ALERT: Submissions to Wembley Park Station/Brook Avenue Planning Inquiry have to be in by Thursday July 8th - Read Philip Grant's submission

 

Submissions to the Planning Inquiry on the Wembley Park Station/Brook Avenue have a deadline of Thursday July 8th.

The referral to the Planning Inspectorate was made by Robert Jenrick MP, the Communites Secretary, after concern that the Planning Committee's approval decision was unsound as it was alleged to be in breach of Brent Council's own policies. LINK

Local historian Philip Grant has made a detailed submission that you can find below. Click bottom right for a full page view.

The closing date for comments, ahead of the Public Inquiry, is Thursday 8 July. Anyone who wishes to, but has not yet done so, can submit their comments to: leanne.palmer@planninginspectorate.gov.uk , quoting the reference: APP/T5150/ V/21/3275339. 

This may affect YOU! Far-reaching Neasden development plan consultations start tomorrow

 I am very familiar with residents saying they haven't heard about development plans and consultations in Brent - sometimes only realising something is afoot when building starts. This consultation has had some extra publicity due to the data breach caused when emails were sent in open format, so that everyone's email address could be seen by all recipients. LINK

Often afterwards the Council will give a long list of people written to, web announcements and consultation events. Those I have been to often attract fewer people than the number of developer/council and public relations staff attending.

This plans covers a wide area including industrial sites around Neasden Lane, the side of the railway and eventually the College of North West London site on Dudden Hill Lane. 'Neasden Stations' is a bit of a misnomer as it covers such a big area. It could take a decade to complete.

The Council says the the Draft Neasden Stations Growth Area Masterplan:

 '...Aims to provide at least 2000 new homes and employment and support infrastructure to bring the physical and social-economic regeneration of the area.'

 

THE MASTER PLAN

DESIGN OPTIONS VIABILITY REPORT 

LINK TO ON-LINE CONSULTATION
 

Brent stands up for the NHS on its 73rd birthday

 

 The first event organised by Brent Keep Our NHS Public saw a cross party and non-party group, along with Brent Trades Council,  demonstrate outside the Willesden Centre for Health and Care today.

The event coincided with the 73rd anniversary of the NHS and centred on defending it from privatisation, including the US takeover of some Brent GP surgeries and the potential selling of patient data, and support for the NHS15 campaign for a 15% rise for health workers who have lost 20% of their pay in real terms over the last 10 years.

 

Apart from fairness to the staff the pay rise is also necessary for the effective running of the NHS , with 100,000 vacancies and 36% of nurses thinking of leaving already impacting on the quality of care.  A significant increase such as 15% would help maintain staff numbers and improve recruitment, leading to a reduction in waiting times for patients and better care all round.

Our NHS as a 'public good' is being undermined in a variety of ways but immediate action on pay would make a considerable difference in  the short and longer term.

Clapping is not enough.

Vaccination sessions in Brent and Camden for over 18s today - Central Mosque, Willesden Green & Sidings Community Centre, Kilburn

 

Brent Right to Food campaign launch on Saturday July 10th - Brent Beyond Food Banks: Strategies for Food Justice in NW London

The UK is witnessing a crisis of food poverty born out of the political choices and systemic failings created over the past four decades. In Brent alone, a third of households live below the poverty line, leading to a lack of access to fresh, healthy, affordable and culturally-appropriate food. Local activists are calling on Council Leader Muhammed Butt to declare Brent a Right to Food Borough, inspired by a national campaign by the MP for Liverpool and West Derby Ian Byrne. We want to work with community kitchens and gardens, mutual aid groups, trade unions, and anyone else interested in fixing our broken food system.  

Join us to discuss the best ways of organising for food justice in our Borough at the launch of the Brent Right to Food campaign on  Saturday 10 July 2021, 12:00-14:00 by registering here.  

 

Brent Beyond Food Banks: Strategies for Food Justice in NW London  

with:

 

         Dee Woods, co-founder Granville Community Kitchen  

         Fahim Dahya, logistics and facilities manager, Sufra NW London  

Ian Hodson, National President, Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union  

 

Outdoors in the Garden, The Granville. 140 Carlton Vale, London NW6 5HE (nearest public transport Kilburn Park and Queen’s Park; buses 6 and 316 to Neville Close stop).  

Another data breach by Brent Council - this time Kilburn Square consultation

According to Life in Kilburn Brent Council has again breached data regulations by open copying residents' email addresses into an email about the Kilburn Square development consultation. This means that each recipient has access to all the private emails.

To make matters worse the send claimed in response to a complaint that it was impossible to send zoom details via blind copy (bcc) which zoom users know is not the case.

Life in Kilburn told Wembley Matters:

There were 21 residents on one invite but same issue on the invites to 2 similar meetings on different dates. It has also probably been happening to all previous residents invites to Zoom meetings for all infill developments, where the "consultation" is managed by this individual.

 This is the second case in just a few weeks and appears to be the same department.

 June 19th 2021:

Nearly 40 years on the Brent battle for the NHS continues as new campaign set up - join the protest tomorrow

 

Nearly 40 years on  from the above, the battle for our NHS continues.  Last night was the inaugral meeting of Brent Keep Our NHS Public part of a national campaign against privatisation of the Health Service. Last night, as in 1982, it was supported by some Brent councillors (I am not sure if there is official backing from Brent Council itself).

Cllr Neil Nerva, Lead member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure,  introducing the Trades Council sponsored meeting said that on the doorstep there was currently more concern about  access to NHS services than privatisation, but went on to list the various threats from privatisation. Cllr Janice Long said that not only was it important that this was a cross party campaign but that it should reach a much broader audience.  She said it was important to keep the message simple and was doubtful about the effectiveness of Patient Participation Groups, but GP Jonathan Flaxman urged people to get involved with them to overcome the powerlessness of patients. Cllr Ihtesham Afzal urged more street protests: There is one tomorrow:

 

 Other councillors who attended were Cllrs Thakker, McLennan, Dar, Kabir and Hylton along with Trades Council members and other activists.

If you would like to join the campaign email:  brentkonp@yahoo.com

 A website will be set up soon.

Residents accuse Brent of 'playing games' over Kilburn Square infill project and launch petition for smaller plan

 

From Keith Anderson, Chair, Kilburn Village Residents Association

Brent is playing games with both local neighbours and estate residents over the huge “Infill” project for extra housing on Kilburn Square

·       After superficial “consultation” on the Estate for months, Zoom meetings with local community groups were due in early May…

·       … then postponed for two months while the project team “reviewed the designs”

·       They led us to expect that a smaller Plan B, which they clearly now have in the drawer, would be what we discuss next week

·       But no, the meetings will be based on the original Plan A

·       Cynics are connecting this with the likely shortfall in the GLA money they can spend, and the net extra units that will be achieved there; I make no comment

·       But we have now launched a petition for a smaller project: http://chng.it/xwxLyYcDhP

·       Please sign and share!

 

And if any reader lives in Kilburn (Brent), Kilburn (Camden) or Queen’s Park Wards and would like to get involved, please email me at streetgroups@mistral.co.uk

 

This is the wording of the petition:

 

Brent wants to build an extra 180 council homes on the existing site in North London, including:
•          A second 17-storey TOWER, next to the highly polluted Kilburn High Road
•          A 5–7 storey Extra Care building
•          Three more new 5-storey blocks, removing mature trees, a playground, a football pitch and open green space
 
Including a new block just completed, this would be an increase of over 80% on the original estate population – on exactly the same footprint. 

This would mean real overcrowding, huge impact on the skyscape and light and privacy for both residents and neighbours, damage to our neighbourhood’s precious Green Lung, concerns about security, more on-street parking, pressure on local services, huge noise and disruption for the whole area during construction.

This simply does not make sense!

We have seen no supporting surveys or analyses, and it’s NOT in the Local Plan. Estate residents are being ‘consulted’ on details; but not on the scale of the scheme. They have worked hard to create a friendly, well-balanced and crime-free estate. A plan on this scale would completely transform its character and the sense of place built up over decades, and impact the local community as a whole.

We recognise Brent has an acute housing need, but this plan is much too big. The Council should revert to the smaller plan being studied last summer, while prioritising the improved housing units for current tenants.

Brent’s Director of Housing told a recent Scrutiny Committee meeting Brent ‘would not want to force homes on anyone’ – we ask that he honours these words.

So, we call upon Brent Council, and the Greater London Authority, to
1.     Reduce the size of the development to 70–75 units and protect the open space for the resident and local community, to meet GLA and Brent best design practice.
2.     Set the housing proposals within the wider context of the plans for upgrading the Kilburn High Road frontage.

 

 
 
Please join us and sign our petition! HERE

 

To find out more, visit https://save-our-square.org or email us at savekilburnsquare@gmail.com to join the campaign. See also: https://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/kilburn-residents-against-over-development-7979330