Community Shield Saturday August 10th. Kick-off 3pm. Local arrangements.

 From Brent Council

We want everyone to enjoy their visit to Wembley and the match. However we will not tolerate anti-social behaviour, so please behave responsibly.

Brent Council and its partners are enforcing a No Street Drinking Zone on Olympic Way and the surrounding area for the following event:

The 2024 FA Community Shield 

Saturday 10 August 2024, Kick off at 3pm

This is part of the current Public Space Protection Order.

Drink responsibly

Fans drinking on Olympic Way and the surrounding streets will be asked to hand over their alcohol and enforcement action may be considered.  We are taking these steps to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone.

There is a range of bars, fan zones and restaurants available  in and around Wembley where you can enjoy a meal or drink before the match. We have listed details of some of these venues below, including which ones are hosting which fans, if applicable. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

East - Manchester United

If you have tickets on the east side of the stadium, you can enjoy a pre-match drink or meal in the following pubs and bars. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Venue	Address	Phone number
The Blue Check	12 -13 Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 0RQ	020 8902 8147
Wembley Tavern	121 Wembley Park Dr, Wembley Park, HA9 8HG	07956 849648 020 8903 2955
Stadium Sports Bar	125 Wembley Park Dr, Wembley Park, HA9 8HQ	07503 000 096
The Torch	1-5 Bridge Rd, Wembley Park, HA9 9AB	020 8904 5794
Crock of Gold	23 Bridge Road, Wembley, HA9 9AB	020 8908 6933
Black Sheep	2 Olympic Way, HA9 0GU	0203 988 6994
Box Park	18 Olympic Way, HA9 0JT	0207 186 8800

West - Manchester City

If you have a ticket on to the west of the stadium, you can enjoy a pre-match drink or meal in the following pubs and bars.

Venue	Address	Phone number
The Green Man	Dagmar Avenue, Wembley, HA9 8DF	0208 9031441  07595 051937
Crystals (Sports Bar & Aqua Lounge)	1 Popin Building, Southway, HA9 0HB	02035765765 07985 195277
The Arch	324 Harrow Rd, Wembley , HA9 6LL	0208 1271141
Station 31	299-303 Harrow Rd, Wembley, HA9 6BD	0208 9000173
The Liquor Station	397A High Rd, Wembley, HA9 6AA	020 8903 0159
JJ Moons	397 High Rd, Wembley, HA9 6AA	020 8903 4923
La Regina	St George's Hotel, 43-51 Wembley Hill Rd, Wembley, HA9 8AU	020 8900 0662
Black Sheep	2 Olympic Way, Wembley Park, HA9 0GU
Sixty Six Bar & Grill	3 South Way, Wembley, HA9 0JU	07447098752
The Corner House	313 Harrow Road, HA9 6BA	02037842021
White Horse	4 Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley Park, Wembley HA9 0HP	020 8237 8037

London Designer Outlet and other public houses

There are a number of cafes, restaurants and bars in and around Wembley that haven't been allocated to a team where you can enjoy a meal or pre-match drink.

Visit the London Designer Outlet website for more information on many of the restaurants listed below.

Venue	Address	Phone number
Swan Pub	789 Harrow Road, Wembley, HA0 2LP	020 8904 6933
Arena Lounge	652 Harrow Road, Wembley, HA0 2HA	020 8248 1280 07857820000
The Barrel & Corner	610-612 High Rd, Wembley HA0 2AF	020 8900 2947
Trader Wembley	87 Ealing Road, Wembley, HA0 4BD	07411 118183
The Corner House	2-4 Slough Lane, NW9 8QL	02082006810
JJ Moons	553 Kingsbury Road, NW9 9EL	0208 204 9675
CXI Love Food	111 Wembley Park Drive, Wembley Park, HA9 8HG	0203 904 0054
TGI Friday	1 Wembley Park Boulevard, Wembley Park, HA9 0TG
Pasta Remoli	10 Exhibition Way, Wembley Park, HA9 0FU
Masalchi by Atul Kochar	2 Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley Park, HA9 0HP
Bread Ahead	26-28 Olympic Way, Wembley Park, HA9 0NP
Frankie & Benny's	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
JRC Global Buffet	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Las Iguanas	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Wagamama	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Pizza Express	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Zizzi	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Nando's	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Byron Burger	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD
Big Moe's	London Designer Outlet, Wembley Park Blvd, Wembley, HA9 0FD

Travelling to Wembley

Wembley has great public transport connections, and as a borough we are working hard to keep our carbon footprint down. If you come to this event by car, we ask that you only use official stadium car parks.

• Pink car park (west of the stadium)
• Green car park (east of the stadium)

If you are travelling to Wembley by public transport, the Drinkaware website has some useful advice on drinking alcohol in public places. There may also be alcohol restrictions on coach services so please check before you travel.

We want action on Islamophobia and we want it now! Brent Muslims angry at council for failing its community in light of Far Right Islamophobic attacks

 Guest post by Brent Muslims

Muslim communities in Brent and across the country are fearing for their safety after Far-Right riots kicked off in Southport and other areas last week.

 

What’s app groups are busy sharing messages on staying safe, warnings of upcoming EDL action across London and what to do in an emergency. There have even been reports of acid attacks on Muslim women which has understandably made many incredibly anxious.

 

Sadly, the catalyst for the riots has been the murder of three young girls who were attending a summer dance club. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all the families of the deceased, those who were injured and all those who have been affected.

 

The Far Right have used the tragic deaths to begin mass scale Islamophobic attacks on Muslim communities and places of worship across the UK. In their ignorance and racism - they have targeted other communities as well.

 

These atrocious acts by the Far Right have been brewing for decades. The UK is no stranger to race riots and Far Right thuggery, but this violence has been rooted in hatred for the Muslim community. This is scary business considering widespread anti-Muslim hatred and killings worldwide.

 

Andrew Feinstein recently said on X (Twitter) that “Islamophobia is embedded in the British establishment.” This is probably why our leaders and politicians seem to intentionally ignore the reality of Islamophobia and even its existence. This vile hatred, fear and suspicion of Muslims has now made the community even more vulnerable to attack and possibly even death.

 

Yet who really cares? As a community, we feel like we are in this on our own. We have had a wishy-washy statement from Brent Council that does not once even mention the Muslim community directly when they are the main targets, and on the front line of attack. In a borough with a population of 21% Muslims of diverse backgrounds, as well as being the second largest faith group in Brent - the council continues to gaslight our experiences and ignore our reality.

 

This behaviour from Brent Council is historic. An-Nisa Society, a long-standing grass-roots Muslim charity based in Brent, tells us that the council has ignored Muslims for decades, never understood Muslim communities needs and in fact excluded them at an institutional level which has led to the increased socio-economic exclusion of Muslims including poor health outcomes. This is outlined in detail in their recent report, Islamophobia: From Denial to Action.’

 

The catalogue of failures by the council has led to real devastation in Muslim communities. During the first wave of Covid, the highest number of deaths across the country was in Church End - a majority Muslim area. Institutional Islamophobia being a root cause of such poor health outcomes. 

 

The council has also continued to peddle the Prevent programme which has labelled all Muslims ‘from the cradle to the grave’ as a potential terror threat. The Prevent training predominantly highlights Muslim ‘terrorism’ while not seeming to have a grip on the threat of the Far Right or Hindutva. The optics are all wrong.

 

On top of that, last year a Muslim woman in hijab was verbally abused for being a Muslim on the number 18 bus in Harlesden. The Mayor of Brent at the time, Councillor Orleen Hylton ignored the attack and didn’t report it internally or to the Police.

 

The incident went viral on X, however Brent Council remained silent for five days. The eventual response was dismissive, lacking in seriousness and not heartfelt at all. The Mayor stayed in her position and the council simply carried on business and usual, paying no heed to the upset within the Muslim community.

 

The council is charging forward with its approach and policies that fuel Islamophobia. And even with these horrific riots against Muslims they are once again showing they don’t care and haven’t got a clue by not acting quickly enough and trying to distance themselves from taking ownership of the problem at hand.

 

The horrendous, repugnant riots taking place as we speak have been caused by negative assumptions about Muslims, a perceived fear and threat, a deep rooted anti-Muslim hatred and all fuelled by institutionalised Islamophobia.

 

Muslim life has been devalued for centuries. Islamophobia is not new and the history goes right back to the start of Islam. If you want to understand it and deal with, you need to understand the specific context of Islamophobia and it’s root causes. All of which the council doesn’t seem to know anything about.

 

The question now being asked by the community is about where is the leadership from Brent Council in regards to the riots? We don’t want to only hear from the politicians but the Senior Management Team who have failed us.

 

The council’s treatment of its diverse Muslim communities has led to disenfranchisement and anger. Muslims tell us they have no trust in Brent. They don’t trust the leadership, and see their double standards loud and clear. One such example is how the council have vocally supported the people of Ukraine whilst remaining silent and neutral on the perceived genocide in Gaza. The message is clear - Muslims in Brent are second-class citizens and not valued.

 

We don’t want bland insincere statements- we want answers. The community want to meet the council leadership, speak to them and hold them to account. They want to know what are their short and long term aims in fighting Islamophobia. We don’t want to be fobbed off by a tick-box event for Islamophobia Awareness Month - we want meaningful change and want it now before our most feared outcome happens.

 

Brent Muslims 

 

Brent Muslims are a group of young Brent residents who are dedicated to tackling Islamophobia in Brent, and working towards justice, peace and equality for all.

 

Hundreds take a stand for community solidarity in North Harrow

 

It was difficult to determine how genuine the threat was to an immigration advice centre in North Harrow but nevertheless 400-500 people turned up yesterday in a show of unity. 

Their message was that the rioters who caused mayhem last weekend were not welcome in Harrow and that the community rejected racism and Islamophobia.

Apparently Keir Starmer had told Labour councillors not to attend such demonstrations and there were none from Harrow present. Some Brent Labour councillors did attend and Cllr Ihtesham Afzal (Wembley Hill ward) made a passionate speech to the crowd.

 

Attendees and speakers were from many faiths and ethnic backgrounds representing Harrow and Brent's  diverse population.

In the event the right-wingers did not turn up. Similar events were held across the country with local people turning out in numbers that demonstrated popular resistance to attempts to divide and threaten communities.

Community Unity this evening in Harrow join at 7pm North Harrow Business Centre

 

The Harrow community will come together tonight at 7pm outside the Business Centre in North Harrow, 429-433 Pinner Road, that also houses the community library.

This follows reports that far-right supporters have targeted an  immigration advice office at that address. The organisers want a show of strength to demonstrate to the far right that their racism and Islamophobia is not welcome in Harrow.

Even if the far right does not turn up the action the action will show the community solidarity with those most likely to be theatened by the far right.

Harrow Police issued the statement below yesterday:

 

 

The Advocacy Project and Brent HealthWatch Video: Survivor stories with Michael Rosen

 I attended this meeting on-line and found it very thought-provoking so I am sharing it here for others to see.

The meeting was led by Cllr Ketan Sheth who is Chair of Brent Council Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.

 

The Advocacy Project

Our vision is a world in which every person has a voice. We amplify the voices of the most vulnerable and excluded people in London to have meaningful choice and control of their lives. Inequality, stigma and isolation are some of the most prevalent issues we tackle in our work with people with learning disabilities, mental health problems, eating disorders and dementia. Whether it’s working in care homes, hospital in-patient units or in communities we enable people to:

• have their voice heard and listened to

• understand and uphold their rights

 • make choices and decisions that affect their lives

For more information go to: http://www.advocacyproject.org.uk/ 

Twitter: @TAPadvocacy

LinkedIn: theadvocacyproject

Cricklewood: Community Security Meeting Tuesday 7pm

Hereford House/Exeter Court at Planning Committee on Wednesday offers fewer social homes than at present.

 

Existing Hereford House and Exeter Court

 The planned new buildings

The long awaited plans for the South Kilburn Hereford House and Exeter Court site in South Kilburn, where Brent Council is the developer, come to Brent Planning Committee on Wednesday. The number of social units is lower thatn previously provided and intermediate units have been converted to rpivate as a result of the viability assessment.

The development proposes the demolition of the existing Hereford House and Exeter Court buildings and the construction of four new residential buildings ranging from 3-13 storeys, the provision of flexible non-residential floorspace at ground floor of Block C1, a new public urban park and new access road along the western side of the site, cycle and blue badge car parking and associated infrastructure. An overview of each area is summarised below:

Block A:

A six storey mansion block fronting Granville Road. The building contains a total of 42 social rent homes (8 x 1 bed, 11 x 2 bed, 15 x 3 bed and 8 x 4 bed). The building has rear balconies and access to the rear private communal courtyard shared with Blocks B and C. A residential lobby, refuse stores and cycle stores are provided at ground floor.

Block B:

A six storey mansion block fronting Carlton Vale. The building contains a total of 68 market homes ( 34 x 1 bed, 22 x 2 bed and 12 x 3 bed). The building has rear balconies and access to the private communal courtyard shared with Blocks A and C. A residential lobby, refuse stores are provided at ground floor

Block C:

Block C consists of two blocks C1 (13 storeys) and C2 (nine storeys) connected by a one storey ground floor that fills the footprint and bridges the two block. The building fronts the public park. The building contains a total of 124 homes. C1 contains all market homes (45 x 1 bed and 28 x 2 bed) while C2 contains 51 social rent homes (29 x 1 bed, 20 x 2 bed and 2 x 3 bed). The ground floor contains a large glazed shared lobby which divides into a market residential lobby and social rent lobby, a commercial unit of 135 sqm, refuse stores and cycle stores. A basement would be constructed to provide addition cycle storage for Blocks A, B and C. The building has balconies on each corner of the block and has access to the private communal courtyard shared with Blocks A and B.

Block D

A row of three storey terraced houses with fourth storey pop-up elements. The building fronts the access route on Granville Road. Block D creates 16 social rent homes (8 x 4 bed and 8 x 5 bed). Each house has a front and rear garden with separate refuse and cycle storage.

The plans have been revised as a result of fire regulation changes, demand changes and the viability assessment (my highlighting):

A number of amendments were made to the scheme as a result of comments raised by officers and the GLA/ TfL during the course of the consultation exercise as well as updates to Fire Safety Regulation and changes in viability.

The main changes to the scheme when compared to the initially submitted scheme are a result of updates to Fire Safety Regulation Standards and London Plan Guidance. This effected the internal and external arrangement of Blocks A, B and C. The alterations also alter the housing layouts on the residential floors of the proposed blocks and changes at ground floor level to communal and ancillary spaces in order to accommodate the different core geometry.

The housing tenure and unit mix was also reviewed. The South Kilburn Housing Need Assessment review identified that a larger number of smaller units are required to facilitate the decant of residents from future phases of the masterplan. The Hereford and Exeter project continued to face significant viability issues. The intermediate affordable units have been removed from the scheme in lieu of private tenure units. The provision of social rent affordable housing has therefore been maximised for those most in need and assists the viability position for the scheme.

As a result of these amendments a number of updates were required to the scheme:

· The change in unit numbers, size and tenure mean that there is a slight reduction in child yield and therefore the required play space provision

· The increase in the footprint of the buildings to accommodate fire safety requirements has resulted in a reduction to the soft landscaping measures within the private courtyard and Urban Greening Factor score

· A slight reduction in size of the Public Open Space provided at 2,400 sqm

· Increase in quantum of cycle parking spaces

· The daylight, sunlight and overshadowing assessment has been updated to reflect the alterations to the massing

· The commercial and residential refuse arrangements have been changed to reflect the new layouts

The number of social homes on the site is reduced from 150 to 109 (from 90% to 44%)

Officers justify the changes:

Of the existing 167 residential units, 150 are affordable dwellings (100% social rent). These will be replaced with 250 dwellings of which there will be 109 affordable dwellings (All social rent). Although there would be 41 less affordable dwellings than existing, there is a significant increase in the provision of family sized dwellings and an increase in floorspace. 

In addition, the scheme includes the provision of 16 four-bed homes and 8 five-bedroom homes that have the capacity to house larger families which is a benefit given the existing site does not have any provision.

Locals familiar with flooding problems on the estate will be interested in the section on flooding:

In terms of infiltration techniques, surface water runs off from paved surfaces within the site towards landscape planting, rain gardens, tree pits and permeable pavements. In day-to-day rainfall, the absorption, evaporation and infiltration of surface water through the Sustainable Drainage System features will fully drain paved areas within the site. However, owing to the typically poor permeability of the site’s geology (made ground on London Clay), the infiltration rate of the ground beneath the SuDS features would not be sufficient to drain the site in severe storm events. Gullies and slot drains are therefore also utilized to supplement the SuDS features. The attenuation of rainwater in ponds or open water features was not considered to be feasible for the development. Surface water overflows from SuDS features will drain into the below ground drainage system and attenuated in tanks for gradual release to the sewer system. There are no watercourses suitably located within vicinity of the site to receive run off. The local sewer network is combined. It is proposed that surface water is continued to discharge to the existing combined water network in the vicinity of the site.

 

Image from the Design Statement

 

 

No pub to replace The Plough in Ealing Road as Planning Application for numbers 245-249 and 253 goes to Brent Planning Committee

 

To be demolished - MOT Test Centre, Plough pub and HSBC Bank

Some of the remaining low rise buildings of Ealing Road, near Alperton Station and opposite Sainsbury's will be replaced by two 10 storey blocks if a planning application nefore Brent Planning Committee on Wednesday is approved.

Despite Brent's  promise of a Pub Protection policy the Plough public house will not be replaced by licensed premises but by a 'community facility' in the ground floor of Block A. There will be an 'affordable working space' and car park on the ground floor of Block B. Chair of Brent Planning Committee, Cllr Kelcher, has previous fought for the preservation of pubs. LINK  Former councillor James Powney had  suggested previously that Brent Council's reluctance to adopt such a policy was because it did not want a replacement for The Falcon pub which forms part of the South Kilburn regeneration plans. LINK.

A total of 84 objections have been received principally raising concerns regarding scale & design, loss of light and views, transport and access impacts and a lack of supporting facilities.

The amount of 'affordable housing' is less than half and contains shared ownership properties that many now claim shoudl not be designated affordable.

H/R is Habitable Room