If you care about Wembley Central get along to this exhibition on Saturday and make your views known

 

Fairgate House today

 

 

The building that will replace it

 

EXHIBITION SATURDAY APRIL 9th 10AM-1PM

 

 4TH FLOOR, UJIMA HOUSE

388 HIGH ROAD, HA9 6AR

 

A handful of locals attended the first exhibition of the proposals for the redevelopment of Fairgate House and Pitman House in High Road, Wembley . In the unlikely surroundings of Stonebridge Boxing Club (punchbags may come in  handy) in Ujima House, a few easels displayed panels outlining the proposals that are still at an early stage.

 

There have been pre-application meetings between the developer Regal  and Brent planners but the PR agency insisted that there was still much to play for.

They encountered a sceptical audience who had seen their area transformed by concrete blocks with little benefit to long-term residents. Residents were particularly concerned that early promise of community facilities at the 'Twin Towers' on the Chesterfield House site, now marketed as 'Uncle' did not come to fruition and the Bowling Club pavilion in King Eddie's park is not available to the community. 'How can you build a community when there is nowhere for the community to meet?'

 

 

 

The agency said that this was a need that they could convery to Regal but there were doubts over the potential for shared student-community. The company that took managment of the building of the building may not be sympathetic even if the developer was. 

Roof terrace

 

Other developers' promises of accessible outdoor space had come to nothing with the spaces provided scrappy, litter strewn and inaccessible to the public.  Would the roof garden survive into the final stages of planning?

 

Clearly the current Fairgate House has little or no architectural merit but will it's replacement really make most of the opportunity offered by its demolition?

 

 Distribution of student accommodation

 

Residents also questioned the building's function as student accommodation asking what the area offered to students compared with the Quintain development in Wembley Park.  The agency was unable to provide evidence  there and then of the demand for such accommodation in Wembley Central but said that the developer must have done some research to establish the viability of the proposal.  There was scepticism over the ease of student travel into central London given the poor quality of service and frequency of the ageing Bakerloo line compared with the Jubilee.

 

The  context of the development is important as it is part of an 'intensification corridor 'and close to the the 'tall building zones' designated in Brent's new Local Plan. There is a continuous ribbon of new development starting at the massive Quintain, Wembley Park,  site reaching down to Wembley Stadium station and along High Road to the Twin Towers with additional buildings  further along around Wembley Central station. Then Ealing Road leads to the very dense high rise developments in Alperton.

Any opposition gains are likely to be limited to tweaks in plans rather than outright rejection.

The large bulky yellow building in the above image is to be built on the former Copland school site and will face the proposed Fairgate House development. Together the two sides of the High Road will present a sort of concrete canyon with less distance between the two sides of the road than you find on a European boulevard.

I pointed out at the exhibition the 3 storey buildings that line the High Road on the left side of the picture and wondered how  long they would survive. As you can see the blue high rises being built next to the Chiltern railway line tower over the low rise on that side of the road.

This image would make more sense if you could also see the heights of the buildings on the  west side of the High Road.

 

What was obvious from our vantage on the 4th Floor of Ujima House was the loss of vegetation on the  High Road side of the Chiltern Line compared with the suburban side. The High Road side has lost much of what was a 'green corridor' and more is likely to go with the developments in the pipeline despite promises of a 'linear park'.

 

 Between the railway and High Road

The view across to the other side of the railway line, trees and shrubs still intact on the bank

 

Opposite Ujima and Fairgate House is the huge ex-Copland School site where the yellow building in the above 'Emerging Context' illustration will be built - a prime example of densification along with the nearby Brent House development.

The ex-Copland School site

 

On leaving the area I was struck by two of the children's paintings that adorn the green hoarding around the Copland site.

 

They rather neatly sum up the different views of Wembley's future.

 

 

lnvestec Real Estate provides Quintain with a £45 million investment secured against The Hive

 

The Hive

 lnvestec Real Estate has provided Quintain, developer  of the  mixed-use  Wembley Park regeneration specialist, with a £45 million investment facility secured against The Hive, a Grade-A office building in Wembley Park.

The loan refinances an existing facility and represents the first transaction between the two companies.

The Hive, which was completed in 2019, has 10,684m² of 'state-of-the-art' office space across nine floors, of which Casio occupies 929m² and Network Homes occupies 5,017m². There is  929m² of ground floor retail space.

Brent Cabinet to approve major housing acquisitions from developers in South Kilburn and Alperton on Monday

 Monday's meeting of the outgoing Brent Cabinet is set to approve housing acquisitions from developers totalling more than £40,000,000.

The first acquisition on the South Kilburn estate is 1-8 Neville House, 1-64 Winterleys, 113-128 Carlton House and Carlton Hall - collectively known as NWCC.

101 affordable housing units will be acquired from a preferred bidder selected as a development partner and will be subject to GLA funding of £100,000 per unit. A total of £10.1m.

The overall purchase price has been withheld under the Local Government Act:

By Virtue of Paragraph 3

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

The developer has been asked to review the housing mix of the development so as to provide a greater number of family units but the Appendix 1 referring to the mix is not available to the public. I have asked Brent Council in the public interest to make that available.

The Report before the Cabinet says that these will be secure tenancies let at South Kilburn Social Rent levels.

The Report states:

The purchase of the affordable units will be achieved under the terms of a  development, sale and purchase agreement with a developer partner. The recommendation to purchase is subject to the Preferred Bidder being selected as the developer partner. The council has proposed to the Preferred Bidder that subject to its selection, this agreement must be entered into by 30 September 2022. If it is not then the Preferred Bidder (assuming that they are the developer partner) can then sell the affordable units to another registered provider.

The development, sale and purchase agreement will also contain all the appropriate development obligation from the developer partner in relation to the affordable homes. The council will have the right, inter alia, to include its specification for the affordable homes, its nomination agreement, details of the handover protocols and the defects liability and snagging procedures in the development, sales and purchase agreement. The freehold development, sales and purchase agreement will also include the council’s specific delivery measures and set payment terms.

 

Detailed negotiations are delegated to the Strategic Director for Community Wellbeing and the Lead Member for Housing.  

The other acquisition is the second one to be made at the St Georges Development Ltd (developer and freeholder) Grand Union Phase 2 site in Alperton.

This is the purchase of 115  'affordable' rent flats on a 999 year lease at a price of £30.27m (including fees).  The rent would be capped at the Local Housing Allowance level.

The mix is:
 

The price per unit at £250,000 is below the £280k level of the New Council Homes Programme.

Liberal Democrat councillor for Alperton, Anton Georgiou, told Wembley Matters,

Whilst I welcome the news that the Council are seeking to increase their own housing stock, I’m concerned that this purchase is of too many 1 bed units and not enough large units - which is what we know Brent is desperately short of.

We have always been told that the Council has a surplus of 1 bedroom flats, so why are they buying more? 

The Council should be negotiating a better mix of units to help families in the most need. Until they do, we won’t even begin to make a dent in our huge housing waiting list.

Negotiations are delegated thus:

Delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Regeneration & Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning, to negotiate and agree the terms and thereafter enter into a contract with the developer for the purchase of the scheme and make any necessary additional amendments required to the contract thereafter.

The exchange of contracts  is targeted for May 2022.

 See this Minute from the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny discussion of 'affordable' housing for information LINK

MP calls for government action on District Heating Network energy pricing

 Wembley Matters has been trying to draw attention to the huge bills facing residents attached to District Heating Networks as they are classified as uncapped commercial rates.

Good to see this MP calling for government action.

List of candidates standing for election to Brent Council - polling day May 5th 2022

 

Election notices

Statement of Persons Nominated

• Alperton
• Barnhill
• Brondesbury Park
• Cricklewood and Mapesbury
• Dollis Hill
• Harlesden & Kensal Green
• Kenton
• Kilburn
• Kingsbury
• Northwick Park
• Preston
• Queens Park
• Queensbury
• Roundwood
• Stonebridge
• Sudbury
• Tokyngton
• Welsh Harp
• Wembley Central
• Wembley Hill
• Wembley Park
• Willesden Green

Little change post-consultation in the Neasden Stations Growth Area Supplementary Planning Document which sets out far-reaching changes to the area over the next 20 plus years

 

The last Cabinet of these dying days of the current Brent Labour adminstration is set to approve the  extremely far-reaching Neasden Stations Growth Area Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) following consultation.

Very little has been changed as the result of the consultation and the Council's responses make it clear that the designation of the area as a tall building zone will limit what tweaking may be done on individual planning applications within the scheme.

The Severn Way and Selbie Residents Association, who occupy the island of low rise housing between the two high-rise sites (see the middle of the image above) are clearly worried about their future, especially the mention of compulsory purchase orders. I am not sure that the Council's response will allay their fears:

It is recognised that the inclusion of Severn Way and Selbie Avenue properties within the site allocation may be of concern to existing residents.
 

However, the borough's housing needs and targets set in the London Plan are very high compared to historic levels. This, together with national policies and those within the London Plan, which promote the most effective use of land near railway stations, has meant that the Council has had to consider the potential of sites with higher levels of public accessibility in the borough to be used much more intensively.

The existing and potential public transport improvements in this area, together with the obvious availability of large areas of land around the stations for redevelopment, has resulted in the identification of the Neasden Stations
Growth Area. This is not unlike numerous other parts of the borough where people currently live, which from a planning policy perspective, are acceptable for redevelopment for more intensive residential development.

 
Currently, as set out in the SPD, it is not considered likely in the short to medium term that the Selbie Avenue/ Severn Way estate will come forward for comprehensive redevelopment. Although many of the homes are still owned by the Council, other sites are more of a priority for delivering greater intensity of use of land to accommodate much needed affordable homes. The Council in regeneration schemes at South Kilburn has engaged with occupiers and leaseholders throughout the renewal process. It has offered better quality homes for tenants and options for leaseholders either on-site or through financial compensation that more than adequately addresses needs. The Council will always look to work with existing tenants/ property owners to effectively address any issues through co-operation and agreement, rather than the compulsory purchase alternative, which is rarely used. The allocation in the Local Plan and the development that comes forward on adjacent sites is likely to increase property values considerably above those that currently exist as the area's potential is realised, to the benefit of existing property owners.

 
Section 7 on Delivery shows the phasing plan from 0 to 20+ years within NSGA. However, the phasing plan in section 7 will be updated to show the timeline for the short/medium and long term.

 

Pinnacle Investment, the likely developers for the  College of North West London, Dudden Hill site, seem keen to limit commitments:

[We] Support overriding vision for growth and principles set out within the SPD. The SPD should clarify that the delivery of high-density development within this identified Growth Area is not linked or dependent on the delivery of this infrastructure project. (Such as the West London Orbital) as it already benefits from excellent transport links. Support the need for infrastructure identified in the SPD and interested in engaging with residents to establish infrastructure priorities. Supportive of the principles set out within the SPD. 

 The SPD should clarify and explain that the indicative figures stated for each site are not intended to guide or limit the development amount and opportunity. The guidance should not be overly prescriptive and refer to “two 0.2ha pocket parks”. This requirement has not been informed by a detailed feasibility study and there are other relevant planning policies regarding the appropriate quantum of open space and communal space.

Remove reference to the need to deliver health infrastructure removed unless there is a clear known need.

 A District Heating Network is also queried.  Although a medium-term sustainable option it is also affected by the current energy situation in that the energy cap does not apply to residents served by such systems. 

Pam Laurance suggested:

Access to their own outdoor space. Range of different kind ofgreen space catering to different user groups, kids, youth,adults. Places for people to meet; pubs, bars, laundrettes, parents and toddler groups etc.

And did get a positive response:

 We acknowledge the suggestions made regarding the kind of spaces and need for focused community activities. We will include these suggestions within the character area section that showcases future characteristics of the area.
 

Please note that all development proposals on individual sites are subject to statutory consultation as they come forward for planning determination. This will be an opportunity for you to provide further feedback on the detailed proposals.

Pam was less successful in her comment that the housing provided should be truly affordable  with enough space:

The draft SPD Section 6.4 Development principles -DP4 New and affordable homes set out recommendations based on London Plan Policy H4 Delivering Affordable Housing and Brent Local Plan Policy BH5 Affordable Housing. Any development coming forward must adhere to the policy requirements set out in the London Plan and Brent Local Plan on affordability and mixed tenure developments

This restates the status quo that has been far from satisfactory.

The decision the Cabinet will take on Monday, without any meaningful public debate, will have far reaching consequences for the people of the borough over the next 20 years or so.

The full report on the consultation with the Council's responses can be found here: 

https://democracy.brent.gov.uk/documents/s120905/09a.%20Appendix%201%20-%20NSGA%20Final%20Consultation%20Report.pdf

 

The full Masterplan is here: 

https://democracy.brent.gov.uk/documents/s120914/09b.%20Appendix%202%20-%20NSGA%20Masterplan%20SPD.pdf

 

BRENT CYCLING CAMPAIGN ELECTION HUSTINGS - April 20th 7-9pm

 

 

From Brent Cycling Campaign 

BRENT CYCLING  CAMPAIGN ELECTION HUSTINGS 

 Wednesday April 20th 7pm-9pm

St Catherine’s Church, Neasden Lane, London, NW10 1QB

The May local election will be like no other. The next four years will determine what happens to Brent for the foreseeable future in terms of resilience as we face the biggest challenge of our time.

Transport is a major contributor to pollution and enabling people to transition to sustainable travel will be pivotal to decarbonisation and reducing harmful emissions. Here's your chance to ask how they will deliver the change we need?

Should the health situation change, we will hold this event online.

Candidates:

• The Green Party: Nathan Williams (Kilburn)
• The Liberal Democrats: Councillor Anton Georgiou (Alperton)
• The Labour Party: Councillor Neil Nerva (Queens Park)
• The Conservatives: TBC

The Hustings will be chaired by Sarah Green, a local resident and human rights campaigner (formerly End Violence Against Women Coalition and Amnesty International), and a Brent school Governor.

We are collating questions in advance and there will be a chance to ask directly at the event, feel free to email yours if you wish at: brent@lcc.org.uk.

REGISTER

Exhibition on proposed development of 390-406 High Road Wembley Thursday 7th April and Saturday 9th April

The transformation of Wembley High Road on the east side is due to continue with this development by Regal London.  Details will be available at the exhibition but it appears to add to the tall buildings on either side of this main route from Wembley Triangle up to the 'Twin Towers' at the junction with Park Lane.

 

Residents will be concerned about the over-shadowing of current low-rise properties as well as the overall densification of the area