In response to a question from Wembley Matters, reminding the council that early publicity on the joining up of North End Road stated it might be used for re-routed buses, particularly on event days, Brent Council have issued a statement and clarification over the 7.5tonne limit on the road:
The recent 7.5 t restriction on North End Road prohibits HGVs exceeding this weight from entering the zone except for loading or unloading or visiting a place of business. There is also a general 17 tonne weight limit over the culvert.
We are liaising with Transport for London on improving bus services in the area and a potential future route along North End Road. The 7.5 t restriction applies to goods vehicles, it would not apply to buses operating a future service.
A 'People's Walk for the Planet' will pass through Brent and Harrow on Monday September 6th. Details are still being finalised but it appears places for long-distance walkers with accommodation are full. However day-walkers are welcome and the distance of 9.7 miles will take you through some of our green spaces including the Welsh Harp and Fryent Country Park.
The organisers say:
XR Faith Bridge is an interfaith
alliance across a broad spectrum from established religions to those who are
spiritual but not religious.
We are united by our faith; a
faith that we can advocate and influence and be the change that we want for our
world. We choose to walk to COP26 as a practice of that faith, an act of
connection with the earth on which we walk and the people with whom we walk and
the communities through which we pass; and we make our way in kinship with the
peoples and creatures of the earth who are suffering and displaced by climate
and ecological breakdown. We do so peacefully and lawfully, ready to engage and
learn, because we care and we have hope.
Following today’s stark warning by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Global Witness is calling for world leaders and big corporations to wake up to the undeniable immediacy of climate crisis and act now to avoid further irreparable damage.
In a landmark report, the most significant climate warning since 2018, the IPCC say global heating will hit 1.5°C by 2040 – but that it is still possible to prevent warming going beyond that critical level if “immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions” in emissions start now.
To address this crisis, Global Witness is joining others across the growing climate movement to call for:
The immediate phase out of all fossil fuels around the world. We don’t have time to waste switching from one fossil fuel to another, from coal to gas, or hoping for new technologies to clean up this dirty industry. The science is clear that fossil fuel extraction and use has to fall fast and start falling now.
An end to the financial pipeline fuelling deforestation around the world.
Legislation to hold big companies liable for the environmental and human rights impacts of their value chains.
A zero-tolerance approach to violence against land and environmental defenders – those who stand up for their land and our planet. We cannot solve the climate crisis whilst riding roughshod the rights of frontline communities – we need to prioritise their interests and voices, not those of big polluters.
Amy Richards, Director of Communications at Global Witness said:
While the UK government is telling the public how to rinse dishes, the experts are telling us loud and clear: the climate crisis is here, it’s now, and we are running out of time to prevent unthinkable catastrophe.
This report will send shockwaves around the world, but it must do more than just shock. It must be the catalyst to finally see the radical climate action that is needed to avoid disaster. Politicians needn’t look far to see the reality of climate change – from floods in Germany, deadly wildfires in Turkey, or the waning of the Gulf Stream, the climate crisis is here now. And without immediate and real action these events will be just a taster of what is to come.
We have less time than we thought, but there is still time to limit the damage and prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis. This report confirms we absolutely cannot afford to waste another minute tinkering around the edges, blaming individuals for systemic failures, and trumpeting false solutions. We have no time to waste.
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.
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.
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 wroteLINKabout 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 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 23rdAugust. 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.
