“Being Green” – a new Brent video, with a message for its Council.

The River Brent below the Welsh Harp dam (an image from “Being Green”)

 

 

Guest post by Philip Grant 

Brent Museum and Archives is currently running a project called “Being Brent”. One of the products of this is a new video film which has just been issued, called “Being Green”.

 

 

 

 

The video features various community groups, and green spaces such as Fryent Country Park, Gladstone Park and the Welsh Harp reservoir, and people whose efforts there help to benefit the wider community, as well as the benefits of our green spaces to the wellbeing of Brent’s residents. This struck a chord with me, and I have sent the following email to all of Brent’s councillors, with a “link” to the video:-

Dear Brent Councillors,

 

I am writing to commend to you a short video film produced for Brent Museum and Archives. “Being Green” is part of Being Brent, a community project which aims to improve the wellbeing of local residents by connecting them to the borough’s rich heritage. 

 

I hope you will enjoy the video (just over 8 minutes long), which you can view here, and that you will share the “link” with residents in your Wards, so that they can enjoy it too: https://t.co/WxYSKbJ12N?amp=1

 

Brent’s green spaces are so important for the wellbeing of our borough’s residents. That is why the Council (you and your elected colleagues) have adopted planning policies whose purpose is to protect them. 

 

This is the promise in Core Policy CP18, which the Council adopted in 2010:

 

‘Protection and Enhancement of Open Space, Sports and Biodiversity

 

Open space (including waterways) of local value will be protected from inappropriate development and will be preserved for the benefit, enjoyment, health and well-being of Brent's residents, visitors and wildlife. Support will be given to the enhancement and management of open space for recreational, sporting and amenity use and the improvement of both open space and the built environment for biodiversity and nature conservation.’

 

The Development Management Policies which you adopted in November 2016 reinforced this, saying:

 

‘The provision of open space is important for sustainable communities, contributing to health and well-being.

 

Core Strategy policy CP18 protects all open space from inappropriate development. It also seeks improved provision in areas of deficiency and where additional pressure will be placed on open space.’

 

You may wish to reflect on why it is that Brent Council, in developing some of its own projects in recent years, has chosen to ignore this key planning promise.

 

These are just three examples of proposals (inappropriate developments that there is still time to change, if you have the will to do so) which would deprive Brent’s residents of “protected” green space which is important for their health and wellbeing:

·      

 The community garden in front of 1 Morland Gardens, due to be built over as part of the Brent Start redevelopment;

 

·      Areas of Brent River Park, which the proposals for the St Raphael’s Estate propose to build on;

 

·      The open space and mature trees which would be destroyed and built over, if the Council’s plans for Kilburn Square go ahead.

 

Enjoy the video about Brent’s green spaces, and the benefits to the health and wellbeing of our community that they provide. 

 

But please also think again about the Council’s own plans to destroy some of those green spaces, in breach of its own planning policies. 

 

Thank you. Best wishes,

 

Philip Grant.

Add some colour to a miserable day! African-Caribbean Market at Monks Park 1-8pm today & tomorrow

 

Locals succeed in social media rapid action to save threatened oak tree

 

 

 

 

There was rapid support when a Dollis Hill resident appealed on the community website Next Door for help after he spotted hard hatted tree surgeons seemingly about to fell some mature trees, including an oak, in a private garden bordering a public space.

 Advice poured in on Facebook and The View from Dollis Hill Facebook group and Brent's Tree Protection Officer was contacted. A temporary Tree Protection Order had been put in place by the end of the day.

Ronan, the resident who raised the alarm and someone who clearly values the borough's trees takes up the story:

Brent's Tree Protection Officer was receptive to examining one particular mature oak tree and determined its value worthy of protection.It is viewable from multiple properties and the street, forming a dense cover between houses and providing a wonderful habitat for wildlife.

There are so few mature oaks outside of parks and each one is a significant loss to our ecological community. Having seen too often such trees get the chop, I was aware time was limited. Fortunately Brent's Tree Protection Officer was able to act quickly enough. It's reassuring to see the support on Nextdoor.co.uk and local facebook groups, it seems clear that there would be vocal opposition to plans to harm the trees in this area. It's worth noting, requesting a TPO can be done by anybody in any borough. www.ltoa.org.uk has the details for each London borough and we should all make some effort to identify significant trees on public and private land. They are our community and voiceless and  require us to speak up when they are at risk.

 Now the community will turn to the task of making sure the TPO is made permanent.

In South Kilburn we're used to Council neglect

 

 

Guest post by Pete Firmin

 

Living in an area which Brent Council and HS2 have decided to turn into a building site for decades, we are used to the concerns of residents being ignored, to the point where hardly anyone can be bothered to complain about building work taking place outside "permitted" hours, contractors vehicles being parked on the pavement for hours and parking spaces suddenly being taken over by portakabins, because nothing ever happens.

The latest show of how little Brent Council cares is shown by its attitude to flood damage. I previously wrote LINK about the difficulty of getting advice from Brent Council when flooding was happening. Water came back out of the drains with such force that it forced bricks out of the roadway. When Brent Council eventually looked at it late that evening they decided to do nothing. However, the next day they did send a Wates team to work on the area. They laid some of the bricks back, put some cement and sand over them and put plastic barriers around the affected areas. 

 

 

Problem? No-one has been back since. Over 3 weeks have passed, the barriers have fallen, the sand has been spread around, but no further work has been done. The piles of bricks in these photos are bricks which still need to be replaced in the roadway.

Councillors have been alerted, Brent Council has been chased, nothing. But then its only South Kilburn.

Pete Firmin, chair, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury TRA

Brent Council responds to concerns over pedestrian safety at new North End Road,/Bridge Road junction in Wembley Park

Brent Council has responded to concerns that I expressed on behalf of residents over pedestrain safety at the new North End Road/Bridge Road junction opposite Wembley Park tube station.

I wrote:

There has been quite a lot of concern expressed on social media about the safety of the new junction at North End Road/Bridge Road and particularly the problems facing wheelchair users and parents with large buggies when crossing.  The tactile paving on the Olympic Way side is blocked and the several gaps between the blocks cause pedestrians to move in several directions and children sometimes separate from their parents. There are no lights or other controls. It is particularly difficult for those who are partially sighted or blind.

Could you clarify, so that I can pass the message on, whether the council or TfL will be adding any lights etc to the crossing/junction and whether the blocks are temporary or a permanent hostile vehicle prevention measure.

I attach a link to a video taken today (July 29th) around 3pm - not a busy time.

 

This is the Council's response received yesterday:

Thank you for your email and video link relating to safety concerns that have been raised about the new junction, particularly with access for wheelchair users and parents or carers with pushchairs and buggies.

 

The concrete barriers are temporary security measures and they will be replaced by bollards. Unfortunately, there was a delay in delivery from our supplier, but I am pleased to inform you that work has now been programmed for 23^rd August. In the meantime, our contractor has moved the Give Way sign post from between the concrete barriers so that it no longer impedes pedestrian access.

 

As this is a new junction, we will of course be monitoring its performance and will consider whether any further improvements are necessary.

 

We are currently liaising with Transport for London on signalising the junction in the future, this will improve amenities for pedestrians.

 I have not yet had a reply from Brent Highways or TfL on whether buses will be able to use North End Road on event days as planned. It has a weight limit of 7.5tonnes.

 

Black Women's Lives Matter - Mina Smallman speaks out at Fryent vigil

 

 

Mina Smallman, mother of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman,  herself a former priest and teacher, spoke truth to power as an activist at yesterday's vigil atop Barn Hill in Wembley. The vigil was organised by Reclaim These Streets.

In a section of her speech she castigated the media for their lack of coverage of the murders at the beginning and went on to say how the interviews she gave subsequently were reduced to a minute or two or just a paragraph.

In the light of this I have published a video of her full speech above. The sound quality is not good as I was at the back of the 600 strong crowd but please perservere - it is an electrifying speech.

 

Barry Gardiner MP (who led the crowd in the singing of Amazing Grace), Cllr Shafique Choudhary; Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan,  David Lammy MP and Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council. Dawn Butler MP made a heartfelt speech. Other councillors were in the crowd.

Much of the focus was on  future generations - a child in the audience clutches an electronic candle

Following the controversial tactics at Clapham, a vigil also organised by Reclaim These Streets, police tactics were low key and officers told me they had been instructed to keep well away from the crowd. They mainly assisted people in getting safely out of the park after the event.

Vigil for Bibaa Henry & Nicole Smallman Tuesday 7pm-8pm Fryent Country Park

 

 

 

From #RECLAIM THESE STREETS

On August 3rd, please join us in remembering the lives of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman surrounded by the people they loved, and to light a candle for all the women threatened on our streets and lost to male violence. 

 

Just over a year ago, these two sisters were taken away from their loved ones - but as their mother Mina Smallman says, they should not simply be remembered as victims. While nothing can bring them back, we hope their lives can make a change in the way women are viewed, and black women in particular.

 

On what would have been Nicole's 29th birthday, we will gather at Barn Hill Pond, Fryent Country Park at 7pm to hold a moment's silence at 7.30. 

 

For those of you unable to travel to Fryent Park, we would love to help you organise your own vigil or you can join us in spirit by lighting a candle on your doorstep.

 

 

The successful Brent Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) bids

 

The Keslake Pocket Park at project stage (final details may differ)

The Cabinet approved the largest bids (over £100,000) for the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy  at its last meeting and rubber-stamped the smaller grants.

The largest grants were:

· £194,988 for Jason Roberts Foundation - Connect Brent Project: to undertake much needed upgrading works at The Pavilion, the community centre where the charity is based. The project will make the centre an all-weather facility that can be used by residents and community groups all year-round, by erecting a steel canopy over the multi-games area and 5-a-side pitch.

· £100,000 for Brent Music Service in partnership with local Harlesden schools and community groups – Brent Music Service Harlesden Music Centre Project: Providing local, easily accessible venues to address the barriers preventing CYP participation in out-of-school music activity. Weekly centres will be available for children in Harlesden schools and will become progressively more visible in the community as the project progresses.

· £124,700 for Queen's Park Area Residents' Association (QPARA) in partnership with Brent Council – Keslake Pocket Park Improvements Project: (illustrated above) The project will remodel Keslake Pocket Park to make it safer and design out anti-social behaviour, crime, loitering and littering by providing a layout and street components that create a well-lit, safe, and open space. There will be increased visibility both into and across the space and the new design will provide a pleasing visual amenity, as well as a small square area for the local community.

· £100,000 for Alperton residents in partnership with Brent Council - Creating an Open Space for the Whole Community Project: The proposal by the residents is to enhance the quality of Alperton Sports  Ground and address concerns raised by residents around the lack of outdoor and play facilities, anti-social behaviour, security and safety concerns as a result of development.

 

The smaller grants. totalling £1,046,754, can be found at paragraph 8.3 (Table 7)  of the Cabinet report (click bottom right corner for full page).