Olympic Way tile murals will soon be on permanent public display!

 Guest post by Philip Grant. (Congratulations to Philip on this achievement as a result of his amazing persistence)

When I wrote last weekend about the heritage tile murals at Olympic Way being on display from 1^st to 21^st March, I mentioned that I was still waiting to receive a reply from Quintain to the New Year’s Day message I’d sent to their Chief Executive Officer.

 

Olympic Way murals on display in February 2020. (Photo by Mark Price, Brent Council)

 

I’m pleased to say that I have now received a letter from James Saunders at Quintain, and this is the good news:

 

‘Thank you for your letter dated 1^st January 2022. We have given your request careful consideration.

 

We share your commitment to celebrating the heritage of the murals and can confirm that when the current advertisement consent for the Spiritflex Vinyl coverings to the abutment walls outside of Bobby Moore Bridge to the South East (SE) and South West (SW) expires on 25^th August 2022 we will not seek to renew that consent.’

 

This means that these mural scenes, on the walls outside of the Bobby Moore Bridge subway at Wembley Park WILL be back on permanent public display by the end of August this year, after being covered with Quintain’s advertising, apart from short “reveals” since the autumn of 2013. 

 

Tile mural scenes on the east wall of the subway. (Composite by Amanda Rose, courtesy of Quintain)

 

I believe that this is an important step towards getting ALL of the murals, celebrating Wembley’s sports and entertainment history, back on permanent public display. But the battle for the murals on the walls of the subway itself (other than the “footballers” mural, which was put on display again in 2019, as a result of efforts by Wembley History Society) will be for another year.

 

The current “reveal” includes the remnant of the original Pop Music / “Live Aid” mural scene, on the west wall of Olympic Way, seen here in an old photograph:

 

The tile mural celebrating “Live Aid” as it originally looked.

 

Around 2006, TfL constructed a stairway down from the bus stop on the bridge to Olympic Way. In the process they removed much of this mural scene, apart from the drummer, and did a “patch up” with a different type of ceramic tile:

 

The “patched up” mural scene in 2012. (Google Street View image, courtesy of Quintain)

 

In his letter to me of 2 March, James Saunders wrote:

 

‘The newer (square format) tiling to the SW abutment staircase that was installed by TFL in 2006 was removed in c.2016 as the tiles were falling off the rendered wall. We would like to engage with you and the Wembley History Society to find the best solution for that area of the walls. The staircase would prevent a full recreation of the original section of the mural showing Mark Knopfler, Tina Turner and Freddy Mercury, but we are keen to reflect aspects of the original design, where possible.’

 

I’m sure that there are plenty of local people with more artistic and design skill than me! Before I take up Quintain’s offer to engage with them over possible design ideas, I would like to throw the discussion open to YOU. 

 

You can see the awkward, tapering shape of the area available for a restored (or new?) mural scene commemorating “Live Aid” at Wembley. Its scale at the subway end would have to fit in with that of the murals in the subway, which immediately adjoin it. Would it be best to retain the drummer section as it is, and design out from that? Or would it be better to replace, the drummer section, in order to give a larger “canvas” for a mural design? 

 

Close up view of part of a mural scene, showing how the tile designs are made.

 

It should be remembered that the mural scenes are made up of different coloured ceramic tiles which are oblong in shape, fixed vertically. The close-up example above (showing the way tiles were used to portray Michael Jackson’s dancing feet, in a mural scene currently hidden behind light boxes in the subway) gives an idea of how the mural designs are made.

 

This is the sorry state of the remains of the “Live Aid” mural scene now:

 

The mural scene, as “revealed” on a wet day in March 2022. (Courtesy of Quintain)

 

Can you help to design a much better tribute to “Live Aid”, please, which will grace the walls of Olympic Way as part of the murals celebrating Wembley’s sports and entertainment heritage for decades to come? If so, please suggest your ideas as a comment below, or send them (with a possible design, if you have one) to Martin. Thank you.

Philip Grant.

 

 

But, Brent Council, who's the guy in yellow?

 

PHOTO: Local residents celebrating the launch of the new One Tree Hill community garden along with Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of the Council (far right), Cllr Neil Nerva, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure (in fluorescent green), Cllr Krupa Sheth Cabinet Member for Environment and Ward Member for Wembley Central (in red) and Chirag Gir, Chairman of Wembley Central and Alperton Residents’ Association (far left).

A press release from Brent Council dropped into my in-box a short while ago, neatly reinforcing the point I made about social media in the last post.

The caption supplied by the Brent Council Press Office names the Labour Cabinet members present but ignores the man in yellow - who just happens to be a local Alperton councillor who works hard for the community but is a Liberal Democrat.

The 'non-person' is Cllr Anton Georgiou and he commented to Wembley Matters:

It was good to be with local residents and members of Wembley Central and Alperton Residents’ Association (WCARA) who have worked so hard on this project. 

I’m proud to have supported residents over the past two years, particularly keen local gardeners, who want to encourage even more people to get involved in growing flowers and vegetables in the area. 

We all know how important it is for mental health and well-being to be outdoors, enjoying nature and I’m hopeful Brent Council will commit to installing more planters as a way of encouraging even wider participation. This is particularly needed given the number of people in Alperton and Wembley who do not have access to their own gardens. 

I’m not surprised that the Leader of the Council and two Lead Members were free to attend the photo op yesterday morning. They love the camera. It is however, slightly concerning that my presence was ignored in the official Brent Council press release. With local elections around the corner, I’ve expressed disappointment at what seems to be repeat favouritism by the Council of a certain group of Councillors. This needs to stop.”

Is Brent Council promoting candidates ahead of the local elections?

As predicted Labour candidates are promoting themselves on social media ahead of the May 5th Council Elections, nothing wrong with that although it can get rather boring - 0ne repaired pot hole too many!  I predicted lots of councillors  tweeting themselves standing next to the pre-election community skips  and this duly happened.

But it becomes more of a grey area when the official Brent Council Twitter account tags councillor's private Twitter accounts in their tweets:

 

Councillor Krupa Sheth (@kkrupas) who is transferring to Tokyngton ward to stand alongside Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, seems particularly favoured.

But this is not all.  Paul Lorber has called Brent Council's CEO, Carolyn Downs' attention to a leaflet being distributed in Sudbury where an unelected candidate is described as 'Your local representative':

Of course it is those skips again!

Lorber wrote: 

Just wondering what else Brent Council will be doing to assist the Labour Party re-election in Brent just 2 months before polling day? 

I see that they are promoting one of their as yet unelected individuals “as your local “Labour representative”. 

Is Brent Council bothering to send letters to residents directly or was the expectation that Labour candidates would be allowed to take advantage of this? Doing these kind of things just before an election is the oldest trick in the Labour book and I am amazed that Brent Council Officers fell for it and allowed it to happen.

Joint Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday to consider the Casey Review into disturbances at UEFA 2020 Final in Wembley

 

The Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee (Chair Cllr Ketan Sheth) and Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee (Chair Cllr Roxanne Mashari) will meet in the Conference Hall at Brent Civic Centre on Wednesday 9th March at 6pm to consider a shared item on the Casey Review. The latter Committee will move on to consider other items on their agenda.

The Casey Review investigated the issues around the disturbances at Wembley Stadium at the Euro 2020 Final and made a series of recommendations. 

Recommendations pertaining to street drinking and licensed premises were implemented last weekend for the Carabao Cup Final. LINK

After the event Brent Coucill hailed the action as a success:

The drink-free zone around Wembley Stadium created a friendly and enjoyable atmosphere for those attending the Carabao Cup Final on Sunday (Feb 27).

Working with the police and The FA, the council used its powers under the existing borough-wide Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to crack down on street drinking ahead of the final, between Liverpool and Chelsea, in a bid to limit anti-social behaviour.

3,000 bottles or cans of alcohol were confiscated from the small minority of rule breakers on Olympic Way and the surrounding streets.

Councillor Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said: “Yesterday we saw 90,000 football fans from across the country come to Wembley for the first full-capacity event held at the Stadium since the start of the pandemic.

“When we welcome fans, as we have done for decades, we feel like we’re welcoming them into our home so residents really want visitors to treat the local area with respect. It was wonderful to see the vast majority of fans do just that and I would like to thank everyone who followed the rules by not drinking on the street. Not only did this mean local pubs, bars, fan zones and restaurants were all buzzing with excitement, it also reduced the amount of litter on the streets and created a more enjoyable family-friendly experience all-around.

“I also want to thank the council’s enforcement officers, the police, Wembley Park and The FA. By working together and having a visible presence in the area, these keyworkers made a real difference in cracking down quickly on the small minority of fans who chose not to follow the rules.

“Finally, thanks also go to the local off licenses and retailers who stopped selling alcohol to fans before the game. This new approach will be rolled out for all future matches in Wembley as we look forward to welcoming more fans back to the historic Stadium over the coming months.”

The item on the Agenda states:

Baroness Casey review of events surrounding the UEFA Euro 2020 Final 'Euro Sunday' at Wembley

To discuss the Baroness Casey review of events surrounding the UEFA

Euro 2020 Final ‘Euro Sunday’ at Wembley, alongside the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee

There is no accompanying report tabled at present.

Brent stands with Ukraine - how you can help

 

From Brent Council

Brent stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and condemns Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of the independent nation of Ukraine, in violation of international law.

Read more about the statement, which was agreed unanimously at Full Council on 24 February. We have a long and proud history of supporting refugees in Brent and are ready to do so again.

As the most diverse borough in the UK we know that lots of our residents, including Ukrainian and Russian citizens, feel strongly about the situation and will want to help those affected by the invasion.

The council is not collecting donations directly, but we have compiled a list of organisations and appeals that residents might consider supporting.

• The Red Cross has set up the Ukraine Crisis Appeal, which is requesting donations to respond to humanitarian needs through food, water, first aid, medicines, warm clothes and shelter
• Unicef has set up a specific fund to protect children in Ukraine
• The UN refugee agency helps refugees fleeing situations of war and has a specific collection for Ukraine
• Care International is running an emergency appeal to provide emergency food and water
• The Ukrainian Embassy has set up a special fund to support Ukraine
• Choose Love are appealing for donations for supporting projects who are providing vital aid and services to those still in and fleeing the country, including: emergency medical care, food, shelter, clothes, legal support, support for the LGBTQIA+ community and mental health support.

Six week window opens for any applications for a Judicial Review of the adoption of Brent's Local Plan

 The recent Full Brent Council Meeting formally adopted the new Local Plan which provides a framework for developments in the borough until 2041. The Local Plan contains many elements that have have been controversial including the projected population increase and amount of housing, density of housing, tall building policy and so-called intensification corridors which allow new build on roads that currently are low rise.

Now that the Plan has been adopted  residents' groups will find it much harder to challenge specific developments at the Planning Committee stage and committee members will find their hands tied to a large extent.

The grounds for a Judicial Review are narrowly defined:

This extract from the Adopted Local Plan sums up some of the issues that concern residents.

This is the announcement on the Brent Council website. To assess the overall policies click on 'Adopted Local Plan (basic version):

The Brent Local Plan 2019-2041 was adopted by Full Council on 24 February 2022.  

This replaced the Brent Core Strategy 2010, Brent Site Allocations Plan 2011, Wembley Area Action Plan 2015 and Development Management Policies Plan 2016 which have been formally revoked.  

We will however retain these documents on the website until the 6-week period for applications for judicial review of the adoption decision has passed, or if such requests have been made, they are resolved.   

In advance of a final ‘glossy’ version of the plan being available, we have produced a basic version of the Local Plan incorporating all modifications.  This will be subject to further minor modifications. These will address things such as page numbering, the insertion of figures and infographics identified in the text similar to those in the submitted plan, as well as appropriate photographs.

• Adopted Local Plan (basic version)
• Local Plan Adoption Statement
• Local Plan Integrated Impact Assessment Adoption Report.

The interactive Local Plan Policies Map that accompanies the Local Plan 2019-2041 is not yet ready to view.  PDFs of the submitted Policies Map are available to view on the links below.

The policies map that accompanies the revoked Local Plan has been retained on the website as an aid in the meantime, as a number of the policy designation boundaries remain the same.

• Revoked Local Plan policies map
• Draft Local Plan policy map (all layers)
• Draft Local Plan policy map (development areas)
• Draft Local Plan policy map (environmental protection, heritage, employment, and article 4)
• Draft Local Plan policy map (open space, flood zones and shopping)
• Schedule of policies map modifications

If you need further help in identifying the policy designations related to a particular site, please contact us by emailing planningstrategy@brent.gov.uk setting out the address, or a redline map boundary of the site.

March 3rd - International Women's Day: SHE IS SUMMIT Valuing Girls and Women at Box Park Wembley

 

BOOK:

Part 1 Practitioners 10.00-15.30 

 Part 2 Young Women 15.30-18.00

 

She Is Summit is an opportunity to listen, better understand and seek solutions. Join us with Safer London, Brent Council, Streetgirl and Sancia Williams as we generate ideas to design multi-sectoral services to improve safety, protection and recovery, especially for those who already suffer multiple forms of discrimination.

Brent Council Webinar: Reduce, Recycle: Creating a Circular Economy 6pm tonight

 

From Brent Council

Think about when you are about to buy or consume something. A product or service perhaps. The different considerations that you are weighing up when asking yourself - do I purchase or do I not? Now think about whether protecting the environment or tackling climate change forms part of this thought process?

Why does it matter? Well, the ‘stuff’ we consume is contributing to the climate crisis by increasing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the world’s atmosphere. Whether this is from the energy used to create the product, the way it has been transported to you, and whether the materials it’s made with are recyclable.

The good news is however, that we have the power to make a difference. Consuming less, reducing waste and using items to their full life cycle is what the ‘Circular Economy’ is all about! This is the economic model of the future if we are tackle climate change, and will go a long way in creating a more sustainable environment.

Join us for a free webinar on Monday 28 February (6pm-7:30pm) Our expert speakers will guide you through this vitally important topic, providing key insights on what the circular economy is and practical tips for what you can do to help. We will be bringing together national, regional and local experts to discuss how we can start making changes, save money and lead a healthier lifestyle – and have a positive impact on the planet.

Our speakers include:

• Susan Evans, Senior Policy Adviser at Green Alliance

• Doug Simpson, Senior Advisor at ReLondon

• Oliver Peat, Education, Communications and Outreach Manager at Veolia

• Sophia Flucker, Director at Transition Kensal to Kilburn

Click here - Register Now