham! played several concerts at the Arena in 1984, and their
“Final” concert together at the Stadium in 1986, before the duo went their
separate ways. George Michael was one of the stars who performed at the 1985
Live Aid concert at Wembley, and at the 70th birthday concert for
Nelson Mandela in 1988. George’s singing of “Somebody to Love” with Queen, at
the Stadium’s Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert to raise money for AIDS research
in 1992, was highly rated, and the live recording featured on a follow-up EP.
13. George Michael, with Brian May of Queen,
at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. (Image from internet)
George Michael was a prolific songwriter, and in 2004
he recorded a song about his memories of growing up. Called “Round Here”, it
wasn’t a big hit for him, but it came from his heart and tells his story before
he became famous. There is an online video of him singing and recording the
song, with brief clips of film included that show various scenes from
Kingsbury, and London more generally. If you watch carefully, you’ll spot
glimpses of 57 Redhill Drive (at 0:05), the flats at Holmstall Parade (0:25),
Roe Green Park (1:17) and Roe Green Junior School (1:35) and Kingsbury High
[Lower] School (1:41), plus other places you’ll recognise.
14. The CD cover for "Round Here", 2004. (Image from the
internet)
George
Michael, who sadly died in 2016, aged just 53, is not the only famous person
who has lived “Round Here”, in the north of Brent, but he is fondly remembered
by many for his music and his humanity. That is why he was chosen as the
subject for a mural in Kingsbury, which celebrates his life. I hope you’ve
enjoyed finding out about his local connections.
15. Kingsbury Station signs, including for
the London Borough of Culture 2020.
Next time you come out of Kingsbury Station, turn
right, and after walking about 60 metres you will find the mural, on the end
wall of a block of shops with flats above. You can’t miss it – it is 9 metres
high!
Philip Grant.
Next weekend, we welcome a new member to the “local history in lockdown” team.
Don’t forget to join us, to discover what part of the borough her weekly series
will cover!
Following on from the previous two post this is a statement made by London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, today:
“The Prime Minister has said that we are now seeing the start of a
second wave of COVID-19 across the UK. Londoners should also know that I
am extremely concerned by the latest evidence I’ve seen today from
public health experts about the accelerating speed at which COVID-19 is
now spreading here in London. This is made worse by the uncertainty
caused by the lack of testing capacity in the capital.
“This afternoon I held an emergency meeting with London council
leaders, the Government and Public Health England to discuss the next
steps. It is increasingly likely that, in London, additional measures
will soon be required to slow the spread of the virus. We will be
considering some of the measures which have already been imposed in
other parts of the UK. I am of the firm view that we should not wait, as
happened six months ago, for this virus to again spiral out of control
before taking action. The best thing for both public health and the
economy is new restrictions imposed early, rather than a full lockdown
when it’s too late - but the government must urgently ensure there is a
fully functioning testing system.
“I strongly urge all Londoners to be as cautious as possible over
this weekend. Please think very carefully about your actions - strictly
follow social distancing rules, regularly wash your hands and wear a
face covering to help reduce the spread of the virus.”
A further 4,322 coronavirus cases and 27 deaths have been reported in the
UK, according to the government's daily figures.
This
is the highest number of cases reported since 8 May, when there were 4,649
cases. The government is considering what measures should be taken nation-wide.
I understand there is local concern about the rising number of cases in
Brent with figures said to be above 20 per 100,000. Government action occurs
when figures reach 30-50 per 100,000 but there is discussion about whether Brent
Council Public Health should pre-empt such action.
Certainly, I was concerned when earlier this week I saw crowds of school
students outside Ark Academy at dismissal time with little social distancing
and few face coverings. They mixed with the general public at the Wembley Park
Station bus stops.
Unfortunately, this concern coincides with the Brent Biennial which kicks off
tomorrow as part of the ill-fated 2020 London Borough of Culture programme. I understand that the opening of local libraries for 4 hours on Saturday and Sundays until December had been planned.
Brent Council might be encouraging people to attend a number of events when they
are at the same time considering possible restrictions.
Councillors
Abdirazak Abdi, Chan, Perrin, Lloyd and Kennelly have called in the decision to
place a contract for Stonebridge Annexe works occasioned by the need to decant
Brent Start facilities when the controversial new build takes place on the 1
Morland Gardens site in which the landmark Italianate will be demolished.
The
call-in will be heard by the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee on
September 23rd. I understand that its new chair Cllr Roxanne Mashari will not
be able to attend.
Decision:
Authority to Award Contract for Appointment of Engie Regeneration UK &
Ireland as Works Main Contractor under a JCT Intermediate Building Contract
with Contractor's Design 2016 Edition for Stonebridge Annexe, Stonebridge, NW10
0ST Date of decision(or date of public
notice for officer decisions): 26 August 2020
[Editor’s note: In correspondence Brent Council noted that the decision
was actually signed off by Nick Ljustina (as Operational Director – Property
& Assets) but this was on behalf of the Strategic Director, Regeneration
& Environment, which they say is permitted under the Council’s Officer Scheme of
Delegation.]
The group of councillors gave the following reasons for calling-in the
decision.
1.The above decision relates to the placing of a Contract for the works
of refurbishment to Stonebridge Annexe ("Enabling Works") enabling
the decanting of the Brent Start facilities from 1 Morland Gardens, NW6,
preparatory to the demolition of the existing buildings on that site, and the
erection of new mixed use buildings under planning application number 20/0345
(the"1 Morland Gardens Application").
2.The tender for the Enabling Works was concluded on or around 9 July,
and, according to the Report leading to the Decision, dates (described in the
Report as "anticipated")are set out for a Letter of Intent (14
August), a Letter of Award of Contract to Engie Regeneration UK & Ireland
(31 August), with a view to Contract Start on Site on 14 September.
3.Having today enquired of officers in Planning and Employment and
Skill, I have been informed that this Contract for the Enabling Works would not
be placed, if the development under the 1 Morland Gardens Application does not
proceed.
4.Issues have come to light regarding the 1 Morland Gardens Planning
Application:
·Consent to the 1 Morland Gardens Application is
awaited from the GLA;
·Notwithstanding the clear recommendations in
paragraph R1 of the Preliminary Bat Roost Assessment dated February 2019 by
Middlemarch Environmental ("Middlemarch Report") - based on a survey
made in December 2018 (and repeated in paragraph 206 of the Planning Report)
that at least 3 emergence/re-entry surveys be carried out during the period
May-September, no evidence has been supplied that any such surveys have been
carried out.
There are no surveys amongst the planning papers. Enquiry of officers
today has not so far revealed any surveys were undertaken.
Condition 13 of the draft Planning Consent for the 1 Morland Gardens
Application includes a requirement for adherence to the recommendations of the
Middlemarch Report; however, if no surveys have been carried out, works under
the 1 Morland Gardens Application must be deferred until after those surveys
have been undertaken, results available and appropriate response formulated and
actioned to ensure no criminal offence is committed. This would appear
potentially to be in autumn 2021.
Appendix 1 to the Middlemarch Report sets out the legislative
background; Regulation 41 of the Habitats Regulations 2017 states that a person
"commits an offence if they...deliberately disturb bats; or damage or
destroy a bat roost (breeding site or resting place)." If the surveys have
not been carried out - then the whole process must be delayed until autumn 2021
to avoid the Council's committing a criminal offence.
5.I understand the Enabling Works relating to this Decision do not need
planning consent. However, the provisions of the 2017 Regulations would still
apply if any part of those works had the potential to disturb, or damage or
destroy bats and their habitat in the Stonebridge Annexe as referred to above.
The Stonebridge Annexe is a building constructed in or around the 1930s,
with a substantial area of trees surrounding it, and with strong potential for
bat roosts and potentially on a Bat Corridor to the Welsh Harp and with Green
and Blue Corridors in the other direction.
Accordingly, the Enabling Works may have the potential to disturb bats,
and/or damage or destroy their habitats, if any are present. However, no
preliminary bat roost assessment was commissioned, which should be undertaken
prior to the Contract. There is no evidence that such assessment forms part of
the Enabling Works. Indeed, with the timetable referred to in the Report, the programme
outlined gives no time for such assessment to be undertaken, let alone any time
for any action which may be requisite to comply with statute, should evidence
of bats/roosts be present.
6.We understand that it has been agreed by the Chief Executive that an
investigation should be undertaken by the Strategic Director following the
raising of what I am told are serious concerns by a member of the public about
the Morland Gardens Application. This investigation is ongoing and could impact
on the Planning Consent for the 1 Morland Gardens Application.
7.The award of the Enabling Works Contract is premature, as there is
still no certainty that the scheme envisaged by the 1 Morland Gardens
Application will go ahead. Nonetheless, having regard to the importance of the
project, I have spoken to officers as to the requirement for an urgent placing
of the Contract for the Enabling Works in context of the project. In context of
those conversations, I do not understand the reason for the urgency.
Unfortunately, the Decision gives an impression of pre-emptive action. It will
commit the Council to expenditure which may be wasted. It is at least possible
to anticipate that, if delays in the development under the 1 Morland Gardens
Application were to arise as a result of one of the factors referred to above,
alternative proposals may result.
8.There is no compelling urgency to place the Enabling Works Contract
before the above matters are resolved. By contrast, unless the Decision is
called in, the Contract will be placed, and the Council will have irrevocably
incurred an expenditure of £1.2m, which may be wasted – hence the reason for
this carefully considered action.
When a decision is called-in the councillors signing the call-in are
required to put forward an alternative proposal. This is their statement.
The
decision should be deferred until:
1.It
is certain that the proposals for 1 Morland Gardens comprised in the 1 Morland
Gardens Application have received all necessary consents, including GLA consent;
and
2.The
legislatively required minimum of three bat emergence/re-entry surveys between
May and September in one year have been undertaken, consequent assessments
undertaken, the results considered and appropriate response actioned; and
3.The
potential requirement of bat surveys for the Stonebridge Annexe considered and
(if necessary) dealt with as above.
Scrutiny
Committee will agree to one of the following outcomes:
1. The
Committee does not wish to refer the matter back to the decision maker or to
Council, at which point the decision is deemed to be confirmed and takes effect
immediately following the meeting; or
2. The
Committee decides to ask the Strategic Director – Regeneration &
Environment to reconsider their decision, in light of any observations of the
Committee; or
3. Having
had regard to the advice of the Director of Legal and HR Services or Chief
Finance Officer, the Committee considers the decision is contrary to the
Council’s Budget or Policy Framework, at which point it refers the matter to the
next practicable meeting of the Council, subject to the provisions of Standing
Orders
The
investigation referred to in 6 above is that instigated by indefatigable Wembley
Matters contributor Philip Grant who has requested to speak to the Committee.
Liverpool Against the Electronic Arms Fair declared victory today after organisers of an international weapons show cancelled plans to use the city’s Exhibition Centre in November.
The Electronic Warfare Europe show, organised by Clarion Events on behalf of the Association of Old Crows, was due to be held at the Exhibition Centre from November 16-18. Organisers declared that the exhibition would now be moved to Seville, Spain in 2021.
Campaign founder, Green councillor Lawrence Brown, said:
‘We are delighted that these merchants of death have recognised that there is no welcome for them here in Liverpool.
‘In just a few short weeks we brought together peace groups, local councillors from across the political spectrum, faith groups and anti-war activists to demand that the council, which owns the Exhibition Centre and manages it through the ACC company, close the door on this event.
‘This cancellation is testament to the efforts of all the people who have signed our petition, sent emails to our MPs and councillors, and planned for online and public demonstrations in the coming weeks.’
Electronic Warfare Europe blamed the threat of a further British government Covid-19 lockdown on the decision to move the exhibition to Seville in Spain next year.
However, the announcement followed a public call from Right Reverend Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool who signed the cancellation petition and said:
‘In this time of pandemic the nations of the world should be helping one another, not shopping for clever new ways to kill and oppress people. I hope that Liverpool will say no to this Fair, and will say yes to life.’
Campaign chair Martin Dobson pointed out that the cancellation was made after plans were announced for a national Day of Online Action this Saturday and mounting pressure on Mayor Joe Anderson, who sits on the Exhibition Centre Board.
The Green Party had put down an emergency motion to be debated at the next Council meeting, Labour MPs had pressed the Mayor to cancel and Labour councillors were planning to force a debate at the Labour Group.
Mr Dobson added:
‘Whatever, the reason, we’re pleased this arms fair has been cancelled, but we will be contacting our friends and colleagues in Seville and offering to support any campaign they launch to close it down there.
‘This must also act as a wake-up call to the Mayor, Council and Exhibition Centre Board to develop an ethical booking policy to ensure such a damaging event is never allowed again.'
