Conservative petitioners lose Barnhill By-Election court case and will have to pay £68,000 costs

 

The result declared on January 24th 2020

The Conservative candidates in the Barnhill by-election case today lost their case against Carolyn Downs, Brent Council Returning Officer in a Queens Bench hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The recount ordered as a result of the petition by losing candidates Stefan Voloseniuc and Kanta Mistry revealed only a handful of votes difference in the by-election declaration which had given the Labour candidates Gaynor Lloyd and Mansoor Akram victory. The Conservative allegation that a 100 vote bundle had been placed in the wrong bundle was therefore unfounded.

The Court also found that Carolyn Downs' refusal of a recount in the early hours of January 24th 2020 had been reasonable and vindicated by the Court recount. Mr Justice Holgate said that the petitioners had not only requested a recount but their intention was clearly to unseat the Labour candidates. 

Mr Justice Holgate said that after the Court recount (the result of which had not been publicised) the petitioners had taken no action for 4 months which had caused Downs to seek a special case.

The by-election had been declared correctly and this was not now in dispute between the parties concerned.

On the matter of the missing seal on a bag of votes, Brent Council had been open about the matter and informed the parties immediately and the explanation that the cause was the poor quality of the seals at the time accepted.

The petitioners were ordered to pay costs of £30,000 to Carolyn Downs as Returning Officer  and a total of £38,000 legals costs to Cllr Lloyd and Cllr Akram.

When there was some delay and prevarication over the costs negotiations Mr Justice Holgate said that this should have been decided between parties before the hearing. The difference between the parties was small and a detailed assessment would add disproportionately to the costs. Clearly irritated, he said that this was a very, very. very small issue and urged those involved to get it into perspective - he had a very large planning case to decide.

Ironically, Stefan Voloseniuc had been a member of the Labour Party in Barnhill ward shortly before he switched parties to the Conservatives. Maybe not a good move.

A Crown Court judge has ordered a landlord to pay back a record £739,264 in illicit earnings made from overcrowded properties in Willesden

 Press release from Brent Council

A Crown court judge has ordered a landlord to pay back £739,263.58 in illicit earnings made from overcrowded properties in Willesden. It is believed to be the largest such order for a planning breach made anywhere in the country so far this year.

The enormous order was made against Mohammed Mehdi Ali of High Road Willesden, following a prosecution brought by Brent council's legal team.

HHJ Wood, sitting at Harrow Crown Court, made the order against Mr Ali on Friday 12 February. He was told by the court that he would face a prison term of 5 years and 9 months if he did not pay the order in full within three months.

Mr Ali was found guilty of failing to comply with planning enforcement notices in April 2018 at Willesden Magistrates Court, after investigations by Brent's planning enforcement team.  The case was then referred to Harrow Crown Court for confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Brent was represented in the crown court by Edmund Robb of Prospect Law.

Detailed investigations carried out by Brent's financial investigators and Brent's planning enforcement officers revealed the extent of the number of illegal dwellings created and the illicit earnings made by illegally renting out the properties, which were owned by Mr Ali and his father. The properties were used as houses in multiple occupation and as undersized flats.

Mr Ali was also ordered to pay Brent council £30,000.00 to cover its legal costs in the long-running case.

Cllr Shama Tatler, Lead Member for Regeneration, Property & Planning, said:

This is another huge win for Brent. The council will take robust action to prevent the creation of poor quality housing. This penalty sends a clear message that rogue landlords will not be allowed to get away with ignoring planning laws. The accommodation provided was some of the worst residential accommodation that officers have ever come across. Brent will not tolerate this type of behaviour, landlords providing such horrible conditions. Brent residents deserve better.

Sentencing for the enforcement notice breaches is adjourned until 1 March 2021.

 

Brent councillor allowances frozen as Tories propose axing 2 Cabinet posts

The basic Brent councillor allowance and special allowances will not be increased this year in line with the pay freeze in the public sector.

Meanwhile the Conservatives in their Alternative Budget have suggested a new allowance range and the deletion of two Cabinet positions. LINK 

 Conservative proposals. Note the SRAs (Special Responsibility Allowances)  are in addition to the Basic Allowance.

Basic Allowance (all Members): £10,000.00

Leader SRA: £30,000.00

Deputy Leader SRA: £20,000

Cabinet Member SRA :£20,000 and delete x 2 cabinet posts

Opposition Leader SRA: £8,000

All other SRAS to remain at current level.

 

The 3 person Conservative Group also make the following proposal which includes a smaller Council Tax rise than Labour's 4.99%:

 

Grants available to Brent communities & organisations wanting to tackle health inequalities

 From Brent Council

Grants from £1,000 to £25,000 are being made available to individuals and organisations with innovative ideas and solutions to tackle the impact of COVID-19 and health inequalities.

The Brent Health Matters Programme – a joined up approach from Brent Council, NHS partners and the community to tackle health inequalities has launched its Community Grants Scheme this week.

Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair and systematic differences in health between different people. The pandemic has not only exposed long-standing health inequalities, but in many cases made them worse.

Cllr Neil Nerva, Brent’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure, said:

The fund is now open to submissions from individuals and organisations that have ideas and solutions to reduce the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 in the short term, and more broadly tackle health inequality issues in the longer term.

An individual can bid for up to £1,000, with a higher threshold of £2,000, whereas an organisation can look to secure up to £15,000 in funding, with a higher threshold of £25,000. The higher threshold would require the bidder to demonstrate how they will deliver significant impact in a single ward or impact across multiple wards.

The launch of the grants will complement other elements of the Brent Health Matters programme that have already led to some real examples of acting on feedback from the community. This includes the launch of a health and wellbeing telephone advice line that has been launched as a pilot for the whole of the borough through to April, with the potential for it to be extended.

Cllr Nerva added: 

Any Brent resident can now speak to locally based NHS staff to ask any non-clinical questions about health and social care. They will be helped with signposting to relevant support and assisted to access the right services. Residents can also receive advice on how to better manage their health conditions.

The Advice Line is available on 020 3114 7185, 10am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.

To find out more, including how to apply for a Community Grant, go to www.brent.gov.uk/brenthealthmatters

Have a look at the development proposals for the O2 Centre & car park, Finchley Road and try and spot 2,000 homes

The O2 Shopping Centre close to  Finchely Road station is outside of Brent but easily accessible on the east side of the borough from the Jubilee and Metropolitan Lines and a shopping venue for many with its large bookshop and Sainsbury's as well as a cinema. The main development would take place on the car park which runs up to Homebase.

The far-reaching proposals may be of interest to locals. (Click bottom right for full screen).

Two years ago the developers envisaged 1,000 homes on the site but this has been double to 2,000 in latest proposals. You would be forgiven if you thought from the slides that there are none proposed at all. Commentators fear that this number could only be realised through the building of tower blocks.

Quadrant Court under the hammer - intrusive survey works to commence next week

First Port have advised residentsof Quadrant Court in Wembley Park that 'intrusive investigations' will start next week on the external facade of the block. The works have an estimated completion date of March 12th and will be carried out by SISK.

The survey follows the failure of the block to achieve an EWS1 form when examined by fire engineers which means that residents are unable to satsify potential lenders of the safety of the block.  The block was only rated B2 and First Port hope to achieve B1 as a result of the survey.

Residents are warned that surveyors will need to access the external facade cladding at various levels that will mean the erection of scaffolding towers or extentable platforms. There will be noise from drilling and hammering at various stages between 8am and 6pm.

Some access to particular apartments will be required to get to the balcony and adjacent facade.

First Port will be working with Quintain as well as SISK.

Butt to hold Affinity Water to account over High Road disruption

Following the disruption  at Wembley High Road and Park Lane, Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt has issued the following statement:

Following more disruption on Wembley High Road and Park Lane, I am setting up an urgent meeting with Affinity Water to understand what they will be doing to fix these problems once and for all.

Since 2019, Affinity has applied for 17 emergency permits to fix leaks on those two roads alone. These latest repairs are stopping deliveries to essential businesses and making it more difficult for residents trying to get to vaccination appointments, COVID tests and keyworker jobs. 

We’ve been here many times before, so we now need Affinity to get to the bottom of the issues with the water mains for residents and businesses along that stretch. At that meeting, I will be asking them to explain their plans and holding them to account.

I wonder if the problems have anything to do with the 'Twin Towers' high rise blocks at the junction of the High Road and Park Lane as well as Brent House on the High Road itself. Brent House was the site of major problems when concrete blocked the sewer. LINK

Brent Council approves latest phase of Northfields-Grand Union Development

Brent Planning Committee has unanimously agreed the following planning application for the former mainly brownfield industrial site between the North Circular Road, Grand Union Canal and Beresford Avenue. Phase 1 and 2 of the development are already underway.

It includes the detail plans for blocks G,H and J above. Phase 3 of the development consists of 439 units with 98 at London Affordable Rent and 39 shared ownership. Plans for a Health Centre are carried over from previous apploications and public space has been increased by 15%. This phase will yield £14m Community Infrastructure and the whole Masterplan Area £73m. Buildings have been revised with an increase in height but slimmer design with the tallest 27 storeys allowing 'a glimpse of sky.'

Hybrid planning application comprising:- 

Outline planning permission for the demolition of existing buildings and structures on the site, all site preparation works and redevelopment to provide new buildings to accommodate new homes (Use Class C3), flexible commercial uses, new basement level, associated cycle and vehicle parking, new vehicular accesses, associated highway works to Beresford Avenue, landscaping and creation of new public and private open space, ancillary facilitating works, various temporary meanwhile uses, interim works and infrastructure with all matters reserved - appearance, access, landscaping, layout and scale.

Detailed planning permission for Phase 3 (Buildings G, H and J) for the demolition of existing buildings and structures, all site preparation and infrastructure works and the development of new homes (Use Class C3) and flexible commercial floorspace; together with new basement level, associated storage, cycle and vehicle parking, new vehicular accesses, associated highway works to Beresford Avenue, landscaping and creation of new public and private open space, ancillary facilitating works.

I have included below the recording of the Planning Committee discussion  and decision making on the application. Click on bottom right square for a full screen view.

(Note for those following the Prospect House story, that building is situated close to the development site, next to the North Circular Road and along from 'The Generator' unit referred to in the discussion. It is bottom right on the top image between the North Circular and the River Brent)