Blue Bag Question Time at Council. Krupa Sheth responds claiming 50% increase in paper & card tonnage in October

 

Brent Council guidance

 

Opposition and backbench councillor's are able to ask questions of Lead Members at Brent Full Council. The answers are published in advance and the questioner has one minute to ask a follow-up question live. Suggestions for follow-up questions welcomed in comments below the article.

Question from Councillor Hirani to Councillor Krupa Sheth (Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure & Climate Action):

 

Given the serious concerns being raised by residents across the borough with regards to the Blue Bag Recycling Scheme will the Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure and Climate Action agree to commission an independent report on the roll out of the scheme and its financial implications. It does not appear that this scheme has been properly thought through and should

therefore be suspended until a full investigation and report can be provided to Full Council. This is strongly backed by an e-Petition with over 2000 signatures demanding the scheme be cancelled.

 

In advance of this, can the Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure and Climate Action also address the following operational issues:

 ANSWER

We have seen a 50% increase in tonnage of paper and cardboard collected through October, the first month of the new service. By removing paper and cardboard from the dry mixed recycling stream, contamination is at a low 1%.
 

The higher quality of paper and cardboard collected results in higher rates of fibre recycled. Further data and results will take at least 12 weeks to spot any additional trends.

It is important to note that recycling, even if rejected due to high contamination, does not go to landfill; any rejections are sent to an energy recovery facility. 

(1) How is it possible to keep these bags dry during the rain events we have had recently?

 

The blue sack is weighted at the bottom to avoid it being blown away and is weatherproof when the lid is fully sealed using the Velcro strips, to protect the contents inside. Please ensure the lid is sealed. Any faulty/leaking sacks will be replaced free of charge.

 

(2) Where are residents expected to store these bags?

 

The sack can be folded and stored inside when not in use or kept outside by your other bins where there is space to do so. Residents can choose whether to store their sack indoors or outdoors, so long as it is presented at the kerbside on the scheduled collection day.

 

We appreciate that not all residents will have space to store their blue sack indoors. We advise those residents to transfer their paper and flattened cardboard to the blue sack at their convenience, as they have previously done with their blue lidded recycling bin, placing it between other bin containers.

 

(3) What is expected to happen to cardboard and paper when these bags are full? Should this be placed into the Blue/Black Bin?

 

If the paper and cardboard sack becomes full, residents may present any excess paper and card in a bundle next to their sack on collection day.

 

Please do not place paper and card in your blue-lidded recycling bin, as collections crews will be instructed not to collect these bins on the same week as the blue sack.

 

Residents are advised not leave any excess cardboard out alongside their sack when rain or strong winds are predicted. Instead, we are advising those residents who continuously have more paper and cardboard for one blue sack, to order an additional sack. Residents can order a second bag or additional bags

for free.

 

(4) Residents in flats do not have these blue bags so what are they expected to do with their cardboard and paper?

 

Those in flats with shared communal bins are not part of the changes and will continue to use the large recycling bins for mixed recycling, which is being collected separately to kerbside properties.

 

(5) Was training given to Veolia when dealing with these blue bags as it appears that on some occasions the cardboard/ paper has been blown around and not collected?

 

Training has been given to collection staff ahead of the recycling collections with further training and monitoring ongoing with collection issues occurring and being reported to Veolia.

 

(6) How much does this scheme cost and are there any actual savings?

Can you show the figures?

 

The change to alternate weekly twin stream recycling collections for street level households was estimated to save the council £1.2m per annum on annual disposal costs for waste when compared to the weekly comingled recycling collection (where all recycling goes in one bin).

 

We will be monitoring the impact of the service in the coming weeks and months in order to assess the impact of the service change on our recycling and saving targets.

 

Concern over the changes to the recycling system caused Willesden Green Residents Association to hold a public meeting on the issue.

 Association Planning Representative, Sonia Locke, said: 

Everyone is pretty dissatisfied and it will be a year until anything changes. I think what we know so far is that people want to recycle and separate recycables, but this is not the way to do it. This system is simply not working.

 

 

 

Say after me, 'The benefits of the scheme outweigh the harm/impact/conflict with policy'. Brent Council infill proposals come to Brent Planning on Wednesday

 

It promises to be quite a marathon meeting at the next Brent Council Planning Committee. on Wednesday Three of the proposals are from Brent Council itself and propose infill plans on existing council estates that have been opposed by current tenants and leaseholders.

The officers' recommendations now follow the established pattern of recognising various problems with the applications but end up narrowing them down to a judgement that benefits outweigh the pronlems, even when those are loss of green space, trees, light or a conflict with policy.

Clement Close, Willesden. 68 objections and petition against of 267 signatures, Demolition of one bungalow to be replaced with 21 residential units of 2 terraces and 3 flatted blocks,

 

“Whilst the proposal results in some impacts such as the loss of trees and open space across the site, officers consider that taking the development plan as a whole, the proposal is considered to accord broadly with the development plan, and having regard to all material planning considerations, should be approved subject to conditions. The proposal would deliver 21 homes that would contribute the Council's housing targets, and the limited conflict with policy would be outweighed by the planning benefits. The benefits of the scheme are considered to outweigh any less than substantial harm to  the trees within the gardens of neighbouring properties.”

 

Kilburn Square, Kilburn. 117 letters of objection alongside several letter of objection from Kilburn Village Residents Association. Infill of 139 units in four blocks of 5-8 storeys.

 

“These public benefits are significant and would far outweigh any harm that has been identified and the application is considered to be in compliance with the Development Plan when read as a whole. It is therefore considered that the application should be approved subject to the conditions”

 

 

Newland Court, Wembley Park. 45 objections. Demolition of all garages replaced by five new homes.

 

“Whilst the proposal does not meet the 0.4 target for the Urban Greening Factor as set out within policy BH4 and is likely to result in the trees along the northern boundary within the conservation area to require more frequent re-crowning as a result of the development, the scheme would deliver significant benefits including the provision of five affordable family sized homes. Officers consider that taking the development plan as a whole, the proposal is considered to accord broadly with the development plan, and having regard to all material planning considerations, and that the application should be approved subject to conditions. The proposal would deliver five family sized homes that would help to meet the Council's housing needs, and the limited conflict with policy would be outweighed by the planning benefits. The benefits of the scheme are considered to outweigh the impacts associated with the potential higher frequency of work to the trees within the gardens of Barn Hill Conservation Area and the less than substantial harm to the conservation area that may occur.”

 

I will be publishing more from the objectors over the next tw days.

Wembley Park 1829 auction particulars now available online

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity

 

It is almost a year since I wrote about “Wembley Park for sale! (in 1829)”, sharing with you the news that details of what the Wembley Park mansion and its surrounding estate were like nearly 200 years ago had come to light. An original document, about an auction sale in June 1829 by Mr Christie, had been brought to my attention (through a comment on a previous “Wembley Matters” local history article) by the person cataloguing a collection at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

 

In my November 2022 guest post, I was able to paint a picture of what life for the wealthy “Squire” John Gray and his family had been like at Wembley Park in late Georgian / Regency times. At the end of the piece, I wrote that ‘a full facsimile copy of the Wembley Park auction Particulars, with an introductory note’ would be available online ‘in the near future’.

 

 

The opening section of the 1829 auction Particulars.

 

Because of problems at both Brent Archives and IT at the Civic Centre, it has taken longer than expected to put the facsimile copy online! If you would like to read this historic document about Wembley Park in full, it is now available here.

 

Philip Grant.

Lifting the lid on Michaela's curriculum

 

New: Michaela head told inspectors the school did not teach music in year nine mainly because pupils “are not really interested in the subject”.https://t.co/pECQEien1L
Long read piece on the inspection notes on Michaela Community School,which I FOI’d following its recent report.

— Warwick Mansell (@warwickmansell) November 10, 2023

AT LAST! TfL consultation opens on safer routes for cyclists between Wembley Central and Harlesden

 

 

I used to do a daily return trip by cycle for work between Harlesden (St Johns Avenue) and Park Lane, Wembley Central. To say it was more dangerous than going over the Berlin Wall would be an exaggeration, but I was often surprised to still be alive at the end of the day.

Next year it will be 5 years since Brent Council and TfL began working on safer cycling and pedestrian routes for the Wembley Centra to Harlesden journey and the long-awaited TfL consultation opens today and closes just before Christmas on December 21st.

 

 

TfL say: 

We have been working closely with Brent Council since April 2019 to develop a project that would make it safer and easier for local people to walk and cycle between Wembley and Willesden Junction.

We are developing the project in phases, and the first phase will focus on the area between Wembley Central and Harlesden stations, where we propose to provide a new high-quality Cycleway and improvements for pedestrians.

The changes would make streets in the area safer and more pleasant by enabling people to walk and cycle more and drive less.

The proposals include a protected two-way cycle lane on the A404 Harrow Road and Brentfield, new and improved cycle and pedestrian crossings over Harrow Road, better street lighting to help make the area feel safer and more trees and plants more welcoming.

This would help us to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions, which could improve local people’s health. It would also address congestion, and help support new developments(External link) (External link) planned across the wider area by providing better walking and cycling links to local businesses and stations.

The changes we would like to make are:

• Introducing a new protected two-way cycle lane on the A404 Harrow Road and Brentfield between Sylvia Gardens and First Drive, with separate low level cycle signals at junctions, new cycle crossings and better connections to other local cycle routes
• Introducing bus stop bypasses for cyclists at bus stops C and K, with the two-way cycle lane behind the bus stop island for cyclist safety
• Improving the quiet road cycle connections to Wembley Central and Harlesden stations
• Improving the route for pedestrians by adding a new crossing over Brentfield near Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre and making existing crossings at the A406 junction more direct, which will reduce crossing times
• We’ll add measures to slow traffic speeds, add better street lighting and drainage, and new areas of planting and trees where space allows along the route
• Improving the service for bus passengers by extending bus stop D so two buses can stop here at a time, and moving stop B in line with the traffic lane so that buses can pull away easily after passengers board
• Other changes to allow us to make these improvements include closing the left turn filter lanes from the A406 onto Harrow Road and Brentfield, making Sylvia Gardens exit only for motor vehicles (currently entrance only), shortening a parking bay on Harrow Road and reviewing parking restrictions on the quiet road connections. We would also move bus stop ‘Sunny Crescent’ 90m to the eastern side of Wyborne Way to make space for the new cycle lanes

 

The maps below will give you a more detailed idea of the proposals:

 

Two drop-in events are planned to discuss the proposals:

Public drop-in event 9th December

Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre, Brentfield, Harrow Road, London NW10 ORG (10:00 - 14:00)

 

Public drop-in event 12th December

Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre, Brentfield, Harrow Road, London NW10 ORG (15:00 - 19:00)

 

You can find the full online consultation here including further information: 

https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/wembley-harlesden

 

I have embedded the consultation form below in case you would like to preview it before responding or perhaps  prefer to answer offline.

 

 

Brent Council to trial use of artificial intelligence in helping to answer residents' complaints

 

A question from Cllr Jayanti Patel, who is shaping up as one of the more incisive members of the Scrutiny Committee, elicited the revelation that the Council has a pilot project using artificial intelligence to assist in answering complaints from residents.

Its use would be part of the council's digital transformation programme where residents will be expected to go on-line as much as possible, athough Muhammed Butt assured residents that telephone, email and calling into the Civic Centre would still be possible.

 

The committee were told by a senior officer:

As part of the Digital Strategy we are looking at AI, There are a number of ethical issues around all of it. Our first venture isto the AI world is to pilot the development of an AI tool that will take a complaint,  read the complaint, investigate all of the systems to draw out all the information about that complaint, and then compose a response tht is empathetic, that answers all the questions and would meet all of what we expect to be a good standard of response.

That would not just go off to the individual [complainant]. It would go to an officer to double check that the information is accurate and correct.

We should have the first prototype built by the end of the month. It is an AI product that would connect to our systems and we are doing it in a very controlled way. If it works it would be deployed in July 2024 at some point.

Cllr Tatler chimed in to say that AI is still very new and Brent was one of the first councils to make sure  that ethics was built around it:

There are still a lot of unknowns and we don't want to lose the human element of how we deal with residents, so it is absolutely right that we do this bit by bit rather than go full swing into digital systems.

 

 

Brent 7 a-side Football Tournament for Gaza Emergency Relief - Sunday November 26th

 

 

Brent football tournament for the Gaza emergency - to fundraise vital funds for those enduring pain & conflict in Gaza. All proceeds go to charity@IslamicReliefUK who have a team on the ground. You can sign up here: http://iruk.co/footballforgaza. 

 

Join us for a 7 a-side football tournament in support of our Palestine Emergency appeal.

Taking place on Sunday 26th November 2023 at the Stonebridge Recreation Ground in London from 12-4pm.

Parking: NW10 8LW / Milton avenue / Albert end of the road car park

Nearest train station: Stonebridge Park station

Food and refreshments will be available on-site.

Contact 07710 389317 for more information

£100 registration per team.

Brent Council responds to residents' 'Blue Bag Blues'

 

A selection from many posts on Next Door

After seeing many posts like those above, as well as Tweets and Facebook posts I wrote to Brent Council:

Social media is awash with complaints about blue bins being rejected, petitions and protest meetings. Someone said Veolia workers were fed-up with the system and deliberately rejecting some bins as a protest.


Is there any message that the Council would like published re what appear to be teething problems?

 

Brent Council's response:

 

Councillor Krupa Sheth, Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure, and Climate Action, said:

 

Whilst it is too early to know the full picture of how the changes have affected recycling rates, our trial of over 5,000 properties last year showed an increase in recycling, which is better for the environment and our planet.

 

We have also seen a 50% increase in the last fortnight in the amount of cardboard and paper recycling compared to the first two weeks of October, showing that compliance is increasing as residents get used to the changes to how their recycling is collected.

Veolia fully supports the service changes and their staff are trained to reject bins that have incorrect items in them, we do this so that recycling doesn't get rejected as this would be worse for the environment.  

Thank you to all residents who are separating their paper and cardboard. More information is available on the council's website, where you can also order a replacement blue sack.